diff --git a/.circleci/continue_config.yml b/.circleci/continue_config.yml
index 4462f23..4754b9f 100644
--- a/.circleci/continue_config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/continue_config.yml
@@ -10,16 +10,16 @@ executors:
   j17:
     docker:
       - image: 'cimg/openjdk:17.0'
-  j20:
+  j21:
     docker:
-      - image: 'cimg/openjdk:20.0'
+      - image: 'cimg/openjdk:21.0'
 
 jobs:
   test-standalone:
     parameters:
       jdk:
         type: 'string'
-        default: 'j20'
+        default: 'j21'
       arango-version:
         type: 'string'
         default: 'latest'
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ jobs:
     parameters:
       jdk:
         type: 'string'
-        default: 'j20'
+        default: 'j21'
       topology:
         type: 'string'
         default: 'cluster'
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ jobs:
       STARTER_MODE: <<parameters.topology>>
       DOCKER_IMAGE: docker.io/arangodb/arangodb:<<parameters.arango-version>>
       ARANGO_ENDPOINTS: <<parameters.arango-endpoints>>
-      TOXIPROXY_VERSION: v2.5.0
+      TOXIPROXY_VERSION: v2.7.0
     executor: <<parameters.jdk>>
     steps:
       - checkout
diff --git a/demo/docker-compose.yml b/demo/docker-compose.yml
index 8cf4bb8..f46a091 100644
--- a/demo/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/demo/docker-compose.yml
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ services:
     command: /opt/bitnami/kafka/bin/connect-distributed.sh /tmp/connect-distributed-2.properties
 
   redpanda-console:
-    image: docker.io/redpandadata/console:v2.2.4
+    image: docker.io/redpandadata/console:v2.3.8
     ports:
       - '8080:8080'
     environment:
diff --git a/docker/start_kafka_connect.sh b/docker/start_kafka_connect.sh
index 77ceb4a..8352352 100755
--- a/docker/start_kafka_connect.sh
+++ b/docker/start_kafka_connect.sh
@@ -10,9 +10,12 @@ docker pull $DOCKER_IMAGE
 KAFKA_BOOTSTRAP_SERVERS=kafka-1:9092,kafka-2:9092,kafka-3:9092
 LOCATION=$(pwd)/$(dirname "$0")
 
+mkdir -p "$LOCATION"/../target/jars
+cp "$LOCATION"/../target/*.jar "$LOCATION"/../target/jars
+
 # data volume 1
 docker create -v /tmp --name kafka-connect-data-1 alpine:3 /bin/true
-docker cp "$LOCATION"/../target kafka-connect-data-1:/tmp/kafka-connect-arangodb
+docker cp "$LOCATION/../target/jars" kafka-connect-data-1:/tmp/kafka-connect-arangodb
 docker cp "$LOCATION"/../src/test/resources/test.truststore kafka-connect-data-1:/tmp
 docker cp "$LOCATION"/connect/connect-distributed-1.properties kafka-connect-data-1:/tmp
 
@@ -27,7 +30,7 @@ docker run -d \
 
 # data volume 2
 docker create -v /tmp --name kafka-connect-data-2 alpine:3 /bin/true
-docker cp "$LOCATION"/../target kafka-connect-data-2:/tmp/kafka-connect-arangodb
+docker cp "$LOCATION/../target/jars" kafka-connect-data-2:/tmp/kafka-connect-arangodb
 docker cp "$LOCATION"/../src/test/resources/test.truststore kafka-connect-data-2:/tmp
 docker cp "$LOCATION"/connect/connect-distributed-2.properties kafka-connect-data-2:/tmp
 
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 52da06b..524d3f0 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@
         <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
         <kafka.version>3.6.0</kafka.version>
         <confluent.version>7.5.2</confluent.version>
-        <arangodb.version>7.3.0</arangodb.version>
+        <arangodb.version>7.4.0</arangodb.version>
         <jackson.version>2.13.5</jackson.version>
         <slf4j.version>1.7.36</slf4j.version>
     </properties>
@@ -93,30 +93,12 @@
     <dependencies>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.arangodb</groupId>
-            <artifactId>arangodb-java-driver</artifactId>
+            <artifactId>arangodb-java-driver-shaded</artifactId>
             <version>${arangodb.version}</version>
-            <exclusions>
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>jackson-core</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>jackson-annotations</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>jackson-databind</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-            </exclusions>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.arangodb</groupId>
-            <artifactId>vst-protocol</artifactId>
+            <artifactId>jackson-serde-json</artifactId>
             <version>${arangodb.version}</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
@@ -427,9 +409,9 @@
                             <goal>single</goal>
                         </goals>
                         <configuration>
-                            <descriptorRefs>
-                                <descriptorRef>jar-with-dependencies</descriptorRef>
-                            </descriptorRefs>
+                            <descriptors>
+                                <descriptor>src/main/assembly/jar-with-dependencies.xml</descriptor>
+                            </descriptors>
                             <appendAssemblyId>false</appendAssemblyId>
                         </configuration>
                     </execution>
diff --git a/src/connect-distributed/java/spi/ClusterKafkaConnectDeployment.java b/src/connect-distributed/java/spi/ClusterKafkaConnectDeployment.java
index 3e32998..f5680b4 100644
--- a/src/connect-distributed/java/spi/ClusterKafkaConnectDeployment.java
+++ b/src/connect-distributed/java/spi/ClusterKafkaConnectDeployment.java
@@ -36,12 +36,12 @@ public class ClusterKafkaConnectDeployment extends KafkaConnectDeployment {
     public ClusterKafkaConnectDeployment() {
         kafkaBootstrapServers = KafkaDeployment.getKafkaBootstrapServers();
         LOG.info("Using kafka.bootstrap.servers: {}", kafkaBootstrapServers);
-        Objects.requireNonNull(kafkaBootstrapServers);
+        Objects.requireNonNull(kafkaBootstrapServers, "Required system property: kafka.bootstrap.servers");
         assert !kafkaBootstrapServers.isEmpty();
 
         kafkaConnectHost = getKafkaConnectHost();
         LOG.info("Using kafka.connect.host: {}", kafkaConnectHost);
-        Objects.requireNonNull(kafkaConnectHost);
+        Objects.requireNonNull(kafkaConnectHost, "Required system property: kafka.connect.host");
         assert !kafkaConnectHost.isEmpty();
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/assembly/jar-with-dependencies.xml b/src/main/assembly/jar-with-dependencies.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9bfdf63
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/assembly/jar-with-dependencies.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+<assembly xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/ASSEMBLY/2.2.0"
+          xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+          xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/ASSEMBLY/2.2.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/assembly-2.2.0.xsd">
+    <id>merge-services</id>
+    <formats>
+        <format>jar</format>
+    </formats>
+    <includeBaseDirectory>false</includeBaseDirectory>
+    <containerDescriptorHandlers>
+        <containerDescriptorHandler>
+            <handlerName>metaInf-services</handlerName>
+        </containerDescriptorHandler>
+    </containerDescriptorHandlers>
+    <dependencySets>
+        <dependencySet>
+            <outputDirectory>/</outputDirectory>
+            <useProjectArtifact>true</useProjectArtifact>
+            <unpack>true</unpack>
+            <scope>runtime</scope>
+        </dependencySet>
+    </dependencySets>
+</assembly>
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/arangodb/kafka/target/protocol/ProtocolTargets.java b/src/test/java/com/arangodb/kafka/target/protocol/ProtocolTargets.java
index 0f8ad75..a0becb6 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/arangodb/kafka/target/protocol/ProtocolTargets.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/arangodb/kafka/target/protocol/ProtocolTargets.java
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 import com.arangodb.kafka.target.TestTarget;
 
 public enum ProtocolTargets implements TargetHolder {
-//    VstTarget(VstTarget.class),
+    VstTarget(VstTarget.class),
     Http1JsonTarget(Http1JsonTarget.class),
     Http1VpackTarget(Http1VpackTarget.class),
     Http2JsonTarget(Http2JsonTarget.class),
diff --git a/src/test/resources/logback-test.xml b/src/test/resources/logback-test.xml
index 5b52270..58214e5 100644
--- a/src/test/resources/logback-test.xml
+++ b/src/test/resources/logback-test.xml
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 
     <logger name="org.reflections.Reflections" level="ERROR"/>
     <logger name="org.apache.kafka.connect.runtime.isolation.DelegatingClassLoader" level="WARN"/>
-    <logger name="com.arangodb.kafka" level="TRACE"/>
+<!--    <logger name="com.arangodb.kafka" level="TRACE"/>-->
+<!--    <logger name="com.arangodb.internal.net.Communication" level="DEBUG" />-->
 
 </configuration>