diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..770e6d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+BUILDER_HOST=
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c6a0d56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+.env
+dist/
diff --git a/iso/builder/setup-builder.sh b/iso/builder/setup-builder.sh
index 16bfa25..b525cf1 100644
--- a/iso/builder/setup-builder.sh
+++ b/iso/builder/setup-builder.sh
@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ echo "Go target: ${GO_VERSION}"
 echo ""
 
 # --- system packages ---
+apk update
+# enable community repo if not already enabled
+sed -i 's|^#\(.*community\)|\1|' /etc/apk/repositories
+
 apk update
 apk add \
     alpine-sdk \
diff --git a/scripts/run-builder.sh b/scripts/run-builder.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..31c69ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/run-builder.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# run-builder.sh — trigger debug ISO build on remote Alpine builder VM
+#
+# Usage:
+#   sh scripts/run-builder.sh
+#   sh scripts/run-builder.sh --authorized-keys /path/to/authorized_keys
+
+set -e
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
+REPO_ROOT="$(cd "${SCRIPT_DIR}/.." && pwd)"
+
+# load .env
+ENV_FILE="${REPO_ROOT}/.env"
+if [ -f "$ENV_FILE" ]; then
+    # shellcheck disable=SC1090
+    . "$ENV_FILE"
+fi
+
+BUILDER_HOST="${BUILDER_HOST:-}"
+if [ -z "$BUILDER_HOST" ]; then
+    echo "ERROR: BUILDER_HOST not set. Copy .env.example to .env and set the address."
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+EXTRA_ARGS=""
+while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+    case "$1" in
+        --authorized-keys) EXTRA_ARGS="--authorized-keys $2"; shift 2 ;;
+        *) echo "unknown arg: $1"; exit 1 ;;
+    esac
+done
+
+echo "=== bee builder ==="
+echo "Builder: ${BUILDER_HOST}"
+echo ""
+
+ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no root@"${BUILDER_HOST}" /bin/sh <<EOF
+set -e
+REPO=/root/bee
+
+if [ ! -d "\$REPO/.git" ]; then
+    echo "--- cloning bee repo ---"
+    git clone https://git.mchus.pro/reanimator/bee.git "\$REPO"
+fi
+
+cd "\$REPO"
+echo "--- pulling latest ---"
+git pull --ff-only
+
+echo "--- running build ---"
+sh iso/builder/build-debug.sh ${EXTRA_ARGS}
+EOF
+
+echo ""
+echo "=== build complete ==="
+echo "Fetch the ISO from ${BUILDER_HOST}:/root/bee/dist/"