diff --git a/.editorconfig b/.editorconfig
index a9a165ba..6ef5d690 100644
--- a/.editorconfig
+++ b/.editorconfig
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ end_of_line = lf
 [{*.bat,*.cmd}]
 end_of_line = crlf
 
+[{*.mustache,*.ftl}]
+insert_final_newline = false
+
 [*.java]
 indent_size = 4
 tab_width = 4
diff --git a/.github/workflows/central-sync.yml b/.github/workflows/central-sync.yml
index ea5a5aa5..713f8789 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/central-sync.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/central-sync.yml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           ref: v${{ github.event.inputs.release_version }}
       - uses: gradle/wrapper-validation-action@v1
diff --git a/.github/workflows/graalvm-dev.yml b/.github/workflows/graalvm-dev.yml
index 9c7a33e1..ecd870d6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/graalvm-dev.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/graalvm-dev.yml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ jobs:
     outputs:
       matrix: ${{ steps.build-matrix.outputs.matrix }}
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - name: Build Matrix
         uses: micronaut-projects/github-actions/graalvm/build-matrix@master
         id: build-matrix
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ jobs:
       GRADLE_ENTERPRISE_CACHE_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.GRADLE_ENTERPRISE_CACHE_USERNAME }}
       GRADLE_ENTERPRISE_CACHE_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.GRADLE_ENTERPRISE_CACHE_PASSWORD }}
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - name: Pre-Build Steps
         uses: micronaut-projects/github-actions/graalvm/pre-build@master
         id: pre-build
diff --git a/.github/workflows/graalvm-latest.yml b/.github/workflows/graalvm-latest.yml
index b795fe40..d150aa60 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/graalvm-latest.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/graalvm-latest.yml
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ jobs:
     outputs:
       matrix: ${{ steps.build-matrix.outputs.matrix }}
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - name: Build Matrix
         uses: micronaut-projects/github-actions/graalvm/build-matrix@master
         id: build-matrix
@@ -34,19 +34,21 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     strategy:
       max-parallel: 6
-      matrix: ${{ fromJson(needs.build_matrix.outputs.matrix) }}
+      matrix:
+        java: ['17', '21']
+        native_test_task: ${{ fromJson(needs.build_matrix.outputs.matrix).native_test_task }}
     env:
       GRADLE_ENTERPRISE_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.GRADLE_ENTERPRISE_ACCESS_KEY }}
       GRADLE_ENTERPRISE_CACHE_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.GRADLE_ENTERPRISE_CACHE_USERNAME }}
       GRADLE_ENTERPRISE_CACHE_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.GRADLE_ENTERPRISE_CACHE_PASSWORD }}
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - name: Pre-Build Steps
         uses: micronaut-projects/github-actions/graalvm/pre-build@master
         id: pre-build
         with:
-          distribution: 'graalvm-community'
-          java: '17'
+          distribution: 'graalvm'
+          java: ${{ matrix.java }}
       - name: Build Steps
         uses: micronaut-projects/github-actions/graalvm/build@master
         id: build
@@ -60,4 +62,4 @@ jobs:
         uses: micronaut-projects/github-actions/graalvm/post-build@master
         id: post-build
         with:
-          java: '17'
+          java: ${{ matrix.java }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/gradle.yml b/.github/workflows/gradle.yml
index e440bc8e..7c0d4941 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/gradle.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/gradle.yml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        java: ['17']
+        java: ['17', '21']
     env:
       GRADLE_ENTERPRISE_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.GRADLE_ENTERPRISE_ACCESS_KEY }}
       GRADLE_ENTERPRISE_CACHE_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.GRADLE_ENTERPRISE_CACHE_USERNAME }}
@@ -40,14 +40,14 @@ jobs:
          df -h
 
       - name: "📥 Checkout repository"
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
 
       - name: "🔧 Setup GraalVM CE"
         uses: graalvm/setup-graalvm@v1.1.4
         with:
-          distribution: 'graalvm-community'
+          distribution: 'graalvm'
           java-version: ${{ matrix.java }}
           github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ jobs:
           ./gradlew check --no-daemon --continue
 
       - name: "🔎 Run static analysis"
-        if: env.SONAR_TOKEN != ''
+        if: env.SONAR_TOKEN != '' && matrix.java == '17'
         run: |
           ./gradlew sonar
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-snapshot.yml b/.github/workflows/publish-snapshot.yml
index 5dec33e1..cbf48711 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish-snapshot.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-snapshot.yml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ jobs:
     if: github.repository != 'micronaut-projects/micronaut-project-template'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - uses: actions/cache@v3
         with:
           path: ~/.gradle/caches
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index f2100cce..959258a5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           token: ${{ secrets.GH_TOKEN }}
       - uses: gradle/wrapper-validation-action@v1
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ jobs:
         if: success()
         uses: micronaut-projects/github-pages-deploy-action@master
         env:
-          BETA: ${{ contains(steps.release_version.outputs.release_version, 'M') || contains(steps.release_version.outputs.release_version, 'RC') }}
+          BETA: ${{ !(github.event.release.target_commitish == github.event.repository.default_branch) || contains(steps.release_version.outputs.release_version, 'M') || contains(steps.release_version.outputs.release_version, 'RC') }}
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GH_TOKEN }}
           BRANCH: gh-pages
           FOLDER: build/docs
@@ -100,21 +100,6 @@ jobs:
           GRADLE_ENTERPRISE_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.GRADLE_ENTERPRISE_ACCESS_KEY }}
           GRADLE_ENTERPRISE_CACHE_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.GRADLE_ENTERPRISE_CACHE_USERNAME }}
           GRADLE_ENTERPRISE_CACHE_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.GRADLE_ENTERPRISE_CACHE_PASSWORD }}
-      - name: Checkout micronaut-core
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
-        with:
-          token: ${{ secrets.GH_TOKEN }}
-          repository: micronaut-projects/micronaut-core
-          ref: ${{ env.githubCoreBranch }}
-          path: micronaut-core # Must be micronaut-core
-        continue-on-error: true
-      - name: Update BOM
-        uses: micronaut-projects/github-actions/update-bom@master
-        env:
-          MICRONAUT_BUILD_EMAIL: ${{ secrets.MICRONAUT_BUILD_EMAIL }}
-        with:
-          token: ${{ secrets.GH_TOKEN }}
-        continue-on-error: true
       - name: Run post-release
         if: success()
         uses: micronaut-projects/github-actions/post-release@master
@@ -161,7 +146,7 @@ jobs:
     if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@c85c95e3d7251135ab7dc9ce3241c5835cc595a9 # v3.5.3
+        uses: actions/checkout@8ade135a41bc03ea155e62e844d188df1ea18608 # v4.1.0
       - name: Download artifacts
         uses: actions/download-artifact@9bc31d5ccc31df68ecc42ccf4149144866c47d8a # v3.0.2
         with:
diff --git a/buildSrc/build.gradle.kts b/buildSrc/build.gradle.kts
index ef4cb493..9899d563 100644
--- a/buildSrc/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/buildSrc/build.gradle.kts
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ repositories {
 
 dependencies {
     implementation("org.graalvm.buildtools.native:org.graalvm.buildtools.native.gradle.plugin:0.9.28")
-    implementation("io.micronaut.gradle:micronaut-gradle-plugin:4.1.2")
-    implementation("io.micronaut.gradle:micronaut-test-resources-plugin:4.1.2")
+    implementation (libs.gradle.kotlin)
+    implementation (libs.gradle.kotlin.allopen)
+    implementation (libs.gradle.kotlin.noarg)
+    implementation (libs.micronaut.gradle.plugin)
 }
diff --git a/buildSrc/settings.gradle b/buildSrc/settings.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6f31e6ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/buildSrc/settings.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+dependencyResolutionManagement {
+    versionCatalogs {
+        libs {
+            from(files("../gradle/libs.versions.toml"))
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/gradle.properties b/gradle.properties
index 526c5f68..e9d7ec9f 100644
--- a/gradle.properties
+++ b/gradle.properties
@@ -14,3 +14,16 @@ apimqttv3=https://www.eclipse.org/paho/files/javadoc/
 
 org.gradle.caching=true
 org.gradle.jvmargs=-Xmx1g
+
+# No matter which Java toolchain we use, the Kotlin Daemon is always invoked by the current JDK.
+# Therefor to fix Kapt errors when running tests under Java 21, we need to open up some modules for the Kotlin Daemon.
+kotlin.daemon.jvmargs=--add-opens=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.api=ALL-UNNAMED\
+ --add-opens=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.code=ALL-UNNAMED \
+ --add-opens=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.comp=ALL-UNNAMED \
+ --add-opens=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.file=ALL-UNNAMED \
+ --add-opens=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.jvm=ALL-UNNAMED \
+ --add-opens=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.main=ALL-UNNAMED \
+ --add-opens=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.parser=ALL-UNNAMED \
+ --add-opens=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.processing=ALL-UNNAMED \
+ --add-opens=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.tree=ALL-UNNAMED \
+ --add-opens=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.util=ALL-UNNAMED
diff --git a/gradle/libs.versions.toml b/gradle/libs.versions.toml
index 52ca07d8..c0396104 100644
--- a/gradle/libs.versions.toml
+++ b/gradle/libs.versions.toml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 [versions]
 micronaut-docs = "2.0.0"
 micronaut = "4.1.10"
-
+micronaut-gradle-plugin = "4.1.2"
 groovy = "4.0.15"
 spock = "2.3-groovy-4.0"
 
@@ -18,20 +18,19 @@ micronaut-reactor = "3.1.0"
 micronaut-serde = "2.2.6"
 micronaut-test = "4.0.0"
 micronaut-validation = "4.0.3"
-micronaut-logging = "1.0.0"
+micronaut-logging = "1.1.2"
 
 [libraries]
 # Core
 micronaut-core = { module = 'io.micronaut:micronaut-core-bom', version.ref = 'micronaut' }
-
 micronaut-reactor = { module = "io.micronaut.reactor:micronaut-reactor-bom", version.ref = "micronaut-reactor" }
+micronaut-serde = { module = "io.micronaut.serde:micronaut-serde-bom", version.ref = "micronaut-serde" }
+micronaut-validation = { module = "io.micronaut.validation:micronaut-validation-bom", version.ref = "micronaut-validation" }
+
 managed-paho-mqttv3-client = { module = "org.eclipse.paho:org.eclipse.paho.client.mqttv3", version.ref = "managed-mqttv3" }
 managed-paho-mqttv5-client = { module = "org.eclipse.paho:org.eclipse.paho.mqttv5.client", version.ref = "managed-mqttv5" }
 managed-hivemq-client = { module = "com.hivemq:hivemq-mqtt-client", version.ref = "managed-hivemq-client" }
 
-micronaut-serde = { module = "io.micronaut.serde:micronaut-serde-bom", version.ref = "micronaut-serde" }
-micronaut-validation = { module = "io.micronaut.validation:micronaut-validation-bom", version.ref = "micronaut-validation" }
-
 awaitility = { module = "org.awaitility:awaitility", version.ref = "awaitility" }
 bcpkix-jdk15on = { module = "org.bouncycastle:bcpkix-jdk15on", version.ref = "bcpkix-jdk15on" }
 junit-jupiter-api = { module = "org.junit.jupiter:junit-jupiter-api" }
@@ -39,6 +38,9 @@ junit-jupiter-engine = { module = "org.junit.jupiter:junit-jupiter-engine" }
 kotlin-stdlib-jdk8 = { module = "org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-stdlib-jdk8", version.ref = "kotlin" }
 testcontainers-spock = { module = "org.testcontainers:spock", version.ref = "testcontainers" }
 
-[plugins]
-kotlin-jvm = { id = 'org.jetbrains.kotlin.jvm', version.ref = 'kotlin' }
-kotlin-kapt = { id = 'org.jetbrains.kotlin.kapt', version.ref = 'kotlin' }
+gradle-kotlin = { module = "org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-gradle-plugin", version.ref = "kotlin" }
+gradle-kotlin-allopen = { module = "org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-allopen", version.ref = "kotlin" }
+gradle-kotlin-noarg = { module = "org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-noarg", version.ref = "kotlin" }
+
+micronaut-gradle-plugin = { module = "io.micronaut.gradle:micronaut-gradle-plugin", version.ref="micronaut-gradle-plugin" }
+
diff --git a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar
index 033e24c4..7f93135c 100644
Binary files a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar and b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar differ
diff --git a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
index 9f4197d5..3fa8f862 100644
--- a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
+++ b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 distributionBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
 distributionPath=wrapper/dists
-distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-8.2.1-bin.zip
+distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-8.4-bin.zip
 networkTimeout=10000
 validateDistributionUrl=true
 zipStoreBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
diff --git a/gradlew b/gradlew
index fcb6fca1..1aa94a42 100755
--- a/gradlew
+++ b/gradlew
@@ -83,7 +83,8 @@ done
 # This is normally unused
 # shellcheck disable=SC2034
 APP_BASE_NAME=${0##*/}
-APP_HOME=$( cd "${APP_HOME:-./}" && pwd -P ) || exit
+# Discard cd standard output in case $CDPATH is set (https://github.com/gradle/gradle/issues/25036)
+APP_HOME=$( cd "${APP_HOME:-./}" > /dev/null && pwd -P ) || exit
 
 # Use the maximum available, or set MAX_FD != -1 to use that value.
 MAX_FD=maximum
@@ -144,7 +145,7 @@ if ! "$cygwin" && ! "$darwin" && ! "$nonstop" ; then
     case $MAX_FD in #(
       max*)
         # In POSIX sh, ulimit -H is undefined. That's why the result is checked to see if it worked.
-        # shellcheck disable=SC3045
+        # shellcheck disable=SC2039,SC3045
         MAX_FD=$( ulimit -H -n ) ||
             warn "Could not query maximum file descriptor limit"
     esac
@@ -152,7 +153,7 @@ if ! "$cygwin" && ! "$darwin" && ! "$nonstop" ; then
       '' | soft) :;; #(
       *)
         # In POSIX sh, ulimit -n is undefined. That's why the result is checked to see if it worked.
-        # shellcheck disable=SC3045
+        # shellcheck disable=SC2039,SC3045
         ulimit -n "$MAX_FD" ||
             warn "Could not set maximum file descriptor limit to $MAX_FD"
     esac
@@ -201,11 +202,11 @@ fi
 # Add default JVM options here. You can also use JAVA_OPTS and GRADLE_OPTS to pass JVM options to this script.
 DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS='"-Xmx64m" "-Xms64m"'
 
-# Collect all arguments for the java command;
-#   * $DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS, $JAVA_OPTS, and $GRADLE_OPTS can contain fragments of
-#     shell script including quotes and variable substitutions, so put them in
-#     double quotes to make sure that they get re-expanded; and
-#   * put everything else in single quotes, so that it's not re-expanded.
+# Collect all arguments for the java command:
+#   * DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS, JAVA_OPTS, JAVA_OPTS, and optsEnvironmentVar are not allowed to contain shell fragments,
+#     and any embedded shellness will be escaped.
+#   * For example: A user cannot expect ${Hostname} to be expanded, as it is an environment variable and will be
+#     treated as '${Hostname}' itself on the command line.
 
 set -- \
         "-Dorg.gradle.appname=$APP_BASE_NAME" \
diff --git a/test-suite-kotlin/build.gradle b/test-suite-kotlin/build.gradle
index c0c52581..8d15eb61 100644
--- a/test-suite-kotlin/build.gradle
+++ b/test-suite-kotlin/build.gradle
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 plugins {
-    alias libs.plugins.kotlin.jvm
-    alias libs.plugins.kotlin.kapt
+    id "org.jetbrains.kotlin.jvm"
+    id("org.jetbrains.kotlin.kapt")
     id("io.micronaut.build.internal.mqtt-tests")
 }
 
@@ -20,3 +20,9 @@ dependencies {
 tasks.named('test') {
     useJUnitPlatform()
 }
+
+kotlin {
+    jvmToolchain {
+        languageVersion.set(JavaLanguageVersion.of(17))
+    }
+}
diff --git a/test-suite-utils/build.gradle b/test-suite-utils/build.gradle
index 6137dca7..47e99d31 100644
--- a/test-suite-utils/build.gradle
+++ b/test-suite-utils/build.gradle
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ plugins {
     id 'java-library'
     id 'groovy'
     id("io.micronaut.build.internal.mqtt-tests")
+    id("io.micronaut.build.internal.common")
 }
 
 dependencies {
@@ -12,3 +13,13 @@ dependencies {
     api(libs.testcontainers.spock)
     api(mnReactor.micronaut.reactor)
 }
+
+spotless {
+    groovy {
+        targetExclude("**/test/**")
+    }
+}
+
+tasks.withType(Checkstyle) {
+    enabled = false
+}