diff --git a/.env-devel b/.env-devel
index 6cea5247c93..0b606a2426d 100644
--- a/.env-devel
+++ b/.env-devel
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ CLUSTERS_KEEPER_EC2_INSTANCES_PREFIX=""
 CLUSTERS_KEEPER_LOGLEVEL=INFO
 CLUSTERS_KEEPER_MAX_MISSED_HEARTBEATS_BEFORE_CLUSTER_TERMINATION=5
 CLUSTERS_KEEPER_PRIMARY_EC2_INSTANCES=null
-CLUSTERS_KEEPER_TASK_INTERVAL=30
+CLUSTERS_KEEPER_TASK_INTERVAL=00:00:30
 CLUSTERS_KEEPER_WORKERS_EC2_INSTANCES=null
 CLUSTERS_KEEPER_TRACING={}
 
diff --git a/services/clusters-keeper/src/simcore_service_clusters_keeper/core/settings.py b/services/clusters-keeper/src/simcore_service_clusters_keeper/core/settings.py
index 6595827ea6b..3e85015ee4a 100644
--- a/services/clusters-keeper/src/simcore_service_clusters_keeper/core/settings.py
+++ b/services/clusters-keeper/src/simcore_service_clusters_keeper/core/settings.py
@@ -381,9 +381,7 @@ def LOG_LEVEL(self) -> LogLevel:  # noqa: N802
     def _valid_log_level(cls, value: str) -> str:
         return cls.validate_log_level(value)
 
-    @field_validator(
-        "CLUSTERS_KEEPER_TASK_INTERVAL", "SERVICE_TRACKING_HEARTBEAT", mode="before"
-    )
+    @field_validator("SERVICE_TRACKING_HEARTBEAT", mode="before")
     @classmethod
     def _validate_interval(
         cls, value: str | datetime.timedelta
diff --git a/services/clusters-keeper/tests/unit/test_modules_clusters_management_task.py b/services/clusters-keeper/tests/unit/test_modules_clusters_management_task.py
index d22bdce1f76..66bbf12c42e 100644
--- a/services/clusters-keeper/tests/unit/test_modules_clusters_management_task.py
+++ b/services/clusters-keeper/tests/unit/test_modules_clusters_management_task.py
@@ -13,8 +13,6 @@
 from pytest_simcore.helpers.monkeypatch_envs import EnvVarsDict, setenvs_from_dict
 from simcore_service_clusters_keeper.core.settings import ApplicationSettings
 
-_FAST_POLL_INTERVAL = 1
-
 
 @pytest.fixture
 def app_environment(
@@ -22,7 +20,7 @@ def app_environment(
     monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch,
 ) -> EnvVarsDict:
     return app_environment | setenvs_from_dict(
-        monkeypatch, {"CLUSTERS_KEEPER_TASK_INTERVAL": f"{_FAST_POLL_INTERVAL}"}
+        monkeypatch, {"CLUSTERS_KEEPER_TASK_INTERVAL": "00:00:01"}
     )
 
 
@@ -43,10 +41,7 @@ async def test_clusters_management_task_created_and_deleted(
     initialized_app: FastAPI,
     app_settings: ApplicationSettings,
 ):
-    assert (
-        app_settings.CLUSTERS_KEEPER_TASK_INTERVAL.total_seconds()
-        == _FAST_POLL_INTERVAL
-    )
+    assert app_settings.CLUSTERS_KEEPER_TASK_INTERVAL.total_seconds() == 1
     assert hasattr(initialized_app.state, "clusters_cleaning_task")
-    await asyncio.sleep(5 * _FAST_POLL_INTERVAL)
+    await asyncio.sleep(5)
     mock_background_task.assert_called()
diff --git a/services/director-v2/tests/unit/with_dbs/test_modules_comp_scheduler_dask_scheduler.py b/services/director-v2/tests/unit/with_dbs/test_modules_comp_scheduler_dask_scheduler.py
index 8fbc2d9006b..18a992e3db7 100644
--- a/services/director-v2/tests/unit/with_dbs/test_modules_comp_scheduler_dask_scheduler.py
+++ b/services/director-v2/tests/unit/with_dbs/test_modules_comp_scheduler_dask_scheduler.py
@@ -1175,6 +1175,9 @@ class RebootState:
     expected_run_state: RunningState
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skip(
+    reason="awaiting refactor in https://github.com/ITISFoundation/osparc-simcore/pull/6736"
+)
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "reboot_state",
     [
diff --git a/services/director/src/simcore_service_director/producer.py b/services/director/src/simcore_service_director/producer.py
index 79e695ead57..907e7a8e04e 100644
--- a/services/director/src/simcore_service_director/producer.py
+++ b/services/director/src/simcore_service_director/producer.py
@@ -178,7 +178,8 @@ async def _create_docker_service_params(
     service_name = registry_proxy.get_service_last_names(service_key) + "_" + node_uuid
     _logger.debug("Converting labels to docker runtime parameters")
     service_default_envs = {
-        "POSTGRES_ENDPOINT": app_settings.DIRECTOR_POSTGRES.dsn,
+        # old services expect POSTGRES_ENDPOINT as hostname:port
+        "POSTGRES_ENDPOINT": f"{app_settings.DIRECTOR_POSTGRES.POSTGRES_HOST}:{app_settings.DIRECTOR_POSTGRES.POSTGRES_PORT}",
         "POSTGRES_USER": app_settings.DIRECTOR_POSTGRES.POSTGRES_USER,
         "POSTGRES_PASSWORD": app_settings.DIRECTOR_POSTGRES.POSTGRES_PASSWORD.get_secret_value(),
         "POSTGRES_DB": app_settings.DIRECTOR_POSTGRES.POSTGRES_DB,