diff --git a/.env b/.env
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a7c723d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD=YOUR_STRONG_!Passw0rd
+MSSQL_PORT=1433
+REDIS_PASSWORD=YOUR_STRONG_!Passw0rd
+REDIS_PORT=6379
+MONGO_PORT=27017
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c4f993c..99cfce3 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -68,10 +68,17 @@ After cloning the repository to the desired folder, run the command in the termi
 dotnet clean Shop.sln --nologo /tl && dotnet build Shop.sln --nologo /tl
 ```
 
+Set passwords in the `.env` file:
+
+```yaml
+MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD=YOUR_STRONG_!Passw0rd
+REDIS_PASSWORD=YOUR_STRONG_!Passw0rd
+```
+
 Next step, run the command in the terminal:
 
 ```csharp
-docker-compose up --build --abort-on-container-exit --remove-orphans
+docker-compose up --build
 ```
 
 Now just open the url in the browser:
diff --git a/Shop.sln b/Shop.sln
index 8934e76..977a952 100644
--- a/Shop.sln
+++ b/Shop.sln
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ Project("{2150E333-8FDC-42A3-9474-1A3956D46DE8}") = "Solution Items", "Solution
 		nuget.config = nuget.config
 		README.md = README.md
 		requests.http = requests.http
+		.env = .env
 	EndProjectSection
 EndProject
 Project("{9A19103F-16F7-4668-BE54-9A1E7A4F7556}") = "Shop.Query", "src\Shop.Query\Shop.Query.csproj", "{C2A82AAD-0348-4B29-B7E7-E36509EE068C}"
diff --git a/docker-compose.override.yml b/docker-compose.override.yml
index 7b0f437..5d6129f 100644
--- a/docker-compose.override.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.override.yml
@@ -1,10 +1,5 @@
 services:
-  shop-webapi:
-    environment:
-      - ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Docker
-      - ASPNETCORE_URLS=http://+:80
-    ports:
-      - "80"
+  shop-api:
     volumes:
       - ~/.aspnet/https:/root/.aspnet/https:ro
       - ~/.microsoft/usersecrets:/root/.microsoft/usersecrets:ro
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index b255803..3146722 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -1,80 +1,72 @@
-networks:
-  app-network:
-    driver: bridge
-
 services:
-  # ASP.NET Core Web API Application
-  shop-webapi:
-    image: ${DOCKER_REGISTRY-}shop-webapi
-    container_name: shop-webapi
-    restart: always
-    build:
-      context: .
-      dockerfile: src/Shop.PublicApi/Dockerfile
-    expose:
-      - 80
-    links:
-      - shop-sql-server
-      - shop-mongo-server
-      - shop-redis
-    networks:
-      - app-network
-    depends_on:
-      - shop-sql-server
-      - shop-mongo-server
-      - shop-redis
-
-  # SQL Server
+  # Microsoft SQL Server
+  # https://hub.docker.com/r/microsoft/mssql-server/
   shop-sql-server:
-    image: mcr.microsoft.com/azure-sql-edge:latest
-    cap_add: ["SYS_PTRACE"]
-    hostname: mssql
+    image: mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server:2022-latest
     container_name: shop-sql-server
-    restart: always
-    expose:
-      - 1433
-    ports:
-      - "1433:1433"
     environment:
       - ACCEPT_EULA=Y
       - MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD=${MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD}
-      - MSSQL_PID=Developer
-      - MSSQL_COLLATION=Latin1_General_CI_AI
-    networks:
-      - app-network
+      - MSSQL_PID=Express
+      - MSSQL_COLLATION=SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS
+    ports:
+      - "${MSSQL_PORT}:${MSSQL_PORT}"
     volumes:
-      - "./data-mssql:/var/opt/mssql/data"
+      - sql_data:/var/opt/mssql
+    networks:
+      - shop-network
 
-  # MongoDB Server
+  # MongoDB
+  # https://hub.docker.com/_/mongo/
   shop-mongo-server:
     image: mongo:latest
     container_name: shop-mongo-server
-    restart: always
-    expose:
-      - 27017
     ports:
-      - "27017:27017"
+      - "${MONGO_PORT}:${MONGO_PORT}"
     networks:
-      - app-network
+      - shop-network
 
-  # Redis Cache Server
-  shop-redis:
+  # Redis Cache
+  # https://hub.docker.com/_/redis/
+  shop-redis-server:
     image: redis:latest
-    container_name: shop-redis
+    container_name: shop-redis-server
     command: redis-server --requirepass ${REDIS_PASSWORD}
-    restart: always
-    expose:
-      - 6379
     ports:
-      - "6379:6379"
+      - "${REDIS_PORT}:${REDIS_PORT}"
     networks:
-      - app-network
+      - shop-network
     volumes:
-      - "./data-mongo:/data/db"
+      - redis_data:/data
 
+  # Shop API Container (NET Core)
+  shop-api:
+    image: shop-api:latest
+    container_name: shop-api
+    build:
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: src/Shop.PublicApi/Dockerfile
+    env_file:
+      - ./.env
+    environment:
+      - ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Development
+      - ConnectionStrings__SqlConnection=Server=shop-sql-server,${MSSQL_PORT};Database=ShopContext;User Id=sa;Password=${MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD};TrustServerCertificate=True;
+      - ConnectionStrings__NoSqlConnection=mongodb://shop-mongo-server:${MONGO_PORT}
+      - ConnectionStrings__CacheConnection=shop-redis-server:${REDIS_PORT},password=${REDIS_PASSWORD},abortConnect=false
+    ports:
+      - "5000:80"
+    depends_on:
+      - shop-sql-server
+      - shop-mongo-server
+      - shop-redis-server
+    networks:
+      - shop-network
+
+# Define volumes for persistent storage
 volumes:
-  data-mssql:
-    external: true
+  sql_data:
+  redis_data:
 
-  data-mongo:
-    external: true
+networks:
+  shop-network:
+    driver: bridge
diff --git a/src/Shop.PublicApi/Dockerfile b/src/Shop.PublicApi/Dockerfile
index 3c176da..8bf2173 100644
--- a/src/Shop.PublicApi/Dockerfile
+++ b/src/Shop.PublicApi/Dockerfile
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:9.0-bookworm-slim AS base
 WORKDIR /app
-EXPOSE 80
 
+EXPOSE 80
 ENV ASPNETCORE_URLS=http://+:80
 
 # Specifies whether .NET welcome and telemetry messages are displayed on the first run.
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ ENV DOTNET_NOLOGO=1
 # Specifies whether data about the .NET tools usage is collected and sent to Microsoft.
 ENV DOTNET_CLI_TELEMETRY_OPTOUT=1
 
+# Defines the build configuration to use at build time. The default is 'Release'
+ARG BUILD_CONFIGURATION=Release
+
 FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:9.0-bookworm-slim AS build
 WORKDIR /src
 COPY ["Directory.Packages.props", "."]
@@ -24,10 +27,10 @@ COPY ["src/Shop.Query/Shop.Query.csproj", "src/Shop.Query/"]
 RUN dotnet restore "src/Shop.PublicApi/Shop.PublicApi.csproj"
 COPY . .
 WORKDIR "/src/src/Shop.PublicApi"
-RUN dotnet build "Shop.PublicApi.csproj" --configuration Release --no-restore --nologo --output /app/build 
+RUN dotnet build "Shop.PublicApi.csproj" --configuration $BUILD_CONFIGURATION --no-restore --nologo --output /app/build 
 
 FROM build AS publish
-RUN dotnet publish "Shop.PublicApi.csproj" --configuration Release --no-restore --nologo --output /app/publish
+RUN dotnet publish "Shop.PublicApi.csproj" --configuration $BUILD_CONFIGURATION --no-restore --nologo --output /app/publish
 
 FROM base AS final
 WORKDIR /app
diff --git a/src/Shop.PublicApi/Extensions/WebApplicationExtensions.cs b/src/Shop.PublicApi/Extensions/WebApplicationExtensions.cs
index 8b3fdd2..656610d 100644
--- a/src/Shop.PublicApi/Extensions/WebApplicationExtensions.cs
+++ b/src/Shop.PublicApi/Extensions/WebApplicationExtensions.cs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 using System;
+using System.Linq;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using AutoMapper;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Builder;
@@ -12,7 +13,7 @@ namespace Shop.PublicApi.Extensions;
 
 internal static class WebApplicationExtensions
 {
-    public static async Task RunAppAsync(this WebApplication app)
+    public static async Task ConfigureAndRunAppAsync(this WebApplication app)
     {
         await using var serviceScope = app.Services.CreateAsyncScope();
 
@@ -62,8 +63,20 @@ internal static class WebApplicationExtensions
 
         app.Logger.LogInformation("----- {DbName}: checking if there are any pending migrations...", dbName);
 
+        var allMigrations = dbContext.Database.GetMigrations();
+
+        app.Logger.LogInformation("----- {DbName}: {MigrationsCount} migrations were found", dbName, allMigrations.Count());
+
+        var appliedMigrations = await dbContext.Database.GetAppliedMigrationsAsync();
+
+        app.Logger.LogInformation("----- {DbName}: {AppliedMigrationsCount} applied migrations were found", dbName, appliedMigrations.Count());
+
+        var pendingMigrations = allMigrations.Except(appliedMigrations).ToList();
+
+        app.Logger.LogInformation("----- {DbName}: {PendingMigrationsCount} pending migrations were found", dbName, pendingMigrations.Count);
+
         // Check if there are any pending migrations for the context.
-        if (dbContext.Database.HasPendingModelChanges())
+        if (pendingMigrations.Count > 0)
         {
             app.Logger.LogInformation("----- {DbName}: creating and migrating the database...", dbName);
 
diff --git a/src/Shop.PublicApi/Program.cs b/src/Shop.PublicApi/Program.cs
index befe877..3838d0f 100644
--- a/src/Shop.PublicApi/Program.cs
+++ b/src/Shop.PublicApi/Program.cs
@@ -139,4 +139,4 @@ app.UseAuthentication();
 app.UseAuthorization();
 app.MapControllers();
 
-await app.RunAppAsync();
\ No newline at end of file
+await app.ConfigureAndRunAppAsync();
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Shop.PublicApi/appsettings.Development.json b/src/Shop.PublicApi/appsettings.Development.json
index 4203d47..189cb36 100644
--- a/src/Shop.PublicApi/appsettings.Development.json
+++ b/src/Shop.PublicApi/appsettings.Development.json
@@ -9,11 +9,6 @@
       "Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection": "Information"
     }
   },
-  "ConnectionStrings": {
-    "SqlConnection": "",
-    "NoSqlConnection": "",
-    "CacheConnection": ""
-  },
   "CacheOptions": {
     "AbsoluteExpirationInHours": 2,
     "SlidingExpirationInSeconds": 60
diff --git a/src/Shop.PublicApi/appsettings.Docker.json b/src/Shop.PublicApi/appsettings.Docker.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 4203d47..0000000
--- a/src/Shop.PublicApi/appsettings.Docker.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,21 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "Logging": {
-    "LogLevel": {
-      "Default": "Information",
-      "Microsoft": "Warning",
-      "Microsoft.AspNetCore": "Information",
-      "Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime": "Information",
-      "Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore": "Information",
-      "Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection": "Information"
-    }
-  },
-  "ConnectionStrings": {
-    "SqlConnection": "",
-    "NoSqlConnection": "",
-    "CacheConnection": ""
-  },
-  "CacheOptions": {
-    "AbsoluteExpirationInHours": 2,
-    "SlidingExpirationInSeconds": 60
-  }
-}