diff --git a/.github/workflows/e2e-matrix.yml b/.github/workflows/e2e-matrix.yml
index a09c28443f..4560ee501a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/e2e-matrix.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/e2e-matrix.yml
@@ -18,6 +18,11 @@ jobs:
         os:
           - ubuntu-latest
           # - windows-latest
+        include:
+          - os: ubuntu-latest
+            os-name: ubuntu
+          # - os: windows-latest
+          #   os-name: windows
         node_version:
           - '14'
           # - '15'
@@ -37,7 +42,7 @@ jobs:
           - e2e-angular
       fail-fast: false
 
-    name: ${{ matrix.os }}/node v${{ matrix.node_version }}/${{ matrix.package_manager }} - ${{ matrix.packages }}
+    name: ${{ matrix.os-name }}/n v${{ matrix.node_version }}/${{ matrix.package_manager }} - ${{ matrix.packages }}
     steps:
     - name: Checkout
       uses: actions/checkout@v2
@@ -60,7 +65,8 @@ jobs:
         key: ${{ matrix.os }}-node-${{ matrix.node-version }}-yarn-${{ hashFiles('yarn.lock') }}
         restore-keys: ${{ matrix.os }}-node-${{ matrix.node-version }}-yarn-
 
-    - run: yarn install
+    - name: Install packages
+      run: yarn install --prefer-offline --non-interactive
 
     - name: Cleanup
       if: ${{ matrix.os == 'ubuntu-latest' }}
@@ -71,6 +77,8 @@ jobs:
         sudo rm -rf /opt/ghc
         sudo rm -rf "/usr/local/share/boost"
         sudo rm -rf "$AGENT_TOOLSDIRECTORY"
+        sudo apt-get install lsof
+        echo fs.inotify.max_user_watches=524288 | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf && sudo sysctl -p
 
     - name: Install PNPM
       if: ${{ matrix.package_manager == 'pnpm' }}
diff --git a/e2e/utils/index.ts b/e2e/utils/index.ts
index e25476f0a7..16a3e80032 100644
--- a/e2e/utils/index.ts
+++ b/e2e/utils/index.ts
@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@ export function runCreateWorkspace(
     cwd: e2eCwd,
     stdio: [0, 1, 2],
     env: process.env,
+    encoding: 'utf-8',
   });
   return create ? create.toString() : '';
 }
@@ -121,6 +122,7 @@ export function packageInstall(pkg: string, projName?: string) {
     // ...{ stdio: ['pipe', 'pipe', 'pipe'] },
     ...{ stdio: [0, 1, 2] },
     env: process.env,
+    encoding: 'utf-8',
   });
   return install ? install.toString() : '';
 }
@@ -132,6 +134,7 @@ export function runNgNew(projectName: string): string {
     {
       cwd: e2eCwd,
       env: process.env,
+      encoding: 'utf-8',
     }
   ).toString();
 }
@@ -254,6 +257,7 @@ export function runCommandAsync(
           FORCE_COLOR: 'false',
           NX_INVOKED_BY_RUNNER: undefined,
         },
+        encoding: 'utf-8',
       },
       (err, stdout, stderr) => {
         if (!opts.silenceError && err) {
@@ -277,6 +281,7 @@ export function runCommandUntil(
       FORCE_COLOR: 'false',
       NX_INVOKED_BY_RUNNER: undefined,
     },
+    encoding: 'utf-8',
   });
   return new Promise((res, rej) => {
     let output = '';
@@ -330,6 +335,7 @@ export function runNgAdd(
     return execSync(`./node_modules/.bin/ng add @nrwl/workspace ${command}`, {
       cwd: tmpProjPath(),
       env: { ...(opts.env || process.env), NX_INVOKED_BY_RUNNER: undefined },
+      encoding: 'utf-8',
     })
       .toString()
       .replace(
@@ -358,7 +364,7 @@ export function runCLI(
     let r = execSync(`${pm.runNx} ${command}`, {
       cwd: opts.cwd || tmpProjPath(),
       env: { ...(opts.env || process.env), NX_INVOKED_BY_RUNNER: undefined },
-      encoding: 'utf8',
+      encoding: 'utf-8',
       maxBuffer: 50 * 1024 * 1024,
     }).toString();
     r = r.replace(
@@ -402,6 +408,7 @@ export function runCommand(command: string): string {
         FORCE_COLOR: 'false',
         NX_INVOKED_BY_RUNNER: undefined,
       },
+      encoding: 'utf-8',
     }).toString();
     if (process.env.VERBOSE_OUTPUT) {
       console.log(r);