diff --git a/.github/workflows/pull-request-commentor.yaml b/.github/workflows/pull-request-commentor.yaml
index 115732d75..7c6c6e749 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pull-request-commentor.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pull-request-commentor.yaml
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ jobs:
         k8s: ["1.25", "1.26", "1.27", "1.28", "1.29"]
         exclude:
           # the next Ceph-CSI version will not be tested with old Kubernetes
+          - k8s: "1.26"
+            branch: "devel"
           - k8s: "1.25"
             branch: "devel"
           - k8s: "1.25"
diff --git a/.mergify.yml b/.mergify.yml
index 935e40cc1..97c894e65 100644
--- a/.mergify.yml
+++ b/.mergify.yml
@@ -37,6 +37,28 @@ queue_rules:
               - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.26"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.27"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.28"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.29"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.26"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.27"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.28"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.29"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.26"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.27"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.28"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.29"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/upgrade-tests-cephfs"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/upgrade-tests-rbd"
+          - and:
+              - base=release-v3.10
+              - "status-success=codespell"
+              - "status-success=multi-arch-build"
+              - "status-success=go-test"
+              - "status-success=golangci-lint"
+              - "status-success=mod-check"
+              - "status-success=lint-extras"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.26"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.27"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.28"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.26"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.27"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.28"
@@ -72,15 +94,15 @@ queue_rules:
               - "status-success=golangci-lint"
               - "status-success=mod-check"
               - "status-success=lint-extras"
-              - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.26"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.27"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.28"
-              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.26"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.29"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.27"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.28"
-              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.26"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.29"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.27"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.28"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.29"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/upgrade-tests-cephfs"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/upgrade-tests-rbd"
           - and:
@@ -166,15 +188,15 @@ pull_request_rules:
               - "status-success=golangci-lint"
               - "status-success=mod-check"
               - "status-success=lint-extras"
-              - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.26"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.27"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.28"
-              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.26"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.29"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.27"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.28"
-              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.26"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.29"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.27"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.28"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.29"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/upgrade-tests-cephfs"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/upgrade-tests-rbd"
               - "status-success=DCO"
@@ -211,6 +233,35 @@ pull_request_rules:
               - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.26"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.27"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.28"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.29"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.26"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.27"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.28"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.29"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.26"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.27"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.28"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.29"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/upgrade-tests-cephfs"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/upgrade-tests-rbd"
+          - and:
+              - label!=DNM
+              - base=release-v3.10
+              - "#approved-reviews-by>=2"
+              - "#changes-requested-reviews-by=0"
+              - "approved-reviews-by=@ceph/ceph-csi-contributors"
+              - "approved-reviews-by=@ceph/ceph-csi-maintainers"
+              - "status-success=DCO"
+              - "status-success=codespell"
+              - "status-success=commitlint"
+              - "status-success=go-test"
+              - "status-success=golangci-lint"
+              - "status-success=lint-extras"
+              - "status-success=mod-check"
+              - "status-success=multi-arch-build"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.26"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.27"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.28"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.26"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.27"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.28"
@@ -259,15 +310,15 @@ pull_request_rules:
               - "status-success=commitlint"
               - "status-success=mod-check"
               - "status-success=lint-extras"
-              - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.26"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.27"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.28"
-              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.26"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.29"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.27"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.28"
-              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.26"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.29"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.27"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.28"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.29"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/upgrade-tests-cephfs"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/upgrade-tests-rbd"
               - "status-success=DCO"
@@ -317,15 +368,15 @@ pull_request_rules:
               - "status-success=mod-check"
               - "status-success=lint-extras"
               - "#changes-requested-reviews-by=0"
-              - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.26"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.27"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.28"
-              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.26"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.29"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.27"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.28"
-              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.26"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.29"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.27"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.28"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.29"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/upgrade-tests-cephfs"
               - "status-success=ci/centos/upgrade-tests-rbd"
               - "status-success=DCO"
diff --git a/build.env b/build.env
index 75448aaae..32e7dafcf 100644
--- a/build.env
+++ b/build.env
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ GOLANGCI_VERSION=v1.54.1
 
 # external snapshotter version
 # Refer: https://github.com/kubernetes-csi/external-snapshotter/releases
-SNAPSHOT_VERSION=v6.2.2
+SNAPSHOT_VERSION=v7.0.1
 
 # "go test" configuration
 # set to stdout or html to enable coverage reporting, disabled by default
diff --git a/scripts/install-snapshot.sh b/scripts/install-snapshot.sh
index eb72b2ae2..2f0b12b5d 100755
--- a/scripts/install-snapshot.sh
+++ b/scripts/install-snapshot.sh
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ SCRIPT_DIR="$(dirname "${0}")"
 # shellcheck source=build.env
 source "${SCRIPT_DIR}/../build.env"
 
+# shellcheck disable=SC1091
+[ ! -e "${SCRIPT_DIR}"/utils.sh ] || source "${SCRIPT_DIR}"/utils.sh
+
 SNAPSHOT_VERSION=${SNAPSHOT_VERSION:-"v5.0.1"}
 
 TEMP_DIR="$(mktemp -d)"
@@ -21,6 +24,11 @@ SNAPSHOTCLASS="${SNAPSHOTTER_URL}/client/config/crd/snapshot.storage.k8s.io_volu
 VOLUME_SNAPSHOT_CONTENT="${SNAPSHOTTER_URL}/client/config/crd/snapshot.storage.k8s.io_volumesnapshotcontents.yaml"
 VOLUME_SNAPSHOT="${SNAPSHOTTER_URL}/client/config/crd/snapshot.storage.k8s.io_volumesnapshots.yaml"
 
+# volumegroupsnapshot CRD
+VOLUME_GROUP_SNAPSHOTCLASS="${SNAPSHOTTER_URL}/client/config/crd/groupsnapshot.storage.k8s.io_volumegroupsnapshotclasses.yaml"
+VOLUME_GROUP_SNAPSHOT_CONTENT="${SNAPSHOTTER_URL}/client/config/crd/groupsnapshot.storage.k8s.io_volumegroupsnapshotcontents.yaml"
+VOLUME_GROUP_SNAPSHOT="${SNAPSHOTTER_URL}/client/config/crd/groupsnapshot.storage.k8s.io_volumegroupsnapshots.yaml"
+
 function install_snapshot_controller() {
     local namespace=$1
     if [ -z "${namespace}" ]; then
@@ -29,19 +37,19 @@ function install_snapshot_controller() {
 
     create_or_delete_resource "create" "${namespace}"
 
-    pod_ready=$(kubectl get pods -l app=snapshot-controller -n "${namespace}" -o jsonpath='{.items[0].status.containerStatuses[0].ready}')
+    pod_ready=$(kubectl_retry get pods -l app.kubernetes.io/name=snapshot-controller -n "${namespace}" -o jsonpath='{.items[0].status.containerStatuses[0].ready}')
     INC=0
     until [[ "${pod_ready}" == "true" || $INC -gt 20 ]]; do
         sleep 10
         ((++INC))
-        pod_ready=$(kubectl get pods -l app=snapshot-controller -n "${namespace}" -o jsonpath='{.items[0].status.containerStatuses[0].ready}')
+        pod_ready=$(kubectl_retry get pods -l app.kubernetes.io/name=snapshot-controller -n "${namespace}" -o jsonpath='{.items[0].status.containerStatuses[0].ready}')
         echo "snapshotter pod status: ${pod_ready}"
     done
 
     if [ "${pod_ready}" != "true" ]; then
         echo "snapshotter controller creation failed"
-        kubectl get pods -l app=snapshot-controller -n "${namespace}"
-        kubectl describe po -l app=snapshot-controller -n "${namespace}"
+        kubectl_retry get pods -l app.kubernetes.io/name=snapshot-controller -n "${namespace}"
+        kubectl_retry describe po -l app.kubernetes.io/name=snapshot-controller -n "${namespace}"
         exit 1
     fi
 
@@ -66,19 +74,31 @@ function create_or_delete_resource() {
     curl -o "${temp_snap_controller}" "${SNAPSHOT_CONTROLLER}"
     sed -i "s/namespace: kube-system/namespace: ${namespace}/g" "${temp_rbac}"
     sed -i "s/namespace: kube-system/namespace: ${namespace}/g" "${temp_snap_controller}"
-    sed -i "s/canary/${SNAPSHOT_VERSION}/g" "${temp_snap_controller}"
+    sed -i -E "s/(image: registry\.k8s\.io\/sig-storage\/snapshot-controller:).*$/\1$SNAPSHOT_VERSION/g" "${temp_snap_controller}"
 
-    kubectl "${operation}" -f "${temp_rbac}"
-    kubectl "${operation}" -f "${temp_snap_controller}" -n "${namespace}"
-    kubectl "${operation}" -f "${SNAPSHOTCLASS}"
-    kubectl "${operation}" -f "${VOLUME_SNAPSHOT_CONTENT}"
-    kubectl "${operation}" -f "${VOLUME_SNAPSHOT}"
-}
+    if [ "${operation}" == "create" ]; then
+        # Argument to add/update
+        ARGUMENT="--enable-volume-group-snapshots=true"
+        # Check if the argument is already present and set to false
+        if grep -q -E "^\s+-\s+--enable-volume-group-snapshots=false" "${temp_snap_controller}"; then
+            sed -i -E "s/^\s+-\s+--enable-volume-group-snapshots=false$/      - $ARGUMENT/" "${temp_snap_controller}"
+            # Check if the argument is already present and set to true
+        elif grep -q -E "^\s+-\s+--enable-volume-group-snapshots=true" "${temp_snap_controller}"; then
+            echo "Argument already present and matching."
+        else
+            # Add the argument if it's not present
+            sed -i -E "/^(\s+)args:/a\           \ - $ARGUMENT" "${temp_snap_controller}"
+        fi
+    fi
 
-function delete_snapshot_crd() {
-    kubectl delete -f "${SNAPSHOTCLASS}" --ignore-not-found
-    kubectl delete -f "${VOLUME_SNAPSHOT_CONTENT}" --ignore-not-found
-    kubectl delete -f "${VOLUME_SNAPSHOT}" --ignore-not-found
+    kubectl_retry "${operation}" -f "${VOLUME_GROUP_SNAPSHOTCLASS}"
+    kubectl_retry "${operation}" -f "${VOLUME_GROUP_SNAPSHOT_CONTENT}"
+    kubectl_retry "${operation}" -f "${VOLUME_GROUP_SNAPSHOT}"
+    kubectl_retry "${operation}" -f "${temp_rbac}"
+    kubectl_retry "${operation}" -f "${temp_snap_controller}" -n "${namespace}"
+    kubectl_retry "${operation}" -f "${SNAPSHOTCLASS}"
+    kubectl_retry "${operation}" -f "${VOLUME_SNAPSHOT_CONTENT}"
+    kubectl_retry "${operation}" -f "${VOLUME_SNAPSHOT}"
 }
 
 case "${1:-}" in