diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
index e008c9287..06958f6cd 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
+++ b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
-# Note: You can use any Debian/Ubuntu based image you want. 
-FROM mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/python:3.7-bullseye
-
+ARG PY_VER
+ARG DISTRO
+FROM mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/python:${PY_VER}-${DISTRO}
 RUN \
     apt update && \
     apt-get install bash-completion graphviz default-mysql-client -y && \
     pip install flake8 black faker ipykernel pytest pytest-cov nose nose-cov datajoint && \
     pip uninstall datajoint -y
 
+USER root
 ENV DJ_HOST fakeservices.datajoint.io
 ENV DJ_USER root
-ENV DJ_PASS simple
\ No newline at end of file
+ENV DJ_PASS password
diff --git a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
index a5db4d4c5..35b1d0835 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
+++ b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
@@ -1,22 +1,22 @@
 // For format details, see https://aka.ms/devcontainer.json. For config options, see the
+// README at: https://github.com/devcontainers/templates/tree/main/src/docker-existing-docker-compose
 {
-	"name": "Development",
-	"dockerComposeFile": "docker-compose.yaml",
+	"name": "Existing Docker Compose (Extend)",
+	// Update the 'dockerComposeFile' list if you have more compose files or use different names.
+	// The .devcontainer/docker-compose.yml file contains any overrides you need/want to make.
+	"dockerComposeFile": [
+		"../LNX-docker-compose.yml",
+		"docker-compose.yml"
+	],
+	// The 'service' property is the name of the service for the container that VS Code should
+	// use. Update this value and .devcontainer/docker-compose.yml to the real service name.
 	"service": "app",
+	// The optional 'workspaceFolder' property is the path VS Code should open by default when
+	// connected. This is typically a file mount in .devcontainer/docker-compose.yml
 	"workspaceFolder": "/workspaces/${localWorkspaceFolderBasename}",
-	// Use this environment variable if you need to bind mount your local source code into a new container.
-	"remoteEnv": {
-		"LOCAL_WORKSPACE_FOLDER": "${localWorkspaceFolder}"
-	},
-	// https://containers.dev/features
-	"features": {
-		"ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/docker-in-docker:2": {},
-		"ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/git:1": {},
-		"ghcr.io/eitsupi/devcontainer-features/jq-likes:1": {},
-		"ghcr.io/guiyomh/features/vim:0": {}
-	},
-	"onCreateCommand": "pip install -e .",
-	"postStartCommand": "MYSQL_VER=8.0 MINIO_VER=RELEASE.2022-08-11T04-37-28Z docker compose -f local-docker-compose.yml down && docker volume prune -f && MYSQL_VER=8.0 MINIO_VER=RELEASE.2022-08-11T04-37-28Z docker compose -f local-docker-compose.yml up --build --wait",
+	// Features to add to the dev container. More info: https://containers.dev/features.
+	// "features": {},
+	// Use 'forwardPorts' to make a list of ports inside the container available locally.
 	"forwardPorts": [
 		80,
 		443,
@@ -24,11 +24,25 @@
 		8080,
 		9000
 	],
+	// Uncomment the next line if you want start specific services in your Docker Compose config.
+	// "runServices": [],
+	// Uncomment the next line if you want to keep your containers running after VS Code shuts down.
+	"shutdownAction": "stopCompose",
+	"onCreateCommand": "python3 -m pip install -e .",
+	"features": {
+		"ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/git:1": {},
+	},
+	// Configure tool-specific properties.
 	"customizations": {
 		"vscode": {
 			"extensions": [
 				"ms-python.python"
 			]
 		}
+	},
+	"remoteEnv": {
+		"LOCAL_WORKSPACE_FOLDER": "${localWorkspaceFolder}"
 	}
+	// Uncomment to connect as an existing user other than the container default. More info: https://aka.ms/dev-containers-non-root.
+	// "remoteUser": "devcontainer"
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.devcontainer/docker-compose.yaml b/.devcontainer/docker-compose.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index a456ed151..000000000
--- a/.devcontainer/docker-compose.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-version: "3"
-services:
-  app:
-    build: .
-    extra_hosts:
-      - fakeservices.datajoint.io:127.0.0.1
-    volumes:
-      - ../..:/workspaces:cached
-    entrypoint: /usr/local/share/docker-init.sh
-    command: tail -f /dev/null
diff --git a/.devcontainer/docker-compose.yml b/.devcontainer/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1ee8ea148
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+version: '2.4'
+services:
+  # Update this to the name of the service you want to work with in your docker-compose.yml file
+  app:
+    # Uncomment if you want to override the service's Dockerfile to one in the .devcontainer
+    # folder. Note that the path of the Dockerfile and context is relative to the *primary*
+    # docker-compose.yml file (the first in the devcontainer.json "dockerComposeFile"
+    # array). The sample below assumes your primary file is in the root of your project.
+    container_name: devcontainer
+    image: devcontainer
+    build:
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: .devcontainer/Dockerfile
+      args:
+        - PY_VER=${PY_VER:-3.8}
+        - DISTRO=${DISTRO:-buster}
+
+    volumes:
+      # Update this to wherever you want VS Code to mount the folder of your project
+      - ..:/workspaces:cached
+
+    # Uncomment the next four lines if you will use a ptrace-based debugger like C++, Go, and Rust.
+    # cap_add:
+    #   - SYS_PTRACE
+    # security_opt:
+    #   - seccomp:unconfined
+
+    user: root
+
+    # Overrides default command so things don't shut down after the process ends.
+    command: /bin/sh -c "while sleep 1000; do :; done"
+
diff --git a/.github/workflows/development.yaml b/.github/workflows/development.yaml
index fdcbcd677..5f3b1f075 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/development.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/development.yaml
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run primary tests
         env:
           PY_VER: ${{matrix.py_ver}}
-          DJ_PASS: simple
+          DJ_PASS: password
           MYSQL_VER: ${{matrix.mysql_ver}}
           DISTRO: alpine
           MINIO_VER: RELEASE.2021-09-03T03-56-13Z
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 4b7bdb2c4..6e1d664ff 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -30,4 +30,6 @@ docs/site
 
 !.vscode/settings.json
 !.vscode/launch.json
-!.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
\ No newline at end of file
+!.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
+!.devcontainer/docker-compose.yml
+
diff --git a/LNX-docker-compose.yml b/LNX-docker-compose.yml
index 9c0a95b78..eaf3a48cd 100644
--- a/LNX-docker-compose.yml
+++ b/LNX-docker-compose.yml
@@ -7,9 +7,10 @@ x-net:
 services:
   db:
     <<: *net
-    image: datajoint/mysql:${MYSQL_VER}
+    image: datajoint/mysql:${MYSQL_VER:-8.0}
     environment:
-      - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=${DJ_PASS}
+      - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=${DJ_PASS:-password}
+    command: mysqld --default-authentication-plugin=mysql_native_password
     # ports:
     #   - "3306:3306"
     # volumes:
@@ -21,7 +22,7 @@ services:
       interval: 15s
   minio:
     <<: *net
-    image: minio/minio:${MINIO_VER}
+    image: minio/minio:${MINIO_VER:-RELEASE.2022-08-11T04-37-28Z}
     environment:
       - MINIO_ACCESS_KEY=datajoint
       - MINIO_SECRET_KEY=datajoint
@@ -44,7 +45,7 @@ services:
       interval: 15s
   fakeservices.datajoint.io:
     <<: *net
-    image: datajoint/nginx:v0.2.6
+    image: datajoint/nginx:v0.2.7
     environment:
       - ADD_db_TYPE=DATABASE
       - ADD_db_ENDPOINT=db:3306
@@ -58,7 +59,7 @@ services:
     #   - "3306:3306"
   app:
     <<: *net
-    image: datajoint/djtest:py${PY_VER}-${DISTRO}
+    image: datajoint/djtest:py${PY_VER:-3.8}-${DISTRO:-alpine}
     depends_on:
       db:
         condition: service_healthy
@@ -69,7 +70,7 @@ services:
     environment:
       - DJ_HOST=fakeservices.datajoint.io
       - DJ_USER=root
-      - DJ_PASS
+      - DJ_PASS=password
       - DJ_TEST_HOST=fakeservices.datajoint.io
       - DJ_TEST_USER=datajoint
       - DJ_TEST_PASSWORD=datajoint
@@ -93,7 +94,7 @@ services:
         nosetests -vsw tests_old --with-coverage --cover-package=datajoint
     # ports:
     #   - "8888:8888"
-    user: ${HOST_UID}:anaconda
+    user: ${HOST_UID:-1000}:anaconda
     volumes:
       - .:/src
       - /tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix:rw
diff --git a/docs/src/develop.md b/docs/src/develop.md
index 4acb9ed35..842c04d96 100644
--- a/docs/src/develop.md
+++ b/docs/src/develop.md
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ It is often useful in development to connect to DataJoint's relational database
 Connect as follows to the database running within your developer environment:
 
 ```
-mysql -hfakeservices.datajoint.io -uroot -psimple
+mysql -hfakeservices.datajoint.io -uroot -ppassword
 ```
 
 ### Documentation