diff --git a/.env.template b/.env.template
index 864d5d4..9637c38 100644
--- a/.env.template
+++ b/.env.template
@@ -1,3 +1,12 @@
+# Container names
+NGINX_CONTAINER_NAME=nginx
+REDIS_CONTAINER_NAME=redis
+POSTGRESQL_CONTAINER_NAME=db
+SOLR_CONTAINER_NAME=solr
+DATAPUSHER_CONTAINER_NAME=datapusher
+CKAN_CONTAINER_NAME=ckan
+WORKER_CONTAINER_NAME=ckan-worker
+
 # CKAN databases
 POSTGRES_USER=ckan
 POSTGRES_PASSWORD=ckan
@@ -14,6 +23,7 @@ TEST_CKAN_DATASTORE_WRITE_URL=postgresql://ckan:ckan@db/datastore_test
 TEST_CKAN_DATASTORE_READ_URL=postgresql://datastore_ro:datastore@db/datastore_test
 
 # CKAN core
+CKAN_VERSION=2.9.5
 CKAN_SITE_ID=default
 CKAN_SITE_URL=http://ckan:5000
 CKAN_PORT=5000
@@ -29,12 +39,12 @@ CKAN_SMTP_MAIL_FROM=ckan@localhost
 TZ=UTC
 
 # Solr
-SOLR_VERSION=6.6.6
+SOLR_IMAGE_VERSION=2.9-solr8
 CKAN_SOLR_URL=http://solr:8983/solr/ckan
 TEST_CKAN_SOLR_URL=http://solr:8983/solr/ckan
 
 # Redis
-REDIS_VERSION=6.0.7
+REDIS_VERSION=6
 CKAN_REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379/1
 TEST_CKAN_REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379/1
 
@@ -46,7 +56,7 @@ DATAPUSHER_REWRITE_RESOURCES=True
 DATAPUSHER_REWRITE_URL=http://ckan:5000  
 
 # Extensions
-CKAN__PLUGINS=envvars image_view text_view recline_view datastore datapusher
+CKAN__PLUGINS="envvars image_view text_view recline_view datastore datapusher"
 CKAN__HARVEST__MQ__TYPE=redis
 CKAN__HARVEST__MQ__HOSTNAME=redis
 CKAN__HARVEST__MQ__PORT=6379
diff --git a/README.txt b/README.txt
index b5ae896..e8d1121 100644
--- a/README.txt
+++ b/README.txt
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ All the other images should live in separate repos
                     latest image to used is redis:6
 4. nginx -          base image: nginx:1.19.8-alpine from DockerHub, enhanced in a Dockerfile)
 5. DataPusher -     built from the actual datapusher repo (https://github.com/ckan/datapusher)
-6. CKAN Worker -    add new (ckan worker) container in the compose setup
+6. CKAN -           built from the ckan/ckan-base:2.9.5 base image (which is built from the ckan/ckan-docker-base repo)
+7. CKAN Worker -    add new (ckan worker) container in the compose setup
 
 Versions 2.9 and 2.10 (when it's out) only. Plan the repo layout for having multiple versions - OKFN could used as an example
 
diff --git a/ckan/setup/prerun.py b/ckan/setup/prerun.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..58c4b7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ckan/setup/prerun.py
@@ -0,0 +1,204 @@
+import os
+import sys
+import subprocess
+import psycopg2
+try:
+    from urllib.request import urlopen
+    from urllib.error import URLError
+except ImportError:
+    from urllib2 import urlopen
+    from urllib2 import URLError
+
+import time
+import re
+
+ckan_ini = os.environ.get("CKAN_INI", "/srv/app/ckan.ini")
+
+RETRY = 5
+
+
+def update_plugins():
+
+    plugins = os.environ.get("CKAN__PLUGINS", "")
+    print(("[prerun] Setting the following plugins in {}:".format(ckan_ini)))
+    print(plugins)
+    cmd = ["ckan", "config-tool", ckan_ini, "ckan.plugins = {}".format(plugins)]
+    subprocess.check_output(cmd, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
+    print("[prerun] Plugins set.")
+
+
+def check_main_db_connection(retry=None):
+
+    conn_str = os.environ.get("CKAN_SQLALCHEMY_URL")
+    if not conn_str:
+        print("[prerun] CKAN_SQLALCHEMY_URL not defined, not checking db")
+    return check_db_connection(conn_str, retry)
+
+
+def check_datastore_db_connection(retry=None):
+
+    conn_str = os.environ.get("CKAN_DATASTORE_WRITE_URL")
+    if not conn_str:
+        print("[prerun] CKAN_DATASTORE_WRITE_URL not defined, not checking db")
+    return check_db_connection(conn_str, retry)
+
+
+def check_db_connection(conn_str, retry=None):
+
+    if retry is None:
+        retry = RETRY
+    elif retry == 0:
+        print("[prerun] Giving up after 5 tries...")
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    try:
+        connection = psycopg2.connect(conn_str)
+
+    except psycopg2.Error as e:
+        print(str(e))
+        print("[prerun] Unable to connect to the database, waiting...")
+        time.sleep(10)
+        check_db_connection(conn_str, retry=retry - 1)
+    else:
+        connection.close()
+
+
+def check_solr_connection(retry=None):
+
+    if retry is None:
+        retry = RETRY
+    elif retry == 0:
+        print("[prerun] Giving up after 5 tries...")
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    url = os.environ.get("CKAN_SOLR_URL", "")
+    search_url = "{url}/select/?q=*&wt=json".format(url=url)
+
+    try:
+        connection = urlopen(search_url)
+    except URLError as e:
+        print(str(e))
+        print("[prerun] Unable to connect to solr, waiting...")
+        time.sleep(10)
+        check_solr_connection(retry=retry - 1)
+    else:
+        eval(connection.read())
+
+
+def init_db():
+
+    db_command = ["ckan", "-c", ckan_ini, "db", "init"]
+    print("[prerun] Initializing or upgrading db - start")
+    try:
+        subprocess.check_output(db_command, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
+        print("[prerun] Initializing or upgrading db - end")
+    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
+        if "OperationalError" in e.output:
+            print(e.output)
+            print("[prerun] Database not ready, waiting a bit before exit...")
+            time.sleep(5)
+            sys.exit(1)
+        else:
+            print(e.output)
+            raise e
+
+
+def init_datastore_db():
+
+    conn_str = os.environ.get("CKAN_DATASTORE_WRITE_URL")
+    if not conn_str:
+        print("[prerun] Skipping datastore initialization")
+        return
+
+    datastore_perms_command = ["ckan", "-c", ckan_ini, "datastore", "set-permissions"]
+
+    connection = psycopg2.connect(conn_str)
+    cursor = connection.cursor()
+
+    print("[prerun] Initializing datastore db - start")
+    try:
+        datastore_perms = subprocess.Popen(
+            datastore_perms_command, stdout=subprocess.PIPE
+        )
+
+        perms_sql = datastore_perms.stdout.read()
+        # Remove internal pg command as psycopg2 does not like it
+        perms_sql = re.sub(b'\\\\connect "(.*)"', b"", perms_sql)
+        cursor.execute(perms_sql)
+        for notice in connection.notices:
+            print(notice)
+
+        connection.commit()
+
+        print("[prerun] Initializing datastore db - end")
+        print(datastore_perms.stdout.read())
+    except psycopg2.Error as e:
+        print("[prerun] Could not initialize datastore")
+        print(str(e))
+
+    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
+        if "OperationalError" in e.output:
+            print(e.output)
+            print("[prerun] Database not ready, waiting a bit before exit...")
+            time.sleep(5)
+            sys.exit(1)
+        else:
+            print(e.output)
+            raise e
+    finally:
+        cursor.close()
+        connection.close()
+
+
+def create_sysadmin():
+
+    name = os.environ.get("CKAN_SYSADMIN_NAME")
+    password = os.environ.get("CKAN_SYSADMIN_PASSWORD")
+    email = os.environ.get("CKAN_SYSADMIN_EMAIL")
+
+    if name and password and email:
+
+        # Check if user exists
+        command = ["ckan", "-c", ckan_ini, "user", "show", name]
+
+        out = subprocess.check_output(command)
+        if b"User:None" not in re.sub(b"\s", b"", out):
+            print("[prerun] Sysadmin user exists, skipping creation")
+            return
+
+        # Create user
+        command = [
+            "ckan",
+            "-c",
+            ckan_ini,
+            "user",
+            "add",
+            name,
+            "password=" + password,
+            "email=" + email,
+        ]
+
+        subprocess.call(command)
+        print("[prerun] Created user {0}".format(name))
+
+        # Make it sysadmin
+        command = ["ckan", "-c", ckan_ini, "sysadmin", "add", name]
+
+        subprocess.call(command)
+        print("[prerun] Made user {0} a sysadmin".format(name))
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+
+    maintenance = os.environ.get("MAINTENANCE_MODE", "").lower() == "true"
+
+    if maintenance:
+        print("[prerun] Maintenance mode, skipping setup...")
+    else:
+        check_main_db_connection()
+        init_db()
+        update_plugins()
+        check_datastore_db_connection()
+        init_datastore_db()
+        check_solr_connection()
+        create_sysadmin()
diff --git a/ckan/setup/start_ckan.sh b/ckan/setup/start_ckan.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..e1fb8e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ckan/setup/start_ckan.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Run the prerun script to init CKAN and create the default admin user
+sudo -u ckan -EH python3 prerun.py
+
+# Run any startup scripts provided by images extending this one
+if [[ -d "/docker-entrypoint.d" ]]
+then
+    for f in /docker-entrypoint.d/*; do
+        case "$f" in
+            *.sh)     echo "$0: Running init file $f"; . "$f" ;;
+            *.py)     echo "$0: Running init file $f"; python3 "$f"; echo ;;
+            *)        echo "$0: Ignoring $f (not an sh or py file)" ;;
+        esac
+        echo
+    done
+fi
+
+# Set the common uwsgi options
+UWSGI_OPTS="--plugins http,python \
+            --socket /tmp/uwsgi.sock \
+            --wsgi-file /srv/app/wsgi.py \
+            --module wsgi:application \
+            --uid 92 --gid 92 \
+            --http 0.0.0.0:5000 \
+            --master --enable-threads \
+            --lazy-apps \
+            -p 2 -L -b 32768 --vacuum \
+            --harakiri $UWSGI_HARAKIRI"
+
+if [ $? -eq 0 ]
+then
+    # Start supervisord
+    supervisord --configuration /etc/supervisord.conf &
+    # Start uwsgi
+    sudo -u ckan -EH uwsgi $UWSGI_OPTS
+else
+  echo "[prerun] failed...not starting CKAN."
+fi
diff --git a/ckan/setup/supervisord.conf b/ckan/setup/supervisord.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a3f6671
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ckan/setup/supervisord.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+[unix_http_server]
+file = /tmp/supervisor.sock
+chmod = 0777
+chown = nobody:nogroup
+
+[supervisord]
+logfile = /tmp/supervisord.log
+logfile_maxbytes = 50MB
+logfile_backups=10
+loglevel = info
+pidfile = /tmp/supervisord.pid
+nodaemon = true
+umask = 022
+identifier = supervisor
+
+[supervisorctl]
+serverurl = unix:///tmp/supervisor.sock
+
+[rpcinterface:supervisor]
+supervisor.rpcinterface_factory = supervisor.rpcinterface:make_main_rpcinterface
+
+[include]
+files = /etc/supervisord.d/*.conf
diff --git a/ckan/setup/uwsgi.conf b/ckan/setup/uwsgi.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6321d6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ckan/setup/uwsgi.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+[uwsgi]
+route = ^(?!/api).*$ basicauth:Restricted,/srv/app/.htpasswd
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index ecc0d45..085e5b2 100755
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ services:
       dockerfile: Dockerfile
       args:
         - TZ=${TZ}
+    env_file:
+      - .env
     depends_on:
       db:
         condition: service_healthy