diff --git a/demos/gae-tweetstore-spring/src/test/java/org/jclouds/demo/tweetstore/integration/GoogleDevServer.java b/demos/gae-tweetstore-spring/src/test/java/org/jclouds/demo/tweetstore/integration/GoogleDevServer.java
index a261dcf459..47a73f0581 100644
--- a/demos/gae-tweetstore-spring/src/test/java/org/jclouds/demo/tweetstore/integration/GoogleDevServer.java
+++ b/demos/gae-tweetstore-spring/src/test/java/org/jclouds/demo/tweetstore/integration/GoogleDevServer.java
@@ -18,12 +18,17 @@
  */
 package org.jclouds.demo.tweetstore.integration;
 
-import com.google.appengine.tools.KickStart;
+import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
+import static java.lang.String.format;
 
+import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.io.File;
 import java.util.Properties;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+
+import com.google.appengine.tools.KickStart;
+import com.google.appengine.tools.info.SdkInfo;
 
 /**
  * Basic functionality to start a local google app engine instance.
@@ -44,22 +49,29 @@ public class GoogleDevServer {
         assert new File(filename).exists();
         this.server = new Thread(new Runnable() {
             public void run() {
-                KickStart
-                        .main(new String[]{
-                                "com.google.appengine.tools.development.DevAppServerMain",
-                                "--disable_update_check", "-a", address, "-p",
-                                port, warfile});
-
+                String sdkRoot = checkNotNull(System.getProperty(SdkInfo.SDK_ROOT_PROPERTY), SdkInfo.SDK_ROOT_PROPERTY);
+                KickStart.main(new String[] {
+                        KickStarter.systemProperty("java.util.logging.config.file", 
+                                format("%s/WEB-INF/logging.properties", warfile)),
+                        KickStarter.systemProperty(SdkInfo.SDK_ROOT_PROPERTY, sdkRoot),
+                        "com.google.appengine.tools.development.DevAppServerMain",
+                        "--disable_update_check", 
+                        format("--sdk_root=%s", sdkRoot), 
+                        "-a", address, "-p", port, warfile });
             }
-
         });
         server.start();
-        Thread.sleep(30 * 1000);
+        TimeUnit.SECONDS.sleep(30);
     }
 
-    @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
     public void stop() throws Exception {
-        server.stop();
+        // KickStart.main opens a process and calls process.waitFor(), which is interruptable
+        server.interrupt();
+    }
+    
+    private static class KickStarter {
+        private static String systemProperty(String key, String value) {
+            return format("--jvm_flag=-D%s=%s", key, value);
+        }
     }
-
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/demos/gae-tweetstore/src/test/java/org/jclouds/demo/tweetstore/integration/GoogleDevServer.java b/demos/gae-tweetstore/src/test/java/org/jclouds/demo/tweetstore/integration/GoogleDevServer.java
index a261dcf459..47a73f0581 100755
--- a/demos/gae-tweetstore/src/test/java/org/jclouds/demo/tweetstore/integration/GoogleDevServer.java
+++ b/demos/gae-tweetstore/src/test/java/org/jclouds/demo/tweetstore/integration/GoogleDevServer.java
@@ -18,12 +18,17 @@
  */
 package org.jclouds.demo.tweetstore.integration;
 
-import com.google.appengine.tools.KickStart;
+import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
+import static java.lang.String.format;
 
+import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.io.File;
 import java.util.Properties;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+
+import com.google.appengine.tools.KickStart;
+import com.google.appengine.tools.info.SdkInfo;
 
 /**
  * Basic functionality to start a local google app engine instance.
@@ -44,22 +49,29 @@ public class GoogleDevServer {
         assert new File(filename).exists();
         this.server = new Thread(new Runnable() {
             public void run() {
-                KickStart
-                        .main(new String[]{
-                                "com.google.appengine.tools.development.DevAppServerMain",
-                                "--disable_update_check", "-a", address, "-p",
-                                port, warfile});
-
+                String sdkRoot = checkNotNull(System.getProperty(SdkInfo.SDK_ROOT_PROPERTY), SdkInfo.SDK_ROOT_PROPERTY);
+                KickStart.main(new String[] {
+                        KickStarter.systemProperty("java.util.logging.config.file", 
+                                format("%s/WEB-INF/logging.properties", warfile)),
+                        KickStarter.systemProperty(SdkInfo.SDK_ROOT_PROPERTY, sdkRoot),
+                        "com.google.appengine.tools.development.DevAppServerMain",
+                        "--disable_update_check", 
+                        format("--sdk_root=%s", sdkRoot), 
+                        "-a", address, "-p", port, warfile });
             }
-
         });
         server.start();
-        Thread.sleep(30 * 1000);
+        TimeUnit.SECONDS.sleep(30);
     }
 
-    @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
     public void stop() throws Exception {
-        server.stop();
+        // KickStart.main opens a process and calls process.waitFor(), which is interruptable
+        server.interrupt();
+    }
+    
+    private static class KickStarter {
+        private static String systemProperty(String key, String value) {
+            return format("--jvm_flag=-D%s=%s", key, value);
+        }
     }
-
 }
\ No newline at end of file