diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
index e0836d7ab0875..b21fb6951c048 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
+++ b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ RUN apt-get -y install \
     apt-transport-https \
     ca-certificates \
     curl \
+    jq \
     gnupg-agent \
     software-properties-common && \
     curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | apt-key add - && \
diff --git a/.devcontainer/apps.config.php b/.devcontainer/apps.config.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..986c3a4d66d6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/apps.config.php
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+<?php
+$CONFIG = array (
+  'apps_paths' => array (
+    0 => array (
+        'path'     => OC::$SERVERROOT.'/customapps',
+        'url'      => '/customapps',
+        'writable' => true,
+    ),
+    1 => array (
+        'path'     => OC::$SERVERROOT.'/apps',
+        'url'      => '/apps',
+        'writable' => true,
+    ),
+    ),
+);
diff --git a/.devcontainer/codespace.config.php b/.devcontainer/codespace.config.php
index 3c5257635400b..f1c7c2aaa3bef 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/codespace.config.php
+++ b/.devcontainer/codespace.config.php
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
     'mail_smtpmode' => 'smtp',
     'mail_sendmailmode' => 'smtp',
     'mail_domain' => 'example.com',
-    'mail_smtphost' => 'localhost',
+    'mail_smtphost' => 'mailhog',
     'mail_smtpport' => '1025',
     'memcache.local' => '\OC\Memcache\APCu',
 ];
diff --git a/.devcontainer/docker-compose.yml b/.devcontainer/docker-compose.yml
index a30bba74a6653..436e323b850a2 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/.devcontainer/docker-compose.yml
@@ -6,11 +6,15 @@ services:
       - .:/workspace:cached
       - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker-host.sock
       - ..:/var/www/html
+      - ../../customapps:/var/www/html/customapps
+      - ../../data:/var/www/html/data
+      - ../../config:/var/www/html/config
     command: /var/www/html/.devcontainer/entrypoint.sh
     ports:
       - 80:80
-      - 8080:8080
-      - 8025:8025
+    depends_on:
+      - db
+      - mailhog
 
   db:
     image: postgres
@@ -19,18 +23,22 @@ services:
       POSTGRES_PASSWORD: postgres
       PGDATA: /data/postgres
     volumes:
-      - db:/data/postgres
-    network_mode: service:nextclouddev
+      - ../../data/db:/data/postgres
+    expose:
+      - "5432"
 
   adminer:
     image: adminer
     restart: always
-    network_mode: service:nextclouddev
+    ports:
+      - 8080:8080
+    depends_on:
+      - db
 
   mailhog:
     image: mailhog/mailhog
     restart: always
-    network_mode: service:nextclouddev
+    ports:
+      - 8025:8025
+
 
-volumes:
-  db:
diff --git a/.devcontainer/nmc.config.php b/.devcontainer/nmc.config.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..a229873231e62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/nmc.config.php
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+<?php
+$CONFIG = array (
+    'htaccess.RewriteBase' => '/',
+    'default_language' => 'de_DE',
+    'integrity.check.disabled' => true, // not recommended for prod, but for customisation
+    // 'config_is_read_only' => true,
+    'auth.authtoken.v1.disabled' => true,
+    'sharing.force_share_accept' => true,
+    'status-email-message-provider' => '\\OCA\\EmailTemplateExample\\MessageProvider',
+    'mail_template_class' => 'OCA\\EmailTemplateExample\\EMailTemplate',
+    // "logfile_office_report" => "/var/log/nextcloud/office.log",
+);
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.devcontainer/nmcsetup.sh b/.devcontainer/nmcsetup.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000..ba7ee23250d0b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/nmcsetup.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )/../" >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd )"
+
+cd $DIR/
+
+# after installation, do some MagentaCLOUD specific setups to start closer to production
+
+# customapps directory split
+cp .devcontainer/apps.config.php config/apps.config.php
+cp .devcontainer/nmc.config.php config/nmc.config.php
+
+# disable user themeing
+sudo -u ${APACHE_RUN_USER} php occ theming:config disable-user-theming yes
+
+# fixed themeing for MagentaCLOUD
+cp .devcontainer/theme.config.php config/theme.config.php
+
+# refresh .htaccess for short URL notation
+sudo -u ${APACHE_RUN_USER} php occ maintenance:update:htaccess
+
+# "Organisational" setting
+sudo -u ${APACHE_RUN_USER} php occ theming:config color "#e20074"   # don't use uppercase letters!
+sudo -u ${APACHE_RUN_USER} php occ theming:config name MagentaCLOUD
+sudo -u ${APACHE_RUN_USER} php occ theming:config slogan "Alle Dateien sicher an einem Ort"
+sudo -u ${APACHE_RUN_USER} php occ theming:config imprintUrl "http://www.telekom.de/impressum"
+sudo -u ${APACHE_RUN_USER} php occ theming:config privacyUrl "https://static.magentacloud.de/Datenschutz"
+
+# app settings
+sudo -u ${APACHE_RUN_USER} php occ config:app:set theming AndroidClientUrl --value \
+    "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?=com.t_systems.android.webdav"
+sudo -u ${APACHE_RUN_USER} php occ config:app:set theming iTunesAppId --value "312838242"
+sudo -u ${APACHE_RUN_USER} php occ config:app:set theming iOSClientUrl --value \
+    "https://apps.apple.com/us/app/magentacloud-cloud-speicher/id312838242"
+
+# enable/disable apps
+sudo -u ${APACHE_RUN_USER} php occ app:enable nmctheme
+sudo -u ${APACHE_RUN_USER} php occ app:disable dashboard  # may remove as soon as dashboard CR is implemented
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.devcontainer/setup.sh b/.devcontainer/setup.sh
index 3485d4f7257c6..620bc41e67d69 100755
--- a/.devcontainer/setup.sh
+++ b/.devcontainer/setup.sh
@@ -2,27 +2,24 @@
 DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )/../" >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd )"
 
 cd $DIR/
-
-# Set git safe.directory
-git config --global --add safe.directory /var/www/html
-git config --global --add safe.directory /var/www/html/3rdparty
-
 git submodule update --init
 
-# Codespace config
-cp .devcontainer/codespace.config.php config/codespace.config.php
-
 # VSCode debugger profile
 mkdir -p .vscode && cp .devcontainer/launch.json .vscode/launch.json
 
 # Onetime installation setup
 if [[ ! $(sudo -u ${APACHE_RUN_USER} php occ status) =~ installed:[[:space:]]*true ]]; then
     echo "Running NC installation"
+
+    # we could be faced with an externalized, empty config dir
+    touch config/CAN_INSTALL
+
+    # this produces the plain config file without any overwriting
     sudo -u ${APACHE_RUN_USER} php occ maintenance:install \
         --verbose \
         --database=pgsql \
         --database-name=postgres \
-        --database-host=127.0.0.1 \
+        --database-host=db \
         --database-port=5432 \
         --database-user=postgres \
         --database-pass=postgres \
@@ -30,4 +27,12 @@ if [[ ! $(sudo -u ${APACHE_RUN_USER} php occ status) =~ installed:[[:space:]]*tr
         --admin-pass admin
 fi
 
+# Codespace config; do it late to avoid duplication into config.php
+# (which removed the conditional code!)
+# may consider setting 'config_is_read_only' => true,
+cp .devcontainer/codespace.config.php config/codespace.config.php
+
+# add MagentaCLOUD convenience setup
+source .devcontainer/nmcsetup.sh
+
 sudo service apache2 restart
diff --git a/.devcontainer/theme.config.php b/.devcontainer/theme.config.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..208ab66f85637
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/theme.config.php
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+<?php
+$CONFIG = array (
+    'enforce_theme' => 'default',  // or any other theme contained in the app
+    'theme' => '',                    // disable old themeing
+);
\ No newline at end of file