diff --git a/.github/workflows/validate-config.yml b/.github/workflows/validate-config.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0c59269f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/validate-config.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+name: Build and Publish
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    branches:
+      - main
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
+
+      - name: Set up JDK 8
+        uses: actions/setup-java@v2
+        with:
+          distribution: 'temurin'
+          java-version: '8'
+
+      - name: Set settings.xml
+        uses: s4u/maven-settings-action@v2.8.0
+        with:
+          servers: |
+            [
+            {
+              "id": "mks-nexus-public",
+              "username": "${{ secrets.MEKOM_NEXUS_USERNAME }}",
+              "password": "${{ secrets.MEKOM_NEXUS_PASSWORD }}"
+            },
+            {
+              "id": "mks-nexus-public-snapshots",
+              "username": "${{ secrets.MEKOM_NEXUS_USERNAME }}",
+              "password": "${{ secrets.MEKOM_NEXUS_PASSWORD }}"
+            },
+            {
+              "id": "mks-nexus-private",
+              "username": "${{ secrets.MEKOM_NEXUS_USERNAME }}",
+              "password": "${{ secrets.MEKOM_NEXUS_PASSWORD }}"
+            },
+            {
+              "id": "mks-nexus-private-snapshots",
+              "username": "${{ secrets.MEKOM_NEXUS_USERNAME }}",
+              "password": "${{ secrets.MEKOM_NEXUS_PASSWORD }}"
+            }]
+      - name: Build and validate distro
+        run: mvn --batch-mode clean install  -P prod -P validator
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/base/pom.xml b/base/pom.xml
index 1fe40fcf..7bef7153 100644
--- a/base/pom.xml
+++ b/base/pom.xml
@@ -24,6 +24,23 @@
       <version>1.0.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
     </dependency>
   </dependencies>
+  
+  <profiles>
+    <profile>
+      <id>validator</id>
+      <build>
+        <plugins>
+          <plugin>
+            <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
+          </plugin>
+          <plugin>
+            <groupId>org.openmrs.maven.plugins</groupId>
+              <artifactId>openmrs-packager-maven-plugin</artifactId>
+          </plugin>
+        </plugins>
+      </build>
+    </profile>
+  </profiles>
 
   <build>
     <plugins>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index b981fc20..56c275eb 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -36,6 +36,54 @@
         <module>prod</module>
       </modules>
     </profile>
+    <profile>
+      <id>validator</id>
+      <build>
+        <pluginManagement>
+          <plugins>
+            <plugin>
+              <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
+              <version>1.7</version>
+              <executions>
+                <execution>
+                  <id>copy-config</id>
+                  <phase>pre-integration-test</phase>
+                  <configuration>
+                    <target>
+                      <copy todir="${project.build.directory}/validator/configuration">
+                        <fileset dir="${project.build.directory}/${project.artifactId}-${project.version}/distro/configs/openmrs/initializer_config"/>
+                      </copy>
+                    </target>
+                  </configuration>
+                  <goals>
+                    <goal>run</goal>
+                  </goals>
+                </execution>
+              </executions>
+            </plugin>
+            <!-- hooking the OpenMRS config validation to the integration-test phase -->
+            <plugin>
+              <groupId>org.openmrs.maven.plugins</groupId>
+              <artifactId>openmrs-packager-maven-plugin</artifactId>
+              <version>1.7.0</version>
+              <executions>
+                <execution>
+                  <id>validate-configurations</id>
+                  <phase>integration-test</phase>
+                  <goals>
+                    <goal>validate-configurations</goal>
+                  </goals>
+                  <configuration>
+                    <sourceDir>
+                      ${project.build.directory}/validator/configuration</sourceDir>
+                  </configuration>
+                </execution>
+              </executions>
+            </plugin>
+          </plugins>
+        </pluginManagement>
+      </build>
+    </profile>
   </profiles>
 
   <build>
@@ -105,6 +153,17 @@
     </repository>
   </repositories>
 
+  <pluginRepositories>
+    <pluginRepository>
+      <id>openmrs-repo</id>
+      <name>OpenMRS Nexus Repository</name>
+      <url>https://mavenrepo.openmrs.org/nexus/content/repositories/public</url>
+      <snapshots>
+        <enabled>false</enabled>
+      </snapshots>
+    </pluginRepository>
+  </pluginRepositories>
+
   <distributionManagement>
     <repository>
       <name>Mekom Solutions Nexus repo for releases</name>
diff --git a/prod/pom.xml b/prod/pom.xml
index 41d85a87..cb25e6fd 100644
--- a/prod/pom.xml
+++ b/prod/pom.xml
@@ -43,6 +43,23 @@
     </dependency>
   </dependencies>
 
+  <profiles>
+    <profile>
+      <id>validator</id>
+      <build>
+        <plugins>
+          <plugin>
+            <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
+          </plugin>
+          <plugin>
+            <groupId>org.openmrs.maven.plugins</groupId>
+              <artifactId>openmrs-packager-maven-plugin</artifactId>
+          </plugin>
+        </plugins>
+      </build>
+    </profile>
+  </profiles>
+
   <build>
     <plugins>
       <plugin>