diff --git a/ansible/vars.yml b/ansible/vars.yml
index a63b20e4e..a833ef9de 100644
--- a/ansible/vars.yml
+++ b/ansible/vars.yml
@@ -9,9 +9,9 @@ postgres_major:
 
 # Full version strings for each major version
 postgres_release:
-  postgresorioledb-17: "17.0.1.55-orioledb"
-  postgres17: "17.4.1.005"
-  postgres15: "15.8.1.062"
+  postgresorioledb-17: "17.0.1.56-orioledb"
+  postgres17: "17.4.1.006"
+  postgres15: "15.8.1.063"
 
 # Non Postgres Extensions
 pgbouncer_release: "1.19.0"
diff --git a/ebssurrogate/scripts/qemu-bootstrap-nix.sh b/ebssurrogate/scripts/qemu-bootstrap-nix.sh
index bdef92da0..1d7a172cf 100755
--- a/ebssurrogate/scripts/qemu-bootstrap-nix.sh
+++ b/ebssurrogate/scripts/qemu-bootstrap-nix.sh
@@ -104,6 +104,13 @@ EOF
 		--extra-vars "psql_version=psql_${POSTGRES_MAJOR_VERSION}"
 }
 
+function clean_legacy_things {
+    # removes things that are bundled for legacy reasons, but we can start without for our newer artifacts
+    apt-get unmark zlib1g* # TODO (darora): need to make sure that there aren't other things that still need this
+    apt-get -y purge kong
+    apt-get autoremove -y
+}
+
 function clean_system {
 	# Copy cleanup scripts
 	chmod +x /tmp/ansible-playbook/scripts/90-cleanup-qemu.sh
@@ -146,5 +153,6 @@ execute_stage2_playbook
 # we do not want to ship an initialized DB as this is performed as needed
 mkdir -p /db/template
 mv /data/pgdata /db/template
+clean_legacy_things
 clean_system
 cloud-init clean --logs