diff --git a/.env b/.env
index 9ab75e1e..589c1a26 100644
--- a/.env
+++ b/.env
@@ -2,10 +2,10 @@ COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME=kartozageoserver
 # ###############
 # Build Arguments
 # ###############
-IMAGE_VERSION=9.0.91-jdk11-temurin-focal
-GS_VERSION=2.25.3
+IMAGE_VERSION=9.0.91-jdk17-temurin-focal
+GS_VERSION=2.26.0
 JAVA_HOME=/opt/java/openjdk
-WAR_URL=http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/geoserver/GeoServer/2.25.3/geoserver-2.25.3-war.zip
+WAR_URL=http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/geoserver/GeoServer/2.26.0/geoserver-2.26.0-war.zip
 STABLE_PLUGIN_BASE_URL=https://sourceforge.net/projects/geoserver/files/GeoServer
 GEOSERVER_UID=1000
 GEOSERVER_GID=10001
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-latest.yaml b/.github/workflows/build-latest.yaml
index 1c49a93c..a0a33a6c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-latest.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-latest.yaml
@@ -69,11 +69,11 @@ jobs:
         geoserverMajorVersion:
           - 2
         imageVersion:
-          - image: 9.0.91-jdk11-temurin-focal
+          - image: 9.0.91-jdk17-temurin-focal
             javaHome: /opt/java/openjdk
         geoserverMinorVersion:
-          - minor: 25
-            patch: 3
+          - minor: 26
+            patch: 0
         stablePluginBaseURL:
           - https://sourceforge.net/projects/geoserver/files/GeoServer
     steps:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/deploy-image.yaml b/.github/workflows/deploy-image.yaml
index 86bb5fa3..d1c59d78 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/deploy-image.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/deploy-image.yaml
@@ -27,11 +27,11 @@ jobs:
         geoserverMajorVersion:
           - 2
         imageVersion:
-          - image: 9.0.91-jdk11-temurin-focal
+          - image: 9.0.91-jdk17-temurin-focal
             javaHome: /opt/java/openjdk
         geoserverMinorVersion:
-          - minor: 25
-            patch: 3
+          - minor: 26
+            patch: 0
         stablePluginBaseURL:
           # empty because it often changes, so it's better
           # to use the default one described in the Dockerfile
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 88b02bef..c58a0ac1 100755
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ ARG JAVA_HOME=/opt/java/openjdk
 # alpine because it's smaller.
 
 FROM --platform=$BUILDPLATFORM python:alpine3.20 AS geoserver-plugin-downloader
-ARG GS_VERSION=2.25.3
+ARG GS_VERSION=2.26.0
 ARG STABLE_PLUGIN_BASE_URL=https://sourceforge.net/projects/geoserver/files/GeoServer
 ARG WAR_URL=https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/geoserver/GeoServer/${GS_VERSION}/geoserver-${GS_VERSION}-war.zip
 
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ RUN /work/plugin_download.sh
 FROM tomcat:$IMAGE_VERSION AS geoserver-prod
 
 LABEL maintainer="Tim Sutton<tim@linfiniti.com>"
-ARG GS_VERSION=2.25.3
+ARG GS_VERSION=2.26.0
 ARG STABLE_PLUGIN_BASE_URL=https://sourceforge.net/projects/geoserver/files/GeoServer
 ARG HTTPS_PORT=8443
 ARG ACTIVATE_GDAL_PLUGIN=true
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 34efcfee..fbc79cc9 100755
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ The preferred way (but using the most bandwidth for the initial image) is to
 get our docker-trusted build like this:
 
 ``` shell
-VERSION=2.25.3
+VERSION=2.26.0
 docker pull kartoza/geoserver:$VERSION
 ```
 **Note** Although the images are tagged and backed by unit tests
@@ -100,14 +100,14 @@ See the [dockerhub tomcat](https://hub.docker.com/_/tomcat/)
 for available tags.
 
 ```
-VERSION=2.25.3
+VERSION=2.26.0
 IMAGE_VERSION=9.0.91-jdk11-temurin-focal
 docker build --build-arg IMAGE_VERSION=${IMAGE_VERSION} --build-arg GS_VERSION=${VERSION} -t kartoza/geoserver:${VERSION} .
 ```
 
 For some recent builds, it is necessary to set the JAVA_PATH as well (e.g. Apache Tomcat/9.0.36)
 ```
-docker build --build-arg IMAGE_VERSION=9.0.91-jdk11-temurin-focal --build-arg JAVA_HOME=/usr/local/openjdk-11/bin/java --build-arg GS_VERSION=2.25.3 -t kartoza/geoserver:2.25.3 .
+docker build --build-arg IMAGE_VERSION=9.0.91-jdk11-temurin-focal --build-arg JAVA_HOME=/usr/local/openjdk-11/bin/java --build-arg GS_VERSION=2.26.0 -t kartoza/geoserver:2.26.0 .
 ```
 
 **Note:** Please check the [GeoServer documentation](https://docs.geoserver.org/stable/en/user/production/index.html) 
@@ -195,9 +195,9 @@ will be enabled : [list of default plugins](https://github.com/kartoza/docker-ge
 ####  Activate stable extensions during the contain startup
 
 The environment variable `STABLE_EXTENSIONS` is used to activate extensions listed in
-[stable_plugins](https://sourceforge.net/projects/geoserver/files/GeoServer/2.25.3/extensions/)
+[stable_plugins](https://sourceforge.net/projects/geoserver/files/GeoServer/2.26.0/extensions/)
 
-**Note:** The plugins listed in the url is of the format `geoserver-2.25.3-wps-plugin.zip`, but the env
+**Note:** The plugins listed in the url is of the format `geoserver-2.26.0-wps-plugin.zip`, but the env
 variable expects the env to be of the format `wps-plugin`. Always consult the url to see which plugins 
 are available. The text file [stable_plugins.txt](https://github.com/kartoza/docker-geoserver/blob/master/build_data/stable_plugins.txt)
 contains a curated list of plugins but might be out of date in some cases.
@@ -205,11 +205,11 @@ contains a curated list of plugins but might be out of date in some cases.
 Example
 
 ```
-ie VERSION=2.25.3
+ie VERSION=2.26.0
 docker run -d -p 8600:8080 --name geoserver -e STABLE_EXTENSIONS=charts-plugin,db2-plugin kartoza/geoserver:${VERSION}
 
 ```
-You can pass any comma-separated extensions as defined in [stable_plugins](https://sourceforge.net/projects/geoserver/files/GeoServer/2.25.3/extensions/)
+You can pass any comma-separated extensions as defined in [stable_plugins](https://sourceforge.net/projects/geoserver/files/GeoServer/2.26.0/extensions/)
 
 ####  Activate community extensions during contain startup
 
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ contains a curated list of community plugins but might be out of date in some ca
 Example
 
 ```
-ie VERSION=2.25.3
+ie VERSION=2.26.0
 docker run -d -p 8600:8080 --name geoserver -e COMMUNITY_EXTENSIONS=gwc-sqlite-plugin,ogr-datastore-plugin kartoza/geoserver:${VERSION}
 ```
 
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ following the guidelines from [GeoServer develop guidelines](https://docs.geoser
 The image ships with sample data. This can be used to familiarize yourself with GeoServer. This is not activated by default. You can activate it using the environment variable `boolean SAMPLE_DATA`.
 
 ```
-ie VERSION=2.25.3
+ie VERSION=2.26.0
 docker run -d -p 8600:8080 --name geoserver -e SAMPLE_DATA=true kartoza/geoserver:${VERSION}
 ```
 
@@ -309,14 +309,14 @@ If you set the environment variable `SSL=true` but do not provide the pem files
 the container will generate self-signed SSL certificates.
 
 ```
-ie VERSION=2.25.3
+ie VERSION=2.26.0
 docker run -it --name geoserver  -e PKCS12_PASSWORD=geoserver -e JKS_KEY_PASSWORD=geoserver -e JKS_STORE_PASSWORD=geoserver -e SSL=true -p 8443:8443 -p 8600:8080 kartoza/geoserver:${VERSION}
 ```
 
 If you already have your perm files (`fullchain.pem` and `privkey.pem`) you can mount the directory containing your keys as:
 
 ```
-ie VERSION=2.25.3
+ie VERSION=2.26.0
 docker run -it --name geo -v /etc/certs:/etc/certs  -e PKCS12_PASSWORD=geoserver -e JKS_KEY_PASSWORD=geoserver -e JKS_STORE_PASSWORD=geoserver -e SSL=true -p 8443:8443 -p 8600:8080 kartoza/geoserver:${VERSION}
 
 ```
@@ -374,7 +374,7 @@ To include Tomcat extras including docs, examples, and the manager web app, set
 to use a strong password otherwise a randomly generated password is used.
 
 ```
-ie VERSION=2.25.3
+ie VERSION=2.26.0
 docker run -it --name geoserver  -e TOMCAT_EXTRAS=true -p 8600:8080 kartoza/geoserver:${VERSION}
 ```
 
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ If you have downloaded extra fonts you can mount the folder to the path
 path during initialisation. This is useful for styling layers i.e. labeling using specific fonts.
 
 ```
-ie VERSION=2.25.3
+ie VERSION=2.26.0
 docker run -v fonts:/opt/fonts -p 8080:8080 -t kartoza/geoserver:${VERSION}
 ```
 
@@ -408,7 +408,7 @@ You can use the environment variable `GOOGLE_FONTS_NAMES` to activate fonts defi
 i.e.
 
 ```bash
-ie VERSION=2.25.3
+ie VERSION=2.26.0
 docker run -e GOOGLE_FONTS_NAMES=actor,akronim -p 8080:8080 -t kartoza/geoserver:${VERSION}
 ```
 
diff --git a/clustering/docker-compose.yml b/clustering/docker-compose.yml
index 7cb6cf8f..550552dd 100644
--- a/clustering/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/clustering/docker-compose.yml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ services:
       healthcheck:
         test: "PGPASSWORD=docker pg_isready -h 127.0.0.1 -U docker -d gis"
    master:
-      image: kartoza/geoserver:2.25.3
+      image: kartoza/geoserver:2.26.0
       volumes:
          - geoserver-cluster-data:/opt/geoserver/data_dir
          - geoserver-cluster-gwc-data:/opt/geoserver/gwc
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ services:
         timeout: 10s
         retries: 3
    node:
-      image: kartoza/geoserver:2.25.3
+      image: kartoza/geoserver:2.26.0
       volumes:
          - geoserver-cluster-data:/opt/geoserver/data_dir
          - geoserver-cluster-gwc-data:/opt/geoserver/gwc
diff --git a/scenario_tests/context/docker-compose.yml b/scenario_tests/context/docker-compose.yml
index d9e64813..1d3ec109 100644
--- a/scenario_tests/context/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/scenario_tests/context/docker-compose.yml
@@ -18,9 +18,8 @@ services:
       INITIAL_MEMORY: 2G
       MAXIMUM_MEMORY: 4G
       GEOSERVER_CONTEXT_ROOT: foobar
-      CONTAINER_NAME: geoserver
       CONSOLE_HANDLER_LEVEL: WARNING
-      TEST_CLASS: test_login.TestGeoServerREST
+      TEST_CLASS: test_context.TestGeoServerREST
     healthcheck:
       test: ["CMD-SHELL", "curl --fail --silent --write-out 'HTTP CODE : %{http_code}\n' --output /dev/null -u $${GEOSERVER_ADMIN_USER}:$${GEOSERVER_ADMIN_PASSWORD} http://localhost:8080/foobar/rest/about/version.xml"]
       interval: 1m30s
diff --git a/scenario_tests/context/test.sh b/scenario_tests/context/test.sh
index ef75d783..b20b2f6c 100755
--- a/scenario_tests/context/test.sh
+++ b/scenario_tests/context/test.sh
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ fi
 ####################################
 #Test using default created password
 #####################################
-echo -e "[Unit Test] Running tests using password from env Geoserver password"
+echo -e "[Unit Test] Running GEOSERVER_CONTEXT_ROOT tests with GEOSERVER_CONTEXT_ROOT set to  foobar"
 
 ${VERSION} up -d
 
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ services=("geoserver")
 for service in "${services[@]}"; do
 
   # Execute tests
-  test_url_availability http://localhost:8080/foobar/rest/about/version.xml foobargeoserver
+  test_url_availability http://localhost:8080/foobar/rest/about/version.xml myawesomegeoserver
   echo "Execute test for $service"
   ${VERSION} exec -T "${service}" /bin/bash /tests/test.sh
 
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ ${VERSION} down -v
 ####################################
 #Test using updated password
 #####################################
-echo -e "[Unit Test] Running testing using updated password from env Geoserver password"
+echo -e "[Unit Test]  Running GEOSERVER_CONTEXT_ROOT tests with GEOSERVER_CONTEXT_ROOT set to foobar#geoserver"
 sed -i 's/foobar/foobar#geoserver/g' docker-compose.yml
 # Bring the services up again
 ${VERSION} up -d geoserver
diff --git a/scenario_tests/context/tests/test_login.py b/scenario_tests/context/tests/test_context.py
similarity index 73%
rename from scenario_tests/context/tests/test_login.py
rename to scenario_tests/context/tests/test_context.py
index f3787953..4ca28cb3 100644
--- a/scenario_tests/context/tests/test_login.py
+++ b/scenario_tests/context/tests/test_context.py
@@ -10,18 +10,11 @@ def setUp(self):
         self.geo_context = environ.get('GEOSERVER_CONTEXT_ROOT').replace("#", '/')
         self.base_url = f'http://localhost:8080/{self.geo_context}'
         self.login_url = f'{self.base_url}/j_spring_security_check'
-        self.username = 'admin'
-        self.container_name = environ['CONTAINER_NAME']
+        self.password = environ['GEOSERVER_ADMIN_PASSWORD']
 
-        if self.container_name == 'geoserver':
-            self.password = environ['GEOSERVER_ADMIN_PASSWORD']
-        else:
-            with open('/opt/geoserver/data_dir/security/pass.txt', 'r') as file:
-                file_pass = file.read()
-            self.password = file_pass.replace("\n", "")
         self.session = requests.Session()
         login_data = {
-            'username': self.username,
+            'username': 'admin',
             'password': self.password,
             'submit': 'Login'
         }
diff --git a/scenario_tests/login/test.sh b/scenario_tests/login/test.sh
index 8f5d4ee4..10a6a6e5 100755
--- a/scenario_tests/login/test.sh
+++ b/scenario_tests/login/test.sh
@@ -26,10 +26,13 @@ for service in "${services[@]}"; do
   # Execute tests
   if [[ $service == 'server' ]];then
     PORT=8082
+    PASS=$(docker compose exec server cat /opt/geoserver/data_dir/security/pass.txt)
   else
     PORT=8081
+    PASS="myawesomegeoserver"
   fi
-  test_url_availability http://localhost:$PORT/geoserver/rest/about/version.xml
+  sleep 30
+  test_url_availability http://localhost:$PORT/geoserver/rest/about/version.xml ${PASS}
   echo "Execute test for $service"
   ${VERSION} exec -T $service /bin/bash /tests/test.sh
 
@@ -52,6 +55,7 @@ services=("geoserver")
 for service in "${services[@]}"; do
 
   # Execute tests
+  sleep 30
   test_url_availability http://localhost:8081/geoserver/rest/about/version.xml fabulousgeoserver
   echo "Execute test for $service"
   ${VERSION} exec -T $service /bin/bash /tests/test.sh
diff --git a/scenario_tests/test-env.sh b/scenario_tests/test-env.sh
index 71e5337b..e05e85d6 100644
--- a/scenario_tests/test-env.sh
+++ b/scenario_tests/test-env.sh
@@ -25,14 +25,18 @@ function test_url_availability() {
     elapsed_time=$((current_time - start_time))
 
     if [ $elapsed_time -ge $timeout ]; then
-      echo "Timeout reached. Exiting."
+      echo "Timeout reached. Exiting trying to connect to service endpoint."
       exit 1
     fi
-    if [[ $(wget -S --spider --user admin --password ${PASS} ${URL}  2>&1 | grep 'HTTP/1.1 200') ]]; then
-      echo "Rest endpoint ${URL} is available"
+
+
+    result=$(wget -S --spider --user admin --password ${PASS} --max-redirect=0 ${URL} 2>&1 | grep "HTTP/1.1 " | tail -n 1 | awk '{print $2}')
+
+    if [[ $result -eq 200 ]]; then
+      echo "Rest endpoint ${URL} is accessible with the provided credentials"
       break
     else
-      echo "Rest endpoint ${URL} is not available, retrying in 5 seconds"
+      echo "Access to ${URL}, with credentials username admin and password ${PASS} did not succeed, retrying in 5 seconds"
       sleep 5
     fi
   done