diff --git a/.gitlab-ci/packet.yml b/.gitlab-ci/packet.yml
index d7a95c3e8..47b4690cd 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci/packet.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci/packet.yml
@@ -51,6 +51,11 @@ packet_ubuntu20-aio-docker:
   extends: .packet_pr
   when: on_success
 
+packet_ubuntu20-calico-aio-hardening:
+  stage: deploy-part2
+  extends: .packet_pr
+  when: on_success
+
 packet_ubuntu18-calico-aio:
   stage: deploy-part2
   extends: .packet_pr
diff --git a/tests/files/packet_ubuntu20-calico-aio-hardening.yml b/tests/files/packet_ubuntu20-calico-aio-hardening.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c013f7954
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/files/packet_ubuntu20-calico-aio-hardening.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+---
+# Instance settings
+cloud_image: ubuntu-2004
+mode: aio
+
+# Kubespray settings
+auto_renew_certificates: true
+
+# Currently ipvs not available on KVM: https://packages.ubuntu.com/search?suite=focal&arch=amd64&mode=exactfilename&searchon=contents&keywords=ip_vs_sh.ko
+kube_proxy_mode: iptables
+enable_nodelocaldns: False
+
+# The followings are for hardening
+## kube-apiserver
+authorization_modes: ['Node', 'RBAC']
+# AppArmor-based OS
+kube_apiserver_feature_gates: ['AppArmor=true']
+kube_apiserver_request_timeout: 120s
+kube_apiserver_service_account_lookup: true
+
+# enable kubernetes audit
+kubernetes_audit: true
+audit_log_path: "/var/log/kube-apiserver-log.json"
+audit_log_maxage: 30
+audit_log_maxbackups: 10
+audit_log_maxsize: 100
+
+tls_min_version: VersionTLS12
+tls_cipher_suites:
+  - TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
+  - TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
+  - TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_CHACHA20_POLY1305
+
+# enable encryption at rest
+kube_encrypt_secret_data: true
+kube_encryption_resources: [secrets]
+kube_encryption_algorithm: "secretbox"
+
+kube_apiserver_enable_admission_plugins: ['EventRateLimit,AlwaysPullImages,ServiceAccount,NamespaceLifecycle,NodeRestriction,LimitRanger,ResourceQuota,MutatingAdmissionWebhook,ValidatingAdmissionWebhook,PodNodeSelector,PodSecurity']
+kube_apiserver_admission_control_config_file: true
+# EventRateLimit plugin configuration
+kube_apiserver_admission_event_rate_limits:
+  limit_1:
+    type: Namespace
+    qps: 50
+    burst: 100
+    cache_size: 2000
+  limit_2:
+    type: User
+    qps: 50
+    burst: 100
+kube_profiling: false
+
+## kube-controller-manager
+kube_controller_manager_bind_address: 127.0.0.1
+kube_controller_terminated_pod_gc_threshold: 50
+# AppArmor-based OS
+kube_controller_feature_gates: ["RotateKubeletServerCertificate=true", "AppArmor=true"]
+
+## kube-scheduler
+kube_scheduler_bind_address: 127.0.0.1
+kube_kubeadm_scheduler_extra_args:
+  profiling: false
+# AppArmor-based OS
+kube_scheduler_feature_gates: ["AppArmor=true"]
+
+## etcd
+etcd_deployment_type: kubeadm
+
+## kubelet
+kubelet_authentication_token_webhook: true
+kube_read_only_port: 0
+kubelet_rotate_server_certificates: true
+kubelet_protect_kernel_defaults: true
+kubelet_event_record_qps: 1
+kubelet_rotate_certificates: true
+kubelet_streaming_connection_idle_timeout: "5m"
+kubelet_make_iptables_util_chains: true
+kubelet_feature_gates: ["RotateKubeletServerCertificate=true", "SeccompDefault=true"]
+kubelet_seccomp_default: true
+kubelet_systemd_hardening: true
+# In case you have multiple interfaces in your
+# control plane nodes and you want to specify the right
+# IP addresses, kubelet_secure_addresses allows you
+# to specify the IP from which the kubelet
+# will receive the packets.
+# kubelet_secure_addresses: "192.168.10.110 192.168.10.111 192.168.10.112"
+
+# additional configurations
+kube_owner: root
+kube_cert_group: root
+
+# create a default Pod Security Configuration and deny running of insecure pods
+# kube-system namespace is exempted by default
+kube_pod_security_use_default: true
+kube_pod_security_default_enforce: restricted
diff --git a/tests/scripts/testcases_run.sh b/tests/scripts/testcases_run.sh
index 5947309df..eac0afe72 100755
--- a/tests/scripts/testcases_run.sh
+++ b/tests/scripts/testcases_run.sh
@@ -47,6 +47,13 @@ if [[ "$CI_JOB_NAME" =~ "ubuntu" ]]; then
   CI_TEST_ADDITIONAL_VARS="-e ansible_python_interpreter=/usr/bin/python3"
 fi
 
+ENABLE_040_TEST="true"
+if [[ "$CI_JOB_NAME" =~ "hardening" ]]; then
+  # TODO: We need to remove this condition by finding alternative container
+  # image instead of netchecker which doesn't work at hardening environments.
+  ENABLE_040_TEST="false"
+fi
+
 # Check out latest tag if testing upgrade
 test "${UPGRADE_TEST}" != "false" && git fetch --all && git checkout "$KUBESPRAY_VERSION"
 # Checkout the CI vars file so it is available
@@ -85,7 +92,9 @@ ansible-playbook --limit "all:!fake_hosts" -e @${CI_TEST_VARS} ${CI_TEST_ADDITIO
 ansible-playbook --limit "all:!fake_hosts" -e @${CI_TEST_VARS} ${CI_TEST_ADDITIONAL_VARS} tests/testcases/030_check-network.yml $ANSIBLE_LOG_LEVEL
 
 ## Advanced DNS checks
-ansible-playbook --limit "all:!fake_hosts" -e @${CI_TEST_VARS} ${CI_TEST_ADDITIONAL_VARS} tests/testcases/040_check-network-adv.yml $ANSIBLE_LOG_LEVEL
+if [ "${ENABLE_040_TEST}" = "true" ]; then
+  ansible-playbook --limit "all:!fake_hosts" -e @${CI_TEST_VARS} ${CI_TEST_ADDITIONAL_VARS} tests/testcases/040_check-network-adv.yml $ANSIBLE_LOG_LEVEL
+fi
 
 ## Kubernetes conformance tests
 ansible-playbook -i ${ANSIBLE_INVENTORY} -e @${CI_TEST_VARS} ${CI_TEST_ADDITIONAL_VARS} --limit "all:!fake_hosts" tests/testcases/100_check-k8s-conformance.yml $ANSIBLE_LOG_LEVEL