diff --git a/broker/src/main/java/org/eclipse/moquette/server/netty/NettyAcceptor.java b/broker/src/main/java/org/eclipse/moquette/server/netty/NettyAcceptor.java
index 504a2aad..6fbea90a 100644
--- a/broker/src/main/java/org/eclipse/moquette/server/netty/NettyAcceptor.java
+++ b/broker/src/main/java/org/eclipse/moquette/server/netty/NettyAcceptor.java
@@ -36,8 +36,8 @@ import io.netty.handler.codec.http.websocketx.WebSocketServerProtocolHandler;
 import io.netty.handler.ssl.SslHandler;
 import io.netty.handler.timeout.IdleStateHandler;
 
-import java.io.IOException;
-import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.io.*;
+import java.net.URL;
 import java.security.KeyStore;
 
 import java.util.List;
@@ -114,7 +114,12 @@ public class NettyAcceptor implements ServerAcceptor {
                     @Override
                     public void initChannel(SocketChannel ch) throws Exception {
                         ChannelPipeline pipeline = ch.pipeline();
-                        pipeliner.init(pipeline);
+                        try {
+                            pipeliner.init(pipeline);
+                        } catch (Throwable th) {
+                            LOG.error("Severe error during pipeline creation", th);
+                            throw th;
+                        }
                     }
                 })
                 .option(ChannelOption.SO_BACKLOG, 128)
@@ -215,13 +220,14 @@ public class NettyAcceptor implements ServerAcceptor {
 
         int sslPort = Integer.parseInt(sslPortProp);
         String host = props.getProperty(Constants.HOST_PROPERTY_NAME);
+        LOG.info("Starting SSL on port {} using keystore at {}", sslPort, jksPath);
 
         final NettyMQTTHandler handler = new NettyMQTTHandler();
         handler.setMessaging(messaging);
         initFactory(host, sslPort, new PipelineInitializer() {
             @Override
             void init(ChannelPipeline pipeline) throws Exception {
-                InputStream jksInputStream = getClass().getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream(jksPath);
+                InputStream jksInputStream = jksDatastore(jksPath);
                 SSLContext serverContext = SSLContext.getInstance("TLS");
                 final KeyStore ks = KeyStore.getInstance("JKS");
                 ks.load(jksInputStream, keyStorePassword.toCharArray());
@@ -260,5 +266,21 @@ public class NettyAcceptor implements ServerAcceptor {
         //LOG.info(String.format("Bytes read: %d, bytes wrote: %d", metrics.readBytes(), metrics.wroteBytes()));
         LOG.info("Msg read: {}, msg wrote: {}", metrics.messagesRead(), metrics.messagesWrote());
     }
+
+    private InputStream jksDatastore(String jksPath) throws FileNotFoundException {
+        URL jksUrl = getClass().getClassLoader().getResource(jksPath);
+        if (jksUrl != null) {
+            LOG.info("Starting with jks at {}, jks normal {}", jksUrl.toExternalForm(), jksUrl);
+            return getClass().getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream(jksPath);
+        }
+        LOG.info("jks not found in bundled resources, try on the filesystem");
+        File jksFile = new File(jksPath);
+        if (jksFile.exists()) {
+            LOG.info("Using {} ", jksFile.getAbsolutePath());
+            return new FileInputStream(jksFile);
+        }
+        LOG.warn("File {} doesn't exists", jksFile.getAbsolutePath());
+        return null;
+    }
     
 }
diff --git a/tools_scripts/integration/sslSimplePublisher.groovy b/tools_scripts/integration/sslSimplePublisher.groovy
index e69de29b..8bac459c 100644
--- a/tools_scripts/integration/sslSimplePublisher.groovy
+++ b/tools_scripts/integration/sslSimplePublisher.groovy
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+//@GrabResolver(name='Paho', root='https://repo.eclipse.org/content/repositories/paho-snapshots/')
+//@Grab(group='org.eclipse.paho', module='org.eclipse.paho.client.mqttv3', version='1.0.1-SNAPSHOT')
+@GrabResolver(name='Paho', root='https://repo.eclipse.org/content/repositories/paho-releases/')
+@Grab(group='org.eclipse.paho', module='mqtt-client', version='0.4.0')
+
+import org.eclipse.paho.client.mqttv3.MqttClient
+import org.eclipse.paho.client.mqttv3.MqttMessage
+import org.eclipse.paho.client.mqttv3.MqttConnectOptions
+import org.eclipse.paho.client.mqttv3.persist.MqttDefaultFilePersistence
+
+import javax.net.ssl.KeyManagerFactory
+import javax.net.ssl.SSLContext
+import javax.net.ssl.SSLSocketFactory
+import javax.net.ssl.TrustManager
+import javax.net.ssl.TrustManagerFactory
+import java.security.KeyStore
+
+SSLSocketFactory configureSSLSocketFactory() {
+    KeyStore ks = KeyStore.getInstance("JKS");
+    println "using client key store at: " + new File("clientkeystore.jks").absolutePath
+    InputStream jksInputStream = new FileInputStream("clientkeystore.jks")
+//    InputStream jksInputStream = getClass().getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream("clientkeystore.jks");
+    ks.load(jksInputStream, "passw0rdcli".toCharArray());
+
+    KeyManagerFactory kmf = KeyManagerFactory.getInstance(KeyManagerFactory.getDefaultAlgorithm());
+    kmf.init(ks, "passw0rd".toCharArray());
+
+    TrustManagerFactory tmf = TrustManagerFactory.getInstance(TrustManagerFactory.getDefaultAlgorithm());
+    tmf.init(ks);
+
+    SSLContext sc = SSLContext.getInstance("TLS");
+    TrustManager[] trustManagers = tmf.getTrustManagers();
+    sc.init(kmf.getKeyManagers(), trustManagers, null);
+
+    SSLSocketFactory ssf = sc.getSocketFactory();
+    return ssf;
+}
+
+String tmpDir = System.getProperty("java.io.tmpdir")
+MqttDefaultFilePersistence dataStore = new MqttDefaultFilePersistence(tmpDir)
+
+MqttClient client = new MqttClient("ssl://localhost:8883", "SSLClientTest", dataStore)
+SSLSocketFactory ssf = configureSSLSocketFactory()
+MqttConnectOptions options = new MqttConnectOptions()
+options.setSocketFactory(ssf)
+client.connect(options)
+MqttMessage message = new MqttMessage('Hello world!!'.bytes)
+message.setQos(2)
+print "publishing.."
+client.getTopic("log").publish(message)
+println "published"
+client.disconnect()
+println "disconnected"
\ No newline at end of file