diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 852614731e0a2255879218df1a5c2a4510545877..27507a5a42613680a5b049fe6c4e21e7414cbcd0 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 
 variables:
   CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE: $CI_REGISTRY/caosdb/src/caosdb-cpplib/testenv:latest
+  GIT_SUBMODULE_STRATEGY: normal
 
 image: $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE
 
diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index 8efe9a0cef974f02da9e94cd51f4f95ac9920786..80d822f671b09d8a0eaf0e4bbb4104ae6c587905 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 [submodule "proto"]
 	path = proto
-	url = git@gitlab.indiscale.com:caosdb/src/caosdb-proto.git
+	url = ../caosdb-proto.git
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index a9ade7845d9cc1da0564d5a5eb98f996469db216..58816b641b28fd93cb016599bd39d311af628521 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ project(libcaosdb
     DESCRIPTION "C++ client libraries for CaosDB"
     LANGUAGES CXX)
 
+# override options with variables (globally)
+# needed for turning off unused code from grpc
+cmake_policy(SET CMP0077 NEW) 
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
 
@@ -38,7 +41,7 @@ if(NOT iwyu)
     message(STATUS "include-what-you-use: Not found")
 else()
     message(STATUS "include-what-you-use: ${iwyu}")
-    set(CMAKE_CXX_INCLUDE_WHAT_YOU_USE ${iwyu})
+    set(_CMAKE_CXX_INCLUDE_WHAT_YOU_USE ${iwyu})
 endif()
 
 find_program(clang_tidy NAMES clang-tidy clang-tidy-11)
@@ -46,7 +49,7 @@ if(NOT clang_tidy)
     message(STATUS "clang-tidy: Not found")
 else()
     message(STATUS "clang-tidy: ${clang_tidy}")
-    set(CMAKE_CXX_CLANG_TIDY "${clang_tidy}" "--header-filter=."
+    set(_CMAKE_CXX_CLANG_TIDY "${clang_tidy}" "--header-filter=connection.h"
         "--checks=*,-fuchsia-*,-llvm-include-order,-llvmlibc-*"
         "--warnings-as-errors=*")
 endif()
@@ -56,7 +59,15 @@ add_subdirectory(include)
 add_subdirectory(doc)
 
 add_library(caosdb STATIC ${libcaosdb_INCL} ${libcaosdb_SRC})
+set_target_properties(caosdb PROPERTIES
+    CXX_CLANG_TIDY "${_CMAKE_CXX_CLANG_TIDY}"
+    CXX_INCLUDE_WHAT_YOU_USE "${_CMAKE_CXX_CLANG_TIDY}"
+    )
 add_executable(caosdbcli src/caosdbcli.cpp)
+set_target_properties(caosdbcli PROPERTIES
+    CXX_CLANG_TIDY "${_CMAKE_CXX_CLANG_TIDY}"
+    CXX_INCLUDE_WHAT_YOU_USE "${_CMAKE_CXX_CLANG_TIDY}"
+    )
 target_link_libraries(caosdbcli caosdb)
 
 if("${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}" MATCHES "Debug")
@@ -65,7 +76,9 @@ if("${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}" MATCHES "Debug")
     target_link_libraries(caosdb gcov)
     enable_testing()
     add_subdirectory(test)
-    append_coverage_compiler_flags()
+    set_target_properties(caosdb PROPERTIES
+        COMPILE_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} ${COVERAGE_COMPILER_FLAGS}")
+
 endif()
 
 
@@ -99,33 +112,33 @@ target_include_directories(caosdb PUBLIC
    )
 
 
-# Install libcaosdb in CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX (defaults to /usr/local on linux).
-# To change the install location, run
-#   cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=<desired-install-path> ..
-
-# install(...) specifies installation rules for the project. It can specify
-# location of installed files on the system, user permissions, build
-# configurations, etc. Here, we are only copying files.
-# install(TARGETS ...) specifies rules for installing targets.
-# Here, we are taking a target or list of targets (libcosdb) and telling
-# CMake the following:
-#   - put shared libraries associated with libcaosdb in ${libcaosdb_LIB_DEST}
-#   - put static libraries associated with libcaosdb in ${libcaosdb_LIB_DEST}
-#   - put include files associated with libcaosdb in ${libcaosdb_INCLUDE_DEST}
-# We also need to specify the export that is associated with libcaosdb; an
-# export is just a list of targets to be installed. So we are associating
-# libcaosdb with libcaosdbTargets.
-install(
-    # targets to install
-    TARGETS caosdb
-    # name of the CMake "export group" containing the targets we want to install
-    EXPORT libcaosdbTargets
-    # Dynamic, static library and include destination locations after running
-    # "make install"
-    LIBRARY DESTINATION ${libcaosdb_LIB_DEST}
-    ARCHIVE DESTINATION ${libcaosdb_LIB_DEST}
-    INCLUDES DESTINATION ${libcaosdb_INCLUDE_DEST}
-    )
+## Install libcaosdb in CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX (defaults to /usr/local on linux).
+## To change the install location, run
+##   cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=<desired-install-path> ..
+
+## install(...) specifies installation rules for the project. It can specify
+## location of installed files on the system, user permissions, build
+## configurations, etc. Here, we are only copying files.
+## install(TARGETS ...) specifies rules for installing targets.
+## Here, we are taking a target or list of targets (libcosdb) and telling
+## CMake the following:
+##   - put shared libraries associated with libcaosdb in ${libcaosdb_LIB_DEST}
+##   - put static libraries associated with libcaosdb in ${libcaosdb_LIB_DEST}
+##   - put include files associated with libcaosdb in ${libcaosdb_INCLUDE_DEST}
+## We also need to specify the export that is associated with libcaosdb; an
+## export is just a list of targets to be installed. So we are associating
+## libcaosdb with libcaosdbTargets.
+#install(
+    ## targets to install
+    #TARGETS caosdb
+    ## name of the CMake "export group" containing the targets we want to install
+    #EXPORT libcaosdbTargets
+    ## Dynamic, static library and include destination locations after running
+    ## "make install"
+    #LIBRARY DESTINATION ${libcaosdb_LIB_DEST}
+    #ARCHIVE DESTINATION ${libcaosdb_LIB_DEST}
+    #INCLUDES DESTINATION ${libcaosdb_INCLUDE_DEST}
+    #)
 
 
 # We now need to install the export libcaosdbTargets that we defined above.
@@ -138,19 +151,71 @@ install(
 # install(EXPORT ...) will install the information about an export. Here, we
 # save it to a file {$libcaosdb_LIB_DEST}/libcaosdbTargets.cmake and prepend
 # everything inside libcaosdbTargets  with the namespace libcaosdb::.
-install(
-    # The export we want to save (matches name defined above containing the
-    # install targets)
-    EXPORT libcaosdbTargets
-    # CMake file in which to store the export's information
-    FILE  libcaosdbTargets.cmake
-    # Namespace prepends all targets in the export (when we import later, we
-    # will use caosdb::caosdb)
-    NAMESPACE caosdb::
-    # where to place the resulting file (here, we're putting it with the library)
-    DESTINATION ${libcaosdb_LIB_DEST}
-    )
+#install(
+    ## The export we want to save (matches name defined above containing the
+    ## install targets)
+    #EXPORT libcaosdbTargets
+    ## CMake file in which to store the export's information
+    #FILE  libcaosdbTargets.cmake
+    ## Namespace prepends all targets in the export (when we import later, we
+    ## will use caosdb::caosdb)
+    #NAMESPACE caosdb::
+    ## where to place the resulting file (here, we're putting it with the library)
+    #DESTINATION ${libcaosdb_LIB_DEST}
+    #)
+
+## install(FILES ...) simply puts files in a certain place with certain
+## properties. We're just copying them to the desired place here.
+#install(FILES ${libcaosdb_INC} DESTINATION ${libcaosdb_INCLUDE_DEST})
 
-# install(FILES ...) simply puts files in a certain place with certain
-# properties. We're just copying them to the desired place here.
-install(FILES ${libcaosdb_INC} DESTINATION ${libcaosdb_INCLUDE_DEST})
+
+
+## CODE GENERATION
+include(FetchGRPC)
+
+#
+# Protobuf/Grpc source files
+#
+set(PROTO_FILES
+    ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/proto/proto/caosdb/info/v1alpha1/main.proto
+)
+
+set(PROTO_PATH ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/proto/proto)
+
+# Generated sources
+set(hw_proto_srcs "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/include/caosdb/info/v1alpha1/main.pb.cc")
+set(hw_proto_hdrs "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/include/caosdb/info/v1alpha1/main.pb.h")
+set(hw_grpc_srcs "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/include/caosdb/info/v1alpha1/main.grpc.pb.cc")
+set(hw_grpc_hdrs "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/include/caosdb/info/v1alpha1/main.grpc.pb.h")
+add_custom_command(
+      OUTPUT "${hw_proto_srcs}" "${hw_proto_hdrs}" "${hw_grpc_srcs}" "${hw_grpc_hdrs}"
+      COMMAND ${_PROTOBUF_PROTOC}
+      ARGS --grpc_out "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/include"
+        --cpp_out "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/include"
+        -I "${PROTO_PATH}"
+        --plugin=protoc-gen-grpc="${_GRPC_CPP_PLUGIN_EXECUTABLE}"
+        "${PROTO_FILES}"
+      DEPENDS "${PROTO_FILES}")
+
+
+
+# Include generated *.pb.h files
+target_include_directories(caosdb PUBLIC "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/include")
+
+# hw_grpc_proto
+add_library(caosdb_info_v1alpha1
+  ${hw_grpc_srcs}
+  ${hw_grpc_hdrs}
+  ${hw_proto_srcs}
+  ${hw_proto_hdrs})
+target_link_libraries(caosdb_info_v1alpha1
+  ${_REFLECTION}
+  ${_GRPC_GRPCPP}
+  ${_PROTOBUF_LIBPROTOBUF})
+target_include_directories(caosdb_info_v1alpha1 PUBLIC "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/include")
+
+target_link_libraries(caosdb
+caosdb_info_v1alpha1
+${_REFLECTION}
+${_GRPC_GRPCPP}
+${_PROTOBUF_LIBPROTOBUF})
diff --git a/cmake/FetchGRPC.cmake b/cmake/FetchGRPC.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ca76b5c9fdf3dcb0c727b74354cada9aa1ca1b1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/FetchGRPC.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,187 @@
+# Copyright 2018 gRPC authors.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#
+# cmake build file for C++ route_guide example.
+# Assumes protobuf and gRPC have been installed using cmake.
+# See cmake_externalproject/CMakeLists.txt for all-in-one cmake build
+# that automatically builds all the dependencies before building route_guide.
+
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.15)
+
+if(MSVC)
+  add_definitions(-D_WIN32_WINNT=0x600)
+endif()
+
+find_package(Threads REQUIRED)
+
+# Another way is to use CMake's FetchContent module to clone gRPC at
+# configure time. This makes gRPC's source code available to your project,
+# similar to a git submodule.
+message(STATUS "Using gRPC via add_subdirectory (FetchContent).")
+include(FetchContent)
+FetchContent_Declare(
+  grpc
+  GIT_REPOSITORY  https://github.com/grpc/grpc.git
+  GIT_TAG         v1.38.0
+  GIT_SHALLOW     1
+)
+
+# disable a lot of stuff
+set(gRPC_BUILD_TESTS OFF)
+set(gRPC_BUILD_CSHARP_EXT OFF)
+set(gRPC_BUILD_GRPC_CSHARP_PLUGIN OFF)
+set(gRPC_BUILD_GRPC_PYTHON_PLUGIN OFF)
+set(gRPC_BUILD_GRPC_RUBY_PLUGIN OFF)
+set(gRPC_BUILD_GRPC_PHP_PLUGIN OFF)
+set(gRPC_BUILD_GRPC_OBJECTIVE_C_PLUGIN OFF)
+set(gRPC_BUILD_GRPC_NODE_PLUGIN OFF)
+set(protobuf_BUILD_TESTS OFF)
+
+FetchContent_MakeAvailable(grpc)
+
+# Since FetchContent uses add_subdirectory under the hood, we can use
+# the grpc targets directly from this build.
+set(_PROTOBUF_LIBPROTOBUF libprotobuf)
+set(_REFLECTION grpc++_reflection)
+set(_PROTOBUF_PROTOC $<TARGET_FILE:protoc>)
+set(_GRPC_GRPCPP grpc++)
+if(CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING)
+find_program(_GRPC_CPP_PLUGIN_EXECUTABLE grpc_cpp_plugin)
+else()
+set(_GRPC_CPP_PLUGIN_EXECUTABLE $<TARGET_FILE:grpc_cpp_plugin>)
+endif()
+
+set_target_properties(
+    zlibstatic
+    libprotobuf
+    libprotoc
+    grpc_plugin_support
+    grpc_cpp_plugin
+    upb
+    address_sorting
+    absl_log_severity
+    absl_raw_logging_internal
+    absl_bad_optional_access
+    absl_spinlock_wait
+    absl_throw_delegate
+    absl_base
+    absl_malloc_internal
+    absl_debugging_internal
+    absl_stacktrace
+    absl_strings_internal
+    absl_int128
+    absl_strings
+    absl_demangle_internal
+    absl_symbolize
+    absl_str_format_internal
+    absl_cord
+    absl_status
+    absl_civil_time
+    absl_time_zone
+    absl_time
+    absl_graphcycles_internal
+    absl_synchronization
+    gpr
+    absl_exponential_biased
+    absl_hashtablez_sampler
+    absl_raw_hash_set
+    absl_wyhash
+    absl_city
+    absl_bad_variant_access
+    absl_hash
+    absl_statusor
+    c-ares
+    re2
+    ssl
+    crypto
+    gen_hpack_tables
+    gen_legal_metadata_characters
+    check_epollexclusive
+    grpcpp_channelz
+    gen_percent_encoding_tables
+    grpc++_error_details
+    grpc_unsecure
+    grpc++_alts
+    grpc++_unsecure
+    absl_strerror
+    absl_periodic_sampler
+    absl_scoped_set_env
+    absl_examine_stack
+    absl_failure_signal_handler
+    absl_leak_check
+    absl_leak_check_disable
+    absl_flags_program_name
+    absl_flags_config
+    absl_flags_commandlineflag_internal
+    absl_flags_commandlineflag
+    absl_flags_private_handle_accessor
+    absl_flags_reflection
+    absl_flags_marshalling
+    absl_flags_internal
+    absl_flags
+    absl_flags_usage_internal
+    absl_flags_usage
+    absl_flags_parse
+    absl_random_seed_gen_exception
+    absl_random_internal_seed_material
+    absl_random_internal_platform
+    absl_random_internal_randen_slow
+    absl_random_internal_randen_hwaes_impl
+    absl_random_internal_randen_hwaes
+    absl_random_internal_randen
+    absl_random_internal_pool_urbg
+    absl_random_distributions
+    absl_random_seed_sequences
+    absl_random_internal_distribution_test_util
+    absl_bad_any_cast_impl
+    acountry
+    adig
+    ahost
+    libprotobuf-lite
+    testing
+    search_test
+    regexp_test
+    possible_match_test
+    mimics_pcre_test
+    parse_test
+    required_prefix_test
+    filtered_re2_test
+    compile_test
+    re2_arg_test
+    charclass_test
+    exhaustive1_test
+    re2_test
+    simplify_test
+    string_generator_test
+    dfa_test
+    exhaustive3_test
+    exhaustive2_test
+    exhaustive_test
+    regexp_benchmark
+    random_test
+    set_test
+    bssl
+    zlib
+    example64
+    minigzip
+    example
+    minigzip64
+    grpc
+    grpc++
+    protoc
+    grpc++_reflection
+    PROPERTIES
+    CXX_CLANG_TIDY ""
+    CXX_INCLUDE_WHAT_YOU_USE ""
+    EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL 1)
diff --git a/include/connection.h b/include/connection.h
index c82087df1b0a24d975555944ad7ba42c950a32b8..0fc90f623cf0895ce6e4aeaf237ff5b2ff861dc2 100644
--- a/include/connection.h
+++ b/include/connection.h
@@ -28,16 +28,48 @@
  * @date 2021-05-18
  * @brief Configuration and setup of the connection.
  */
+#include "caosdb/info/v1alpha1/main.grpc.pb.h"
 #include <string>
+#include <grpc/grpc.h>
+#include <grpcpp/channel.h>
+#include <grpcpp/client_context.h>
+#include <grpcpp/create_channel.h>
+#include <grpcpp/security/credentials.h>
+
 
 namespace caosdb {
+using caosdb::info::v1alpha1::GeneralInfoService;
+using caosdb::info::v1alpha1::VersionInfo;
+
+/**
+ * @brief Configuration of the CaosDB connection.
+ */
+class CaosDBConnectionConfig {
+  std::string host;
+  int port;
+  public:
+    CaosDBConnectionConfig(const std::string &host, int port);
+    friend auto operator << (std::ostream &out, const CaosDBConnectionConfig &config) -> std::ostream &;
+
+    [[nodiscard]]
+    auto getHost() -> std::string;
+
+    [[nodiscard]]
+    auto getPort() const -> int;
+};
 
 /**
- * @brief Configure the connection.
- * @param host Host name or ip address of the CaosDB server.
- * @param port Port of the CaosDB server.
- * @return 0 if everything is ok.
+ * @brief A reusable connection to a CaosDBServer.
  */
-auto configure_connection(const std::string &host, int port) -> int;
+class CaosDBConnection {
+  CaosDBConnectionConfig config;
+  std::unique_ptr<GeneralInfoService::Stub> stub_;
+  public:
+    explicit CaosDBConnection(const CaosDBConnectionConfig &config);
+    friend auto operator << (std::ostream &out, const CaosDBConnection &connection) -> std::ostream &;
+    auto getGeneralInfoService() -> GeneralInfoService::Stub &;
+    [[nodiscard]]
+    auto getVersionInfo() const -> const VersionInfo &;
+};
 } // namespace caosdb
 #endif
diff --git a/src/caosdbcli.cpp b/src/caosdbcli.cpp
index 3a5d725e8a93e179e11b146e4e33c19ada8c16b7..daa744da6655d3671954e6fd1e8b761034637e21 100644
--- a/src/caosdbcli.cpp
+++ b/src/caosdbcli.cpp
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 #include "caosdb_config.h"
 #include <memory>
 #include <iostream>
+#include <string>
 
 auto main() -> int {
 
@@ -33,6 +34,14 @@ auto main() -> int {
             << caosdb::LIBCAOSDB_VERSION_PATCH << ")" << std::endl;
   std::cout << "We don't miss the H of caos." << std::endl;
 
+  std::string host = "localhost";
   // NOLINTNEXTLINE(cppcoreguidelines-avoid-magic-numbers,readability-magic-numbers)
-  return caosdb::configure_connection("localhost", 8080);
+  int port = 8080;
+
+  caosdb::CaosDBConnectionConfig config(host, port);
+  caosdb::CaosDBConnection connection(config);
+  std::cout << std::endl << connection << std::endl;
+  const caosdb::info::v1alpha1::VersionInfo &v_info = connection.getVersionInfo();
+  std::cout << "VersionInfo(" << v_info.major() << ")" << std::endl;
+  return 0;
 }
diff --git a/src/connection.cpp b/src/connection.cpp
index d3022cd420ad58ef94ab0734548fb7aa6293845a..9b32b1722870900e4d9a04741681a35bce46f1fd 100644
--- a/src/connection.cpp
+++ b/src/connection.cpp
@@ -21,15 +21,61 @@
  */
 
 #include "connection.h"
+#include "caosdb/info/v1alpha1/main.grpc.pb.h"
 #include <iostream>
+#include <string>
+#include <stdexcept>
 
 namespace caosdb {
-auto configure_connection(const std::string &host, int port) -> int {
-  // NOLINTNEXTLINE(cppcoreguidelines-avoid-magic-numbers,readability-magic-numbers)
-  if (port > 666 && port < 668) {
-    std::cout << "667 - One step ahead of the Devil!\n";
+using caosdb::info::v1alpha1::GeneralInfoService;
+using caosdb::info::v1alpha1::VersionInfo;
+using caosdb::info::v1alpha1::GetVersionInfoRequest;
+using caosdb::info::v1alpha1::GetVersionInfoResponse;
+
+CaosDBConnectionConfig::CaosDBConnectionConfig(const std::string &host, int port) {
+    this->host = host;
+    this->port = port;
+}
+
+auto CaosDBConnectionConfig::getHost() -> std::string {
+  return this->host;
+}
+
+auto CaosDBConnectionConfig::getPort() const -> int {
+  return this->port;
+}
+
+auto operator << (std::ostream &out, const CaosDBConnectionConfig &config) -> std::ostream & {
+  out << "CaosDBConnectionConfig(\"" << config.host << "\"," << config.port << ")";
+  return out;
+}
+
+CaosDBConnection::CaosDBConnection(const CaosDBConnectionConfig &config) : config(config) {
+  this->config = config;
+  std::shared_ptr<grpc::Channel> channel = grpc::CreateChannel(this->config.getHost() + ":" + std::to_string(this->config.getPort()), grpc::InsecureChannelCredentials());
+  this->stub_ = GeneralInfoService::NewStub(channel);
+}
+
+auto operator << (std::ostream &out, const CaosDBConnection &connection) -> std::ostream & {
+  out << "CaosDBConnection(" << connection.config << ")";
+  return out;
+}
+
+auto CaosDBConnection::getGeneralInfoService() -> GeneralInfoService::Stub & {
+  return *stub_;
+}
+
+[[nodiscard]]
+auto CaosDBConnection::getVersionInfo() const -> const VersionInfo & {
+  const GetVersionInfoRequest request;
+  GetVersionInfoResponse response;
+  grpc::ClientContext context;
+  const grpc::Status status = stub_->GetVersionInfo(&context, request, &response);
+
+  if(!status.ok()) {
+    throw std::runtime_error(status.error_message());
   }
-  std::cout << "Configure connection: " << host << ":" << port << "\n";
-  return 0;
+  return response.version_info();
 }
+
 } // namespace caosdb
diff --git a/test/CMakeLists.txt b/test/CMakeLists.txt
index 335c36314ca493aa3309cb9e0ac8913fa324b558..0c2f9349dcdb2bd04f955abb575d8b38ecde77d1 100644
--- a/test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -29,10 +29,10 @@ include(FetchGTest)
 include(GoogleTest)
 
 # disable linting for gtest targets (not our concern)
-set_target_properties(gtest PROPERTIES CXX_CLANG_TIDY "" CXX_INCLUDE_WHAT_YOU_USE "")
-set_target_properties(gtest_main PROPERTIES CXX_CLANG_TIDY "" CXX_INCLUDE_WHAT_YOU_USE "")
-set_target_properties(gmock PROPERTIES CXX_CLANG_TIDY "" CXX_INCLUDE_WHAT_YOU_USE "")
-set_target_properties(gmock_main PROPERTIES CXX_CLANG_TIDY "" CXX_INCLUDE_WHAT_YOU_USE "")
+set_target_properties(gmock_main gmock gtest gtest_main PROPERTIES
+    CXX_CLANG_TIDY ""
+    CXX_INCLUDE_WHAT_YOU_USE ""
+    EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL 1)
 
 # loop over all test cases and add them to the test runner
 list(LENGTH test_cases len_test_cases)
@@ -42,7 +42,9 @@ foreach (i RANGE "${len_test_cases}")
     add_executable(${test_case_name} ${test_case_name}.cpp)
     target_link_libraries(${test_case_name} PRIVATE gtest_main caosdb)
     set_target_properties(${test_case_name} PROPERTIES CXX_CLANG_TIDY "")
-    gtest_discover_tests(${test_case_name})
+    gtest_discover_tests(${test_case_name}
+        PROPERTIES
+            LABELS "caosdb-cpplib-unit-tests")
 endforeach ()
 
 
@@ -53,8 +55,9 @@ include(CodeCoverage)
 if (LCOV_PATH)
     setup_target_for_coverage_lcov(
         NAME unit_test_coverage
-        EXECUTABLE ctest
-        DEPEDENCIES caosdb
+        EXECUTABLE ctest -L caosdb-cpplib-unit-tests
+        EXCLUDE "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/*" "g++*"
+        DEPEDENCIES caosdb ${test_cases} gtest_main
         LCOV_ARGS --rc lcov_branch_coverage=1
         GENHTML_ARGS --rc lcov_branch_coverage=1
         )
diff --git a/test/test_connection.cpp b/test/test_connection.cpp
index c2600cce79756ef8fbe2ee3799025217aababa99..ba64060f9b564ffff7aa3beec57a3bb7047d87c4 100644
--- a/test/test_connection.cpp
+++ b/test/test_connection.cpp
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@
 #include <memory>
 #include "gtest/gtest_pred_impl.h"
 
-TEST(configure_connection, localhost_8080) {
-  EXPECT_EQ(0, caosdb::configure_connection("localhost", 8080));
+TEST(test_connection, localhost_8080) {
+  caosdb::CaosDBConnectionConfig config("localhost", 8000);
+
+  EXPECT_EQ("localhost", config.getHost());
+  EXPECT_EQ(8000, config.getPort());
 }