diff --git a/.github/workflows/ctr.yaml b/.github/workflows/ctr.yaml
index ca53ea3..1a5c1c1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ctr.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ctr.yaml
@@ -13,12 +13,19 @@ on:
         required: true
 env:
   REGISTRY: "ghcr.io"
-  IMAGE_NAME: "sando38/ejabberd"
+  IMAGE_NAME: "sando38/helm-ejabberd"
   PATCH_DIR: "image"
 
 jobs:
   build_and_push:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    name: ${{ matrix.config.arch }} - build container image
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.config.runs-on }}
+    strategy:
+      matrix:
+        config:
+          - { arch: amd64, runs-on: ubuntu-24.04 }
+          - { arch: arm64, runs-on: ubuntu-24.04-arm }
+      fail-fast: false
     steps:
       - name: Check out repository code
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -39,9 +46,6 @@ jobs:
         working-directory: ./ejabberd-source
         run: git apply ../image/${{ env.REF }}/patches/*.patch
 
-      - name: Set up QEMU
-        uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@v3
-
       - name: Set up Docker Buildx
         uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
 
@@ -51,29 +55,32 @@ jobs:
         with:
           images: |
             ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}
-          tags: |
-            ${{ env.TAG }}
 
-      - name: Build linux/amd64 image
+      - name: Log in to the Container registry
+        uses: docker/login-action@v3
+        with:
+          registry: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}
+          username: ${{ github.repository_owner }}
+          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: Build linux/${{ matrix.config.arch }} image
         uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
+        id: build
         with:
           build-args: |
             METHOD=direct
             VERSION=${{ env.TAG }}
             VARIANT=hardened
-          # cache-from: type=gha
-          # cache-to: type=gha,mode=max
           context: ./ejabberd-source/.
           file: ./image/${{ env.REF }}/Dockerfile
           labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}
-          platforms: linux/amd64
-          load: true
-          tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
+          platforms: linux/${{ matrix.config.arch }}
+          outputs: type=image,name=${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }},push-by-digest=true,name-canonical=true,push=true
 
       - name: Smoke Test
         run: |
           docker run -d --name ejabberd \
-            ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}:${{ env.TAG }}
+            ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}@${{ steps.build.outputs.digest }}
           docker exec ejabberd ejabberdctl started
           docker exec ejabberd ejabberdctl status
           docker stop ejabberd
@@ -82,26 +89,65 @@ jobs:
         if: failure() || success()
         run: docker logs ejabberd
 
-      - name: Log in to the Container registry
+      - name: Export digest | ${{ matrix.config.arch }}
+        run: |
+          mkdir -p /tmp/digests
+          digest="${{ steps.build.outputs.digest }}"
+          touch "/tmp/digests/${digest#sha256:}"
+
+      - name: Upload digest | ${{ matrix.config.arch }}
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: digests-${{ matrix.config.arch }}
+          path: /tmp/digests/*
+          if-no-files-found: error
+          retention-days: 5
+
+  publish:
+    name: publish manifest
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+    needs: [build_and_push]
+    steps:
+
+      - name: Check out repository code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Extract container image tag
+        run: |
+          echo "TAG=$(awk 'END{print}' ${{ env.PATCH_DIR }}/tag)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
+      - name: Log in to ${{ env.REGISTRY }}
         uses: docker/login-action@v3
         with:
           registry: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}
-          username: ${{ github.actor }}
-          password: ${{ secrets.EJABBERD_REPO_TOKEN }}
+          username: ${{ github.repository_owner }}
+          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
-      - name: Push linux/amd64 image
-        uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
-        if: github.event_name == 'push'
+      - name: Download digests
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
         with:
-          build-args: |
-            METHOD=direct
-            VERSION=${{ env.TAG }}
-            VARIANT=hardened
-          # cache-from: type=gha
-          # cache-to: type=gha,mode=max
-          context: ./ejabberd-source/.
-          file: ./image/${{ env.REF }}/Dockerfile
-          labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}
-          platforms: linux/amd64
-          push: true
-          tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
+          path: /tmp/digests
+          pattern: digests-*
+          merge-multiple: true
+
+      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
+
+      - name: Extract metadata (tags, labels) for Docker
+        id: meta
+        uses: docker/metadata-action@v4
+        with:
+          images: |
+            ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}
+          tags: |
+            ${{ env.TAG }}
+
+      - name: Create manifest list and push
+        working-directory: /tmp/digests
+        run: |
+          docker buildx imagetools create $(jq -r '"-t " + (.tags | join(" -t "))' <<< "$DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_JSON") \
+            $(printf '${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}@sha256:%s ' *)
+
+      - name: Inspect image
+        run: |
+          docker buildx imagetools inspect ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}:${{ steps.meta.outputs.version }}
diff --git a/image/24.07/Dockerfile b/image/24.07/Dockerfile
index a58a48c..e409454 100644
--- a/image/24.07/Dockerfile
+++ b/image/24.07/Dockerfile
@@ -225,13 +225,6 @@ COPY --from=runtime / /
 COPY --from=build /rootfs /
 COPY --from=elector /elector/elector /usr/local/bin/elector
 
-HEALTHCHECK \
-    --interval=1m \
-    --timeout=5s \
-    --start-period=5s \
-    --retries=10 \
-    CMD ejabberdctl status
-
 WORKDIR /$HOME
 USER $USER
 VOLUME ["/$HOME"]
diff --git a/image/24.12/Dockerfile b/image/24.12/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6e24902
--- /dev/null
+++ b/image/24.12/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,244 @@
+#' Define default build variables
+## source ARGs
+ARG GO_VSN='1.23'
+ARG ERLANG_VSN='27.2'
+ARG ELIXIR_VSN='1.17.3'
+## general ARGs
+ARG UID='9000'
+ARG USER='ejabberd'
+ARG HOME="opt/$USER"
+ARG BUILD_DIR="/$USER"
+ARG VERSION='master'
+
+################################################################################
+#' build elector
+FROM cgr.dev/chainguard/wolfi-base AS elector
+ARG GO_VSN
+RUN apk -U upgrade --available && apk add --no-cache \
+        build-base \
+        git \
+        go-${GO_VSN}
+
+WORKDIR /elector
+RUN git clone https://github.com/sando38/k8s-elector \
+        --branch update-packages --depth 1 .
+
+RUN go get google.golang.org/protobuf@v1.33.0 \
+    && go get golang.org/x/net@v0.23.0 \
+    && go mod tidy
+
+ARG TARGETARCH
+ARG TARGETOS
+RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=${TARGETOS} GOARCH=${TARGETARCH} \
+    go build -a -installsuffix cgo -ldflags "${LDFLAGS}" -o elector cmd/elector.go
+
+################################################################################
+#' Build and base image
+FROM cgr.dev/chainguard/wolfi-base AS erlang
+ARG ERLANG_VSN
+ENV LC_ALL='C.UTF-8' \
+    LANG='C.UTF-8'
+
+RUN apk -U upgrade --available && apk add --no-cache  \
+        autoconf \
+        automake \
+        bash \
+        build-base \
+        ca-certificates-bundle \
+        curl \
+        expat-dev \
+        file \
+        freetds freetds-dev \
+        freetype-dev \
+        gd-dev \
+        git \
+        libjpeg-dev \
+        libpng-dev \
+        libwebp-dev \
+        linux-pam-dev \
+        ncurses-dev \
+        pax-utils \
+        perl-dev \
+        openssl \
+        openssl-dev \
+        sqlite-dev \
+        unixodbc unixodbc-dev \
+        wget \
+        yaml-dev \
+        zlib-dev
+
+ARG ERLANG_VSN
+RUN wget -O - https://github.com/erlang/otp/releases/download/OTP-"$ERLANG_VSN"/otp_src_"$ERLANG_VSN".tar.gz \
+        | tar -xzf -
+
+WORKDIR /otp_src_"$ERLANG_VSN"
+## https://github.com/processone/ejabberd/commit/b288d5c76370e44fef3a9caa6fbb888435057a2a
+RUN sed -i 's|if(size == 0 && (sql_type == SQL_LONGVARCHAR|if((sql_type == SQL_LONGVARCHAR|g' lib/odbc/c_src/odbcserver.c
+RUN ./configure \
+        --prefix=/usr \
+        --sysconfdir=/etc \
+        --mandir=/usr/share/man \
+        --infodir=/usr/share/info \
+        --host="$CHOST" \
+        --build="$CBUILD" \
+        --enable-threads \
+        --enable-shared-zlib \
+        --enable-ssl=dynamic-ssl-lib \
+        --enable-jit \
+    && make install
+
+WORKDIR /
+ARG ELIXIR_VSN
+RUN wget -O - https://github.com/elixir-lang/elixir/archive/v"$ELIXIR_VSN".tar.gz \
+        | tar -xzf -
+
+WORKDIR /elixir-"$ELIXIR_VSN"
+RUN make install clean
+
+RUN mix local.hex --force \
+    && mix local.rebar --force
+
+################################################################################
+#' Build and prepare ejabberd
+FROM erlang AS build
+ENV LC_ALL='C.UTF-8' \
+    LANG='C.UTF-8'
+
+ARG BUILD_DIR
+COPY / $BUILD_DIR/
+
+WORKDIR $BUILD_DIR/.ejabberd-modules/sources/ejabberd-contrib
+
+# include some ejabberd contribution modules which may be nice for clusters
+RUN git clone https://github.com/processone/ejabberd-contrib --depth 1 . \
+    && install mod_s3_upload/src/*.erl $BUILD_DIR/src \
+    && install mod_s3_upload/include/*.hrl $BUILD_DIR/include \
+    && install mod_ecaptcha/src/*.erl $BUILD_DIR/src \
+    && install ejabberd_auth_http/src/*.erl $BUILD_DIR/src \
+    && rm -rf mod_ecaptcha mod_http_redirect mod_s3_upload
+
+WORKDIR $BUILD_DIR
+RUN mv .github/container/ejabberdctl.template . \
+    && ./autogen.sh \
+    && ./configure --with-rebar=mix --enable-all \
+    && make deps \
+    && make rel
+
+WORKDIR /rootfs
+ARG VERSION
+ARG HOME
+RUN mkdir -p $HOME $HOME-$VERSION \
+&& cp -r $BUILD_DIR/_build/prod/rel/ejabberd/* $HOME-$VERSION \
+    && mv $HOME-$VERSION/conf $HOME/conf
+
+RUN cp -p $BUILD_DIR/tools/captcha*.sh $HOME-$VERSION/lib
+
+RUN find "$HOME-$VERSION/bin" -name 'ejabberd' -delete \
+    && find "$HOME-$VERSION/releases" -name 'COOKIE' -delete
+
+## openssl does not find /etc/ssl/openssl.cnf in workflow, check later
+# RUN wget -O "$HOME/conf/cacert.pem" 'https://curl.se/ca/cacert.pem' \
+#     && sed -i '/^loglevel:/a \ \
+#         \nca_file: /opt/ejabberd/conf/cacert.pem \
+#         \ncertfiles: \
+#         \n  - /opt/ejabberd/conf/server.pem' "$HOME/conf/ejabberd.yml"
+RUN mkdir -p usr/local/bin $HOME/conf $HOME/database $HOME/logs $HOME/upload
+
+ARG BUILD_DIR
+RUN if [ ! -d $HOME/.ejabberd-modules ]; \
+    then \
+        if [ -d $BUILD_DIR/.ejabberd-modules ]; \
+        then cp -r $BUILD_DIR/.ejabberd-modules $HOME; \
+        else git clone https://github.com/processone/ejabberd-contrib --depth 1 \
+                $HOME/.ejabberd-modules/sources/ejabberd-contrib; \
+        fi \
+    fi
+
+## openssl does not find /etc/ssl/openssl.cnf in workflow, check later
+# RUN export PEM=$HOME/conf/server.pem \
+#     && openssl req -x509 \
+#             -batch \
+#             -nodes \
+#             -newkey rsa:4096 \
+#             -keyout $PEM \
+#             -out $PEM \
+#             -days 3650 \
+#             -subj "/CN=localhost"
+
+RUN home_root_dir=$(echo $HOME | sed 's|\(.*\)/.*|\1 |') \
+    && echo -e \
+        "#!/bin/sh \
+        \n[ -z \$ERLANG_NODE_ARG ] && export ERLANG_NODE_ARG=ejabberd@localhost \
+        \nexport CONFIG_DIR=/$HOME/conf \
+        \nexport LOGS_DIR=/$HOME/logs \
+        \nexport SPOOL_DIR=/$HOME/database \
+        \nexec /$(find $home_root_dir -name ejabberdctl) \"\$@\"" \
+            > usr/local/bin/ejabberdctl \
+    && chmod +x usr/local/bin/* \
+    && scanelf --needed --nobanner --format '%n#p' --recursive "$PWD" \
+        | tr ',' '\n' \
+        | sort -u \
+        | awk 'system("[ -e $PWD" $1 " ]") == 0 { next } { print "so:" $1 }' \
+            > /tmp/runDeps
+
+ARG UID
+RUN chown -R $UID:$UID $HOME
+
+################################################################################
+#' Get AlpineÄs busybox for ejabberdctl script
+FROM cgr.dev/chainguard/wolfi-base AS runtime
+RUN apk -U upgrade --available --no-cache
+
+ARG USER
+ARG UID
+ARG HOME
+RUN addgroup $USER -g $UID \
+    && adduser -s /sbin/nologin -D -u $UID -h /$HOME -G $USER $USER
+
+COPY --from=build /tmp/runDeps /tmp/runDeps
+RUN apk add --no-cache -t .ejabberd-rundeps \
+        $(cat /tmp/runDeps) \
+        freetds unixodbc \
+        bind-tools \
+        busybox \
+        ca-certificates-bundle \
+        gettext \
+        jq \
+        netcat-openbsd \
+        tini \
+        wget
+
+RUN apk del --repositories-file /dev/null \
+        wolfi-base \
+        wolfi-keys \
+        apk-tools \
+    && rm -rf /var/cache/apk /etc/apk /tmp/* \
+    && find /lib/apk/db -type f -not -name 'installed' -delete
+
+################################################################################
+#' Forge release image
+FROM scratch AS release
+ARG USER
+ARG HOME
+ENV ERL_DIST_PORT='5210' \
+    LC_ALL='C.UTF-8' \
+    LANG='C.UTF-8'
+
+COPY --from=runtime / /
+COPY --from=build /rootfs /
+COPY --from=elector /elector/elector /usr/local/bin/elector
+
+HEALTHCHECK \
+    --interval=1m \
+    --timeout=5s \
+    --start-period=5s \
+    --retries=10 \
+    CMD ejabberdctl status
+
+WORKDIR /$HOME
+USER $USER
+VOLUME ["/$HOME"]
+EXPOSE 5210 5222 5223 5280
+
+ENTRYPOINT ["/sbin/tini","--","ejabberdctl"]
+CMD ["foreground"]
diff --git a/image/24.12/patches/mix.exs.patch b/image/24.12/patches/mix.exs.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4a95c18
--- /dev/null
+++ b/image/24.12/patches/mix.exs.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+diff --git a/mix.exs b/mix.exs
+index 45f2479b..532eccc1 100644
+--- a/mix.exs
++++ b/mix.exs
+@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ defmodule Ejabberd.MixProject do
+                           :logger, :mix]
+      ++ cond_apps(),
+      included_applications: [:mnesia, :os_mon,
++                             :cuesport, :fusco, :ecaptcha,
+                              :cache_tab, :eimp, :mqtree, :p1_acme,
+                              :p1_oauth2, :pkix]
+      ++ cond_included_apps()]
+@@ -131,12 +132,15 @@ defmodule Ejabberd.MixProject do
+
+   defp deps do
+     [{:cache_tab, "~> 1.0"},
++     {:cuesport, github: "goj/cuesport", manager: :rebar3},
+      {:dialyxir, "~> 1.2", only: [:test], runtime: false},
++     {:ecaptcha, github: "seriyps/ecaptcha"},
+      {:eimp, "~> 1.0"},
+      {:ex_doc, "~> 0.31", only: [:dev, :edoc], runtime: false},
+      {:fast_tls, "~> 1.1.22"},
+      {:fast_xml, "~> 1.1.53", override: true},
+      {:fast_yaml, "~> 1.0"},
++     {:fusco, "~> 0.1"},
+      {:idna, "~> 6.0"},
+      {:mqtree, "~> 1.0"},
+      {:p1_acme, "~> 1.0"},
diff --git a/image/24.12/scripts/ejabberdctl b/image/24.12/scripts/ejabberdctl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dc3f75d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/image/24.12/scripts/ejabberdctl
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# Determine pod's cluster name
+pod_name="${POD_NAME:-$(hostname -s)}" # e.g. pod-0
+pod_endpoint_name="$(hostname -f)" # e.g. pod-0.servicename.namespace.svc.cluster.local
+sts_name="$(echo $pod_name | sed 's|-[0-9]\+||g')"
+
+[ -z "$ERLANG_NODE_ARG" ] && export ERLANG_NODE_ARG="$sts_name@$pod_endpoint_name"
+export CONFIG_DIR="$HOME"/conf
+export LOGS_DIR="$HOME"/logs
+export SPOOL_DIR="$HOME"/database
+
+exec $(find /opt -name ejabberdctl) "$@"
diff --git a/image/24.12/scripts/run.sh b/image/24.12/scripts/run.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0165344
--- /dev/null
+++ b/image/24.12/scripts/run.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,256 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+set -e
+set -u
+
+myself=${0##*/}
+
+info()
+{
+    echo "$myself: $*"
+}
+
+error()
+{
+    echo >&2 "$myself: $*"
+}
+
+info '=> Start init script for ejabberd k8s container ...'
+info '==> Helm chart source code can be found on github:'
+info '    https://github.com/sando38/helm-ejabberd'
+info '==> Official ejabberd documentation on https://docs.ejabberd.im ...'
+info '==> Source code on https://github.com/processone/ejabberd ...'
+info ''
+info '=> NOTE:'
+info '   If you run this image in a single app environment, e.g. with Docker,'
+info '   then set the environment variable:'
+info '       ERLANG_NODE_ARG=ejabberd@localhost'
+info '   for improved compatibility. More info can be found here:'
+info '   https://github.com/processone/docker-ejabberd/tree/master/ecs#change-mnesia-node-name'
+info ''
+info '=> Thanks to all who made this work possible. Special thanks to Holger'
+info '   @weiss for open ears and brainstorming!'
+info ''
+info "=> Pod started on $(date)."
+info ''
+
+# Common variables
+pod_name="${POD_NAME:-$(hostname -s)}" # e.g. pod-0
+pod_endpoint_name="$(hostname -f)" # e.g. pod-0.servicename.namespace.svc.cluster.local
+headless_svc="$(hostname -d)" # e.g. servicename.namespace.default.svc.cluster.local
+pod_namespace="${POD_NAMESPACE:-default}"
+sts_name="$(echo $pod_name | sed 's|-[0-9]\+||g')"
+election_name="${ELECTION_NAME:-ejabberd}"
+election_url="${ELECTION_URL:-127.0.0.1:4040}"
+election_ttl="${ELECTION_TTL:-5s}"
+svc_pod_names="$(nslookup -q=srv "$headless_svc" | grep "$headless_svc" | awk '{print $NF}')"
+cluster_pod_names="$(echo $svc_pod_names | sed -e "s|$pod_name.$headless_svc||g")"
+api_url="${HTTP_API_URL:-127.0.0.1:5281}"
+ready_file="$HOME/.ejabberd_ready"
+
+[ -e "$ready_file" ] && rm "$ready_file"
+
+info "==> This is ejabberd node $sts_name@$pod_endpoint_name ..."
+
+## Inspired by https://github.com/Lykos153/ejabberd-cluster-k8s
+## TODO: Write an ejabberd module for https://github.com/vapor-ware/k8s-elector
+##       or check: https://github.com/bitwalker/libcluster
+##                 https://github.com/pedro-gutierrez/cluster
+_start_elector() {
+    info "==> Start elector sidecar service on $election_url ..."
+    elector -v 2 \
+            -election "$election_name" \
+            -namespace "$pod_namespace" \
+            -http "$election_url" \
+            -ttl "$election_ttl" &
+    export pid_elector=$!
+
+    info "==> Wait for elector sidecar to be available on $election_url ..."
+    while ! nc -z $(echo $election_url | sed -e 's/:/ /'); do sleep 1; done
+    info "==> elector sidecar is available on $election_url ..."
+}
+
+# trap for graceful shutdown
+_shutdown() {
+    rm -f $HOME/.ejabberd_terminate_false
+    if [ "${ELECTOR_ENABLED:-false}" = 'true' ]
+    then kill -s TERM "$pid_elector"
+    fi
+    ## disconnection from cluster happens automatically
+    info "==> Gracefully shut down ejabberd pod $sts_name@$pod_endpoint_name ..."
+    ejabberdctl stop
+    ejabberdctl stopped
+}
+
+# List cluster members
+_cluster_member() {
+    members="$(wget -q -O - --post-data '{}' $api_url/api/list_cluster | egrep -o '[^][]+' | tr ',' '\n')"
+    printf "$members"
+}
+
+# (Re-)join cluster - DNSSRV derived
+_join_cluster_dns() {
+    [ -e "$HOME/.ejabberd_ready" ] && rm $HOME/.ejabberd_ready
+    join_pod_name="$(echo $cluster_pod_names | sort -n | awk 'NR==1{print $1}')"
+    if [ "$pod_name" = "$sts_name-0" ]
+    then
+        info "==> $pod_name has ordinal zero ..."
+        touch $HOME/.ejabberd_ready
+    elif echo "$(_cluster_member)" | grep -q "$join_pod_name"
+    then
+        info "==> $pod_name is clustered w/ pod w/ lowest ordinal $join_pod_name ..."
+        touch $HOME/.ejabberd_ready
+    else
+        info "==> Leaving former cluster ..."
+        NO_WARNINGS=true ejabberdctl leave_cluster "$sts_name@$pod_name.${headless_svc}"
+        while ! nc -z $join_pod_name ${ERL_DIST_PORT:-5210}; do sleep 1; done
+        info "==> Will (re-)join ejabberd pod $sts_name@$join_pod_name ..."
+        ejabberdctl join_cluster "$sts_name@$join_pod_name" && sleep 5s
+        if echo "$(_cluster_member)" | grep -q "$join_pod_name"
+        then touch $HOME/.ejabberd_ready
+        fi
+    fi
+}
+
+# (Re-)join cluster - election derived
+_join_cluster_elector() {
+    [ -e "$HOME/.ejabberd_ready" ] && rm $HOME/.ejabberd_ready
+    if [ "$(echo $(_cluster_member) | wc -l)" -gt "1" ]
+    then
+        info "==> Leaving non-leader cluster ..."
+        NO_WARNINGS=true ejabberdctl leave_cluster "$sts_name@$pod_name.${headless_svc}"
+    fi
+    while ! nc -z $leader.${headless_svc} ${ERL_DIST_PORT:-5210}; do sleep 1; done
+    info "==> Will (re-)join leader "$sts_name@$leader.${headless_svc}" ..."
+    ejabberdctl join_cluster "$sts_name@$leader.${headless_svc}" && sleep 5s
+    if echo "$(_cluster_member)" | grep -q "$leader"
+    then touch $HOME/.ejabberd_ready
+    fi
+}
+
+# trap SIGTERM
+trap '_shutdown' SIGTERM
+touch $HOME/.ejabberd_terminate_false
+
+# check first if sidecar has rendered the configmaps/secrets already
+while [ ! -e $HOME/conf/ejabberd.yml ]
+do
+    info "===> $HOME/conf/ejabberd.yml not yet rendered, waiting ..." && sleep 3
+done
+sleep 3
+
+info '==> Start ejabberd main process ...'
+ejabberdctl start
+tail -n+1 -F logs/ejabberd.log &
+    pid_ejabberd_log=$!
+tail -n+1 -F logs/error.log &
+    pid_error_log=$!
+tail -n+1 -F logs/crash.log &
+    pid_crash_log=$!
+tail -n+1 -F logs/erlang.log &
+    pid_erlang_log=$!
+ejabberdctl started
+
+## Start elector, if enabled
+[ "${ELECTOR_ENABLED:-false}" = 'true' ] && _start_elector
+
+while true; do
+
+pod_status="$(wget -q -O - --post-data '{}' $api_url/api/status || echo 'unhealthy')"
+if [ ! "$pod_status" = 'unhealthy' ] && [ -e $HOME/.ejabberd_ready ]
+then
+    if [ "${ELECTOR_ENABLED:-false}" = 'true' ]
+    then
+        export leader="$(wget -cq $election_url -O - | jq -r .leader)"
+        ## leader is always right!
+        if [ "$leader" = "$pod_name" ]
+        then
+            info "==> $pod_name is elected leader and healthy ..."
+            [ ! -e "$HOME/.ejabberd_ready" ] && touch $HOME/.ejabberd_ready
+        ## if leader is not part of fellow's cluster list, re-join leader.
+        elif echo "$(_cluster_member)" | grep -q "$leader"
+        then
+            info "==> $pod_name is fellow, healthy and connected to leader $leader ..."
+            [ ! -e "$HOME/.ejabberd_ready" ] && touch $HOME/.ejabberd_ready
+        else
+            info "==> $pod_name is fellow, but not connected to leader $leader ..."
+            _join_cluster_elector
+        fi
+    elif [ ! -z "$cluster_pod_names" ] && [ ! "$cluster_pod_names" = 'NXDOMAIN' ]
+    then
+        info "==> Other healthy pods detected ..."
+        _join_cluster_dns
+    else
+        info "==> No other healthy pods detected ..."
+        [ ! -e "$HOME/.ejabberd_ready" ] && touch $HOME/.ejabberd_ready
+    fi
+elif [ ! "$pod_status" = 'unhealthy' ] && [ ! -e $HOME/.ejabberd_ready ]
+then
+    if [ "${K8S_CLUSTERING:-false}" = 'false' ]
+    then
+        [ ! -e "$HOME/.ejabberd_ready" ] && touch $HOME/.ejabberd_ready
+    elif [ "${ELECTOR_ENABLED:-false}" = 'true' ]
+    then
+        export leader="$(wget -cq $election_url -O - | jq -r .leader)"
+        ## leader is always right!
+        if [ "$leader" = "$pod_name" ]
+        then
+            info "==> $pod_name is elected leader and healthy ..."
+            [ ! -e "$HOME/.ejabberd_ready" ] && touch $HOME/.ejabberd_ready
+        ## if leader is not part of fellow's cluster list, re-join leader.
+        elif echo "$(_cluster_member)" | grep -q "$leader"
+        then
+            info "==> $pod_name is fellow, healthy and connected to leader $leader ..."
+            [ ! -e "$HOME/.ejabberd_ready" ] && touch $HOME/.ejabberd_ready
+        else
+            info "==> $pod_name is fellow, but not connected to leader $leader ..."
+            _join_cluster_elector
+        fi
+    fi
+    if [ ! -e $HOME/.ejabberd_ready ]
+    then
+        vhosts="$(ejabberdctl registered_vhosts)"
+        for vhost in $vhosts
+        do
+            info "==> $pod_name is healthy, but not ready, delete mnesia for $vhost ..."
+            ejabberdctl delete_mnesia "$vhost"
+        done
+        if [ "${ELECTOR_ENABLED:-false}" = 'true' ]
+        then
+            export leader="$(wget -cq $election_url -O - | jq -r .leader)"
+            #ejabberdctl set_master "$sts_name@$leader.${headless_svc}"
+            _join_cluster_elector
+        else _join_cluster_dns
+        fi
+    fi
+    if [ ! -e $HOME/.ejabberd_ready ]
+    then
+        info "==> $pod_name is still not ready, restart ejabberd while removing mnesia folder ..."
+        ejabberdctl stop
+        ejabberdctl stopped
+        rm -rf $HOME/database/*
+        ejabberdctl start
+        ejabberdctl started
+        if [ "${ELECTOR_ENABLED:-false}" = 'true' ]
+        then
+            export leader="$(wget -cq $election_url -O - | jq -r .leader)"
+            #ejabberdctl set_master "$sts_name@$leader.${headless_svc}"
+            _join_cluster_elector
+        else _join_cluster_dns
+        fi
+    fi
+else
+    info "==> $pod_name unhealthy ..."
+    [ -e "$HOME/.ejabberd_ready" ] && rm $HOME/.ejabberd_ready
+    [ ! $(ejabberdctl started) ] && ejabberdctl start && ejabberdctl started || _shutdown
+fi
+
+info "==> check again in 15s ..."
+sleep 15s
+
+if [ ! -e $HOME/.ejabberd_terminate_false ]
+then break
+fi
+done
+
+wait ${pid_elector-}
diff --git a/image/tag b/image/tag
index fe8e8da..40a9818 100644
--- a/image/tag
+++ b/image/tag
@@ -2,4 +2,4 @@
 # -k8sX specifies the image release, new releases have a higher ordinal number
 # changes in this file trigger a rebuild of the container image
 
-24.07-k8s1
+24.12-k8s1