diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index cde9902..bcec9b5 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -9,8 +9,6 @@ ENV TTS_MODEL=$TTS_MODEL
 ARG DEEPSPEED_VERSION=0.16.2
 ENV DEEPSPEED_VERSION=$DEEPSPEED_VERSION
 
-ARG ALLTALK_DIR=/opt/alltalk
-
 ENV GRADIO_SERVER_NAME="0.0.0.0"
 
 # Switch for using the multi engine manager:
@@ -59,10 +57,7 @@ EOR
 # Download all RVC models:
 ##############################################################################
 COPY system/tts_engines/rvc_files.json system/tts_engines/
-RUN <<EOR
-  rvc_files=$( jq -r '.[]' system/tts_engines/rvc_files.json )
-  echo "$rvc_files" | xargs -n 1 curl --create-dirs --output-dir models/rvc_base -LO
-EOR
+RUN jq -r '.[]' system/tts_engines/rvc_files.json | xargs -n 1 curl --create-dirs --output-dir models/rvc_base -LO
 
 ##############################################################################
 # Install python dependencies (cannot use --no-deps because requirements are not complete)
@@ -74,7 +69,7 @@ ENV PIP_CACHE_DIR=${ALLTALK_DIR}/pip_cache
 RUN <<EOR
     conda activate alltalk
 
-    mkdir ${ALLTALK_DIR}/pip_cache
+    mkdir -p ${ALLTALK_DIR}/pip_cache
     pip install --no-cache-dir --cache-dir=${ALLTALK_DIR}/pip_cache -r system/requirements/requirements_standalone.txt
     pip install --no-cache-dir --cache-dir=${ALLTALK_DIR}/pip_cache --upgrade gradio==4.32.2
 
@@ -144,7 +139,7 @@ merge_json_files() {
 replace_env_vars docker_default_confignew.json
 merge_json_files confignew.json
 
-conda activate alltalk
+source ${ALLTALK_DIR}/conda_env.sh
 
 if [ "\$ALLTALK_ENABLE_MULTI_ENGINE_MANAGER" = true ] ; then
   echo "Starting alltalk using multi engine manager"
@@ -160,13 +155,13 @@ EOF
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 source ~/.bashrc
 export TRAINER_TELEMETRY=0
-conda activate alltalk
+source ${ALLTALK_DIR}/conda_env.sh
 python finetune.py
 EOF
     cat << EOF > start_diagnostics.sh
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 source ~/.bashrc
-conda activate alltalk
+source ${ALLTALK_DIR}/conda_env.sh
 python diagnostics.py
 EOF
     chmod +x start_alltalk.sh
@@ -174,21 +169,20 @@ EOF
     chmod +x start_diagnostics.sh
 EOR
 
-COPY . .
+COPY --chown=alltalk:alltalk . .
 
 ##############################################################################
 # Create script to execute firstrun.py and run it:
 ##############################################################################
 RUN echo $'#!/usr/bin/env bash \n\
 source ~/.bashrc \n\
-conda activate alltalk \n\
+source ${ALLTALK_DIR}/conda_env.sh \n\
 python ./system/config/firstrun.py $@' > ./start_firstrun.sh
 
 RUN chmod +x start_firstrun.sh
 RUN ./start_firstrun.sh --tts_model $TTS_MODEL
 
-RUN mkdir -p ${ALLTALK_DIR}/outputs
-RUN mkdir -p /root/.triton/autotune
+RUN mkdir -p ${ALLTALK_DIR}/outputs ${ALLTALK_DIR}/.triton/autotune
 
 ##############################################################################
 # Enable deepspeed for all models:
@@ -198,4 +192,4 @@ RUN find . -name model_settings.json -exec sed -i -e 's/"deepspeed_enabled": fal
 ##############################################################################
 # Start alltalk:
 ##############################################################################
-ENTRYPOINT ["sh", "-c", "./start_alltalk.sh"]
+ENTRYPOINT ["sh", "-c", "./start_alltalk.sh"]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docker-build.sh b/docker-build.sh
index 2125374..46cc756 100755
--- a/docker-build.sh
+++ b/docker-build.sh
@@ -102,7 +102,6 @@ docker buildx \
   build \
   --progress=plain \
   --build-arg TTS_MODEL=$TTS_MODEL \
-  --build-arg ALLTALK_DIR=$ALLTALK_DIR \
   --build-arg DEEPSPEED_VERSION=$DEEPSPEED_VERSION \
   --build-arg DOCKER_TAG=$DOCKER_TAG \
   --build-arg DOCKER_REPOSITORY=$DOCKER_REPOSITORY \
diff --git a/docker-start.sh b/docker-start.sh
index 1614c24..1eefaa6 100755
--- a/docker-start.sh
+++ b/docker-start.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ ALLTALK_ENABLE_MULTI_ENGINE_MANAGER=false
 MULTI_ENGINE_MANAGER_CONFIG=
 DOCKER_TAG=latest-xtts
 DOCKER_REPOSITORY=erew123
+ALLTALK_DIR=/home/alltalk
 declare -a ADDITIONAL_ARGS=()
 
 # Parse arguments
diff --git a/docker/base/Dockerfile b/docker/base/Dockerfile
index 8df6590..46af3f3 100644
--- a/docker/base/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/base/Dockerfile
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ ENV CUDA_DOCKER_ARCH=all
 ENV NVIDIA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=all
 ENV CONDA_AUTO_UPDATE_CONDA="false"
 
-ENV ALLTALK_DIR=/opt/alltalk
+ENV ALLTALK_DIR=/home/alltalk
 
 ##############################################################################
 # Installation/Basic Utilities
@@ -32,6 +32,10 @@ RUN <<EOR
     apt-get clean && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 EOR
 
+# Create a non-root user and switch to it for security
+RUN useradd -ms /bin/bash alltalk
+USER alltalk
+
 ##############################################################################
 # Create a conda environment and install dependencies:
 ##############################################################################
@@ -77,4 +81,17 @@ RUN <<EOR
     echo "Failed to install pip dependencies: $RESULT"
     exit 1
   fi
+EOR
+
+RUN <<EOR
+# See https://gist.github.com/xkortex/5ae49d7e6e969405bd2c3152a949c1f1
+cat << EOF > ${ALLTALK_DIR}/conda_env.sh
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+source ~/.bashrc
+__conda_setup="\$('/opt/conda/bin/conda' 'shell.bash' 'hook' 2> /dev/null)"
+eval "\$__conda_setup"
+unset __conda_setup
+
+conda activate alltalk
+EOF
 EOR
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docker/deepspeed/Dockerfile b/docker/deepspeed/Dockerfile
index eb1fb75..2f2e97b 100644
--- a/docker/deepspeed/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/deepspeed/Dockerfile
@@ -5,11 +5,7 @@ FROM ${DOCKER_REPOSITORY}alltalk_tts_environment:${DOCKER_TAG}
 ARG DEEPSPEED_VERSION=0.16.3
 ENV DEEPSPEED_VERSION=$DEEPSPEED_VERSION
 
-##############################################################################
-# Directories:
-##############################################################################
-ENV STAGE_DIR=/tmp
-RUN mkdir -p ${STAGE_DIR}
+WORKDIR ${ALLTALK_DIR}
 
 ##############################################################################
 # Install python dependencies
@@ -27,8 +23,8 @@ EOR
 # Clone DeepSpeed sources
 ##############################################################################
 RUN <<EOR
-  git clone https://github.com/microsoft/DeepSpeed.git ${STAGE_DIR}/DeepSpeed
-  cd ${STAGE_DIR}/DeepSpeed
+  git clone https://github.com/microsoft/DeepSpeed.git ${ALLTALK_DIR}/DeepSpeed
+  cd ${ALLTALK_DIR}/DeepSpeed
   git checkout .
   git checkout "tags/v${DEEPSPEED_VERSION}" -b "v${DEEPSPEED_VERSION}"
 
@@ -46,21 +42,20 @@ EOR
 # Create DeepSpeed build file
 ##############################################################################
 RUN <<EOR
-  cat << EOF > build_deepspeed.sh
+  cat << EOF > ${ALLTALK_DIR}/build_deepspeed.sh
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
-source ~/.bashrc
-mkdir -p /deepspeed
+source ${ALLTALK_DIR}/conda_env.sh
+mkdir -p ${ALLTALK_DIR}/build
 
-conda activate alltalk
-cd ${STAGE_DIR}/DeepSpeed
+cd ${ALLTALK_DIR}/DeepSpeed
 DS_BUILD_OPS=1 python setup.py build_ext -j8 bdist_wheel
-mv ${STAGE_DIR}/DeepSpeed/dist/*.whl /deepspeed/
+mv ${ALLTALK_DIR}/DeepSpeed/dist/*.whl ${ALLTALK_DIR}/build
 EOF
 EOR
 
-RUN chmod +x /build_deepspeed.sh
+RUN chmod +x ${ALLTALK_DIR}/build_deepspeed.sh
 
 ##############################################################################
 # Build DeepSpeed:
 ##############################################################################
-ENTRYPOINT ["/build_deepspeed.sh"]
\ No newline at end of file
+ENTRYPOINT ["bash", "-c", "-l", "$ALLTALK_DIR/build_deepspeed.sh"]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docker/deepspeed/build-deepspeed.sh b/docker/deepspeed/build-deepspeed.sh
index 3c60617..733f097 100755
--- a/docker/deepspeed/build-deepspeed.sh
+++ b/docker/deepspeed/build-deepspeed.sh
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ cd $SCRIPT_DIR
 
 DOCKER_TAG=latest
 DOCKER_REPOSITORY=erew123
+ALLTALK_DIR=/home/alltalk
 
 # Parse arguments
 while [ "$#" -gt 0 ]; do
@@ -67,6 +68,5 @@ docker run \
   -it \
   --gpus=all \
   --name deepspeed \
-  --build-arg DOCKER_TAG=$DOCKER_TAG \
-  -v $SCRIPT_DIR/build:/deepspeed \
+  -v $SCRIPT_DIR/build:${ALLTALK_DIR}/build \
   ${DOCKER_REPOSITORY}alltalk_deepspeed:${DOCKER_TAG}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docker/variables.sh b/docker/variables.sh
index 628a98a..61a6c36 100644
--- a/docker/variables.sh
+++ b/docker/variables.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ declare -A ALLTALK_VARS
 ALLTALK_VARS["CUDA_VERSION"]=12.6.0
 ALLTALK_VARS["PYTHON_VERSION"]=3.11.11
 ALLTALK_VARS["DEEPSPEED_VERSION"]=0.16.2
-ALLTALK_VARS["ALLTALK_DIR"]=/opt/alltalk
 
 # Export single variables (needed by Docker locally)
 for key in "${!ALLTALK_VARS[@]}"