diff --git a/scripts/federation.sh b/scripts/federation.sh
index 24e925b..a68dc0a 100755
--- a/scripts/federation.sh
+++ b/scripts/federation.sh
@@ -8,14 +8,29 @@ set -e
 #
 # Then run this script and open http://ibis-alpha:8070/, http://ibis-beta:8080/ in your browser.
 
+function cleanup {
+    echo "stop postgres"
+    ./scripts/stop_dev_db.sh $ALPHA_DB_PATH
+    ./scripts/stop_dev_db.sh $BETA_DB_PATH
+}
+trap cleanup EXIT
+
 DB_FOLDER="$(pwd)/target/federation_db"
 mkdir -p "$DB_FOLDER/"
 ALPHA_DB_PATH="$DB_FOLDER/alpha"
 BETA_DB_PATH="$DB_FOLDER/beta"
 
-# TODO: shouldnt wipe/recreate data if folder already exists
-./tests/scripts/start_dev_db.sh $ALPHA_DB_PATH
-./tests/scripts/start_dev_db.sh $BETA_DB_PATH
+# create db folders if they dont exist
+if [ ! -d $ALPHA_DB_PATH ]; then
+    ./scripts/start_dev_db.sh $ALPHA_DB_PATH
+else
+  pg_ctl start --options="-c listen_addresses= -c unix_socket_directories=$ALPHA_DB_PATH" -D "$ALPHA_DB_PATH/dev_pgdata"
+fi
+if [ ! -d $BETA_DB_PATH ]; then
+    ./scripts/start_dev_db.sh $BETA_DB_PATH
+else
+  pg_ctl start --options="-c listen_addresses= -c unix_socket_directories=$BETA_DB_PATH" -D "$BETA_DB_PATH/dev_pgdata"
+fi
 
 ALPHA_DB_URL="postgresql://ibis:password@/ibis?host=$ALPHA_DB_PATH"
 BETA_DB_URL="postgresql://ibis:password@/ibis?host=$BETA_DB_PATH"
@@ -25,12 +40,11 @@ killall ibis || true
 
 CARGO_TARGET_DIR=target/frontend trunk build
 
-# launch a couple of local instances to test federation
-# sometimes ctrl+c doesnt work properly, so you have to kill trunk, cargo-watch and ibis manually
-(trap 'kill 0' SIGINT;
-  sh -c "IBIS__BIND=127.0.0.1:8070 IBIS__FEDERATION__DOMAIN=ibis-alpha:8070 IBIS__DATABASE_URL=$ALPHA_DB_URL cargo run" &
-  sh -c "IBIS__BIND=127.0.0.1:8080 IBIS__FEDERATION__DOMAIN=ibis-beta:8080 IBIS__DATABASE_URL=$BETA_DB_URL cargo run" &
-)
+# launch a couple of local instances to test federation, then wait for processes to finish
+IBIS__BIND=127.0.0.1:8070 IBIS__FEDERATION__DOMAIN=ibis-alpha:8070 IBIS__DATABASE_URL=$ALPHA_DB_URL cargo run &
+PID_ALPHA=($!)
+IBIS__BIND=127.0.0.1:8080 IBIS__FEDERATION__DOMAIN=ibis-beta:8080 IBIS__DATABASE_URL=$BETA_DB_URL cargo run &
+PID_BETA=($!)
 
-./tests/scripts/stop_dev_db.sh $ALPHA_DB_PATH
-./tests/scripts/stop_dev_db.sh $BETA_DB_PATH
\ No newline at end of file
+wait $PID_ALPHA
+wait $PID_BETA
diff --git a/tests/scripts/start_dev_db.sh b/scripts/start_dev_db.sh
similarity index 100%
rename from tests/scripts/start_dev_db.sh
rename to scripts/start_dev_db.sh
diff --git a/tests/scripts/stop_dev_db.sh b/scripts/stop_dev_db.sh
similarity index 91%
rename from tests/scripts/stop_dev_db.sh
rename to scripts/stop_dev_db.sh
index c26fd54..5ac9aab 100755
--- a/tests/scripts/stop_dev_db.sh
+++ b/scripts/stop_dev_db.sh
@@ -6,4 +6,3 @@ export PGDATA="$1/dev_pgdata"
 echo $PGHOST
 
 pg_ctl stop
-rm -rf $1
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/common.rs b/tests/common.rs
index 8cf60ea..2c546b6 100644
--- a/tests/common.rs
+++ b/tests/common.rs
@@ -95,10 +95,10 @@ impl IbisInstance {
         // remove old db
         remove_dir_all(&db_path).unwrap();
         spawn(move || {
-            Command::new("./tests/scripts/start_dev_db.sh")
+            Command::new("./scripts/start_dev_db.sh")
                 .arg(&db_path)
-                .stdout(Stdio::inherit())
-                .stderr(Stdio::inherit())
+                .stdout(Stdio::null())
+                .stderr(Stdio::null())
                 .output()
                 .unwrap();
         })
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ impl IbisInstance {
 
     fn stop_internal(db_path: String) -> std::thread::JoinHandle<()> {
         spawn(move || {
-            Command::new("./tests/scripts/stop_dev_db.sh")
+            Command::new("./scripts/stop_dev_db.sh")
                 .arg(db_path)
                 .stdout(Stdio::null())
                 .stderr(Stdio::null())