diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-core.yml b/.github/workflows/build-core.yml
index 84bbbd5..39e85fa 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-core.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-core.yml
@@ -44,50 +44,99 @@ jobs:
           github-repo: ${{ github.repository }}
           github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
-  check_changelog:
+  update-changelog:
+    if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    outputs:
+      was_updated: ${{ steps.check-change.outputs.change_detected }}
+      check_commit: ${{ steps.check-changelog.outputs.check_commit }}
     steps:
       - name: Checkout code
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v2
         with:
-            path: copy-repo
-            fetch-depth: ${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request' && 2 || 0 }}
+          ref: ${{ github.head_ref }}
+          fetch-depth: 0
 
-      - name: Get changed files
-        id: changed-files
+      - name: Check for updated CHANGELOG.md using git
+        id: check-changelog
+        run: |
+          if git diff --name-only origin/${{ github.base_ref }} | grep -q "^CHANGELOG.md$"; then
+            echo "CHANGELOG.md has been updated."
+            echo "::set-output name=check_commit::true"
+          else
+            echo "ERROR: CHANGELOG.md has not been updated."
+            echo "::set-output name=check_commit::false"
+          fi
+      - name: Extract changelog info
+        if: steps.check-changelog.outputs.check_commit == 'false'
+        id: extract-changelog
         run: |
-            cd copy-repo
-            if ${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request' }}; then
-                echo "changed_files=$(git diff --name-only -r HEAD^1 HEAD | xargs)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          PR_DESCRIPTION="${{ github.event.pull_request.body }}"
+          # Check if "changelog:" exists in PR description
+          if echo "$PR_DESCRIPTION" | grep -q "VERSION:" && echo "$PR_DESCRIPTION" | grep -q "CHANGELOG:"; then
+            # Extract text after "changelog:"
+            CHANGELOG_TEXT=$(echo $PR_DESCRIPTION | sed -n 's/.*CHANGELOG: \(.*\)/\1/p')
+            # Extract VERSION: from PR description
+            VERSION=$(echo "$PR_DESCRIPTION" | grep -oP 'VERSION:\s*\Kv\d+\.\d+\.\d+')
+            echo "Extracted changelog: $CHANGELOG_TEXT"
+            echo "::set-output name=changelog::$CHANGELOG_TEXT"
+            echo "::set-output name=version::$VERSION"
+          else
+            echo -e "No changelog and version information found in PR description please add them.\n Expected Format:\n VERSION:vX.XX.X\n CHANGELOG:This is changelog note.\n
+            To re-run the action, just make a push or commit after updating the PR description or updating the changelog via a manual file changing commit."
+            exit 1
+          fi
+      - name: Check PR body against changelog
+        if: steps.check-changelog.outputs.check_commit == 'false'
+        run: |
+          ESCAPED_CHANGELOG="${{ steps.extract-changelog.outputs.changelog }}"
+          ESCAPED_CHANGELOG=$(echo "$ESCAPED_CHANGELOG" | sed "s/'/\\\\'/g")
+          VERSION="${{ steps.extract-changelog.outputs.version }}"
+          
+          if ! grep -Fq "$ESCAPED_CHANGELOG" CHANGELOG.md; then
+            # Check if version exists in CHANGELOG.md
+            if grep -q "^## $VERSION" CHANGELOG.md; then
+              # Append PR description to existing version
+              sed -i "/^## $VERSION/a - $ESCAPED_CHANGELOG (#${{ github.event.pull_request.number }})" CHANGELOG.md
             else
-                echo "changed_files=$(git diff --name-only ${{ github.event.before }} ${{ github.event.after }} | xargs)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+              # Append new version and PR description
+              ANCHOR_LINE=$(awk '/All notable changes to the Zlux App Server package will be documented in this file\./ {print NR}' CHANGELOG.md)
+              sed -i "$ANCHOR_LINE a\\
+              \n## $VERSION\n- $ESCAPED_CHANGELOG (#${{ github.event.pull_request.number }})\n" CHANGELOG.md
             fi
-
-      - name: List changed files
-        id: set-flag
+            git config --global user.email "zowe-robot@users.noreply.github.com"
+            git config --global user.name "Zowe Robot"
+            git add CHANGELOG.md
+            git commit -s -m "Update changelog with PR #${{ github.event.pull_request.number }} description"
+            git push
+          fi
+      - name: check for changes
+        id: check-change
         run: |
-            cd copy-repo
-            for file in ${{ steps.changed-files.outputs.changed_files }}; do
-                echo "$file was changed"
-                if [[ $file == "CHANGELOG.md" ]]
-                then
-                  echo "file-flag=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-                  break;
-                else
-                  echo "file-flag=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-                fi
-            done
+          if git diff --name-only HEAD^ HEAD | grep 'changelog.md'; then
+            echo "No Changes detected, setting flag to false"
+            echo "::set-output name=change_detected::false"
+          else
+            echo "::set-output name=change_detected::true"
+          fi
 
-      - name: Check if CHANGELOG is Updated and Abort if not updated
-        if: steps.set-flag.outputs.file-flag != 'true'
-        run: |
-          echo "CHANGELOG.md not updated, please update CHANGELOG.md with the changes made in the pull request"
-          exit 1
+  check_changelog:
+      if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
+      needs: update-changelog
+      runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+      steps:
+        - name: Checkout code
+          uses: actions/checkout@v2
+
+        - name: Verify Changelog update
+          run: |
+            if [ "${{ needs.update-changelog.outputs.was_updated }}" != "true" ]; then
+              echo "CHANGELOG.md not updated, please update CHANGELOG.md with the changes made in the pull request"
+              exit 1
+            else
+              echo "changelog was updated successfully."
+            fi
 
-      - name: Remove copy-repo
-        if: always()
-        run: rm -r copy-repo
-        
   build:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs: check-permission
@@ -103,7 +152,7 @@ jobs:
           key: ${{ runner.os }}-build-cache-node-modules-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
           restore-keys: |
             ${{ runner.os }}-build-cache-node-modules-
-      
+
       - name: '[Prep 2] Setup Node'
         uses: actions/setup-node@v2
         with:
@@ -139,6 +188,7 @@ jobs:
           pax-ssh-username: ${{ secrets.SSH_MARIST_USERNAME }}
           pax-ssh-password: ${{ secrets.SSH_MARIST_RACF_PASSWORD }}
           pax-name: zlux-core
-          
+
       - name: '[Prep 7] deploy'
         uses: zowe-actions/zlux-builds/core/deploy@v2.x/main
+
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 0ec16a5..face090 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 # Zlux App Server Changelog
 
 All notable changes to the Zlux App Server package will be documented in this file.
+    
+## v2.12.0
+- enhancement: new versions of components can change the location of their plugins, as the app-server will now re-inspect the plugin locations on each startup. (#280)
+
 
 ## v2.11.0
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 74639a5..a503e9b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-This program and the accompanying materials are
+ This program and the accompanying materials are
 made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v2.0 which accompanies
 this distribution, and is available at https://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v20.html
 
diff --git a/bin/init/plugins-init.js b/bin/init/plugins-init.js
index 15e5e58..d99e7de 100644
--- a/bin/init/plugins-init.js
+++ b/bin/init/plugins-init.js
@@ -38,33 +38,27 @@ function deleteFile(path) {
 }
 
 function registerPlugin(pluginPath, pluginDefinition) {
-  const pointerPath = `${pluginPointerDirectory}/${pluginDefinition.identifier}.json`;
-  if (fs.fileExists(pointerPath)) {
-    //in case of upgrade
-    registerApp2App(pluginPath, pluginDefinition.identifier, pluginDefinition.pluginVersion);
-    return true;
-  } else {
-    let location, relativeTo;
-    if (pluginPath.startsWith(runtimeDirectory)) {
-      relativeTo = "$ZWE_zowe_runtimeDirectory";
-      location = pluginPath.substring(runtimeDirectory.length);
-      if (location.startsWith('/')) {
-        location = location.substring(1);
-      }
-
-      xplatform.storeFileUTF8(pointerPath, xplatform.AUTO_DETECT, JSON.stringify({
-        "identifier": pluginDefinition.identifier,
-        "pluginLocation": location,
-        "relativeTo": relativeTo
-      }, null, 2));
-    } else {
-      xplatform.storeFileUTF8(pointerPath, xplatform.AUTO_DETECT, JSON.stringify({
-        "identifier": pluginDefinition.identifier,
-        "pluginLocation": pluginPath
-      }, null, 2));
+  const pointerPath = `${pluginPointerDirectory}/${pluginDefinition.identifier}.json`; 
+  let location, relativeTo;
+  if (pluginPath.startsWith(runtimeDirectory)) {
+    relativeTo = "$ZWE_zowe_runtimeDirectory";
+    location = pluginPath.substring(runtimeDirectory.length);
+    if (location.startsWith('/')) {
+      location = location.substring(1);
     }
-    registerApp2App(pluginPath, pluginDefinition.identifier, pluginDefinition.pluginVersion);
+
+    xplatform.storeFileUTF8(pointerPath, xplatform.AUTO_DETECT, JSON.stringify({
+      "identifier": pluginDefinition.identifier,
+      "pluginLocation": location,
+      "relativeTo": relativeTo
+    }, null, 2));
+  } else {
+    xplatform.storeFileUTF8(pointerPath, xplatform.AUTO_DETECT, JSON.stringify({
+      "identifier": pluginDefinition.identifier,
+      "pluginLocation": pluginPath
+    }, null, 2));
   }
+  registerApp2App(pluginPath, pluginDefinition.identifier, pluginDefinition.pluginVersion);
 }