diff --git a/configadmin/pom.xml b/configadmin/pom.xml
index f9368f3..c08f355 100644
--- a/configadmin/pom.xml
+++ b/configadmin/pom.xml
@@ -35,6 +35,42 @@
         Implementation of the OSGi Configuration Admin Service Specification 1.2
     </description>
 
+    <!--
+        A Note on Testing
+        =================
+        
+        This project contains two kinds of tests: regular unit tests running
+        in the test phase and integration tests based on PAX Exam running
+        in the integration-test phase.
+        
+        Basically the complete project is build using Java 1.3 source and target
+        compatibility (as inherited from the parent pom). The exception are the
+        unit tests in the "integration" packages. These have to be compiled with
+        Java 5 source and target compatibility because the employ annotations
+        and generics.
+        
+        For running the integration tests from the console using Maven nothing
+        special has to be done as the tests run automatically. To run the tests
+        in your IDE, the project has to be built to the "package" phase with
+        the profile "ide" enabled:
+        
+             $ mvn -Pide clean package
+             
+        This creates the scr.jar file in the target folder, which is used by
+        the integration tests when run from the IDE. Alternatively the
+        "project.bundle.file" system property may be set to the bundle JAR
+        in the IDE launcher. 
+    -->
+    <properties>
+        <bundle.build.name>
+            ${basedir}/target
+        </bundle.build.name>
+        <bundle.file.name>
+            ${bundle.build.name}/${project.build.finalName}.jar
+        </bundle.file.name>
+    </properties>
+
+
     <dependencies>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.osgi</groupId>
@@ -148,38 +184,6 @@
                 </configuration>
             </plugin>
 
-            <!-- Provide bundle for integration tests -->
-            <plugin>
-                <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>1.3</version>
-                <executions>
-                    <execution>
-                        <id>configadmin-file-create</id>
-                        <phase>pre-integration-test</phase>
-                        <goals>
-                            <goal>run</goal>
-                        </goals>
-                        <configuration>
-                            <tasks>
-                                <copy file="${project.build.directory}/${project.build.finalName}.jar" tofile="${project.build.directory}/configadmin.jar" />
-                            </tasks>
-                        </configuration>
-                    </execution>
-                    <execution>
-                        <id>configadmin-file-remove</id>
-                        <phase>post-integration-test</phase>
-                        <goals>
-                            <goal>run</goal>
-                        </goals>
-                        <configuration>
-                            <tasks>
-                                <delete file="${project.build.directory}/configadmin.jar" />
-                            </tasks>
-                        </configuration>
-                    </execution>
-                </executions>
-            </plugin>
-
             <!--
                 Exclude Integration tests in (default) unit tests and
                 conversely enable integration tests for integration testing
@@ -195,6 +199,12 @@
                             <goal>test</goal>
                         </goals>
                         <configuration>
+                            <systemProperties>
+                                <property>
+                                    <name>project.bundle.file</name>
+                                    <value>${bundle.file.name}</value>
+                                </property>
+                            </systemProperties>
                             <excludes>
                                 <exclude>**/cm/*</exclude>
                                 <exclude>**/cm/file/*</exclude>
@@ -215,6 +225,38 @@
         </plugins>
     </build>
     
+    <profiles>
+        <!--
+            copy the package such that IDEs may easily use it without
+            setting the system property
+        -->
+        <profile>
+            <id>ide</id>
+            <build>
+                <plugins>
+                    <plugin>
+                        <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
+                        <version>1.3</version>
+                        <executions>
+                            <execution>
+                                <id>cm-file-create</id>
+                                <phase>package</phase>
+                                <goals>
+                                    <goal>run</goal>
+                                </goals>
+                                <configuration>
+                                    <tasks>
+                                        <copy file="${project.build.directory}/${project.build.finalName}.jar" tofile="${project.build.directory}/configadmin.jar" />
+                                    </tasks>
+                                </configuration>
+                            </execution>
+                        </executions>
+                    </plugin>
+                </plugins>
+            </build>
+        </profile>
+    </profiles>
+    
     <!-- repositories for Pax Exam and BND tool -->
     <repositories>
         <repository>
diff --git a/configadmin/src/test/java/org/apache/felix/cm/integration/ConfigurationTestBase.java b/configadmin/src/test/java/org/apache/felix/cm/integration/ConfigurationTestBase.java
index eda056e..0dcf3c1 100644
--- a/configadmin/src/test/java/org/apache/felix/cm/integration/ConfigurationTestBase.java
+++ b/configadmin/src/test/java/org/apache/felix/cm/integration/ConfigurationTestBase.java
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@
 package org.apache.felix.cm.integration;
 
 
+import static org.ops4j.pax.exam.CoreOptions.mavenBundle;
+import static org.ops4j.pax.exam.CoreOptions.options;
+import static org.ops4j.pax.exam.CoreOptions.provision;
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
@@ -39,6 +42,8 @@
 import org.ops4j.pax.exam.CoreOptions;
 import org.ops4j.pax.exam.Inject;
 import org.ops4j.pax.exam.Option;
+import org.ops4j.pax.exam.OptionUtils;
+import org.ops4j.pax.exam.container.def.PaxRunnerOptions;
 import org.ops4j.pax.swissbox.tinybundles.core.TinyBundles;
 import org.osgi.framework.Bundle;
 import org.osgi.framework.BundleContext;
@@ -72,6 +77,20 @@
      */
     public static final boolean REDISPATCH_CONFIGURATION_ON_SET_BUNDLE_LOCATION = false;
 
+    // the name of the system property providing the bundle file to be installed and tested
+    protected static final String BUNDLE_JAR_SYS_PROP = "project.bundle.file";
+
+    // the default bundle jar file name
+    protected static final String BUNDLE_JAR_DEFAULT = "target/configadmin.jar";
+
+    // the JVM option to set to enable remote debugging
+    protected static final String DEBUG_VM_OPTION = "-Xrunjdwp:transport=dt_socket,server=y,suspend=y,address=30303";
+
+    // the actual JVM option set, extensions may implement a static
+    // initializer overwriting this value to have the configuration()
+    // method include it when starting the OSGi framework JVM
+    protected static String paxRunnerVmOption = null;
+
     @Inject
     protected BundleContext bundleContext;
 
@@ -92,14 +111,22 @@
     @org.ops4j.pax.exam.junit.Configuration
     public static Option[] configuration()
     {
-        return CoreOptions.options(
-            CoreOptions.provision(
-                CoreOptions.bundle( new File("target/configadmin.jar").toURI().toString() ),
-                CoreOptions.mavenBundle( "org.ops4j.pax.swissbox", "pax-swissbox-tinybundles", "1.0.0" )
-            )
-//         , PaxRunnerOptions.vmOption("-Xrunjdwp:transport=dt_socket,server=y,suspend=y,address=30303" )
-        // , PaxRunnerOptions.logProfile()
+        final String bundleFileName = System.getProperty( BUNDLE_JAR_SYS_PROP, BUNDLE_JAR_DEFAULT );
+        final File bundleFile = new File( bundleFileName );
+        if ( !bundleFile.canRead() )
+        {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException( "Cannot read from bundle file " + bundleFileName + " specified in the "
+                + BUNDLE_JAR_SYS_PROP + " system property" );
+        }
+
+        final Option[] base = options(
+            provision(
+                CoreOptions.bundle( bundleFile.toURI().toString() ),
+                mavenBundle( "org.ops4j.pax.swissbox", "pax-swissbox-tinybundles", "1.0.0" )
+             )
         );
+        final Option vmOption = ( paxRunnerVmOption != null ) ? PaxRunnerOptions.vmOption( paxRunnerVmOption ) : null;
+        return OptionUtils.combine( base, vmOption );
     }