diff -r 2ec36469c044 glassfish.javaee/src/org/netbeans/modules/glassfish/javaee/Hk2OptionalFactory.java
--- a/glassfish.javaee/src/org/netbeans/modules/glassfish/javaee/Hk2OptionalFactory.java	Thu Jul 24 11:04:01 2008 -0700
+++ b/glassfish.javaee/src/org/netbeans/modules/glassfish/javaee/Hk2OptionalFactory.java	Thu Jul 24 17:17:51 2008 -0700
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@
 import org.netbeans.modules.glassfish.javaee.db.Hk2DatasourceManager;
 import org.netbeans.modules.glassfish.javaee.ide.FastDeploy;
 import org.netbeans.modules.glassfish.spi.ServerUtilities;
+import org.netbeans.modules.j2ee.deployment.plugins.api.InstanceCreationException;
 import org.netbeans.modules.j2ee.deployment.plugins.spi.AntDeploymentProvider;
 import org.netbeans.modules.j2ee.deployment.plugins.spi.DatasourceManager;
 import org.netbeans.modules.j2ee.deployment.plugins.spi.FindJSPServlet;
@@ -61,6 +62,7 @@
 import org.openide.WizardDescriptor.InstantiatingIterator;
 import org.openide.WizardDescriptor.Panel;
 import org.openide.util.Lookup;
+import org.openide.util.NbPreferences;
 
 
 /**
@@ -212,4 +214,14 @@
         }
         
     }
+    
+    @Override
+    public boolean registerDefaultInstance() throws InstanceCreationException {
+        final boolean needToRegisterDefaultServer =
+                !NbPreferences.forModule(this.getClass()).getBoolean(ServerUtilities.PROP_FIRST_RUN, false);
+        if (needToRegisterDefaultServer) {
+            ServerUtilities.getServerProvider();
+        }
+        return needToRegisterDefaultServer;
+    }
 }
diff -r 2ec36469c044 j2eeserver/apichanges.xml
--- a/j2eeserver/apichanges.xml	Thu Jul 24 11:04:01 2008 -0700
+++ b/j2eeserver/apichanges.xml	Thu Jul 24 17:17:51 2008 -0700
@@ -106,11 +106,53 @@
         <apidef name="common">J2EE Server Common API</apidef>
         <!-- org.netbeans.modules.j2ee.deployment.profiler -->
         <apidef name="profiler">J2EE Server Common API</apidef>
+        <!-- org.netbeans.modules.j2ee.deployment.plugins.spi.support -->
+        <apidef name="support">Server Integration Plugin SPI Support</apidef>        
     </apidefs>
 
     <!-- ACTUAL CHANGES BEGIN HERE: -->
 
     <changes>
+        <change id="registerDefaultInstanceAPI">
+	    <api name="plugins"/>
+	    <summary>
+                Provide a way for a plugin to register a "default instance"
+                without deep knowledge of the serverRegistry implementation.
+	    </summary>
+	    <version major="1" minor="51"/>
+	    <date day="31" month="7" year="2008"/>
+	    <author login="vkraemer"/>
+	    <compatibility binary="compatible" source="compatible" semantic="compatible" addition="yes"/>
+	    <description>
+                <p>
+                    OptionalDeploymentManagerFactory gets a new stub, that plugin
+                    implementations would override.  The Plugin author can assume
+                    that the ServerRegistry is initialized to the point where it
+                    can support the creation on instances.
+                </p>
+	    </description>
+	    <class package="org.netbeans.modules.j2ee.deployment.plugins.spi" name="OptionalDeploymentManagerFactory"/>
+            <issue number="141427"/>
+	</change>
+         <change id="lookupProvider">
+ 	    <api name="plugins"/>
+ 	    <summary>
+                 LookupProvider support for J2eePlatform lookup.
+ 	    </summary>
+ 	    <version major="1" minor="50"/>
+ 	    <date day="23" month="7" year="2008"/>
+ 	    <author login="phejl"/>
+ 	    <compatibility binary="compatible" source="compatible" semantic="compatible" addition="yes"/>
+ 	    <description>
+                 <p>
+                     Server plugins will use this static method in J2eePlatformImpl.getLookup()
+                     method to enable registration of additional Lookup Providers in layer.xml files.
+                 </p>
+ 	    </description>
+ 	    <class package="org.netbeans.modules.j2ee.deployment.plugins.spi" name="LookupProvider"/>
+            <class package="org.netbeans.modules.j2ee.deployment.plugins.spi.support" name="LookupProviderSupport"/>
+            <issue number="140219"/>
+ 	</change>        
         <change id="deployOnSaveAPI">
 	    <api name="plugins"/>
 	    <summary>
diff -r 2ec36469c044 j2eeserver/nbproject/project.properties
--- a/j2eeserver/nbproject/project.properties	Thu Jul 24 11:04:01 2008 -0700
+++ b/j2eeserver/nbproject/project.properties	Thu Jul 24 17:17:51 2008 -0700
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
 
 is.autoload=true
 javac.source=1.5
-spec.version.base=1.49.0
+spec.version.base=1.51.0
 
 javadoc.overview=${basedir}/api/doc/overview.html
 javadoc.arch=${basedir}/arch.xml
diff -r 2ec36469c044 j2eeserver/src/org/netbeans/modules/j2ee/deployment/impl/ServerRegistry.java
--- a/j2eeserver/src/org/netbeans/modules/j2ee/deployment/impl/ServerRegistry.java	Thu Jul 24 11:04:01 2008 -0700
+++ b/j2eeserver/src/org/netbeans/modules/j2ee/deployment/impl/ServerRegistry.java	Thu Jul 24 17:17:51 2008 -0700
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.logging.Level;
 import org.netbeans.modules.j2ee.deployment.devmodules.spi.InstanceListener;
+import org.netbeans.modules.j2ee.deployment.plugins.spi.OptionalDeploymentManagerFactory;
 import org.netbeans.modules.j2ee.deployment.profiler.spi.Profiler;
 import org.openide.filesystems.FileAttributeEvent;
 import org.openide.filesystems.FileChangeListener;
@@ -105,7 +106,7 @@
     public synchronized static boolean wasInitialized () {
         return instance != null && instance.servers != null && instance.instances != null;
     }
-    private transient Map servers = null;
+    private transient Map<String, Server> servers = null;
     private transient Map instances = null;
     private transient Collection pluginListeners = new HashSet();
     private transient Collection instanceListeners = new ArrayList();
@@ -134,6 +135,24 @@
             for (int i = 0; i < ch.length; i++) {
                 addPlugin(ch[i]);
             }
+            LOGGER.log(Level.FINE, "Initializing default instances"); // NOI18N
+            for (String s : serversMap().keySet()) {
+                Server server = serversMap().get(s);
+                OptionalDeploymentManagerFactory odmf = server.getOptionalFactory();
+                if (null != odmf) {
+                    try {
+                        if (odmf.registerDefaultInstance()) {
+                            LOGGER.log(Level.FINE, "Registered default instance for "+server.getDisplayName()); // NOI18N                            
+                        } else {
+                            LOGGER.log(Level.FINE, "Default instance already registered for "+server.getDisplayName()); // NOI18N                                                        
+                        }
+                    } catch (InstanceCreationException ice) {
+                        LOGGER.log(Level.WARNING, 
+                                server.getDisplayName() + " did not initialize its default instance.", // NOI18N
+                                ice);
+                    }
+                }
+            }
             LOGGER.log(Level.FINE, "Loading server instances"); // NOI18N
             dir = rep.getDefaultFileSystem().findResource(DIR_INSTALLED_SERVERS);
             dir.addFileChangeListener(new InstanceInstallListener());
@@ -146,7 +165,7 @@
         }
     }
 
-    private Map serversMap() {
+    private Map<String,Server> serversMap() {
         init();
         return servers;
     }
diff -r 2ec36469c044 j2eeserver/src/org/netbeans/modules/j2ee/deployment/plugins/spi/OptionalDeploymentManagerFactory.java
--- a/j2eeserver/src/org/netbeans/modules/j2ee/deployment/plugins/spi/OptionalDeploymentManagerFactory.java	Thu Jul 24 11:04:01 2008 -0700
+++ b/j2eeserver/src/org/netbeans/modules/j2ee/deployment/plugins/spi/OptionalDeploymentManagerFactory.java	Thu Jul 24 17:17:51 2008 -0700
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@
 package org.netbeans.modules.j2ee.deployment.plugins.spi;
 
 import javax.enterprise.deploy.spi.DeploymentManager;
+import org.netbeans.modules.j2ee.deployment.plugins.api.InstanceCreationException;
 import org.openide.WizardDescriptor;
 
 /**
@@ -167,4 +168,17 @@
         return null;
     }
 
+    /** 
+     * Allows a plugin to insert an initial "instance" in the server registry,
+     * after the registry has completed initialization.
+     * 
+     * @return false if the default instance was already registered.
+     * @thows InstanceCreationException if there was an actual failure to create 
+     *   a default instance.
+     * @since 1.51
+     */
+    public boolean registerDefaultInstance() throws InstanceCreationException {
+        return false;
+    }
+
 }
diff -r 2ec36469c044 j2eeserver/test/unit/src/org/netbeans/modules/j2ee/deployment/impl/ServerRegistryTest.java
--- a/j2eeserver/test/unit/src/org/netbeans/modules/j2ee/deployment/impl/ServerRegistryTest.java	Thu Jul 24 11:04:01 2008 -0700
+++ b/j2eeserver/test/unit/src/org/netbeans/modules/j2ee/deployment/impl/ServerRegistryTest.java	Thu Jul 24 17:17:51 2008 -0700
@@ -118,4 +118,34 @@
         }
     }
     
+    public void testOptionalfactoryImpl() {
+        ServerRegistry registry = ServerRegistry.getInstance();
+        System.out.println ("registry:" + registry);
+        Server testPlugin = registry.getServer("Test");
+        if (testPlugin == null || ! testPlugin.getShortName().equals("Test"))
+            fail("Could not get testPlugin: "+testPlugin);
+        
+        
+        OptionalDeploymentManagerFactory optionalFactory = testPlugin.getOptionalFactory();
+        boolean firstCall;
+        boolean firstCallFailed = false;
+        try {
+            firstCall = optionalFactory.registerDefaultInstance();
+        } catch (InstanceCreationException ice) {
+            firstCallFailed = true;
+        }
+        boolean secondCall = false;
+        try {
+            secondCall = optionalFactory.registerDefaultInstance();
+            if (firstCallFailed)
+                fail("a second call to registerDefaultInstance should fail if the first call also failed and the factory has not been modified");
+        } catch (InstanceCreationException ice) {
+            if (!firstCallFailed)
+                fail("a second call to registerDefaultInstance should return false... not throw an exception");
+        }
+        
+        if (secondCall)
+            fail("second call registered a default instance");
+    }
+    
 }