diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 631e6bcec..62177c06b 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -87,5 +87,6 @@ src/spicelib/parser/inpptree-parser.h
 # Visual Studio Code user options files
 .vscode/
 
+test_cases/diode/__pycache__/*
 test_cases/diode/test_osdi/*
 test_cases/diode/test_built_in/*
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0d6c3e9e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+FROM python:3.10.4-bullseye
+
+# python installation
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get -y install bc bison flex libxaw7 libxaw7-dev libx11-6 libx11-dev libreadline8 libxmu6
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get -y install build-essential libtool gperf libxml2 libxml2-dev libxml-libxml-perl libgd-perl
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get -y install g++ gfortran make cmake libfl-dev libfftw3-dev 
+
+RUN pip install pytest numpy pandas
diff --git a/test_cases/diode/test_diode.py b/test_cases/diode/test_diode.py
index 91033a23c..c9fbbc5a4 100644
--- a/test_cases/diode/test_diode.py
+++ b/test_cases/diode/test_diode.py
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@ def create_shared_object():
 
 
 # specify location of Ngspice executable to be tested
-ngspice_path = "../../../debug/src/ngspice"
+ngspice_path = os.path.join(directory, "../../debug/src/ngspice")
+ngspice_path = os.path.abspath(ngspice_path)
 
 
 def test_ngspice():
@@ -62,7 +63,7 @@ def test_ngspice():
     dir_built_in = os.path.join(directory, "test_built_in")
     # remove old results:
     for directory_i in [dir_osdi, dir_built_in]:
-        shutil.rmtree(directory_i)
+        shutil.rmtree(directory_i, ignore_errors=True)
 
     for directory_i in [dir_osdi, dir_built_in]:
         os.makedirs(directory_i, exist_ok=True)
@@ -88,24 +89,24 @@ def test_ngspice():
         )
 
     # read DC simulation results
-    dc_data_osdi = pd.read_csv(os.path.join(dir_osdi, "dc_sim.ngspice"), sep="\s+")
+    dc_data_osdi = pd.read_csv(os.path.join(dir_osdi, "dc_sim.ngspice"), sep="\\s+")
     dc_data_built_in = pd.read_csv(
-        os.path.join(dir_built_in, "dc_sim.ngspice"), sep="\s+"
+        os.path.join(dir_built_in, "dc_sim.ngspice"), sep="\\s+"
     )
 
     id_osdi = dc_data_osdi["i(vsense)"].to_numpy()
     id_built_in = dc_data_built_in["i(vsense)"].to_numpy()
 
     # read AC simulation results
-    ac_data_osdi = pd.read_csv(os.path.join(dir_osdi, "ac_sim.ngspice"), sep="\s+")
+    ac_data_osdi = pd.read_csv(os.path.join(dir_osdi, "ac_sim.ngspice"), sep="\\s+")
     ac_data_built_in = pd.read_csv(
-        os.path.join(dir_built_in, "ac_sim.ngspice"), sep="\s+"
+        os.path.join(dir_built_in, "ac_sim.ngspice"), sep="\\s+"
     )
 
     # read TR simulation results
-    tr_data_osdi = pd.read_csv(os.path.join(dir_osdi, "tr_sim.ngspice"), sep="\s+")
+    tr_data_osdi = pd.read_csv(os.path.join(dir_osdi, "tr_sim.ngspice"), sep="\\s+")
     tr_data_built_in = pd.read_csv(
-        os.path.join(dir_built_in, "tr_sim.ngspice"), sep="\s+"
+        os.path.join(dir_built_in, "tr_sim.ngspice"), sep="\\s+"
     )
 
     # test simulation results
diff --git a/test_docker.sh b/test_docker.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..b9893c1cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test_docker.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+IMAGENAME="registry.gitlab.com/dospm/ngspice"
+TAG="latest"
+
+docker build -t $IMAGENAME:$TAG . 
+docker run -it --rm --user "$(id -u)":"$(id -g)" -v "${PWD}":/tmp $IMAGENAME:$TAG /bin/bash
\ No newline at end of file