diff --git a/.github/workflows/unit-test.yml b/.github/workflows/unit-test.yml
index 52adb0d..133b1c0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/unit-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/unit-test.yml
@@ -47,10 +47,10 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       matrix:
         include:
-          - db: "MongoDB with ABCI"
-            host: "mongodb"
-            port: 27017
-            abci: "enabled"
+          #- db: "MongoDB with ABCI"
+          #  host: "mongodb"
+          #  port: 27017
+          #  abci: "enabled"
           - db: "Tarantool with ABCI"
             host: "tarantool"
             port: 3303
@@ -80,9 +80,9 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       matrix:
         include:
-          - db: "MongoDB without ABCI"
-            host: "mongodb"
-            port: 27017
+          #- db: "MongoDB without ABCI"
+          #  host: "mongodb"
+          #  port: 27017
           - db: "Tarantool without ABCI"
             host: "tarantool"
             port: 3303
diff --git a/Dockerfile-dev b/Dockerfile-dev
index 4148179..e4bd022 100644
--- a/Dockerfile-dev
+++ b/Dockerfile-dev
@@ -34,5 +34,4 @@ COPY . /usr/src/app/
 WORKDIR /usr/src/app
 RUN pip install -e .[dev]
 RUN pip install flask-cors
-RUN pip install pynacl==1.4.0 base58==2.1.1 pyasn1==0.4.8 zenroom==2.1.0.dev1655293214 cryptography==3.4.7
-RUN planetmint -y configure
+RUN pip install pynacl==1.4.0 base58==2.1.1 pyasn1==0.4.8 zenroom==2.1.0.dev1655293214 cryptography==3.4.7
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/planetmint/backend/localmongodb/connection.py b/planetmint/backend/localmongodb/connection.py
index 7fc4c70..359e553 100644
--- a/planetmint/backend/localmongodb/connection.py
+++ b/planetmint/backend/localmongodb/connection.py
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ class LocalMongoDBConnection(DBConnection):
         )
         self.crlfile = _kwargs_parser(key="crlfile", kwargs=kwargs) or dbconf["crlfile"]
         self.max_tries = _kwargs_parser(key="max_tries", kwargs=kwargs)
-        self.connection_timeout = _kwargs_parser(key="connection_timeout", kwargs=kwargs)
+        self.connection_timeout = _kwargs_parser(key="connection_timeout", kwargs=kwargs) or dbconf["connection_timeout"]
         self.__conn = None
         self.connect()
 
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ class LocalMongoDBConnection(DBConnection):
                 connecting to the database.
         """
         if self.__conn:
-            return self._conn
+            return self.__conn
         try:
             # FYI: the connection process might raise a
             # `ServerSelectionTimeoutError`, that is a subclass of
diff --git a/planetmint/backend/localmongodb/schema.py b/planetmint/backend/localmongodb/schema.py
index b8fd6a0..9592aa1 100644
--- a/planetmint/backend/localmongodb/schema.py
+++ b/planetmint/backend/localmongodb/schema.py
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ INDEXES = {
 def create_database(conn, dbname):
     logger.info("Create database `%s`.", dbname)
     # TODO: read and write concerns can be declared here
-    conn.conn.get_database(dbname)
+    conn.connect().get_database(dbname)
 
 
 @register_schema(LocalMongoDBConnection)
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ def create_tables(conn, dbname):
         # TODO: read and write concerns can be declared here
         try:
             logger.info(f"Create `{table_name}` table.")
-            conn.conn[dbname].create_collection(table_name)
+            conn.connect()[dbname].create_collection(table_name)
         except CollectionInvalid:
             logger.info(f"Collection {table_name} already exists.")
         create_indexes(conn, dbname, table_name, INDEXES[table_name])
@@ -82,9 +82,9 @@ def create_tables(conn, dbname):
 def create_indexes(conn, dbname, collection, indexes):
     logger.info(f"Ensure secondary indexes for `{collection}`.")
     for fields, kwargs in indexes:
-        conn.conn[dbname][collection].create_index(fields, **kwargs)
+        conn.connect()[dbname][collection].create_index(fields, **kwargs)
 
 
 @register_schema(LocalMongoDBConnection)
 def drop_database(conn, dbname):
-    conn.conn.drop_database(dbname)
+    conn.connect().drop_database(dbname)
diff --git a/planetmint/config.py b/planetmint/config.py
index b070e1a..7b93187 100644
--- a/planetmint/config.py
+++ b/planetmint/config.py
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@ import os
 
 # from planetmint.log import DEFAULT_LOGGING_CONFIG as log_config
 from planetmint.version import __version__  # noqa
-
+from decouple import config
+ 
 
 class Singleton(type):
     _instances = {}
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ class Config(metaclass=Singleton):
         # _base_database_localmongodb.keys() because dicts are unordered.
         # I tried to configure
         self.log_config = DEFAULT_LOGGING_CONFIG
-        db = "tarantool_db"
+        db = config('PLANETMINT_DATABASE_BACKEND', default="tarantool_db")
         self.__private_database_keys_map = {  # TODO Check if it is working after removing 'name' field
             "tarantool_db": ("host", "port"),
             "localmongodb": ("host", "port", "name"),
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index dd431f6..5fd9f4c 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -137,6 +137,7 @@ install_requires = [
     "pyasn1>=0.4.8",
     "cryptography==3.4.7",
     "planetmint-transactions==0.1.0",
+    "python-decouple",
 ]
 
 setup(