diff --git a/.github/workflows/registry-ci.yml b/.github/workflows/registry-ci.yml
index 843e44b9c..65d22e220 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/registry-ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/registry-ci.yml
@@ -18,10 +18,14 @@ jobs:
 
     env:
       COMANAGE_REGISTRY_DIR: /srv/comanage-registry
+
+      # Values used by your PHPUnit setup test
       COMANAGE_REGISTRY_ADMIN_GIVEN_NAME: Admin
       COMANAGE_REGISTRY_ADMIN_FAMILY_NAME: User
       COMANAGE_REGISTRY_ADMIN_USERNAME: admin
       COMANAGE_REGISTRY_SECURITY_SALT: phpunit-security-salt
+
+      # Values used by tests/bootstrap.php to create containers (host/port are set dynamically after start)
       COMANAGE_REGISTRY_DATABASE: registry_test
       COMANAGE_REGISTRY_DATABASE_USER: test_user
       COMANAGE_REGISTRY_DATABASE_USER_PASSWORD: test_password
@@ -33,104 +37,69 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           cat /etc/os-release
           uname -a
-          docker --version
 
-      - name: Upgrade Docker Engine
+      - name: Checkout (only for workflow files)
         shell: bash
         run: |
           set -euxo pipefail
-          # Remove old docker packages first to avoid conflicts
-          sudo yum remove -y docker \
-            docker-client \
-            docker-client-latest \
-            docker-common \
-            docker-latest \
-            docker-latest-logrotate \
-            docker-logrotate \
-            docker-engine || true
-
-          # Install missing dependencies from AL2 extras
-          sudo amazon-linux-extras install -y selinux-ng || true
-          sudo yum install -y \
-            container-selinux \
-            fuse-overlayfs \
-            slirp4netns || true
-
-          # Add Docker CE repo pinned to CentOS 7
-          sudo yum-config-manager --add-repo https://download.docker.com/linux/centos/docker-ce.repo
-          sudo sed -i 's|\$releasever|7|g' /etc/yum.repos.d/docker-ce.repo
-
-          # Install Docker CE, skip rootless extras to avoid optional dep issues
-          sudo yum install -y \
-            docker-ce \
-            docker-ce-cli \
-            containerd.io \
-            --exclude=docker-ce-rootless-extras
-
-          sudo systemctl start docker || true
-          docker --version
+          git clone \
+            --depth=1 \
+            --branch "${GITHUB_REF_NAME}" \
+            "${GITHUB_SERVER_URL}/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}.git" \
+            "${COMANAGE_REGISTRY_DIR}"
 
       - name: Install PHP ${{ matrix.php }} and extensions
         shell: bash
         run: |
           set -euxo pipefail
+          sudo apt-get update
+          sudo apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
+            software-properties-common ca-certificates gnupg
+          sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:ondrej/php
+          sudo apt-get update
           PHP_VER="${{ matrix.php }}"
-
-          # Enable EPEL and Remi repo for multiple PHP versions on AL2
-          sudo yum install -y https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-7.noarch.rpm || true
-          sudo yum install -y https://rpms.remirepo.net/enterprise/remi-release-7.rpm || true
-          sudo yum-config-manager --enable remi-php$(echo $PHP_VER | tr -d '.')
-
-          sudo yum install -y \
-            php${PHP_VER/./} \
-            php${PHP_VER/./}-php-cli \
-            php${PHP_VER/./}-php-mbstring \
-            php${PHP_VER/./}-php-intl \
-            php${PHP_VER/./}-php-ldap \
-            php${PHP_VER/./}-php-xml \
-            php${PHP_VER/./}-php-zip \
-            php${PHP_VER/./}-php-pdo \
-            php${PHP_VER/./}-php-mysqlnd \
-            php${PHP_VER/./}-php-pgsql \
-            php${PHP_VER/./}-php-gd \
-            php${PHP_VER/./}-php-xsl \
-            php${PHP_VER/./}-php-memcached \
-            php${PHP_VER/./}-php-curl \
-            php${PHP_VER/./}-php-sodium
-
-          # Make the correct version the default
-          sudo ln -sf /usr/bin/php${PHP_VER/./} /usr/local/bin/php
-          echo "/usr/local/bin" >> "$GITHUB_PATH"
+          sudo apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
+            php${PHP_VER}-cli \
+            php${PHP_VER}-mbstring \
+            php${PHP_VER}-intl \
+            php${PHP_VER}-ldap \
+            php${PHP_VER}-xml \
+            php${PHP_VER}-zip \
+            php${PHP_VER}-pdo \
+            php${PHP_VER}-mysql \
+            php${PHP_VER}-pgsql \
+            php${PHP_VER}-gd \
+            php${PHP_VER}-xsl \
+            php${PHP_VER}-memcached \
+            php${PHP_VER}-curl
+          # Force the correct version via update-alternatives
+          sudo update-alternatives --set php /usr/bin/php${PHP_VER}
+          # Also override via /usr/local/bin which is earlier in PATH
+          sudo ln -sf /usr/bin/php${PHP_VER} /usr/local/bin/php
+          # Persist for subsequent steps
           echo "PHP_VER=${PHP_VER}" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+          # Prepend /usr/local/bin to PATH for all subsequent steps
+          echo "/usr/local/bin" >> "$GITHUB_PATH"
 
       - name: Install OS packages needed for setup
         shell: bash
         run: |
           set -euxo pipefail
-          sudo yum install -y \
+          sudo apt-get update
+          sudo apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
             wget curl tar ca-certificates \
             git unzip \
-            libicu-devel \
-            openldap-devel \
+            libicu-dev \
+            libldap2-dev \
             libxml2 \
-            zlib \
-            libsodium \
-            libpng-devel \
-            libjpeg-devel \
-            freetype-devel \
-            libxslt \
-            libmemcached \
-            tree
-
-      - name: Checkout source
-        shell: bash
-        run: |
-          set -euxo pipefail
-          git clone \
-            --depth=1 \
-            --branch "${GITHUB_REF_NAME}" \
-            "${GITHUB_SERVER_URL}/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}.git" \
-            "${COMANAGE_REGISTRY_DIR}"
+            zlib1g \
+            libsodium23 \
+            libpng-dev \
+            libjpeg-dev \
+            libfreetype6-dev \
+            libxslt1.1 \
+            libmemcached11 \
+            tree 
 
       - name: Show versions
         shell: bash
@@ -140,35 +109,19 @@ jobs:
           composer --version
           docker --version
 
-      - name: Create apache user/group
-        shell: bash
-        run: |
-          set -euxo pipefail
-          if ! getent group apache >/dev/null; then
-            sudo groupadd --system apache
-          fi
-          if ! id -u apache >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-            sudo useradd --system --no-create-home --gid apache apache
-          fi
-
       - name: Create local/config/database.php placeholder
         shell: bash
         run: |
           set -euxo pipefail
-          sudo mkdir -p "${COMANAGE_REGISTRY_DIR}/local/config"
-          sudo tee "${COMANAGE_REGISTRY_DIR}/local/config/database.php" > /dev/null <<'EOF'
+          cd "${COMANAGE_REGISTRY_DIR}"/local/config
+          sudo touch database.php
+          sudo chown www-data:www-data database.php
+          sudo tee "database.php" > /dev/null <<'EOF'
           <?php
           // Placeholder: actual connection is configured dynamically by tests/bootstrap.php via Testcontainers
           return [];
           EOF
 
-      - name: Composer install
-        shell: bash
-        working-directory: /srv/comanage-registry/app
-        run: |
-          set -euxo pipefail
-          composer install --no-interaction --no-progress
-
       - name: Show working directory
         shell: bash
         run: |
@@ -181,6 +134,5 @@ jobs:
           DB_ENGINE: ${{ matrix.db_engine }}
         run: |
           set -euxo pipefail
-          output=$(DB_ENGINE="${DB_ENGINE}" vendor/bin/phpunit --testsuite app 2>&1)
-          echo "${output}"
-          if echo "${output}" | grep -q "Could not load
+          cd "${COMANAGE_REGISTRY_DIR}"/app
+          DB_ENGINE="${DB_ENGINE}" vendor/bin/phpunit --testsuite app
\ No newline at end of file