diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f7f9a9d584f..7e216c477d8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ for its support details.
 |        | Dynamically provision, de-provision File mode ROX volume  | Alpha          | >= v3.0.0          | >= v1.0.0        | Pacific (>=v16.2.0)  | >= v1.14.0         |
 |        | Dynamically provision, de-provision File mode RWOP volume | Alpha          | >= v3.5.0          | >= v1.5.0        | Pacific (>=v16.2.0)  | >= v1.22.0         |
 |        | Creating and deleting snapshot                            | GA             | >= v3.1.0          | >= v1.0.0        | Pacific (>=v16.2.0)  | >= v1.17.0         |
+|        | Creating and deleting volume group snapshot               | Alpha          | >= v3.11.0         | >= v1.9.0       | Squid   (>=v19.0.0)  | >= v1.31.0         |
 |        | Provision volume from snapshot                            | GA             | >= v3.1.0          | >= v1.0.0        | Pacific (>=v16.2.0)  | >= v1.17.0         |
 |        | Provision volume from another volume                      | GA             | >= v3.1.0          | >= v1.0.0        | Pacific (>=v16.2.0)  | >= v1.16.0         |
 |        | Expand volume                                             | Beta           | >= v2.0.0          | >= v1.1.0        | Pacific (>=v16.2.0)  | >= v1.15.0         |
diff --git a/internal/controller/controller.go b/internal/controller/controller.go
index 37066045e91..5c4693d7d22 100644
--- a/internal/controller/controller.go
+++ b/internal/controller/controller.go
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/ceph/ceph-csi/internal/util/log"
 
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/rest"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/tools/leaderelection/resourcelock"
 	clientConfig "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client/config"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/manager"
@@ -69,7 +71,11 @@ func Start(config Config) error {
 		LeaderElectionResourceLock: resourcelock.LeasesResourceLock,
 		LeaderElectionID:           electionID,
 	}
-	mgr, err := manager.New(clientConfig.GetConfigOrDie(), opts)
+
+	kubeConfig := clientConfig.GetConfigOrDie()
+	coreKubeConfig := rest.CopyConfig(kubeConfig)
+	coreKubeConfig.ContentType = runtime.ContentTypeProtobuf
+	mgr, err := manager.New(coreKubeConfig, opts)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.ErrorLogMsg("failed to create manager %s", err)
 
diff --git a/internal/csi-addons/rbd/volumegroup.go b/internal/csi-addons/rbd/volumegroup.go
index 1b418a0827f..065a6c517f8 100644
--- a/internal/csi-addons/rbd/volumegroup.go
+++ b/internal/csi-addons/rbd/volumegroup.go
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ func (vs *VolumeGroupServer) DeleteVolumeGroup(
 	}
 
 	// delete the volume group
-	err = mgr.DeleteVolumeGroup(ctx, vg)
+	err = vg.Delete(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, status.Errorf(codes.Internal,
 			"failed to delete volume group %q: %s",
diff --git a/internal/rbd/group/util.go b/internal/rbd/group/util.go
index 8e7f76eb30b..0271cfc81c5 100644
--- a/internal/rbd/group/util.go
+++ b/internal/rbd/group/util.go
@@ -233,6 +233,31 @@ func (cvg *commonVolumeGroup) GetIOContext(ctx context.Context) (*rados.IOContex
 	return ioctx, nil
 }
 
+// Delete removes the volume group from the journal.
+func (cvg *commonVolumeGroup) Delete(ctx context.Context) error {
+	name, err := cvg.GetName(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get name for volume group %q: %w", cvg, err)
+	}
+
+	csiID, err := cvg.GetID(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get id for volume group %q: %w", cvg, err)
+	}
+
+	pool, err := cvg.GetPool(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get pool for volume group %q: %w", cvg, err)
+	}
+
+	err = cvg.journal.UndoReservation(ctx, pool, name, csiID)
+	if err != nil /* TODO? !errors.Is(..., err) */ {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to undo the reservation for volume group %q: %w", cvg, err)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
 // GetCreationTime fetches the creation time of the volume group from the
 // journal and returns it.
 func (cvg *commonVolumeGroup) GetCreationTime(ctx context.Context) (*time.Time, error) {
diff --git a/internal/rbd/group/volume_group.go b/internal/rbd/group/volume_group.go
index 337c974ef09..7de46131a3a 100644
--- a/internal/rbd/group/volume_group.go
+++ b/internal/rbd/group/volume_group.go
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ func (vg *volumeGroup) Delete(ctx context.Context) error {
 
 	log.DebugLog(ctx, "volume group %q has been removed", vg)
 
-	return nil
+	return vg.commonVolumeGroup.Delete(ctx)
 }
 
 func (vg *volumeGroup) AddVolume(ctx context.Context, vol types.Volume) error {
diff --git a/internal/rbd/manager.go b/internal/rbd/manager.go
index 3c41afdc69d..b8c9c2f7da9 100644
--- a/internal/rbd/manager.go
+++ b/internal/rbd/manager.go
@@ -21,8 +21,6 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 
-	"github.com/ceph/go-ceph/rados"
-
 	"github.com/ceph/ceph-csi/internal/journal"
 	rbd_group "github.com/ceph/ceph-csi/internal/rbd/group"
 	"github.com/ceph/ceph-csi/internal/rbd/types"
@@ -255,42 +253,3 @@ func (mgr *rbdManager) CreateVolumeGroup(ctx context.Context, name string) (type
 
 	return vg, nil
 }
-
-func (mgr *rbdManager) DeleteVolumeGroup(ctx context.Context, vg types.VolumeGroup) error {
-	err := vg.Delete(ctx)
-	if err != nil && !errors.Is(rados.ErrNotFound, err) {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to delete volume group %q: %w", vg, err)
-	}
-
-	clusterID, err := vg.GetClusterID(ctx)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get cluster id for volume group %q: %w", vg, err)
-	}
-
-	vgJournal, err := mgr.getVolumeGroupJournal(clusterID)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	name, err := vg.GetName(ctx)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get name for volume group %q: %w", vg, err)
-	}
-
-	csiID, err := vg.GetID(ctx)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get id for volume group %q: %w", vg, err)
-	}
-
-	pool, err := vg.GetPool(ctx)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get pool for volume group %q: %w", vg, err)
-	}
-
-	err = vgJournal.UndoReservation(ctx, pool, name, csiID)
-	if err != nil /* TODO? !errors.Is(..., err) */ {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to undo the reservation for volume group %q: %w", vg, err)
-	}
-
-	return nil
-}
diff --git a/internal/rbd/rbd_journal.go b/internal/rbd/rbd_journal.go
index 44c951c5338..38f4c8c705c 100644
--- a/internal/rbd/rbd_journal.go
+++ b/internal/rbd/rbd_journal.go
@@ -352,29 +352,30 @@ func (rv *rbdVolume) Exists(ctx context.Context, parentVol *rbdVolume) (bool, er
 	return true, nil
 }
 
-// repairImageID checks if rv.ImageID is already available (if so, it was
+// repairImageID checks if ri.ImageID is already available (if so, it was
 // fetched from the journal), in case it is missing, the imageID is obtained
 // and stored in the journal.
 // if the force is set to true, the latest imageID will get added/updated in OMAP.
-func (rv *rbdVolume) repairImageID(ctx context.Context, j *journal.Connection, force bool) error {
+func (ri *rbdImage) repairImageID(ctx context.Context, j *journal.Connection, force bool) error {
 	if force {
 		// reset the imageID so that we can fetch latest imageID from ceph cluster.
-		rv.ImageID = ""
+		ri.ImageID = ""
 	}
 
-	if rv.ImageID != "" {
+	if ri.ImageID != "" {
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	err := rv.getImageID()
+	err := ri.getImageID()
 	if err != nil {
-		log.ErrorLog(ctx, "failed to get image id %s: %v", rv, err)
+		log.ErrorLog(ctx, "failed to get image id %s: %v", ri, err)
 
 		return err
 	}
-	err = j.StoreImageID(ctx, rv.JournalPool, rv.ReservedID, rv.ImageID)
+
+	err = j.StoreImageID(ctx, ri.JournalPool, ri.ReservedID, ri.ImageID)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.ErrorLog(ctx, "failed to store volume id %s: %v", rv, err)
+		log.ErrorLog(ctx, "failed to store volume id %s: %v", ri, err)
 
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/internal/rbd/rbd_util.go b/internal/rbd/rbd_util.go
index e363e391cc1..1beb4f5318f 100644
--- a/internal/rbd/rbd_util.go
+++ b/internal/rbd/rbd_util.go
@@ -110,6 +110,7 @@ type rbdImage struct {
 	// This does not have a JSON tag as it is not stashed in JSON encoded
 	// config maps in v1.0.0
 	RequestName string
+	ReservedID  string
 	NamePrefix  string
 	// ParentName represents the parent image name of the image.
 	ParentName string
@@ -167,7 +168,6 @@ type rbdVolume struct {
 	AdminID            string
 	UserID             string
 	Mounter            string
-	ReservedID         string
 	MapOptions         string
 	UnmapOptions       string
 	LogDir             string
@@ -190,7 +190,6 @@ type rbdSnapshot struct {
 	// SourceVolumeID is the volume ID of RbdImageName, that is exchanged with CSI drivers
 	// RbdSnapName is the name of the RBD snapshot backing this rbdSnapshot
 	SourceVolumeID string
-	ReservedID     string
 	RbdSnapName    string
 }
 
@@ -390,15 +389,19 @@ func (ri *rbdImage) Connect(cr *util.Credentials) error {
 func (ri *rbdImage) Destroy(ctx context.Context) {
 	if ri.ioctx != nil {
 		ri.ioctx.Destroy()
+		ri.ioctx = nil
 	}
 	if ri.conn != nil {
 		ri.conn.Destroy()
+		ri.conn = nil
 	}
 	if ri.isBlockEncrypted() {
 		ri.blockEncryption.Destroy()
+		ri.blockEncryption = nil
 	}
 	if ri.isFileEncrypted() {
 		ri.fileEncryption.Destroy()
+		ri.fileEncryption = nil
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/rbd/types/manager.go b/internal/rbd/types/manager.go
index 33497493226..2e9521570b5 100644
--- a/internal/rbd/types/manager.go
+++ b/internal/rbd/types/manager.go
@@ -43,8 +43,4 @@ type Manager interface {
 	// CreateVolumeGroup allocates a new VolumeGroup in the backend storage
 	// and records details about it in the journal.
 	CreateVolumeGroup(ctx context.Context, name string) (VolumeGroup, error)
-
-	// DeleteVolumeGroup removes VolumeGroup from the backend storage and
-	// any details from the journal.
-	DeleteVolumeGroup(ctx context.Context, vg VolumeGroup) error
 }
diff --git a/internal/util/k8s/client.go b/internal/util/k8s/client.go
index d5629fee54d..c7731db04e9 100644
--- a/internal/util/k8s/client.go
+++ b/internal/util/k8s/client.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/rest"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/tools/clientcmd"
@@ -47,6 +48,7 @@ func NewK8sClient() (*kubernetes.Clientset, error) {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to get cluster config: %w", err)
 		}
 	}
+	cfg.ContentType = runtime.ContentTypeProtobuf
 	client, err := kubernetes.NewForConfig(cfg)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create client: %w", err)