diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..caa9b49b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+services:
+  mysql:
+    image: mysql:8.4
+    command: --mysql-native-password=ON
+    ports:
+      - "3306:3306"
+    environment:
+      - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=
+      - MYSQL_ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD=true
+      - MYSQL_USER=petclinic
+      - MYSQL_PASSWORD=petclinic
+      - MYSQL_DATABASE=petclinic
+    volumes:
+      - "./conf.d:/etc/mysql/conf.d:ro"
+    profiles:
+      - mysql
+  postgres:
+    image: postgres:16.3
+    ports:
+      - "5432:5432"
+    environment:
+      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=petclinic
+      - POSTGRES_USER=petclinic
+      - POSTGRES_DB=petclinic
+    profiles:
+      - postgres
diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index e1e59d68d..3d8265995 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -53,52 +53,45 @@ Our issue tracker is available here: https://github.com/spring-petclinic/spring-
 ## Database configuration
 
 In its default configuration, Petclinic uses an in-memory database (HSQLDB) which gets populated at startup with data.
-Similar setups are provided for MySql and PostgreSQL in case a persistent database configuration is needed. However, to populate them with sample data, you should follow additional instructions from either `src/main/resources/db/mysql/petclinic_db_setup_mysql.txt` (for MySQL) or `src/main/resources/db/postgresql/petclinic_db_setup_postgresql.txt` (for PostgreSQL) file.
 
-To run Petclinic locally using persistent database, it is also needed to change profile defined in `application.properties` file.
+A similar setup is provided for MySQL and PostgreSQL if a persistent database configuration is needed.
 
+Note that whenever the database type changes, the app needs to run with a different profile: `spring.profiles.active=mysql` for MySQL or `spring.profiles.active=postgres` for PostgreSQL.
+See the [Spring Boot documentation](https://docs.spring.io/spring-boot/how-to/properties-and-configuration.html#howto.properties-and-configuration.set-active-spring-profiles) for more detail on how to set the active profile.
+You can also change profile defined in the `application.properties` file.
 For MySQL database, it is needed to change param `hsqldb` to `mysql` in the following line of `application.properies` file:
 ```properties
 spring.profiles.active=hsqldb,spring-data-jpa
 ```
-Before doing this, it would be good to check properties defined in `application-mysql.properties` file:
 
-```properties
-spring.datasource.url = jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/petclinic?useUnicode=true
-spring.datasource.username=pc
-spring.datasource.password=petclinic
-spring.datasource.driver-class-name=com.mysql.jdbc.Driver
-spring.jpa.database=MYSQL
-spring.jpa.database-platform=org.hibernate.dialect.MySQLDialect
-spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto=none
+You can start MySQL or PostgreSQL locally with whatever installer works for your OS or use docker:
+
+```bash
+docker run -e MYSQL_USER=petclinic -e MYSQL_PASSWORD=petclinic -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=root -e MYSQL_DATABASE=petclinic -p 3306:3306 mysql:8.4
 ```
 
-You may also start a MySql database with Docker:
+or
 
-```sh
-docker run --name mysql-petclinic -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=petclinic -e MYSQL_DATABASE=petclinic -p 3306:3306 mysql:5.7.8
+```bash
+docker run -e POSTGRES_USER=petclinic -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=petclinic -e POSTGRES_DB=petclinic -p 5432:5432 postgres:16.3
 ```
 
-For PostgeSQL database, it is needed to change param `hsqldb` to `postgresql` in the following line of `application.properties` file:
-```properties
-spring.profiles.active=hsqldb,spring-data-jpa
-```
-Before doing this, it would be good to check properties defined in `application-postgresql.properties` file:
+Further documentation is provided for [MySQL](https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-petclinic/blob/main/src/main/resources/db/mysql/petclinic_db_setup_mysql.txt)
+and [PostgreSQL](https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-petclinic/blob/main/src/main/resources/db/postgres/petclinic_db_setup_postgres.txt).
 
-```properties
-spring.datasource.url=jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/petclinic
-spring.datasource.username=postgres
-spring.datasource.password=petclinic
-spring.datasource.driver-class-name=org.postgresql.Driver
-spring.jpa.database=POSTGRESQL
-spring.jpa.database-platform=org.hibernate.dialect.PostgreSQLDialect
-spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto=none
+Instead of vanilla `docker` you can also use the provided `docker-compose.yml` file to start the database containers. Each one has a profile just like the Spring profile:
+
+```bash
+docker-compose --profile mysql up
 ```
-You may also start a Postgres database with Docker:
 
-```sh
-docker run --name postgres-petclinic -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=petclinic -e POSTGRES_DB=petclinic -p 5432:5432 -d postgres:9.6.0
+or
+
+```bash
+docker-compose --profile postgres up
 ```
+
+
 ## API First Approach
 
 This API is built following some [API First approach principles](https://swagger.io/resources/articles/adopting-an-api-first-approach/).
diff --git a/src/main/resources/application-hsqldb.properties b/src/main/resources/application-hsqldb.properties
index 5a9156628..d65ff9f50 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/application-hsqldb.properties
+++ b/src/main/resources/application-hsqldb.properties
@@ -1,14 +1,8 @@
 # HSQLDB config start
 #----------------------------------------------------------------
-
-spring.sql.init.schema-locations=classpath*:db/hsqldb/initDB.sql
-spring.sql.init.data-locations=classpath*:db/hsqldb/populateDB.sql
-
 spring.datasource.url=jdbc:hsqldb:mem:petclinic
-spring.datasource.username=sa 
+spring.datasource.username=sa
 spring.datasource.password=
-spring.jpa.database=HSQL
-spring.jpa.database-platform=org.hibernate.dialect.HSQLDialect
 spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto=none
 #----------------------------------------------------------------
 # HSQLDB config end
diff --git a/src/main/resources/application-mysql.properties b/src/main/resources/application-mysql.properties
index daffa4ab3..e23dfa605 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/application-mysql.properties
+++ b/src/main/resources/application-mysql.properties
@@ -1,16 +1,7 @@
-# uncomment for init database (first start)
-#spring.sql.init.mode=always
-#spring.sql.init.schema-locations=classpath*:db/mysql/initDB.sql
-#spring.sql.init.data-locations=classpath*:db/mysql/populateDB.sql
-
-# MySQL config start
-#----------------------------------------------------------------
-spring.datasource.url = jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/petclinic?useUnicode=true
-spring.datasource.username=pc
-spring.datasource.password=petclinic
-spring.datasource.driver-class-name=com.mysql.jdbc.Driver
-spring.jpa.database=MYSQL
-spring.jpa.database-platform=org.hibernate.dialect.MySQLDialect
-spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto=none
-#----------------------------------------------------------------
-# MySQL config end 
+# database init, supports mysql too
+database=mysql
+spring.datasource.url=${MYSQL_URL:jdbc:mysql://localhost/petclinic}
+spring.datasource.username=${MYSQL_USER:petclinic}
+spring.datasource.password=${MYSQL_PASS:petclinic}
+# SQL is written to be idempotent so this is safe
+spring.sql.init.mode=always
diff --git a/src/main/resources/application-postgres.properties b/src/main/resources/application-postgres.properties
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..60889b43c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/resources/application-postgres.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+database=postgres
+spring.datasource.url=${POSTGRES_URL:jdbc:postgresql://localhost/petclinic}
+spring.datasource.username=${POSTGRES_USER:petclinic}
+spring.datasource.password=${POSTGRES_PASS:petclinic}
+# SQL is written to be idempotent so this is safe
+spring.sql.init.mode=always
diff --git a/src/main/resources/application-postgresql.properties b/src/main/resources/application-postgresql.properties
deleted file mode 100644
index 456b590e4..000000000
--- a/src/main/resources/application-postgresql.properties
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
-# uncomment for init database (first start)
-#spring.sql.init.mode=always
-#spring.sql.init.schema-locations=classpath*:db/postgresql/initDB.sql
-#spring.sql.init.data-locations=classpath*:db/postgresql/populateDB.sql
-
-# PostgreSQL config start
-#----------------------------------------------------------------
-spring.datasource.url=jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/petclinic
-spring.datasource.username=postgres
-spring.datasource.password=petclinic
-spring.datasource.driver-class-name=org.postgresql.Driver
-spring.jpa.database=POSTGRESQL
-spring.jpa.database-platform=org.hibernate.dialect.PostgreSQLDialect
-spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto=none
-#----------------------------------------------------------------
-# PostgreSQL config end
diff --git a/src/main/resources/application.properties b/src/main/resources/application.properties
index 27f427499..460f9914a 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/application.properties
+++ b/src/main/resources/application.properties
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 # ------------------------------------------------
 # When using HSQL, use: hsqldb
 # When using MySQL, use: mysql
-# When using PostgeSQL, use: postgresql
+# When using PostgeSQL, use: postgres
 # ------------------------------------------------
 #
 # one for select repository layer
@@ -23,6 +23,12 @@ spring.profiles.active=hsqldb,spring-data-jpa
 server.port=9966
 server.servlet.context-path=/petclinic/
 
+# database init, supports mysql and postgres too
+database=hsqldb
+spring.sql.init.schema-locations=classpath*:db/${database}/schema.sql
+spring.sql.init.data-locations=classpath*:db/${database}/data.sql
+
+
 spring.messages.basename=messages/messages
 spring.jpa.open-in-view=false
 
diff --git a/src/main/resources/db/hsqldb/populateDB.sql b/src/main/resources/db/hsqldb/data.sql
similarity index 100%
rename from src/main/resources/db/hsqldb/populateDB.sql
rename to src/main/resources/db/hsqldb/data.sql
diff --git a/src/main/resources/db/hsqldb/initDB.sql b/src/main/resources/db/hsqldb/schema.sql
similarity index 100%
rename from src/main/resources/db/hsqldb/initDB.sql
rename to src/main/resources/db/hsqldb/schema.sql
diff --git a/src/main/resources/db/mysql/populateDB.sql b/src/main/resources/db/mysql/data.sql
similarity index 100%
rename from src/main/resources/db/mysql/populateDB.sql
rename to src/main/resources/db/mysql/data.sql
diff --git a/src/main/resources/db/mysql/petclinic_db_setup_mysql.txt b/src/main/resources/db/mysql/petclinic_db_setup_mysql.txt
index 49aa57e74..21213b4a0 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/db/mysql/petclinic_db_setup_mysql.txt
+++ b/src/main/resources/db/mysql/petclinic_db_setup_mysql.txt
@@ -4,17 +4,33 @@
 
 @author Sam Brannen
 @author Costin Leau
+@author Dave Syer
 
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-1) Download and install the MySQL database (e.g., MySQL Community Server 5.7.x),
-   which can be found here: http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/
-   Alternatively, you may use the official MySQL docker image. Refer to the
-   README.md for the Docker command line.
+1) Download and install the MySQL database (e.g., MySQL Community Server 5.1.x),
+   which can be found here: https://dev.mysql.com/downloads/. Or run the
+   "docker-compose.yml" from the root of the project (if you have docker installed
+   locally):
 
+        $ docker-compose up
+        ...
+        mysql_1_eedb4818d817 | MySQL init process done. Ready for start up.
+        ...
 
-2) Create the PetClinic database and user by executing the "db/mysql/initDB.sql"
-and "db/mysql/populateDB.sql" scripts. Or uncomment strings
-#spring.datasource.schema=classpath*:db/mysql/initDB.sql
-#spring.datasource.data=classpath*:db/mysql/populateDB.sql
- in application-mysql.properties file at the first time you run the app.
\ No newline at end of file
+2) (Once only) create the PetClinic database and user by executing the "db/mysql/user.sql"
+   scripts. You can connect to the database running in the docker container using
+   `mysql -u root -h localhost --protocol tcp`, but you don't need to run the script there
+   because the petclinic user is already set up if you use the provided `docker-compose.yml`.
+
+3) Run the app with `spring.profiles.active=mysql` (e.g. as a System property via the command
+   line, but any way that sets that property in a Spring Boot app should work). For example use
+
+   mvn spring-boot:run -Dspring-boot.run.profiles=mysql
+
+   To activate the profile on the command line.
+
+N.B. the "petclinic" database has to exist for the app to work with the JDBC URL value
+as it is configured by default. This condition is taken care of automatically by the
+docker-compose configuration provided, or by the `user.sql` script if you run that as
+root.
diff --git a/src/main/resources/db/mysql/initDB.sql b/src/main/resources/db/mysql/schema.sql
similarity index 90%
rename from src/main/resources/db/mysql/initDB.sql
rename to src/main/resources/db/mysql/schema.sql
index b7ab4c82d..109d56698 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/db/mysql/initDB.sql
+++ b/src/main/resources/db/mysql/schema.sql
@@ -1,13 +1,3 @@
-CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS petclinic;
-
-ALTER DATABASE petclinic
-  DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8
-  DEFAULT COLLATE utf8_general_ci;
-
-GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON petclinic.* TO pc@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'pc';
-
-USE petclinic;
-
 CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS vets (
   id INT(4) UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
   first_name VARCHAR(30),
diff --git a/src/main/resources/db/postgresql/populateDB.sql b/src/main/resources/db/postgres/data.sql
similarity index 100%
rename from src/main/resources/db/postgresql/populateDB.sql
rename to src/main/resources/db/postgres/data.sql
diff --git a/src/main/resources/db/postgres/petclinic_db_setup_postgres.txt b/src/main/resources/db/postgres/petclinic_db_setup_postgres.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..981e2b0d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/resources/db/postgres/petclinic_db_setup_postgres.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+================================================================================
+===        Spring PetClinic sample application - PostgreSQL Configuration    ===
+================================================================================
+
+@author Vitaliy Fedoriv
+@autor Antoine Rey
+
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+1) Run the "docker-compose.yml" from the root of the project:
+
+        $ docker-compose up
+        ...
+        spring-petclinic-postgres-1  | The files belonging to this database system will be owned by user "postgres".
+        ...
+
+2) Run the app with `spring.profiles.active=postgres` (e.g. as a System property via the command
+   line, but any way that sets that property in a Spring Boot app should work). For example use
+
+   mvn spring-boot:run -Dspring-boot.run.profiles=postgres
+
+   To activate the profile on the command line.
diff --git a/src/main/resources/db/postgresql/initDB.sql b/src/main/resources/db/postgres/schema.sql
similarity index 100%
rename from src/main/resources/db/postgresql/initDB.sql
rename to src/main/resources/db/postgres/schema.sql
diff --git a/src/main/resources/db/postgresql/petclinic_db_setup_postgresql.txt b/src/main/resources/db/postgresql/petclinic_db_setup_postgresql.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index e07e1ecc7..000000000
--- a/src/main/resources/db/postgresql/petclinic_db_setup_postgresql.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
-================================================================================
-===        Spring PetClinic sample application - PostgreSQL Configuration    ===
-================================================================================
-
-@author Vitaliy Fedoriv
-@autor Antoine Rey
-
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-1) Download and install the PostgreSQL database,
-   which can be found here: https://www.postgresql.org/download/
-
-
-2) Open psql and create the PetClinic database:
- 
-	CREATE DATABASE petclinic
-  	WITH OWNER = postgres
-       ENCODING = 'UTF8'
-       TABLESPACE = pg_default
-       CONNECTION LIMIT = -1;
-
-3) Create the PetClinic tables by executing the "db/postgresql/initDB.sql".
-Then execute "db/mysql/populateDB.sql" script.
-Or uncomment strings
-#spring.datasource.schema=classpath*:db/postgresql/initDB.sql
-#spring.datasource.data=classpath*:db/postgresql/populateDB.sql
- in application-postgresql.properties file at the first time you run the app.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/test/resources/application.properties b/src/test/resources/application.properties
index 31f3b8080..f57025fb5 100644
--- a/src/test/resources/application.properties
+++ b/src/test/resources/application.properties
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 # ------------------------------------------------
 # When using HSQL, use: hsqldb
 # When using MySQL, use: mysql
-# When using PostgeSQL, use: postgresql
+# When using PostgeSQL, use: postgres
 # ------------------------------------------------
 #
 # one - for select database
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@ server.port=9966
 server.servlet.context-path=/petclinic/
 spring.jpa.open-in-view=false
 
+# database init
+spring.sql.init.schema-locations=classpath*:db/hsqldb/schema.sql
+spring.sql.init.data-locations=classpath*:db/hsqldb/data.sql
+
 spring.messages.basename=messages/messages
 logging.level.org.springframework=INFO
 #logging.level.org.springframework=DEBUG