diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 937700b65..f9dc3006f 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 DB_CONNECTION=mysql
 DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
 DB_PORT=3306
+DB_ROOTPASSWORD=  #only needed for install.sh for docker based installation
 DB_SOCKET=
 DB_USERNAME=
 DB_PASSWORD=
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index cd9511833..1deeb876e 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -19,11 +19,12 @@ services:
       - $PWD/docker/my.cnf:/etc/mysql/conf.d/newsnab-tmux.cnf
       - $PWD/docker/mariadb-data:/var/lib/mysql
       - $PWD:/var/www/NNTmux/
+    env_file: .env
     environment:
-      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: ilmdvV8H
-      MYSQL_DATABASE: nntmux
-      MYSQL_USER: nntmux
-      MYSQL_PASSWORD: Nntmux!
+      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${DB_ROOTPASSWORD}
+      MYSQL_DATABASE: ${DB_DATABASE}
+      MYSQL_USER: ${DB_USERNAME}
+      MYSQL_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
       TZ: ${APP_TZ}
   nn-tmux: &nn-tmux
     build:
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ services:
     ports:
       - 127.0.0.1:8089:80
     environment:
-      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: ilmdvV8H
+      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${DB_ROOTPASSWORD}
       TZ: ${APP_TZ}
     depends_on:
       - mariadb
@@ -50,7 +51,7 @@ services:
     stdin_open: true
     tty: true
     environment:
-      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: ilmdvV8H
+      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${DB_ROOTPASSWORD}
       TZ: ${APP_TZ}
       COLUMNS: "`tput cols`"
       LINES: "`tput lines`"
diff --git a/docker/install.sh b/docker/install.sh
index 74506f681..cdf71b4bf 100644
--- a/docker/install.sh
+++ b/docker/install.sh
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 #!/bin/bash
-mysql --host=$DB_HOST --user=root --password=$MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD -e "INSTALL SONAME 'ha_sphinx';"
-mysql --host=$DB_HOST --user=root --password=$MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD -e "GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO $DB_USERNAME@'%' WITH GRANT OPTION;"
+mysqladmin ping --wait=30 --host=$DB_HOST --port=$DB_PORT --user=root --password=$DB_ROOTPASSWORD
+mysql --host=$DB_HOST --user=root --password=$DB_ROOTPASSWORD -e "INSTALL SONAME 'ha_sphinx';"
+mysql --host=$DB_HOST --user=root --password=$DB_ROOTPASSWORD -e "GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO $DB_USERNAME@'%' WITH GRANT OPTION;"
 sudo -E -u www-data php artisan nntmux:install
 sudo -E -u www-data php /var/www/NNTmux/misc/sphinxsearch/create_se_tables.php $SPHINX_HOST 9312
 sudo -E -u www-data php /var/www/NNTmux/misc/sphinxsearch/populate_rt_indexes.php releases_rt
 sudo -E -u www-data php /var/www/NNTmux/misc/sphinxsearch/populate_rt_indexes.php predb_rt
-read -p "Do you want to batch import predb now (this will take an hour or two)? (y/n)" yn
+read -p "Do you want to batch import predb now (this will take an hour or two)? (y/n): " yn
 case $yn in
     [Yy]* ) sudo -E -u notroot php /var/www/NNTmux/cli/data/predb_import_daily_batch.php 0 remote false
 esac