diff --git a/activator/install.sh b/activator/install.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..5e7425b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/activator/install.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,143 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# ── Config ─────────────────────────────────────────────
+CONTAINER_ENGINE="${CONTAINER_ENGINE:-}"
+IMAGE_NAME="${IMAGE_NAME:-license-activator}"
+CONTAINER_NAME="${CONTAINER_NAME:-license-activator}"
+HOST_PORT="${HOST_PORT:-8090}"
+
+# ── Detect Docker / Podman ─────────────────────────────
+if [ -z "$CONTAINER_ENGINE" ]; then
+    if command -v docker &>/dev/null; then
+        CONTAINER_ENGINE=docker
+    elif command -v podman &>/dev/null; then
+        CONTAINER_ENGINE=podman
+    else
+        echo "Error: neither docker nor podman found. Install one first." >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+fi
+echo "Using container engine: $CONTAINER_ENGINE"
+
+# ── Check daemon is running ────────────────────────────
+if ! $CONTAINER_ENGINE info >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo "Error: $CONTAINER_ENGINE daemon is not running or you lack permissions." >&2
+    echo "       Start the daemon or add your user to the docker/podman group." >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# ── Stop & remove existing container ───────────────────
+if $CONTAINER_ENGINE ps -a --format '{{.Names}}' | grep -Eq "^${CONTAINER_NAME}$"; then
+    echo ""
+    echo "Container '$CONTAINER_NAME' already exists."
+    echo "  → Stopping..."
+    $CONTAINER_ENGINE stop "$CONTAINER_NAME" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+    echo "  → Removing..."
+    $CONTAINER_ENGINE rm   "$CONTAINER_NAME" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+    echo "  → Old container cleaned up."
+    echo ""
+else
+    echo "No existing container '$CONTAINER_NAME' found."
+fi
+
+# ── Check if host port is already in use (by something else) ──
+check_port_in_use() {
+    local port="$1"
+    if command -v ss &>/dev/null; then
+        ss -tln | awk '{print $4}' | grep -Eq ":${port}$"
+    elif command -v netstat &>/dev/null; then
+        netstat -tln 2>/dev/null | awk '{print $4}' | grep -Eq ":${port}$"
+    else
+        return 1
+    fi
+}
+
+if check_port_in_use "$HOST_PORT"; then
+    echo "Error: port $HOST_PORT is already listening on this host (another process)." >&2
+    echo "       Use a different port: HOST_PORT=8080 ./install.sh"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# ── Locate main.go ─────────────────────────────────────
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+MAIN_GO="$SCRIPT_DIR/main.go"
+
+if [ ! -f "$MAIN_GO" ]; then
+    echo "Error: main.go not found in $SCRIPT_DIR" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# ── Prepare build context ──────────────────────────────
+BUILD_DIR=$(mktemp -d)
+trap 'rm -rf "$BUILD_DIR"' EXIT
+cp "$MAIN_GO" "$BUILD_DIR/"
+
+cat > "$BUILD_DIR/Dockerfile" <<'EOF'
+FROM golang:1.23-alpine AS builder
+WORKDIR /build
+COPY main.go .
+RUN go mod init license-activator && go mod tidy
+RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -ldflags="-s -w" -o activator main.go
+
+FROM alpine:latest
+RUN apk add --no-cache ca-certificates
+WORKDIR /app
+COPY --from=builder /build/activator .
+EXPOSE 8090
+ENTRYPOINT ["./activator"]
+EOF
+
+# ── Build ──────────────────────────────────────────────
+echo "Building image $IMAGE_NAME:latest..."
+$CONTAINER_ENGINE build -t "$IMAGE_NAME:latest" "$BUILD_DIR"
+echo ""
+
+# ── Run ────────────────────────────────────────────────
+echo "Starting container '$CONTAINER_NAME' on port $HOST_PORT..."
+$CONTAINER_ENGINE run -d \
+    --name "$CONTAINER_NAME" \
+    -p "${HOST_PORT}:8090" \
+    --restart unless-stopped \
+    "$IMAGE_NAME:latest"
+
+# ── Wait a moment for container to start ───────────────
+sleep 1
+
+# ── Show container status ──────────────────────────────
+echo ""
+echo "═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════"
+echo "  CONTAINER STATUS"
+echo "═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════"
+
+$CONTAINER_ENGINE ps --filter "name=^${CONTAINER_NAME}$" --format \
+"  Name:        {{.Names}}
+  Image:       {{.Image}}
+  Status:      {{.Status}}
+  State:       {{.State}}
+  Ports:       {{.Ports}}
+  Created:     {{.CreatedAt}}
+  Command:     {{.Command}}"
+
+echo ""
+echo "═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════"
+echo "  HEALTH CHECK"
+echo "═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════"
+
+if curl -sf http://localhost:${HOST_PORT}/api/health >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo "  ✅ Health endpoint responding on http://localhost:${HOST_PORT}/api/health"
+    curl -s http://localhost:${HOST_PORT}/api/health | sed 's/^/     /'
+else
+    echo "  ⚠️  Health endpoint not responding yet (may need a few seconds)"
+fi
+
+echo ""
+echo "═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════"
+echo "  QUICK COMMANDS"
+echo "═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════"
+echo "  Open app:       http://localhost:${HOST_PORT}"
+echo "  View logs:      $CONTAINER_ENGINE logs -f $CONTAINER_NAME"
+echo "  Stop:           $CONTAINER_ENGINE stop $CONTAINER_NAME"
+echo "  Remove:         $CONTAINER_ENGINE rm -f $CONTAINER_NAME"
+echo "  Shell inside:   $CONTAINER_ENGINE exec -it $CONTAINER_NAME sh"
+echo ""
\ No newline at end of file