diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 78d080c..8212049 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -43,6 +43,39 @@ Or run directly:
 go run ./cmd/virtwork --help
 ```
 
+## Golden Container Disk Image (Optional)
+
+For faster VM boot times, virtwork provides a golden container disk image with all workload tools pre-installed:
+
+- **stress-ng** (CPU/memory workloads)
+- **fio** (disk I/O workloads)
+- **iperf3** (network workloads)
+- **postgresql-server** (database workloads)
+- **tc, iptables** (chaos engineering tools)
+
+Using this image reduces VM boot time by 2-5 minutes by eliminating package installation.
+
+### Using the Golden Image
+
+```bash
+# Use via CLI flag
+virtwork run --container-disk-image quay.io/opdev/virtwork-disk:latest
+
+# Or via environment variable
+export VIRTWORK_CONTAINER_DISK_IMAGE=quay.io/opdev/virtwork-disk:latest
+virtwork run
+
+# Or via config file
+echo "container_disk_image: quay.io/opdev/virtwork-disk:latest" > config.yaml
+virtwork run --config config.yaml
+```
+
+### Building the Golden Image
+
+See [build/golden-image/README.md](build/golden-image/README.md) for build instructions.
+
+**Note**: The golden image is optional. If you use the default Fedora image, packages will be installed at VM boot time via cloud-init as usual.
+
 ## Quick Start
 
 ```bash
diff --git a/build/golden-image/Containerfile b/build/golden-image/Containerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f0b7376
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build/golden-image/Containerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+# Golden Container Disk Image for virtwork
+# Copyright 2026 Red Hat
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+FROM quay.io/containerdisks/fedora:41
+
+LABEL io.k8s.display-name="virtwork-disk" \
+      io.k8s.description="Fedora 41 container disk with virtwork workload tools pre-installed" \
+      summary="Container disk for virtwork with CPU, memory, database, network, and disk tools" \
+      description="Pre-built Fedora 41 container disk with stress-ng, fio, iperf3, postgresql-server, and chaos engineering tools for faster VM boot times" \
+      name="virtwork-disk" \
+      version="1.0" \
+      maintainer="OpenDev Community"
+
+# Install all workload tools in a single layer to minimize image size
+# Clean DNF cache to reduce final image size
+RUN dnf install -y \
+    stress-ng \
+    fio \
+    iperf3 \
+    postgresql-server \
+    iproute-tc \
+    iptables-nft \
+    && dnf clean all \
+    && rm -rf /var/cache/dnf
+
+# Verify all critical binaries are present
+RUN which stress-ng && \
+    which fio && \
+    which iperf3 && \
+    which pgbench && \
+    which tc && \
+    which iptables-nft
+
+# Expose metadata for KubeVirt compatibility
+# The containerdisk format expects the disk image to be at /disk/
+# This is already handled by the base fedora:41 image
diff --git a/build/golden-image/README.md b/build/golden-image/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7161bea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build/golden-image/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,141 @@
+# Golden Container Disk Image
+
+This directory contains the Containerfile and build scripts for the virtwork golden container disk image.
+
+## Overview
+
+The golden image is based on `quay.io/containerdisks/fedora:41` and includes all tools needed for virtwork workloads pre-installed. This eliminates package installation at VM boot time, reducing startup time by 2-5 minutes.
+
+### Pre-installed Tools
+
+- **stress-ng** — CPU and memory stress testing (cpu, memory workloads)
+- **fio** — Flexible I/O tester for disk benchmarking (disk workload)
+- **iperf3** — Network performance testing (network workload)
+- **postgresql-server** — PostgreSQL database with pgbench (database workload)
+- **iproute-tc** — Traffic control for network chaos engineering (future chaos workloads)
+- **iptables-nft** — Firewall rules for network partition simulation (future chaos workloads)
+
+Additional tools like `fallocate`, `dd`, `kill`, and `pkill` are already present in the base Fedora image.
+
+## Building
+
+### Prerequisites
+
+- Podman or Docker installed
+- Network access to pull `quay.io/containerdisks/fedora:41`
+
+### Build Locally
+
+```bash
+./build.sh
+```
+
+This builds the image as `quay.io/opdev/virtwork-disk:latest` (local copy, not pushed to registry).
+
+### Build and Push
+
+```bash
+PUSH=true ./build.sh
+```
+
+This builds and pushes to `quay.io/opdev/virtwork-disk:latest`. Requires authentication to the registry.
+
+### Build with Custom Registry
+
+```bash
+REGISTRY=my.registry.io ./build.sh
+```
+
+### Build with Custom Tag
+
+```bash
+TAG=1.0.0 ./build.sh
+```
+
+### Environment Variables
+
+| Variable | Description | Default |
+|----------|-------------|---------|
+| `REGISTRY` | Container registry hostname | `quay.io/opdev` |
+| `IMAGE_NAME` | Image name | `virtwork-disk` |
+| `TAG` | Image tag | `latest` |
+| `PUSH` | Push to registry after building | `false` |
+
+## Testing
+
+After building, verify tools are present:
+
+```bash
+podman run --rm quay.io/opdev/virtwork-disk:latest /bin/bash -c "stress-ng --version"
+podman run --rm quay.io/opdev/virtwork-disk:latest /bin/bash -c "fio --version"
+podman run --rm quay.io/opdev/virtwork-disk:latest /bin/bash -c "iperf3 --version"
+podman run --rm quay.io/opdev/virtwork-disk:latest /bin/bash -c "psql --version"
+```
+
+## Using the Golden Image
+
+The golden image is **optional**. To use it with virtwork:
+
+### CLI Flag
+
+```bash
+virtwork run --container-disk-image quay.io/opdev/virtwork-disk:latest
+```
+
+### Environment Variable
+
+```bash
+export VIRTWORK_CONTAINER_DISK_IMAGE=quay.io/opdev/virtwork-disk:latest
+virtwork run
+```
+
+### Config File
+
+```yaml
+# config.yaml
+container_disk_image: quay.io/opdev/virtwork-disk:latest
+```
+
+```bash
+virtwork run --config config.yaml
+```
+
+## Image Size
+
+The golden image adds approximately **34MB** to the base Fedora 41 container disk image:
+
+- Base Fedora 41 container disk: ~600MB
+- Golden image: ~634MB
+
+## Design Decisions
+
+### Why Keep Package Installation in Cloud-Init?
+
+DNF is **idempotent** — when it tries to install a package that's already present, it completes instantly with "Package X is already installed" messages.
+
+This means:
+- **Golden image users**: Get instant package "installation" (already there) — saves 2-5 minutes
+- **Default Fedora users**: Get normal package installation at boot
+- **Same workload code**: Works for both images without conditional logic
+
+### Why Not Remove Packages from Cloud-Init?
+
+Removing package installation from workload code would require:
+- Changes to all 5 workload implementations
+- Changes to all workload tests
+- Conditional logic to detect which image is in use
+- Maintaining two code paths
+
+The current approach is simpler and maintains backward compatibility.
+
+## Future Enhancements
+
+1. **Multi-architecture support**: Build for arm64 in addition to amd64
+2. **Automated builds**: GitHub Actions workflow on schedule
+3. **Image scanning**: Add Trivy security scanning
+4. **Semantic versioning**: Pin specific package versions for reproducibility
+5. **Image variants**: Create minimal/full variants for different use cases
+
+## License
+
+Apache License 2.0. See [LICENSE](../../LICENSE).
diff --git a/build/golden-image/build.sh b/build/golden-image/build.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..5b72ddf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build/golden-image/build.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Build script for virtwork golden container disk image
+# Copyright 2026 Red Hat
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+REGISTRY="${REGISTRY:-quay.io/opdev}"
+IMAGE_NAME="${IMAGE_NAME:-virtwork-disk}"
+TAG="${TAG:-latest}"
+FULL_IMAGE="${REGISTRY}/${IMAGE_NAME}:${TAG}"
+
+echo "Building golden container disk image: ${FULL_IMAGE}"
+echo "======================================================"
+
+# Build the image
+podman build \
+  --tag "${FULL_IMAGE}" \
+  --file Containerfile \
+  .
+
+echo ""
+echo "Image built successfully: ${FULL_IMAGE}"
+echo ""
+
+# Optional: push to registry
+if [[ "${PUSH:-false}" == "true" ]]; then
+  echo "Pushing image to registry..."
+  podman push "${FULL_IMAGE}"
+  echo "Image pushed successfully"
+  echo ""
+fi
+
+# Verify the image contains expected tools
+echo "Verifying installed tools..."
+echo "=============================="
+podman run --rm "${FULL_IMAGE}" /bin/bash -c "
+  which stress-ng && echo '✓ stress-ng found' || echo '✗ stress-ng MISSING' &&
+  which fio && echo '✓ fio found' || echo '✗ fio MISSING' &&
+  which iperf3 && echo '✓ iperf3 found' || echo '✗ iperf3 MISSING' &&
+  which pgbench && echo '✓ pgbench found' || echo '✗ pgbench MISSING' &&
+  which tc && echo '✓ tc found' || echo '✗ tc MISSING' &&
+  which iptables-nft && echo '✓ iptables-nft found' || echo '✗ iptables-nft MISSING'
+"
+
+echo ""
+echo "======================================================"
+echo "Build complete!"
+echo "Image: ${FULL_IMAGE}"
+echo ""
+echo "To push this image to the registry, run:"
+echo "  PUSH=true ./build.sh"
+echo ""
+echo "To use a custom registry, run:"
+echo "  REGISTRY=my.registry.io ./build.sh"