diff --git a/deployment/bare_metal/start.sh b/deployment/bare_metal/start.sh
index ae98c7e87..8ec4cfc48 100755
--- a/deployment/bare_metal/start.sh
+++ b/deployment/bare_metal/start.sh
@@ -1,18 +1,25 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-echo "Before getopt"
-for i
-do
-  echo $i
-done
-args=`getopt b:p: $*`
-set -- $args
-echo "After getopt"
-for i
-do
-  echo "-->$i"
+while [ "$#" -gt 0 ]; do
+  case "$1" in
+    -a) ARG_API="${2:-1_0}"; shift 2;;
+    -b) ARG_BRANCH="${2:-master}"; shift 2;;
+
+    --api-version=*) ARG_API="${1#*=}"; shift 1;;
+    --branch=*) ARG_BRANCH="${1#*=}"; shift 1;;
+    --api-version|--branch) echo "$1 requires an argument" >&2; exit 1;;
+    
+    -*) echo "unknown option: $1" >&2; exit 1;;
+    *) handle_argument "$1"; shift 1;;
+  esac
 done
 
+echo "=================================================="
+echo "Arguments:"
+echo " -api-version = $ARG_API"
+echo " -branch      = $ARG_BRANCH"
+echo "=================================================="
+
 # Find current directory & configure paths
 set -o allexport
 SCRIPT_PATH=$(realpath $0)
@@ -76,7 +83,8 @@ echo 'Stopping all Gradido services' >> $UPDATE_HTML
 pm2 stop all
 
 # git
-BRANCH=${1:-master}
+# BRANCH=${1:-master}
+BRANCH=$ARG_BRANCH
 echo "Starting with git pull - branch:$BRANCH" >> $UPDATE_HTML
 cd $PROJECT_ROOT
 # TODO: this overfetches alot, but ensures we can use start.sh with tags
@@ -177,6 +185,13 @@ yarn build
 # TODO maybe handle this differently?
 export NODE_ENV=production
 pm2 delete gradido-federation
+# set FEDERATION_PORT from ARG_API
+port=${ARG_API//_/}
+FEDERATION_PORT=$(($FEDERATION_PORT + $port))
+export FEDERATION_PORT
+echo "===================================================="
+echo " start federation listening on port=$FEDERATION_PORT
+echo "===================================================="
 pm2 start --name gradido-federation "yarn --cwd $PROJECT_ROOT/federation start" -l $GRADIDO_LOG_PATH/pm2.federation.$TODAY.log --log-date-format 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss.SSS'
 pm2 save
 
diff --git a/federation/src/config/index.ts b/federation/src/config/index.ts
index c8a841315..82011a6bc 100644
--- a/federation/src/config/index.ts
+++ b/federation/src/config/index.ts
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ if (
 const federation = {
   // FEDERATION_DHT_TOPIC: process.env.FEDERATION_DHT_TOPIC || null,
   // FEDERATION_DHT_SEED: process.env.FEDERATION_DHT_SEED || null,
-  FEDERATION_PORT: process.env.FEDERATION_PORT || 5010,
+  FEDERATION_PORT: process.env.FEDERATION_PORT || 5000,
   FEDERATION_API: process.env.FEDERATION_API || '1_0',
   FEDERATION_COMMUNITY_URL: process.env.FEDERATION_COMMUNITY_URL || null,
 }