diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 39d7a90..4c463a0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 This is a public API to get specific statistics from the PDF Aggregation Service.<br>
 This service is designed to respond as fast as possible, by cashing the relevant data in memory, instead of running new queries to the database, for every request.
-The cached data is updated every 6 hours.
+**The cached data is updated every 6 hours**.
 <br>
 <br>
 
diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 38c85e8..6dd4be7 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ dependencies {
         exclude group: 'io.netty', module: 'netty'
     }
 
-    // Add back some updated version of the needed dependencies.
+    // Add back some updated versions of the needed dependencies.
     implementation 'org.apache.thrift:libthrift:0.17.0' // Newer versions (>=0.18.X) are not compatible with JAVA 8.
     implementation 'com.fasterxml.woodstox:woodstox-core:6.5.1'
 
diff --git a/installAndRun.sh b/installAndRun.sh
index e87151d..608b595 100755
--- a/installAndRun.sh
+++ b/installAndRun.sh
@@ -57,8 +57,8 @@ if [[ justInstall -eq 0 ]]; then
     # Run in "detached mode" -d (in the background).
     (sudo docker compose up --build -d && echo -e "\nThe pdf_aggregation_statistics docker-container started running.\n") || handle_error "Could not build and/or run the 'pdf_aggregation_statistics' docker container!" 4
 
-    echo -e "Waiting 55 seconds before getting the status..\n"
-    sleep 55
+    echo -e "Waiting 60 seconds before getting the status..\n"
+    sleep 60
     sudo docker ps -a || handle_error "Could not get the status of docker-containers!" 6  # Using -a to get the status of failed containers as well.
     echo -e "\n\nGetting the logs of docker-container \"pdf_aggregation_statistics\":\n"
     sudo docker logs "$(sudo docker ps -aqf "name=^pdf_aggregation_statistics$")" || handle_error "Could not get the logs of docker-container \"pdf_aggregation_statistics\"!" 7  # Using "regex anchors" to avoid false-positives. Works even if the container is not running, thus showing the error-log.
diff --git a/src/main/java/eu/openaire/pdf_aggregation_statistics/PdfAggregationStatisticsApplication.java b/src/main/java/eu/openaire/pdf_aggregation_statistics/PdfAggregationStatisticsApplication.java
index 5509b4e..4b6c51d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/eu/openaire/pdf_aggregation_statistics/PdfAggregationStatisticsApplication.java
+++ b/src/main/java/eu/openaire/pdf_aggregation_statistics/PdfAggregationStatisticsApplication.java
@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
 package eu.openaire.pdf_aggregation_statistics;
 
+import eu.openaire.pdf_aggregation_statistics.components.SchedulingTasks;
 import eu.openaire.pdf_aggregation_statistics.util.UriBuilder;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 import org.springframework.boot.CommandLineRunner;
 import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
 import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
 import org.springframework.boot.web.servlet.context.ServletWebServerApplicationContext;
+import org.springframework.context.ConfigurableApplicationContext;
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
 import org.springframework.core.env.Environment;
 import org.springframework.scheduling.annotation.EnableScheduling;
@@ -12,6 +16,7 @@ import org.springframework.web.cors.CorsConfiguration;
 import org.springframework.web.cors.CorsConfigurationSource;
 import org.springframework.web.cors.UrlBasedCorsConfigurationSource;
 
+import javax.annotation.PreDestroy;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collections;
 
@@ -19,8 +24,13 @@ import java.util.Collections;
 @EnableScheduling
 public class PdfAggregationStatisticsApplication {
 
+    private static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(PdfAggregationStatisticsApplication.class);
+
+
+    private static ConfigurableApplicationContext context;
+
     public static void main(String[] args) {
-        SpringApplication.run(PdfAggregationStatisticsApplication.class, args);
+        context = SpringApplication.run(PdfAggregationStatisticsApplication.class, args);
     }
 
 
@@ -37,7 +47,23 @@ public class PdfAggregationStatisticsApplication {
     }
 
 
-    // TODO - Add GENTLE SHUTDOWN BEAN
+    public static void gentleAppShutdown()
+    {
+        int exitCode = 0;
+        try {
+            exitCode = SpringApplication.exit(context, () -> 0);    // The "PreDestroy" method will be called. (the "context" will be closed automatically (I checked it))
+        } catch (IllegalArgumentException iae) {
+            logger.error(iae.getMessage()); // This will say "Context must not be null", in case the "gentleAppShutdown()" was called too early in the app's lifetime. But it's ok.
+        }
+        System.exit(exitCode);
+    }
+
+
+    @PreDestroy
+    public void preDestroy() {
+        // TODO - Add any future shut-down logic here (e.g. shutting down threads).
+        logger.info("Exiting..");
+    }
 
 
     @Bean
diff --git a/src/main/java/eu/openaire/pdf_aggregation_statistics/components/SchedulingTasks.java b/src/main/java/eu/openaire/pdf_aggregation_statistics/components/SchedulingTasks.java
index 2aac50f..cf594ed 100644
--- a/src/main/java/eu/openaire/pdf_aggregation_statistics/components/SchedulingTasks.java
+++ b/src/main/java/eu/openaire/pdf_aggregation_statistics/components/SchedulingTasks.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package eu.openaire.pdf_aggregation_statistics.components;
 
+import eu.openaire.pdf_aggregation_statistics.PdfAggregationStatisticsApplication;
 import eu.openaire.pdf_aggregation_statistics.services.StatsService;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
@@ -17,21 +18,23 @@ public class SchedulingTasks {
     StatsService statsService;
 
 
+    private static boolean runningFirstTime = true;
+
+
     @Scheduled(initialDelay = 1, fixedDelay = 21_600_000) // Run right after initialization and then every 6 hours.
     public void gatherPayloadsPerDatasource()
     {
         // Request the number of payloads for each datasource and keep them in a ConcurrentHashMap,
         // where the "key" will be the "datasourceId" and the "value" will be the numOfPayloads for that datasource.
 
-        // When the user requests the numOfPayloads for a given datasourceI, the app will return the rwsult immediately
-        // It will be a quick O(1) get operation in the HashMap.
+        // When the user requests the numOfPayloads for a given datasourceI, the app will return the result immediately.
+        // It will be a quick O(1) GET operation in the ConcurrentHashMap.
 
-        statsService.gatherNumberOfPayloadsPerDatasource();
-
-        // TODO - If this is the first time running (check a boolean)
-        // TODO - AND the above method failed, then gently shutdown the app!
-        // todo - there is no point in keeping it running if it cannot provide any stat!
+        if ( ! statsService.gatherNumberOfPayloadsPerDatasource()
+            && runningFirstTime )
+            PdfAggregationStatisticsApplication.gentleAppShutdown();
 
+        runningFirstTime = false;
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/eu/openaire/pdf_aggregation_statistics/controllers/StatsController.java b/src/main/java/eu/openaire/pdf_aggregation_statistics/controllers/StatsController.java
index 560d766..9b9ce24 100644
--- a/src/main/java/eu/openaire/pdf_aggregation_statistics/controllers/StatsController.java
+++ b/src/main/java/eu/openaire/pdf_aggregation_statistics/controllers/StatsController.java
@@ -51,14 +51,6 @@ public class StatsController {
         // The Map has the numOfPayloads for all datasources, even for newly added ones.
         // If the given datasourceID is not found in the map, then either is not a datasource or that datasource is not participating in the OpenAIRE Graph.
 
-        if ( StatsServiceImpl.datasourcesWithNumOfPayloads.isEmpty() ) {
-            errorMsg = "The \"datasourcesWithNumOfPayloads\" map was not populated!";
-            logger.error(errorMsg);
-            return ResponseEntity.internalServerError().body(errorMsg);
-        }
-        // TODO - The above check is expensive (check the code behind) and unessesery to run every time, since if the map is populated at init then it will not be empty!!
-        // TODO - if the map was not populated at init then the whole service should not run!! (instead of returning 500-SERVER-ERROR in every request)
-
         Integer numPayloads = StatsServiceImpl.datasourcesWithNumOfPayloads.get(datasourceId);
         if ( numPayloads == null )
             return ResponseEntity.notFound().build();
diff --git a/src/main/java/eu/openaire/pdf_aggregation_statistics/services/StatsService.java b/src/main/java/eu/openaire/pdf_aggregation_statistics/services/StatsService.java
index 7ef9dd1..a7c405d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/eu/openaire/pdf_aggregation_statistics/services/StatsService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/eu/openaire/pdf_aggregation_statistics/services/StatsService.java
@@ -3,6 +3,6 @@ package eu.openaire.pdf_aggregation_statistics.services;
 
 public interface StatsService {
 
-    void gatherNumberOfPayloadsPerDatasource();
+    boolean gatherNumberOfPayloadsPerDatasource();
 
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/eu/openaire/pdf_aggregation_statistics/services/StatsServiceImpl.java b/src/main/java/eu/openaire/pdf_aggregation_statistics/services/StatsServiceImpl.java
index 9b98f21..9c198eb 100644
--- a/src/main/java/eu/openaire/pdf_aggregation_statistics/services/StatsServiceImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/eu/openaire/pdf_aggregation_statistics/services/StatsServiceImpl.java
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ public class StatsServiceImpl implements StatsService {
     public static final ConcurrentHashMap<String, Integer> datasourcesWithNumOfPayloads = new ConcurrentHashMap<>(105_000);  // The number of datasources is around 10_000.
 
 
-    public void gatherNumberOfPayloadsPerDatasource()
+    public boolean gatherNumberOfPayloadsPerDatasource()
     {
         final String getNumberOfPayloadsPerDatasourceQuery =
                 "select d.id, count(p.id) as payload_count from " + databaseName + ".datasource d\n" +
@@ -49,10 +49,13 @@ public class StatsServiceImpl implements StatsService {
                 }
             });
             logger.info("The \"datasourcesWithNumOfPayloads\" map was populated/updated.");
+            return true;
         } catch (EmptyResultDataAccessException erdae) {
-            logger.warn("The number of payloads per datasource could not be retrieved from the database \"" + databaseName + "\" using the getNumberOfPayloadsPerDatasourceQuery: " + getNumberOfPayloadsPerDatasourceQuery);
+            logger.error("The number of payloads per datasource could not be retrieved from the database \"" + databaseName + "\" using the getNumberOfPayloadsPerDatasourceQuery: " + getNumberOfPayloadsPerDatasourceQuery);
+            return false;
         } catch (Exception e) {
             logger.error("Problem when executing \"getNumberOfPayloadsPerDatasourceQuery\": " + getNumberOfPayloadsPerDatasourceQuery, e);
+            return false;
         }
     }