diff --git a/systemvm/debian/opt/cloud/bin/setup/init.sh b/systemvm/debian/opt/cloud/bin/setup/init.sh
index ae13700fffd..5507193c4df 100644
--- a/systemvm/debian/opt/cloud/bin/setup/init.sh
+++ b/systemvm/debian/opt/cloud/bin/setup/init.sh
@@ -112,6 +112,8 @@ config_guest() {
           fi
           ;;
      vmware)
+          # explicitly update the module dependencies
+          depmod -a
           # system time sync'd with host via vmware tools
           systemctl stop ntpd
           systemctl disable ntpd
diff --git a/tools/appliance/build.sh b/tools/appliance/build.sh
index 4865842d17b..fa5d0e853cc 100755
--- a/tools/appliance/build.sh
+++ b/tools/appliance/build.sh
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ function stage_vmx() {
 displayname = "${1}"
 annotation = "${1}"
 guestos = "otherlinux-64"
-virtualHW.version = "11"
+virtualHW.version = "13"
 config.version = "8"
 numvcpus = "1"
 cpuid.coresPerSocket = "1"
diff --git a/tools/appliance/systemvmtemplate/scripts/configure_grub.sh b/tools/appliance/systemvmtemplate/scripts/configure_grub.sh
index 231aa764449..f9103925b3b 100644
--- a/tools/appliance/systemvmtemplate/scripts/configure_grub.sh
+++ b/tools/appliance/systemvmtemplate/scripts/configure_grub.sh
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ function configure_grub() {
 GRUB_DEFAULT=0
 GRUB_TIMEOUT=0
 GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=Debian
-GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet"
+GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet fsck.mode=force fsck.repair=yes"
 GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="console=tty0 console=ttyS0,115200n8 console=hvc0 earlyprintk=xen net.ifnames=0 biosdevname=0 debian-installer=en_US nomodeset"
 GRUB_CMDLINE_XEN="com1=115200 console=com1"
 GRUB_TERMINAL="console serial"
diff --git a/tools/appliance/systemvmtemplate/template-base_aarch64-target_aarch64.json b/tools/appliance/systemvmtemplate/template-base_aarch64-target_aarch64.json
index 2ceadeaf742..67493c7c635 100644
--- a/tools/appliance/systemvmtemplate/template-base_aarch64-target_aarch64.json
+++ b/tools/appliance/systemvmtemplate/template-base_aarch64-target_aarch64.json
@@ -32,8 +32,8 @@
       "format": "qcow2",
       "headless": true,
       "http_directory": "http",
-      "iso_checksum": "sha512:14c2ca243ee7f6e447cc4466296d974ee36645c06d72043236c3fbea78f1948d3af88d65139105a475288f270e4b636e6885143d01bdf69462620d1825e470ae",
-      "iso_url": "https://cdimage.debian.org/mirror/cdimage/archive/12.5.0/arm64/iso-cd/debian-12.5.0-arm64-netinst.iso",
+      "iso_checksum": "sha512:fc3560bb586af14b1d77ab7c2806616916926afcbd5cb3fd5a04a5633dfd91cfbbccada1a123f1ea14c480153b731cbee72a230cea17fd9116b9df8444d8df1c",
+      "iso_url": "https://cdimage.debian.org/mirror/cdimage/release/12.7.0/arm64/iso-cd/debian-12.7.0-arm64-netinst.iso",
       "net_device": "virtio-net",
       "output_directory": "../dist",
       "qemu_binary": "qemu-system-aarch64",
diff --git a/tools/appliance/systemvmtemplate/template-base_x86_64-target_aarch64.json b/tools/appliance/systemvmtemplate/template-base_x86_64-target_aarch64.json
index b49ed17104a..ed03fd74942 100644
--- a/tools/appliance/systemvmtemplate/template-base_x86_64-target_aarch64.json
+++ b/tools/appliance/systemvmtemplate/template-base_x86_64-target_aarch64.json
@@ -31,8 +31,8 @@
       "format": "qcow2",
       "headless": true,
       "http_directory": "http",
-      "iso_checksum": "sha512:14c2ca243ee7f6e447cc4466296d974ee36645c06d72043236c3fbea78f1948d3af88d65139105a475288f270e4b636e6885143d01bdf69462620d1825e470ae",
-      "iso_url": "https://cdimage.debian.org/mirror/cdimage/archive/12.5.0/arm64/iso-cd/debian-12.5.0-arm64-netinst.iso",
+      "iso_checksum": "sha512:fc3560bb586af14b1d77ab7c2806616916926afcbd5cb3fd5a04a5633dfd91cfbbccada1a123f1ea14c480153b731cbee72a230cea17fd9116b9df8444d8df1c",
+      "iso_url": "https://cdimage.debian.org/mirror/cdimage/release/12.7.0/arm64/iso-cd/debian-12.7.0-arm64-netinst.iso",
       "net_device": "virtio-net",
       "output_directory": "../dist",
       "qemu_binary": "qemu-system-aarch64",
diff --git a/tools/appliance/systemvmtemplate/template-base_x86_64-target_x86_64.json b/tools/appliance/systemvmtemplate/template-base_x86_64-target_x86_64.json
index 5dc2051d127..e209d480334 100644
--- a/tools/appliance/systemvmtemplate/template-base_x86_64-target_x86_64.json
+++ b/tools/appliance/systemvmtemplate/template-base_x86_64-target_x86_64.json
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@
       "format": "qcow2",
       "headless": true,
       "http_directory": "http",
-      "iso_checksum": "sha512:33c08e56c83d13007e4a5511b9bf2c4926c4aa12fd5dd56d493c0653aecbab380988c5bf1671dbaea75c582827797d98c4a611f7fb2b131fbde2c677d5258ec9",
-      "iso_url": "https://cdimage.debian.org/mirror/cdimage/archive/12.5.0/amd64/iso-cd/debian-12.5.0-amd64-netinst.iso",
+      "iso_checksum": "sha512:e0bd9ba03084a6fd42413b425a2d20e3731678a31fe5fb2cc84f79332129afca2ad4ec897b4224d6a833afaf28a5d938b0fe5d680983182944162c6825b135ce",
+      "iso_url": "https://cdimage.debian.org/mirror/cdimage/release/12.7.0/amd64/iso-cd/debian-12.7.0-amd64-netinst.iso",
       "net_device": "virtio-net",
       "output_directory": "../dist",
       "qemuargs": [