diff --git a/.github/workflows/pxf-ci.yml b/.github/workflows/pxf-ci.yml
index f029125ac..4a2abb7d1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pxf-ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pxf-ci.yml
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        java: [ '8', '11', '17' ]
+        java: [ '8', '11', '17', '21' ]
       fail-fast: false
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
diff --git a/automation/src/main/resources/testcontainers/pxf-cbdb/Dockerfile b/automation/src/main/resources/testcontainers/pxf-cbdb/Dockerfile
index 19ef014a2..f8d4eb4f2 100644
--- a/automation/src/main/resources/testcontainers/pxf-cbdb/Dockerfile
+++ b/automation/src/main/resources/testcontainers/pxf-cbdb/Dockerfile
@@ -37,14 +37,15 @@ RUN if command -v apt-get >/dev/null 2>&1; then \
 
 # Install Gradle and warm wrapper cache (it will download GRADLE_VERSION again)
 # (version must match server/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties)
-ARG GRADLE_VERSION=7.6.6
+ARG GRADLE_VERSION=8.14.4
 RUN curl -fsSL "https://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-${GRADLE_VERSION}-bin.zip" \
       -o /tmp/gradle.zip && \
     sudo unzip -q /tmp/gradle.zip -d /opt && \
     sudo ln -s "/opt/gradle-${GRADLE_VERSION}/bin/gradle" /usr/local/bin/gradle && \
     rm /tmp/gradle.zip && \
-    cd /tmp && gradle init && gradle wrapper --gradle-version ${GRADLE_VERSION} && ./gradlew javaToolchains &&\
-    rm -rf /tmp/gradle /tmp/gradlew /tmp/gradlew.bat /tmp/.gradle
+    mkdir -p /tmp/gradle-wrapper-warm && cd /tmp/gradle-wrapper-warm && \
+    gradle init && gradle wrapper --gradle-version ${GRADLE_VERSION} && ./gradlew javaToolchains && \
+    cd / && rm -rf /tmp/gradle-wrapper-warm
 ENV GRADLE_HOME="/opt/gradle-${GRADLE_VERSION}"
 
 # Go toolchain for building pxf_regress inside the container
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 4863ada78..aa835e8b8 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -1369,7 +1369,7 @@
             -->
 
             <exclude>.github/pull_request_template.md</exclude>
-            <exclude>server/gradle/wrapper/gradle-7.6.6-wrapper.jar.sha256</exclude>
+            <exclude>server/gradle/wrapper/gradle-8.14.4-wrapper.jar.sha256</exclude>
 
           </excludes>
 
diff --git a/server/build.gradle b/server/build.gradle
index dfc9772d6..d3ab87adb 100644
--- a/server/build.gradle
+++ b/server/build.gradle
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ buildscript {
 }
 
 plugins {
-    id "io.freefair.lombok" version "6.6.3"
+    id "io.freefair.lombok" version "8.14.4"
     id "org.springframework.boot" version "${springBootVersion}" apply false
     id 'io.spring.dependency-management' version '1.0.15.RELEASE'
 }
@@ -242,6 +242,15 @@ configure(javaProjects) {
                 exclude("org.junit.jupiter:junit-jupiter-api")
             }
 
+            // JAVA 21 support
+            dependencySet(group:"org.mockito", version:"4.11.0") {
+                entry("mockito-core")
+                entry("mockito-inline")
+            }
+            dependencySet(group:"net.bytebuddy", version:"1.14.19") {
+                entry("byte-buddy")
+                entry("byte-buddy-agent")
+            }
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/server/gradle/wrapper/gradle-7.6.6-wrapper.jar.sha256 b/server/gradle/wrapper/gradle-7.6.6-wrapper.jar.sha256
deleted file mode 100644
index c957e1d4e..000000000
--- a/server/gradle/wrapper/gradle-7.6.6-wrapper.jar.sha256
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-14dfa961b6704bb3decdea06502781edaa796a82e6da41cd2e1962b14fbe21a3
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/server/gradle/wrapper/gradle-8.14.4-wrapper.jar.sha256 b/server/gradle/wrapper/gradle-8.14.4-wrapper.jar.sha256
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..30bde90fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/gradle/wrapper/gradle-8.14.4-wrapper.jar.sha256
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+7d3a4ac4de1c32b59bc6a4eb8ecb8e612ccd0cf1ae1e99f66902da64df296172
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/server/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties b/server/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
index 92df30b1b..537d07dc3 100644
--- a/server/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
+++ b/server/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 distributionBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
 distributionPath=wrapper/dists
-distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-7.6.6-bin.zip
+distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-8.14.4-bin.zip
 networkTimeout=10000
 zipStoreBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
 zipStorePath=wrapper/dists
-distributionSha256Sum=673d9776f303bc7048fc3329d232d6ebf1051b07893bd9d11616fad9a8673be0
+distributionSha256Sum=f1771298a70f6db5a29daf62378c4e18a17fc33c9ba6b14362e0cdf40610380d