diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 9fdb4ec..97e4d49 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ security_scanner:
   services:
    - docker:dind
   script:
-   - make images/debian-stretch.squashfs
+   - make images/debian-buster.squashfs
   artifacts:
     paths:
      - images
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f84b350..e8716e9 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ qemu_network = 10.2.2.0
 qemu_netmask = 24
 qemu_vm_ip = 10.2.2.10
 qemu_disk = tmp/qemu-disk.img
-qemu_target ?= debian-stretch
+qemu_target ?= debian-buster
 qemu_kernel = $(qemu_target).linux
 qemu_torrent = $(qemu_target).torrent
 qemu_initramfs = $(shell \
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ fi \
 ci_environment=$(shell env | sed -n 's/^\(CI_.*\)=.*/-e \1/p')
 
 .PHONY: default
-default: builderimg images/debian-stretch.squashfs
+default: builderimg images/debian-buster.squashfs
 
 .PHONY: clean
 clean:
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ images:
 	[ ! -d "$@" ] && mkdir "$@"
 	touch "$@"
 
-images/debian-stretch.squashfs: images
+images/debian-buster.squashfs: images
 	docker run \
 		--rm \
 		-v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
@@ -67,9 +67,9 @@ images/debian-stretch.squashfs: images
 		-e "COMPRESSION_LEVEL=$(COMPRESSION_LEVEL)" \
 		$(ci_environment) \
 		"$(DOCKER_IMAGE_BUILDER)" \
-		debian-stretch
+		debian-buster
 
-images/debian-stretch.torrent: images
+images/debian-buster.torrent: images
 	docker run \
 		--rm \
 		-v "${PWD}/images:/images" \
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ images/debian-stretch.torrent: images
 		-e "WEBSEED=$(WEBSEED)" \
 		-e "TASK=torrent" \
 		"$(DOCKER_IMAGE_BUILDER)" \
-		debian-stretch
+		debian-buster
 
 .PHONY: ansible
 ansible:
@@ -102,24 +102,24 @@ ansible:
 
 # updates the initramfs
 # only used for development
-images/debian-stretch.initramfs.dev: tmp/initramfs-extracted/debian-stretch packer/initramfs/labsync
-	cp packer/initramfs/labsync tmp/initramfs-extracted/debian-stretch/scripts/labsync
-	(cd tmp/initramfs-extracted/debian-stretch && find . | cpio -H newc -o | gzip > $(CWD)/images/debian-stretch.initramfs.dev)
+images/debian-buster.initramfs.dev: tmp/initramfs-extracted/debian-buster packer/initramfs/labsync
+	cp packer/initramfs/labsync tmp/initramfs-extracted/debian-buster/scripts/labsync
+	(cd tmp/initramfs-extracted/debian-buster && find . | cpio -H newc -o | gzip > $(CWD)/images/debian-buster.initramfs.dev)
 
 tmp:
 	[ ! -d "$@" ] && mkdir "$@" || true
 
-tmp/initramfs-extracted/debian-stretch: images/debian-stretch.initramfs
-	rm -rf tmp/initramfs-extracted/debian-stretch
-	mkdir -p tmp/initramfs-extracted/debian-stretch
-	(cd tmp/initramfs-extracted/debian-stretch && zcat "$(CWD)/images/debian-stretch.initramfs" | cpio -i)
-	touch tmp/initramfs-extracted/debian-stretch
+tmp/initramfs-extracted/debian-buster: images/debian-buster.initramfs
+	rm -rf tmp/initramfs-extracted/debian-buster
+	mkdir -p tmp/initramfs-extracted/debian-buster
+	(cd tmp/initramfs-extracted/debian-buster && zcat "$(CWD)/images/debian-buster.initramfs" | cpio -i)
+	touch tmp/initramfs-extracted/debian-buster
 
 $(qemu_disk): tmp
 	qemu-img create "$@" 20G
 
 tmp/netboot.tar.gz: tmp
-	wget -c -O "$@" https://cdn-aws.deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stretch/main/installer-amd64/current/images/netboot/netboot.tar.gz
+	wget -c -O "$@" https://cdn-aws.deb.debian.org/debian/dists/buster/main/installer-amd64/current/images/netboot/netboot.tar.gz
 	touch "$@"
 
 tmp/tftproot: tmp/netboot.tar.gz
diff --git a/packer/ansible/roles/packages/tasks/sources.yml b/packer/ansible/roles/packages/tasks/sources.yml
index d6befbc..0392177 100644
--- a/packer/ansible/roles/packages/tasks/sources.yml
+++ b/packer/ansible/roles/packages/tasks/sources.yml
@@ -11,20 +11,20 @@
 
 - name: configure main repo
   apt_repository:
-    filename: "{{ ansible_distribution_release }}"
-    repo: "deb {{ debian_mirror }} {{ ansible_distribution_release }} {{ debian_sections | join(' ') }}"
+    filename: "{{ ansible_lsb.codename }}"
+    repo: "deb {{ debian_mirror }} {{ ansible_lsb.codename }} {{ debian_sections | join(' ') }}"
     state: present
 
 - name: configure updates repo
   apt_repository:
-    filename: "{{ ansible_distribution_release }}-updates"
-    repo: "deb {{ mirror }} {{ ansible_distribution_release }}-updates {{ debian_sections | join(' ') }}"
+    filename: "{{ ansible_lsb.codename }}-updates"
+    repo: "deb {{ mirror }} {{ ansible_lsb.codename }}-updates {{ debian_sections | join(' ') }}"
     state: present
   vars:
     mirror: "{{ debian_mirror_updates | default(debian_mirror) }}"
 
 - name: configure security updates repo
   apt_repository:
-    filename: "{{ ansible_distribution_release }}-security"
-    repo: "deb {{ debian_mirror_security }} {{ ansible_distribution_release }}/updates {{ debian_sections | join(' ') }}"
+    filename: "{{ ansible_lsb.codename }}-security"
+    repo: "deb {{ debian_mirror_security }} {{ ansible_lsb.codename }}/updates {{ debian_sections | join(' ') }}"
     state: present
diff --git a/packer/debian-stretch.json b/packer/debian-buster.json
similarity index 97%
rename from packer/debian-stretch.json
rename to packer/debian-buster.json
index 6ec13b0..645efee 100644
--- a/packer/debian-stretch.json
+++ b/packer/debian-buster.json
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
   [
     {
       "type": "docker",
-      "image": "debian:stretch",
+      "image": "debian:buster",
       "discard": true,
 	  "run_command": [
 		  "-d",
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@
     },
     {
       "type": "shell",
-      "inline": [ "apt-get -y install openssh-server python" ]
+      "inline": [ "apt-get -y install openssh-server python lsb-release" ]
     },
     {
       "type": "ansible",
diff --git a/security-scanner/Dockerfile b/security-scanner/Dockerfile
index d72732c..3b1eb74 100644
--- a/security-scanner/Dockerfile
+++ b/security-scanner/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-FROM debian:stretch-slim
+FROM debian:buster-slim
 
 RUN apt-get update \
 	&& apt-get -y install \
diff --git a/txt.cfg b/txt.cfg
index 98ca8e5..2f544a4 100644
--- a/txt.cfg
+++ b/txt.cfg
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 label labsync
 	menu label ^labsync
-	kernel images/debian-stretch.linux
-	append initrd=images/debian-stretch.initramfs.dev boot=labsync labsync_disk=sda labsync_partsize_boot=512 labsync_torrent=http://10.2.2.1/debian-stretch.torrent quiet vga=792 ip=10.2.2.10:::255.255.255.0:qemu-host:ens3:off labsync_wait=pause
+	kernel images/debian-buster.linux
+	append initrd=images/debian-buster.initramfs.dev boot=labsync labsync_disk=sda labsync_partsize_boot=512 labsync_torrent=http://10.2.2.1/debian-buster.torrent quiet vga=792 ip=10.2.2.10:::255.255.255.0:qemu-host:ens3:off labsync_wait=pause
 
 label install
 	menu label ^Install