diff --git a/.github/actions/e2e/setup-cluster/action.yaml b/.github/actions/e2e/setup-cluster/action.yaml
index c829662294f0..4f357f9b70d6 100644
--- a/.github/actions/e2e/setup-cluster/action.yaml
+++ b/.github/actions/e2e/setup-cluster/action.yaml
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ inputs:
     default: "1.29"
   eksctl_version:
     description: "Version of eksctl to install"
-    default: v0.169.0
+    default: v0.175.0
   ip_family:
     description: "IP Family of the cluster. Valid values are IPv4 or IPv6"
     default: "IPv4"
@@ -152,6 +152,8 @@ runs:
           minSize: 2
           maxSize: 2
           iam:
+            withAddonPolicies:
+              cloudWatch: true
             instanceRolePermissionsBoundary: "arn:aws:iam::$ACCOUNT_ID:policy/GithubActionsPermissionsBoundary"
           taints:
           - key: CriticalAddonsOnly
@@ -175,6 +177,8 @@ runs:
         $KARPENTER_IAM
         withOIDC: true
       addons:
+      - name: amazon-cloudwatch-observability
+        permissionsBoundary: "arn:aws:iam::$ACCOUNT_ID:policy/GithubActionsPermissionsBoundary"
       - name: vpc-cni
         permissionsBoundary: "arn:aws:iam::$ACCOUNT_ID:policy/GithubActionsPermissionsBoundary"
       - name: coredns
@@ -269,3 +273,13 @@ runs:
       k8s_version: ${{ inputs.k8s_version }}
       git_ref: ${{ inputs.git_ref }}
       private_cluster: ${{ inputs.private_cluster }}
+  - name: log retention policy
+    shell: bash
+    if: ${{ inputs.private_cluster == 'false' }}
+    env:
+      CLUSTER_NAME: ${{ inputs.cluster_name }}
+    run: |
+      aws logs put-retention-policy --log-group-name /aws/containerinsights/$CLUSTER_NAME/application --retention-in-days 30
+      aws logs put-retention-policy --log-group-name /aws/containerinsights/$CLUSTER_NAME/dataplane --retention-in-days 30
+      aws logs put-retention-policy --log-group-name /aws/containerinsights/$CLUSTER_NAME/host --retention-in-days 30
+      aws logs put-retention-policy --log-group-name /aws/containerinsights/$CLUSTER_NAME/performance --retention-in-days 30
diff --git a/.github/workflows/e2e-upgrade.yaml b/.github/workflows/e2e-upgrade.yaml
index 0ad5a6e3f3e0..29ca28346cf8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/e2e-upgrade.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/e2e-upgrade.yaml
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ jobs:
           region: ${{ inputs.region }}
           cluster_name: ${{ steps.generate-cluster-name.outputs.CLUSTER_NAME }}
           k8s_version: ${{ inputs.k8s_version }}
-          eksctl_version: v0.169.0
+          eksctl_version: v0.175.0
           ip_family: IPv4 # Set the value to IPv6 if IPv6 suite, else IPv4
           git_ref: ${{ inputs.from_git_ref }}
           ecr_account_id: ${{ vars.SNAPSHOT_ACCOUNT_ID }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/e2e.yaml b/.github/workflows/e2e.yaml
index dc120754be4a..95d90cc7f033 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/e2e.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/e2e.yaml
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ jobs:
           region: ${{ inputs.region }}
           cluster_name: ${{ steps.generate-cluster-name.outputs.CLUSTER_NAME }}
           k8s_version: ${{ inputs.k8s_version }}
-          eksctl_version: v0.169.0
+          eksctl_version: v0.175.0
           ip_family: ${{ contains(inputs.suite, 'IPv6') && 'IPv6' || 'IPv4' }} # Set the value to IPv6 if IPv6 suite, else IPv4
           private_cluster: ${{ inputs.workflow_trigger == 'private_cluster' }}
           git_ref: ${{ inputs.git_ref }}