diff --git a/.project b/.project
index a30e836..2ec7193 100644
--- a/.project
+++ b/.project
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 	<name>smartgears-distribution</name>
 	<comment></comment>
 	<projects>
+		<project>common-service</project>
 	</projects>
 	<buildSpec>
 		<buildCommand>
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2ff63ca..9200994 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,34 +2,26 @@ This project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.htm
 
 # Changelog for Smartgears Distribution
 
-## [v3.5.0]
+## [v4.0.0-SNAPSHOT] - 2022-03-30
 
-- upgraded gcube-smartgears-bom
-- new common-smartgears version
-- added resource-registry-handlers to distribution 
-
-## [v3.4.7]
-
-- upgraded gcube-smartgears-bom
-- new common-smartgears version 
-
-## [v3.4.6] - 2022-04-20
-
-- added roles to ExternalService Client
+- moving to smartgears-4.0.0
 
 ## [v3.4.5] - 2022-03-29
 
 - fixes issue [#23075]
 
+
 ## [v3.4.4] - 2022-03-23
 
 - solved issue on policy check
 
+
 ## [v3.4.3] - 2022-01-19
 
 - enabled policy check on smartgears
 - container configuration for test added
 
+
 ## [v3.4.2] - 2021-11-08
 
 - common-smartgrears library updated
@@ -38,22 +30,27 @@ This project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.htm
 
 - Released to have and up-to-date distribution
 
+
 ## [v3.4.0] - 2020-05-25
 
 - Released to have and up-to-date distribution
 
+
 ## [v3.3.0]
 
 - Accounting-lib inherited dependency has been upgraded to 4.1.0
 
+
 ## [v3.2.0]
 
 - clean-container script uses proxy
+
  
 ## [v3.1.0]
 
 - Upgraded gcube-smartgears-bom to version 2.1.0
 
+
 ## [v3.0.0] - 2020-11-11 
 
 - Switched JSON management to gcube-jackson [#19283]
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 35f41ee..9df09ec 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,12 +1,16 @@
-FROM tomcat:8.5.47-jdk8-openjdk
-  ARG nexuspath
-  ARG filename
-  ARG version
+FROM tomcat:9.0.65-jdk11-openjdk-buster
+  ARG filename=smartgears-distribution-4.0.0-SNAPSHOT
+  ARG version=4.0.0-SNAPSHOT
+  COPY ./target/$filename.tar.gz /smartgears-distro.tar.gz 	
   WORKDIR /
-  RUN curl -k  $nexuspath/$filename.tar.gz --output /smartgears-distro.tar.gz
   RUN tar zxvf /smartgears-distro.tar.gz
+  RUN rm /smartgears-distro.tar.gz
   RUN export CATALINA_HOME=/usr/local/tomcat
+  RUN ln -s /usr/local/tomcat tomcat
   RUN mv smartgears-distribution-$version  smartgears-distribution
   ENV GHN_HOME=./smartgears-distribution
-  RUN ./smartgears-distribution/install -s tomcat    
-  
+  RUN ./smartgears-distribution/install -s tomcat   
+  COPY startContainer.sh /startContainer.sh
+  RUN chmod +x /startContainer.sh
+  ENTRYPOINT ["/startContainer.sh"]
+  CMD ["catalina.sh","run"]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/distro/contents/install b/distro/contents/install
index 648707c..a569c81 100755
--- a/distro/contents/install
+++ b/distro/contents/install
@@ -27,27 +27,29 @@ function showhelp {
 }
 
 while getopts ":d:s:g:a:xh" opt; do
-  case $opt in
-	d) distro=$OPTARG;;
-    s) shared=$OPTARG;;
-    g) ghnhome=$OPTARG;;
-	a) apps=$OPTARG;;
-    x) dryrun="true";;
-    h) showhelp
-exit 0 ;;
-	:)  echo -e "\nERROR:option -$OPTARG requires an argument." >&2 ; 
-				showhelp; 
-				echo -e "\naborting.\n"
-				exit 1;;
-	\?) echo -e "\nERROR:invalid option: -$OPTARG"; 
+	case $opt in
+		d) distro=$OPTARG;;
+		s) shared=$OPTARG;;
+		g) ghnhome=$OPTARG;;
+		a) apps=$OPTARG;;
+		x) dryrun="true";;
+		h) showhelp
+		exit 0 ;;
+		:)  echo -e "\nERROR:option -$OPTARG requires an argument." >&2 ; 
+			showhelp; 
+			echo -e "\naborting.\n"
+			exit 1;;
+		\?) echo -e "\nERROR:invalid option: -$OPTARG"; 
 			showhelp; 
 			echo -e "\naborting.\n" 
 			exit 1 >&2 ;;
-  esac
+	esac
 done
 
-if [ -z "$ghnhome" ]; then 
-	if [ -z "$GHN_HOME" ]; then 
+if [ -z "$ghnhome" ]
+then 
+	if [ -z "$GHN_HOME" ]
+	then 
 		echo -e "\nERROR:please specify the gHN directory (-g) or define the GHN_HOME env var." >&2
 		showhelp
 		echo -e "\naborting.\n"
@@ -56,31 +58,37 @@ if [ -z "$ghnhome" ]; then
 		ghnhome=$GHN_HOME
 	fi
 fi
-if [ ! -d "$ghnhome" ]; then
-	if [ -z "$dryrun" ]; then 
-  		mkdir $ghnhome
+if [ ! -d "$ghnhome" ]
+then
+	if [ -z "$dryrun" ]
+	then 
+		mkdir $ghnhome
 	fi
 fi
 
  
 #tomcat target
-if [ "$shared" = "tomcat" ]; then 
-	if [ -z "$CATALINA_HOME" ]; then
-        if [ -z "$WEB_CONTAINER_HOME" ] ; then
-		    echo -e "\nERROR: both CATALINA_HOME and WEB_CONTAINER_HOME are undefined." >&2
-		    showhelp
-		    echo -e "\naborting.\n"
-		    exit 1
-        else
-	        CATALINA_HOME=$WEB_CONTAINER_HOME
-	    fi
-    fi
+if [ "$shared" = "tomcat" ]
+then 
+	if [ -z "$CATALINA_HOME" ]
+	then
+		if [ -z "$WEB_CONTAINER_HOME" ]
+		then
+			echo -e "\nERROR: both CATALINA_HOME and WEB_CONTAINER_HOME are undefined." >&2
+			showhelp
+			echo -e "\naborting.\n"
+			exit 1
+		else
+			CATALINA_HOME=$WEB_CONTAINER_HOME
+		fi
+	fi
 	shared=$CATALINA_HOME/lib
 	apps=$CATALINA_HOME/webapps
 fi
 
 #shared is set
-if [ -z "$shared" ]; then 
+if [ -z "$shared" ]
+then 
 	echo -e "\nERROR: shared directory is undefined (-s)." >&2
 	showhelp
 	echo -e "\naborting.\n"
@@ -88,25 +96,29 @@ if [ -z "$shared" ]; then
 fi
 
 #shared exists and is a directory
-if [ ! -d "$shared" ]; then
+if [ ! -d "$shared" ]
+then
 	echo -e "\nERROR: shared folder does not exist or is not a directory, aborting." >&2
 	exit 1;
 fi
 
 #shared exists and is a directory
-if [ ! -d "$apps" ]; then
+if [ ! -d "$apps" ]
+then
 	echo -e "\nERROR: apps folder does not exist or is not a directory, aborting." >&2
 	exit 1;
 fi
 
 #distrolibs exists and is a directory
-if [ ! -d "$distrolibs" ]; then
+if [ ! -d "$distrolibs" ]
+then
 	echo -e "\nERROR: distro libs does not exist or is not a directory, aborting."  
 	exit 1;
 fi
 
 #distroapps exists and is a directory
-if [ ! -d "$distroapps" ]; then
+if [ ! -d "$distroapps" ]
+then
 	echo -e "\nERROR: distro apps does not exist or is not a directory, aborting."  
 	exit 1;
 fi
@@ -119,127 +131,134 @@ echo -e " target app directory    = $(cd $(dirname $apps); pwd)/$(basename $apps
 shopt -s nullglob
 
 #uninstall libraries
-if [ -f $shared/$liblist ]; then 
+if [ -f $shared/$liblist ]
+then 
 	echo -e "\nuninstalling existing libraries \c"
-	while read line; do
-		if [ -z "$dryrun" ]; then 
-	  		rm $shared/$line 
+	while read line
+	do
+		if [ -z "$dryrun" ]
+		then 
+			rm $shared/$line 
 		fi
-	 echo -n "."
-	 sleep .01
-
-     done < $shared/$liblist  	
-	 if [ -z "$dryrun" ]; then 
-	  		rm $shared/$liblist
-	 fi	 
+		echo -n "."
+		sleep .01
+	done < $shared/$liblist  	
 	
+	if [ -z "$dryrun" ]
+	then 
+		rm $shared/$liblist
+	fi
 fi
 
 #uninstall apps
-if [ -f $shared/$applist ]; then 
+if [ -f $shared/$applist ]
+then 
 	echo -e "\nuninstalling existing apps \c"
-	while read line; do
-		if [ -z "$dryrun" ]; then 
-	  		 rm  $apps/$line
-             folder=${line:0:-4}
-             if [ ! -z "$folder" ]; then 
-             	rm -rf $apps/$folder
-             fi
+	while read line
+	do
+		if [ -z "$dryrun" ]
+		then 
+			rm  $apps/$line
+			folder=${line:0:-4}
+			if [ ! -z "$folder" ]
+			then 
+				rm -rf $apps/$folder
+			fi
 		fi
-	 echo -n "."
-	 sleep .01
-
-     done < $shared/$applist  	
-	 if [ -z "$dryrun" ]; then 
-	  		rm $shared/$applist
-	 fi	 
+		
+		echo -n "."
+		sleep .01
+	done < $shared/$applist  	
 	
+	if [ -z "$dryrun" ]
+	then
+		rm $shared/$applist
+	fi
 fi
 
 #install libraries
 echo -e "\ninstalling components            \c"
 for f in $distrolibs/*.*;
-	do
-	  if [ -z "$dryrun" ]; then 
-			cp $f $shared/ 
-			basename $f | sed -r 's/[0-9]{1,2}.[0-9]{1,2}(.[0-9]{1,2})?(-SNAPSHOT)?(-[0-9]{1,2}.[0-9]{1,2}(.[0-9]{1,2})?-[0-9]{4,8})?/*/' >> $shared/$liblist
-		fi
-	  echo -n "."
-      sleep .01
-     done
+do
+	if [ -z "$dryrun" ]
+	then 
+		cp $f $shared/ 
+		basename $f | sed -r 's/[0-9]{1,2}.[0-9]{1,2}(.[0-9]{1,2})?(-SNAPSHOT)?(-[0-9]{1,2}.[0-9]{1,2}(.[0-9]{1,2})?-[0-9]{4,8})?/*/' >> $shared/$liblist
+	fi
+	
+	echo -n "."
+	sleep .01
+done
 	
 	
 #install apps
 echo -e "\ninstalling applications          \c"
 for f in $distroapps/*;
-	do
-	  if [ -z "$dryrun" ]; then 
-	  		cp $f $apps/
-	  		basename $f >> $shared/$applist
-		fi
-	  echo -n "."
-    sleep .01
-	done
+do
+	if [ -z "$dryrun" ]
+	then 
+		cp $f $apps/
+		basename $f >> $shared/$applist
+	fi
+	echo -n "."
+	sleep .01
+done
 	
 #install scripts
 echo -e "\ninstalling scripts               \c"
-if [ ! -d "$ghnhome/scripts" ]; then
-	if [ -z "$dryrun" ]; then 
-	  	mkdir $ghnhome/scripts
+if [ ! -d "$ghnhome/scripts" ]
+then
+	if [ -z "$dryrun" ]
+	then 
+		mkdir $ghnhome/scripts
 	fi
 fi
 
 for f in $distroscripts/*;
-	do
-	  if [ -z "$dryrun" ]; then 
-	  		cp $f $ghnhome/scripts/
-		fi
+do
+	if [ -z "$dryrun" ]
+	then 
+		cp $f $ghnhome/scripts/
+	fi
+	
 	echo -n "."
     sleep .01
-	done
-
-
-
-
-
+done
 
 #install config
 function escape_slashes {
-    sed 's/\//\\\//g' 
+	sed 's/\//\\\//g' 
 }
 
 function change_line {
-    local OLD_LINE_PATTERN=$1; shift
-    local NEW_LINE=$1; shift
-    local FILE=$1
+	local OLD_LINE_PATTERN=$1; shift
+	local NEW_LINE=$1; shift
+	local FILE=$1
 
-    local NEW=$(echo "${NEW_LINE}" | escape_slashes)
-    sed -i '/'"${OLD_LINE_PATTERN}"'/s/.*/'"${NEW}"'/' "${FILE}"
+	local NEW=$(echo "${NEW_LINE}" | escape_slashes)
+	sed -i '/'"${OLD_LINE_PATTERN}"'/s/.*/'"${NEW}"'/' "${FILE}"
 }
 
 
 function replace_property {
 	local PROPERTY=$1
-	#local OLD_LINE=$(sed -n "/${PROPERTY}/p" $ghnhome/container.xml)
-	local NEW_LINE=$(sed -n "/${PROPERTY}/p" $distro/container.xml)
-	#echo "Replacing property ${PROPERTY}:"
-	#echo $OLD_LINE
-	#echo $NEW_LINE
-	change_line "${PROPERTY}" "${NEW_LINE}" $ghnhome/container.xml
-	#echo "done."
+	local NEW_LINE=$(sed -n "/${PROPERTY}/p" $distro/container.ini)
+	change_line "${PROPERTY}" "${NEW_LINE}" $ghnhome/container.ini
 }
 
 echo -e "\ninstalling configuration         \c"
-if [ ! -s "$ghnhome/container.xml" ]; then
-	if [ -z "$dryrun" ]; then 
-		cp $distro/container.xml $ghnhome/
+if [ ! -s "$ghnhome/container.ini" ]
+then
+	if [ -z "$dryrun" ]
+	then 
+		cp $distro/container.ini $ghnhome/
 	fi
 	echo -n "."
-    sleep .01
+	sleep .01
 else
 	if [ -z "$dryrun" ]; then 
-		#echo "Creating a backup copy of $ghnhome/container.xml"
-		cp $ghnhome/container.xml $ghnhome/container.xml.bck
+		#echo "Creating a backup copy of $ghnhome/container.ini"
+		cp $ghnhome/container.ini $ghnhome/container.ini.bck
 		
 		## Please note the ' at the end of SmartGearsDistribution property
 		## the ' is needed to exactly math the property otherwise also
@@ -249,22 +268,27 @@ else
 			replace_property $property
 		done
 	fi
+	
 	echo -n "."
-    sleep .01
+	sleep .01
 fi
-if [ -z "$dryrun" ]; then 
-	 cat $distro/logback.xml | sed "s|\${LOGFILE}|$ghnhome|" > $shared/logback.xml
-	 echo -n "."
-    sleep .01
+
+if [ -z "$dryrun" ]
+then 
+	cat $distro/logback.xml | sed "s|\${LOGFILE}|$ghnhome|" > $shared/logback.xml
+	echo -n "."
+	sleep .01
 fi
 
 #creating the symlink to shared and apps folder
 
-if [ -z "$dryrun" ]; then
+if [ -z "$dryrun" ]
+then
 	ln -s $shared $ghnhome/lib
 fi
 
-if [ -z "$dryrun" ]; then
+if [ -z "$dryrun" ]
+then
 	ln -s $apps $ghnhome/apps
 fi
 
diff --git a/distro/contents/logback.xml b/distro/contents/logback.xml
index d46921c..347f69b 100644
--- a/distro/contents/logback.xml
+++ b/distro/contents/logback.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-
 <configuration scan="true" debug="false">
 
 	<appender name="FILE"
diff --git a/distro/contents/samplecontainer.ini b/distro/contents/samplecontainer.ini
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1af6f32
--- /dev/null
+++ b/distro/contents/samplecontainer.ini
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+[node]
+; mandatory
+; optional fields: mode (=online), publicationFrequencyInSeconds (=60), authorizeChildrenContext (=false)
+mode = offline
+hostname = localhost
+protocol = http
+port = 8080
+infrastructure = gcube
+authorizeChildrenContext = true
+publicationFrequencyInSeconds = 60
+
+[properties]
+; not mandatory
+SmartGearsDistribution = ${project.version}
+SmartGearsDistributionBundle = UnBundled
+
+[site]
+; mandatory
+country = it
+location = rome
+
+;[proxy]
+; not mandatory
+;protocol = https
+;hostname = proxy
+;port = 80
+
+
+[authorization]
+; mandatory
+; optional fields: provider factory (=org.gcube.smartgears.security.defaults.DefaultAuthorizationProviderFactory)
+factory = org.gcube.smartgears.security.defaults.DefaultAuthorizationProviderFactory
+factory.endpoint = https://accounts.dev.d4science.org/auth/realms/d4science/protocol/openid-connect/token
+credentials.class = org.gcube.smartgears.security.SimpleCredentials
+credentials.clientID = testClient
+credentials.secret = testSecret
+
+;[persistence]
+; not mandatory (default is LocalPersistence writing in the ghn home)
+;class = utils.PersistenceWriterTest
+;location = /tmp 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/distro/contents/samplecontainer.xml b/distro/contents/samplecontainer.xml
deleted file mode 100644
index 0f565fb..0000000
--- a/distro/contents/samplecontainer.xml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,41 +0,0 @@
-<container mode='offline'>
-	
-	<hostname>localhost</hostname>
-	<port>8080</port>
-	<infrastructure>gcube</infrastructure>
-	
-	<!--
-		Add container tokens generated via portal for this host and port.
-	-->
-	<!--  
-	<token>token1</token>
-	<token>token2</token>
-	-->
-	
-	<!--
-		this tag enables authorize calls to this container also on VRE belonging to start tokens
-	-->
-	<!-- <authorizeChildrenContext>true</authorizeChildrenContext> -->
-	
-	<site>
-		<country>it</country>
-		<location>rome</location>
-		<latitude>41.9000</latitude>
-		<longitude>12.5000</longitude>
-	</site>
-	
-	<property name='SmartGearsDistribution' value='${project.version}' />
-	<property name='SmartGearsDistributionBundle' value='UnBundled' />
-	
-	<!--
-		Add your own property value here.  This values will be published on
-		GHN porfile in /Profile/GHNDescription/RunTimeEnv/ tag.
-	-->
-	<!-- 
-		<property name='prop1' value='val1' /> 
-		<property name='prop2' value='val2' /> 
-	 -->
-
-	<publication-frequency>60</publication-frequency>
-
-</container>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/distro/standalone.xml b/distro/standalone.xml
index 6d78709..9cd6c34 100644
--- a/distro/standalone.xml
+++ b/distro/standalone.xml
@@ -47,8 +47,8 @@
 	</fileSets>
 	<files>
 		<file>
-			<source>${distroDirectory}/contents/samplecontainer.xml</source>
-			<destName>container.xml</destName>
+			<source>${distroDirectory}/contents/samplecontainer.ini</source>
+			<destName>container.ini</destName>
 			<filtered>true</filtered>
 		</file>
 	</files>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 1b815db..4e90899 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
+	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
 	xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
 	<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
 	<parent>
@@ -6,48 +7,39 @@
 		<groupId>org.gcube.tools</groupId>
 		<version>1.1.0</version>
 	</parent>
-
 	<groupId>org.gcube.distribution</groupId>
 	<artifactId>smartgears-distribution</artifactId>
-	<version>3.5.0</version>
+	<version>4.0.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
 	<packaging>pom</packaging>
 	<name>A distribution for the SmartGears Framework</name>
-
 	<properties>
 		<distroDirectory>distro</distroDirectory>
 		<wiki>https://wiki.gcube-system.org/gcube/SmartGears</wiki>
 	</properties>
-
 	<scm>
 		<connection>scm:git:https://code-repo.d4science.org/gCubeSystem/${project.artifactId}.git</connection>
 		<developerConnection>scm:git:https://code-repo.d4science.org/gCubeSystem/${project.artifactId}.git</developerConnection>
 		<url>https://code-repo.d4science.org/gCubeSystem/${project.artifactId}</url>
 	</scm>
-
 	<dependencyManagement>
 		<dependencies>
 			<dependency>
 				<groupId>org.gcube.distribution</groupId>
 				<artifactId>gcube-smartgears-bom</artifactId>
-				<version>2.3.0</version>
+				<version>3.0.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
 				<type>pom</type>
 				<scope>import</scope>
 			</dependency>
 		</dependencies>
 	</dependencyManagement>
-
 	<dependencies>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>org.gcube.core</groupId>
 			<artifactId>common-smartgears</artifactId>
 		</dependency>
-		<dependency>
-			<groupId>org.gcube.core</groupId>
-			<artifactId>common-smartgears-utils</artifactId>
-		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>org.gcube.common</groupId>
-  			<artifactId>gxHTTP</artifactId>
+			<artifactId>gxHTTP</artifactId>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>org.gcube.core</groupId>
@@ -88,22 +80,26 @@
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>org.gcube.core</groupId>
 			<artifactId>common-smartgears</artifactId>
-			<version>[3.0.0,4.0.0-SNAPSHOT)</version>
+			<version>[4.0.0-SNAPSHOT,5.0.0-SNAPSHOT)</version>
 			<classifier>probe</classifier>
 			<type>war</type>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
-			<groupId>org.gcube.resourcemanagement</groupId>
-			<artifactId>whn-manager</artifactId>
-			<version>[2.0.0,3.0.0-SNAPSHOT)</version>
-			<type>war</type>
+			<groupId>org.gcube.common.core</groupId>
+			<artifactId>legacy-is-publisher-connector</artifactId>
 		</dependency>
+		<!-- https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.slf4j/slf4j-api -->
 		<dependency>
-			<groupId>org.gcube.data.transfer</groupId>
-			<artifactId>data-transfer-service</artifactId>
-			<version>[2.0.0,3.0.0-SNAPSHOT)</version>
-			<type>war</type>
+			<groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
+			<artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
+			<scope>runtime</scope>
 		</dependency>
+<!--		<dependency>-->
+<!--			<groupId>org.gcube.resourcemanagement</groupId>-->
+<!--			<artifactId>whn-manager</artifactId>-->
+<!--			<version>[3.0.0-SNAPSHOT,4.0.0-SNAPSHOT)</version>-->
+<!--			<type>war</type>-->
+<!--		</dependency>-->
 	</dependencies>
 	<build>
 		<plugins>
@@ -142,8 +138,6 @@
 							<stripVersion>true</stripVersion>
 						</configuration>
 					</execution>
-
-
 				</executions>
 			</plugin>
 			<plugin>
diff --git a/startContainer.sh b/startContainer.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..318fc04
--- /dev/null
+++ b/startContainer.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+logs=/etc/logback.xml
+container=/etc/container.ini
+if [ -f "$logs" ]; then
+ cp $logs /tomcat/lib
+fi
+
+if [ -f "$container" ]; then
+ cp $container /smartgears-distribution
+fi
+
+exec "$@"
+
+