diff --git a/hypha/bin/controller.rs b/hypha/bin/controller.rs
index 2f1b067..5342072 100644
--- a/hypha/bin/controller.rs
+++ b/hypha/bin/controller.rs
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 use clap::Parser;
 use hypha::ctl::Controller;
 use hypha::error::Result;
-use hypha::image::ImageCompiler;
-use ocipkg::ImageName;
 
 #[derive(Parser, Debug)]
 #[command(version, about)]
@@ -27,12 +25,9 @@ fn main() -> Result<()> {
     env_logger::init();
 
     let args = ControllerArgs::parse();
-    let mut controller = Controller::new(args.kernel, args.initrd, args.cpus, args.mem)?;
-    let image = ImageName::parse(args.image.as_str())?;
-    let compiler = ImageCompiler::new()?;
-    let squashfs = compiler.compile(&image)?;
-    println!("packed image into squashfs: {}", &squashfs);
-
+    let mut controller =
+        Controller::new(args.kernel, args.initrd, args.image, args.cpus, args.mem)?;
+    controller.compile()?;
     let domid = controller.launch()?;
     println!("launched domain: {}", domid);
     Ok(())
diff --git a/hypha/src/ctl/mod.rs b/hypha/src/ctl/mod.rs
index 366df9d..490495a 100644
--- a/hypha/src/ctl/mod.rs
+++ b/hypha/src/ctl/mod.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 use crate::error::Result;
+use crate::image::ImageCompiler;
+use ocipkg::ImageName;
 use xenclient::{DomainConfig, XenClient};
 
 pub struct Controller {
@@ -7,12 +9,14 @@ pub struct Controller {
     initrd_path: String,
     vcpus: u32,
     mem: u64,
+    image: String,
 }
 
 impl Controller {
     pub fn new(
         kernel_path: String,
         initrd_path: String,
+        image: String,
         vcpus: u32,
         mem: u64,
     ) -> Result<Controller> {
@@ -21,11 +25,19 @@ impl Controller {
             client,
             kernel_path,
             initrd_path,
+            image,
             vcpus,
             mem,
         })
     }
 
+    pub fn compile(&mut self) -> Result<()> {
+        let image = ImageName::parse(&self.image)?;
+        let compiler = ImageCompiler::new()?;
+        let _squashfs = compiler.compile(&image)?;
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
     pub fn launch(&mut self) -> Result<u32> {
         let config = DomainConfig {
             max_vcpus: self.vcpus,