diff --git a/README.txt b/README.txt
index 9808c01..4d94e1d 100644
--- a/README.txt
+++ b/README.txt
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ work, but rather as a set of reference projects for
 the book.
 
 Points of Interest
-------------------
+==================
 
 The iddd_agilepm project uses a key-value store as
 its underlying persistence mechanism, and in particular
@@ -53,8 +53,46 @@ liter each project. This is not a recommendation, but it
 did work well and save a considerable amount of work while
 producing the samples.
 
+Usage
+=====
+
+Requires
+--------
+
+- Java 7 (8+ does not work)
+- MySQL Client + Server
+- RabbitMQ
+
+Setup (with Docker)
+-------------------
+
+To make it easy to run the tests and it requirements,
+the `startContainers.sh` script is provided. Which
+will start a:
+- MySQL Server container
+- RabbitMQ Server container
+- RabbitMQ Management container
+
+If the `mysql` command is available, which is the mysql client,
+also the required SQL scripts will be imported into the MySQL
+Server.
+
+If you use the `startContainers.sh` script, you don't need
+MySQL Server and RabbitMQ installed locally. Instead,
+Docker needs to be installed as the script will start
+MySQL and RabbitMQ in Docker containers.
+
 Build
 ------
+
+You can build the project by running:
+
+```
+./gradlew build
+```
+
+This automatically downloads Gradle and builds the project, including running the tests.
+
 The Gradle build using Maven repositories was provided by
 Michael Andrews (Github michaelajr and Twitter @MichaelAJr).
 Thanks much!
diff --git a/iddd_common/src/main/mysql/common.sql b/iddd_common/src/main/mysql/common.sql
index d74d93c..991f570 100644
--- a/iddd_common/src/main/mysql/common.sql
+++ b/iddd_common/src/main/mysql/common.sql
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 -- =============================================================
 -- =============================================================
 
+USE iddd_common_test;
+
 CREATE TABLE `tbl_es_event_store` (
     `event_id` bigint(20) NOT NULL auto_increment,
     `event_body` varchar(65000) NOT NULL,
diff --git a/startContainers.sh b/startContainers.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..c2bcc34
--- /dev/null
+++ b/startContainers.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+host="0.0.0.0"
+
+mysqlUser="root"
+mysqlPassword="root"
+mysqlContainerName="iddd-mysql"
+mysqlPort="3306"
+
+rabbitmqNodeName="$(hostname)"
+rabbitmqContainerName="iddd-rabbitmq"
+rabbitmqManagementHttpPort="8080"
+
+containers[0]="${mysqlContainerName}"
+containers[1]="${rabbitmqContainerName}"
+
+function start() {
+    echo "Starting MySQL Server container..."
+    docker rm -f "${mysqlContainerName}"
+    docker run --name "${mysqlContainerName}" -p "${mysqlPort}":3306 -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD="${mysqlPassword}" -d mysql
+
+    echo "Waiting for MySQL Server to be up and running..."
+    waitForContainer "${mysqlContainerName}" "mysqld: ready for connections."
+
+    local testSqlFiles="$(find $(pwd) -name *.sql | grep -i "test")"
+    local sqlFiles="$(find $(pwd) -name *.sql | grep -vi "test")"
+    if which mysql > /dev/null; then
+        for sql in ${testSqlFiles}; do
+            echo "Importing [${sql}]"
+            $(mysql --host="${host}"  --port=3306 --protocol=TCP --user="${mysqlUser}" --password="${mysqlPassword}" < ${sql})
+        done
+        for sql in ${sqlFiles}; do
+            echo "Importing [${sql}]"
+            $(mysql --host="${host}" --port=3306 --protocol=TCP --user="${mysqlUser}" --password="${mysqlPassword}" < ${sql})
+        done
+    else
+        echo -e
+        echo "!! mysql command not found"
+        echo "!! You need to import the following SQL files into MySQL Server, yourself:"
+        for sql in ${testSqlFiles}; do
+            echo ${sql}
+        done
+        for sql in ${sqlFiles}; do
+            echo ${sql}
+        done
+        echo -e
+        echo "You can find MySQL Server on [localhost] port [${mysqlPort}]"
+        echo -e
+        read -rsp "Press any key to continue..."
+        echo -e
+    fi
+
+    echo "Starting RabbitMQ container..."
+    docker rm -f "${rabbitmqContainerName}"
+    docker run --name "${rabbitmqContainerName}" -p 5672:5672 -p "${rabbitmqManagementHttpPort}":15672 -e RABBITMQ_NODENAME="${rabbitmqNodeName}" -d rabbitmq:3-management
+    echo "Waiting for RabbitMQ to be up and running..."
+    waitForContainer "${rabbitmqContainerName}" "Server startup complete;"
+
+    echo -e
+    echo "RabbitMQ Management available at [http://localhost:${rabbitmqManagementHttpPort}]"
+    echo "(Login with user/pass of [guest/guest])"
+}
+
+function status() {
+    docker ps -a | head -1
+    for name in ${containers[@]}; do
+        docker ps -a | grep "${name}"
+    done
+}
+
+function stop() {
+    for name in ${containers[@]}; do
+        echo "Stopping container [${name}]..."
+        docker stop "${name}" > /dev/null 2>&1
+    done
+}
+
+function usage() {
+    echo "Usage: $(basename $0) <command> [<args>]"
+    echo -e
+    echo "Available commands:"
+    echo "  start          Start external dependencies for this project in Docker containers"
+    echo "                 (incl. MySQL Server and RabbitMQ)"
+    echo "  stop           Stop the Docker containers"
+    echo -e
+}
+
+function requires() {
+    local command=$1
+    which ${command} > /dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "!! This script requires [${command}] to be installed" && exit 1; }
+}
+
+function waitForContainer() {
+    local containerName="$1"
+    local logMsg="$2"
+    until docker logs ${containerName} 2>&1 | grep "${logMsg}" > /dev/null; do
+        sleep 1s
+    done
+}
+
+
+requires 'docker'
+
+command=$1; shift
+case "${command}" in
+    start)
+        start
+        ;;
+    stop)
+        stop
+        ;;
+    status)
+        status
+        ;;
+    *)
+        usage
+        exit 1
+       ;;
+esac