diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index e5ecc90..07579f2 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -7,5 +7,8 @@
 *.vsix
 # Ignore local venv environment
 .venv
+__pycache__
+.pytest_cache
+
 # Ignore mac os x .DS_Store files
 .DS_Store
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/generators/docker-compose/Dockerfile b/scripts/generators/docker-compose/Dockerfile
index c297bfa..f0136f8 100644
--- a/scripts/generators/docker-compose/Dockerfile
+++ b/scripts/generators/docker-compose/Dockerfile
@@ -15,4 +15,4 @@ RUN chown -R appuser:appgroup /app && chmod +x createComposeFile.py
 USER appuser
 
 # Define the default entrypoint to run the script
-ENTRYPOINT ["python", "createComposeFile.py", "--template", "/app/docker-compose.j2"]
+ENTRYPOINT ["python", "createComposeFile.py", "--template", "docker-compose.j2"]
diff --git a/scripts/generators/docker-compose/createComposeFile.py b/scripts/generators/docker-compose/createComposeFile.py
index 1afe0bf..897f3fd 100644
--- a/scripts/generators/docker-compose/createComposeFile.py
+++ b/scripts/generators/docker-compose/createComposeFile.py
@@ -1,18 +1,59 @@
 import argparse
+from deepmerge import always_merger
+import inflect
 from jinja2 import Environment, FileSystemLoader
 import os
 import yaml
+# Initialize inflect engine
+p = inflect.engine()
+
 
 debug_mode = False
 
+defaultValues = {
+    "imageNamePrefix": "ghcr.io/cisco-open/",
+    "imageNameSuffix": "latest",
+    "defaultPorts": {
+        "services": 80, # this is different from the "default default" on purpose. 
+        "databases": 5432,
+        "loaders": 6000 # not used
+    },
+    # Keep the default ports for each service type here
+    # We need them to verify in the docker compose generation if they have been
+    # changed by the user.
+    "_defaultDefaultPorts": {
+        "services": 8080,
+        "databases": 5432,
+        "loaders": 6000
+    }
+}
+
+def plural_to_singular(word):
+    return p.singular_noun(word) or word
+
 def read_yaml(file_path):
     with open(os.path.expanduser(file_path), 'r') as file:
         # Parse the YAML file
         data = yaml.safe_load(file)
         return data
 
+def render_compose_file(template, data, defaultValues):
+    globalVars = data.get('global', {})
+
+    config = {
+            "global": always_merger.merge(defaultValues, globalVars),
+            "scopes": {
+                "services": data.get('services', {}),
+                "databases": data.get('databases', {}),
+                "loaders": data.get('loaders', {}),
+            }
+    }
+
+    return template.render(config)
+
 def main():
     global debug_mode
+    global defaultValues
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Process some configuration file.')
     parser.add_argument(
         '--config', 
@@ -47,9 +88,11 @@ def main():
     if isinstance(yaml_data, dict):
         env = Environment(loader=FileSystemLoader('.'))
 
+        env.filters['singularize'] = plural_to_singular
+
         template = env.get_template(template_path)
 
-        rendered_content = template.render(yaml_data)
+        rendered_content = render_compose_file(template, data, defaultValues)
         
         with open(output_path, 'w') as output_file:
             output_file.write(rendered_content)
@@ -57,11 +100,13 @@ def main():
     else:
         raise Exception(f"Failed to read the configuration file {config_file}: The top-level structure is not a dictionary.")
 
-try:   
-    main()
-except Exception as e:
-    if not debug_mode:
-        print(e)
-    else:
-        raise e
-    exit(1)
\ No newline at end of file
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    try:   
+        main()
+    except Exception as e:
+        if not debug_mode:
+            print(e)
+        else:
+            raise e
+        exit(1)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/generators/docker-compose/docker-compose.j2 b/scripts/generators/docker-compose/docker-compose.j2
index f9077b3..edc2c1b 100644
--- a/scripts/generators/docker-compose/docker-compose.j2
+++ b/scripts/generators/docker-compose/docker-compose.j2
@@ -1,72 +1,33 @@
----
-{%- set global = global | default({}) -%}
-{%- set imageNamePrefix = global.imageNamePrefix | default('ghcr.io/cisco-open/') -%}
-{%- set imageNameSuffix = global.imageNameSuffix | default('latest') -%}
-{%- set serviceDefaultPort = global.serviceDefaultPort | default(80) -%}
-{# Ensure the variable always ends with a slash #}
-{%- set imageNamePrefix = imageNamePrefix if imageNamePrefix.endswith('/') else imageNamePrefix + '/' %}
 services:
-{%- if services is defined and services is mapping %}
-  ## services
-  {%- for name, details in services.items() %}
+{%- for scope, scopeDetails in scopes.items() %}
+  ## {{ scope }}
+  {%- for name, details in scopeDetails.items() %}
   {{ name }}:
-    image: {{ imageNamePrefix }}app-simulator-services-{{ details.type }}:{{ imageNameSuffix }}
+    image: {{ global.imageNamePrefix }}app-simulator-{{ scope }}-{{ details.type }}:{{global.imageNameSuffix }}
     {%- if details.port is defined %}
     ports:
-      - "{{ details.port }}:8080"
+      - "{{ details.port }}:{{ global.defaultPorts[scope] }}"
     {%- endif %}
-    {%- if serviceDefaultPort != 8080 %}
+    {%- if global.defaultPorts is defined -%}
+    {%- if global.defaultPorts[scope] is defined and global.defaultPorts[scope] != global._defaultDefaultPorts[scope] %}
     environment:
-      SERVICE_DEFAULT_PORT: "{{ serviceDefaultPort }}"
-      {%- if serviceDefaultPort <= 1024 %}
+      - {{ scope | singularize | upper }}_DEFAULT_PORT={{ global.defaultPorts[scope] }}
+    {%- endif %}
+    {%- if global.defaultPorts[scope] <= 1024 %}
     cap_add:
-      - NET_BIND_SERVICE 
-      {%- endif %}
+      - NET_BIND_SERVICE
+    {%- endif %}
     {%- endif %}
     configs:
-      - source: service_{{ name | replace("-", "_") }}_config
-        target: /config.json
-  {%- endfor %}
-{%- endif -%}
-{%- if databases is defined and databases is mapping %}
-  ## databases
-  {%- for name, details in databases.items() %}
-  {{ name }}:
-    image: {{ imageNamePrefix }}app-simulator-databases-{{ details.type }}:{{ imageNameSuffix }}
-    configs:
-      - source: database_{{ name | replace("-", "_") }}_config
-        target: /config.json
-  {%- endfor %}
-{%- endif -%}
-{%- if loaders is defined and loaders is mapping %}
-  ## loaders
-  {%- for name, details in loaders.items() %}
-  {{ name }}:
-    image: {{ imageNamePrefix }}app-simulator-loaders-{{ details.type }}:{{ imageNameSuffix }}
-    configs:
-      - source: loader_{{ name | replace("-", "_") }}_config
+      - source: {{ scope }}_{{ name | replace("-", "_") | lower }}_config
         target: /config.json
   {%- endfor %}
-{%- endif %}
+{%- endfor %}
 configs:
-{%- if services is defined and services is mapping %}
-{%- for name, details in services.items() %}
-  service_{{ name | replace("-", "_") }}_config:
-    content: |
-      {{ details | tojson }}
-{%- endfor -%}
-{%- endif %}
-{%- if databases is defined and databases is mapping %}
-{%- for name, details in databases.items() %}
-  database_{{ name | replace("-", "_") }}_config:
-    content: |
-      {{ details | tojson }}
-{%- endfor -%}
-{%- endif %}
-{%- if loaders is defined and loaders is mapping %}
-{%- for name, details in loaders.items() %}
-  loader_{{ name | replace("-", "_") }}_config:
+{%- for scope, scopeDetails in scopes.items() %}
+{%- for name, details in scopeDetails.items() %}
+  {{ scope }}_{{ name | replace("-", "_") | lower }}_config:
     content: |
       {{ details | tojson }}
 {%- endfor -%}
-{%- endif %}
\ No newline at end of file
+{%- endfor %}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/generators/docker-compose/requirements.txt b/scripts/generators/docker-compose/requirements.txt
index 6d43419..1b96a48 100644
--- a/scripts/generators/docker-compose/requirements.txt
+++ b/scripts/generators/docker-compose/requirements.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
+deepmerge==2.0
+inflect==7.5.0
 Jinja2==3.1.4
-opentelemetry-api==1.29.0
-opentelemetry-sdk==1.29.0
 PyYAML==6.0.2
+pytest==8.3.4
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/generators/docker-compose/tests/__init__.py b/scripts/generators/docker-compose/tests/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/scripts/generators/docker-compose/tests/test_render_compose_file.py b/scripts/generators/docker-compose/tests/test_render_compose_file.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4e49a55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/generators/docker-compose/tests/test_render_compose_file.py
@@ -0,0 +1,201 @@
+from createComposeFile import plural_to_singular, render_compose_file
+from jinja2 import Environment, FileSystemLoader
+import pytest
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
+def load_template():
+    env = Environment(loader=FileSystemLoader('.'))
+    env.filters['singularize'] = plural_to_singular
+    return env.get_template('docker-compose.j2')
+
+
+def test_render_compose_file_with_empty_config_and_defaults(load_template):
+    result = render_compose_file(load_template, {}, {})
+    expected = """
+services:
+  ## services
+  ## databases
+  ## loaders
+configs:
+""".strip()
+    assert result == expected
+
+def test_render_compose_file_with_simple_config_and_no_defaults(load_template):
+    result = render_compose_file(load_template, {
+        "global": {
+            "imageNamePrefix": "test/",
+            "imageNameSuffix": "test"
+        },
+        "services": {
+            "test": {
+                "type": "java"
+            }
+        },
+        "databases": {
+            "testdb": {
+                "type": "mysql"
+            }
+        },
+        "loaders": {
+            "testloader": {
+                "type": "curl"
+            }
+        }
+    }, {})
+    expected = """
+services:
+  ## services
+  test:
+    image: test/app-simulator-services-java:test
+    configs:
+      - source: services_test_config
+        target: /config.json
+  ## databases
+  testdb:
+    image: test/app-simulator-databases-mysql:test
+    configs:
+      - source: databases_testdb_config
+        target: /config.json
+  ## loaders
+  testloader:
+    image: test/app-simulator-loaders-curl:test
+    configs:
+      - source: loaders_testloader_config
+        target: /config.json
+configs:
+  services_test_config:
+    content: |
+      {"type": "java"}
+  databases_testdb_config:
+    content: |
+      {"type": "mysql"}
+  loaders_testloader_config:
+    content: |
+      {"type": "curl"}
+""".strip()
+    assert result == expected
+
+def test_render_compose_file_with_simple_config_and_defaults(load_template):
+    result = render_compose_file(load_template, {
+        "services": {
+            "test": {
+                "type": "java"
+            }
+        },
+        "databases": {
+            "testdb": {
+                "type": "mysql"
+            }
+        },
+        "loaders": {
+            "testloader": {
+                "type": "curl"
+            }
+        }
+    }, {
+      "imageNamePrefix": "test/",
+      "imageNameSuffix": "test"
+    })
+    expected = """
+services:
+  ## services
+  test:
+    image: test/app-simulator-services-java:test
+    configs:
+      - source: services_test_config
+        target: /config.json
+  ## databases
+  testdb:
+    image: test/app-simulator-databases-mysql:test
+    configs:
+      - source: databases_testdb_config
+        target: /config.json
+  ## loaders
+  testloader:
+    image: test/app-simulator-loaders-curl:test
+    configs:
+      - source: loaders_testloader_config
+        target: /config.json
+configs:
+  services_test_config:
+    content: |
+      {"type": "java"}
+  databases_testdb_config:
+    content: |
+      {"type": "mysql"}
+  loaders_testloader_config:
+    content: |
+      {"type": "curl"}
+""".strip()
+    assert result == expected
+
+def test_render_compose_file_with_port_config(load_template):
+    result = render_compose_file(load_template, {
+        "global": {
+            "imageNamePrefix": "test/",
+            "imageNameSuffix": "test",
+            "defaultPorts": {
+                "services": 1024,
+                "databases": 5432,
+                "loaders": 1025
+            },
+            "_defaultDefaultPorts": {
+                "services": 8080,
+                "databases": 5432,
+                "loaders": 6000
+            }
+        },
+        "services": {
+            "test": {
+                "type": "java"
+            }
+        },
+        "databases": {
+            "testdb": {
+                "type": "mysql"
+            }
+        },
+        "loaders": {
+            "testloader": {
+                "type": "curl"
+            }
+        }
+    }, {})
+    expected = """
+services:
+  ## services
+  test:
+    image: test/app-simulator-services-java:test
+    environment:
+      - SERVICE_DEFAULT_PORT=1024
+    cap_add:
+      - NET_BIND_SERVICE
+    configs:
+      - source: services_test_config
+        target: /config.json
+  ## databases
+  testdb:
+    image: test/app-simulator-databases-mysql:test
+    configs:
+      - source: databases_testdb_config
+        target: /config.json
+  ## loaders
+  testloader:
+    image: test/app-simulator-loaders-curl:test
+    environment:
+      - LOADER_DEFAULT_PORT=1025
+    configs:
+      - source: loaders_testloader_config
+        target: /config.json
+configs:
+  services_test_config:
+    content: |
+      {"type": "java"}
+  databases_testdb_config:
+    content: |
+      {"type": "mysql"}
+  loaders_testloader_config:
+    content: |
+      {"type": "curl"}
+""".strip()
+    assert result == expected
\ No newline at end of file