diff --git a/tasks/common/custom-facts.yml b/tasks/common/custom-facts.yml
index dd081bc..720260b 100644
--- a/tasks/common/custom-facts.yml
+++ b/tasks/common/custom-facts.yml
@@ -62,7 +62,10 @@
           'MemoryHigh': memory,
           'Restart': restart_policy
         }
-        | combine((systemd.enable_accounting | default(true)) | ternary({'CPUAccounting': 'yes', 'MemoryAccounting': 'yes', 'IOAccounting': 'yes', 'TasksAccounting': 'yes', 'IPAccounting': 'yes'}, {}), recursive=True)
+        | combine(
+          (systemd.enable_accounting | default(true)) |
+          ternary({'CPUAccounting': 'yes', 'MemoryAccounting': 'yes', 'IOAccounting': 'yes',
+                   'TasksAccounting': 'yes', 'IPAccounting': 'yes'}, {}), recursive=True)
       }}
     _default_unit_install:
       WantedBy: multi-user.target
diff --git a/tasks/common/storage-setup.yml b/tasks/common/storage-setup.yml
index eb652d1..d30433c 100644
--- a/tasks/common/storage-setup.yml
+++ b/tasks/common/storage-setup.yml
@@ -5,28 +5,31 @@
   ansible.builtin.file:
     path: "{{ host_data_dir }}"
     state: directory
-    owner: "{{ user | default(ansible_user) }}"
-    group: "{{ group | default(user) | default(ansible_user) }}"
+    owner: "{{ user | default(ansible_user_id) }}"
+    group: "{{ group | default(user) | default(ansible_user_id) }}"
     mode: "0755"
+    recurse: false
 
 - name: Ensure existence of config directories {{ _config_file_directories }}
   become: true
   ansible.builtin.file:
     path: "{{ host_data_dir + item.value.destinationPath | dirname }}"
     state: directory
-    owner: "{{ user | default(ansible_user) }}"
-    group: "{{ group | default(user) | default(ansible_user) }}"
+    owner: "{{ user | default(ansible_user_id) }}"
+    group: "{{ group | default(user) | default(ansible_user_id) }}"
     mode: "0755"
+    recurse: false
   with_dict: "{{ config }}"
 
 - name: Generate local rendering of service config files {{ _config_file_names }}
+  become: true
   ansible.builtin.copy:
     content: "{{ item.value.data | default(omit) }}"
     dest: "{{ host_data_dir + item.value.destinationPath }}"
-    mode: "{{ item.value.mode | default(644) }}"
+    mode: "{{ item.value.mode | default('0644') }}"
     src: "{{ item.value.sourcePath | default(omit) }}"
-    owner: "{{ user | default(ansible_user) }}"
-    group: "{{ group | default(user) | default(ansible_user) }}"
+    owner: "{{ user | default(ansible_user_id) }}"
+    group: "{{ group | default(user) | default(ansible_user_id) }}"
   with_dict: "{{ config }}"
 
 - name: Ensure existence of host data directories {{ _data_dirs_hostpaths }}
@@ -35,6 +38,6 @@
     path: "{{ item.value.hostPath }}"
     state: directory
     mode: "0755"
-    owner: "{{ user | default(ansible_user) }}"
-    group: "{{ group | default(user) | default(ansible_user) }}"
+    owner: "{{ user | default(ansible_user_id) }}"
+    group: "{{ group | default(user) | default(ansible_user_id) }}"
   with_dict: "{{ data_dirs }}"
diff --git a/tasks/common/user-setup.yml b/tasks/common/user-setup.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..67e5242
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tasks/common/user-setup.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+---
+- name: Ensure service group [{{ group | default(user) }}] exists
+  when: user is defined and user != 'root' and user != ansible_user_id
+  become: true
+  ansible.builtin.group:
+    name: "{{ group | default(user) }}"
+    state: present
+    system: true
+
+- name: Ensure service user [{{ user }}] exists
+  when: user is defined and user != 'root' and user != ansible_user_id
+  become: true
+  ansible.builtin.user:
+    name: "{{ user }}"
+    group: "{{ group | default(user) }}"
+    state: present
+    system: true
+    create_home: false
+    shell: /usr/sbin/nologin
+    comment: "Service user for {{ name }}"
diff --git a/tasks/container/setup.yml b/tasks/container/setup.yml
index 1e5afbb..8fdc0a1 100644
--- a/tasks/container/setup.yml
+++ b/tasks/container/setup.yml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   community.docker.docker_container:
     name: "{{ name }}"
     image: "{{ image }}"
-    user: "{{ user | default('root') }}"
+    user: root
     command: "{{ command | default(omit) }}"
     env: "{{ config_env }}"
     published_ports: "{{ _port_list }}"
diff --git a/tasks/main.yml b/tasks/main.yml
index 1ae8558..bea0227 100644
--- a/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/tasks/main.yml
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@
 - name: Setup service components
   when: uninstall is not defined or not uninstall | bool
   block:
+    - name: Ensure service user exists
+      ansible.builtin.include_tasks: common/user-setup.yml
+      when: user is defined
+
     - name: Manage storage/data setup
       ansible.builtin.include_tasks: common/storage-setup.yml
 
diff --git a/tests/molecule/container-basic/molecule.yml b/tests/molecule/container-basic/molecule.yml
index dc3cd69..fc626d6 100644
--- a/tests/molecule/container-basic/molecule.yml
+++ b/tests/molecule/container-basic/molecule.yml
@@ -22,3 +22,14 @@ verifier:
   directory: ./tests
 scenario:
   name: container-basic
+  test_sequence:
+    - dependency
+    - cleanup
+    - destroy
+    - syntax
+    - create
+    - prepare
+    - converge
+    - verify
+    - cleanup
+    - destroy
diff --git a/tests/molecule/container-basic/tests/test_container_basic.py b/tests/molecule/container-basic/tests/test_container_basic.py
index ebad2d2..1b8a3f3 100644
--- a/tests/molecule/container-basic/tests/test_container_basic.py
+++ b/tests/molecule/container-basic/tests/test_container_basic.py
@@ -2,6 +2,12 @@ def test_container_running(host):
     container = host.docker("nginx-container")
     assert container.is_running
 
+def test_container_user_is_root(host):
+    """Verify that the container always runs as root."""
+    container = host.docker("nginx-container")
+    user = container.inspect()["Config"]["User"]
+    assert user == "root", f"Container user is not 'root', it is '{user}'."
+
 def test_container_exposes_ports(host):
     socket = host.socket("tcp://0.0.0.0:8080")
     assert socket.is_listening
diff --git a/tests/molecule/container-full/molecule.yml b/tests/molecule/container-full/molecule.yml
index 3b612e1..200b545 100644
--- a/tests/molecule/container-full/molecule.yml
+++ b/tests/molecule/container-full/molecule.yml
@@ -23,3 +23,14 @@ verifier:
   directory: ./tests
 scenario:
   name: container-full
+  test_sequence:
+    - dependency
+    - cleanup
+    - destroy
+    - syntax
+    - create
+    - prepare
+    - converge
+    - verify
+    - cleanup
+    - destroy
diff --git a/tests/molecule/container-full/tests/test_container_full.py b/tests/molecule/container-full/tests/test_container_full.py
index fe68adf..7056317 100644
--- a/tests/molecule/container-full/tests/test_container_full.py
+++ b/tests/molecule/container-full/tests/test_container_full.py
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ def test_container_exposes_ports(host):
 def test_container_user_is_root(host):
     container = host.docker("full-container")
     user = container.inspect()["Config"]["User"]
-
     assert user == "root", f"Container user is not 'root', it is '{user}'."
 
 def test_container_creates_hostdirectory(host):
diff --git a/tests/molecule/systemd-basic/molecule.yml b/tests/molecule/systemd-basic/molecule.yml
index 9334c5f..cf99bc0 100644
--- a/tests/molecule/systemd-basic/molecule.yml
+++ b/tests/molecule/systemd-basic/molecule.yml
@@ -27,3 +27,14 @@ verifier:
   directory: ./tests
 scenario:
   name: systemd-basic
+  test_sequence:
+    - dependency
+    - cleanup
+    - destroy
+    - syntax
+    - create
+    - prepare
+    - converge
+    - verify
+    - cleanup
+    - destroy
diff --git a/tests/molecule/systemd-full/converge.yml b/tests/molecule/systemd-full/converge.yml
index 77ce46d..1519f4b 100644
--- a/tests/molecule/systemd-full/converge.yml
+++ b/tests/molecule/systemd-full/converge.yml
@@ -7,12 +7,12 @@
       vars:
         setup_mode: systemd
         name: test-service
-        user: root
+        user: prometheus
         binary_url: https://github.com/prometheus/prometheus/releases/download/v2.47.0/prometheus-2.47.0.linux-amd64.tar.gz
         binary_strip_components: 1
         binary_file_name_override: prometheus # set to trigger existence of extracted binary check
         destination_directory: /usr/bin
-        command: /usr/bin/prometheus --config.file=/test/mnt/etc/prometheus/prometheus.yml
+        command: /usr/bin/prometheus --config.file=/test/mnt/etc/prometheus/prometheus.yml --storage.tsdb.path=/var/tmp/prometheus
         cpus: 50
         memory: 512M
         config:
diff --git a/tests/molecule/systemd-full/molecule.yml b/tests/molecule/systemd-full/molecule.yml
index 00563c3..ec4e5eb 100644
--- a/tests/molecule/systemd-full/molecule.yml
+++ b/tests/molecule/systemd-full/molecule.yml
@@ -27,3 +27,14 @@ verifier:
   directory: ./tests
 scenario:
   name: systemd-full
+  test_sequence:
+    - dependency
+    - cleanup
+    - destroy
+    - syntax
+    - create
+    - prepare
+    - converge
+    - verify
+    - cleanup
+    - destroy
diff --git a/tests/molecule/systemd-full/tests/test_systemd_full.py b/tests/molecule/systemd-full/tests/test_systemd_full.py
index 5177c9a..1d97f5d 100644
--- a/tests/molecule/systemd-full/tests/test_systemd_full.py
+++ b/tests/molecule/systemd-full/tests/test_systemd_full.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ def test_systemd_service_properties(host):
 
     # Verify key systemd properties
     assert "ExecStart=/usr/bin/prometheus --config.file=/test/mnt/etc/prometheus/prometheus.yml" in service_content, "ExecStart is not correctly set."
-    assert "User=root" in service_content, "The service user is not correctly set to root."
+    assert "User=prometheus" in service_content, "The service user is not correctly set to prometheus."
     assert "CPUQuota=50%" in service_content, "CPUQuota is not correctly set."
     assert "MemoryHigh=512M" in service_content, "MemoryHigh is not correctly set."
     assert "Restart=on-failure" in service_content, "Restart policy is not correctly set."
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ def test_data_directory_exists(host):
     data_dir = host.file("/var/tmp/prometheus")
     assert data_dir.exists, "The data directory does not exist."
     assert data_dir.is_directory, "The data directory is not a directory."
-    assert data_dir.user == "root", "The data directory is not owned by root."
-    assert data_dir.group == "root", "The data directory group is not root."
+    assert data_dir.user == "prometheus", "The data directory is not owned by prometheus."
+    assert data_dir.group == "prometheus", "The data directory group is not prometheus."
 
 
 def test_service_logs_no_errors(host):
@@ -88,3 +88,26 @@ def test_systemd_ip_accounting(host):
     accounting_output = host.run("systemctl show test-service --property=IPIngressBytes,IPEgressBytes")
     assert accounting_output.rc == 0, "Failed to get IP accounting data from systemd."
     assert "IPIngressBytes=" in accounting_output.stdout and "IPEgressBytes=" in accounting_output.stdout, "IP accounting data is not available."
+
+def test_service_group_exists(host):
+    """Verify that the prometheus service group was created."""
+    group = host.group("prometheus")
+    assert group.exists, "The prometheus group does not exist."
+    # System groups typically have GID < 1000
+    assert group.gid < 1000, f"The prometheus group is not a system group (GID: {group.gid})."
+
+def test_service_user_exists(host):
+    """Verify that the prometheus service user was created."""
+    user = host.user("prometheus")
+    assert user.exists, "The prometheus user does not exist."
+    assert user.shell == "/usr/sbin/nologin", "The prometheus user shell is not set to /usr/sbin/nologin."
+    assert user.group == "prometheus", "The prometheus user is not in the prometheus group."
+    # System users typically have UID < 1000
+    assert user.uid < 1000, f"The prometheus user is not a system user (UID: {user.uid})."
+
+def test_config_file_ownership(host):
+    """Verify that config files are owned by the prometheus user."""
+    config_file = host.file("/test/mnt/etc/prometheus/prometheus.yml")
+    assert config_file.exists, "The Prometheus configuration file does not exist."
+    assert config_file.user == "prometheus", "The config file is not owned by prometheus."
+    assert config_file.group == "prometheus", "The config file group is not prometheus."