diff --git a/odh-notebook-controller/gen_kubeflow_manifests.sh b/odh-notebook-controller/gen_kubeflow_manifests.sh
index 79b150e94..d4070b85c 100755
--- a/odh-notebook-controller/gen_kubeflow_manifests.sh
+++ b/odh-notebook-controller/gen_kubeflow_manifests.sh
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@ set -eu -o pipefail
 
 ctrl_dir="kf-notebook-controller"
 ctrl_repository="github.com/opendatahub-io/kubeflow"
-ctrl_branch="v1.6-branch"
+ctrl_branch="v1.7-branch"
 ctrl_image="quay.io/opendatahub/kubeflow-notebook-controller"
-ctrl_tag="v1.6.1-2"
+ctrl_tag="v1.7.0-1"
 ctrl_namespace="opendatahub"
 
 cleanup() {
diff --git a/odh-notebook-controller/gen_odh_manifests.sh b/odh-notebook-controller/gen_odh_manifests.sh
index 6cbd4c5e0..d404342c9 100755
--- a/odh-notebook-controller/gen_odh_manifests.sh
+++ b/odh-notebook-controller/gen_odh_manifests.sh
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@ set -eu -o pipefail
 
 ctrl_dir="odh-notebook-controller"
 ctrl_repository="github.com/opendatahub-io/kubeflow"
-ctrl_branch="v1.6-branch"
+ctrl_branch="v1.7-branch"
 ctrl_image="quay.io/opendatahub/odh-notebook-controller"
-ctrl_tag="v1.6.1-2"
+ctrl_tag="v1.7.0-1"
 ctrl_namespace="opendatahub"
 
 cleanup() {
diff --git a/odh-notebook-controller/kf-notebook-controller/base/kustomization.yaml b/odh-notebook-controller/kf-notebook-controller/base/kustomization.yaml
index 438b00a09..9d22d7c98 100644
--- a/odh-notebook-controller/kf-notebook-controller/base/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/odh-notebook-controller/kf-notebook-controller/base/kustomization.yaml
@@ -4,4 +4,5 @@ resources:
 - ../default
 images:
 - name: docker.io/kubeflownotebookswg/notebook-controller
-  newTag: v1.6.1
+  newName: docker.io/kubeflownotebookswg/notebook-controller
+  newTag: v1.7.0
diff --git a/odh-notebook-controller/kf-notebook-controller/manager/kustomization.yaml b/odh-notebook-controller/kf-notebook-controller/manager/kustomization.yaml
index acaf4a7dd..9736ddc59 100644
--- a/odh-notebook-controller/kf-notebook-controller/manager/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/odh-notebook-controller/kf-notebook-controller/manager/kustomization.yaml
@@ -4,8 +4,7 @@ resources:
   - service.yaml
 configMapGenerator:
   - name: config
-    literals:
-      - USE_ISTIO=true
-      - ISTIO_GATEWAY=kubeflow/kubeflow-gateway
+    envs:
+      - params.env
 generatorOptions:
   disableNameSuffixHash: true
diff --git a/odh-notebook-controller/kf-notebook-controller/manager/manager.yaml b/odh-notebook-controller/kf-notebook-controller/manager/manager.yaml
index 3a7e9987c..18709ea4c 100644
--- a/odh-notebook-controller/kf-notebook-controller/manager/manager.yaml
+++ b/odh-notebook-controller/kf-notebook-controller/manager/manager.yaml
@@ -36,6 +36,21 @@ spec:
               configMapKeyRef:
                 name: config
                 key: ISTIO_GATEWAY
+          - name: ENABLE_CULLING
+            valueFrom:
+              configMapKeyRef:
+                name: notebook-controller-culler-config
+                key: ENABLE_CULLING
+          - name: CULL_IDLE_TIME
+            valueFrom:
+              configMapKeyRef:
+                name: notebook-controller-culler-config
+                key: CULL_IDLE_TIME
+          - name: IDLENESS_CHECK_PERIOD
+            valueFrom:
+              configMapKeyRef:
+                name: notebook-controller-culler-config
+                key: IDLENESS_CHECK_PERIOD
         imagePullPolicy: Always
         livenessProbe:
           httpGet:
diff --git a/odh-notebook-controller/kf-notebook-controller/manager/params.env b/odh-notebook-controller/kf-notebook-controller/manager/params.env
index 5fa00071d..8ab2bf275 100644
--- a/odh-notebook-controller/kf-notebook-controller/manager/params.env
+++ b/odh-notebook-controller/kf-notebook-controller/manager/params.env
@@ -1,2 +1,6 @@
 USE_ISTIO=true
 ISTIO_GATEWAY=kubeflow/kubeflow-gateway
+CLUSTER_DOMAIN=cluster.local
+ENABLE_CULLING=false
+CULL_IDLE_TIME=1440
+IDLENESS_CHECK_PERIOD=1
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/odh-notebook-controller/kf-notebook-controller/overlays/openshift/kustomization.yaml b/odh-notebook-controller/kf-notebook-controller/overlays/openshift/kustomization.yaml
index fb5a93a65..3b5e85c39 100644
--- a/odh-notebook-controller/kf-notebook-controller/overlays/openshift/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/odh-notebook-controller/kf-notebook-controller/overlays/openshift/kustomization.yaml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ commonLabels:
 images:
   - name: docker.io/kubeflownotebookswg/notebook-controller
     newName: quay.io/opendatahub/kubeflow-notebook-controller
-    newTag: v1.6.1-2
+    newTag: v1.7.0-1
 configMapGenerator:
   - name: config
     behavior: merge
diff --git a/odh-notebook-controller/kf-notebook-controller/overlays/openshift/manager_openshift_patch.yaml b/odh-notebook-controller/kf-notebook-controller/overlays/openshift/manager_openshift_patch.yaml
index 312038143..61f021e1c 100644
--- a/odh-notebook-controller/kf-notebook-controller/overlays/openshift/manager_openshift_patch.yaml
+++ b/odh-notebook-controller/kf-notebook-controller/overlays/openshift/manager_openshift_patch.yaml
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ kind: Deployment
 metadata:
   name: deployment
 spec:
+  replicas: 1
   template:
     spec:
       containers:
diff --git a/odh-notebook-controller/odh-notebook-controller/base/kustomization.yaml b/odh-notebook-controller/odh-notebook-controller/base/kustomization.yaml
index 42c154fdd..0143fea6b 100644
--- a/odh-notebook-controller/odh-notebook-controller/base/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/odh-notebook-controller/odh-notebook-controller/base/kustomization.yaml
@@ -6,4 +6,4 @@ resources:
 images:
   - name: quay.io/opendatahub/odh-notebook-controller
     newName: quay.io/opendatahub/odh-notebook-controller
-    newTag: v1.6.1-2
+    newTag: v1.7.0-1