diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index ef4d68f5..fdd00ef0 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -3,6 +3,11 @@ FROM golang:1.20-alpine as builder
 
 RUN apk add --no-cache gcc musl-dev linux-headers
 
+# Get dependencies - will also be cached if we won't change go.mod/go.sum
+COPY go.mod /es-node/
+COPY go.sum /es-node/
+RUN cd /es-node && go mod download
+
 ADD . /es-node
 RUN cd /es-node/cmd/es-node && go build
 RUN cd /es-node/cmd/es-utils && go build
diff --git a/GUIDE.md b/GUIDE.md
index 40fb6711..91baec9e 100644
--- a/GUIDE.md
+++ b/GUIDE.md
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ For a detailed explanation for es-node please refer to the [README](/README.md).
 ## System Environment
  - Ubuntu 20.04+ (has been tested with)
  - (Optional) Docker 24.0.5+ (would simplify the process)
- - (Optional) go 1.20+ and node 16+ (can be installed following the [steps](#1-install-go-120-eg-v1213))
+ - (Optional) go 1.20.* (can't be built on Go 1.21 yet) and node 16+ (can be installed following the [steps](#1-install-go-120-eg-v1213))
 
 You can choose [how to run es-node](#step-3-run-es-node) according to your current environment.
 ## Step 1. Prepare miner and signer account
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ Remember to use the signer's private key (with ETH balance) to replace `<private
 ## Step 2. Download source code
 ```sh
 # download source code
-git clone git@github.com:ethstorage/es-node.git
+git clone https://github.com/ethstorage/es-node.git
 
 # go to the repo
 cd es-node
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 669f1a6a..a3950806 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ _Note: You need to have some ETH balance in the account of the private key as th
 #### Environment
 Please make sure that the following packages are pre-installed.
 
-* go 1.20 or above
+* go 1.20.* (can't be built on Go 1.21 yet)
 * node 16 or above
 
 Also, you will need to install `snarkjs` for the generation of zk proof.
diff --git a/cmd/es-node/main.go b/cmd/es-node/main.go
index 71a18ccf..166c5b86 100644
--- a/cmd/es-node/main.go
+++ b/cmd/es-node/main.go
@@ -166,6 +166,10 @@ func EsNodeInit(ctx *cli.Context) error {
 	log.Info("Will create data files for storage node")
 	l1Rpc := readRequiredFlag(ctx, flags.L1NodeAddr.Name)
 	contract := readRequiredFlag(ctx, flags.StorageL1Contract.Name)
+	if !common.IsHexAddress(contract) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("invalid contract address %s", contract)
+	}
+
 	datadir := readRequiredFlag(ctx, flags.DataDir.Name)
 	encodingType := ethstorage.ENCODE_BLOB_POSEIDON
 	miner := "0x"
@@ -178,6 +182,9 @@ func EsNodeInit(ctx *cli.Context) error {
 	}
 	if encodingType != ethstorage.NO_ENCODE {
 		miner = readRequiredFlag(ctx, flags.StorageMiner.Name)
+		if !common.IsHexAddress(miner) {
+			return fmt.Errorf("invalid miner address %s", miner)
+		}
 	}
 	shardIndexes := ctx.Int64Slice(shardIndexFlagName)
 	log.Info("Read flag", "name", shardIndexFlagName, "value", shardIndexes)
diff --git a/run-docker.sh b/run-docker.sh
index b0fdc026..755673ff 100755
--- a/run-docker.sh
+++ b/run-docker.sh
@@ -3,25 +3,54 @@
 # usage:
 # env ES_NODE_STORAGE_MINER=<miner> ES_NODE_SIGNER_PRIVATE_KEY=<private_key> ./run-docker.sh
 
+if [ -z "$ES_NODE_STORAGE_MINER" ]; then
+  echo "Please provide 'ES_NODE_STORAGE_MINER' as an environment variable"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ ${#ES_NODE_STORAGE_MINER} -ne 42 ] || case $ES_NODE_STORAGE_MINER in 0x*) false;; *) true;; esac; then
+  echo "Error: ES_NODE_STORAGE_MINER should be prefixed with '0x' and have a total length of 42"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ -z "$ES_NODE_SIGNER_PRIVATE_KEY" ]; then
+  echo "Please provide 'ES_NODE_SIGNER_PRIVATE_KEY' as an environment variable"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ ${#ES_NODE_SIGNER_PRIVATE_KEY} -ne 64 ]; then
+  echo "Error: ES_NODE_SIGNER_PRIVATE_KEY should have a length of 64"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
 container_name="es"
 image_name="es-node" 
 
 # check if container is running
-if docker ps --format "{{.Names}}" | grep -q "^$container_name$"; then
+if sudo docker ps --format "{{.Names}}" | grep -q "^$container_name$"; then
     echo "container $container_name already started"
 else
     # start container if exist
-    if docker ps -a --format "{{.Names}}" | grep -q "^$container_name$"; then
-        docker start $container_name
+    if sudo docker ps -a --format "{{.Names}}" | grep -q "^$container_name$"; then
+        sudo docker start $container_name
         echo "container $container_name started"
     else
         # build an image if not exist
-        if ! docker images --format "{{.Repository}}" | grep -q "^$image_name$"; then
-            docker build -t $image_name .
+        if ! sudo docker images --format "{{.Repository}}" | grep -q "^$image_name$"; then
+            sudo docker build -t $image_name .
             echo "image $image_name built"
         fi
         # run container in the background
-        docker run --name $container_name -v ./es-data:/es-node/es-data -e ES_NODE_STORAGE_MINER=$ES_NODE_STORAGE_MINER -e ES_NODE_SIGNER_PRIVATE_KEY=$ES_NODE_SIGNER_PRIVATE_KEY -p 9545:9545 -p 9222:9222 -p 30305:30305/udp -d --entrypoint /es-node/run.sh $image_name
+       sudo docker run --name $container_name \
+            -v ./es-data:/es-node/es-data \
+            -e ES_NODE_STORAGE_MINER=$ES_NODE_STORAGE_MINER \
+            -e ES_NODE_SIGNER_PRIVATE_KEY=$ES_NODE_SIGNER_PRIVATE_KEY \
+            -p 9545:9545 \
+            -p 9222:9222 \
+            -p 30305:30305/udp \
+            -d \
+            --entrypoint /es-node/run.sh \
+            $image_name
         echo "container $container_name started"
     fi
 fi
diff --git a/run.sh b/run.sh
index 25ff6862..5044b5e1 100644
--- a/run.sh
+++ b/run.sh
@@ -4,12 +4,22 @@
 # env ES_NODE_STORAGE_MINER=<miner> ES_NODE_SIGNER_PRIVATE_KEY=<private_key> ./run.sh
 
 if [ -z "$ES_NODE_STORAGE_MINER" ]; then
-  echo "Please provide 'ES_NODE_STORAGE_MINER' as environment variable"
+  echo "Please provide 'ES_NODE_STORAGE_MINER' as an environment variable"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ ${#ES_NODE_STORAGE_MINER} -ne 42 ] || case $ES_NODE_STORAGE_MINER in 0x*) false;; *) true;; esac; then
+  echo "Error: ES_NODE_STORAGE_MINER should be prefixed with '0x' and have a total length of 42"
   exit 1
 fi
 
 if [ -z "$ES_NODE_SIGNER_PRIVATE_KEY" ]; then
-  echo "Please provide 'ES_NODE_SIGNER_PRIVATE_KEY' as environment variable"
+  echo "Please provide 'ES_NODE_SIGNER_PRIVATE_KEY' as an environment variable"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ ${#ES_NODE_SIGNER_PRIVATE_KEY} -ne 64 ]; then
+  echo "Error: ES_NODE_SIGNER_PRIVATE_KEY should have a length of 64"
   exit 1
 fi
 
@@ -55,8 +65,12 @@ es_node_start=" --network devnet \
 "
 # create data file for shard 0 if not yet
 if [ ! -e $storage_file_0 ]; then
-  $executable $es_node_init $common_flags
-  echo "initialized ${storage_file_0}"
+  if $executable $es_node_init $common_flags ; then
+    echo "initialized ${storage_file_0} successfully"
+  else
+    echo "failed to initialize ${storage_file_0}"
+    exit 1
+  fi
 fi
 
 # start es-node