diff --git a/controller/PostgreSQL.cpp b/controller/PostgreSQL.cpp
index 878c646b3..5aa6d2c20 100644
--- a/controller/PostgreSQL.cpp
+++ b/controller/PostgreSQL.cpp
@@ -280,15 +280,21 @@ PostgreSQL::~PostgreSQL()
 void PostgreSQL::configureSmee() 
 {
 	const char *TEMPORAL_HOST = "ZT_TEMPORAL_HOST";
+	const char *TEMPORAL_PORT = "ZT_TEMPORAL_PORT";
 	const char *TEMPORAL_NAMESPACE = "ZT_TEMPORAL_NAMESPACE";
 	const char *SMEE_TASK_QUEUE = "ZT_SMEE_TASK_QUEUE";
 
 	const char *host = getenv(TEMPORAL_HOST);
+	const char *port = getenv(TEMPORAL_PORT);
 	const char *ns = getenv(TEMPORAL_NAMESPACE);
 	const char *task_queue = getenv(SMEE_TASK_QUEUE);
 
-	if (host != NULL && ns != NULL && task_queue != NULL) {
-		this->_smee = smeeclient::smee_client_new(host, ns, task_queue);
+	if (host != NULL && port != NULL && ns != NULL && task_queue != NULL) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "creating smee client\n");
+		std::string hostPort = std::string(host) + std::string(":") + std::string(port);
+		this->_smee = smeeclient::smee_client_new(hostPort.c_str(), ns, task_queue);
+	} else {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Smee client not configured\n");
 	}
 }
 
@@ -1426,6 +1432,13 @@ void PostgreSQL::commitThread()
 
 					if (_smee != NULL && isNewMember) {
 						notifyNewMember(networkId, memberId);
+					} else {
+						if (_smee == NULL) {
+							fprintf(stderr, "smee is NULL\n");
+						}
+						if (!isNewMember) {
+							fprintf(stderr, "nt a new member\n");
+						}
 					}
 
 					const uint64_t nwidInt = OSUtils::jsonIntHex(config["nwid"], 0ULL);
diff --git a/ext/central-controller-docker/Dockerfile.run_base b/ext/central-controller-docker/Dockerfile.run_base
index c0a18ca66..c724bc251 100644
--- a/ext/central-controller-docker/Dockerfile.run_base
+++ b/ext/central-controller-docker/Dockerfile.run_base
@@ -11,4 +11,5 @@ RUN apt -y install \
     binutils \
     linux-tools-gke \
     perf-tools-unstable \
-    google-perftools
+    google-perftools \
+    netcat
diff --git a/ext/central-controller-docker/main.sh b/ext/central-controller-docker/main.sh
index 1ec8e10f2..838c97316 100755
--- a/ext/central-controller-docker/main.sh
+++ b/ext/central-controller-docker/main.sh
@@ -100,6 +100,13 @@ else
     done
 fi
 
+echo "Waiting for temporal"
+while ! nc -z ${ZT_TEMPORAL_HOST} ${ZTC_TEMPORAL_PORT}; do
+    echo "waiting...";
+    sleep 1;
+done
+echo "Temporal is up"
+
 export GLIBCXX_FORCE_NEW=1
 export GLIBCPP_FORCE_NEW=1
 export LD_PRELOAD="/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libjemalloc.so.2"
diff --git a/rustybits/smeeclient/src/ext.rs b/rustybits/smeeclient/src/ext.rs
index 017bb6dfa..028635b80 100644
--- a/rustybits/smeeclient/src/ext.rs
+++ b/rustybits/smeeclient/src/ext.rs
@@ -99,6 +99,9 @@ pub extern "C" fn smee_client_notify_network_joined(
 
     match smee.notify_network_joined(params) {
         Ok(()) => true,
-        Err(_) => false,
+        Err(e) => {
+            println!("error notifying network joined: {0}", e.to_string());
+            false
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/rustybits/smeeclient/src/lib.rs b/rustybits/smeeclient/src/lib.rs
index c3f89c063..328024a51 100644
--- a/rustybits/smeeclient/src/lib.rs
+++ b/rustybits/smeeclient/src/lib.rs
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ impl SmeeClient {
     }
 
     pub fn notify_network_joined(&self, params: NetworkJoinedParams) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
+        println!("notifying network joined");
         let options = WorkflowOptions {
             id_reuse_policy: WorkflowIdReusePolicy::RejectDuplicate,
             execution_timeout: None,
@@ -94,6 +95,7 @@ impl SmeeClient {
         let workflow_id = Uuid::new_v4();
 
         self.tokio_rt.block_on(async {
+            println!("calilng start_workflow");
             self.client
                 .start_workflow(
                     payload,