diff --git a/.github/dependabot.yml b/.github/dependabot.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9088426cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/dependabot.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+version: 2
+updates:
+  - package-ecosystem: "gradle"
+    directory: "/"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
+    commit-message:
+      prefix: "dependabot:"
+    ignore:
+      # For all packages, ignore all major versions to minimize breaking issues
+      - dependency-name: "*"
+        update-types: ["version-update:semver-major"]
+  - package-ecosystem: "github-actions"
+    directory: "/"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
+    commit-message:
+      prefix: "dependabot:"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 5ab7defc4..257c51520 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -638,7 +638,7 @@ task integTestRemote(type: RestIntegTestTask) {
 
 // === Set up BWC tests ===
 
-String bwcVersionShort = "2.18.0"
+String bwcVersionShort = "2.19.0"
 String bwcVersion = bwcVersionShort + ".0"
 String baseName = "indexmanagementBwcCluster"