diff --git a/li.strolch.agent/src/main/java/li/strolch/agent/api/StrolchBootstrapper.java b/li.strolch.agent/src/main/java/li/strolch/agent/api/StrolchBootstrapper.java
index cfec02c99..5db6a2b2a 100644
--- a/li.strolch.agent/src/main/java/li/strolch/agent/api/StrolchBootstrapper.java
+++ b/li.strolch.agent/src/main/java/li/strolch/agent/api/StrolchBootstrapper.java
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import org.xml.sax.helpers.DefaultHandler;
 
 import li.strolch.runtime.configuration.ConfigurationParser;
 import li.strolch.runtime.configuration.StrolchConfigurationException;
+import li.strolch.runtime.configuration.StrolchEnvironment;
 import li.strolch.utils.dbc.DBC;
 import li.strolch.utils.helper.FileHelper;
 import li.strolch.utils.helper.StringHelper;
@@ -189,6 +190,54 @@ public class StrolchBootstrapper extends DefaultHandler {
 		return setup();
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Set up Strolch by evaluating the environment from {@link StrolchEnvironment#getEnvironmentFromResourceEnv(Class)}
+	 * and then delegating to {@link #setupByBoostrapFile(String, File)}
+	 * 
+	 * @param clazz
+	 *            the class from which to load the resource as stream
+	 * @param bootstrapFile
+	 *            the bootstrap file to load
+	 * 
+	 * @return the Agent which is setup
+	 */
+	public StrolchAgent setupByBoostrapFile(Class<?> clazz, File bootstrapFile) {
+		DBC.PRE.assertNotNull("clazz must be set!", clazz);
+		DBC.PRE.assertNotNull("bootstrapFile must be set!", bootstrapFile);
+		this.environment = StrolchEnvironment.getEnvironmentFromResourceEnv(clazz);
+		parseBoostrapFile(bootstrapFile);
+		return setup();
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Set up Strolch by evaluating the environment from {@link StrolchEnvironment#getEnvironmentFromResourceEnv(Class)}
+	 * and then delegating to {@link #setupByBoostrapFile(String, File)}
+	 * 
+	 * @param clazz
+	 *            the class from which to load the resource as stream
+	 * @param bootstrapFile
+	 *            the input stream to the bootstrap file to load
+	 * 
+	 * @return the Agent which is setup
+	 */
+	public StrolchAgent setupByBoostrapFile(Class<?> clazz, InputStream bootstrapFile) {
+		DBC.PRE.assertNotNull("clazz must be set!", clazz);
+		DBC.PRE.assertNotNull("bootstrapFile must be set!", bootstrapFile);
+		this.environment = StrolchEnvironment.getEnvironmentFromResourceEnv(clazz);
+		parseBoostrapFile(bootstrapFile);
+		return setup();
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Set up Strolch by loading the given bootstrap file for configuration
+	 * 
+	 * @param environment
+	 *            the environment to load from the boostrap file
+	 * @param bootstrapFile
+	 *            the bootstrap file to load
+	 * 
+	 * @return the Agent which is setup
+	 */
 	public StrolchAgent setupByBoostrapFile(String environment, File bootstrapFile) {
 		DBC.PRE.assertNotEmpty("Environment must be set!", environment);
 		DBC.PRE.assertNotNull("bootstrapFile must be set!", bootstrapFile);
@@ -197,6 +246,24 @@ public class StrolchBootstrapper extends DefaultHandler {
 		return setup();
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Set up Strolch by loading the given bootstrap file for configuration
+	 * 
+	 * @param environment
+	 *            the environment to load from the boostrap file
+	 * @param bootstrapFile
+	 *            the input stream to the bootstrap file to load
+	 * 
+	 * @return the Agent which is setup
+	 */
+	public StrolchAgent setupByBoostrapFile(String environment, InputStream bootstrapFile) {
+		DBC.PRE.assertNotEmpty("Environment must be set!", environment);
+		DBC.PRE.assertNotNull("bootstrapFile must be set!", bootstrapFile);
+		this.environment = environment;
+		parseBoostrapFile(bootstrapFile);
+		return setup();
+	}
+
 	private StrolchAgent setup() {
 
 		DBC.PRE.assertNotEmpty("Environment must be set!", this.environment);
@@ -267,6 +334,24 @@ public class StrolchBootstrapper extends DefaultHandler {
 					+ " not configured in bootstrap configuration " + bootstrapFile.getAbsolutePath());
 		}
 
+		evaluatePaths();
+	}
+
+	private void parseBoostrapFile(InputStream bootstrapStream) {
+
+		// parse the document using ourselves as the DefaultHandler
+		XmlHelper.parseDocument(bootstrapStream, this);
+
+		if (!this.envFound) {
+			throw new StrolchConfigurationException("Environment " + this.environment
+					+ " not configured in bootstrap configuration from given stream!");
+		}
+
+		evaluatePaths();
+	}
+
+	private void evaluatePaths() {
+
 		// validate the parsed data
 		if (!this.defaultAllowed) {
 			if (StringHelper.isEmpty(this.configS) || StringHelper.isEmpty(this.dataS)
diff --git a/li.strolch.agent/src/main/java/li/strolch/runtime/configuration/StrolchEnvironment.java b/li.strolch.agent/src/main/java/li/strolch/runtime/configuration/StrolchEnvironment.java
index 1feea9b64..bd7f5dcce 100644
--- a/li.strolch.agent/src/main/java/li/strolch/runtime/configuration/StrolchEnvironment.java
+++ b/li.strolch.agent/src/main/java/li/strolch/runtime/configuration/StrolchEnvironment.java
@@ -17,9 +17,14 @@ package li.strolch.runtime.configuration;
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileInputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.text.MessageFormat;
 import java.util.Properties;
 
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
 import li.strolch.runtime.StrolchConstants;
 import li.strolch.utils.dbc.DBC;
 import li.strolch.utils.helper.StringHelper;
@@ -31,6 +36,8 @@ public class StrolchEnvironment {
 
 	public static final String ENV_PROPERTIES_FILE = "ENV.properties"; //$NON-NLS-1$
 
+	private static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(StrolchEnvironment.class);
+
 	public static String getEnvironmentFromSystemProperties() {
 		String environment = System.getProperties().getProperty(StrolchConstants.ENV_STROLCH);
 		if (StringHelper.isEmpty(environment)) {
@@ -50,8 +57,8 @@ public class StrolchEnvironment {
 		try (FileInputStream fin = new FileInputStream(envF)) {
 			envP.load(fin);
 		} catch (Exception e) {
-			throw new StrolchConfigurationException(MessageFormat.format(
-					"Failed to load {0} in {1}", ENV_PROPERTIES_FILE, rootPath), e); //$NON-NLS-1$
+			throw new StrolchConfigurationException(
+					MessageFormat.format("Failed to load {0} in {1}", ENV_PROPERTIES_FILE, rootPath), e); //$NON-NLS-1$
 		}
 
 		String environment = envP.getProperty(StrolchConstants.ENV_STROLCH);
@@ -63,4 +70,32 @@ public class StrolchEnvironment {
 
 		return environment;
 	}
+
+	public static String getEnvironmentFromResourceEnv(Class<?> clazz) {
+		InputStream stream = clazz.getResourceAsStream("/" + ENV_PROPERTIES_FILE);
+		DBC.PRE.assertNotNull(
+				MessageFormat.format("{0} does not exist as root resource for class {1}", ENV_PROPERTIES_FILE, clazz),
+				stream);
+		Properties envP = new Properties();
+		try {
+			envP.load(stream);
+		} catch (Exception e) {
+			throw new StrolchConfigurationException(MessageFormat.format("Failed to load {0}", ENV_PROPERTIES_FILE), e); //$NON-NLS-1$
+		} finally {
+			try {
+				stream.close();
+			} catch (IOException e) {
+				logger.error("Failed to close InputStream!", e);
+			}
+		}
+
+		String environment = envP.getProperty(StrolchConstants.ENV_STROLCH);
+		if (StringHelper.isEmpty(environment)) {
+			String msg = "The property {0} does not exist in {1}"; //$NON-NLS-1$
+			msg = MessageFormat.format(msg, StrolchConstants.ENV_STROLCH, ENV_PROPERTIES_FILE);
+			throw new StrolchConfigurationException(msg);
+		}
+
+		return environment;
+	}
 }