diff --git a/docker/development/dockerfile b/docker/development/dockerfile
index 8198920..f90ae93 100644
--- a/docker/development/dockerfile
+++ b/docker/development/dockerfile
@@ -1,15 +1,11 @@
-FROM node:lts
+FROM fedora:latest
 
-# Arguments
-ARG OPENVSCODE_VERSION="1.74.0"
 # Volumes
 VOLUME /data
 
 # Ports
 # openvscode server port. Note: Runs HTTP by default
 EXPOSE 3000
-# Dev Web Server port. Runs a self signed SSL certificate
-EXPOSE 443
 
 # System Environment Variables
 ENV PATH="/opt/vscode:${PATH}"
@@ -18,9 +14,9 @@ ENV SHELL="/bin/bash"
 
 # User Set Environment Variables
 # Set to false if you do not want to attempt to pull a repository on first load
-ENV AUTOINITIALIZE=true
+ENV AUTOINITIALIZE=false
 # sets a connection token for VSCode Server. https://github.com/gitpod-io/openvscode-server#securing-access-to-your-ide
-ENV USE_CONNECTION_TOKEN=true
+ENV USE_CONNECTION_TOKEN=false
 #Set to a secret to have some measure of protection for vscode. Randomized if left blank
 ENV CONNECTION_TOKEN=
 # Project name. Typically the same as the project in the URL
@@ -28,7 +24,7 @@ ENV PROJECT_NAME="headscale-ui"
 # URL for the github/git location
 ENV PROJECT_URL="https://github.com/gurucomputing/headscale-ui"
 # autostart the dev command on boot?
-ENV AUTOSTART=true
+ENV AUTOSTART="false"
 # command to run in the background on startup
 ENV DEV_COMMAND="npm run dev"
 
@@ -49,8 +45,18 @@ RUN chmod -R 755 scripts
 RUN /staging/scripts/1-image-build.sh
 
 # set to the non-root user
-USER node
+USER dev-user
 
 WORKDIR /data
 
-ENTRYPOINT /bin/sh /staging/scripts/2-initialise.sh
\ No newline at end of file
+ENTRYPOINT /bin/sh /staging/scripts/2-initialise.sh#!/bin/sh
+
+#----#
+# placeholder for testing
+# while true; do sleep 1; done
+#----#
+
+# set file permissions if required
+if [ $(id -u) -ne $(stat -c %u /data) ]
+then
+…fi
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docker/development/scripts/1-image-build.sh b/docker/development/scripts/1-image-build.sh
index ae698b2..df65d3e 100644
--- a/docker/development/scripts/1-image-build.sh
+++ b/docker/development/scripts/1-image-build.sh
@@ -1,44 +1,22 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
 # script environment
-# turn on bash logging
-set -x
+# turn on bash logging, exit on error
+set -ex
 
-# script variables
-OPENVSCODE_URL="https://github.com/gitpod-io/openvscode-server/releases/download/openvscode-server-v$OPENVSCODE_VERSION/openvscode-server-v$OPENVSCODE_VERSION-linux-x64.tar.gz"
-OPENVSCODE_RELEASE="openvscode-server-v$OPENVSCODE_VERSION-linux-x64"
-CADDY_URL="https://caddyserver.com/api/download?os=linux&arch=amd64"
-
-# install dependencies
-# tmux     used for monitoring secondary processes
-# sudo     for running specific commands as root
-apt-get update
-apt-get install -y tmux sudo
+# create a non-root user
+useradd -m -d /data/home dev-user
 
 # set the default shell to the chosen shell
-usermod --shell ${SHELL} node
+usermod --shell ${SHELL} dev-user
 
 # Add the ability to set file permissions on /data to the non-privileged user
 echo "ALL ALL=NOPASSWD: /bin/chown -R 1000\:1000 /data" >> /etc/sudoers
 
-# install openVSCode
-cd /opt
-
-### Download Open VSCode
-curl -LJO "$OPENVSCODE_URL"
-
-### Extract and move into directory
-tar -xzf "$OPENVSCODE_RELEASE.tar.gz"
-mv $OPENVSCODE_RELEASE openvscode-server
-rm -f "$OPENVSCODE_RELEASE.tar.gz"
-
-### download caddy
-curl -LJO "$CADDY_URL"
-chmod +x caddy_linux_amd64
-mv caddy_linux_amd64 /usr/bin/caddy
-
-# create data and home directories
-mkdir -p /data/home
+# install dependencies
+/staging/scripts/install-base-dependencies.sh
+/staging/scripts/install-container-dependencies.sh
+/staging/scripts/install-openvscode-server.sh
 
 # set tmux to use mouse scroll
 echo "set -g mouse on" > /data/home/.tmux.conf
diff --git a/docker/development/scripts/2-initialise.sh b/docker/development/scripts/2-initialise.sh
index 7e8054f..e499ddb 100644
--- a/docker/development/scripts/2-initialise.sh
+++ b/docker/development/scripts/2-initialise.sh
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ then
         echo "---- Forcing File Permissions to the node user ----"
         sudo /bin/chown -R 1000:1000 /data
     else
-        echo "---- You are not running as the node user AND your file permissions don't match your user ---\n"
+        echo "---- You are not running as the default non-root user AND your file permissions don't match your user ---\n"
         echo "---- You may need to manually fix your file permissions ----"
     fi
 fi
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@ then
         cd /data
         git clone ${PROJECT_URL}
         cd ${PROJECT_NAME}
-        npm install
     else
         cd /data/${PROJECT_NAME}
     fi
diff --git a/docker/development/scripts/install-base-dependencies.sh b/docker/development/scripts/install-base-dependencies.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..290e223
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/development/scripts/install-base-dependencies.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# install dependencies
+# tmux           used for monitoring secondary processes
+# sudo           for running specific commands as root
+# git            for source countrol
+# pwgen          for creating randomized passwords/secrets on the fly
+# ncdu           file navigation
+dnf install -y tmux sudo git pwgen ncdu
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docker/development/scripts/install-container-dependencies.sh b/docker/development/scripts/install-container-dependencies.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d4c0466
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/development/scripts/install-container-dependencies.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# install container dependencies
+dnf module install -y nodejs
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docker/development/scripts/install-openvscode-server.sh b/docker/development/scripts/install-openvscode-server.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..58d1610
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/development/scripts/install-openvscode-server.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# script variables
+OPENVSCODE_VERSION="1.79.2"
+OPENVSCODE_URL="https://github.com/gitpod-io/openvscode-server/releases/download/openvscode-server-v$OPENVSCODE_VERSION/openvscode-server-v$OPENVSCODE_VERSION-linux-x64.tar.gz"
+OPENVSCODE_RELEASE="openvscode-server-v$OPENVSCODE_VERSION-linux-x64"
+
+# install openVSCode
+cd /opt
+
+### Download Open VSCode
+curl -LJO "$OPENVSCODE_URL"
+
+### Extract and move into directory
+tar -xzf "$OPENVSCODE_RELEASE.tar.gz"
+mv $OPENVSCODE_RELEASE openvscode-server
+rm -f "$OPENVSCODE_RELEASE.tar.gz"