diff --git a/pom-step-01.xml b/pom-step-01.xml
index e604785..22b4cf7 100644
--- a/pom-step-01.xml
+++ b/pom-step-01.xml
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@
                     </execution>
                 </executions>
             </plugin>
-            <!-- Start Docker Compose and wait to copy checksums-->
+            <!-- Start openMRS SDK and wait to copy checksums-->
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
                 <artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
diff --git a/scripts/start-docker-and-wait.sh b/scripts/start-docker-and-wait.sh
index be9eec8..7b27701 100644
--- a/scripts/start-docker-and-wait.sh
+++ b/scripts/start-docker-and-wait.sh
@@ -1,11 +1,126 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -e
 
-# Directory where docker-compose.yml lives; default to target/distro if not passed
+# Directory where the distro is located; default to target/distro
 DISTRO_DIR="${1:-../target/distro}"
+SERVER_ID="${2:-openmrs-example}"
+# Project directory (one level up from script location)
+PROJECT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/../" && pwd)"
 
-echo "🚀 Starting OpenMRS in Docker from $DISTRO_DIR..."
-docker-compose -f "$DISTRO_DIR/docker-compose.yml" up -d web
+# Ensure JAVA_HOME is set
+if [ -z "$JAVA_HOME" ]; then
+  echo "❌ JAVA_HOME is not set. Please set it to your Java installation."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# Candidate ports to try
+PORTS=(1044 1045 1046 1047 1048 1049 1050)
+
+# function to find a free port between 8000 and 9000
+find_free_port() {
+  for port in $(seq 8000 9000); do
+    if ! lsof -i :"$port" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+      echo "$port"
+      return
+    fi
+  done
+  echo "❌ No free port found in range 8000-9000" >&2
+  exit 1
+}
+
+# Pick a free port for Tomcat
+TOMCAT_PORT=$(find_free_port)
+echo "Using Tomcat port: $TOMCAT_PORT"
+
+# Delete old server if it exists
+echo "🧹 Cleaning old server..."
+mvn openmrs-sdk:delete -DserverId="$SERVER_ID" -B || true
+rm -rf "$HOME/openmrs/$SERVER_ID"
+echo "✅ Old server cleaned."
+
+echo "🚀 Starting OpenMRS using the SDK from $DISTRO_DIR..."
+
+# Run SDK setup (automated, Docker-based MySQL if Docker available)
+mvn openmrs-sdk:setup \
+  -DserverId="$SERVER_ID" \
+  -Ddistro="$DISTRO_DIR/web/openmrs-distro.properties" \
+  -DjavaHome="$JAVA_HOME" \
+  -DbatchAnswers="$TOMCAT_PORT,1044,MySQL 8.4.1 and above in SDK docker container (requires pre-installed Docker),yes" \
+  -B
+
+# Detect MySQL connection target
+detect_mysql_connection() {
+  # Check if MySQL container is running with a published port
+  MYSQL_CONTAINER=$(docker ps --filter "name=openmrs-sdk-mysql" -q | head -n 1)
+
+  if [ -n "$MYSQL_CONTAINER" ] && nc -z 127.0.0.1 3308 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    # Use host-mapped port
+    echo "jdbc:mariadb://127.0.0.1:3308/openmrs-example?autoReconnect=true&useUnicode=true&characterEncoding=UTF-8&zeroDateTimeBehavior=convertToNull"
+  elif nc -z 127.0.0.1 3306 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    # Maybe local MySQL running on 3306
+    echo "jdbc:mariadb://127.0.0.1:3306/openmrs-example?autoReconnect=true&useUnicode=true&characterEncoding=UTF-8&zeroDateTimeBehavior=convertToNull"
+  else
+    echo "❌ No MySQL instance detected on host or Docker. Please start one." >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+}
+
+# Copy pre-created runtime properties
+SERVER_DIR="$HOME/openmrs/$SERVER_ID"
+if [ -f "$PROJECT_DIR/src/main/config/openmrs-runtime.properties" ]; then
+  DB_URL=$(detect_mysql_connection)
+  # Generate runtime properties
+cat > "$SERVER_DIR/openmrs-runtime.properties" <<EOF
+connection.url=$DB_URL
+connection.username=root
+connection.password=Admin123
+auto_update_database=false
+tomcatport=$TOMCAT_PORT
+EOF
+
+echo "✅ Generated openmrs-runtime.properties at $SERVER_DIR"
+else
+  echo "⚠️ No openmrs-runtime.properties found. SDK will run first-time setup wizard."
+fi
+
+# Import pre-populated database dump
+DB_DUMP=$(ls "$PROJECT_DIR/src/main/db/demo-db-"*.sql 2>/dev/null | head -n 1)
+if [ -f "$DB_DUMP" ]; then
+  echo "📦 Importing pre-populated database dump into SDK MySQL container..."
+  MYSQL_CONTAINER=$(docker ps --filter "name=openmrs-sdk-mysql" -q | head -n 1)
+  if [ -n "$MYSQL_CONTAINER" ]; then
+    docker exec -i "$MYSQL_CONTAINER" sh -c "mysql -u root -pAdmin123 openmrs-example" < "$DB_DUMP"
+    echo "✅ Database imported successfully."
+  else
+    echo "❌ MySQL SDK container not running. Database import skipped."
+  fi
+else
+  echo "⚠️ No pre-populated database dump found at $DB_DUMP. SDK will create empty DB."
+fi
+
+
+# Function to check if debug port is free
+is_port_free() {
+  ! lsof -i :$1 >/dev/null 2>&1
+}
+
+# Pick first free port
+for p in "${PORTS[@]}"; do
+  if is_port_free "$p"; then
+    DEBUG_PORT=$p
+    break
+  fi
+done
+
+echo "Using debug port: $DEBUG_PORT"
+# Start the server in the background
+echo "▶️ Starting OpenMRS server..."
+mvn openmrs-sdk:run -Ddebug="$DEBUG_PORT" -DserverId="$SERVER_ID" \
+  -DjvmArgs='--add-opens java.base/java.lang=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens java.base/java.util=ALL-UNNAMED' -B \
+  > "$SERVER_DIR/openmrs.log" 2>&1 &
+
+SERVER_PID=$!
+echo "🔹 OpenMRS SDK started in background (PID: $SERVER_PID). Logs: $SERVER_DIR/openmrs.log"
 
 # Wait for OpenMRS to start (max 180 seconds)
 echo "⏳ Waiting for OpenMRS to initialize..."
@@ -14,9 +129,9 @@ TIMEOUT=180
 
 while true; do
   if command -v curl &> /dev/null; then
-    curl -sf http://localhost:8080/openmrs && break
+    curl -sf http://localhost:$TOMCAT_PORT/openmrs && break
   elif command -v wget &> /dev/null; then
-    wget -q --spider http://localhost:8080/openmrs && break
+    wget -q --spider http://localhost:$TOMCAT_PORT/openmrs && break
   else
     echo "❌ Neither curl nor wget found! Please install one of them." >&2
     exit 1
@@ -32,17 +147,22 @@ while true; do
   sleep 5
 done
 
-echo "✅ OpenMRS is up. Proceeding to copy configuration checksums..."
+echo "✅ OpenMRS is up and running."
 
-CONTAINER_ID=$(docker-compose -f "$DISTRO_DIR/docker-compose.yml" ps -q web)
+# SDK stores servers under $SERVER_DIR. Openmrs-sdk generates config files automatically.
+CHECKSUM_DIR="$SERVER_DIR/configuration_checksums"
 
-# Try to copy the checksum file
-echo "📦 Attempting to extract openmrs_config_checksums..."
-if docker cp "$CONTAINER_ID":/openmrs/data/configuration_checksums "$DISTRO_DIR/web/openmrs_config_checksums"; then
+if [ -d "$CHECKSUM_DIR" ]; then
+  echo "📦 Copying configuration checksums to $DISTRO_DIR/web/openmrs_config_checksums..."
+  mkdir -p "$DISTRO_DIR/web"
+  cp -r "$CHECKSUM_DIR" "$DISTRO_DIR/web/openmrs_config_checksums"
   echo "✅ Checksums copied successfully."
 else
-  echo "❌ Failed to copy checksums file. File may not exist yet."
+  echo "⚠️ Checksums directory not found yet. It may be created later by the SDK."
 fi
 
-echo "🧹 Shutting down Docker containers..."
-docker-compose -f "$DISTRO_DIR/docker-compose.yml" down
+# echo "🧹 Stopping and deleting OpenMRS server..."
+mvn openmrs-sdk:delete -DserverId="$SERVER_ID" -B
+rm -rf $SERVER_DIR
+
+echo "✅ Done. Server removed."