diff --git a/app/.env.sample b/app/.env.sample
index 3e1971f..befd066 100644
--- a/app/.env.sample
+++ b/app/.env.sample
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
+APP_PORT=8000
 DEPLOYMENT_ENV="development"
-DATABASE_HOST="localhost"
+DATABASE_HOST="db"
 DATABASE_USER="slovocast"
 DATABASE_PASSWORD="Password01"
 DATABASE_SCHEMA="slovocast"
diff --git a/app/server/server.php b/app/server/server.php
index 5d909cf..b24ed1a 100644
--- a/app/server/server.php
+++ b/app/server/server.php
@@ -1,17 +1,36 @@
 <?php
 
-require_once '../vendor/autoload.php';
+require_once __DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php';
 
 use Slovocast\Bootstrap;
 use React\Http\HttpServer;
 use React\Socket\SocketServer;
 use Psr\Http\Message\ServerRequestInterface as Request;
 
-$app = Bootstrap::init();
+try {
+    $app = Bootstrap::init();
+    $http = new HttpServer(fn (Request $request) => $app->handle($request));
+    $address = "127.0.0.1:8000";
+    $socket = new SocketServer($address);
+    $http->listen($socket);
+
+    $http->on('error', function ($error) use ($socket) {
+        fprintf(STDERR, $error->getMessage() . "\n");
+        fprintf(STDERR, "Closing socket connection.\n");
+        $socket->close();
+    });
+
+    $http->on('exit', function () use ($socket) {
+        fprintf(STDOUT, "Closing socket connection.\n");
+        $socket->close();
+    });
+
+    fprintf(STDOUT, "Server running on %s\n", $address);
+} catch (\Exception $e) {
+    fprintf(STDERR, "Error caught bootstrapping the application\n");
+    fprintf(STDERR, $e->getMessage() . "\n");
+    return -1;
+}
+
 
-$http = new HttpServer(fn (Request $request) => $app->handle($request));
-$address = "127.0.0.1:8000";
-$socket = new SocketServer($address);
-$http->listen($socket);
 
-echo "Server running at $address" . PHP_EOL;
diff --git a/app/src/Bootstrap.php b/app/src/Bootstrap.php
index 6ed4df5..2214b77 100644
--- a/app/src/Bootstrap.php
+++ b/app/src/Bootstrap.php
@@ -59,12 +59,14 @@ class Bootstrap
     {
         $config = new Configuration();
         $dotenv = \DotenvVault\DotenvVault::createImmutable(APP_ROOT_DIR);
+        $dotenv->safeLoad();
 
         // set all configuration details
         $config->addSchema('site', SiteInformationSchema::getSchema());
         $config->addSchema('database', DatabaseConnectionSchema::getSchema());
         $config->addSchema('session', SessionSchema::getSchema());
 
+
         $config->merge([
             'site' => [
                 'name' => "Slovocast",
@@ -77,10 +79,11 @@ class Bootstrap
                 'name' => 'slovocast'
             ],
             'database' => [
-                'host' => '127.0.0.1',
-                'database' => 'slovocast',
-                'username' => 'slovocast',
-                'password' => 'Password01',
+                'host' => $_SERVER['DB_HOST'],
+                'database' => $_SERVER['DB_DATABASE'],
+                'username' => $_SERVER['DB_USERNAME'],
+                'password' => $_SERVER['DB_PASSWORD'],
+                'port' => $_SERVER['DB_PORT'],
             ]
         ]);
 
diff --git a/deploy/php/Dockerfile b/deploy/php/Dockerfile
index b704a5b..ab51ed8 100644
--- a/deploy/php/Dockerfile
+++ b/deploy/php/Dockerfile
@@ -1,20 +1,16 @@
-FROM php:8.3-alpine
-
-# Install PHP extensions
-RUN apk add --no-cache zip libzip-dev \
-    && docker-php-ext-install pdo_mysql zip
-
-# Install composer
-RUN  curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php \
-    && mv composer.phar /usr/bin/composer
-
-# Install xdebug
-RUN apk add --no-cache $PHPIZE_DEPS
-#    && pecl install xdebug-2.7.1 \
-#    && docker-php-ext-enable xdebug \
-#    && echo 'xdebug.remote_enable=1' >> /usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/docker-php-ext-xdebug.ini
+ARG PHP_VERSION=8.3
 
+FROM chialab/php:${PHP_VERSION}
 WORKDIR /app
-COPY ./app /app
+COPY app .
+RUN composer install \
+    --ignore-platform-reqs \
+    --no-interaction \
+    --no-plugins \
+    --prefer-dist \
+    --no-progress \
+    --optimize-autoloader
+
+EXPOSE 8000
 
 CMD [ "php", "server/server.php" ]
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index c2d9d32..addea43 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ services:
   app:
     build:
       dockerfile: ./deploy/php/Dockerfile
-    volumes:
-      - ./app:/app
+    ports:
+      - "8000:8000"
 
 volumes:
   slovocast_db: