diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5e06b9d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:8.0 as build
+WORKDIR /source
+COPY . .
+RUN dotnet restore src/iRLeagueApiCore.Server -r linux-x64
+RUN dotnet publish src/iRLeagueApiCore.Server -r linux-x64 -o /app --no-restore
+
+FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:8.0-noble-chiseled-extra
+WORKDIR /app
+COPY --link --from=build /app .
+USER $APP_UID
+ENTRYPOINT ["./iRLeagueApiCore.Server"]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/iRLeagueApiCore.sln b/iRLeagueApiCore.sln
index 926619f2..385cb1bb 100644
--- a/iRLeagueApiCore.sln
+++ b/iRLeagueApiCore.sln
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ EndProject
 Project("{2150E333-8FDC-42A3-9474-1A3956D46DE8}") = "Solution Items", "Solution Items", "{7F90E099-56DE-4FEF-8CA2-4F4610CDEF19}"
 	ProjectSection(SolutionItems) = preProject
 		.editorconfig = .editorconfig
+		Dockerfile = Dockerfile
 		.github\workflows\dotnet_develop.yml = .github\workflows\dotnet_develop.yml
 		.github\workflows\dotnet_main_pr.yml = .github\workflows\dotnet_main_pr.yml
 		.github\workflows\dotnet_main_push.yml = .github\workflows\dotnet_main_push.yml
@@ -30,8 +31,6 @@ Project("{9A19103F-16F7-4668-BE54-9A1E7A4F7556}") = "iRLeagueApiCore.Common", "s
 EndProject
 Project("{9A19103F-16F7-4668-BE54-9A1E7A4F7556}") = "iRLeagueDatabaseCore", "src\iRLeagueDatabaseCore\iRLeagueDatabaseCore.csproj", "{374D9358-C654-4882-AE9F-89DDB135A69D}"
 EndProject
-Project("{9A19103F-16F7-4668-BE54-9A1E7A4F7556}") = "iRLeagueDatabaseCore.Migrations", "src\iRLeagueDatabaseCore.Migrations\iRLeagueDatabaseCore.Migrations.csproj", "{C335B0B3-B0AE-45EF-B620-87E9EBE257D3}"
-EndProject
 Project("{9A19103F-16F7-4668-BE54-9A1E7A4F7556}") = "DbIntegrationTests", "test\DbIntegrationTests\DbIntegrationTests.csproj", "{CBE19DF1-F112-4BCB-9DC4-BE33D971CCCC}"
 EndProject
 Project("{9A19103F-16F7-4668-BE54-9A1E7A4F7556}") = "UnitTests", "test\UnitTests\UnitTests.csproj", "{FB4E0FC3-97A9-4456-93DB-F8335175FA47}"
@@ -78,10 +77,6 @@ Global
 		{374D9358-C654-4882-AE9F-89DDB135A69D}.Debug|Any CPU.Build.0 = Debug|Any CPU
 		{374D9358-C654-4882-AE9F-89DDB135A69D}.Release|Any CPU.ActiveCfg = Release|Any CPU
 		{374D9358-C654-4882-AE9F-89DDB135A69D}.Release|Any CPU.Build.0 = Release|Any CPU
-		{C335B0B3-B0AE-45EF-B620-87E9EBE257D3}.Debug|Any CPU.ActiveCfg = Debug|Any CPU
-		{C335B0B3-B0AE-45EF-B620-87E9EBE257D3}.Debug|Any CPU.Build.0 = Debug|Any CPU
-		{C335B0B3-B0AE-45EF-B620-87E9EBE257D3}.Release|Any CPU.ActiveCfg = Release|Any CPU
-		{C335B0B3-B0AE-45EF-B620-87E9EBE257D3}.Release|Any CPU.Build.0 = Release|Any CPU
 		{CBE19DF1-F112-4BCB-9DC4-BE33D971CCCC}.Debug|Any CPU.ActiveCfg = Debug|Any CPU
 		{CBE19DF1-F112-4BCB-9DC4-BE33D971CCCC}.Debug|Any CPU.Build.0 = Debug|Any CPU
 		{CBE19DF1-F112-4BCB-9DC4-BE33D971CCCC}.Release|Any CPU.ActiveCfg = Release|Any CPU
diff --git a/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Client/iRLeagueApiCore.Client.csproj b/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Client/iRLeagueApiCore.Client.csproj
index 41ab0439..5c032f2d 100644
--- a/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Client/iRLeagueApiCore.Client.csproj
+++ b/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Client/iRLeagueApiCore.Client.csproj
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 		<OutputType>Library</OutputType>
 		<TargetFrameworks>net8.0</TargetFrameworks>
 		<PackageId>iRLeagueApiCore.Client</PackageId>
-		<Version>0.14.7</Version>
+		<Version>0.15.0</Version>
 		<Authors>Simon Schulze</Authors>
 		<Company>Simon Schulze</Company>
 		<PackageDescription>This package contains shared objects for all members of the iRLeagueDatabase-iRLeagueApi stack</PackageDescription>
diff --git a/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Common/iRLeagueApiCore.Common.csproj b/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Common/iRLeagueApiCore.Common.csproj
index 31a4f303..d860dfe2 100644
--- a/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Common/iRLeagueApiCore.Common.csproj
+++ b/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Common/iRLeagueApiCore.Common.csproj
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 		<OutputType>Library</OutputType>
 		<TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
 		<PackageId>iRLeagueApiCore.Common</PackageId>
-		<Version>0.14.7</Version>
+		<Version>0.15.0</Version>
 		<Authors>Simon Schulze</Authors>
 		<Company>Simon Schulze</Company>
 		<ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
diff --git a/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Server/Authentication/UserDbContext.cs b/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Server/Authentication/UserDbContext.cs
index 9a509430..02fc0db8 100644
--- a/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Server/Authentication/UserDbContext.cs
+++ b/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Server/Authentication/UserDbContext.cs
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ public UserDbContext(DbContextOptions<UserDbContext> options) : base(options)
     {
 
     }
+
     protected override void OnModelCreating(ModelBuilder builder)
     {
         base.OnModelCreating(builder);
diff --git a/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Server/Authentication/UserDbContextFactory.cs b/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Server/Authentication/UserDbContextFactory.cs
index 703b9227..a12d691d 100644
--- a/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Server/Authentication/UserDbContextFactory.cs
+++ b/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Server/Authentication/UserDbContextFactory.cs
@@ -4,21 +4,21 @@ namespace iRLeagueApiCore.Server.Authentication;
 
 public sealed class UserDbContextFactory : IDbContextFactory<UserDbContext>
 {
-    private readonly IConfiguration _configuration;
+    private readonly DbContextOptions<UserDbContext> contextOptions;
 
     public UserDbContextFactory(IConfiguration configuration)
     {
-        _configuration = configuration;
-    }
-
-    public UserDbContext CreateDbContext()
-    {
-        var dbConnectionString = _configuration.GetConnectionString("UserDb") ??
+        // load the database configurations once at start - reloading is not enabled
+        var dbConnectionString = configuration.GetConnectionString("UserDb") ??
             throw new InvalidConfigurationException("No connection string for 'UserDB' found in configuration");
         var optionsBuilder = new DbContextOptionsBuilder<UserDbContext>();
         optionsBuilder.UseMySQL(dbConnectionString);
+        contextOptions = optionsBuilder.Options;
+    }
 
-        var dbContext = new UserDbContext(optionsBuilder.Options);
+    public UserDbContext CreateDbContext()
+    {
+        var dbContext = new UserDbContext(contextOptions);
         dbContext.Database.EnsureCreated();
         return dbContext;
     }
diff --git a/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Server/Models/LeagueDbContextFactory.cs b/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Server/Models/LeagueDbContextFactory.cs
index b45c0cdb..e30ea238 100644
--- a/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Server/Models/LeagueDbContextFactory.cs
+++ b/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Server/Models/LeagueDbContextFactory.cs
@@ -5,21 +5,29 @@ namespace iRLeagueApiCore.Server.Models;
 
 public sealed class LeagueDbContextFactory
 {
-    private readonly IConfiguration _configuration;
+    private readonly bool applyMigrations = false;
+    private readonly DbContextOptions<LeagueDbContext> contextOptions;
+    
 
     public LeagueDbContextFactory(IConfiguration configuration)
     {
-        _configuration = configuration;
-    }
+        applyMigrations = configuration.GetValue<bool>("ApplyDatabaseMigrations") == true;
 
-    public LeagueDbContext CreateDbContext(ILeagueProvider leagueProvider)
-    {
-        var dbConnectionString = _configuration.GetConnectionString("ModelDb") ??
+        // load the database configurations once at start - reloading is not enabled
+        var dbConnectionString = configuration.GetConnectionString("ModelDb") ??
             throw new InvalidConfigurationException("No connection string for 'ModelDb' found in configuration");
         var optionsBuilder = new DbContextOptionsBuilder<LeagueDbContext>();
         optionsBuilder.UseMySQL(dbConnectionString);
+        contextOptions = optionsBuilder.Options;
+    }
 
-        var dbContext = new LeagueDbContext(optionsBuilder.Options, leagueProvider);
+    public LeagueDbContext CreateDbContext(ILeagueProvider leagueProvider)
+    {
+        var dbContext = new LeagueDbContext(contextOptions, leagueProvider);
+        if (applyMigrations)
+        {
+            dbContext.Database.Migrate();
+        }
         return dbContext;
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Server/Startup.cs b/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Server/Startup.cs
index e1f935e5..70298390 100644
--- a/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Server/Startup.cs
+++ b/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Server/Startup.cs
@@ -197,7 +197,6 @@ public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
     // This method gets called by the runtime. Use this method to configure the HTTP request pipeline.
     public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app, IWebHostEnvironment env, ILogger<Startup> logger)
     {
-
         app.UseForwardedHeaders(new ForwardedHeadersOptions
         {
             ForwardedHeaders = ForwardedHeaders.XForwardedFor | ForwardedHeaders.XForwardedProto
diff --git a/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Server/iRLeagueApiCore.Server.csproj b/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Server/iRLeagueApiCore.Server.csproj
index aadd4549..2fa3cbae 100644
--- a/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Server/iRLeagueApiCore.Server.csproj
+++ b/src/iRLeagueApiCore.Server/iRLeagueApiCore.Server.csproj
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@
 
 	<PropertyGroup>
 		<GenerateDocumentationFile>true</GenerateDocumentationFile>
-		<Version>0.14.7</Version>
+		<Version>0.15.0</Version>
 		<Nullable>enable</Nullable>
 	</PropertyGroup>
 
diff --git a/src/iRLeagueDatabaseCore/MigrationLeagueDbContextFactory.cs b/src/iRLeagueDatabaseCore/MigrationLeagueDbContextFactory.cs
index e22cc559..ddbdc73d 100644
--- a/src/iRLeagueDatabaseCore/MigrationLeagueDbContextFactory.cs
+++ b/src/iRLeagueDatabaseCore/MigrationLeagueDbContextFactory.cs
@@ -8,10 +8,16 @@ internal class MigrationLeagueDbContextFactory : IDesignTimeDbContextFactory<Lea
 {
     public LeagueDbContext CreateDbContext(string[] args)
     {
-        var connectionString = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("EFCORETOOLSDB")
-            ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("No connection string for migration provided. Please set $env:EFCORETOOLSDB");
+        var connectionString = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("EFCORETOOLSDB");
         var optionsBuilder = new DbContextOptionsBuilder<LeagueDbContext>();
-        optionsBuilder.UseMySQL(connectionString);
+        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(connectionString))
+        {
+            optionsBuilder.UseMySQL();
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            optionsBuilder.UseMySQL(connectionString);
+        }
         var leagueProvider = Mock.Of<ILeagueProvider>();
 
         var dbContext = new LeagueDbContext(optionsBuilder.Options, leagueProvider);
diff --git a/src/iRLeagueDatabaseCore/iRLeagueDatabaseCore.csproj b/src/iRLeagueDatabaseCore/iRLeagueDatabaseCore.csproj
index 375f8a7a..af84fb59 100644
--- a/src/iRLeagueDatabaseCore/iRLeagueDatabaseCore.csproj
+++ b/src/iRLeagueDatabaseCore/iRLeagueDatabaseCore.csproj
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 	<TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
 	<LangVersion>12</LangVersion>
     <PackageId>iRLeagueDatabaseCore</PackageId>
-    <Version>0.14.7</Version>
+    <Version>0.15.0</Version>
 	<ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
   </PropertyGroup>