diff --git a/.github_changelog_generator b/.github_changelog_generator
index 23e4c06d..91ab889c 100644
--- a/.github_changelog_generator
+++ b/.github_changelog_generator
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 unreleased=true
-future-release=1.7
+future-release=1.8
 exclude-labels=duplicate,question,invalid,wontfix,release
 enhancement_labels=>enhancement,Enhancement,feature request,translation i18n,technical debt
 issues-wo-labels=false
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 70be6d58..ca57e4c7 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 # Change Log
 
+## [1.8](https://github.com/kevinpapst/kimai2/tree/1.8)
+[Full Changelog](https://github.com/kevinpapst/kimai2/compare/1.7...1.8)
+
+Release notes including the changelog can be found [here](https://github.com/kevinpapst/kimai2/releases/tag/1.8)
+
 ## [1.7](https://github.com/kevinpapst/kimai2/tree/1.7)
 [Full Changelog](https://github.com/kevinpapst/kimai2/compare/1.6.2...1.7)
 
diff --git a/config/validator/validation.yaml b/config/validator/validation.yaml
index 8bd3c07d..f0ed76fb 100644
--- a/config/validator/validation.yaml
+++ b/config/validator/validation.yaml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ App\Entity\User:
             - App\Validator\Constraints\Role: ~
         username:
             - NotBlank: ~
-            - Length: { min: 3, max: 60 }
+            - Length: { min: 2, max: 60 }
         email:
             - NotBlank: ~
             - Email: ~
diff --git a/src/Command/ReloadCommand.php b/src/Command/ReloadCommand.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..713a52f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Command/ReloadCommand.php
@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of the Kimai time-tracking app.
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
+ * file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace App\Command;
+
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Command\Command;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Input\ArrayInput;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Input\InputInterface;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Input\StringInput;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Output\OutputInterface;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Style\SymfonyStyle;
+
+/**
+ * Command used to update a Kimai installation.
+ *
+ * @codeCoverageIgnore
+ */
+final class ReloadCommand extends Command
+{
+    public const ERROR_CACHE_CLEAN = 2;
+    public const ERROR_CACHE_WARMUP = 4;
+    public const ERROR_LINT_CONFIG = 8;
+    public const ERROR_LINT_TRANSLATIONS = 16;
+
+    /**
+     * {@inheritdoc}
+     */
+    protected function configure()
+    {
+        $this
+            ->setName('kimai:reload')
+            ->setDescription('Reload Kimai caches')
+            ->setHelp('This command will validate the configurations and translations and then clear and rebuild the application cache.')
+        ;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @param InputInterface $input
+     * @param OutputInterface $output
+     * @return int|null
+     */
+    protected function execute(InputInterface $input, OutputInterface $output)
+    {
+        $io = new SymfonyStyle($input, $output);
+
+        $io->title('Reloading configurations ...');
+
+        try {
+            $command = $this->getApplication()->find('lint:yaml');
+            $cmdInput = new StringInput('lint:yaml --parse-tags config');
+            $cmdInput->setInteractive(false);
+            if (0 !== $command->run($cmdInput, $output)) {
+                throw new \RuntimeException('Config file seems to be invalid');
+            }
+
+            $io->writeln('');
+        } catch (\Exception $ex) {
+            $io->error($ex->getMessage());
+
+            return self::ERROR_LINT_CONFIG;
+        }
+
+        try {
+            $command = $this->getApplication()->find('lint:xliff');
+            $cmdInput = new StringInput('lint:xliff translations');
+            $cmdInput->setInteractive(false);
+            if (0 !== $command->run($cmdInput, $output)) {
+                throw new \RuntimeException('Translation files seem to be invalid');
+            }
+
+            $io->writeln('');
+        } catch (\Exception $ex) {
+            $io->error($ex->getMessage());
+
+            return self::ERROR_LINT_TRANSLATIONS;
+        }
+
+        $environment = getenv('APP_ENV');
+        if ($input->hasArgument('env')) {
+            $environment = $input->getArgument('env');
+        }
+
+        // flush the cache, in case values from the database are cached
+        $cacheResult = $this->rebuildCaches($environment, $io, $input, $output);
+
+        if ($cacheResult !== 0) {
+            $io->warning(
+                [
+                    'Cache could not be rebuilt.',
+                    'Please run the cache commands manually:',
+                    'bin/console cache:clear --env=' . $environment . PHP_EOL .
+                    'bin/console cache:warmup --env=' . $environment
+                ]
+            );
+        } else {
+            $io->success(
+                sprintf('Kimai config was reloaded')
+            );
+        }
+
+        return 0;
+    }
+
+    protected function rebuildCaches(string $environment, SymfonyStyle $io, InputInterface $input, OutputInterface $output)
+    {
+        $io->text('Rebuilding your cache, please be patient ...');
+
+        $command = $this->getApplication()->find('cache:clear');
+        try {
+            if (0 !== $command->run(new ArrayInput(['--env' => $environment]), $output)) {
+                throw new \RuntimeException('Could not clear cache, missing permissions?');
+            }
+        } catch (\Exception $ex) {
+            $io->error($ex->getMessage());
+
+            return self::ERROR_CACHE_CLEAN;
+        }
+
+        $command = $this->getApplication()->find('cache:warmup');
+        try {
+            if (0 !== $command->run(new ArrayInput(['--env' => $environment]), $output)) {
+                throw new \RuntimeException('Could not warmup cache, missing permissions?');
+            }
+        } catch (\Exception $ex) {
+            $io->error($ex->getMessage());
+
+            return self::ERROR_CACHE_WARMUP;
+        }
+
+        return 0;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Constants.php b/src/Constants.php
index fe31acc9..8d22452c 100644
--- a/src/Constants.php
+++ b/src/Constants.php
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ class Constants
     /**
      * The current release status, either "stable" or "dev"
      */
-    public const STATUS = 'dev';
+    public const STATUS = 'stable';
     /**
      * The software name
      */
diff --git a/tests/Controller/SecurityControllerTest.php b/tests/Controller/SecurityControllerTest.php
index 838fbcf9..0429930b 100644
--- a/tests/Controller/SecurityControllerTest.php
+++ b/tests/Controller/SecurityControllerTest.php
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ class SecurityControllerTest extends ControllerBaseTest
         $this->assertStringContainsString('<input type="email"', $content);
         $this->assertStringContainsString('id="fos_user_registration_form_email" name="fos_user_registration_form[email]" required="required"', $content);
         $this->assertStringContainsString('<input type="text"', $content);
-        $this->assertStringContainsString('id="fos_user_registration_form_username" name="fos_user_registration_form[username]" required="required" maxlength="60" pattern=".{3,}"', $content);
+        $this->assertStringContainsString('id="fos_user_registration_form_username" name="fos_user_registration_form[username]" required="required" maxlength="60" pattern=".{2,}"', $content);
         $this->assertStringContainsString('<input type="password"', $content);
         $this->assertStringContainsString('id="fos_user_registration_form_plainPassword_first" name="fos_user_registration_form[plainPassword][first]" required="required"', $content);
         $this->assertStringContainsString('id="fos_user_registration_form_plainPassword_second" name="fos_user_registration_form[plainPassword][second]" required="required"', $content);
diff --git a/tests/Controller/UserControllerTest.php b/tests/Controller/UserControllerTest.php
index 534435bf..7ba53411 100644
--- a/tests/Controller/UserControllerTest.php
+++ b/tests/Controller/UserControllerTest.php
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ class UserControllerTest extends ControllerBaseTest
             [
                 [
                     'user_create' => [
-                        'username' => 'xx',
+                        'username' => 'x',
                         'plainPassword' => ['first' => 'sdfsdf', 'second' => 'sdfxxx'],
                         'alias' => 'ycvyxcb',
                         'title' => '34rtwrtewrt',
diff --git a/tests/Entity/UserValidationTest.php b/tests/Entity/UserValidationTest.php
index ae2299f6..3fe04145 100644
--- a/tests/Entity/UserValidationTest.php
+++ b/tests/Entity/UserValidationTest.php
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ class UserValidationTest extends KernelTestCase
         return [
             ['', ''],
             [null, null],
-            ['xx', 'test@'], // too short username
+            ['x', 'test@'], // too short username
             [str_pad('#', 61, '-'), 'test@x.'], // too long username
             [str_pad('#', 61, '-'), 'test@x.', ['xxxxx']], // too short password and invalid role
         ];