diff --git a/.github/workflows/preflight.yml b/.github/workflows/preflight.yml
index d8c32ae..2287095 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/preflight.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/preflight.yml
@@ -42,11 +42,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Check out repository
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
-      - name: Prepare working directory
-        run: |
-          mkdir $REPORTS_DIR node-config
-          echo "development_mode: yes" > node-config/sign_node.yml
-
       - name: Set up Docker Buildx
         # https://github.com/marketplace/actions/docker-setup-buildx
         uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
@@ -62,6 +57,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Run Pytest
         run: |
+          mkdir $REPORTS_DIR
           docker compose run --rm sign_node bash -c "
             pytest -v --cov \
               --junit-xml=$REPORTS_DIR/pytest-report.xml \
diff --git a/.github/workflows/run-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/run-tests.yml
index 26e2afa..63dc1a4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/run-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/run-tests.yml
@@ -17,11 +17,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Check out repository
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
-      - name: Prepare working directory
-        run: |
-          mkdir node-config
-          echo "development_mode: yes" > node-config/sign_node.yml
-
       - name: Set up Docker Buildx
         # https://github.com/marketplace/actions/docker-setup-buildx
         uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 1b2cc1b..5b0f1f8 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -132,6 +132,3 @@ dmypy.json
 .idea/
 .vscode/
 .DS_Store
-
-# Misc
-node-config/
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 9d0435e..34fca1b 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,12 +1,20 @@
 FROM almalinux:9
 
 COPY signnode.repo /etc/yum.repos.d/signnode.repo
-RUN dnf upgrade -y && dnf install -y --enablerepo="buildsystem" \
-        rpm-sign pinentry keyrings-filesystem ubu-keyring debian-keyring raspbian-keyring git && \
-    dnf clean all
+RUN <<EOT bash
+  set -ex
+  dnf upgrade -y
+  dnf install -y rpm-sign pinentry keyrings-filesystem ubu-keyring debian-keyring raspbian-keyring git
+  dnf clean all
+EOT
 
 WORKDIR /sign-node
 COPY requirements.* .
-RUN python3 -m ensurepip && pip3 install -r requirements.devel.txt && rm requirements.*
+RUN <<EOT bash
+  set -ex
+  python3 -m ensurepip
+  pip3 install -r requirements.devel.txt
+  rm requirements.*
+EOT
 
 ADD --chmod=755 https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vishnubob/wait-for-it/master/wait-for-it.sh /
diff --git a/almalinux_sign_node.py b/almalinux_sign_node.py
index 6121802..ec59aba 100755
--- a/almalinux_sign_node.py
+++ b/almalinux_sign_node.py
@@ -33,9 +33,10 @@ def init_sentry(config: SignNodeConfig):
 def main():
     args_parser = init_args_parser()
     args = args_parser.parse_args()
-    configure_logger(args.verbose)
+    logger = configure_logger(args.verbose)
     try:
         config_file = locate_config_file('sign_node', args.config)
+        logger.debug("Loading %s", config_file if config_file else 'default configuration')
         config = SignNodeConfig(config_file)
     except ValueError as e:
         args_parser.error('Configuration error: {0}'.format(e))
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index d59917a..d37fa93 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -5,5 +5,5 @@ services:
       context: .
     command: "python3 almalinux_sign_node.py -v"
     volumes:
-      - "./node-config:/root/.config"
       - ".:/sign-node"
+      - "./node-config/sign_node.yml:/root/.config/sign_node.yml"
diff --git a/node-config/sign_node.yml b/node-config/sign_node.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..38ed26f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/node-config/sign_node.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# This file will be overwritten during the system deployment.
+# You can find details in the albs-deploy repository.
+#
+# You might want to enable 'development_mode' by uncommenting
+# the following line in case your development setup needs it.
+#   development_mode: yes
diff --git a/sign_node/config.py b/sign_node/config.py
index 59949cf..f199333 100644
--- a/sign_node/config.py
+++ b/sign_node/config.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 DEFAULT_SENTRY_DSN = ""
 DEFAULT_SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT = "dev"
 DEFAULT_SENTRY_TRACES_SAMPLE_RATE = 0.2
+DEFAULT_JWT_TOKEN = "test_jwt"
 
 COMMUNITY_KEY_SUFFIX = 'ALBS community repo'
 
@@ -53,7 +54,8 @@ def __init__(self, config_file=None, **cmd_args):
         default_config = {
             "development_mode": False,
             "is_community_sign_node": False,
-            "pgp_keys": {},
+            "pgp_keys": [],
+            "jwt_token": DEFAULT_JWT_TOKEN,
             "master_url": DEFAULT_MASTER_URL,
             "ws_master_url": DEFAULT_WS_MASTER_URL,
             "node_id": self.generate_node_id(postfix=".sign"),
@@ -76,11 +78,7 @@ def __init__(self, config_file=None, **cmd_args):
         schema = {
             "development_mode": {"type": "boolean", "default": False},
             "is_community_sign_node": {"type": "boolean", "default": False},
-            "pgp_keys": {
-                "type": "list",
-                "required": True,
-                "empty": False,
-            },
+            "pgp_keys": {"type": "list", "required": True},
             "node_id": {"type": "string", "required": True},
             "master_url": {"type": "string", "required": True},
             "ws_master_url": {"type": "string", "required": True},
@@ -91,7 +89,7 @@ def __init__(self, config_file=None, **cmd_args):
             "pulp_password": {"type": "string", "nullable": False},
             "pulp_chunk_size": {"type": "integer", "nullable": False},
             "parallel_upload_file_size": {"type": "integer", "nullable": False},
-            "jwt_token": {"type": "string", "nullable": True},
+            "jwt_token": {"type": "string", "required": True},
             "dev_pgp_key_password": {"type": "string", "nullable": False},
             "sentry_dsn": {"type": "string", "nullable": True},
             "sentry_environment": {"type": "string", "nullable": True},
diff --git a/sign_node/utils/config.py b/sign_node/utils/config.py
index f7ccb9a..42c7dd4 100644
--- a/sign_node/utils/config.py
+++ b/sign_node/utils/config.py
@@ -137,6 +137,7 @@ def __getattr__(self, attr):
     def __parse_config_file(self, config_path):
         with open(config_path, "rb") as fd:
             config = yaml.safe_load(fd)
+        if config:
             self.__config.update(config)
 
     def __validate_config(self, schema):
diff --git a/signnode.repo b/signnode.repo
index 64369ba..19b87bb 100644
--- a/signnode.repo
+++ b/signnode.repo
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [buildsystem]
 baseurl = https://repo.almalinux.org/build_system/9/$basearch/
-enabled = 0
+enabled = 1
 gpgcheck = 0
-name = AlmaLinux - 9 - BuildSystem
+name = AlmaLinux 9 - BuildSystem