diff --git a/exist-core/pom.xml b/exist-core/pom.xml
index 23c34c992d7..b73fe462ba0 100644
--- a/exist-core/pom.xml
+++ b/exist-core/pom.xml
@@ -698,12 +698,15 @@
                                 <exclude>src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/Cardinality.java</exclude>
                                 <exclude>src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/ImportModuleTest.java</exclude>
                                 <exclude>src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/XQueryContextAttributesTest.java</exclude>
+                                <exclude>src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/AccessUtil.java</exclude>
+                                <exclude>src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/fn/FunEnvironmentTest.java</exclude>
                                 <exclude>src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/map/MapType.java</exclude>
                                 <exclude>src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/session/AbstractSessionTest.java</exclude>
                                 <exclude>src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/xmldb/AbstractXMLDBTest.java</exclude>
                                 <exclude>src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/session/AttributeTest.java</exclude>
                                 <exclude>src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/xmldb/XMLDBAuthenticateTest.java</exclude>
                                 <exclude>src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/util/Eval.java</exclude>
+                                <include>src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/util/SystemPropertyTest.java</include>
                                 <exclude>src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/util/URIUtilsTest.java</exclude>
                                 <exclude>src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/value/ArrayListValueSequence.java</exclude>
                                 <exclude>src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/value/BifurcanMapTest.java</exclude>
@@ -846,12 +849,15 @@ The original license statement is also included below.]]></preamble>
                                 <include>src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/Cardinality.java</include>
                                 <include>src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/ImportModuleTest.java</include>
                                 <include>src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/XQueryContextAttributesTest.java</include>
+                                <include>src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/AccessUtil.java</include>
+                                <include>src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/fn/FunEnvironmentTest.java</include>
                                 <include>src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/map/MapType.java</include>
                                 <include>src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/session/AbstractSessionTest.java</include>
                                 <include>src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/xmldb/AbstractXMLDBTest.java</include>
                                 <include>src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/session/AttributeTest.java</include>
                                 <include>src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/xmldb/XMLDBAuthenticateTest.java</include>
                                 <include>src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/util/Eval.java</include>
+                                <include>src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/util/SystemPropertyTest.java</include>
                                 <include>src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/util/URIUtilsTest.java</include>
                                 <include>src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/value/ArrayListValueSequence.java</include>
                                 <include>src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/value/BifurcanMapTest.java</include>
diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/SystemProperties.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/ExistSystemProperties.java
similarity index 52%
rename from exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/SystemProperties.java
rename to exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/ExistSystemProperties.java
index ba3214ab18f..1c1c03c4608 100644
--- a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/SystemProperties.java
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/ExistSystemProperties.java
@@ -24,32 +24,41 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.util.Properties;
+import java.util.Set;
 
-import com.evolvedbinary.j8fu.lazy.LazyVal;
+import com.evolvedbinary.j8fu.lazy.AtomicLazyVal;
+import net.jcip.annotations.ThreadSafe;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
 
 /**
  *
- * @author aretter
+ * @author <a href="mailto:adam@evolvedbinary.com">Adam Retter</a>
  */
-public class SystemProperties {
+@ThreadSafe
+public class ExistSystemProperties {
 
-    private static final Logger LOG = LogManager.getLogger(SystemProperties.class);
-    private static final SystemProperties instance = new SystemProperties();
+    public static final String PROP_PRODUCT_NAME = "product-name";
+    public static final String PROP_PRODUCT_VERSION = "product-version";
+    public static final String PROP_PRODUCT_BUILD = "product-build";
+    public static final String PROP_GIT_BRANCH = "git-branch";
+    public static final String PROP_GIT_COMMIT = "git-commit";
 
-    private final LazyVal<Properties> properties = new LazyVal<>(this::load);
+    private static final Logger LOG = LogManager.getLogger(ExistSystemProperties.class);
+    private static final ExistSystemProperties instance = new ExistSystemProperties();
 
-    public final static SystemProperties getInstance() {
+    private final AtomicLazyVal<Properties> properties = new AtomicLazyVal<>(this::load);
+
+    public final static ExistSystemProperties getInstance() {
         return instance;
     }
 
-    private SystemProperties() {
+    private ExistSystemProperties() {
     }
 
     private Properties load() {
         final Properties properties = new Properties();
-        try (final InputStream is = SystemProperties.class.getResourceAsStream("system.properties")) {
+        try (final InputStream is = ExistSystemProperties.class.getResourceAsStream("system.properties")) {
             if (is != null) {
                 properties.load(is);
             }
@@ -59,11 +68,20 @@ private Properties load() {
         return properties;
     }
 
-    public String getSystemProperty(final String propertyName) {
+    public String getExistSystemProperty(final String propertyName) {
         return properties.get().getProperty(propertyName);
     }
 
-    public String getSystemProperty(final String propertyName, final String defaultValue) {
+    public String getExistSystemProperty(final String propertyName, final String defaultValue) {
         return properties.get().getProperty(propertyName, defaultValue);
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the available eXist System Properties.
+     *
+     * @return the available eXist System Properties.
+     */
+    public Set<String> getAvailableExistSystemProperties() {
+        return properties.get().stringPropertyNames();
+    }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/Version.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/Version.java
index c86dc623f0c..f22c328d521 100644
--- a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/Version.java
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/Version.java
@@ -36,12 +36,12 @@ public final class Version {
 	
 	static {
 
-		final SystemProperties systemProperties = SystemProperties.getInstance();
-		NAME = systemProperties.getSystemProperty("product-name", "eXist");
-		VERSION = systemProperties.getSystemProperty("product-version");
-		BUILD = systemProperties.getSystemProperty("product-build");
-		GIT_BRANCH = systemProperties.getSystemProperty("git-branch");
-		GIT_COMMIT = systemProperties.getSystemProperty("git-commit");
+		final ExistSystemProperties existSystemProperties = ExistSystemProperties.getInstance();
+		NAME = existSystemProperties.getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_PRODUCT_NAME, "eXist");
+		VERSION = existSystemProperties.getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_PRODUCT_VERSION);
+		BUILD = existSystemProperties.getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_PRODUCT_BUILD);
+		GIT_BRANCH = existSystemProperties.getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_GIT_BRANCH);
+		GIT_COMMIT = existSystemProperties.getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_GIT_COMMIT);
 	}
 	
 	public static String getProductName() {
diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/client/ClientFrame.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/client/ClientFrame.java
index 05fe7834b77..432dc14a806 100644
--- a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/client/ClientFrame.java
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/client/ClientFrame.java
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
  */
 package org.exist.client;
 
-import org.exist.SystemProperties;
+import org.exist.ExistSystemProperties;
 import org.exist.backup.Backup;
 import org.exist.backup.CreateBackupDialog;
 import org.exist.backup.GuiRestoreServiceTaskListener;
@@ -1724,7 +1724,7 @@ protected static Properties getLoginData(final Properties props) {
 
         final ConnectionDialog connectionDialog = new ConnectionDialog(null, true, defaultConnectionSettings, Boolean.parseBoolean(props.getProperty(InteractiveClient.LOCAL_MODE, InteractiveClient.LOCAL_MODE_DEFAULT)), Boolean.parseBoolean(props.getProperty(InteractiveClient.NO_EMBED_MODE, InteractiveClient.NO_EMBED_MODE_DEFAULT)));
 
-        connectionDialog.setTitle(SystemProperties.getInstance().getSystemProperty("product-name", "eXist-db") + " " + SystemProperties.getInstance().getSystemProperty("product-version", "unknown") + " Database Login");
+        connectionDialog.setTitle(ExistSystemProperties.getInstance().getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_PRODUCT_NAME, "eXist-db") + " " + ExistSystemProperties.getInstance().getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_PRODUCT_VERSION, "unknown") + " Database Login");
 
         connectionDialog.addDialogCompleteWithResponseCallback(connection -> {
             properties.setProperty(InteractiveClient.USER, connection.getUsername());
diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/client/InteractiveClient.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/client/InteractiveClient.java
index 0c7faa6fd03..66e08ca9b1a 100644
--- a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/client/InteractiveClient.java
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/client/InteractiveClient.java
@@ -44,9 +44,8 @@
 import javax.xml.transform.OutputKeys;
 
 import org.apache.tools.ant.DirectoryScanner;
-import org.exist.SystemProperties;
+import org.exist.ExistSystemProperties;
 import org.exist.dom.persistent.XMLUtil;
-import org.exist.security.ACLPermission;
 import org.exist.security.Account;
 import org.exist.security.Permission;
 import org.exist.security.SecurityManager;
@@ -2517,12 +2516,12 @@ public void printNotice() {
 
     public String getNotice() {
         final StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
-        builder.append(SystemProperties.getInstance().getSystemProperty("product-name", "eXist-db"));
+        builder.append(ExistSystemProperties.getInstance().getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_PRODUCT_NAME, "eXist-db"));
         builder.append(" version ");
-        builder.append(SystemProperties.getInstance().getSystemProperty("product-version", "unknown"));
-        if (!"".equals(SystemProperties.getInstance().getSystemProperty("git-commit", ""))) {
+        builder.append(ExistSystemProperties.getInstance().getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_PRODUCT_VERSION, "unknown"));
+        if (!"".equals(ExistSystemProperties.getInstance().getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_GIT_COMMIT, ""))) {
             builder.append(" (");
-            builder.append(SystemProperties.getInstance().getSystemProperty("git-commit", "(unknown Git commit ID)"));
+            builder.append(ExistSystemProperties.getInstance().getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_GIT_COMMIT, "(unknown Git commit ID)"));
             builder.append(")");
         }
         builder.append(", Copyright (C) 2001-");
diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/jetty/JettyStart.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/jetty/JettyStart.java
index 7ec2737ab68..3d882410c43 100644
--- a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/jetty/JettyStart.java
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/jetty/JettyStart.java
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
 import org.eclipse.jetty.util.MultiException;
 import org.eclipse.jetty.util.component.LifeCycle;
 import org.eclipse.jetty.xml.XmlConfiguration;
-import org.exist.SystemProperties;
+import org.exist.ExistSystemProperties;
 import org.exist.http.servlets.ExistExtensionServlet;
 import org.exist.start.CompatibleJavaVersionCheck;
 import org.exist.start.Main;
@@ -190,9 +190,9 @@ public synchronized void run(final String[] args, final Observer observer) {
 
             logger.info("Running as user '{}'", System.getProperty("user.name", "(unknown user.name)"));
             logger.info("[eXist Home : {}]", System.getProperty("exist.home", "unknown"));
-            logger.info("[eXist Version : {}]", SystemProperties.getInstance().getSystemProperty("product-version", "unknown"));
-            logger.info("[eXist Build : {}]", SystemProperties.getInstance().getSystemProperty("product-build", "unknown"));
-            logger.info("[Git commit : {}]", SystemProperties.getInstance().getSystemProperty("git-commit", "unknown"));
+            logger.info("[eXist Version : {}]", ExistSystemProperties.getInstance().getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_PRODUCT_VERSION, "unknown"));
+            logger.info("[eXist Build : {}]", ExistSystemProperties.getInstance().getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_PRODUCT_BUILD, "unknown"));
+            logger.info("[Git commit : {}]", ExistSystemProperties.getInstance().getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_GIT_COMMIT, "unknown"));
 
             logger.info("[Operating System : {} {} {}]", System.getProperty("os.name"), System.getProperty("os.version"), System.getProperty("os.arch"));
             logger.info("[log4j.configurationFile : {}]", System.getProperty("log4j.configurationFile"));
diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/launcher/SplashScreen.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/launcher/SplashScreen.java
index 08689214d79..baf381e2d0b 100644
--- a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/launcher/SplashScreen.java
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/launcher/SplashScreen.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
  */
 package org.exist.launcher;
 
+import org.exist.ExistSystemProperties;
 import org.exist.jetty.JettyStart;
 import org.exist.storage.BrokerPool;
 
@@ -31,8 +32,6 @@
 import java.util.Observable;
 import java.util.Observer;
 
-import org.exist.SystemProperties;
-
 /**
  * Display a splash screen showing the eXist-db logo and a status line.
  *
@@ -67,11 +66,11 @@ public SplashScreen(Launcher launcher) {
         getContentPane().add(imageLabel, BorderLayout.NORTH);
 
         // version label
-        final SystemProperties sysProps = SystemProperties.getInstance();
+        final ExistSystemProperties sysProps = ExistSystemProperties.getInstance();
         final StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
 	    builder.append("Version ");
-        builder.append(sysProps.getSystemProperty("product-version", "unknown"));
-        final String gitCommit = sysProps.getSystemProperty("git-commit");
+        builder.append(sysProps.getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_PRODUCT_VERSION, "unknown"));
+        final String gitCommit = sysProps.getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_GIT_COMMIT);
         if (gitCommit != null && !gitCommit.isEmpty()) {
             builder.append(" (");
             builder.append(gitCommit, 0, Math.min(7, gitCommit.length()));
diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/management/impl/SystemInfo.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/management/impl/SystemInfo.java
index e5b92ca8eca..0fb8cfe79db 100644
--- a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/management/impl/SystemInfo.java
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/management/impl/SystemInfo.java
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 import java.util.Locale;
 
-import org.exist.SystemProperties;
+import org.exist.ExistSystemProperties;
 
 /**
  * Class SystemInfo
@@ -38,22 +38,22 @@ public class SystemInfo implements SystemInfoMXBean {
 
     @Override
     public String getProductName() {
-        return SystemProperties.getInstance().getSystemProperty("product-name","eXist");
+        return ExistSystemProperties.getInstance().getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_PRODUCT_NAME,"eXist");
     }
 
     @Override
     public String getProductVersion() {
-        return SystemProperties.getInstance().getSystemProperty("product-version","unknown");
+        return ExistSystemProperties.getInstance().getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_PRODUCT_VERSION,"unknown");
     }
 
     @Override
     public String getProductBuild() {
-        return SystemProperties.getInstance().getSystemProperty("product-build","unknown");
+        return ExistSystemProperties.getInstance().getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_PRODUCT_BUILD,"unknown");
     }
 
     @Override
     public String getGitCommit() {
-        return SystemProperties.getInstance().getSystemProperty("git-commit", "unknown Git commit ID");
+        return ExistSystemProperties.getInstance().getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_GIT_COMMIT, "unknown Git commit ID");
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/repo/ClasspathHelper.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/repo/ClasspathHelper.java
index a41b76a6345..9afd3586075 100644
--- a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/repo/ClasspathHelper.java
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/repo/ClasspathHelper.java
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
-import org.exist.SystemProperties;
+import org.exist.ExistSystemProperties;
 import org.exist.start.Classpath;
 import org.exist.start.EXistClassLoader;
 import org.exist.storage.BrokerPool;
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ private static void scanPackages(BrokerPool pool, Classpath classpath) {
     private static boolean isCompatible(final Package pkg) throws PackageException {
         // determine the eXist-db version this package is compatible with
         final Collection<ProcessorDependency> processorDeps = pkg.getProcessorDeps();
-        final String procVersion = SystemProperties.getInstance().getSystemProperty("product-version", "1.0");
+        final String procVersion = ExistSystemProperties.getInstance().getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_PRODUCT_VERSION, "1.0");
         PackageLoader.Version requiresExistVersion = null;
         for (final ProcessorDependency dependency: processorDeps) {
             if (Deployment.PROCESSOR_NAME.equals(dependency.getProcessor())) {
diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/repo/Deployment.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/repo/Deployment.java
index d4692a75070..869ccbf9b81 100644
--- a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/repo/Deployment.java
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/repo/Deployment.java
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
 import org.exist.EXistException;
-import org.exist.SystemProperties;
+import org.exist.ExistSystemProperties;
 import org.exist.collections.Collection;
 import org.exist.collections.triggers.TriggerException;
 import org.exist.dom.QName;
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ public Optional<String> installAndDeploy(final DBBroker broker, final Txn transa
     }
 
     private void checkProcessorVersion(final PackageLoader.Version version) throws PackageException {
-        final String procVersion = SystemProperties.getInstance().getSystemProperty("product-version", "1.0");
+        final String procVersion = ExistSystemProperties.getInstance().getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_PRODUCT_VERSION, "1.0");
 
         final DependencyVersion depVersion = version.getDependencyVersion();
         if (!depVersion.isCompatible(procVersion)) {
diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/util/Configuration.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/util/Configuration.java
index e83ebcda02a..cdb4a944e31 100644
--- a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/util/Configuration.java
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/util/Configuration.java
@@ -413,9 +413,6 @@ private void configureXQuery( Element xquery ) throws DatabaseConfigurationExcep
      * @throws  DatabaseConfigurationException
      */
     private void loadModuleClasses( Element xquery, Map<String, Class<?>> modulesClassMap, Map<String, String> modulesSourceMap, Map<String, Map<String, List<? extends Object>>> moduleParameters) throws DatabaseConfigurationException {
-        // add the standard function module
-        modulesClassMap.put(Namespaces.XPATH_FUNCTIONS_NS, org.exist.xquery.functions.fn.FnModule.class);
-
         // add other modules specified in configuration
         final NodeList builtins = xquery.getElementsByTagName(XQUERY_BUILTIN_MODULES_CONFIGURATION_MODULES_ELEMENT_NAME);
 
@@ -477,6 +474,11 @@ private void loadModuleClasses( Element xquery, Map<String, Class<?>> modulesCla
                 }
             }
         }
+
+        // if not specified in the conf.xml, then add the standard function module anyway
+        if (!modulesClassMap.containsKey(Namespaces.XPATH_FUNCTIONS_NS)) {
+            modulesClassMap.put(Namespaces.XPATH_FUNCTIONS_NS, org.exist.xquery.functions.fn.FnModule.class);
+        }
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/webstart/JnlpWriter.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/webstart/JnlpWriter.java
index 89e2c83cc3f..d8b5f7d5111 100644
--- a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/webstart/JnlpWriter.java
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/webstart/JnlpWriter.java
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 import org.apache.commons.io.FilenameUtils;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
-import org.exist.SystemProperties;
+import org.exist.ExistSystemProperties;
 import org.exist.util.FileUtils;
 import org.apache.commons.io.output.UnsynchronizedByteArrayOutputStream;
 
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ void writeJnlpXML(JnlpJarFiles jnlpFiles, HttpServletRequest request,
             writer.writeAttribute("codebase", codeBase);
             writer.writeAttribute("href", "exist.jnlp");
 
-            String version = SystemProperties.getInstance().getSystemProperty("product-version", null);
+            String version = ExistSystemProperties.getInstance().getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_PRODUCT_VERSION, null);
             if(version!=null){
                 writer.writeAttribute("version", version);
             }
diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/AbstractInternalModule.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/AbstractInternalModule.java
index 5d33ed848e8..29ad602cc3f 100644
--- a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/AbstractInternalModule.java
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/AbstractInternalModule.java
@@ -84,6 +84,15 @@ protected List<? extends Object> getParameter(final String paramName) {
         return parameters.get(paramName);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Get the module parameters.
+     *
+     * @return the module parameters.
+     */
+    protected Map<String, List<? extends Object>> getParameters() {
+        return parameters;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public void setContextItem(final Sequence contextItem) {
         // not used for internal modules
diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/XQueryContext.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/XQueryContext.java
index 4ebea126e94..7e4f76ffaa4 100644
--- a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/XQueryContext.java
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/XQueryContext.java
@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@
 import com.evolvedbinary.j8fu.function.QuadFunctionE;
 import com.evolvedbinary.j8fu.tuple.Tuple2;
 import com.ibm.icu.text.Collator;
+import io.lacuna.bifurcan.IMap;
+import io.lacuna.bifurcan.LinearMap;
 import it.unimi.dsi.fastutil.Hash;
 import it.unimi.dsi.fastutil.objects.*;
 import net.jcip.annotations.Immutable;
@@ -372,7 +374,10 @@ public class XQueryContext implements BinaryValueManager, Context {
     protected Profiler profiler;
 
     //For holding the environment variables
-    private Map<String, String> envs;
+    private IMap<String, String> envs;
+
+    //For holding the Java System Properties
+    private IMap<String, String> props;
 
     private ContextUpdateListener updateListener = null;
 
@@ -2732,13 +2737,33 @@ public void resolveForwardReferences() throws XPathException {
      *
      * @return Map of environment variables
      */
-    public Map<String, String> getEnvironmentVariables() {
+    public io.lacuna.bifurcan.IMap<String, String> getEnvironmentVariables() {
         if (envs == null) {
-            envs = System.getenv();
+            envs = io.lacuna.bifurcan.Map.from(System.getenv());
         }
         return envs;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Get Java System properties. The properties shall not change
+     * during execution of query.
+     *
+     * @return Map of Java System Properties
+     */
+    public io.lacuna.bifurcan.IMap<String, String> getJavaSystemProperties() {
+        if (props == null) {
+            final IMap<String, String> strProps = new LinearMap<>();
+            for (final Map.Entry<Object, Object> prop : System.getProperties().entrySet()) {
+                final Object value = prop.getValue();
+                if (value instanceof String) {
+                    strProps.put(prop.getKey().toString(), (String) value);
+                }
+            }
+            props = strProps.forked();
+        }
+        return props;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Gets the Effective user
      * i.e. the user that the query is executing as
diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/AccessUtil.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/AccessUtil.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c4cac76bd23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/AccessUtil.java
@@ -0,0 +1,191 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2014, Evolved Binary Ltd
+ *
+ * This file was originally ported from FusionDB to eXist-db by
+ * Evolved Binary, for the benefit of the eXist-db Open Source community.
+ * Only the ported code as it appears in this file, at the time that
+ * it was contributed to eXist-db, was re-licensed under The GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License v2.1 only for use in eXist-db.
+ *
+ * This license grant applies only to a snapshot of the code as it
+ * appeared when ported, it does not offer or infer any rights to either
+ * updates of this source code or access to the original source code.
+ *
+ * The GNU Lesser General Public License v2.1 only license follows.
+ *
+ * ---------------------------------------------------------------------
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2014, Evolved Binary Ltd
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; version 2.1.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
+ */
+package org.exist.xquery.functions;
+
+import com.evolvedbinary.j8fu.tuple.Tuple2;
+import io.lacuna.bifurcan.IMap;
+import io.lacuna.bifurcan.ISet;
+import io.lacuna.bifurcan.LinearSet;
+import io.lacuna.bifurcan.LinearMap;
+import io.lacuna.bifurcan.Map;
+import io.lacuna.bifurcan.Set;
+import org.exist.security.Subject;
+import org.exist.security.internal.SecurityManagerImpl;
+
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.regex.Matcher;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
+
+import static com.evolvedbinary.j8fu.tuple.Tuple.Tuple;
+
+/**
+ * @author <a href="mailto:adam@evolvedbinary.com">Adam Retter</a>
+ */
+public class AccessUtil {
+
+    static final String OTHERWISE = "*";
+
+    /**
+     * Parse access parameters into Group Access Rules and User Access Rules.
+     *
+     * @param accessRulePattern A pattern whose first group matches a "name",
+     *                          and whose second pattern matches the String "Group" or "User".
+     * @param parameters the module parameters.
+     *
+     * @return a Tuple where the first entry is the Group Access Rules, and the second entry is the User Access Rules.
+     */
+    public static Tuple2<IMap<String, ISet<String>>, IMap<String, ISet<String>>> parseAccessParameters(
+            final Pattern accessRulePattern, final java.util.Map<String, List<?>> parameters) {
+        IMap<String, ISet<String>> accessGroupRules = null;
+        IMap<String, ISet<String>> accessUserRules = null;
+
+        if (parameters != null) {
+            Matcher matcher = null;
+            for (final java.util.Map.Entry<String, List<?>> parameter : parameters.entrySet()) {
+                final String parameterName = parameter.getKey();
+                if (matcher == null) {
+                    matcher = accessRulePattern.matcher(parameterName);
+                } else {
+                    matcher.reset(parameterName);
+                }
+
+                if (matcher.matches()) {
+                    final String principalType = matcher.group(2);
+                    if ("Group".equals(principalType)) {
+                        if (accessGroupRules == null) {
+                            accessGroupRules = new LinearMap<>();
+                        }
+                        final String name = matcher.group(1);
+                        accessGroupRules.put(name, toSet(parameter.getValue()));
+                    } else if ("User".equals(principalType)) {
+                        if (accessUserRules == null) {
+                            accessUserRules = new LinearMap<>();
+                        }
+                        final String name = matcher.group(1);
+                        accessUserRules.put(name, toSet(parameter.getValue()));
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        if ((accessGroupRules == null || !accessGroupRules.contains(OTHERWISE))
+                && ((accessUserRules == null) || !accessUserRules.contains(OTHERWISE))) {
+            if (accessGroupRules == null) {
+                accessGroupRules = new LinearMap<>(1);
+                ISet<String> otherwiseDba = new LinearSet<>(1);
+                otherwiseDba.add(SecurityManagerImpl.DBA_GROUP);
+                otherwiseDba = otherwiseDba.forked();
+                accessGroupRules.put(OTHERWISE, otherwiseDba);
+            }
+        }
+
+        if (accessGroupRules == null) {
+            accessGroupRules = Map.empty();
+        } else {
+            accessGroupRules = accessGroupRules.forked();
+        }
+
+        if (accessUserRules == null) {
+            accessUserRules = Map.empty();
+        } else {
+            accessUserRules = accessUserRules.forked();
+        }
+
+        return Tuple(accessGroupRules, accessUserRules);
+    }
+
+    private static ISet<String> toSet(final List<?> values) {
+        ISet<String> set;
+        if (values.size() > 0) {
+            set = new LinearSet<>();
+            for (final Object value : values) {
+                set.add(value.toString());
+            }
+            set = set.forked();
+        } else {
+            set = Set.empty();
+        }
+        return set;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns true of the user is allowed access to the name.
+     *
+     * @param user the user to test the access rules against.
+     * @param accessGroupRules the group access rules.
+     * @param accessUserRules the user access rules.
+     * @param name the name of the resource that the user wishes to access.
+     */
+    public static boolean isAllowedAccess(final Subject user, final IMap<String, ISet<String>> accessGroupRules,
+                                          final IMap<String, ISet<String>> accessUserRules, final String name) {
+        return hasGroupAccess(user, accessGroupRules, name)
+                || hasUserAccess(user, accessUserRules, name);
+    }
+
+    private static boolean hasGroupAccess(final Subject user, final IMap<String, ISet<String>> accessGroupRules,
+            final String name) {
+        ISet<String> accessGroups = accessGroupRules.get(name, null);
+
+        // fallback to "otherwise"
+        if (accessGroups == null) {
+            accessGroups = accessGroupRules.get(OTHERWISE, null);
+        }
+
+        if (accessGroups != null) {
+            final String[] userGroups = user.getGroups();
+            for (final String userGroup : userGroups) {
+                if (accessGroups.contains(userGroup)) {
+                    return true;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    private static boolean hasUserAccess(final Subject user, final IMap<String, ISet<String>> accessUserRules,
+            final String name) {
+        ISet<String> accessUsers = accessUserRules.get(name, null);
+
+        // fallback to "otherwise"
+        if (accessUsers == null) {
+            accessUsers = accessUserRules.get(OTHERWISE, null);
+        }
+
+        if (accessUsers != null) {
+            return accessUsers.contains(user.getUsername());
+        }
+
+        return false;
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/fn/FnModule.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/fn/FnModule.java
index aca7ebe1197..ef847ccabb2 100644
--- a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/fn/FnModule.java
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/fn/FnModule.java
@@ -24,9 +24,15 @@
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
+import com.evolvedbinary.j8fu.tuple.Tuple2;
+import io.lacuna.bifurcan.IMap;
+import io.lacuna.bifurcan.ISet;
 import org.exist.dom.QName;
+import org.exist.util.PatternFactory;
 import org.exist.xquery.*;
+import org.exist.xquery.functions.AccessUtil;
 import org.exist.xquery.value.FunctionParameterSequenceType;
 import org.exist.xquery.value.FunctionReturnSequenceType;
 
@@ -279,7 +285,12 @@ public class FnModule extends AbstractInternalModule {
     public final static ErrorCodes.ErrorCode SEPM0019 = new ErrorCodes.ErrorCode("SEPM0019", "It is an error if an instance of the data model " +
             "used to specify the settings of serialization parameters specifies the value of the same parameter more than once.");
 
-    public FnModule(Map<String, List<?>> parameters) {
+    private static final Pattern PTN_ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE_ACCESS = PatternFactory.getInstance().getPattern("environmentVariableAccess\\.([^=\\00])+\\.requires((?:Group)|(?:User))");
+
+    private IMap<String, ISet<String>> environmentVariableAccessGroups = null;
+    private IMap<String, ISet<String>> environmentVariableAccessUsers = null;
+
+    public FnModule(final Map<String, List<?>> parameters) {
         super(functions, parameters, true);
     }
 
@@ -308,6 +319,34 @@ public String getReleaseVersion() {
         return RELEASED_IN_VERSION;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Get the environment variable names and groups that are allowed to access them.
+     *
+     * @return a map where the key is the environment variable name, and the value is a set of group names.
+     */
+    IMap<String, ISet<String>> getEnvironmentVariableAccessGroups() {
+        if (environmentVariableAccessGroups == null) {
+            final Tuple2<IMap<String, ISet<String>>, IMap<String, ISet<String>>> accessRules = AccessUtil.parseAccessParameters(PTN_ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE_ACCESS, getParameters());
+            this.environmentVariableAccessGroups = accessRules._1;
+            this.environmentVariableAccessUsers = accessRules._2;
+        }
+        return environmentVariableAccessGroups;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the environment variable names and users that are allowed to access them.
+     *
+     * @return a map where the key is the environment variable name, and the value is a set of usernames.
+     */
+    IMap<String, ISet<String>> getEnvironmentVariableAccessUsers() {
+        if (environmentVariableAccessUsers == null) {
+            final Tuple2<IMap<String, ISet<String>>, IMap<String, ISet<String>>> accessRules = AccessUtil.parseAccessParameters(PTN_ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE_ACCESS, getParameters());
+            this.environmentVariableAccessGroups = accessRules._1;
+            this.environmentVariableAccessUsers = accessRules._2;
+        }
+        return environmentVariableAccessUsers;
+    }
+
     static FunctionSignature functionSignature(final String name, final String description, final FunctionReturnSequenceType returnType, final FunctionParameterSequenceType... paramTypes) {
         return FunctionDSL.functionSignature(new QName(name, Function.BUILTIN_FUNCTION_NS), description, returnType, paramTypes);
     }
diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/fn/FunEnvironment.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/fn/FunEnvironment.java
index 26c7ccf57df..b2dea59c9ab 100644
--- a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/fn/FunEnvironment.java
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/fn/FunEnvironment.java
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@
  */
 package org.exist.xquery.functions.fn;
 
-import java.util.Map;
+import io.lacuna.bifurcan.IMap;
+import io.lacuna.bifurcan.ISet;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
 import org.exist.dom.QName;
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@
 import org.exist.xquery.FunctionSignature;
 import org.exist.xquery.XPathException;
 import org.exist.xquery.XQueryContext;
+import org.exist.xquery.functions.AccessUtil;
 import org.exist.xquery.value.FunctionParameterSequenceType;
 import org.exist.xquery.value.FunctionReturnSequenceType;
 import org.exist.xquery.value.Sequence;
@@ -41,61 +43,63 @@
 
 public class FunEnvironment extends BasicFunction {
 
-    protected static final Logger logger = LogManager.getLogger(FunEnvironment.class);
+    private static final Logger LOGGER = LogManager.getLogger(FunEnvironment.class);
 
     public final static FunctionSignature[] signature = {
-        new FunctionSignature(
-            new QName("available-environment-variables", Function.BUILTIN_FUNCTION_NS),
-            "Returns a list of environment variable names.",
-            null,
-            new FunctionReturnSequenceType(Type.STRING, Cardinality.ZERO_OR_MORE,
-            "Returns a sequence of strings, being the names of the environment variables. User must be DBA.")
-        ),
-        new FunctionSignature(
-            new QName("environment-variable", Function.BUILTIN_FUNCTION_NS),
-            "Returns the value of a system environment variable, if it exists.",
-            new SequenceType[] {
-                new FunctionParameterSequenceType("name", Type.STRING,
-                    Cardinality.EXACTLY_ONE, "Name of environment variable.")
-            },
-            new FunctionReturnSequenceType(Type.STRING, Cardinality.ZERO_OR_ONE, "Corrensponding value of the environment variable, "
-            + "if there is no environment variable with a matching name, the function returns the empty sequence. User must be DBA.")
-        )
+            new FunctionSignature(
+                    new QName("available-environment-variables", Function.BUILTIN_FUNCTION_NS),
+                    "Returns a list of environment variable names.",
+                    null,
+                    new FunctionReturnSequenceType(Type.STRING, Cardinality.ZERO_OR_MORE,
+                            "Returns a sequence of strings, being the names of the environment variables. " +
+                                    "Only the Environment Variables that the calling user has been granted access to are returned (see conf.xml).")
+            ),
+            new FunctionSignature(
+                    new QName("environment-variable", Function.BUILTIN_FUNCTION_NS),
+                    "Returns the value of a system environment variable, if it exists.",
+                    new SequenceType[] {
+                            new FunctionParameterSequenceType("name", Type.STRING,
+                                    Cardinality.EXACTLY_ONE, "Name of environment variable.")
+                    },
+                    new FunctionReturnSequenceType(Type.STRING, Cardinality.ZERO_OR_ONE, "Corresponding value of the environment variable, " +
+                            "if there is no environment variable with a matching name, the function returns the empty sequence. " +
+                            "User must have been granted access to the Environment Variable (see conf.xml).")
+            )
     };
 
-    public FunEnvironment(XQueryContext context, FunctionSignature signature) {
+    public FunEnvironment(final XQueryContext context, final FunctionSignature signature) {
         super(context, signature);
     }
 
     @Override
-    public Sequence eval(Sequence[] args, Sequence contextSequence) throws XPathException {
-
-        if (!context.getSubject().hasDbaRole()) {
-            final String txt = "Permission denied, calling user '" + context.getSubject().getName() + "' must be a DBA to call this function.";
-            logger.error(txt);
-            return Sequence.EMPTY_SEQUENCE;
-        }
+    public Sequence eval(final Sequence[] args, final Sequence contextSequence) throws XPathException {
+        final FnModule fnModule = (FnModule) getParentModule();
+        final IMap<String, ISet<String>> environmentVariableAccessGroups = fnModule.getEnvironmentVariableAccessGroups();
+        final IMap<String, ISet<String>> environmentVariableAccessUsers = fnModule.getEnvironmentVariableAccessUsers();
 
         if (isCalledAs("available-environment-variables")) {
 
             final Sequence result = new ValueSequence();
 
-            final Map<String, String> env = context.getEnvironmentVariables();
-            for (final String key : env.keySet()) {
-                result.add(new StringValue(this, key));
+            final IMap<String, String> environmentVariables = context.getEnvironmentVariables();
+            for (final String environmentVariableName : environmentVariables.keys()) {
+                if (AccessUtil.isAllowedAccess(context.getEffectiveUser(), environmentVariableAccessGroups, environmentVariableAccessUsers, environmentVariableName)) {
+                    result.add(new StringValue(this, environmentVariableName));
+                }
             }
 
             return result;
 
         } else {
 
-            if (args[0].isEmpty()) {
+            final String environmentVariableName = args[0].itemAt(0).getStringValue();
+            if (!AccessUtil.isAllowedAccess(context.getEffectiveUser(), environmentVariableAccessGroups, environmentVariableAccessUsers, environmentVariableName)) {
+                final String txt = "Permission denied, calling user '" + context.getSubject().getName() + "' must be granted access to the Environment Variable: " + environmentVariableName + ".";
+                LOGGER.error(txt);
                 return Sequence.EMPTY_SEQUENCE;
             }
 
-            final String parameter = args[0].itemAt(0).getStringValue();
-
-            final String value = context.getEnvironmentVariables().get(parameter);
+            final String value = context.getEnvironmentVariables().get(environmentVariableName, null);
             if (value == null) {
                 return Sequence.EMPTY_SEQUENCE;
             }
diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/system/GetBuild.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/system/GetBuild.java
index 07e0ae9885c..f4718ddc649 100644
--- a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/system/GetBuild.java
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/system/GetBuild.java
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
  */
 package org.exist.xquery.functions.system;
 
-import org.exist.SystemProperties;
+import org.exist.ExistSystemProperties;
 import org.exist.dom.QName;
 import org.exist.xquery.BasicFunction;
 import org.exist.xquery.Cardinality;
@@ -51,11 +51,8 @@ public GetBuild(XQueryContext context) {
         super(context, signature);
     }
 
-    /* (non-Javadoc)
-     * @see org.exist.xquery.BasicFunction#eval(org.exist.xquery.value.Sequence[], org.exist.xquery.value.Sequence)
-     */
     @Override
     public Sequence eval(Sequence[] args, Sequence contextSequence) throws XPathException {
-        return new StringValue(this, SystemProperties.getInstance().getSystemProperty("product-build", "unknown build"));
+        return new StringValue(this, ExistSystemProperties.getInstance().getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_PRODUCT_BUILD, "unknown build"));
     }
 }
diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/system/GetProductName.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/system/GetProductName.java
index 83f62eedc84..720f33aeb8b 100644
--- a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/system/GetProductName.java
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/system/GetProductName.java
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
  */
 package org.exist.xquery.functions.system;
 
-import org.exist.SystemProperties;
+import org.exist.ExistSystemProperties;
 import org.exist.dom.QName;
 import org.exist.xquery.*;
 import org.exist.xquery.value.FunctionReturnSequenceType;
@@ -49,6 +49,6 @@ public GetProductName(final XQueryContext context) {
 
     @Override
     public Sequence eval(final Sequence[] args, final Sequence contextSequence) throws XPathException {
-        return new StringValue(this, SystemProperties.getInstance().getSystemProperty("product-name", "eXist"));
+        return new StringValue(this, ExistSystemProperties.getInstance().getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_PRODUCT_NAME, "eXist"));
     }
 }
diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/system/GetRevision.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/system/GetRevision.java
index a585ad7fa9f..5c0359a23d7 100644
--- a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/system/GetRevision.java
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/system/GetRevision.java
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
  */
 package org.exist.xquery.functions.system;
 
-import org.exist.SystemProperties;
+import org.exist.ExistSystemProperties;
 import org.exist.dom.QName;
 import org.exist.xquery.BasicFunction;
 import org.exist.xquery.Cardinality;
@@ -52,11 +52,8 @@ public GetRevision(XQueryContext context) {
         super(context, signature);
     }
 
-    /* (non-Javadoc)
-     * @see org.exist.xquery.BasicFunction#eval(org.exist.xquery.value.Sequence[], org.exist.xquery.value.Sequence)
-     */
     @Override
     public Sequence eval(Sequence[] args, Sequence contextSequence) throws XPathException {
-        return new StringValue(this, SystemProperties.getInstance().getSystemProperty("git-commit", "unknown Git commit ID"));
+        return new StringValue(this, ExistSystemProperties.getInstance().getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_GIT_COMMIT, "unknown Git commit ID"));
     }
 }
diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/system/GetVersion.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/system/GetVersion.java
index 32f87700f1d..ad693fb5c09 100644
--- a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/system/GetVersion.java
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/system/GetVersion.java
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
  */
 package org.exist.xquery.functions.system;
 
-import org.exist.SystemProperties;
+import org.exist.ExistSystemProperties;
 import org.exist.dom.QName;
 import org.exist.xquery.BasicFunction;
 import org.exist.xquery.Cardinality;
@@ -51,11 +51,8 @@ public GetVersion(XQueryContext context) {
         super(context, signature);
     }
 
-    /* (non-Javadoc)
-     * @see org.exist.xquery.BasicFunction#eval(org.exist.xquery.value.Sequence[], org.exist.xquery.value.Sequence)
-     */
     @Override
     public Sequence eval(Sequence[] args, Sequence contextSequence) throws XPathException {
-        return new StringValue(this, SystemProperties.getInstance().getSystemProperty("product-version", "unknown version"));
+        return new StringValue(this, ExistSystemProperties.getInstance().getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_PRODUCT_VERSION, "unknown version"));
     }
 }
diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/util/SystemProperty.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/util/SystemProperty.java
index 87653b1317c..8eebf1ab3c5 100644
--- a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/util/SystemProperty.java
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/util/SystemProperty.java
@@ -21,53 +21,104 @@
  */
 package org.exist.xquery.functions.util;
 
-import org.exist.SystemProperties;
-import org.exist.dom.QName;
+import io.lacuna.bifurcan.IMap;
+import io.lacuna.bifurcan.ISet;
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
+import org.exist.ExistSystemProperties;
 import org.exist.xquery.BasicFunction;
-import org.exist.xquery.Cardinality;
 import org.exist.xquery.FunctionSignature;
 import org.exist.xquery.XPathException;
 import org.exist.xquery.XQueryContext;
-import org.exist.xquery.value.FunctionParameterSequenceType;
-import org.exist.xquery.value.FunctionReturnSequenceType;
+import org.exist.xquery.functions.AccessUtil;
 import org.exist.xquery.value.Sequence;
-import org.exist.xquery.value.SequenceType;
 import org.exist.xquery.value.StringValue;
 import org.exist.xquery.value.Type;
+import org.exist.xquery.value.ValueSequence;
+
+import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.Set;
+
+import static org.exist.xquery.FunctionDSL.*;
+import static org.exist.xquery.functions.util.UtilModule.functionSignature;
 
 /**
- * Libary function to retrieve the value of a system property.
+ * Library function to retrieve the value of a system property.
+ *
  * @author Wolfgang Meier
  * @author Loren Cahlander
+ * @author <a href="mailto:adam@evolvedbinary.com>Adam Retter</a>
  */
 public class SystemProperty extends BasicFunction {
 
-    public final static FunctionSignature signature = new FunctionSignature(
-        new QName("system-property", UtilModule.NAMESPACE_URI, UtilModule.PREFIX),
-        "Returns the value of a system property. Similar to the corresponding XSLT function. " +
-        "Predefined properties are: vendor, vendor-url, product-name, product-version, product-build, and all Java " +
-        "system properties.",
-        new SequenceType[] { 
-            new FunctionParameterSequenceType("property-name", Type.STRING, Cardinality.EXACTLY_ONE, "The name of the system property to retrieve the value of.")
-        },
-        new FunctionReturnSequenceType(Type.STRING, Cardinality.ZERO_OR_ONE, "the value of the named system property")
+    private static final Logger LOGGER = LogManager.getLogger(SystemProperty.class);
+
+    private final static String FS_AVAILABLE_SYSTEM_PROPERTIES_NAME = "available-system-properties";
+    public final static FunctionSignature FS_AVAILABLE_SYSTEM_PROPERTIES = functionSignature(
+            FS_AVAILABLE_SYSTEM_PROPERTIES_NAME,
+            "Returns a list of available system properties. " +
+                    "Predefined properties are: vendor, vendor-url, product-name, product-version, product-build, and all Java " +
+                    "System Properties.",
+            returnsOptMany(Type.STRING, "The names of the available system properties")
     );
 
-    public SystemProperty(XQueryContext context, FunctionSignature signature) {
+    private final static String FS_SYSTEM_PROPERTY_NAME = "system-property";
+    public final static FunctionSignature FS_SYSTEM_PROPERTY = functionSignature(
+            FS_SYSTEM_PROPERTY_NAME,
+            "Returns the value of a system property. Similar to the corresponding XSLT function. " +
+                    "Predefined properties are: vendor, vendor-url, product-name, product-version, product-build, and all Java " +
+                    "System Properties.",
+            returnsOpt(Type.STRING, "the value of the named system property"),
+            param("property-name", Type.STRING, "The name of the system property to retrieve the value of.")
+    );
+
+    public SystemProperty(final XQueryContext context, final FunctionSignature signature) {
         super(context, signature);
     }
 
-    /* (non-Javadoc)
-     * @see org.exist.xquery.BasicFunction#eval(org.exist.xquery.value.Sequence[], org.exist.xquery.value.Sequence)
-     */
     @Override
-    public Sequence eval(Sequence[] args, Sequence contextSequence) throws XPathException {
+    public Sequence eval(final Sequence[] args, final Sequence contextSequence) throws XPathException {
+        final UtilModule utilModule = (UtilModule) getParentModule();
+        final IMap<String, ISet<String>> systemPropertyAccessGroups = utilModule.getSystemPropertyAccessGroups();
+        final IMap<String, ISet<String>> systemPropertyAccessUsers = utilModule.getSystemPropertyAccessUsers();
+
+        if (isCalledAs(FS_AVAILABLE_SYSTEM_PROPERTIES_NAME)) {
+
+            final Set<String> availableProperties = new HashSet<>();
+            availableProperties.addAll(ExistSystemProperties.getInstance().getAvailableExistSystemProperties());
+
+            // add any Java System Properties that the user has access to
+            for (final String systemPropertyName : context.getJavaSystemProperties().keys()) {
+                if (AccessUtil.isAllowedAccess(context.getEffectiveUser(), systemPropertyAccessGroups, systemPropertyAccessUsers, systemPropertyName)) {
+                    availableProperties.add(systemPropertyName);
+                }
+            }
+
+            final ValueSequence result = new ValueSequence(availableProperties.size());
+            for (final String availableProperty : availableProperties) {
+                result.add(new StringValue(this, availableProperty));
+            }
+
+            return result;
+
+        } else {
+            final String systemPropertyName = args[0].getStringValue();
+
+            // always allow access to all eXist-db System Properties
+            String value = ExistSystemProperties.getInstance().getExistSystemProperty(systemPropertyName, null);
+            if (value == null) {
+
+                // check for a Java System Property that the user has access to
+                if (!AccessUtil.isAllowedAccess(context.getEffectiveUser(), systemPropertyAccessGroups, systemPropertyAccessUsers, systemPropertyName)) {
+                    final String txt = "Permission denied, calling user '" + context.getSubject().getName() + "' must be granted access to the Java System Property: " + systemPropertyName + ".";
+                    LOGGER.error(txt);
+                    return Sequence.EMPTY_SEQUENCE;
+                }
+
+                value = context.getJavaSystemProperties().get(systemPropertyName, null);
+            }
 
-        final String key = args[0].getStringValue();
-        String value = SystemProperties.getInstance().getSystemProperty(key, null);
-        if(value == null) {
-                value = System.getProperty(key);
+            return value == null ? Sequence.EMPTY_SEQUENCE : new StringValue(this, value);
         }
-        return value == null ? Sequence.EMPTY_SEQUENCE : new StringValue(this, value);
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/util/UtilModule.java b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/util/UtilModule.java
index 7400257f01e..67146d6cbfb 100644
--- a/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/util/UtilModule.java
+++ b/exist-core/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/util/UtilModule.java
@@ -24,9 +24,15 @@
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
+import com.evolvedbinary.j8fu.tuple.Tuple2;
+import io.lacuna.bifurcan.IMap;
+import io.lacuna.bifurcan.ISet;
 import org.exist.dom.QName;
+import org.exist.util.PatternFactory;
 import org.exist.xquery.*;
+import org.exist.xquery.functions.AccessUtil;
 import org.exist.xquery.value.FunctionParameterSequenceType;
 import org.exist.xquery.value.FunctionReturnSequenceType;
 
@@ -37,7 +43,7 @@
  * @author <a href="mailto:wolfgang@exist-db.org">Wolfgang Meier</a>
  * @author ljo
  * @author <a href="mailto:andrzej@chaeron.com">Andrzej Taramina</a>
- * @author <a href="mailto:adam@evolvedbinary.com">Adam retter</a>
+ * @author <a href="mailto:adam@evolvedbinary.com>Adam Retter</a>
  */
 public class UtilModule extends AbstractInternalModule {
 
@@ -98,7 +104,8 @@ public class UtilModule extends AbstractInternalModule {
             new FunctionDef(ExclusiveLockFunction.signature, ExclusiveLockFunction.class),
             new FunctionDef(SharedLockFunction.signature, SharedLockFunction.class),
             new FunctionDef(Collations.signature, Collations.class),
-            new FunctionDef(SystemProperty.signature, SystemProperty.class),
+            new FunctionDef(SystemProperty.FS_AVAILABLE_SYSTEM_PROPERTIES, SystemProperty.class),
+            new FunctionDef(SystemProperty.FS_SYSTEM_PROPERTY, SystemProperty.class),
             new FunctionDef(FunctionFunction.signature, FunctionFunction.class),
             new FunctionDef(CallFunction.signature, CallFunction.class),
             new FunctionDef(NodeId.signature, NodeId.class),
@@ -165,6 +172,11 @@ public class UtilModule extends AbstractInternalModule {
 
     public final static QName ERROR_CODE_QNAME = new QName("error-code", UtilModule.NAMESPACE_URI, UtilModule.PREFIX);
 
+    private static final Pattern PTN_SYSTEM_PROPERTY_ACCESS = PatternFactory.getInstance().getPattern("systemPropertyAccess\\.([^=\\00])+\\.requires((?:Group)|(?:User))");
+
+    private IMap<String, ISet<String>> systemPropertyAccessGroups = null;
+    private IMap<String, ISet<String>> systemPropertyAccessUsers = null;
+
     public UtilModule(final Map<String, List<? extends Object>> parameters) throws XPathException {
         super(functions, parameters, true);
 
@@ -217,6 +229,34 @@ public void reset(final XQueryContext xqueryContext, final boolean keepGlobals)
         super.reset(xqueryContext, keepGlobals);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Get the system property names and groups that are allowed to access them.
+     *
+     * @return a map where the key is the system property name, and the value is a set of group names.
+     */
+    IMap<String, ISet<String>> getSystemPropertyAccessGroups() {
+        if (systemPropertyAccessGroups == null) {
+            final Tuple2<IMap<String, ISet<String>>, IMap<String, ISet<String>>> accessRules = AccessUtil.parseAccessParameters(PTN_SYSTEM_PROPERTY_ACCESS, getParameters());
+            this.systemPropertyAccessGroups = accessRules._1;
+            this.systemPropertyAccessUsers = accessRules._2;
+        }
+        return systemPropertyAccessGroups;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the system property names and users that are allowed to access them.
+     *
+     * @return a map where the key is the system property name, and the value is a set of usernames.
+     */
+    IMap<String, ISet<String>> getSystemPropertyAccessUsers() {
+        if (systemPropertyAccessUsers == null) {
+            final Tuple2<IMap<String, ISet<String>>, IMap<String, ISet<String>>> accessRules = AccessUtil.parseAccessParameters(PTN_SYSTEM_PROPERTY_ACCESS, getParameters());
+            this.systemPropertyAccessGroups = accessRules._1;
+            this.systemPropertyAccessUsers = accessRules._2;
+        }
+        return systemPropertyAccessUsers;
+    }
+
     static FunctionSignature functionSignature(final String name, final String description, final FunctionReturnSequenceType returnType, final FunctionParameterSequenceType... paramTypes) {
         return FunctionDSL.functionSignature(new QName(name, NAMESPACE_URI, PREFIX), description, returnType, paramTypes);
     }
diff --git a/exist-core/src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/fn/FunEnvironmentTest.java b/exist-core/src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/fn/FunEnvironmentTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b7ee9e88e87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/exist-core/src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/fn/FunEnvironmentTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,144 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2014, Evolved Binary Ltd
+ *
+ * This file was originally ported from FusionDB to eXist-db by
+ * Evolved Binary, for the benefit of the eXist-db Open Source community.
+ * Only the ported code as it appears in this file, at the time that
+ * it was contributed to eXist-db, was re-licensed under The GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License v2.1 only for use in eXist-db.
+ *
+ * This license grant applies only to a snapshot of the code as it
+ * appeared when ported, it does not offer or infer any rights to either
+ * updates of this source code or access to the original source code.
+ *
+ * The GNU Lesser General Public License v2.1 only license follows.
+ *
+ * ---------------------------------------------------------------------
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2014, Evolved Binary Ltd
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; version 2.1.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
+ */
+package org.exist.xquery.functions.fn;
+
+import org.exist.EXistException;
+import org.exist.security.PermissionDeniedException;
+import org.exist.storage.BrokerPool;
+import org.exist.storage.DBBroker;
+import org.exist.test.ExistEmbeddedServer;
+import org.exist.util.DatabaseConfigurationException;
+import org.exist.xquery.XPathException;
+import org.exist.xquery.XQuery;
+import org.exist.xquery.value.Sequence;
+import org.junit.After;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.junit.runners.Parameterized;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.URISyntaxException;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.nio.file.Paths;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Optional;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+
+@RunWith(Parameterized.class)
+public class FunEnvironmentTest {
+
+    @Parameterized.Parameters(name = "{0}")
+    public static java.util.Collection<Object[]> data() {
+        return Arrays.asList(new Object[][] {
+                { "non-secure", null, false },
+                { "secure", "conf-env-vars-admins-only.xml", true }
+        });
+    }
+
+    @Parameterized.Parameter(value = 0)
+    public String testTypeName;
+
+    @Parameterized.Parameter(value = 1)
+    public String confFileName;
+
+    @Parameterized.Parameter(value = 2)
+    public boolean shouldReturnEmptySequence;
+
+    private ExistEmbeddedServer existEmbeddedServer = null;
+
+    @Before
+    public void setup() throws URISyntaxException, DatabaseConfigurationException, EXistException, IOException {
+        if (confFileName == null) {
+            existEmbeddedServer = new ExistEmbeddedServer(true, true);
+        } else {
+            final Path confFile = Paths.get(getClass().getResource(confFileName).toURI());
+            existEmbeddedServer = new ExistEmbeddedServer(null, confFile, null, true, true);
+        }
+        existEmbeddedServer.startDb();
+    }
+
+    @After
+    public void teardown() {
+        if (existEmbeddedServer != null) {
+            existEmbeddedServer.stopDb();
+        }
+        existEmbeddedServer = null;
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void availableEnvironmentVariables() throws EXistException, XPathException, PermissionDeniedException {
+        final BrokerPool pool = existEmbeddedServer.getBrokerPool();
+        final XQuery xqueryService = pool.getXQueryService();
+        try (final DBBroker broker = pool.get(Optional.of(pool.getSecurityManager().getSystemSubject()))) {
+
+            final String query = "fn:available-environment-variables()";
+            final Sequence result = xqueryService.execute(broker, query, null);
+
+            if (shouldReturnEmptySequence) {
+                assertTrue(result.isEmpty());
+            } else {
+                assertFalse(result.isEmpty());
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void environmentVariable() throws EXistException, XPathException, PermissionDeniedException {
+        final BrokerPool pool = existEmbeddedServer.getBrokerPool();
+        final XQuery xqueryService = pool.getXQueryService();
+        try (final DBBroker broker = pool.get(Optional.of(pool.getSecurityManager().getSystemSubject()))) {
+
+            final String query;
+            if (isWindows()) {
+                query = "fn:environment-variable('Path')";
+            } else {
+                query = "fn:environment-variable('PATH')";
+            }
+
+            final Sequence result = xqueryService.execute(broker, query, null);
+
+            if (shouldReturnEmptySequence) {
+                assertTrue(result.isEmpty());
+            } else {
+                assertFalse(result.isEmpty());
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static boolean isWindows() {
+        return System.getProperty("os.name").toLowerCase().startsWith("win");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/exist-core/src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/util/SystemPropertyTest.java b/exist-core/src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/util/SystemPropertyTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..950f51bef46
--- /dev/null
+++ b/exist-core/src/test/java/org/exist/xquery/functions/util/SystemPropertyTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2014, Evolved Binary Ltd
+ *
+ * This file was originally ported from FusionDB to eXist-db by
+ * Evolved Binary, for the benefit of the eXist-db Open Source community.
+ * Only the ported code as it appears in this file, at the time that
+ * it was contributed to eXist-db, was re-licensed under The GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License v2.1 only for use in eXist-db.
+ *
+ * This license grant applies only to a snapshot of the code as it
+ * appeared when ported, it does not offer or infer any rights to either
+ * updates of this source code or access to the original source code.
+ *
+ * The GNU Lesser General Public License v2.1 only license follows.
+ *
+ * ---------------------------------------------------------------------
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2014, Evolved Binary Ltd
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; version 2.1.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
+ */
+package org.exist.xquery.functions.util;
+
+import org.exist.EXistException;
+import org.exist.ExistSystemProperties;
+import org.exist.security.PermissionDeniedException;
+import org.exist.storage.BrokerPool;
+import org.exist.storage.DBBroker;
+import org.exist.test.ExistEmbeddedServer;
+import org.exist.util.DatabaseConfigurationException;
+import org.exist.xquery.XPathException;
+import org.exist.xquery.XQuery;
+import org.exist.xquery.value.Sequence;
+import org.junit.After;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.junit.runners.Parameterized;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.URISyntaxException;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.nio.file.Paths;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.Optional;
+import java.util.Set;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
+@RunWith(Parameterized.class)
+public class SystemPropertyTest {
+
+    @Parameterized.Parameters(name = "{0}")
+    public static java.util.Collection<Object[]> data() {
+        return Arrays.asList(new Object[][] {
+                { "non-secure", null, false },
+                { "secure", "conf-sys-props-admins-only.xml", true }
+        });
+    }
+
+    @Parameterized.Parameter(value = 0)
+    public String testTypeName;
+
+    @Parameterized.Parameter(value = 1)
+    public String confFileName;
+
+    @Parameterized.Parameter(value = 2)
+    public boolean shouldReturnEmptySequence;
+
+    private ExistEmbeddedServer existEmbeddedServer = null;
+
+    @Before
+    public void setup() throws URISyntaxException, DatabaseConfigurationException, EXistException, IOException {
+        if (confFileName == null) {
+            existEmbeddedServer = new ExistEmbeddedServer(true, true);
+        } else {
+            final Path confFile = Paths.get(getClass().getResource(confFileName).toURI());
+            existEmbeddedServer = new ExistEmbeddedServer(null, confFile, null, true, true);
+        }
+        existEmbeddedServer.startDb();
+    }
+
+    @After
+    public void teardown() {
+        if (existEmbeddedServer != null) {
+            existEmbeddedServer.stopDb();
+        }
+        existEmbeddedServer = null;
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void availableSystemProperties() throws EXistException, XPathException, PermissionDeniedException {
+        final BrokerPool pool = existEmbeddedServer.getBrokerPool();
+        final XQuery xqueryService = pool.getXQueryService();
+        try (final DBBroker broker = pool.get(Optional.of(pool.getSecurityManager().getSystemSubject()))) {
+
+            final String query = "util:available-system-properties()";
+            final Sequence result = xqueryService.execute(broker, query, null);
+            assertFalse(result.isEmpty());
+
+            final Set<String> set = new HashSet<>(result.getItemCount());
+            for (int i = 0; i < result.getItemCount(); i++) {
+                set.add(result.itemAt(i).getStringValue());
+            }
+
+            assertTrue(set.contains(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_PRODUCT_VERSION));
+
+            if (shouldReturnEmptySequence) {
+                assertFalse(set.contains("os.name"));
+            } else {
+                assertTrue(set.contains("os.name"));
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void systemProperty() throws EXistException, XPathException, PermissionDeniedException {
+        final BrokerPool pool = existEmbeddedServer.getBrokerPool();
+        final XQuery xqueryService = pool.getXQueryService();
+        try (final DBBroker broker = pool.get(Optional.of(pool.getSecurityManager().getSystemSubject()))) {
+
+            String query = "util:system-property('" + ExistSystemProperties.PROP_PRODUCT_NAME + "')";
+            Sequence result = xqueryService.execute(broker, query, null);
+            assertEquals(1, result.getItemCount());
+
+            query = "util:system-property('os.name')";
+            result = xqueryService.execute(broker, query, null);
+
+            if (shouldReturnEmptySequence) {
+                assertTrue(result.isEmpty());
+            } else {
+                assertFalse(result.isEmpty());
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/exist-core/src/test/resources/org/exist/xquery/functions/fn/conf-env-vars-admins-only.xml b/exist-core/src/test/resources/org/exist/xquery/functions/fn/conf-env-vars-admins-only.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..dad17886ad0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/exist-core/src/test/resources/org/exist/xquery/functions/fn/conf-env-vars-admins-only.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,828 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<!--
+
+    eXist-db Open Source Native XML Database
+    Copyright (C) 2001 The eXist-db Authors
+
+    info@exist-db.org
+    http://www.exist-db.org
+
+    This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+    modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+    License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+    version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+
+    This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+    Lesser General Public License for more details.
+
+    You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+    License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+    Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
+
+-->
+<!--
+    This is the central configuration file for the database. If the database
+    is running in a servlet-context, the configuration file will be read from
+    the WEB-INF directory of the web application. Otherwise, the configuration
+    is read from the directory specified by the exist.home system property.
+    
+    Structure of this xml document:
+    
+        exist
+            db-connection
+                startup
+                    triggers
+                pool
+                recovery
+                security
+                watchdog
+            repository
+            binary-manager
+            indexer
+            scheduler
+                job
+            parser
+            serializer
+            transformer
+            validation
+            xquery
+                builtin-modules
+                    module
+            xupdate
+    
+    Any unique attributes specified can also be overridden using a Java system 
+    property, typically specified on the command line, of the form:
+    
+        org.element.element....attribute
+        
+    where the nesting of the element names follows the structure of the 
+    XML configuration document, as was shown above.
+        
+    For example, to override the value of the cache size to be 128MB you could
+    specify:
+    
+        -Dorg.exist.db-connection.cacheSize=128M
+        
+    on your JVM startup command line or options.  Note that this only works 
+    for unique, non-repeating elements, so you can't override things like 
+    the transformer attribute element values or the XQuery module builtin 
+    definitions, since they are not unique.
+    
+    For detailed and latest information please consult the eXist documentation:
+    
+        - http://exist-db.org/exist/apps/doc/configuration.xml
+        - http://exist-db.org/exist/apps/doc/documentation.xml
+        - http://atomic.exist-db.org/
+        
+    Version: 4.11.0-SNAPSHOT
+
+-->
+<exist xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="schema/conf.xsd">
+
+    <!-- 
+        Configures the database backend.
+        
+        - cacheSize:
+            the maximum amount of memory to use for database page buffers.
+            Each database file has an associated page buffer for B+-tree and
+            data pages. However, the memory specified via cacheSize is shared
+            between all page buffers. It represents an absolute maximum, which
+            would be occupied if all page buffers were completely full.
+            
+            The cacheSize should typically not be more than half of the size of 
+            the JVM heap size (set by the JVM -Xmx parameter). It can be larger 
+            if you have a large-memory JVM (usually a 64bit JVM)
+        
+        - checkMaxCacheSize:
+            specifies whether eXist should check the max cache size on startup 
+            and reduce it if it is too large.
+            
+            This value should normally be set to true.
+            
+            Only set this value to false if:
+            
+                a) You know what you are doing!
+                b) You have a JVM with tons of memory (typically using a 64-bit 
+                   JVM, which is the scenario this setting is intended for).
+                c) You are really sure you've complied with a) and b) above.
+                
+            Setting this value to false may cause memory issues which may lead to 
+            database corruptions, since it disables the automated max cache size 
+            checks! You have been warned! ;-)
+            
+        - collectionCache:
+            maximum amount of memory (in megabytes) to use for collection caches.
+            Memory calculation is just approximate. If your collections are very 
+            different in size, it might be possible that the actual amount of 
+            memory used exceeds the specified limit. You should thus be careful 
+            with this setting.
+        
+        - database:
+            selects a database backend. Currently, "native" is the only valid setting.
+        
+        - files:
+            path to the directory where database files are stored.
+        
+        - pageSize:
+            the size of one page on the disk. This is the smallest unit
+            transferred from and to the database files. Should be a multiple of
+            the operating system's file system page size (usually 4096).
+
+        - nodesBuffer:
+            size of the temporary buffer used by eXist for caching index
+            data while indexing a document. If set to -1, eXist will use the
+            entire free memory to buffer index entries and will flush the
+            cache once the memory is full.
+
+            If set to a value > 0, the buffer will be fixed to the given size.
+            The specified number corresponds to the number of nodes the
+            buffer can hold, in thousands. Usually, a good default could be
+            nodesBuffer="1000".
+    
+         - cacheShrinkThreshold:
+            The minimum number of pages that must be read from a
+            cache between check intervals to be not considered for 
+            shrinking. This is a measure for the "load" of the cache. Caches
+            with high load will never be shrinked. A negative value means that
+            shrinkage will not be performed.
+
+         - doc-ids:
+            how document ids are managed by eXist. Takes the values
+            "default" or "incremental".
+            
+            eXist assigns a unique, 32bit integer document id to every 
+            document. When a document is deleted, its id will be freed 
+            and reused for the next document stored. The disadvantage 
+            of this approach is that document ids
+            are not stable, i.e. one cannot be sure that the same document
+            id will always identify the same document.
+
+            If you need stable, incremental ids, set the option doc-ids to
+            "incremental".
+        - minDiskSpace:
+            The amount of disk space (in megabytes) which should be available for
+            the database to continue operations. If free disk space goes below
+            the configured limit, eXist-db will flush all buffers to disk and
+            switch to read-only mode in order to prevent potential data loss. 
+            Set the limit large enough to allow all pending operations to 
+            complete. The default is 1 gigabyte.
+    
+        =====================================================================
+        
+        The settings below are very conservative to avoid out-of-memory
+        exceptions on machines with limited memory (256MB).
+        
+        Increase the buffer settings for elements_buffers and words_buffers if 
+        you have some more memory to waste. If you deal with lots of 
+        collections, you can also increase the collectionCacheSize value 
+    -->
+    <db-connection cacheSize="256M" checkMaxCacheSize="true" collectionCache="64M" database="native"
+        files="webapp/WEB-INF/data" pageSize="4096" nodesBuffer="1000" cacheShrinkThreshold="10000"
+        doc-ids="default" minDiskSpace="128M">
+
+        <!--
+            Startup Triggers are executed before the database becomes generally available
+            for service and have complete access to the database as the SYSTEM broker
+        -->
+        <startup>
+            <triggers>
+
+		<!--
+		    Trigger for registering the GNU Crypto JCE Provider with Java
+		-->
+		<trigger class="org.exist.security.BouncyCastleJceProviderStartupTrigger"/>
+
+                <!--
+                    Trigger for registering eXists XML:DB URL handler with Java
+                -->
+                <trigger class="org.exist.protocolhandler.URLStreamHandlerStartupTrigger">
+                    <!-- Keeps stream data on disk (temporary files are used for XML documents) -->
+                    <parameter name="mode" value="disk"/>
+
+                    <!-- Keep's stream data in memory -->
+                    <parameter name="mode" value="memory"/>
+                </trigger>
+
+                <!-- 
+                    EXQuery RESTXQ trigger to load the RESTXQ Registry at startup time 
+                -->
+                <trigger class="org.exist.extensions.exquery.restxq.impl.RestXqStartupTrigger"/>
+                
+                <!-- 
+                    AutoDeploymentTrigger will install any .xar application package it finds
+                    in the autodeploy directory unless the application has already been installed
+                    in the db. 
+                -->   
+                <trigger class="org.exist.repo.AutoDeploymentTrigger"/>
+                
+                <!-- 
+                    XQueryStartupTrigger will execute all xquery scripts stored in the
+                    /db/system/autostart collection during startup of the database. 
+
+                    The collection must be owned by SYSTEM/DBA mode "rwxrwx___" (0770)
+					
+                    Each of the scripts must be owned by a DBA user, group DBA, 
+                    mode "rwxrwx___" (0770) with mime-type "application/xquery". 
+                    The names of the scripts must end with ".xq", ".xqy" or ".xquery".
+                -->
+                <!--<trigger class="org.exist.collections.triggers.XQueryStartupTrigger"/>-->
+                    
+            </triggers>
+        </startup>
+
+
+        <!-- 
+            Settings for the database connection pool:
+            
+            - min:
+                minimum number of connections to keep alive.
+            
+            - max:
+                maximum number of connections allowed.
+            
+            - sync-period:
+                defines how often the database will flush its 
+                internal buffers to disk. The sync thread will interrupt 
+                normal database operation after the specified number of 
+                milliseconds and write all dirty pages to disk.
+            
+            - wait-before-shutdown:
+                defines how long the database instance will wait for running
+                operations to complete before it forces a shutdown. Forcing
+                a shutdown may leave the db in an unclean state and may
+                trigger a recovery run on restart.
+
+                Setting wait-before-shutdown="-1" means that the server will
+                wait for all threads to return, no matter how long it takes.
+                No thread will be killed.
+        -->
+        <pool max="20" min="1" sync-period="120000" wait-before-shutdown="120000"/>
+
+        <!--                                                                        
+                Configure the query pool.
+                
+                - max-stack-size:                                                        
+                    maximum number of queries in the query-pool.                         
+                                                                                         
+                - size:                                                                  
+                    number of copies of the same query kept in the query-pool.           
+                    Value "-1" effectively disables caching. Queries cannot be shared     
+                    by threads, each thread needs a private copy of a query.             
+                                                                                         
+                - timeout:                                                               
+                    amount of time that a query will be cached in the query-pool in milliseconds.
+            -->
+        <query-pool max-stack-size="64" size="128" timeout="120000"/>
+
+        <!--
+            Settings for the journaling and recovery of the database. With 
+            recovery enabled, the database is able to recover from an unclean
+            database shutdown due to, for example, power failures, OS reboots, 
+            and hanging processes. For this to work correctly, all database 
+            operations must be logged to a journal file. 
+                      
+            - enabled:
+                if this attribute is set to yes, automatic recovery is enabled.
+            
+            - journal-dir:     
+                this attribute sets the directory where journal files are to be
+                written. If no directory is specified, the default path is to
+                the data directory.
+            
+            - size:
+                this attributes sets the maximum allowed size of the journal 
+                file. Once the journal reaches this limit, a checkpoint will be
+                triggered and the journal will be cleaned. However, the database
+                waits for running transactions to return before processing this
+                checkpoint. In the event one of these transactions writes a lot
+                of data to the journal file, the file will grow until the 
+                transaction has completed. Hence, the size limit is not enforced
+                in all cases.
+            
+            - sync-on-commit:
+                this attribute determines whether or not to protect the journal
+                during operating system failures. That is, it determines whether
+                the database forces a file-sync on the journal after every 
+                commit. 
+                If this attribute is set to "yes", the journal is protected 
+                against operating system failures. However, this will slow 
+                performance - especially on Windows systems. 
+                If set to "no", eXist will rely on the operating system to flush
+                out the journal contents to disk. In the worst case scenario, 
+                in which there is a complete system failure, some committed 
+                transactions might not have yet been written to the journal, 
+                and so will be rolled back.
+
+            - group-commit:
+                If set to "yes", eXist will not sync the journal file 
+                immediately after every transaction commit. Instead, 
+                it will wait until the current file buffer (32kb)
+                is really full. This can speed up eXist on some systems 
+                where a file sync is an expensive operation (mainly windows 
+                XP; not necessary on Linux). However, group-comit="yes"
+                will increase the risk of an already committed 
+                operation being rolled back after a database crash.
+
+            - force-restart:
+                Try to restart the db even if crash recovery failed. This is
+                dangerous because there might be corruptions inside the
+                data files. The transaction log will be cleared, all locks removed
+                and the db reindexed.
+                
+                Set this option to "yes" if you need to make sure that the db is
+                online, even after a fatal crash. Errors encountered during recovery 
+                are written to the log files. Scan the log files to see if any problems
+                occurred.
+
+            - consistency-check:
+                If set to "yes", a consistency check will be run on the database
+                if an error was detected during crash recovery. This option requires
+                force-restart to be set to "yes", otherwise it has no effect.
+
+                The consistency check outputs a report to the directory {files}/sanity
+                and if inconsistencies are found in the db, it writes an emergency
+                backup to the same directory.
+        -->
+        <recovery enabled="yes"  group-commit="no"   journal-dir="webapp/WEB-INF/data"
+                  size="100M" sync-on-commit="no"  force-restart="no"  consistency-check="yes"/>
+
+        <!--
+            This is the global configuration for the query watchdog. The 
+            watchdog monitors all query processes, and can terminate any 
+            long-running queries if they exceed one of the predefined limits. 
+            These limits are as follows:
+            
+            - output-size-limit:
+                this attribute limits the size of XML fragments constructed 
+                using XQuery, and thus sets the maximum amount of main memory a
+                query is allowed to use. This limit is expressed as the maximum
+                number of nodes allowed for an in-memory DOM tree. The purpose
+                of this option is to avoid memory shortages on the server in
+                cases where users are allowed to run queries that produce very
+                large output fragments.
+            
+            - query-timeout:
+                this attribute sets the maximum amount of time (expressed in 
+                milliseconds) that the query can take before it is killed..
+            
+        -->
+        <watchdog output-size-limit="1000000" query-timeout="-1"/>
+
+    </db-connection>
+
+    <!--
+        Settings for the package repository:
+
+        - root:
+            The root collection for deployed applications. Application collections will be saved below
+            this collection.
+    -->
+    <repository root="/db/apps"/>
+
+    <!--
+        Settings for the Binary Manager:
+        
+        - cache 
+            Defines the class to use to Cache InputStreams when reading binary documents
+            from the database or from a read once source such as a http request (e.g. request:get-data()).
+            There are currently three options available:
+            
+            - org.exist.util.io.FileFilterInputStreamCache
+                Default. Temporary binary streams are cached to a temporary file on disk.
+            
+            - org.exist.util.io.MemoryMappedFileFilterInputStreamCache
+                Temporary binary streams are cached to a temporary file on disk which
+                has been mapped into memory. Faster than FileFilterInputStreamCache.
+                Not reliable on Windows platforms.
+                
+            - org.exist.util.io.MemoryFilterInputStreamCache
+                Temporary binary streams are cached in memory.
+                This is the fastest approach. However it can result in out of memory
+                errors under heavy load or if using large binary files. 
+            
+           Where temporary files are used, they will be deleted after use.
+           However, due to a bug in the JVM on Windows platforms, temporary files cannot be deleted, so instead
+           they are re-cycled and re-used and deleted if the database is restarted.
+    -->
+    <binary-manager>
+        <cache class="org.exist.util.io.FileFilterInputStreamCache"/>
+    </binary-manager>
+    
+    <!-- 
+        Settings for the indexer:
+        
+        - caseSensitive:
+            should equality comparisons between strings be case-sensitive or
+            insensitive: "yes" or "no".
+        
+        - index-depth:
+            defines the maximum nesting depth of nodes which will be indexed
+            in the DOM index. Nodes below the specified nesting depth will
+            not be indexed in the DOM file. This has only an effect when 
+            retrieving query results or for some types of XPath subexpressions, 
+            like equality comparisons.
+        
+        - suppress-whitespace:
+            should leading or trailing whitespace be removed from a text node?
+            Set to "leading", "trailing", "both" or "none".
+            Changing the parameter will only have an effect on newly loaded 
+            files, not old ones.
+        
+        - preserve-whitespace-mixed-content:
+            preserve the white space inside a mixed content node: "yes" or "no".
+    -->
+    <indexer caseSensitive="yes" index-depth="5" preserve-whitespace-mixed-content="no"
+        suppress-whitespace="none">
+
+        <modules>
+
+        </modules>
+
+        <!--
+            Default index settings. Default settings apply if there's no 
+            collection-specific configuration for a collection.
+        -->
+        <index>
+            <!-- settings go here -->
+        </index>
+    </indexer>
+
+    <!--
+        Configures user jobs for the scheduler
+    -->
+    <scheduler>
+        <!-- 
+            Job definitions:
+            
+            - type:
+            The type of the job to schedule. Must be either "system" 
+            or "user".
+            
+                system - System jobs require the database to be in a consistent state.
+                All database operations will be stopped until the method returns or 
+                throws an exception. Any exception will be caught and a warning written to
+                the log.
+                
+                user - User jobs may be scheduled at any time and may be mutually exclusive
+                or non-exclusive
+            
+            - class:
+            If the job is written in Java then this should be the name of the
+            class that extends either -
+                org.exist.storage.SystemTask
+                org.exist.scheduler.UserJavaJob
+            
+            - xquery:
+            If the job is written in XQuery (not suitable for system jobs) then 
+            this should be a path to an XQuery stored in the database. e.g. 
+            /db/myCollection/myJob.xql
+            XQuery job's will be launched under the guest account initially,
+            although the running XQuery may switch permissions through
+            calls to xmldb:login().
+            
+            - cron-trigger:
+            To define a firing pattern for the Job using Cron style syntax
+            use this attribute otherwise for a periodic job use the period
+            attribute. Not applicable to startup jobs.
+            
+            - unschedule-on-exception:
+            Boolean: yes/true, no/false. Default: true. If true and an exception is
+            encountered then the job is unscheduled for further execution until a
+            restart; otherwise, the exception is ignored.
+            
+            - period:
+            Can be used to define an explicit period for firing the job instead
+            of a Cron style syntax. The period should be in milliseconds.
+            Not applicable to startup jobs.
+            
+            - delay:
+            Can be used with a period to delay the start of a job. If unspecified jobs
+            will start as soon as the database and scheduler are initialised.
+            
+            - repeat:
+            Can be used with a period to define for how many periods a job should be
+            executed. If unspecified jobs will repeat for every period indefinitely.
+        -->
+        <!-- 
+        <job class="bar.foo.myjob" period="600000" delay="300000" repeat="10" />
+        -->
+        
+        <!--
+            Run a consistency check on the database. This will detect inconsistencies
+            or corruptions in documents or the collection store. The task can also
+            be used to create automatic backups. The backup routine is faster than
+            the one in the standard backup tool and it tries to export as much data
+            as possible, even if parts of the collection tree are destroyed.
+
+            If errors are detected during the consistency check, the job will
+            automatically start creating a backup.
+
+            Errors are reported via the JMX object with the name:
+
+            org.exist.management.tasks:type=SanityReport
+
+            Parameters:
+                output  The output directory used by the job. The path is interpreted
+                        relative to the data directory (WEB-INF/data).
+
+                backup  Set to "yes" to create a backup whenever the job runs, not just
+                        when it detects errors.
+        -->
+        <!--
+        <job type="system" name="check1" 
+            class="org.exist.storage.ConsistencyCheckTask"
+            cron-trigger="0 0 * * * ?">
+            <parameter name="output" value="export"/>
+            <parameter name="backup" value="yes"/>
+            <parameter name="incremental" value="no"/>
+            <parameter name="incremental-check" value="no"/>
+            <parameter name="max" value="2"/>
+        </job>
+        -->
+        
+        <!-- 
+            Automatically creates a copy of the database .dbx files every 2 minutes
+            
+            Parameters:
+            output-dir:
+                The directory into which the copy will be written
+        -->
+        <!--
+        <job type="system" name="databackup" 
+            class="org.exist.storage.DataBackup" period="120000">
+            <parameter name="output-dir" value="backup" />
+        </job>
+        -->
+        
+    </scheduler>
+
+    <!--
+        Default settings for parsing structured documents:
+
+        - xml (optional)
+
+            - features
+                Any default SAX2 feature flags to set on the parser
+
+                    - feature
+                        - name
+                            the name of the feature flag
+                        - value
+                            the value of the feature flag
+
+
+        - html-to-xml (optional)
+
+            - class
+                The Java classname of a parser which implements org.xml.sax.XMLReader
+                and is capable of parsing HTML and emitting an XML Sax Stream.
+
+                Whichever library you use for this, it must be present on the classpath
+                perhaps the best way to do this is to place it into $EXIST_HOME/lib/user
+
+                Examples include:
+                    - org.cyberneko.html.parsers.SAXParser
+                        The Cyber NekoHTML parser from https://sourceforge.net/projects/nekohtml/
+
+                    - org.ccil.cowan.tagsoup.Parser
+                        The TagSoup parser from http://home.ccil.org/~cowan/XML/tagsoup/
+
+            - properties
+                Any default SAX2 properties to set on the Parser
+
+                    - property
+                        - name
+                            the name of the property
+                        - value
+                            the value of the property
+
+
+            - features
+                Any default SAX2 feature flags to set on the parser
+
+                    - feature
+                        - name
+                            the name of the feature flag
+                        - value
+                            the value of the feature flag
+    -->
+    <parser>
+
+        <xml>
+
+            <features>
+
+                <!-- NOTE: the following feature flags should likely be set in production to ensure a secure environment -->
+
+                <!--
+                <feature name="http://xml.org/sax/features/external-general-entities" value="false"/>
+                <feature name="http://xml.org/sax/features/external-parameter-entities" value="false"/>
+                <feature name="http://javax.xml.XMLConstants/feature/secure-processing" value="true"/>
+                -->
+
+            </features>
+
+        </xml>
+
+        <!-- html-to-xml class="org.ccil.cowan.tagsoup.Parser"/ -->
+
+        <html-to-xml class="org.cyberneko.html.parsers.SAXParser">
+            <properties>
+                <property name="http://cyberneko.org/html/properties/names/elems" value="match"/>
+                <property name="http://cyberneko.org/html/properties/names/attrs" value="no-change"/>
+            </properties>
+        </html-to-xml>
+
+    </parser>
+
+    <!-- 
+        Default settings for the serializer. Most of these can be changed
+        by client code:
+
+        - add-exist-id:
+            for debugging: add an exist:id attribute to every element, showing
+            the internal node identifier (as a long int) assigned to this node.
+            Possible values are: "none", "element", "all". "all" displays the 
+            node of every element node; "element" displays the id only for the 
+            root nodes of the returned XML fragments.
+            
+       - compress-output:
+           should the output be compressed when serializing documents?
+           Sometimes useful with remote clients.
+           Remember to add a statement like this to your client code:
+           service.setProperty("compress-output", "yes");
+           to uncompress the retrieved result in the client too.
+        
+        - enable-xinclude: 
+            should the database expand XInclude tags by default?
+        
+        - enable-xsl: 
+            should the database evaluate XSL processing instructions
+            when serializing documents?
+        
+        - indent:
+            should the serializer pretty-print (indent) XML?
+        
+        - match-tagging-attributes:
+            matches for attribute values can also be tagged using the character
+            sequence "||" to demarcate the matching text string. Since this 
+            changes the content of the attribute value, the feature is disabled
+            by default.
+        
+        - match-tagging-elements:
+            the database can highlight matches in the text content of a node by
+            tagging the matching text string with <exist:match>. Clearly, this
+            only works for XPath expressions using the some indexes.
+            
+            Set the parameter to "yes" to enable this feature.
+
+    -->
+    <serializer add-exist-id="none" compress-output="no" enable-xinclude="yes"
+                enable-xsl="no" indent="yes" match-tagging-attributes="no" 
+                match-tagging-elements="no">
+        <!--
+            You may add as many custom-filters as you want, they will be executed
+            in the order you specify them. Thus:
+            
+            <custom-filter class="org.exist.FirstFilter"/>
+            <custom-filter class="org.exist.SecondFilter"/>
+        -->
+
+        <!--
+            Custom filters can be used during backup serialize document.
+            You may add as many backup-filters as you want, they will be executed
+            in the order you specify them. Thus:
+
+            <backup-filter class="org.exist.FirstFilter"/>
+            <backup-filter class="org.exist.SecondFilter"/>
+        -->
+    </serializer>
+
+    <!--
+        Default settings for the XSLT Transformer. Allow's for a choice of 
+        implementation:
+        
+        - class:
+            the name of the class that implements javax.xml.transform.TransformerFactory
+            
+            for Saxon (XSLT 2.0 support):
+            - "net.sf.saxon.TransformerFactoryImpl"
+            
+            for Xalan (XSLT 1.0 support):
+            - "org.apache.xalan.processor.TransformerFactoryImpl"
+
+        - caching:
+            You can enable or disable xsl caching by this option.     
+            This option is set to "yes" by default.     
+            
+        For further details see - http://atomic.exist-db.org/wiki/HowTo/XSLT2/
+        
+        You can also include attribute child elements, if you wish to pass in 
+        attributes to your particular TransformerFactory as follows:
+        
+            <transformer class="net.sf.saxon.TransformerFactoryImpl">
+                <attribute name="http://saxon.sf.net/feature/version-warning" 
+                           value="false" type="boolean"/>
+            </transformer>
+            
+        The example above sets Saxon to suppress warnings when executing a 
+        XSLT 1.0 stylesheet with the XSLT 2.0 processor. Check the 
+        documentation for your selected TransformerFactory to determine which 
+        attributes can be set. Valid types include "boolean", "integer" 
+        and "string".  Anything else will be treated as type "string".
+        
+    -->
+    <transformer class="net.sf.saxon.TransformerFactoryImpl" caching="yes">
+        <attribute name="http://saxon.sf.net/feature/version-warning" value="false" type="boolean"/>
+    </transformer>
+
+    <!--
+        Settings for XML validation
+        - mode
+            should XML source files be validated against a schema or DTD before
+            storing them? The setting is passed to the XML parser. The actual
+            effects depend on the parser you use. eXist comes with Xerces which 
+            can validate against both: schemas and DTDs.
+            
+            Possible values: "yes", "no", "auto". "auto" will leave validation 
+            to the parser.   
+            
+     -->
+    <validation mode="no">
+        <!-- 
+            Specify the location of one or more catalog files. Catalogs are 
+            used to resolve external entities in XML documents.
+            
+            "${WEBAPP_HOME}" and "${EXIST_HOME}" can be used as magic string. 
+        -->
+        <entity-resolver>
+            <catalog uri="${WEBAPP_HOME}/WEB-INF/catalog.xml"/>
+        </entity-resolver>
+    </validation>
+
+    <!-- 
+        Define modules that contain xQuery functions.
+        
+            - enable-java-binding:
+                eXist supports calls to arbitrary Java methods from within 
+                XQuery. Setting to "yes" might introduce a security risk.
+            -  disable-deprecated-functions:
+                Set to "yes" to disable deprecated functions
+            - enable-query-rewriting:
+                Set to "yes" to enable the new query-rewriting optimizer. This 
+                is work in progress and may lead to incorrect queries. Use at your
+                own risk.
+            -  backwardCompatible:
+                Set to "yes" to enable backward compatibility (untyped argument 
+                checks for instance)
+            - enforce-index-use
+                When set to "strict", eXist will not use a range index unless all
+                collections in the context sequence define it. When set to
+                "always", the query engine will still use an index, even if only
+                one collection has it defined. It thus leaves it to the user to
+                properly define indexes and if you forget to specify an index on
+                a particular collection, it will be missing in the results.
+            - raise-error-on-failed-retrieval
+                Set to "yes" if a call to doc(), xmldb:document(), collection() or 
+                xmldb:xcollection() should raise an error (FODC0002) when an 
+                XML resource can not be retrieved.
+                Set to "no" if a call to doc(), xmldb:document(), collection() or 
+                xmldb:xcollection() should return an empty sequence when an 
+                XML resource can not be retrieved. 
+    -->
+    <!-- TODO: add attribute 'enabled="yes/no"' -->
+    <xquery enable-java-binding="no" disable-deprecated-functions="no" 
+            enable-query-rewriting="yes" backwardCompatible="no" 
+            enforce-index-use="always"
+            raise-error-on-failed-retrieval="no">
+        
+        <builtin-modules>
+
+            <module uri="http://www.w3.org/2005/xpath-functions" class="org.exist.xquery.functions.fn.FnModule">
+                <parameter name="environmentVariableAccess.*.requiresGroup" value="admins"/>
+            </module>
+
+        </builtin-modules>
+    </xquery>
+
+    <!-- 
+      Inserting new nodes into a document can lead to fragmentation
+      in the DOM storage file.
+
+        - allowed-fragmentation:
+            defines the maximum number of page splits allowed within a document
+            before a defragmentation run will be triggered.
+            
+        - enable-consistency-checks:
+            for debugging only. If the parameter is set to "yes", a consistency
+            check will be run on every modified document after every XUpdate 
+            request. It checks if the persistent DOM is complete and all 
+            pointers in the structural index point to valid storage addresses 
+            containing valid nodes.
+        
+    -->
+    <xupdate allowed-fragmentation="50000" enable-consistency-checks="no"/>
+
+</exist>
diff --git a/exist-core/src/test/resources/org/exist/xquery/functions/util/conf-sys-props-admins-only.xml b/exist-core/src/test/resources/org/exist/xquery/functions/util/conf-sys-props-admins-only.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1c4fe7ca700
--- /dev/null
+++ b/exist-core/src/test/resources/org/exist/xquery/functions/util/conf-sys-props-admins-only.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,835 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<!--
+
+    eXist-db Open Source Native XML Database
+    Copyright (C) 2001 The eXist-db Authors
+
+    info@exist-db.org
+    http://www.exist-db.org
+
+    This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+    modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+    License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+    version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+
+    This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+    Lesser General Public License for more details.
+
+    You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+    License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+    Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
+
+-->
+<!--
+    This is the central configuration file for the database. If the database
+    is running in a servlet-context, the configuration file will be read from
+    the WEB-INF directory of the web application. Otherwise, the configuration
+    is read from the directory specified by the exist.home system property.
+    
+    Structure of this xml document:
+    
+        exist
+            db-connection
+                startup
+                    triggers
+                pool
+                recovery
+                security
+                watchdog
+            repository
+            binary-manager
+            indexer
+            scheduler
+                job
+            parser
+            serializer
+            transformer
+            validation
+            xquery
+                builtin-modules
+                    module
+            xupdate
+    
+    Any unique attributes specified can also be overridden using a Java system 
+    property, typically specified on the command line, of the form:
+    
+        org.element.element....attribute
+        
+    where the nesting of the element names follows the structure of the 
+    XML configuration document, as was shown above.
+        
+    For example, to override the value of the cache size to be 128MB you could
+    specify:
+    
+        -Dorg.exist.db-connection.cacheSize=128M
+        
+    on your JVM startup command line or options.  Note that this only works 
+    for unique, non-repeating elements, so you can't override things like 
+    the transformer attribute element values or the XQuery module builtin 
+    definitions, since they are not unique.
+    
+    For detailed and latest information please consult the eXist documentation:
+    
+        - http://exist-db.org/exist/apps/doc/configuration.xml
+        - http://exist-db.org/exist/apps/doc/documentation.xml
+        - http://atomic.exist-db.org/
+        
+    Version: 4.11.0-SNAPSHOT
+
+-->
+<exist xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="schema/conf.xsd">
+
+    <!-- 
+        Configures the database backend.
+        
+        - cacheSize:
+            the maximum amount of memory to use for database page buffers.
+            Each database file has an associated page buffer for B+-tree and
+            data pages. However, the memory specified via cacheSize is shared
+            between all page buffers. It represents an absolute maximum, which
+            would be occupied if all page buffers were completely full.
+            
+            The cacheSize should typically not be more than half of the size of 
+            the JVM heap size (set by the JVM -Xmx parameter). It can be larger 
+            if you have a large-memory JVM (usually a 64bit JVM)
+        
+        - checkMaxCacheSize:
+            specifies whether eXist should check the max cache size on startup 
+            and reduce it if it is too large.
+            
+            This value should normally be set to true.
+            
+            Only set this value to false if:
+            
+                a) You know what you are doing!
+                b) You have a JVM with tons of memory (typically using a 64-bit 
+                   JVM, which is the scenario this setting is intended for).
+                c) You are really sure you've complied with a) and b) above.
+                
+            Setting this value to false may cause memory issues which may lead to 
+            database corruptions, since it disables the automated max cache size 
+            checks! You have been warned! ;-)
+            
+        - collectionCache:
+            maximum amount of memory (in megabytes) to use for collection caches.
+            Memory calculation is just approximate. If your collections are very 
+            different in size, it might be possible that the actual amount of 
+            memory used exceeds the specified limit. You should thus be careful 
+            with this setting.
+        
+        - database:
+            selects a database backend. Currently, "native" is the only valid setting.
+        
+        - files:
+            path to the directory where database files are stored.
+        
+        - pageSize:
+            the size of one page on the disk. This is the smallest unit
+            transferred from and to the database files. Should be a multiple of
+            the operating system's file system page size (usually 4096).
+
+        - nodesBuffer:
+            size of the temporary buffer used by eXist for caching index
+            data while indexing a document. If set to -1, eXist will use the
+            entire free memory to buffer index entries and will flush the
+            cache once the memory is full.
+
+            If set to a value > 0, the buffer will be fixed to the given size.
+            The specified number corresponds to the number of nodes the
+            buffer can hold, in thousands. Usually, a good default could be
+            nodesBuffer="1000".
+    
+         - cacheShrinkThreshold:
+            The minimum number of pages that must be read from a
+            cache between check intervals to be not considered for 
+            shrinking. This is a measure for the "load" of the cache. Caches
+            with high load will never be shrinked. A negative value means that
+            shrinkage will not be performed.
+
+         - doc-ids:
+            how document ids are managed by eXist. Takes the values
+            "default" or "incremental".
+            
+            eXist assigns a unique, 32bit integer document id to every 
+            document. When a document is deleted, its id will be freed 
+            and reused for the next document stored. The disadvantage 
+            of this approach is that document ids
+            are not stable, i.e. one cannot be sure that the same document
+            id will always identify the same document.
+
+            If you need stable, incremental ids, set the option doc-ids to
+            "incremental".
+        - minDiskSpace:
+            The amount of disk space (in megabytes) which should be available for
+            the database to continue operations. If free disk space goes below
+            the configured limit, eXist-db will flush all buffers to disk and
+            switch to read-only mode in order to prevent potential data loss. 
+            Set the limit large enough to allow all pending operations to 
+            complete. The default is 1 gigabyte.
+    
+        =====================================================================
+        
+        The settings below are very conservative to avoid out-of-memory
+        exceptions on machines with limited memory (256MB).
+        
+        Increase the buffer settings for elements_buffers and words_buffers if 
+        you have some more memory to waste. If you deal with lots of 
+        collections, you can also increase the collectionCacheSize value 
+    -->
+    <db-connection cacheSize="256M" checkMaxCacheSize="true" collectionCache="64M" database="native"
+        files="webapp/WEB-INF/data" pageSize="4096" nodesBuffer="1000" cacheShrinkThreshold="10000"
+        doc-ids="default" minDiskSpace="128M">
+
+        <!--
+            Startup Triggers are executed before the database becomes generally available
+            for service and have complete access to the database as the SYSTEM broker
+        -->
+        <startup>
+            <triggers>
+
+		<!--
+		    Trigger for registering the GNU Crypto JCE Provider with Java
+		-->
+		<trigger class="org.exist.security.BouncyCastleJceProviderStartupTrigger"/>
+
+                <!--
+                    Trigger for registering eXists XML:DB URL handler with Java
+                -->
+                <trigger class="org.exist.protocolhandler.URLStreamHandlerStartupTrigger">
+                    <!-- Keeps stream data on disk (temporary files are used for XML documents) -->
+                    <parameter name="mode" value="disk"/>
+
+                    <!-- Keep's stream data in memory -->
+                    <parameter name="mode" value="memory"/>
+                </trigger>
+
+                <!-- 
+                    EXQuery RESTXQ trigger to load the RESTXQ Registry at startup time 
+                -->
+                <trigger class="org.exist.extensions.exquery.restxq.impl.RestXqStartupTrigger"/>
+                
+                <!-- 
+                    AutoDeploymentTrigger will install any .xar application package it finds
+                    in the autodeploy directory unless the application has already been installed
+                    in the db. 
+                -->   
+                <trigger class="org.exist.repo.AutoDeploymentTrigger"/>
+                
+                <!-- 
+                    XQueryStartupTrigger will execute all xquery scripts stored in the
+                    /db/system/autostart collection during startup of the database. 
+
+                    The collection must be owned by SYSTEM/DBA mode "rwxrwx___" (0770)
+					
+                    Each of the scripts must be owned by a DBA user, group DBA, 
+                    mode "rwxrwx___" (0770) with mime-type "application/xquery". 
+                    The names of the scripts must end with ".xq", ".xqy" or ".xquery".
+                -->
+                <!--<trigger class="org.exist.collections.triggers.XQueryStartupTrigger"/>-->
+                    
+            </triggers>
+        </startup>
+
+
+        <!-- 
+            Settings for the database connection pool:
+            
+            - min:
+                minimum number of connections to keep alive.
+            
+            - max:
+                maximum number of connections allowed.
+            
+            - sync-period:
+                defines how often the database will flush its 
+                internal buffers to disk. The sync thread will interrupt 
+                normal database operation after the specified number of 
+                milliseconds and write all dirty pages to disk.
+            
+            - wait-before-shutdown:
+                defines how long the database instance will wait for running
+                operations to complete before it forces a shutdown. Forcing
+                a shutdown may leave the db in an unclean state and may
+                trigger a recovery run on restart.
+
+                Setting wait-before-shutdown="-1" means that the server will
+                wait for all threads to return, no matter how long it takes.
+                No thread will be killed.
+        -->
+        <pool max="20" min="1" sync-period="120000" wait-before-shutdown="120000"/>
+
+        <!--                                                                        
+                Configure the query pool.
+                
+                - max-stack-size:                                                        
+                    maximum number of queries in the query-pool.                         
+                                                                                         
+                - size:                                                                  
+                    number of copies of the same query kept in the query-pool.           
+                    Value "-1" effectively disables caching. Queries cannot be shared     
+                    by threads, each thread needs a private copy of a query.             
+                                                                                         
+                - timeout:                                                               
+                    amount of time that a query will be cached in the query-pool in milliseconds.
+            -->
+        <query-pool max-stack-size="64" size="128" timeout="120000"/>
+
+        <!--
+            Settings for the journaling and recovery of the database. With 
+            recovery enabled, the database is able to recover from an unclean
+            database shutdown due to, for example, power failures, OS reboots, 
+            and hanging processes. For this to work correctly, all database 
+            operations must be logged to a journal file. 
+                      
+            - enabled:
+                if this attribute is set to yes, automatic recovery is enabled.
+            
+            - journal-dir:     
+                this attribute sets the directory where journal files are to be
+                written. If no directory is specified, the default path is to
+                the data directory.
+            
+            - size:
+                this attributes sets the maximum allowed size of the journal 
+                file. Once the journal reaches this limit, a checkpoint will be
+                triggered and the journal will be cleaned. However, the database
+                waits for running transactions to return before processing this
+                checkpoint. In the event one of these transactions writes a lot
+                of data to the journal file, the file will grow until the 
+                transaction has completed. Hence, the size limit is not enforced
+                in all cases.
+            
+            - sync-on-commit:
+                this attribute determines whether or not to protect the journal
+                during operating system failures. That is, it determines whether
+                the database forces a file-sync on the journal after every 
+                commit. 
+                If this attribute is set to "yes", the journal is protected 
+                against operating system failures. However, this will slow 
+                performance - especially on Windows systems. 
+                If set to "no", eXist will rely on the operating system to flush
+                out the journal contents to disk. In the worst case scenario, 
+                in which there is a complete system failure, some committed 
+                transactions might not have yet been written to the journal, 
+                and so will be rolled back.
+
+            - group-commit:
+                If set to "yes", eXist will not sync the journal file 
+                immediately after every transaction commit. Instead, 
+                it will wait until the current file buffer (32kb)
+                is really full. This can speed up eXist on some systems 
+                where a file sync is an expensive operation (mainly windows 
+                XP; not necessary on Linux). However, group-comit="yes"
+                will increase the risk of an already committed 
+                operation being rolled back after a database crash.
+
+            - force-restart:
+                Try to restart the db even if crash recovery failed. This is
+                dangerous because there might be corruptions inside the
+                data files. The transaction log will be cleared, all locks removed
+                and the db reindexed.
+                
+                Set this option to "yes" if you need to make sure that the db is
+                online, even after a fatal crash. Errors encountered during recovery 
+                are written to the log files. Scan the log files to see if any problems
+                occurred.
+
+            - consistency-check:
+                If set to "yes", a consistency check will be run on the database
+                if an error was detected during crash recovery. This option requires
+                force-restart to be set to "yes", otherwise it has no effect.
+
+                The consistency check outputs a report to the directory {files}/sanity
+                and if inconsistencies are found in the db, it writes an emergency
+                backup to the same directory.
+        -->
+        <recovery enabled="yes"  group-commit="no"   journal-dir="webapp/WEB-INF/data"
+                  size="100M" sync-on-commit="no"  force-restart="no"  consistency-check="yes"/>
+
+        <!--
+            This is the global configuration for the query watchdog. The 
+            watchdog monitors all query processes, and can terminate any 
+            long-running queries if they exceed one of the predefined limits. 
+            These limits are as follows:
+            
+            - output-size-limit:
+                this attribute limits the size of XML fragments constructed 
+                using XQuery, and thus sets the maximum amount of main memory a
+                query is allowed to use. This limit is expressed as the maximum
+                number of nodes allowed for an in-memory DOM tree. The purpose
+                of this option is to avoid memory shortages on the server in
+                cases where users are allowed to run queries that produce very
+                large output fragments.
+            
+            - query-timeout:
+                this attribute sets the maximum amount of time (expressed in 
+                milliseconds) that the query can take before it is killed..
+            
+        -->
+        <watchdog output-size-limit="1000000" query-timeout="-1"/>
+
+    </db-connection>
+
+    <!--
+        Settings for the package repository:
+
+        - root:
+            The root collection for deployed applications. Application collections will be saved below
+            this collection.
+    -->
+    <repository root="/db/apps"/>
+
+    <!--
+        Settings for the Binary Manager:
+        
+        - cache 
+            Defines the class to use to Cache InputStreams when reading binary documents
+            from the database or from a read once source such as a http request (e.g. request:get-data()).
+            There are currently three options available:
+            
+            - org.exist.util.io.FileFilterInputStreamCache
+                Default. Temporary binary streams are cached to a temporary file on disk.
+            
+            - org.exist.util.io.MemoryMappedFileFilterInputStreamCache
+                Temporary binary streams are cached to a temporary file on disk which
+                has been mapped into memory. Faster than FileFilterInputStreamCache.
+                Not reliable on Windows platforms.
+                
+            - org.exist.util.io.MemoryFilterInputStreamCache
+                Temporary binary streams are cached in memory.
+                This is the fastest approach. However it can result in out of memory
+                errors under heavy load or if using large binary files. 
+            
+           Where temporary files are used, they will be deleted after use.
+           However, due to a bug in the JVM on Windows platforms, temporary files cannot be deleted, so instead
+           they are re-cycled and re-used and deleted if the database is restarted.
+    -->
+    <binary-manager>
+        <cache class="org.exist.util.io.FileFilterInputStreamCache"/>
+    </binary-manager>
+    
+    <!-- 
+        Settings for the indexer:
+        
+        - caseSensitive:
+            should equality comparisons between strings be case-sensitive or
+            insensitive: "yes" or "no".
+        
+        - index-depth:
+            defines the maximum nesting depth of nodes which will be indexed
+            in the DOM index. Nodes below the specified nesting depth will
+            not be indexed in the DOM file. This has only an effect when 
+            retrieving query results or for some types of XPath subexpressions, 
+            like equality comparisons.
+        
+        - suppress-whitespace:
+            should leading or trailing whitespace be removed from a text node?
+            Set to "leading", "trailing", "both" or "none".
+            Changing the parameter will only have an effect on newly loaded 
+            files, not old ones.
+        
+        - preserve-whitespace-mixed-content:
+            preserve the white space inside a mixed content node: "yes" or "no".
+    -->
+    <indexer caseSensitive="yes" index-depth="5" preserve-whitespace-mixed-content="no"
+        suppress-whitespace="none">
+
+        <modules>
+
+        </modules>
+
+        <!--
+            Default index settings. Default settings apply if there's no 
+            collection-specific configuration for a collection.
+        -->
+        <index>
+            <!-- settings go here -->
+        </index>
+    </indexer>
+
+    <!--
+        Configures user jobs for the scheduler
+    -->
+    <scheduler>
+        <!-- 
+            Job definitions:
+            
+            - type:
+            The type of the job to schedule. Must be either "system" 
+            or "user".
+            
+                system - System jobs require the database to be in a consistent state.
+                All database operations will be stopped until the method returns or 
+                throws an exception. Any exception will be caught and a warning written to
+                the log.
+                
+                user - User jobs may be scheduled at any time and may be mutually exclusive
+                or non-exclusive
+            
+            - class:
+            If the job is written in Java then this should be the name of the
+            class that extends either -
+                org.exist.storage.SystemTask
+                org.exist.scheduler.UserJavaJob
+            
+            - xquery:
+            If the job is written in XQuery (not suitable for system jobs) then 
+            this should be a path to an XQuery stored in the database. e.g. 
+            /db/myCollection/myJob.xql
+            XQuery job's will be launched under the guest account initially,
+            although the running XQuery may switch permissions through
+            calls to xmldb:login().
+            
+            - cron-trigger:
+            To define a firing pattern for the Job using Cron style syntax
+            use this attribute otherwise for a periodic job use the period
+            attribute. Not applicable to startup jobs.
+            
+            - unschedule-on-exception:
+            Boolean: yes/true, no/false. Default: true. If true and an exception is
+            encountered then the job is unscheduled for further execution until a
+            restart; otherwise, the exception is ignored.
+            
+            - period:
+            Can be used to define an explicit period for firing the job instead
+            of a Cron style syntax. The period should be in milliseconds.
+            Not applicable to startup jobs.
+            
+            - delay:
+            Can be used with a period to delay the start of a job. If unspecified jobs
+            will start as soon as the database and scheduler are initialised.
+            
+            - repeat:
+            Can be used with a period to define for how many periods a job should be
+            executed. If unspecified jobs will repeat for every period indefinitely.
+        -->
+        <!-- 
+        <job class="bar.foo.myjob" period="600000" delay="300000" repeat="10" />
+        -->
+        
+        <!--
+            Run a consistency check on the database. This will detect inconsistencies
+            or corruptions in documents or the collection store. The task can also
+            be used to create automatic backups. The backup routine is faster than
+            the one in the standard backup tool and it tries to export as much data
+            as possible, even if parts of the collection tree are destroyed.
+
+            If errors are detected during the consistency check, the job will
+            automatically start creating a backup.
+
+            Errors are reported via the JMX object with the name:
+
+            org.exist.management.tasks:type=SanityReport
+
+            Parameters:
+                output  The output directory used by the job. The path is interpreted
+                        relative to the data directory (WEB-INF/data).
+
+                backup  Set to "yes" to create a backup whenever the job runs, not just
+                        when it detects errors.
+        -->
+        <!--
+        <job type="system" name="check1" 
+            class="org.exist.storage.ConsistencyCheckTask"
+            cron-trigger="0 0 * * * ?">
+            <parameter name="output" value="export"/>
+            <parameter name="backup" value="yes"/>
+            <parameter name="incremental" value="no"/>
+            <parameter name="incremental-check" value="no"/>
+            <parameter name="max" value="2"/>
+        </job>
+        -->
+        
+        <!-- 
+            Automatically creates a copy of the database .dbx files every 2 minutes
+            
+            Parameters:
+            output-dir:
+                The directory into which the copy will be written
+        -->
+        <!--
+        <job type="system" name="databackup" 
+            class="org.exist.storage.DataBackup" period="120000">
+            <parameter name="output-dir" value="backup" />
+        </job>
+        -->
+        
+    </scheduler>
+
+    <!--
+        Default settings for parsing structured documents:
+
+        - xml (optional)
+
+            - features
+                Any default SAX2 feature flags to set on the parser
+
+                    - feature
+                        - name
+                            the name of the feature flag
+                        - value
+                            the value of the feature flag
+
+
+        - html-to-xml (optional)
+
+            - class
+                The Java classname of a parser which implements org.xml.sax.XMLReader
+                and is capable of parsing HTML and emitting an XML Sax Stream.
+
+                Whichever library you use for this, it must be present on the classpath
+                perhaps the best way to do this is to place it into $EXIST_HOME/lib/user
+
+                Examples include:
+                    - org.cyberneko.html.parsers.SAXParser
+                        The Cyber NekoHTML parser from https://sourceforge.net/projects/nekohtml/
+
+                    - org.ccil.cowan.tagsoup.Parser
+                        The TagSoup parser from http://home.ccil.org/~cowan/XML/tagsoup/
+
+            - properties
+                Any default SAX2 properties to set on the Parser
+
+                    - property
+                        - name
+                            the name of the property
+                        - value
+                            the value of the property
+
+
+            - features
+                Any default SAX2 feature flags to set on the parser
+
+                    - feature
+                        - name
+                            the name of the feature flag
+                        - value
+                            the value of the feature flag
+    -->
+    <parser>
+
+        <xml>
+
+            <features>
+
+                <!-- NOTE: the following feature flags should likely be set in production to ensure a secure environment -->
+
+                <!--
+                <feature name="http://xml.org/sax/features/external-general-entities" value="false"/>
+                <feature name="http://xml.org/sax/features/external-parameter-entities" value="false"/>
+                <feature name="http://javax.xml.XMLConstants/feature/secure-processing" value="true"/>
+                -->
+
+            </features>
+
+        </xml>
+
+        <!-- html-to-xml class="org.ccil.cowan.tagsoup.Parser"/ -->
+
+        <html-to-xml class="org.cyberneko.html.parsers.SAXParser">
+            <properties>
+                <property name="http://cyberneko.org/html/properties/names/elems" value="match"/>
+                <property name="http://cyberneko.org/html/properties/names/attrs" value="no-change"/>
+            </properties>
+        </html-to-xml>
+
+    </parser>
+
+    <!-- 
+        Default settings for the serializer. Most of these can be changed
+        by client code:
+
+        - add-exist-id:
+            for debugging: add an exist:id attribute to every element, showing
+            the internal node identifier (as a long int) assigned to this node.
+            Possible values are: "none", "element", "all". "all" displays the 
+            node of every element node; "element" displays the id only for the 
+            root nodes of the returned XML fragments.
+            
+       - compress-output:
+           should the output be compressed when serializing documents?
+           Sometimes useful with remote clients.
+           Remember to add a statement like this to your client code:
+           service.setProperty("compress-output", "yes");
+           to uncompress the retrieved result in the client too.
+        
+        - enable-xinclude: 
+            should the database expand XInclude tags by default?
+        
+        - enable-xsl: 
+            should the database evaluate XSL processing instructions
+            when serializing documents?
+        
+        - indent:
+            should the serializer pretty-print (indent) XML?
+        
+        - match-tagging-attributes:
+            matches for attribute values can also be tagged using the character
+            sequence "||" to demarcate the matching text string. Since this 
+            changes the content of the attribute value, the feature is disabled
+            by default.
+        
+        - match-tagging-elements:
+            the database can highlight matches in the text content of a node by
+            tagging the matching text string with <exist:match>. Clearly, this
+            only works for XPath expressions using the some indexes.
+            
+            Set the parameter to "yes" to enable this feature.
+
+    -->
+    <serializer add-exist-id="none" compress-output="no" enable-xinclude="yes"
+                enable-xsl="no" indent="yes" match-tagging-attributes="no" 
+                match-tagging-elements="no">
+        <!--
+            You may add as many custom-filters as you want, they will be executed
+            in the order you specify them. Thus:
+            
+            <custom-filter class="org.exist.FirstFilter"/>
+            <custom-filter class="org.exist.SecondFilter"/>
+        -->
+
+        <!--
+            Custom filters can be used during backup serialize document.
+            You may add as many backup-filters as you want, they will be executed
+            in the order you specify them. Thus:
+
+            <backup-filter class="org.exist.FirstFilter"/>
+            <backup-filter class="org.exist.SecondFilter"/>
+        -->
+    </serializer>
+
+    <!--
+        Default settings for the XSLT Transformer. Allow's for a choice of 
+        implementation:
+        
+        - class:
+            the name of the class that implements javax.xml.transform.TransformerFactory
+            
+            for Saxon (XSLT 2.0 support):
+            - "net.sf.saxon.TransformerFactoryImpl"
+            
+            for Xalan (XSLT 1.0 support):
+            - "org.apache.xalan.processor.TransformerFactoryImpl"
+
+        - caching:
+            You can enable or disable xsl caching by this option.     
+            This option is set to "yes" by default.     
+            
+        For further details see - http://atomic.exist-db.org/wiki/HowTo/XSLT2/
+        
+        You can also include attribute child elements, if you wish to pass in 
+        attributes to your particular TransformerFactory as follows:
+        
+            <transformer class="net.sf.saxon.TransformerFactoryImpl">
+                <attribute name="http://saxon.sf.net/feature/version-warning" 
+                           value="false" type="boolean"/>
+            </transformer>
+            
+        The example above sets Saxon to suppress warnings when executing a 
+        XSLT 1.0 stylesheet with the XSLT 2.0 processor. Check the 
+        documentation for your selected TransformerFactory to determine which 
+        attributes can be set. Valid types include "boolean", "integer" 
+        and "string".  Anything else will be treated as type "string".
+        
+    -->
+    <transformer class="net.sf.saxon.TransformerFactoryImpl" caching="yes">
+        <attribute name="http://saxon.sf.net/feature/version-warning" value="false" type="boolean"/>
+    </transformer>
+
+    <!--
+        Settings for XML validation
+        - mode
+            should XML source files be validated against a schema or DTD before
+            storing them? The setting is passed to the XML parser. The actual
+            effects depend on the parser you use. eXist comes with Xerces which 
+            can validate against both: schemas and DTDs.
+            
+            Possible values: "yes", "no", "auto". "auto" will leave validation 
+            to the parser.   
+            
+     -->
+    <validation mode="no">
+        <!-- 
+            Specify the location of one or more catalog files. Catalogs are 
+            used to resolve external entities in XML documents.
+            
+            "${WEBAPP_HOME}" and "${EXIST_HOME}" can be used as magic string. 
+        -->
+        <entity-resolver>
+            <catalog uri="${WEBAPP_HOME}/WEB-INF/catalog.xml"/>
+        </entity-resolver>
+    </validation>
+
+    <!-- 
+        Define modules that contain xQuery functions.
+        
+            - enable-java-binding:
+                eXist supports calls to arbitrary Java methods from within 
+                XQuery. Setting to "yes" might introduce a security risk.
+            -  disable-deprecated-functions:
+                Set to "yes" to disable deprecated functions
+            - enable-query-rewriting:
+                Set to "yes" to enable the new query-rewriting optimizer. This 
+                is work in progress and may lead to incorrect queries. Use at your
+                own risk.
+            -  backwardCompatible:
+                Set to "yes" to enable backward compatibility (untyped argument 
+                checks for instance)
+            - enforce-index-use
+                When set to "strict", eXist will not use a range index unless all
+                collections in the context sequence define it. When set to
+                "always", the query engine will still use an index, even if only
+                one collection has it defined. It thus leaves it to the user to
+                properly define indexes and if you forget to specify an index on
+                a particular collection, it will be missing in the results.
+            - raise-error-on-failed-retrieval
+                Set to "yes" if a call to doc(), xmldb:document(), collection() or 
+                xmldb:xcollection() should raise an error (FODC0002) when an 
+                XML resource can not be retrieved.
+                Set to "no" if a call to doc(), xmldb:document(), collection() or 
+                xmldb:xcollection() should return an empty sequence when an 
+                XML resource can not be retrieved. 
+    -->
+    <!-- TODO: add attribute 'enabled="yes/no"' -->
+    <xquery enable-java-binding="no" disable-deprecated-functions="no" 
+            enable-query-rewriting="yes" backwardCompatible="no" 
+            enforce-index-use="always"
+            raise-error-on-failed-retrieval="no">
+        
+        <builtin-modules>
+
+            <module uri="http://www.w3.org/2005/xpath-functions" class="org.exist.xquery.functions.fn.FnModule">
+                <parameter name="environmentVariableAccess.*.requiresGroup" value="dba"/>
+            </module>
+
+            <module uri="http://exist-db.org/xquery/util"       class="org.exist.xquery.functions.util.UtilModule">
+                <!-- set to true to disable the util:eval functions -->
+                <parameter name="evalDisabled" value="false"/>
+
+                <parameter name="systemPropertyAccess.*.requiresGroup" value="admins"/>
+            </module>
+
+        </builtin-modules>
+    </xquery>
+
+    <!-- 
+      Inserting new nodes into a document can lead to fragmentation
+      in the DOM storage file.
+
+        - allowed-fragmentation:
+            defines the maximum number of page splits allowed within a document
+            before a defragmentation run will be triggered.
+            
+        - enable-consistency-checks:
+            for debugging only. If the parameter is set to "yes", a consistency
+            check will be run on every modified document after every XUpdate 
+            request. It checks if the persistent DOM is complete and all 
+            pointers in the structural index point to valid storage addresses 
+            containing valid nodes.
+        
+    -->
+    <xupdate allowed-fragmentation="50000" enable-consistency-checks="no"/>
+
+</exist>
diff --git a/exist-distribution/src/main/config/conf.xml b/exist-distribution/src/main/config/conf.xml
index 06122caa76f..71c88173289 100644
--- a/exist-distribution/src/main/config/conf.xml
+++ b/exist-distribution/src/main/config/conf.xml
@@ -935,6 +935,25 @@
             <!--
                 Core Modules
             -->
+            <module uri="http://www.w3.org/2005/xpath-functions" class="org.exist.xquery.functions.fn.FnModule">
+
+                <!--
+                    Access to Environment Variables via the fn:available-environment-variables#0
+                    and fn:environment-variable#1 functions can be restricted for Security Purposes.
+                    The syntax of the parameter keys is:
+                        "environmentVariableAccess.<Name of an Environment Variable>.[requiresGroup|requiresUser]"
+                    If you have multiple users who wish to access the same Environment Variable, then you may
+                    add multiple parameters for the same key, e.g.:
+                    <parameter name="environmentVariableAccess.PATH.requiresGroup" value="dba"/>
+                    <parameter name="environmentVariableAccess.PATH.requiresGroup" value="admin"/>
+                    <parameter name="environmentVariableAccess.PATH.requiresUser" value="my-special-user"/>
+                    The special symbol "*", meaning "otherwise", may be used to indicate all Environment Variables
+                    which have not otherwise been specified in this config.
+                       If "*" is not set in this config, then it is set to the "DBA" group by default.
+                -->
+                <parameter name="environmentVariableAccess.*.requiresGroup" value="dba"/>
+
+            </module>
             <module uri="http://www.w3.org/2005/xpath-functions/map"  class="org.exist.xquery.functions.map.MapModule"/>
             <module uri="http://www.w3.org/2005/xpath-functions/math" class="org.exist.xquery.functions.math.MathModule"/>
             <module uri="http://www.w3.org/2005/xpath-functions/array" class="org.exist.xquery.functions.array.ArrayModule"/>
@@ -953,6 +972,22 @@
             <module uri="http://exist-db.org/xquery/util" class="org.exist.xquery.functions.util.UtilModule">
                 <!-- set to true to disable the util:eval functions -->
                 <parameter name="evalDisabled" value="false"/>
+
+                <!--
+                    Access to Java System Properties via the util:available-system-properties#0
+                    and util:system-property#1 functions can be restricted for Security Purposes.
+                    The syntax of the parameter keys is:
+                        "systemPropertyAccess.<Name of a Java System Property>.[requiresGroup|requiresUser]"
+                    If you have multiple users who wish to access the same System Property, then you may
+                    add multiple parameters for the same key, e.g.:
+                    <parameter name="systemPropertyAccess.PATH.requiresGroup" value="dba"/>
+                    <parameter name="systemPropertyAccess.PATH.requiresGroup" value="admin"/>
+                    <parameter name="systemPropertyAccess.PATH.requiresUser" value="my-special-user"/>
+                    The special symbol "*", meaning "otherwise", may be used to indicate all System Properties
+                    which have not otherwise been specified in this config.
+                       If "*" is not set in this config, then it is set to the "DBA" group by default.
+                -->
+                <parameter name="systemPropertyAccess.*.requiresGroup" value="dba"/>
             </module>
             <module uri="http://exist-db.org/xquery/validation" class="org.exist.xquery.functions.validation.ValidationModule"/>
             <module uri="http://exist-db.org/xquery/xmldb" class="org.exist.xquery.functions.xmldb.XMLDBModule">
diff --git a/extensions/modules/expathrepo/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/modules/expathrepo/Deploy.java b/extensions/modules/expathrepo/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/modules/expathrepo/Deploy.java
index 367e6f30741..03f89c95b8b 100644
--- a/extensions/modules/expathrepo/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/modules/expathrepo/Deploy.java
+++ b/extensions/modules/expathrepo/src/main/java/org/exist/xquery/modules/expathrepo/Deploy.java
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
-import org.exist.SystemProperties;
+import org.exist.ExistSystemProperties;
 import org.exist.dom.persistent.BinaryDocument;
 import org.exist.dom.persistent.DocumentImpl;
 import org.exist.dom.QName;
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ public RepoPackageLoader(final String repoURL) {
         @Override
         public XarSource load(final String name, final Version version) throws IOException {
             String pkgURL = repoURL + "?name=" + URLEncoder.encode(name, "UTF-8") +
-                "&processor=" + SystemProperties.getInstance().getSystemProperty("product-version", "2.2.0");
+                "&processor=" + ExistSystemProperties.getInstance().getExistSystemProperty(ExistSystemProperties.PROP_PRODUCT_VERSION, "2.2.0");
             if (version != null) {
                 if (version.getMin() != null) {
                     pkgURL += "&semver-min=" + version.getMin();