diff --git a/localstack/config.py b/localstack/config.py
index 35337cb614c2a..ffaf6cbaf1c66 100644
--- a/localstack/config.py
+++ b/localstack/config.py
@@ -192,9 +192,10 @@ def in_docker():
         if LOCALSTACK_HOSTNAME == HOSTNAME:
             DOCKER_HOST_FROM_CONTAINER = 'host.docker.internal'
     # update LOCALSTACK_HOSTNAME if host.docker.internal is available
-    if is_in_docker and LOCALSTACK_HOSTNAME == DOCKER_BRIDGE_IP:
+    if is_in_docker:
         DOCKER_HOST_FROM_CONTAINER = socket.gethostbyname('host.docker.internal')
-        LOCALSTACK_HOSTNAME = DOCKER_HOST_FROM_CONTAINER
+        if LOCALSTACK_HOSTNAME == DOCKER_BRIDGE_IP:
+            LOCALSTACK_HOSTNAME = DOCKER_HOST_FROM_CONTAINER
 except socket.error:
     pass
 
diff --git a/localstack/services/es/es_api.py b/localstack/services/es/es_api.py
index e610ac01af54b..1384bbbb93754 100644
--- a/localstack/services/es/es_api.py
+++ b/localstack/services/es/es_api.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 import time
 from random import randint
 from flask import Flask, jsonify, request, make_response
+from localstack.utils import persistence
 from localstack.services import generic_proxy
 from localstack.utils.aws import aws_stack
 from localstack.constants import TEST_AWS_ACCOUNT_ID
@@ -161,7 +162,7 @@ def get_domain_status(domain_name, deleted=False):
 def start_elasticsearch_instance():
     # Note: keep imports here to avoid circular dependencies
     from localstack.services.es import es_starter
-    from localstack.services.infra import check_infra, restore_persisted_data, Plugin
+    from localstack.services.infra import check_infra, Plugin
 
     api_name = 'elasticsearch'
     plugin = Plugin(api_name, start=es_starter.start_elasticsearch, check=es_starter.check_elasticsearch)
@@ -172,7 +173,7 @@ def start_elasticsearch_instance():
     # ensure that all infra components are up and running
     check_infra(apis=apis, additional_checks=[es_starter.check_elasticsearch])
     # restore persisted data
-    restore_persisted_data(apis=apis)
+    persistence.restore_persisted_data(apis=apis)
     return t1
 
 
diff --git a/localstack/services/generic_proxy.py b/localstack/services/generic_proxy.py
index 6c4f3ee94a95a..314db3a65d735 100644
--- a/localstack/services/generic_proxy.py
+++ b/localstack/services/generic_proxy.py
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ def is_full_url(url):
                 kwargs = {
                     'method': method,
                     'path': path,
-                    'data': data,
+                    'data': self.data_bytes,
                     'headers': forward_headers,
                     'response': response
                 }
diff --git a/localstack/services/infra.py b/localstack/services/infra.py
index 3f5fb52565d57..9475c8b9584d4 100644
--- a/localstack/services/infra.py
+++ b/localstack/services/infra.py
@@ -270,11 +270,6 @@ def get_service_status(service, port=None):
     return status
 
 
-def restore_persisted_data(apis):
-    for api in apis:
-        persistence.restore_persisted_data(api)
-
-
 def register_signal_handlers():
     global SIGNAL_HANDLERS_SETUP
     if SIGNAL_HANDLERS_SETUP:
@@ -464,7 +459,7 @@ def start_infra(asynchronous=False, apis=None):
         # ensure that all infra components are up and running
         check_infra(apis=apis)
         # restore persisted data
-        restore_persisted_data(apis=apis)
+        persistence.restore_persisted_data(apis=apis)
         print('Ready.')
         sys.stdout.flush()
         if not asynchronous and thread:
diff --git a/localstack/services/s3/s3_listener.py b/localstack/services/s3/s3_listener.py
index 161c27c432e36..1ffa3f2d67115 100644
--- a/localstack/services/s3/s3_listener.py
+++ b/localstack/services/s3/s3_listener.py
@@ -802,9 +802,6 @@ def forward_request(self, method, path, data, headers):
         if method == 'PUT' and not headers.get('content-type'):
             headers['content-type'] = 'binary/octet-stream'
 
-        # persist this API call to disk
-        persistence.record('s3', method, path, data, headers)
-
         # parse query params
         query = parsed_path.query
         path = parsed_path.path
@@ -893,6 +890,9 @@ def return_response(self, method, path, data, headers, response):
         method = to_str(method)
         bucket_name = get_bucket_name(path, headers)
 
+        # persist this API call to disk
+        persistence.record('s3', method, path, data, headers, response)
+
         # No path-name based bucket name? Try host-based
         hostname_parts = headers['host'].split('.')
         if (not bucket_name or len(bucket_name) == 0) and len(hostname_parts) > 1:
diff --git a/localstack/utils/bootstrap.py b/localstack/utils/bootstrap.py
index fa52e910e9d90..eaa28a0e00296 100644
--- a/localstack/utils/bootstrap.py
+++ b/localstack/utils/bootstrap.py
@@ -425,7 +425,7 @@ def stop(self, quiet=False):
 def run(cmd, print_error=True, asynchronous=False, stdin=False,
         stderr=subprocess.STDOUT, outfile=None, env_vars=None, inherit_cwd=False,
         inherit_env=True, tty=False):
-    # don't use subprocess module inn Python 2 as it is not thread-safe
+    # don't use subprocess module in Python 2 as it is not thread-safe
     # http://stackoverflow.com/questions/21194380/is-subprocess-popen-not-thread-safe
     if six.PY2:
         import subprocess32 as subprocess
diff --git a/localstack/utils/persistence.py b/localstack/utils/persistence.py
index 333b5ccc5aeb6..693deac53af25 100644
--- a/localstack/utils/persistence.py
+++ b/localstack/utils/persistence.py
@@ -8,7 +8,12 @@
 from localstack.utils.aws import aws_stack
 from localstack.utils.common import to_bytes, to_str
 
-API_FILE_PATTERN = '{data_dir}/{api}_api_calls.json'
+USE_SINGLE_DUMP_FILE = True
+
+if USE_SINGLE_DUMP_FILE:
+    API_FILE_PATTERN = '{data_dir}/recorded_api_calls.json'
+else:
+    API_FILE_PATTERN = '{data_dir}/{api}_api_calls.json'
 
 # Stack with flags to indicate whether we are currently re-playing API calls.
 # (We should not be re-playing and recording at the same time)
@@ -18,37 +23,46 @@
 API_FILE_PATHS = {}
 
 # set up logger
-LOGGER = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-def should_record(api, method, path, data, headers):
+def should_record(api, method, path, data, headers, response=None):
     """ Decide whether or not a given API call should be recorded (persisted to disk) """
     if api == 's3':
         return method in ['PUT', 'POST', 'DELETE']
     return False
 
 
-def record(api, method, path, data, headers):
+def record(api, method, path, data, headers, response=None):
     """ Record a given API call to a persistent file on disk """
     file_path = get_file_path(api)
-    if CURRENTLY_REPLAYING or not file_path or not should_record(api, method, path, data, headers):
+    should_be_recorded = should_record(api, method, path, data, headers, response=response)
+    if CURRENTLY_REPLAYING or not file_path or not should_be_recorded:
         return
     entry = None
     try:
         if isinstance(data, dict):
             data = json.dumps(data)
-        if data or data in [u'', b'']:
-            try:
-                data = to_bytes(data)
-            except Exception as e:
-                LOGGER.warning('Unable to call to_bytes: %s' % e)
-            data = to_str(base64.b64encode(data))
+
+        def get_recordable_data(data):
+            if data or data in [u'', b'']:
+                try:
+                    data = to_bytes(data)
+                except Exception as e:
+                    LOG.warning('Unable to call to_bytes: %s' % e)
+                data = to_str(base64.b64encode(data))
+            return data
+
+        data = get_recordable_data(data)
+        response_data = get_recordable_data('' if response is None else response.content)
+
         entry = {
             'a': api,
             'm': method,
             'p': path,
             'd': data,
-            'h': dict(headers)
+            'h': dict(headers),
+            'rd': response_data
         }
         with open(file_path, 'a') as dumpfile:
             dumpfile.write('%s\n' % json.dumps(entry))
@@ -56,15 +70,19 @@ def record(api, method, path, data, headers):
         print('Error recording API call to persistent file: %s %s' % (e, traceback.format_exc()))
 
 
+def prepare_replay_data(command):
+    data = command['d']
+    data = data and base64.b64decode(data)
+    return data
+
+
 def replay_command(command):
     function = getattr(requests, command['m'].lower())
-    data = command['d']
-    if data:
-        data = base64.b64decode(data)
+    data = prepare_replay_data(command)
     endpoint = aws_stack.get_local_service_url(command['a'])
     full_url = (endpoint[:-1] if endpoint.endswith('/') else endpoint) + command['p']
-    result = function(full_url, data=data, headers=command['h'], verify=False)
-    return result
+    response = function(full_url, data=data, headers=command['h'], verify=False)
+    return response
 
 
 def replay(api):
@@ -83,11 +101,15 @@ def replay(api):
     finally:
         CURRENTLY_REPLAYING.pop(0)
     if count:
-        LOGGER.info('Restored %s API calls from persistent file: %s' % (count, file_path))
+        LOG.info('Restored %s API calls from persistent file: %s' % (count, file_path))
 
 
-def restore_persisted_data(api):
-    return replay(api)
+def restore_persisted_data(apis):
+    if USE_SINGLE_DUMP_FILE:
+        return replay('_all_')
+    apis = apis if isinstance(apis, list) else [apis]
+    for api in apis:
+        replay(apis)
 
 
 # ---------------