diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
index ad4292507ebe4c43880a110f0d4daf6889386c36..c7cb68b015d5db98c9ca43eb28648586b6eaa670 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
+++ b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-FROM registry.ubicast.net/docker/debian-dev:buster
+FROM registry.ubicast.net/docker/debian-dev:latest
 
 # avoid warnings by switching to noninteractive
 ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
@@ -11,15 +11,22 @@ RUN \
     # install required tools
     sudo apt-get update && \
     sudo apt-get install -y \
-        libffi-dev \
-        libssl-dev \
+        bsd-mailx \
+        python3-defusedxml \
+        python3-dnspython \
+        python3-openssl \
+        python3-psutil \
+        python3-psycopg2 \
+        python3-pydbus \
+        python3-requests \
+        python3-spf \
         && \
     # clean up
     sudo apt-get autoremove -y && \
     sudo apt-get clean -y && \
     sudo rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* &&  \
     # create pyvenv
-    python3 -m venv ${PYVENV} && \
+    python3 -m venv --system-site-packages ${PYVENV} && \
     # update pip tools into pyvenv
     pip install -U \
         pip \
@@ -28,10 +35,13 @@ RUN \
     :
 
 RUN \
-    # requirements
-    pip install psutil pyOpenSSL pyspf requests defusedxml && \
     # dev requirements
-    pip install black flake8 pre-commit pylint pysnooper && \
+    pip install \
+        black \
+        flake8 \
+        pylint \
+        pysnooper \
+    && \
     :
 
 # switch back to dialog for any ad-hoc use of apt-get
diff --git a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
index 213626ff87fc32f713d804bfef93a002c3f0b560..870edb6589f814ad98be7f2deda342a409e1d12b 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
+++ b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
@@ -1,12 +1,14 @@
 {
+    "name": "envsetup",
     "dockerComposeFile": "docker-compose.yml",
     "service": "app",
     "workspaceFolder": "/workspace",
-    "postCreateCommand": "bash .devcontainer/scripts/postcreate.sh",
     "extensions": [
       // python
       "ms-python.python",
     ],
     "settings": {
+        "python.pythonPath": "/home/vscode/pyvenv/bin/python",
+        "python.formatting.provider": "black",
     },
 }
diff --git a/.devcontainer/scripts/postcreate.sh b/.devcontainer/scripts/postcreate.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index 80ebd1909751141d4d74b18ea13add391905b37c..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/.devcontainer/scripts/postcreate.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-
-# make the GID match with docker on the host
-sudo groupmod -g $(ls -ln /var/run/docker.sock | awk '{ print $4 }') docker