diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 514d711daa..a15fb17286 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -317,6 +317,7 @@ genenerate-env:
 	      | sed -E 's|(.*)=(.*)|\1="\2"|g' \
 	  > $(BASH_ENV_FILE)
 	echo "export WATCH_NAMESPACE=$${OPERATOR_NAMESPACE}" >> $(BASH_ENV_FILE)
+	echo "export CHE_OPERATOR__GET_EXTERNAL_IMAGES__IGNORE_FAILURES=true" >> $(BASH_ENV_FILE)
 	echo "[INFO] Created $(BASH_ENV_FILE)"
 
 	cat $(CONFIG_MANAGER) \
@@ -330,6 +331,7 @@ genenerate-env:
 	      | sed -E 's|(.*)=(.*)|\1="\2"|g' \
 	  > $(VSCODE_ENV_FILE)
 	echo "WATCH_NAMESPACE=$${OPERATOR_NAMESPACE}" >> $(VSCODE_ENV_FILE)
+	echo "CHE_OPERATOR__GET_EXTERNAL_IMAGES__IGNORE_FAILURES=true" >> $(VSCODE_ENV_FILE)
 	echo "[INFO] Created $(VSCODE_ENV_FILE)"
 
 	cat $(BASH_ENV_FILE)
diff --git a/pkg/deploy/image-puller/defaultimages.go b/pkg/deploy/image-puller/defaultimages.go
deleted file mode 100644
index cd2a540a2d..0000000000
--- a/pkg/deploy/image-puller/defaultimages.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,262 +0,0 @@
-//
-// Copyright (c) 2019-2023 Red Hat, Inc.
-// This program and the accompanying materials are made
-// available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License 2.0
-// which is available at https://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-2.0/
-//
-// SPDX-License-Identifier: EPL-2.0
-//
-// Contributors:
-//   Red Hat, Inc. - initial API and implementation
-//
-
-package imagepuller
-
-import (
-	"encoding/json"
-	"fmt"
-	"io"
-	"net/http"
-	"os"
-	"sort"
-	"strings"
-	"time"
-
-	"sigs.k8s.io/yaml"
-
-	defaults "github.com/eclipse-che/che-operator/pkg/common/operator-defaults"
-)
-
-// DefaultImagesProvider is an interface for fetching default images from a specific source.
-type DefaultImagesProvider interface {
-	get(namespace string) ([]string, error)
-	persist(images []string, path string) error
-}
-
-type DashboardApiDefaultImagesProvider struct {
-	DefaultImagesProvider
-	// introduce in order to override in tests
-	requestRawDataFunc func(url string) ([]byte, error)
-}
-
-func NewDashboardApiDefaultImagesProvider() *DashboardApiDefaultImagesProvider {
-	return &DashboardApiDefaultImagesProvider{
-		requestRawDataFunc: doRequestRawData,
-	}
-}
-
-func (p *DashboardApiDefaultImagesProvider) get(namespace string) ([]string, error) {
-	editorsEndpointUrl := fmt.Sprintf(
-		"http://%s.%s.svc:8080/dashboard/api/editors",
-		defaults.GetCheFlavor()+"-dashboard",
-		namespace)
-
-	editorsImages, err := p.readEditorImages(editorsEndpointUrl)
-	if err != nil {
-		return []string{}, fmt.Errorf("failed to read default images: %w from endpoint %s", err, editorsEndpointUrl)
-	}
-
-	samplesEndpointUrl := fmt.Sprintf(
-		"http://%s.%s.svc:8080/dashboard/api/airgap-sample",
-		defaults.GetCheFlavor()+"-dashboard",
-		namespace)
-
-	samplesImages, err := p.readSampleImages(samplesEndpointUrl)
-	if err != nil {
-		return []string{}, fmt.Errorf("failed to read default images: %w from endpoint %s", err, samplesEndpointUrl)
-	}
-
-	// using map to avoid duplicates
-	allImages := make(map[string]bool)
-
-	for _, image := range editorsImages {
-		allImages[image] = true
-	}
-	for _, image := range samplesImages {
-		allImages[image] = true
-	}
-
-	// having them sorted, prevents from constant changing CR spec
-	return sortImages(allImages), nil
-}
-
-// readEditorImages reads list of images from editors:
-// 1. reads list of devfile editors from the given endpoint (json objects array)
-// 2. parses them and return images
-func (p *DashboardApiDefaultImagesProvider) readEditorImages(entrypointUrl string) ([]string, error) {
-	rawData, err := p.requestRawDataFunc(entrypointUrl)
-	if err != nil {
-		return []string{}, err
-	}
-
-	return parseEditorDevfiles(rawData)
-}
-
-// readSampleImages reads list of images from samples:
-// 1. reads list of samples from the given endpoint (json objects array)
-// 2. parses them and retrieves urls to a devfile
-// 3. read and parses devfiles (yaml) and return images
-func (p *DashboardApiDefaultImagesProvider) readSampleImages(entrypointUrl string) ([]string, error) {
-	rawData, err := p.requestRawDataFunc(entrypointUrl)
-	if err != nil {
-		return []string{}, err
-	}
-
-	urls, err := parseSamples(rawData)
-	if err != nil {
-		return []string{}, err
-	}
-
-	allImages := make([]string, 0)
-	for _, url := range urls {
-		rawData, err = p.requestRawDataFunc(url)
-		if err != nil {
-			return []string{}, err
-		}
-
-		images, err := parseSampleDevfile(rawData)
-		if err != nil {
-			return []string{}, err
-		}
-
-		allImages = append(allImages, images...)
-	}
-
-	return allImages, nil
-}
-
-func (p *DashboardApiDefaultImagesProvider) persist(images []string, path string) error {
-	return os.WriteFile(path, []byte(strings.Join(images, "\n")), 0644)
-}
-
-func sortImages(images map[string]bool) []string {
-	sortedImages := make([]string, len(images))
-
-	i := 0
-	for image := range images {
-		sortedImages[i] = image
-		i++
-	}
-
-	sort.Strings(sortedImages)
-	return sortedImages
-}
-
-func doRequestRawData(url string) ([]byte, error) {
-	client := &http.Client{
-		Transport: &http.Transport{},
-		Timeout:   time.Second * 1,
-	}
-
-	request, err := http.NewRequest("GET", url, nil)
-	if err != nil {
-		return []byte{}, err
-	}
-
-	response, err := client.Do(request)
-	if err != nil {
-		return []byte{}, err
-	}
-
-	rawData, err := io.ReadAll(response.Body)
-	if err != nil {
-		return []byte{}, err
-	}
-
-	_ = response.Body.Close()
-	return rawData, nil
-}
-
-// parseSamples parse samples to collect urls to devfiles
-func parseSamples(rawData []byte) ([]string, error) {
-	if len(rawData) == 0 {
-		return []string{}, nil
-	}
-
-	var samples []interface{}
-	if err := json.Unmarshal(rawData, &samples); err != nil {
-		return []string{}, err
-	}
-
-	urls := make([]string, 0)
-
-	for i := range samples {
-		sample, ok := samples[i].(map[string]interface{})
-		if !ok {
-			continue
-		}
-
-		if sample["url"] != nil {
-			urls = append(urls, sample["url"].(string))
-		}
-	}
-
-	return urls, nil
-}
-
-// parseDevfiles parse sample devfile represented as yaml to collect images
-func parseSampleDevfile(rawData []byte) ([]string, error) {
-	if len(rawData) == 0 {
-		return []string{}, nil
-	}
-
-	var devfile map[string]interface{}
-	if err := yaml.Unmarshal(rawData, &devfile); err != nil {
-		return []string{}, err
-	}
-
-	return collectDevfileImages(devfile), nil
-}
-
-// parseEditorDevfiles parse editor devfiles represented as json array to collect images
-func parseEditorDevfiles(rawData []byte) ([]string, error) {
-	if len(rawData) == 0 {
-		return []string{}, nil
-	}
-
-	var devfiles []interface{}
-	if err := json.Unmarshal(rawData, &devfiles); err != nil {
-		return []string{}, err
-	}
-
-	images := make([]string, 0)
-
-	for i := range devfiles {
-		devfile, ok := devfiles[i].(map[string]interface{})
-		if !ok {
-			continue
-		}
-
-		images = append(images, collectDevfileImages(devfile)...)
-	}
-
-	return images, nil
-}
-
-// collectDevfileImages retrieves images container component of the devfile.
-func collectDevfileImages(devfile map[string]interface{}) []string {
-	devfileImages := make([]string, 0)
-
-	components, ok := devfile["components"].([]interface{})
-	if !ok {
-		return []string{}
-	}
-
-	for k := range components {
-		component, ok := components[k].(map[string]interface{})
-		if !ok {
-			continue
-		}
-
-		container, ok := component["container"].(map[string]interface{})
-		if !ok {
-			continue
-		}
-
-		if container["image"] != nil {
-			devfileImages = append(devfileImages, container["image"].(string))
-		}
-	}
-
-	return devfileImages
-}
diff --git a/pkg/deploy/image-puller/defaultimages_test.go b/pkg/deploy/image-puller/defaultimages_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index c2287cfe04..0000000000
--- a/pkg/deploy/image-puller/defaultimages_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,102 +0,0 @@
-//
-// Copyright (c) 2019-2024 Red Hat, Inc.
-// This program and the accompanying materials are made
-// available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License 2.0
-// which is available at https://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-2.0/
-//
-// SPDX-License-Identifier: EPL-2.0
-//
-// Contributors:
-//   Red Hat, Inc. - initial API and implementation
-//
-
-package imagepuller
-
-import (
-	"fmt"
-	"os"
-
-	defaults "github.com/eclipse-che/che-operator/pkg/common/operator-defaults"
-
-	"testing"
-
-	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
-)
-
-func TestReadEditorImages(t *testing.T) {
-	imagesProvider := &DashboardApiDefaultImagesProvider{
-		requestRawDataFunc: func(url string) ([]byte, error) {
-			return os.ReadFile("image-puller-resources-test/editors.json")
-		},
-	}
-
-	images, err := imagesProvider.readEditorImages("")
-	assert.NoError(t, err)
-	assert.Equal(t, 2, len(images))
-	assert.Contains(t, images, "image_1")
-	assert.Contains(t, images, "image_2")
-}
-
-func TestSampleImages(t *testing.T) {
-	imagesProvider := &DashboardApiDefaultImagesProvider{
-		requestRawDataFunc: func(url string) ([]byte, error) {
-			switch url {
-			case "":
-				return os.ReadFile("image-puller-resources-test/samples.json")
-			case "sample_1_url":
-				return os.ReadFile("image-puller-resources-test/sample_1.yaml")
-			case "sample_2_url":
-				return os.ReadFile("image-puller-resources-test/sample_2.yaml")
-			default:
-				return []byte{}, fmt.Errorf("unexpected url: %s", url)
-			}
-		},
-	}
-
-	images, err := imagesProvider.readSampleImages("")
-	assert.NoError(t, err)
-	assert.Equal(t, 2, len(images))
-	assert.Contains(t, images, "image_1")
-	assert.Contains(t, images, "image_3")
-}
-
-func TestGet(t *testing.T) {
-	imagesProvider := &DashboardApiDefaultImagesProvider{
-		requestRawDataFunc: func(url string) ([]byte, error) {
-			samplesEndpointUrl := fmt.Sprintf(
-				"http://%s.eclipse-che.svc:8080/dashboard/api/airgap-sample",
-				defaults.GetCheFlavor()+"-dashboard")
-			editorsEndpointUrl := fmt.Sprintf(
-				"http://%s.eclipse-che.svc:8080/dashboard/api/editors",
-				defaults.GetCheFlavor()+"-dashboard")
-
-			switch url {
-			case editorsEndpointUrl:
-				return os.ReadFile("image-puller-resources-test/editors.json")
-			case samplesEndpointUrl:
-				return os.ReadFile("image-puller-resources-test/samples.json")
-			case "sample_1_url":
-				return os.ReadFile("image-puller-resources-test/sample_1.yaml")
-			case "sample_2_url":
-				return os.ReadFile("image-puller-resources-test/sample_2.yaml")
-			default:
-				return []byte{}, fmt.Errorf("unexpected url: %s", url)
-			}
-		},
-	}
-
-	images, err := imagesProvider.get("eclipse-che")
-	assert.NoError(t, err)
-	assert.Equal(t, 3, len(images))
-	assert.Equal(t, "image_1", images[0])
-	assert.Equal(t, "image_2", images[1])
-	assert.Equal(t, "image_3", images[2])
-
-	err = imagesProvider.persist(images, "/tmp/images.txt")
-	assert.NoError(t, err)
-
-	data, err := os.ReadFile("/tmp/images.txt")
-	assert.NoError(t, err)
-
-	assert.Equal(t, "image_1\nimage_2\nimage_3", string(data))
-}
diff --git a/pkg/deploy/image-puller/externalImages.go b/pkg/deploy/image-puller/externalImages.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ce0042fcaa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/deploy/image-puller/externalImages.go
@@ -0,0 +1,280 @@
+//
+// Copyright (c) 2019-2023 Red Hat, Inc.
+// This program and the accompanying materials are made
+// available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License 2.0
+// which is available at https://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-2.0/
+//
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: EPL-2.0
+//
+// Contributors:
+//   Red Hat, Inc. - initial API and implementation
+//
+
+package imagepuller
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"net/http"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"slices"
+	"sort"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/eclipse-che/che-operator/pkg/common/chetypes"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/yaml"
+
+	defaults "github.com/eclipse-che/che-operator/pkg/common/operator-defaults"
+)
+
+const externalImagesStoreFileName = "external_images.txt"
+
+type ExternalImagesProvider struct {
+	// Path to store retrieved external images
+	imagesFilePath string
+
+	// exposed for testing purpose only, func to get content by url
+	fetchRawDataFunc func(url string) ([]byte, error)
+}
+
+func NewExternalImagesProvider() *ExternalImagesProvider {
+	p := &ExternalImagesProvider{
+		imagesFilePath:   filepath.Join(os.TempDir(), externalImagesStoreFileName),
+		fetchRawDataFunc: fetchRawData,
+	}
+	return p
+}
+
+func (p *ExternalImagesProvider) Get(ctx *chetypes.DeployContext) ([]string, error) {
+	images, err := p.read(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return []string{}, err
+	}
+
+	err = p.write(images)
+	if err != nil {
+		return []string{}, err
+	}
+
+	return images, nil
+}
+
+func (p *ExternalImagesProvider) read(ctx *chetypes.DeployContext) ([]string, error) {
+	editorsImages, err := p.fetchEditorImages(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return []string{}, err
+	}
+
+	samplesImages, err := p.fetchSampleImages(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return []string{}, err
+	}
+
+	var images []string
+	images = append(images, editorsImages...)
+	images = append(images, samplesImages...)
+	sort.Strings(images)
+	images = slices.Compact(images)
+
+	return images, nil
+}
+
+func (p *ExternalImagesProvider) write(images []string) error {
+	return os.WriteFile(p.imagesFilePath, []byte(strings.Join(images, "\n")), 0644)
+}
+
+// fetchSampleImages fetches list of images from samples:
+// 1. reads list of samples from the given endpoint (json objects array)
+// 2. parses them and retrieves urls to a devfile
+// 3. read and parses devfiles (yaml) and return images
+func (p *ExternalImagesProvider) fetchSampleImages(ctx *chetypes.DeployContext) ([]string, error) {
+	url := getDashboardSamplesInternalAPIUrl(ctx)
+
+	rawData, err := p.fetchRawDataFunc(url)
+	if err != nil {
+		return []string{}, err
+	}
+
+	urls, err := p.parseSampleURLs(rawData)
+	if err != nil {
+		return []string{}, err
+	}
+
+	sampleImages := make([]string, 0)
+	for _, url := range urls {
+		rawData, err = p.fetchRawDataFunc(url)
+		if err != nil {
+			return []string{}, err
+		}
+
+		images, err := p.parseSampleDevfile(rawData)
+		if err != nil {
+			return []string{}, err
+		}
+
+		sampleImages = append(sampleImages, images...)
+	}
+
+	return sampleImages, nil
+}
+
+// parseSampleURLs parses samples to collect urls to devfiles
+func (p *ExternalImagesProvider) parseSampleURLs(rawData []byte) ([]string, error) {
+	if len(rawData) == 0 {
+		return []string{}, nil
+	}
+
+	var samples []interface{}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(rawData, &samples); err != nil {
+		return []string{}, err
+	}
+
+	urls := make([]string, 0)
+
+	for i := range samples {
+		sample, ok := samples[i].(map[string]interface{})
+		if !ok {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		url, ok := sample["url"].(string)
+		if ok {
+			urls = append(urls, url)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return urls, nil
+}
+
+// parseDevfiles parse sample devfile represented as yaml to collect images
+func (p *ExternalImagesProvider) parseSampleDevfile(rawData []byte) ([]string, error) {
+	var devfile map[string]interface{}
+	if err := yaml.Unmarshal(rawData, &devfile); err != nil {
+		return []string{}, err
+	}
+
+	return p.extractContainerImages(devfile), nil
+}
+
+// fetchEditorImages fetches list of images from editors:
+// 1. reads list of devfile editors from the given endpoint (json objects array)
+// 2. parses them and return images
+func (p *ExternalImagesProvider) fetchEditorImages(ctx *chetypes.DeployContext) ([]string, error) {
+	url := getDashboardEditorsInternalAPIUrl(ctx)
+
+	rawData, err := p.fetchRawDataFunc(url)
+	if err != nil {
+		return []string{}, err
+	}
+
+	images, err := p.parseEditor(rawData)
+	if err != nil {
+		return []string{}, err
+	}
+
+	return images, nil
+}
+
+// parseEditor parse editor devfiles represented as json array to collect images
+func (p *ExternalImagesProvider) parseEditor(rawData []byte) ([]string, error) {
+	if len(rawData) == 0 {
+		return []string{}, nil
+	}
+
+	var devfiles []interface{}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(rawData, &devfiles); err != nil {
+		return []string{}, err
+	}
+
+	images := make([]string, 0)
+
+	for i := range devfiles {
+		devfile, ok := devfiles[i].(map[string]interface{})
+		if !ok {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		images = append(images, p.extractContainerImages(devfile)...)
+	}
+
+	return images, nil
+}
+
+// extractContainerImages retrieves images from container components of the devfile.
+func (p *ExternalImagesProvider) extractContainerImages(devfile map[string]interface{}) []string {
+	devfileImages := make([]string, 0)
+
+	components, ok := devfile["components"].([]interface{})
+	if !ok {
+		return []string{}
+	}
+
+	for k := range components {
+		component, ok := components[k].(map[string]interface{})
+		if !ok {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		container, ok := component["container"].(map[string]interface{})
+		if !ok {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		if image, ok := container["image"].(string); ok {
+			devfileImages = append(devfileImages, image)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return devfileImages
+}
+
+func getDashboardBaseInternalURL(ctx *chetypes.DeployContext) string {
+	namespace := ctx.CheCluster.Namespace
+	serviceName := defaults.GetCheFlavor() + "-dashboard"
+	return fmt.Sprintf("http://%s.%s.svc:8080/dashboard/api", serviceName, namespace)
+}
+
+func getDashboardEditorsInternalAPIUrl(ctx *chetypes.DeployContext) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s/editors", getDashboardBaseInternalURL(ctx))
+}
+
+func getDashboardSamplesInternalAPIUrl(ctx *chetypes.DeployContext) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s/airgap-sample", getDashboardBaseInternalURL(ctx))
+}
+
+func fetchRawData(url string) ([]byte, error) {
+	client := &http.Client{
+		Transport: &http.Transport{},
+		Timeout:   time.Second * 5,
+	}
+
+	request, err := http.NewRequest("GET", url, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		return []byte{}, err
+	}
+
+	response, err := client.Do(request)
+	if err != nil {
+		return []byte{}, err
+	}
+
+	defer func() {
+		if err := response.Body.Close(); err != nil {
+			logger.Error(err, "unable to close response body")
+		}
+	}()
+
+	if response.StatusCode < 200 || response.StatusCode >= 300 {
+		return []byte{}, fmt.Errorf("unexpected status code %d for URL %s", response.StatusCode, url)
+	}
+
+	rawData, err := io.ReadAll(response.Body)
+	if err != nil {
+		return []byte{}, err
+	}
+
+	return rawData, nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/deploy/image-puller/externalImages_test.go b/pkg/deploy/image-puller/externalImages_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1c13dcf90e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/deploy/image-puller/externalImages_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+//
+// Copyright (c) 2019-2024 Red Hat, Inc.
+// This program and the accompanying materials are made
+// available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License 2.0
+// which is available at https://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-2.0/
+//
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: EPL-2.0
+//
+// Contributors:
+//   Red Hat, Inc. - initial API and implementation
+//
+
+package imagepuller
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/eclipse-che/che-operator/pkg/common/test"
+
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestGetExternalImages(t *testing.T) {
+	type testCase struct {
+		name           string
+		editorsFile    string
+		samplesFile    string
+		expectedImages []string
+	}
+
+	testCases := []testCase{
+		{
+			name:           "both editors and samples images",
+			editorsFile:    "image-puller-resources-test/editors.json",
+			samplesFile:    "image-puller-resources-test/samples.json",
+			expectedImages: []string{"image_1", "image_2", "image_3"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:           "no external images",
+			editorsFile:    "image-puller-resources-test/empty.json",
+			samplesFile:    "image-puller-resources-test/empty.json",
+			expectedImages: nil,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range testCases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			ctx := test.NewCtxBuilder().Build()
+
+			editorsEndpointUrl := getDashboardEditorsInternalAPIUrl(ctx)
+			samplesEndpointUrl := getDashboardSamplesInternalAPIUrl(ctx)
+
+			imagesProvider := &ExternalImagesProvider{
+				imagesFilePath: filepath.Join(os.TempDir(), externalImagesStoreFileName),
+				fetchRawDataFunc: func(url string) ([]byte, error) {
+					switch url {
+					case editorsEndpointUrl:
+						return os.ReadFile(tc.editorsFile)
+					case samplesEndpointUrl:
+						return os.ReadFile(tc.samplesFile)
+					case "sample_1_url":
+						return os.ReadFile("image-puller-resources-test/sample_1.yaml")
+					case "sample_2_url":
+						return os.ReadFile("image-puller-resources-test/sample_2.yaml")
+					default:
+						return []byte{}, fmt.Errorf("unexpected url: %s", url)
+					}
+				},
+			}
+
+			images, err := imagesProvider.Get(ctx)
+
+			assert.NoError(t, err)
+			assert.Equal(t, tc.expectedImages, images)
+
+			data, err := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(os.TempDir(), externalImagesStoreFileName))
+			assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+			expectedFileContent := strings.Join(tc.expectedImages, "\n")
+			assert.Equal(t, expectedFileContent, string(data))
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/deploy/image-puller/image-puller-resources-test/editors.json b/pkg/deploy/image-puller/image-puller-resources-test/editors.json
index 612e150643..b49062a780 100644
--- a/pkg/deploy/image-puller/image-puller-resources-test/editors.json
+++ b/pkg/deploy/image-puller/image-puller-resources-test/editors.json
@@ -21,6 +21,15 @@
       }
     ]
   },
+  {
+    "components": [
+      {
+        "container": {
+          "image": "image_2"
+        }
+      }
+    ]
+  },
   {
     "components": [
       {
diff --git a/pkg/deploy/image-puller/image-puller-resources-test/empty.json b/pkg/deploy/image-puller/image-puller-resources-test/empty.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0637a088a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/deploy/image-puller/image-puller-resources-test/empty.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+[]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pkg/deploy/image-puller/image-puller-resources-test/sample_2.yaml b/pkg/deploy/image-puller/image-puller-resources-test/sample_2.yaml
index cd3f24145b..062adf7f6d 100644
--- a/pkg/deploy/image-puller/image-puller-resources-test/sample_2.yaml
+++ b/pkg/deploy/image-puller/image-puller-resources-test/sample_2.yaml
@@ -18,4 +18,6 @@ components:
       container:
           image: image_3
     - name: tools_2
-
+    - name: tools_3
+      container:
+        image: image_1
diff --git a/pkg/deploy/image-puller/imagepuller.go b/pkg/deploy/image-puller/imagepuller.go
index b728c7cc01..82949c35a7 100644
--- a/pkg/deploy/image-puller/imagepuller.go
+++ b/pkg/deploy/image-puller/imagepuller.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ package imagepuller
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"os"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
@@ -49,38 +50,31 @@ const (
 	defaultConfigMapName    = "k8s-image-puller"
 	defaultDeploymentName   = "kubernetes-image-puller"
 	defaultImagePullerImage = "quay.io/eclipse/kubernetes-image-puller:next"
-
-	externalImagesFilePath = "/tmp/external_images.txt"
 )
 
 type ImagePuller struct {
 	reconciler.Reconcilable
-	imageProvider DefaultImagesProvider
+	externalImages *ExternalImagesProvider
 }
 
 func NewImagePuller() *ImagePuller {
 	return &ImagePuller{
-		imageProvider: NewDashboardApiDefaultImagesProvider(),
+		externalImages: NewExternalImagesProvider(),
 	}
 }
 
 func (ip *ImagePuller) Reconcile(ctx *chetypes.DeployContext) (reconcile.Result, bool, error) {
-	defaultImages, err := ip.imageProvider.get(ctx.CheCluster.Namespace)
+	externalImages, err := ip.externalImages.Get(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
-		logger.Error(err, "Failed to get default images", "error", err)
-
-		// Don't block the reconciliation if we can't get the default images
-		return reconcile.Result{}, true, nil
-	}
-
-	// Always fetch and persist the default images before actual sync.
-	// The purpose is to ability read them from the file on demand by admin (should be documented)
-	err = ip.imageProvider.persist(defaultImages, externalImagesFilePath)
-	if err != nil {
-		logger.Error(err, "Failed to save default images", "error", err)
-
-		// Don't block the reconciliation if we can't save the default images on FS
-		return reconcile.Result{}, true, nil
+		// Previously, failures to get external images didn't block reconciliation.
+		// Actually it should not happen, because all requests go to dashboard service (not external url).
+		// Added a workaround env var to ignore failures in case of any possible issues.
+		ignoreGetExternalImagesFailures := os.Getenv("CHE_OPERATOR__GET_EXTERNAL_IMAGES__IGNORE_FAILURES")
+		if ignoreGetExternalImagesFailures == "true" {
+			logger.Error(err, "Failed to get external images")
+		} else {
+			return reconcile.Result{}, false, err
+		}
 	}
 
 	if ctx.CheCluster.Spec.Components.ImagePuller.Enable {
@@ -89,7 +83,7 @@ func (ip *ImagePuller) Reconcile(ctx *chetypes.DeployContext) (reconcile.Result,
 			return reconcile.Result{}, false, errors.New(errMsg)
 		}
 
-		if done, err := ip.syncKubernetesImagePuller(defaultImages, ctx); !done {
+		if done, err := ip.syncKubernetesImagePuller(externalImages, ctx); !done {
 			return reconcile.Result{RequeueAfter: time.Second}, false, err
 		}
 	} else {
@@ -109,7 +103,7 @@ func (ip *ImagePuller) Finalize(ctx *chetypes.DeployContext) bool {
 }
 
 func (ip *ImagePuller) uninstallImagePuller(ctx *chetypes.DeployContext) (bool, error) {
-	// Keep it here for backward compatability
+	// Keep it here for backward compatibility
 	if err := deploy.DeleteFinalizer(ctx, finalizerName); err != nil {
 		return false, err
 	}
@@ -129,7 +123,7 @@ func (ip *ImagePuller) uninstallImagePuller(ctx *chetypes.DeployContext) (bool,
 	return true, nil
 }
 
-func (ip *ImagePuller) syncKubernetesImagePuller(defaultImages []string, ctx *chetypes.DeployContext) (bool, error) {
+func (ip *ImagePuller) syncKubernetesImagePuller(externalImages []string, ctx *chetypes.DeployContext) (bool, error) {
 	imagePuller := &chev1alpha1.KubernetesImagePuller{
 		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
 			APIVersion: chev1alpha1.GroupVersion.String(),
@@ -153,7 +147,7 @@ func (ip *ImagePuller) syncKubernetesImagePuller(defaultImages []string, ctx *ch
 	imagePuller.Spec.DeploymentName = utils.GetValue(imagePuller.Spec.DeploymentName, defaultDeploymentName)
 	imagePuller.Spec.ImagePullerImage = utils.GetValue(imagePuller.Spec.ImagePullerImage, defaultImagePullerImage)
 	if strings.TrimSpace(imagePuller.Spec.Images) == "" {
-		imagePuller.Spec.Images = convertToSpecField(defaultImages)
+		imagePuller.Spec.Images = convertToSpecField(externalImages)
 	}
 
 	return deploy.SyncForClient(ctx.ClusterAPI.NonCachingClient, ctx, imagePuller, kubernetesImagePullerDiffOpts)
@@ -173,7 +167,7 @@ func convertToSpecField(images []string) string {
 			name = "image"
 		}
 
-		// Adding index make the name unique
+		// Adding index makes the name unique
 		specField += fmt.Sprintf("%s-%d=%s;", name, index, image)
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/deploy/image-puller/imagepuller_test.go b/pkg/deploy/image-puller/imagepuller_test.go
index ce70e70cba..487859a6e2 100644
--- a/pkg/deploy/image-puller/imagepuller_test.go
+++ b/pkg/deploy/image-puller/imagepuller_test.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ package imagepuller
 import (
 	"context"
 	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client"
 
@@ -141,8 +142,9 @@ func TestImagePullerConfiguration(t *testing.T) {
 			ctx := test.NewCtxBuilder().WithCheCluster(testCase.cheCluster).WithObjects(testCase.initObjects...).Build()
 
 			ip := &ImagePuller{
-				imageProvider: &DashboardApiDefaultImagesProvider{
-					requestRawDataFunc: func(url string) ([]byte, error) {
+				externalImages: &ExternalImagesProvider{
+					imagesFilePath: filepath.Join(os.TempDir(), externalImagesStoreFileName),
+					fetchRawDataFunc: func(url string) ([]byte, error) {
 						return os.ReadFile(testCase.testCaseFilePath)
 					},
 				},