Index: spring-deployment/src/main/java/org/apache/james/container/spring/adaptor/AvalonConfigurationFileProvider.java
===================================================================
--- spring-deployment/src/main/java/org/apache/james/container/spring/adaptor/AvalonConfigurationFileProvider.java	(revision 667185)
+++ spring-deployment/src/main/java/org/apache/james/container/spring/adaptor/AvalonConfigurationFileProvider.java	(working copy)
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 import org.apache.avalon.framework.configuration.Configuration;
 import org.apache.avalon.phoenix.tools.configuration.ConfigurationBuilder;
 import org.apache.james.container.spring.configuration.ConfigurationInterceptor;
+import org.apache.james.services.FileSystem;
 import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
 import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContextAware;
 import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext;
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@
 import java.util.List;
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.File;
 
 /**
  * loads the well-known classic James configuration file
@@ -39,29 +41,38 @@
  */
 public class AvalonConfigurationFileProvider implements ConfigurationProvider, ApplicationContextAware {
 
-    private String absoluteFilePath;
     private List configurationInterceptors;
     private ApplicationContext applicationContext;
+    private FileSystem fileSystem;
     private String configuration;
 
-    public void setConfigurationResource(String configuration) {
-        this.configuration = configuration;
-    }
 
-
     public Configuration getConfiguration() {
-        Resource resource = applicationContext.getResource(configuration);
-        InputStream inputStream;
-        try {
-            inputStream = resource.getInputStream();
-        } catch (IOException e) {
-            throw new RuntimeException("could not locate configuration file " + configuration, e);
+        InputStream inputStream = null;
+        String systemId = null;
+        if (fileSystem != null) {
+            try {
+                File configurationFile = fileSystem.getFile(configuration);
+                systemId = configurationFile.toURL().toString();
+                inputStream = fileSystem.getResource(configuration);
+            } catch (IOException e) {
+                //try another way
+            }
         }
+        if (inputStream == null) {
+            Resource resource = applicationContext.getResource(configuration);
+            try {
+                inputStream = resource.getInputStream();
+                systemId = resource.getURL().toString();
+            } catch (IOException e) {
+                throw new RuntimeException("could not locate configuration file " + configuration, e);
+            }
+        }
         InputSource inputSource = new InputSource(inputStream);
         Configuration configuration;
         try
         {
-            inputSource.setSystemId(resource.getURL().toString());
+            inputSource.setSystemId(systemId);
             configuration = ConfigurationBuilder.build(inputSource, null, null);
         }
         catch( final Exception e )
@@ -89,4 +100,12 @@
     public void setApplicationContext(ApplicationContext applicationContext) throws BeansException {
         this.applicationContext = applicationContext;
     }
+
+    public void setConfigurationResource(String configuration) {
+        this.configuration = configuration;
+    }
+
+    public void setFileSystem(FileSystem fileSystem) {
+        this.fileSystem = fileSystem;
+    }
 }
Index: spring-deployment/src/main/java/org/apache/james/container/spring/beanfactory/AvalonBeanDefinitionReader.java
===================================================================
--- spring-deployment/src/main/java/org/apache/james/container/spring/beanfactory/AvalonBeanDefinitionReader.java	(revision 667185)
+++ spring-deployment/src/main/java/org/apache/james/container/spring/beanfactory/AvalonBeanDefinitionReader.java	(working copy)
@@ -138,6 +138,7 @@
 
     private Configuration getConfiguration(Resource resource) throws IOException {
         InputSource inputSource = new InputSource(resource.getInputStream());
+        inputSource.setSystemId(resource.getURL().toString());
         try
         {
             Configuration configuration = ConfigurationBuilder.build(inputSource, null, null);
Index: spring-deployment/src/main/config/james/spring-beans.xml
===================================================================
--- spring-deployment/src/main/config/james/spring-beans.xml	(revision 667185)
+++ spring-deployment/src/main/config/james/spring-beans.xml	(working copy)
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@
                 <!--<ref bean="privilegedPortsConfigurationInterceptor" />-->
             </list>
         </property>
+        <property name="fileSystem" ref="fileSystemOverride"/>
     </bean>
 
     <bean id="avalonContext" class="org.apache.james.container.spring.adaptor.AvalonContext" >