diff --git a/.github/workflows/update_version.yaml b/.github/workflows/update_version.yaml
index 2652d14..9cb907f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/update_version.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/update_version.yaml
@@ -11,17 +11,8 @@ on:
 jobs:
   generator:
     name: Generate Step for new CoreDNS versions
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    outputs:
-      tags: ${{ steps.fetch-upstream.outputs.tags }}
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     steps:
-      - name: Prepare environment
-        run: |
-          export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
-          sudo apt-get -qq update
-          sudo apt-get -qq install -y jq
-          sudo snap install yq
-
       - name: Checkout rock repository
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
@@ -36,49 +27,21 @@ jobs:
           fetch-tags: true
           fetch-depth: 0
 
-      - name: Itemize all releases
-        id: releases
-        run: |
-          rm -rf versions.txt
-          for rockcraft in $(find coredns-rock -name 'rockcraft.yaml'); do
-            echo $(yq '.version' $rockcraft) >> versions.txt
-          done
-          
-      - name: Craft from Upstream tags
-        id: fetch-upstream
+      - name: Craft using Make target
+        id: emit-rockcraft
         run: |
-          current_releases=( $(sort -V versions.txt) )
-          min_tag="v${current_releases[0]}"
-          coredns_tags=( $(git -C coredns tag --sort=v:refname | sed -n '/'${min_tag}'/,$p') )
-          new_tags=()
-
-          for coredns_tag in "${coredns_tags[@]}"
-          do
-             if [[ ! -e coredns-rock/${coredns_tag:1}/rockcraft.yaml ]]; then
-               new_tag=${coredns_tag:1}
-               new_tags+=($new_tag)
-               mkdir -p coredns-rock/${new_tag}
-               tag=${new_tag} envsubst < coredns-rock/template/rockcraft.yaml.in > coredns-rock/${new_tag}/rockcraft.yaml
-             fi
-          done
-
-          if [ ${#new_tags[@]} -eq 0 ]; then
-              tags='[]'
-          else
-              tags=$(printf '%s\n' "${new_tags[@]}" | jq -R . | jq --compact-output -s .)
-          fi
-
-          echo $tags
-          echo "tags=$tags" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          pushd coredns-rock
+          make COREDNS_GIT_DIR=../coredns update-component
+          popd
 
       - name: Commit and push new rockcraft.yaml
         id: commit-rockcraft
-        if: ${{ steps.fetch-upstream.outputs.tags != '[]' }}
+        if: ${{ steps.emit-rockcraft.outputs.tags != '[]' }}
         uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v7
         with:
-          commit-message: Update CoreDNS versions with ${{ join(fromJSON(steps.fetch-upstream.outputs.tags), ', ') }}
+          commit-message: Update CoreDNS versions with ${{ join(fromJSON(steps.emit-rockcraft.outputs.tags), ', ') }}
           title: "Update CoreDNS versions"
-          body: Update CoreDNS versions with ${{ join(fromJSON(steps.fetch-upstream.outputs.tags), ', ') }}
+          body: Update CoreDNS versions with ${{ join(fromJSON(steps.emit-rockcraft.outputs.tags), ', ') }}
           path: coredns-rock
           branch: autoupdate/sync/coredns
           delete-branch: true
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..59095d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# Contributing
+
+To make contributions to this rock, the only significant changes to be made are in the `Makefile` and the `build/` directory
+
+## Upgrading the components
+
+To Upgrade the rocks for new releases of coredns run the following make target:
+
+```shell
+make update-component
+```
+
+* if `jq` or `yq` are not installed on the system, they will be when the target for those items runs
+* this will clone the upstream coredns/coredns repo only for listing tags
+* it will create a new rockcraft yaml based on the tags missing from this repo
+* Raise a PR from a branch with the new rockcraft.yaml files
+
+
+## Testing
+
+To test the rocks, run the pytest sanity check test
+
+```shell
+cd tests
+tox -e sanity
+```
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9bc5c5b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+# Makefile for CoreDNS Rock
+# Description: This Makefile installs necessary tools and updates components.
+
+which_jq = $(shell which jq)
+which_yq = $(shell which yq)
+which_rockcraft = $(shell which rockcraft)
+COREDNS_GIT_DIR = /tmp/coredns.git
+
+.PHONY: JQ
+JQ:
+	@if [ -z "${which_jq}" ]; then \
+		echo "Installing jq..."; \
+		sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y jq; \
+	else \
+		echo "jq is installed @ ${which_jq}"; \
+	fi
+
+.PHONY: YQ
+YQ:
+	@if [ -z "$(which_yq)" ]; then \
+		echo "Installing yq..."; \
+		sudo snap install yq; \
+	else \
+		echo "yq is installed @ ${which_yq}"; \
+	fi
+
+.PHONY: ROCKCRAFT
+ROCKCRAFT:
+	@if [ -z "$(which_rockcraft)" ]; then \
+		echo "Installing rockcraft..."; \
+		sudo snap install rockcraft --classic; \
+	else \
+		echo "rockcraft is installed @ $(which_rockcraft)"; \
+	fi
+
+.PHONY: install-tools
+install-tools: JQ YQ ROCKCRAFT
+	@echo "Tools installed."
+
+.PHONY: clone-CoreDNS
+clone-CoreDNS:
+	@echo "Cloning CoreDNS..."
+	@if [ -d $(COREDNS_GIT_DIR) ]; then \
+		echo "CoreDNS already cloned."; \
+	else \
+		mkdir -p $(COREDNS_GIT_DIR); \
+		git clone --bare --filter=blob:none --no-checkout https://github.com/coredns/coredns.git $(COREDNS_GIT_DIR); \
+	fi
+
+.PHONY: update-component
+update-component: install-tools clone-CoreDNS
+	@echo "Updating component..."
+	@COREDNS_GIT_DIR=$(COREDNS_GIT_DIR) build/craft_release.sh
+
+# Target to remove the temporary directory
+clean:
+	@rm -rf $(COREDNS_GIT_DIR)
+	@echo "Temporary directory removed: $(COREDNS_GIT_DIR)"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/build/craft_release.sh b/build/craft_release.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..01c56a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build/craft_release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# This script is used to create a new release rock image from the included template
+set -eu
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")"
+REPO_DIR=$(dirname ${SCRIPT_DIR})
+VERSIONS=${SCRIPT_DIR}/../versions.txt
+
+function usage() {
+    if [[ -z ${COREDNS_GIT_DIR+x} ]]; then
+        echo "COREDNS_GIT_DIR is not set" > /dev/stderr
+        echo "   Clone with 'git clone --bare --filter=blob:none --no-checkout https://github.com/coredns/coredns.git /tmp/coredns.git'" > /dev/stderr
+        echo "   Re-run with 'COREDNS_GIT_DIR=/tmp/coredns.git $0'" > /dev/stderr
+        exit 1
+    fi
+}
+
+function create_rockcrafts(){
+    # Get the current releases from existing rockcraft yamls
+    rm -rf ${VERSIONS}
+    for rockcraft in $(find ${REPO_DIR} -name 'rockcraft.yaml'); do
+        echo $(yq '.version' $rockcraft) >> ${VERSIONS}
+    done
+    current_releases=( $(sort -V ${VERSIONS}) )
+    min_tag="v${current_releases[0]}"   # this is the oldest release tag we support
+    rm -rf ${VERSIONS}
+
+    # Get the tags from the coredns repo, ignoring all before the min_tag
+    coredns_tags=( $(git -C ${COREDNS_GIT_DIR} tag --sort=v:refname | sed -n '/'${min_tag}'/,$p') )
+    new_tags=()
+
+    for coredns_tag in "${coredns_tags[@]}"; do
+        if [[ ! -e ${REPO_DIR}/${coredns_tag:1}/rockcraft.yaml ]]; then
+            new_tag=${coredns_tag:1}
+            new_tags+=($new_tag)
+            echo "Creating rockcraft.yaml for ${new_tag}"
+            mkdir -p ${REPO_DIR}/${new_tag}
+            unset ignored_template_var
+            tag=${new_tag} envsubst < ${SCRIPT_DIR}/template/rockcraft.yaml.in > ${REPO_DIR}/${new_tag}/rockcraft.yaml
+        else
+            echo "Skipping ${coredns_tag} as it already exists"
+        fi
+    done
+
+    if [ ${#new_tags[@]} -eq 0 ]; then
+        tags='[]'
+    else
+        tags=$(printf '%s\n' "${new_tags[@]}" | jq -R . | jq --compact-output -s .)
+    fi
+    if [[ -v GITHUB_OUTPUT ]]; then
+        echo "tags=$tags" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+    fi
+}
+
+
+function main() {
+    usage
+    create_rockcrafts
+}
+
+main
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/template/rockcraft.yaml.in b/build/template/rockcraft.yaml.in
similarity index 88%
rename from template/rockcraft.yaml.in
rename to build/template/rockcraft.yaml.in
index 4986155..8eb1de0 100644
--- a/template/rockcraft.yaml.in
+++ b/build/template/rockcraft.yaml.in
@@ -34,4 +34,4 @@ parts:
       - ca-certificates_data
     override-build: |
       make
-      cp $CRAFT_PART_BUILD/coredns $CRAFT_PRIME
+      cp $${ignored_template_var}CRAFT_PART_BUILD/coredns $${ignored_template_var}CRAFT_PRIME