diff --git a/Docker/docker-compose.yaml b/Docker/docker-compose.yaml
index c9fa3431f..b72b5fc60 100644
--- a/Docker/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/Docker/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -33,8 +33,11 @@ services:
       - ./redis/data:/data
   mongodb:
     image: uptime_database_mongo:latest
-    command: ["mongod", "--quiet"]
+    command: ["mongod", "--quiet", "--auth"]
     ports:
       - "27017:27017"
     volumes:
       - ./mongo/data:/data/db
+      - ./mongo/init/create_users.js:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/create_users.js
+    env_file:
+      - mongo.env
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Docker/mongo/init/create_users.js b/Docker/mongo/init/create_users.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..67a21f910
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Docker/mongo/init/create_users.js
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+var username = process.env.USERNAME_ENV_VAR;
+var password = process.env.PASSWORD_ENV_VAR;
+
+db = db.getSiblingDB("uptime_db");
+
+db.createUser({
+  user: username,
+  pwd: password,
+  roles: [
+    {
+      role: "readWrite",
+      db: "uptime_db",
+    },
+  ],
+});
+print("User uptime_user created successfully");
diff --git a/Docker/mongoDB.Dockerfile b/Docker/mongoDB.Dockerfile
index fa79e8a92..969a320c2 100644
--- a/Docker/mongoDB.Dockerfile
+++ b/Docker/mongoDB.Dockerfile
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 FROM mongo
-EXPOSE 27017
\ No newline at end of file
+EXPOSE 27017
+CMD ["mongod"]
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d396ae397..92ee37e35 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -170,13 +170,21 @@ The fastest way to start the application is to use our Dockerfiles and [Docker C
 To get the application up and running you need to:
 
 1. In the `Docker` directory run the build script `build_images.sh` to build docker images for the client, server, Redis database, and MongoDB database.
-2. In the `Docker` directory, create a `server.env` file with the [requried environtmental variables](#env-vars-server) for the server. Sample file:
+
+2. In the `Dokcer` directory create a `mongo.env` file with a username and password:
+
+```
+USERNAME_ENV_VAR=user
+PASSWORD_ENV_VAR=password
+```
+
+3. In the `Docker` directory, create a `server.env` file with the [requried environtmental variables](#env-vars-server) for the server. Sample file:
 
 ```
 CLIENT_HOST="http://localhost:5173"
 JWT_SECRET=<jwt_secret>
 DB_TYPE="MongoDB"
-DB_CONNECTION_STRING="mongodb://mongodb:27017/uptime_db"
+DB_CONNECTION_STRING="mongodb://<username>:<password>@mongodb:27017/uptime_db"
 REDIS_HOST="redis"
 REDIS_PORT=6379
 TOKEN_TTL="99d"
@@ -187,14 +195,14 @@ SYSTEM_EMAIL_ADDRESS=<system_email>
 SYSTEM_EMAIL_PASSWORD=<system_email_password>
 ```
 
-3.  In the `Client` directory, create a `client.env` file with the [required environtmental variables](#env-vars-client) for the client. Sample file:
+4.  In the `Client` directory, create a `client.env` file with the [required environtmental variables](#env-vars-client) for the client. Sample file:
 
 ```
 VITE_APP_API_BASE_URL="http://localhost:5000/api/v1"
 VITE_APP_API_LOG_LEVEL="debug"
 ```
 
-4.  In the `Docker` directory run `docker compose up` to run the `docker-compose.yaml` file and start all four images.
+5.  In the `Docker` directory run `docker compose up` to run the `docker-compose.yaml` file and start all four images.
 
 That's it, the application is ready to use on port 80.
 <br/>