diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index dc59d60b173d0e026e079b6b3e7e6dfe6bdb12c9..cfe5164b8a47069de4558a8ef66f7c852dca4d1d 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ variables:
   variables:
     OCI_CACHE_PREFIX: ""
     UPDATE_SPACK_OCI_CACHES: false
+    BUILD_ENV_DOCKER_IMAGE: docker-registry.ebrains.eu/ebrains-spack-build-env/base:devel
   stage: build
   tags:
     - docker-runner
@@ -102,7 +103,9 @@ variables:
     SPACK_ENV: test
     RELEASE_NAME: EBRAINS-test
   rules:
-    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH && $CI_PROJECT_NAMESPACE =~ /platform\/esd/ && $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "push"
+    # - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH && $CI_PROJECT_NAMESPACE =~ /platform\/esd/ && $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "push"
+    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == spack_v0.23.0 && $CI_PROJECT_NAMESPACE =~ /platform\/esd/ && $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "push"
+      when: manual
 
 # deploy the experimental release of tools once a week from latest working version of int release 
 .deploy-exp-release: