diff --git a/.gitlab/build.sh b/.gitlab/build.sh
index fbb075db8e2b13832d0de8a07fbdb51a84560f23..956c9fdbd971442a512cad110496359d472ff9e7 100755
--- a/.gitlab/build.sh
+++ b/.gitlab/build.sh
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ if ! grep -q TRIGGER_STAGE_BUILD "${PROJECT_LOG_DIR}/trigger-stage.txt"; then
     exit 1;
 fi
 
-echo "Build"
+echo "===== build ====="
 
 if [ "$OS" == "win7" ]; then
     # there is no xvfb on windows
diff --git a/.gitlab/configure.sh b/.gitlab/configure.sh
index d74501a5cfa49b12a49520cae50e82193e7076fe..b5bb7fcdc703a871ba6cf2c24bc7f62085ed3c5c 100755
--- a/.gitlab/configure.sh
+++ b/.gitlab/configure.sh
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ if ! grep -q TRIGGER_STAGE_CONFIGURE "${PROJECT_LOG_DIR}/trigger-stage.txt"; the
     exit 1;
 fi
 
-echo "Configure step"
+echo "===== configure ====="
 
 # Clean build directory
 # note: cannot build outside the source tree otherwise artifacts cannot be collected
diff --git a/.gitlab/coverage.sh b/.gitlab/coverage.sh
index e1670360a7c13867d83b76dfa7249d44f02e282e..e5fb7afc59cd1199bb5cd7d15a274505aeaa95db 100755
--- a/.gitlab/coverage.sh
+++ b/.gitlab/coverage.sh
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ if ! grep -q TRIGGER_STAGE_COVERAGE "${PROJECT_LOG_DIR}/trigger-stage.txt"; then
     exit 1;
 fi
 
-echo "Coverage"
+echo "===== coverage ====="
 
 # coverage for some reason seems to always exit with non-zero code. Force exit 0
 xvfb-run --auto-servernum --server-args="-screen 0 1024x768x24" \
diff --git a/.gitlab/test.sh b/.gitlab/test.sh
index 2e4d9733e3b7548bbe5cb68feddb556995509386..0bfb737a0fdb6704db0a8bd3de27de649aa63fec 100755
--- a/.gitlab/test.sh
+++ b/.gitlab/test.sh
@@ -9,36 +9,38 @@ if ! grep -q TRIGGER_STAGE_TEST "${PROJECT_LOG_DIR}/trigger-stage.txt"; then
     exit 1;
 fi
 
-echo "Test"
-
-
-if [ "$OS" == "win7" ]; then
-    # there is no xvfb on windows
-    ctest   -VV \
-            -DCTEST_SITE="$CDASH_SITE" \
-            -DCI_MODE="$CAMITK_CI_MODE" \
-            -DCI_ID="P $CI_PIPELINE_ID - J $CI_BUILD_ID" \
-            -DCI_BRANCH="$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME" \
-            -DCI_BUILD_SETTINGS="$COMPILER_CONFIG" \
-            -DCI_PROJECT_LOG_DIRECTORY="$CI_PROJECT_DIR/$PROJECT_LOG_DIR" \
-            -DCTEST_SOURCE_DIRECTORY="$PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR" \
-            -DCTEST_BINARY_DIRECTORY="$PROJECT_BUILD_DIR" \
-            -S $PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR/sdk/cmake/ctest/ci-test.cmake > >(tee ${PROJECT_LOG_DIR}/test.log | grep --line-buffered -e "Test \#") 2>&1
-else
-    # on Linux, xvfb is required to run the tests
-    xvfb-run --auto-servernum --server-args="-screen 0 1024x768x24" \
-    ctest   -VV \
-            -DCTEST_SITE="$CDASH_SITE" \
-            -DCI_MODE="$CAMITK_CI_MODE" \
-            -DCI_ID="P $CI_PIPELINE_ID - J $CI_BUILD_ID" \
-            -DCI_BRANCH="$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME" \
-            -DCI_BUILD_SETTINGS="$COMPILER_CONFIG" \
-            -DCI_PROJECT_LOG_DIRECTORY="$CI_PROJECT_DIR/$PROJECT_LOG_DIR" \
-            -DCTEST_SOURCE_DIRECTORY="$PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR" \
-            -DCTEST_BINARY_DIRECTORY="$PROJECT_BUILD_DIR" \
-            -S $PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR/sdk/cmake/ctest/ci-test.cmake > >(tee ${PROJECT_LOG_DIR}/test.log | grep --line-buffered -e "Test \#") 2>&1
+echo "===== test ====="
+
+
+if [[ "$osName" != "win7" ]]; then
+    echo "===== Configuring xvfb ====="
+    # Starts the server first (try to avoid unexpected and random "QXcbConnection: Could not connect to display :99")
+    # see also https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/embedded-linux.html#linuxfb 
+    export DISPLAY=":98"
+    #-ac +extension GLX +render -noreset -v -fbdir $workingDir/ &> ${PROJECT_LOG_DIR}/test.log &
+    Xvfb $DISPLAY -screen 0 1600x1200x24 &> ${PROJECT_LOG_DIR}/test.log &
+    trap "kill $! || true" EXIT
+    sleep 10
+    export XAUTHORITY=/dev/null
 fi
 
+ctest -VV \
+      -DCTEST_SITE="$CDASH_SITE" \
+      -DCI_MODE="$CAMITK_CI_MODE" \
+      -DCI_ID="P $CI_PIPELINE_ID - J $CI_BUILD_ID" \
+      -DCI_BRANCH="$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME" \
+      -DCI_BUILD_SETTINGS="$COMPILER_CONFIG" \
+      -DCI_PROJECT_LOG_DIRECTORY="$CI_PROJECT_DIR/$PROJECT_LOG_DIR" \
+      -DCTEST_SOURCE_DIRECTORY="$PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR" \
+      -DCTEST_BINARY_DIRECTORY="$PROJECT_BUILD_DIR" \
+      -S $PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR/sdk/cmake/ctest/ci-test.cmake > >(tee ${PROJECT_LOG_DIR}/test.log | grep --line-buffered -e "Test \#") 2>&1
+
+
+# if [[ "$OS" != "win7" ]]; then
+#     # shutdown xvfb
+#     kill $xvfbPid
+# fi
+
 # as ctest return a strange 255 error, check the log
 if grep --quiet "Fatal error" $CI_PROJECT_DIR/$PROJECT_LOG_DIR/ci-test.log; then
     echo "Found fatal error in $CI_PROJECT_DIR/$PROJECT_LOG_DIR/ci-test.log"
diff --git a/sdk/applications/config/testing/config-test.sh b/sdk/applications/config/testing/config-test.sh
index 436d66a29756e0bafd179800c59a3f0df0d7fe8b..3ea4804d0029e4e7c710395bf1d064b9e83eb9cc 100644
--- a/sdk/applications/config/testing/config-test.sh
+++ b/sdk/applications/config/testing/config-test.sh
@@ -24,10 +24,10 @@ set -e
 cleanup() {
     # backup the current exit status
     currentExitValue=$?
-	if [[ "$osName" != "Windows" ]]; then
-		# kill the xfvb
-		kill $xvfbPid    
-	fi
+    if [[ "$osName" != "Windows" ]]; then
+        # kill the xfvb
+        kill $xvfbPid    
+    fi
     # cleanup current dir (but not build dir!)
     if [ "$inBuild" == "0" ] ; then
         rm -rf $workingDir
@@ -89,12 +89,12 @@ fi
 echo "===== Checking $camitkConfig ====="
 # check if current build is on windows debug version
 if ! hash -lt ${camitkConfig} 2>/dev/null; then
-	echo "===== Not found: $camitkConfig on $osName ====="
-	if [[ "$osName" == "Windows" ]]; then
-		echo "===== camitk-config binary not found, using Debug version on Windows ====="
-		# try with debug postfix
-		camitkConfig=$camitkConfig-debug
-	fi
+    echo "===== Not found: $camitkConfig on $osName ====="
+    if [[ "$osName" == "Windows" ]]; then
+        echo "===== camitk-config binary not found, using Debug version on Windows ====="
+        # try with debug postfix
+        camitkConfig=$camitkConfig-debug
+    fi
 fi
 
 echo "===== Get CamiTK configuration ====="