diff --git a/backend/mvnw b/backend/mvnw
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 0a34a620c7..41a7183c65 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -1,64 +1,72 @@
-version: "3.8"
+# Compose v3 ref: https://docs.docker.com/compose/compose-file/compose-file-v3/
+---
+version: "3.9"
+
+x-var:
+  - &POSTGRES_USER
+    postgres
+  - &POSTGRES_PASSWORD
+    default
+  - &POSTGRES_DATABASE
+    postgres
+  - &POSTGRES_HOST
+    database
+
+x-defaults: &defaults
+  logging:
+    driver: "json-file"
+    options:
+      max-size: 10m
+      max-file: "3"
 
 services:
   database:
-    container_name: postgres
+    container_name: *POSTGRES_HOST
     environment:
-      POSTGRES_USER: default
-      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: default
-      POSTGRES_DB: default
-    hostname: database
+      POSTGRES_USER: *POSTGRES_USER
+      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: *POSTGRES_PASSWORD
+      POSTGRES_DB: *POSTGRES_DATABASE
     image: postgres:15
-    ports:
-      - "5432:5432"
-    restart: always    
-    volumes:
-      - ./database/init-db.sh:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/init-db.sh
-      - /pgdata
+    ports: [5432:5432]
+    volumes: ["/pgdata"]
     healthcheck:
-      test: [ "CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready", "-d", "db_prod" ]
+      test: ["CMD", "pg_isready", "-U", *POSTGRES_USER]
       interval: 5s
       timeout: 10s
       retries: 10
-    logging:
-      driver: "json-file"
-      options:
-        max-size: 10m
-        max-file: "3"
+    <<: *defaults
 
   backend:
     container_name: backend
+    image: maven:3.9.3-eclipse-temurin-17
+    entrypoint: sh -c "cd /app && mvn -ntp spring-boot:run -Dspring-boot.run.jvmArguments='-Xdebug -Xrunjdwp:transport=dt_socket,server=y,suspend=n'"
     environment:
-      POSTGRESQL_HOST: database
-      POSTGRESQL_USER: default
-      POSTGRESQL_PASSWORD: default
-      POSTGRESQL_DATABASE: default
+      POSTGRESQL_HOST: *POSTGRES_HOST
+      POSTGRESQL_USER: *POSTGRES_USER
+      POSTGRESQL_PASSWORD: *POSTGRES_PASSWORD
+      POSTGRESQL_DATABASE: *POSTGRES_DATABASE
       CHES_CLIENT_ID: id    
       CHES_CLIENT_SECRET: secret
       CHES_TOKEN_URL: https://dev.loginproxy.gov.bc.ca/auth/realms/comsvcauth/protocol/openid-connect/token
       CHES_API_URL: https://ches-dev.api.gov.bc.ca/api/v1
-    ports:
-      - 3000:3000
+      ENV LANG: en_CA.UTF-8
+      LANGUAGE: en_CA.UTF-8
+      LC_ALL: en_CA.UTF-8
+    ports: [3000:3000]
     healthcheck:
       test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:3000/health"]
       interval: 1m30s
       timeout: 10s
       retries: 3
       start_period: 10s
-    hostname: backend
-    image: ghcr.io/bcgov/nr-forest-client/backend:517
-    depends_on:
-      - database
-    links:
-      - database    
-    logging:
-      driver: "json-file"
-      options:
-        max-size: 10m
-        max-file: "3"
+    depends_on: [*POSTGRES_HOST]
+    volumes: ["./backend:/app"]
+    <<: *defaults
 
   frontend:
     container_name: frontend
+    image: node:18-bullseye
+    entrypoint: sh -c "cd /app && npm i && npm start"
     environment:
       NODE_ENV: development
       VITE_BACKEND_URL: backend
@@ -68,17 +76,10 @@ services:
       timeout: 10s
       retries: 3
       start_period: 40s
-    hostname: frontend
-    image: ghcr.io/bcgov/nr-forest-client/frontend:500
-    links:
-      - backend
-    ports:
-      - "8080:8080"
-    logging:
-      driver: "json-file"
-      options:
-        max-size: 10m
-        max-file: "3"
+    depends_on: [backend]
+    ports: [8080:8080]
+    volumes: ["./frontend:/app", "/app/node_modules"]
+    <<: *defaults
 
   legacydb:
     container_name: oracle
@@ -86,24 +87,13 @@ services:
       APP_USER_PASSWORD: default
       APP_USER: THE
       ORACLE_RANDOM_PASSWORD: yes
-    hostname: legacydb
     platform: "linux/amd64"
     image: gvenzl/oracle-xe:21.3.0-slim-faststart
-    ports:
-      - 1521:1521
-    restart: always
-    volumes:
-      - oracle:/opt/oracle/oradata gvenzl/oracle-xe
+    ports: [1521:1521]
+    volumes: [/opt/oracle/oradata gvenzl/oracle-xe]
     healthcheck:
       test: [ "CMD-SHELL", "healthcheck.sh" ]
       interval: 5s
       timeout: 10s
       retries: 10
-    logging:
-      driver: "json-file"
-      options:
-        max-size: 10m
-        max-file: "3"
-
-volumes:
-  oracle: {}
+    <<: *defaults