diff --git a/.flake8 b/.flake8
deleted file mode 100644
index dc53bee7e..000000000
--- a/.flake8
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-[flake8]
-# Rule definitions: http://flake8.pycqa.org/en/latest/user/error-codes.html
-exclude = venv*,__pycache__,node_modules,cache
-max-complexity = 14
-max-line-length = 120
-
-# B003 assigning to os.environ
-# B306 BaseException.message has been deprecated
-# W503: line break before binary operator
-# W504 line break after binary operator
-extend_ignore=
-    B003,
-    B306,
-    W503,
-    W504
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 449df7b66..962dff7e1 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -109,6 +109,8 @@ environment.sh
 .env
 .env*
 varsfile
+*.log.json
+logs/**
 
 # CloudFoundry
 .cf
diff --git a/app/__init__.py b/app/__init__.py
index 39ea3f285..adcb21406 100644
--- a/app/__init__.py
+++ b/app/__init__.py
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ from werkzeug.local import LocalProxy
 from app import proxy_fix, webauthn_server
 from app.asset_fingerprinter import asset_fingerprinter
 from app.config import configs
+from app.custom_auth import CustomBasicAuth
 from app.extensions import antivirus_client, redis_client, zendesk_client
 from app.formatters import (
     convert_to_boolean,
@@ -134,7 +135,7 @@ from app.url_converters import (
 login_manager = LoginManager()
 csrf = CSRFProtect()
 metrics = GDSMetrics()
-
+basic_auth = CustomBasicAuth()
 
 # The current service attached to the request stack.
 def _get_current_service():
@@ -221,6 +222,8 @@ def create_app(application):
     login_manager.session_protection = None
     login_manager.anonymous_user = AnonymousUser
 
+    setup_basic_auth(application)
+
     # make sure we handle unicode correctly
     redis_client.redis_store.decode_responses = True
 
@@ -586,3 +589,6 @@ def init_jinja(application):
     ]
     jinja_loader = jinja2.FileSystemLoader(template_folders)
     application.jinja_loader = jinja_loader
+
+def setup_basic_auth(application):
+    application.basic_auth = CustomBasicAuth(application)
diff --git a/app/config.py b/app/config.py
index 33baca579..9b9bae42b 100644
--- a/app/config.py
+++ b/app/config.py
@@ -4,13 +4,16 @@ import os
 if os.environ.get('VCAP_APPLICATION'):
     # on cloudfoundry, config is a json blob in VCAP_APPLICATION - unpack it, and populate
     # standard environment variables from it
-    from app.cloudfoundry_config import extract_cloudfoundry_config
-    extract_cloudfoundry_config()
+    # from app.cloudfoundry_config import extract_cloudfoundry_config
+    # extract_cloudfoundry_config()
+    vcap_services = json.loads(os.environ['VCAP_SERVICES'])
+    os.environ['REDIS_URL'] = vcap_services['aws-elasticache-redis'][0]['credentials']['uri']
 
 
 class Config(object):
     ADMIN_CLIENT_SECRET = os.environ.get('ADMIN_CLIENT_SECRET')
-    API_HOST_NAME = os.environ.get('API_HOST_NAME')
+    ADMIN_CLIENT_USER_NAME = os.environ.get('ADMIN_CLIENT_USERNAME')
+    API_HOST_NAME = os.environ.get('API_HOST_NAME', 'localhost')
     SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get('SECRET_KEY')
     DANGEROUS_SALT = os.environ.get('DANGEROUS_SALT')
     ZENDESK_API_KEY = os.environ.get('ZENDESK_API_KEY')
@@ -23,9 +26,7 @@ class Config(object):
 
     # Logging
     DEBUG = False
-    NOTIFY_LOG_PATH = os.getenv('NOTIFY_LOG_PATH')
-
-    ADMIN_CLIENT_USER_NAME = 'notify-admin'
+    NOTIFY_LOG_PATH = os.environ.get('NOTIFY_LOG_PATH', 'application.log')
 
     ANTIVIRUS_API_HOST = os.environ.get('ANTIVIRUS_API_HOST')
     ANTIVIRUS_API_KEY = os.environ.get('ANTIVIRUS_API_KEY')
@@ -40,7 +41,7 @@ class Config(object):
     HEADER_COLOUR = '#81878b'  # mix(govuk-colour("dark-grey"), govuk-colour("mid-grey"))
     HTTP_PROTOCOL = 'http'
     NOTIFY_APP_NAME = 'admin'
-    NOTIFY_LOG_LEVEL = 'DEBUG'
+    NOTIFY_LOG_LEVEL = os.environ.get('NOTIFY_LOG_LEVEL', 'DEBUG')
     PERMANENT_SESSION_LIFETIME = 20 * 60 * 60  # 20 hours
     SEND_FILE_MAX_AGE_DEFAULT = 365 * 24 * 60 * 60  # 1 year
     SESSION_COOKIE_HTTPONLY = True
@@ -62,13 +63,17 @@ class Config(object):
     LOGO_UPLOAD_BUCKET_NAME = 'public-logos-local'
     MOU_BUCKET_NAME = 'local-mou'
     TRANSIENT_UPLOADED_LETTERS = 'local-transient-uploaded-letters'
-    ROUTE_SECRET_KEY_1 = os.environ.get('ROUTE_SECRET_KEY_1', '')
-    ROUTE_SECRET_KEY_2 = os.environ.get('ROUTE_SECRET_KEY_2', '')
+    ROUTE_SECRET_KEY_1 = os.environ.get('ROUTE_SECRET_KEY_1', 'dev-route-secret-key-1')
+    ROUTE_SECRET_KEY_2 = os.environ.get('ROUTE_SECRET_KEY_2', 'dev-route-secret-key-2')
     CHECK_PROXY_HEADER = False
     ANTIVIRUS_ENABLED = True
 
     REDIS_URL = os.environ.get('REDIS_URL')
     REDIS_ENABLED = True
+    
+    BASIC_AUTH_USERNAME = os.environ.get('BASIC_AUTH_USERNAME')
+    BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD = os.environ.get('BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD')
+    BASIC_AUTH_FORCE = True
 
     ASSET_DOMAIN = ''
     ASSET_PATH = '/static/'
@@ -93,6 +98,7 @@ class Config(object):
 
 
 class Development(Config):
+    BASIC_AUTH_FORCE = True
     NOTIFY_LOG_PATH = 'application.log'
     DEBUG = True
     SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE = False
@@ -104,7 +110,7 @@ class Development(Config):
     MOU_BUCKET_NAME = 'notify.tools-mou'
     TRANSIENT_UPLOADED_LETTERS = 'development-transient-uploaded-letters'
     PRECOMPILED_ORIGINALS_BACKUP_LETTERS = 'development-letters-precompiled-originals-backup'
-    ADMIN_CLIENT_SECRET = 'dev-notify-secret-key'
+    ADMIN_CLIENT_SECRET = os.environ.get('ADMIN_CLIENT_SECRET')
     # check for local compose orchestration variable
     API_HOST_NAME = os.environ.get('DEV_API_HOST_NAME', 'http://dev:6011')
     DANGEROUS_SALT = 'dev-notify-salt'
@@ -116,11 +122,11 @@ class Development(Config):
     ASSET_PATH = '/static/'
 
     REDIS_URL = os.environ.get('DEV_REDIS_URL', 'http://redis:6379')
-    
-    REDIS_ENABLED = os.environ.get('REDIS_ENABLED') == '1'
+    REDIS_ENABLED = True
 
 
 class Test(Development):
+    BASIC_AUTH_FORCE = False
     DEBUG = True
     TESTING = True
     WTF_CSRF_ENABLED = False
@@ -143,6 +149,7 @@ class Test(Development):
 
 
 class Preview(Config):
+    BASIC_AUTH_FORCE = True
     HTTP_PROTOCOL = 'https'
     HEADER_COLOUR = '#F499BE'  # $baby-pink
     CSV_UPLOAD_BUCKET_NAME = 'preview-notifications-csv-upload'
@@ -162,6 +169,7 @@ class Preview(Config):
 
 
 class Staging(Config):
+    BASIC_AUTH_FORCE = True
     HTTP_PROTOCOL = 'https'
     HEADER_COLOUR = '#6F72AF'  # $mauve
     CSV_UPLOAD_BUCKET_NAME = 'staging-notifications-csv-upload'
@@ -178,6 +186,7 @@ class Staging(Config):
 
 
 class Live(Config):
+    BASIC_AUTH_FORCE = True
     HEADER_COLOUR = '#005EA5'  # $govuk-blue
     HTTP_PROTOCOL = 'https'
     CSV_UPLOAD_BUCKET_NAME = 'notifications.prototype.csv_upload'
@@ -191,6 +200,18 @@ class Live(Config):
     CHECK_PROXY_HEADER = False
     ASSET_DOMAIN = 'static.notifications.service.gov.uk'
     ASSET_PATH = 'https://static.notifications.service.gov.uk/'
+    
+    REDIS_URL = os.environ.get('REDIS_URL')
+    REDIS_ENABLED = True
+    
+    ADMIN_CLIENT_SECRET = os.environ.get('ADMIN_CLIENT_SECRET')
+    ADMIN_CLIENT_USER_NAME = os.environ.get('ADMIN_CLIENT_USERNAME')
+    API_HOST_NAME = os.environ.get('API_HOST_NAME')
+    DANGEROUS_SALT = os.environ.get('DANGEROUS_SALT')
+    SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get('SECRET_KEY')
+    ANTIVIRUS_API_HOST = 'http://localhost:6016'
+    ANTIVIRUS_API_KEY = 'test-key'
+    ANTIVIRUS_ENABLED = False
 
 
 class CloudFoundryConfig(Config):
diff --git a/app/custom_auth.py b/app/custom_auth.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7959a107a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/custom_auth.py
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+from flask_basicauth import BasicAuth
+from flask import jsonify, request
+
+class CustomBasicAuth(BasicAuth):
+    """
+        Description: 
+        Override BasicAuth to permit anonymous healthcheck at /_status?simple=true
+    """
+    def challenge(self):
+        if "/_status" in request.url:
+            if request.args.get('elb', None) or request.args.get('simple', None):
+                return jsonify(status="ok"), 200
+        return super(CustomBasicAuth, self).challenge()
+
+custom_basic_auth = CustomBasicAuth()
diff --git a/app/notify_client/status_api_client.py b/app/notify_client/status_api_client.py
index 3ae128ce0..92de16bef 100644
--- a/app/notify_client/status_api_client.py
+++ b/app/notify_client/status_api_client.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
+import os
 from app.notify_client import NotifyAdminAPIClient, cache
 
-
 class StatusApiClient(NotifyAdminAPIClient):
 
     def get_status(self, *params):
diff --git a/application.log.json b/application.log.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 4ed2ff25e..000000000
--- a/application.log.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-Logging configured
-Logging configured
-Logging configured
-Logging configured again
-Logging configured
-Logging configured again
-Logging configured
-Logging configured again
-Logging configured
-Logging configured again
-Logging configured
-Logging configured again
diff --git a/devcontainer-admin/.devcontainer.json b/devcontainer-admin/.devcontainer.json
index 9fafccdc3..284cfc055 100644
--- a/devcontainer-admin/.devcontainer.json
+++ b/devcontainer-admin/.devcontainer.json
@@ -23,16 +23,13 @@
         }
     },
     "extensions": [
-        "ms-python.python", // "ms-python.black-formatter",
         "donjayamanne.python-extension-pack",
-        "ms-azuretools.vscode-docker",
         "ms-python.vscode-pylance",
         "eamodio.gitlens",
         "wholroyd.jinja",
         "pmbenjamin.vscode-snyk",
         "visualstudioexptteam.vscodeintellicode",
         "yzhang.markdown-all-in-one",
-        "ms-ossdata.vscode-postgresql",
         "GitHub.copilot"
     ],
     "forwardPorts": [
diff --git a/devcontainer-admin/scripts/notify-admin-entrypoint.sh b/devcontainer-admin/scripts/notify-admin-entrypoint.sh
index eef517d64..11947087b 100755
--- a/devcontainer-admin/scripts/notify-admin-entrypoint.sh
+++ b/devcontainer-admin/scripts/notify-admin-entrypoint.sh
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ set -ex
 # tools and the filesystem mount enabled should be located here. 
 ###################################################################
 
+echo "RUNNING ENTRYPOINT SCRIPT"
+
 # Define aliases
 echo -e "\n\n# User's Aliases" >> ~/.zshrc
 echo -e "alias fd=fdfind" >> ~/.zshrc
@@ -29,6 +31,7 @@ pip3 install -r requirements_for_test.txt
 make generate-version-file
 # make babel
 
+# npm ci install
 if [ ! -d "/node_modules" ]; then
   npm ci install
 fi
@@ -36,4 +39,6 @@ fi
 npm run build
 
 # run flask
-# make run
\ No newline at end of file
+# make run
+
+echo "FINISHED ENTRYPOINT SCRIPT"
diff --git a/manifest.yml b/manifest.yml
index 7b0b9704b..68080ef65 100644
--- a/manifest.yml
+++ b/manifest.yml
@@ -18,22 +18,25 @@ applications:
     env:
       NOTIFY_APP_NAME: admin
       NOTIFY_LOG_PATH: /home/vcap/logs/app.log
+      NOTIFY_LOG_LEVEL: DEBUG
       FLASK_APP: application.py
       FLASK_ENV: production
+      REDIS_ENABLED: ((REDIS_ENABLED))
 
       NOTIFY_ENVIRONMENT: live
 
       # Credentials variables
       ADMIN_CLIENT_SECRET: ((ADMIN_CLIENT_SECRET))
-      ADMIN_BASE_URL: notifications-admin.app.cloud.gov
-      API_HOST_NAME: notifications-api.app.cloud.gov
+      ADMIN_CLIENT_USERNAME: ((ADMIN_CLIENT_USERNAME))
+      ADMIN_BASE_URL: https://notifications-admin.app.cloud.gov
+      API_HOST_NAME: https://notifications-api.app.cloud.gov
       DANGEROUS_SALT: ((DANGEROUS_SALT))
       SECRET_KEY: ((SECRET_KEY))
-      ROUTE_SECRET_KEY_1: ((ROUTE_SECRET_KEY_1))
-      ROUTE_SECRET_KEY_2: ((ROUTE_SECRET_KEY_2))
 
       AWS_REGION: us-west-2
       AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ((AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID))
       AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ((AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY))
+      BASIC_AUTH_USERNAME: ((BASIC_AUTH_USERNAME))
+      BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD: ((BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD))
 
       NOTIFY_BILLING_DETAILS: []
diff --git a/requirements.in b/requirements.in
index dd5ab2761..b1dc387d0 100644
--- a/requirements.in
+++ b/requirements.in
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ wtforms==3.0.1
 Flask-Login==0.6.1
 Werkzeug==2.1.2
 jinja2==3.1.2
+Flask-BasicAuth==0.2.0
 
 blinker==1.4
 pyexcel==0.7.0
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index f3cb81f49..1eba90250 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ flask-redis==0.4.0
     # via notifications-utils
 flask-wtf==1.0.1
     # via -r requirements.in
+Flask-BasicAuth==0.2.0
+    # via -r requirements.in
 gds-metrics @ git+https://github.com/alphagov/gds_metrics_python.git@6f1840a57b6fb1ee40b7e84f2f18ec229de8aa72
     # via -r requirements.in
 geojson==2.5.0
diff --git a/varsfile.sample b/varsfile.sample
index 4045654e7..cc0fef4ee 100644
--- a/varsfile.sample
+++ b/varsfile.sample
@@ -5,3 +5,5 @@ ROUTE_SECRET_KEY_1: asdf
 ROUTE_SECRET_KEY_2: asdf
 AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: asdf
 AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: asdf
+BASIC_AUTH_USERNAME: asdf
+BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD: asdf