diff --git a/solr/CHANGES.txt b/solr/CHANGES.txt
index e374df4ab0a..7ba609e2d33 100644
--- a/solr/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/solr/CHANGES.txt
@@ -242,13 +242,16 @@ New Features
 
 * SOLR-6787: API to manage blobs in Solr (Noble Paul)
 
-* SOLR-6801:  Load RequestHandler from blob store (Noble Paul)
+* SOLR-6801: Load RequestHandler from blob store (Noble Paul)
 
 * SOLR-1632: Support Distributed IDF (Andrzej Bialecki, Mark Miller, Yonik Seeley,
   Robert Muir, Markus Jelsma, Vitaliy Zhovtyuk, Anshum Gupta)
 
 * SOLR-6729: createNodeSet.shuffle=(true|false) support for /admin/collections?action=CREATE.
   (Christine Poerschke, Ramkumar Aiyengar via Mark Miller)
+
+* SOLR-6851: Scripts to support installing and running Solr as a service on Linux
+  (Timothy Potter, Hossman, Steve Rowe)
   
 Bug Fixes
 ----------------------
diff --git a/solr/bin/init.d/solr b/solr/bin/init.d/solr
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..5fb91d37384
--- /dev/null
+++ b/solr/bin/init.d/solr
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+# contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+# this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+# The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+# (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+# the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+### BEGIN INIT INFO
+# Provides:          solr
+# Required-Start:    $remote_fs $syslog
+# Required-Stop:     $remote_fs $syslog
+# Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
+# Default-Stop:      0 1 6
+# Description:       Controls Apache Solr as a Service
+### END INIT INFO
+
+# Example of a very simple *nix init script that delegates commands to the bin/solr script
+# Typical usage is to do:
+#
+#   cp bin/init.d/solr /etc/init.d/solr
+#   chmod 755 /etc/init.d/solr
+#   chown root:root /etc/init.d/solr
+#   update-rc.d solr defaults
+#   update-rc.d solr enable
+
+# Where you extracted the Solr distribution bundle
+SOLR_INSTALL_DIR=/opt/solr
+
+if [ ! -d "$SOLR_INSTALL_DIR" ]; then
+  echo "$SOLR_INSTALL_DIR not found! Please check the SOLR_INSTALL_DIR setting in your $0 script."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# Path to an include file that defines environment specific settings to override default
+# variables used by the bin/solr script. It's highly recommended to define this script so
+# that you can keep the Solr binary files separated from live files (pid, logs, index data, etc)
+# see bin/solr.in.sh for an example
+SOLR_ENV=/var/solr/solr.in.sh
+
+if [ ! -f "$SOLR_ENV" ]; then
+  echo "$SOLR_ENV not found! Please check the SOLR_ENV setting in your $0 script."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# Specify the user to run Solr as; if not set, then Solr will run as root.
+# Running Solr as root is not recommended for production environments
+RUNAS=solr
+
+# verify the specified run as user exists
+runas_uid=`id -u $RUNAS`
+if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+  echo "User $RUNAS not found! Please create the $RUNAS user before running this script."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+case "$1" in
+  start|stop|restart|status)
+    SOLR_CMD=$1
+    ;;
+  *)
+    echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop|restart|status}"
+    exit
+esac
+
+if [ -n "$RUNAS" ]; then
+  su -c "SOLR_INCLUDE=$SOLR_ENV $SOLR_INSTALL_DIR/bin/solr $SOLR_CMD" - $RUNAS
+else
+  SOLR_INCLUDE=$SOLR_ENV $SOLR_INSTALL_DIR/bin/solr $SOLR_CMD
+fi
diff --git a/solr/bin/install_solr_service.sh b/solr/bin/install_solr_service.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8a6d91b9c3d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/solr/bin/install_solr_service.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,270 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+# contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+# this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+# The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+# (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+# the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+if [[ $EUID -ne 0 ]]; then
+  echo -e "\nERROR: This script must be run as root\n" 1>&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+print_usage() {
+  ERROR_MSG="$1"
+
+  if [ "$ERROR_MSG" != "" ]; then
+    echo -e "\nERROR: $ERROR_MSG\n" 1>&2
+  fi
+
+  echo ""
+  echo "Usage: install_solr_service.sh path_to_solr_distribution_archive OPTIONS"
+  echo ""
+  echo "  The first argument to the script must be a path to a Solr distribution archive, such as solr-5.0.0.tgz"
+  echo "    (only .tgz or .zip are supported formats for the archive)"
+  echo ""
+  echo "  Supported OPTIONS include:"
+  echo ""
+  echo "    -d     Directory for live / writable Solr files, such as logs, pid files, and index data; defaults to /var/solr"
+  echo ""
+  echo "    -i     Directory to extract the Solr installation archive; defaults to /opt/"
+  echo "             The specified path must exist prior to using this script."
+  echo ""
+  echo "    -p     Port Solr should bind to; default is 8983"
+  echo ""
+  echo "    -s     Service name; defaults to solr"
+  echo ""
+  echo "    -u     User to own the Solr files and run the Solr process as; defaults to solr"
+  echo "             This script will create the specified user account if it does not exist."
+  echo ""
+  echo " NOTE: Must be run as the root user"
+  echo ""
+} # end print_usage
+
+if [ -f "/proc/version" ]; then
+  proc_version=`cat /proc/version`
+else
+  proc_version=`uname -a`
+fi
+
+if [[ $proc_version == *"Debian"* ]]; then
+  distro=Debian
+elif [[ $proc_version == *"Red Hat"* ]]; then
+  distro=RedHat
+elif [[ $proc_version == *"Ubuntu"* ]]; then
+  distro=Ubuntu
+elif [[ $proc_version == *"SUSE"* ]]; then
+  distro=SUSE
+else
+  echo -e "\nERROR: Your Linux distribution ($proc_version) not supported by this script!\nYou'll need to setup Solr as a service manually using the documentation provided in the Solr Reference Guide.\n" 1>&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ -z "$1" ]; then
+  print_usage "Must specify the path to the Solr installation archive, such as solr-5.0.0.tgz"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+SOLR_ARCHIVE=$1
+if [ ! -f "$SOLR_ARCHIVE" ]; then
+  print_usage "Specified Solr installation archive $SOLR_ARCHIVE not found!"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# strip off path info
+SOLR_INSTALL_FILE=${SOLR_ARCHIVE##*/}
+is_tar=true
+if [ ${SOLR_INSTALL_FILE: -4} == ".tgz" ]; then
+  SOLR_DIR=${SOLR_INSTALL_FILE:0:-4}
+elif [ ${SOLR_INSTALL_FILE: -4} == ".zip" ]; then
+  SOLR_DIR=${SOLR_INSTALL_FILE:0:-4}
+  is_tar=false
+else
+  print_usage "Solr installation archive $SOLR_ARCHIVE is invalid, expected a .tgz or .zip file!"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ $# -gt 1 ]; then
+  shift
+  while true; do
+    case $1 in
+        -i)
+            if [[ -z "$2" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
+              print_usage "Directory path is required when using the $1 option!"
+              exit 1
+            fi
+            SOLR_EXTRACT_DIR=$2
+            shift 2
+        ;;
+        -d)
+            if [[ -z "$2" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
+              print_usage "Directory path is required when using the $1 option!"
+              exit 1
+            fi
+            SOLR_VAR_DIR="$2"
+            shift 2
+        ;;
+        -u)
+            if [[ -z "$2" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
+              print_usage "Username is required when using the $1 option!"
+              exit 1
+            fi
+            SOLR_USER="$2"
+            shift 2
+        ;;
+        -s)
+            if [[ -z "$2" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
+              print_usage "Service name is required when using the $1 option!"
+              exit 1
+            fi
+            SOLR_SERVICE="$2"
+            shift 2
+        ;;
+        -p)
+            if [[ -z "$2" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
+              print_usage "Port is required when using the $1 option!"
+              exit 1
+            fi
+            SOLR_PORT="$2"
+            shift 2
+        ;;
+        -help|-usage)
+            print_usage ""
+            exit 0
+        ;;
+        --)
+            shift
+            break
+        ;;
+        *)
+            if [ "$1" != "" ]; then
+              print_usage "Unrecognized or misplaced argument: $1!"
+              exit 1
+            else
+              break # out-of-args, stop looping
+            fi
+        ;;
+    esac
+  done
+fi
+
+if [ -z "$SOLR_EXTRACT_DIR" ]; then
+  SOLR_EXTRACT_DIR=/opt
+fi
+
+if [ ! -d "$SOLR_EXTRACT_DIR" ]; then
+  print_usage "Installation directory $SOLR_EXTRACT_DIR not found! Please create it before running this script."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ -z "$SOLR_VAR_DIR" ]; then
+  SOLR_VAR_DIR=/var/solr
+fi
+
+if [ -z "$SOLR_USER" ]; then
+  SOLR_USER=solr
+fi
+
+if [ -z "$SOLR_SERVICE" ]; then
+  SOLR_SERVICE=solr
+fi
+
+if [ -z "$SOLR_PORT" ]; then
+  SOLR_PORT=8983
+fi
+
+if [ -f "/etc/init.d/$SOLR_SERVICE" ]; then
+  echo -e "\nERROR: /etc/init.d/$SOLR_SERVICE already exists! Perhaps solr is already setup as a service on this host?\n" 1>&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ -e "$SOLR_EXTRACT_DIR/$SOLR_SERVICE" ]; then
+  print_usage "$SOLR_EXTRACT_DIR/$SOLR_SERVICE already exists! Please move this directory / link or choose a different service name using the -s option."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+solr_uid=`id -u $SOLR_USER`
+if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+  echo "Creating new user: $SOLR_USER"
+  if [ "$distro" == "RedHat" ]; then
+    adduser $SOLR_USER
+  elif [ "$distro" == "SUSE" ]; then
+    useradd -m $SOLR_USER
+  else
+    adduser --system --shell /bin/bash --group --disabled-password --home /home/$SOLR_USER $SOLR_USER
+  fi
+fi
+
+SOLR_INSTALL_DIR=$SOLR_EXTRACT_DIR/$SOLR_DIR
+if [ ! -d "$SOLR_INSTALL_DIR" ]; then
+
+  echo "Extracting $SOLR_ARCHIVE to $SOLR_EXTRACT_DIR"
+
+  if $is_tar ; then
+    tar zxf $SOLR_ARCHIVE -C $SOLR_EXTRACT_DIR
+  else
+    unzip -q $SOLR_ARCHIVE -d $SOLR_EXTRACT_DIR
+  fi
+
+  if [ ! -d "$SOLR_INSTALL_DIR" ]; then
+    echo -e "\nERROR: Expected directory $SOLR_INSTALL_DIR not found after extracting $SOLR_ARCHIVE ... script fails.\n" 1>&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  chown -R $SOLR_USER: $SOLR_INSTALL_DIR
+else
+  echo -e "\nWARNING: $SOLR_INSTALL_DIR already exists! Skipping extract ...\n"
+fi
+
+# create a symlink for easier scripting
+ln -s $SOLR_INSTALL_DIR $SOLR_EXTRACT_DIR/$SOLR_SERVICE
+chown -h $SOLR_USER: $SOLR_EXTRACT_DIR/$SOLR_SERVICE
+
+mkdir -p $SOLR_VAR_DIR/data
+mkdir -p $SOLR_VAR_DIR/logs
+cp $SOLR_INSTALL_DIR/server/solr/solr.xml $SOLR_VAR_DIR/data/
+cp $SOLR_INSTALL_DIR/bin/solr.in.sh $SOLR_VAR_DIR/
+cp $SOLR_INSTALL_DIR/server/resources/log4j.properties $SOLR_VAR_DIR/log4j.properties
+sed_expr="s#solr.log=.*#solr.log=\${solr.solr.home}/../logs#"
+sed -i -e "$sed_expr" $SOLR_VAR_DIR/log4j.properties
+chown -R $SOLR_USER: $SOLR_VAR_DIR
+
+echo "SOLR_PID_DIR=$SOLR_VAR_DIR
+SOLR_HOME=$SOLR_VAR_DIR/data
+LOG4J_PROPS=$SOLR_VAR_DIR/log4j.properties
+SOLR_LOGS_DIR=$SOLR_VAR_DIR/logs
+SOLR_PORT=$SOLR_PORT
+" >> $SOLR_VAR_DIR/solr.in.sh
+
+echo "Creating /etc/init.d/$SOLR_SERVICE script ..."
+cp $SOLR_INSTALL_DIR/bin/init.d/solr /etc/init.d/$SOLR_SERVICE
+chmod 744 /etc/init.d/$SOLR_SERVICE
+chown root:root /etc/init.d/$SOLR_SERVICE
+
+# do some basic variable substitution on the init.d script
+sed_expr1="s#SOLR_INSTALL_DIR=.*#SOLR_INSTALL_DIR=$SOLR_EXTRACT_DIR/$SOLR_SERVICE#"
+sed_expr2="s#SOLR_ENV=.*#SOLR_ENV=$SOLR_VAR_DIR/solr.in.sh#"
+sed_expr3="s#RUNAS=.*#RUNAS=$SOLR_USER#"
+sed_expr4="s#Provides:.*#Provides: $SOLR_SERVICE#"
+sed -i -e "$sed_expr1" -e "$sed_expr2" -e "$sed_expr3" -e "$sed_expr4" /etc/init.d/$SOLR_SERVICE
+
+if [[ "$distro" == "RedHat" || "$distro" == "SUSE" ]]; then
+  chkconfig $SOLR_SERVICE on
+else
+  update-rc.d $SOLR_SERVICE defaults
+fi
+
+service $SOLR_SERVICE start
+sleep 5
+service $SOLR_SERVICE status
+
+echo "Service $SOLR_SERVICE installed."
diff --git a/solr/bin/oom_solr.sh b/solr/bin/oom_solr.sh
index 705280324c9..5ecba6bc301 100755
--- a/solr/bin/oom_solr.sh
+++ b/solr/bin/oom_solr.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!/bin/sh
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
 
 # Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
 # contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
@@ -16,14 +16,15 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 SOLR_PORT=$1
-SOLR_PID=`ps waux | grep start.jar | grep $SOLR_PORT | grep -v grep | awk '{print $2}' | sort -r`
-if [ "$SOLR_PID" == "" ]; then
+SOLR_LOGS_DIR=$2
+SOLR_PID=`ps auxww | grep start.jar | grep $SOLR_PORT | grep -v grep | awk '{print $2}' | sort -r`
+if [ -z "$SOLR_PID" ]; then
   echo "Couldn't find Solr process running on port $SOLR_PORT!"
   exit
 fi
-NOW=$(date +"%F%T")
+NOW=$(date +"%F_%H_%M_%S")
 (
 echo "Running OOM killer script for process $SOLR_PID for Solr on port $SOLR_PORT"
 kill -9 $SOLR_PID
 echo "Killed process $SOLR_PID"
-) | tee solr_oom_killer-$SOLR_PORT-$NOW.log
+) | tee $SOLR_LOGS_DIR/solr_oom_killer-$SOLR_PORT-$NOW.log
diff --git a/solr/bin/solr b/solr/bin/solr
index e6977f199ee..41c8315eaac 100755
--- a/solr/bin/solr
+++ b/solr/bin/solr
@@ -20,12 +20,13 @@
 # Use solr -help to see available command-line options. In addition
 # to passing command-line options, this script looks for an include
 # file named solr.in.sh to set environment variables. Specifically, 
-# the following locations are searched:
+# the following locations are searched in this order:
 #
 # ./
 # $HOME/.solr.in.sh
 # /usr/share/solr
 # /usr/local/share/solr
+# /var/solr/
 # /opt/solr
 #
 # Another option is to specify the full path to the include file in the
@@ -74,23 +75,28 @@ SOLR_TIP=`cd "$SOLR_TIP"; pwd`
 DEFAULT_SERVER_DIR=$SOLR_TIP/server
 
 # If an include wasn't specified in the environment, then search for one...
-if [ "x$SOLR_INCLUDE" == "x" ]; then
-    # Locations (in order) to use when searching for an include file.
-    for include in "`dirname "$0"`/solr.in.sh" \
-                   "$HOME/.solr.in.sh" \
-                   /usr/share/solr/solr.in.sh \
-                   /usr/local/share/solr/solr.in.sh \
-                   /opt/solr/solr.in.sh; do
-        if [ -r "$include" ]; then
-            . "$include"
-            break
-        fi
-    done
+if [ -z "$SOLR_INCLUDE" ]; then
+  # Locations (in order) to use when searching for an include file.
+  for include in "`dirname "$0"`/solr.in.sh" \
+               "$HOME/.solr.in.sh" \
+               /usr/share/solr/solr.in.sh \
+               /usr/local/share/solr/solr.in.sh \
+               /var/solr/solr.in.sh \
+               /opt/solr/solr.in.sh; do
+    if [ -r "$include" ]; then
+        . "$include"
+        break
+    fi
+  done
 elif [ -r "$SOLR_INCLUDE" ]; then
-    . "$SOLR_INCLUDE"
+  . "$SOLR_INCLUDE"
 fi
 
-if [ "$SOLR_JAVA_HOME" != "" ]; then
+if [ -z "$SOLR_PID_DIR" ]; then
+  SOLR_PID_DIR=$SOLR_TIP/bin
+fi
+
+if [ -n "$SOLR_JAVA_HOME" ]; then
   JAVA=$SOLR_JAVA_HOME/bin/java
 elif [ -n "$JAVA_HOME" ]; then
   for java in "$JAVA_HOME"/bin/amd64/java "$JAVA_HOME"/bin/java; do
@@ -114,10 +120,10 @@ function print_usage() {
     echo -e "\nERROR: $ERROR_MSG\n"
   fi
   
-  if [ "$CMD" == "" ]; then
+  if [ -z "$CMD" ]; then
     echo ""
     echo "Usage: solr COMMAND OPTIONS"
-    echo "       where COMMAND is one of: start, stop, restart, healthcheck, create_core, create_collection"
+    echo "       where COMMAND is one of: start, stop, restart, status, healthcheck, create_core, create_collection"
     echo ""
     echo "  Standalone server example (start Solr running in the background on port 8984):"
     echo ""
@@ -158,7 +164,7 @@ function print_usage() {
     echo "  -s <dir>      Sets the solr.solr.home system property; Solr will create core directories under"
     echo "                  this directory. This allows you to run multiple Solr instances on the same host"
     echo "                  while reusing the same server directory set using the -d parameter. If set, the"
-    echo "                  specified directory should contain a solr.xml file. The default value is example/solr."
+    echo "                  specified directory should contain a solr.xml file. The default value is server/solr."
     echo "                  This parameter is ignored when running examples (-e), as the solr.solr.home depends"
     echo "                  on which example is run."
     echo ""
@@ -187,7 +193,7 @@ function print_usage() {
     echo ""
     echo "  -all          Find and stop all running Solr servers on this host"
     echo ""
-    echo "  NOTE: To see if any Solr servers are running, do: solr -i"
+    echo "  NOTE: To see if any Solr servers are running, do: solr status"
     echo ""
   elif [ "$CMD" == "healthcheck" ]; then
     echo ""
@@ -197,6 +203,12 @@ function print_usage() {
     echo ""
     echo "  -z <zkHost>      ZooKeeper connection string; default is localhost:9983"
     echo ""
+  elif [ "$CMD" == "status" ]; then
+    echo ""
+    echo "Usage: solr status"
+    echo ""
+    echo "  NOTE: This command will show the status of all running Solr servers"
+    echo ""
   elif [ "$CMD" == "create_core" ]; then
     echo ""
     echo "Usage: solr create_core [-n name] [-c configset]"
@@ -232,12 +244,11 @@ function print_usage() {
 } # end print_usage
 
 # used to show the script is still alive when waiting on work to complete
-spinner()
-{
+function spinner() {
   local pid=$1
   local delay=0.5
   local spinstr='|/-\'
-  while [ "$(ps a | awk '{print $1}' | grep $pid)" ]; do
+  while [ "$(ps aux | awk '{print $2}' | grep $pid)" ]; do
       local temp=${spinstr#?}
       printf " [%c]  " "$spinstr"
       local spinstr=$temp${spinstr%"$temp"}
@@ -250,8 +261,8 @@ spinner()
 # given a port, find the pid for a Solr process
 function solr_pid_by_port() {
   THE_PORT="$1"
-  if [ -e "$SOLR_TIP/bin/solr-$THE_PORT.pid" ]; then
-    PID=`cat $SOLR_TIP/bin/solr-$THE_PORT.pid`
+  if [ -e "$SOLR_PID_DIR/solr-$THE_PORT.pid" ]; then
+    PID=`cat $SOLR_PID_DIR/solr-$THE_PORT.pid`
     CHECK_PID=`ps auxww | awk '{print $2}' | grep $PID | sort -r | tr -d ' '`
     if [ "$CHECK_PID" != "" ]; then
       local solrPID=$PID
@@ -294,26 +305,27 @@ function run_tool() {
 # get information about any Solr nodes running on this host
 function get_info() {
   # first, see if Solr is running
-  numSolrs=`find $SOLR_TIP/bin -name "solr-*.pid" -type f | wc -l | tr -d ' '`
+  numSolrs=`find $SOLR_PID_DIR -name "solr-*.pid" -type f | wc -l | tr -d ' '`
   if [ "$numSolrs" != "0" ]; then
     echo -e "\nFound $numSolrs Solr nodes: "
-    for PIDF in `find $SOLR_TIP/bin -name "solr-*.pid" -type f`
+    for PIDF in `find $SOLR_PID_DIR -name "solr-*.pid" -type f`
       do
         ID=`cat $PIDF`
         port=`jetty_port "$ID"`
         if [ "$port" != "" ]; then
-          echo ""
-          echo "Solr process $ID running on port $port"
+          echo -e "\nSolr process $ID running on port $port"
           run_tool status -solr http://localhost:$port/solr
           echo ""
-       fi
+        else
+          echo -e "\nSolr process $ID from $PIDF not found."
+        fi
     done
   else
     # no pid files but check using ps just to be sure
-    numSolrs=`ps auxww | grep java | grep start.jar | wc -l | sed -e 's/^[ \t]*//'`
+    numSolrs=`ps auxww | grep start.jar | grep solr.solr.home | grep -v grep | wc -l | sed -e 's/^[ \t]*//'`
     if [ "$numSolrs" != "0" ]; then
       echo -e "\nFound $numSolrs Solr nodes: "
-      for ID in `ps auxww | grep java | grep start.jar | awk '{print $2}' | sort -r`
+      for ID in `ps auxww | grep start.jar | grep solr.solr.home | grep -v grep | awk '{print $2}' | sort -r`
         do
           port=`jetty_port "$ID"`
           if [ "$port" != "" ]; then
@@ -345,7 +357,7 @@ function stop_solr() {
     $JAVA -jar $DIR/start.jar STOP.PORT=$STOP_PORT STOP.KEY=$STOP_KEY --stop || true
     (sleep 5) &
     spinner $!
-    rm -f $SOLR_TIP/bin/solr-$SOLR_PORT.pid
+    rm -f $SOLR_PID_DIR/solr-$SOLR_PORT.pid
   else
     echo -e "No Solr nodes found to stop."
     exit 0
@@ -356,7 +368,7 @@ function stop_solr() {
     echo -e "Solr process $SOLR_PID is still running; forcefully killing it now."
     kill -9 $SOLR_PID
     echo "Killed process $SOLR_PID"
-    rm -f $SOLR_TIP/bin/solr-$SOLR_PORT.pid
+    rm -f $SOLR_PID_DIR/solr-$SOLR_PORT.pid
     sleep 1
   fi
 
@@ -373,7 +385,7 @@ if [ $# -eq 1 ]; then
         print_usage ""
         exit
     ;;
-    -info|-i)        
+    -info|-i|status)
         get_info
         exit
     ;;
@@ -395,6 +407,13 @@ else
   exit  
 fi
 
+if [ "$SCRIPT_CMD" == "status" ]; then
+  # hacky - the script hits this if the user passes additional args with the status command,
+  # which is not supported but also not worth complaining about either
+  get_info
+  exit
+fi
+
 # run a healthcheck and exit if requested
 if [ "$SCRIPT_CMD" == "healthcheck" ]; then
 
@@ -402,7 +421,7 @@ if [ "$SCRIPT_CMD" == "healthcheck" ]; then
     while true; do  
       case $1 in
           -c|-collection)
-              if [[ "$2" == "" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
+              if [[ -z "$2" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
                 print_usage "$SCRIPT_CMD" "Collection name is required when using the $1 option!"
                 exit 1
               fi
@@ -410,7 +429,7 @@ if [ "$SCRIPT_CMD" == "healthcheck" ]; then
               shift 2
           ;;
           -z|-zkhost)          
-              if [[ "$2" == "" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
+              if [[ -z "$2" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
                 print_usage "$SCRIPT_CMD" "ZooKeepeer connection string is required when using the $1 option!"
                 exit 1
               fi
@@ -437,11 +456,11 @@ if [ "$SCRIPT_CMD" == "healthcheck" ]; then
     done
   fi
   
-  if [ "$ZK_HOST" == "" ]; then
+  if [ -z "$ZK_HOST" ]; then
     ZK_HOST=localhost:9983
   fi
   
-  if [ "$HEALTHCHECK_COLLECTION" == "" ]; then
+  if [ -z "$HEALTHCHECK_COLLECTION" ]; then
     echo "collection parameter is required!"
     print_usage "healthcheck"
     exit 1  
@@ -466,7 +485,7 @@ if [[ "$SCRIPT_CMD" == "create_core" || "$SCRIPT_CMD" == "create_collection" ]];
     while true; do
       case $1 in
           -n|-name)
-              if [[ "$2" == "" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
+              if [[ -z "$2" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
                 print_usage "$SCRIPT_CMD" "$CREATE_TYPE name is required when using the $1 option!"
                 exit 1
               fi
@@ -474,7 +493,7 @@ if [[ "$SCRIPT_CMD" == "create_core" || "$SCRIPT_CMD" == "create_collection" ]];
               shift 2
           ;;
           -c|-configset)
-              if [[ "$2" == "" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
+              if [[ -z "$2" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
                 print_usage "$SCRIPT_CMD" "Configset name is required when using the $1 option!"
                 exit 1
               fi
@@ -482,7 +501,7 @@ if [[ "$SCRIPT_CMD" == "create_core" || "$SCRIPT_CMD" == "create_collection" ]];
               shift 2
           ;;
           -s|-shards)
-              if [[ "$2" == "" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
+              if [[ -z "$2" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
                 print_usage "$SCRIPT_CMD" "Shard count is required when using the $1 option!"
                 exit 1
               fi
@@ -490,7 +509,7 @@ if [[ "$SCRIPT_CMD" == "create_core" || "$SCRIPT_CMD" == "create_collection" ]];
               shift 2
           ;;
           -rf|-replicationFactor)
-              if [[ "$2" == "" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
+              if [[ -z "$2" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
                 print_usage "$SCRIPT_CMD" "Replication factor is required when using the $1 option!"
                 exit 1
               fi
@@ -498,7 +517,7 @@ if [[ "$SCRIPT_CMD" == "create_core" || "$SCRIPT_CMD" == "create_collection" ]];
               shift 2
           ;;
           -p|-port)
-              if [[ "$2" == "" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
+              if [[ -z "$2" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
                 print_usage "$SCRIPT_CMD" "Solr port is required when using the $1 option!"
                 exit 1
               fi
@@ -525,17 +544,17 @@ if [[ "$SCRIPT_CMD" == "create_core" || "$SCRIPT_CMD" == "create_collection" ]];
     done
   fi
 
-  if [ "$CREATE_CONFIGSET" == "" ]; then
+  if [ -z "$CREATE_CONFIGSET" ]; then
     CREATE_CONFIGSET=data_driven_schema_configs
   fi
 
-  if [ "$CREATE_NAME" == "" ]; then
+  if [ -z "$CREATE_NAME" ]; then
     echo "$CREATE_TYPE name is required!"
     print_usage "$SCRIPT_CMD"
     exit 1
   fi
 
-  if [ "$CREATE_PORT" == "" ]; then
+  if [ -z "$CREATE_PORT" ]; then
     for ID in `ps auxww | grep java | grep start.jar | awk '{print $2}' | sort -r`
       do
         port=`jetty_port "$ID"`
@@ -546,7 +565,7 @@ if [[ "$SCRIPT_CMD" == "create_core" || "$SCRIPT_CMD" == "create_collection" ]];
     done
   fi
 
-  if [ "$CREATE_PORT" == "" ]; then
+  if [ -z "$CREATE_PORT" ]; then
     echo "Failed to determine the port of a local Solr instance, cannot create $CREATE_TYPE $CREATE_NAME"
     exit 1
   fi
@@ -564,7 +583,7 @@ fi
 
 
 # verify the command given is supported
-if [ "$SCRIPT_CMD" != "stop" ] && [ "$SCRIPT_CMD" != "start" ] && [ "$SCRIPT_CMD" != "restart" ]; then
+if [ "$SCRIPT_CMD" != "stop" ] && [ "$SCRIPT_CMD" != "start" ] && [ "$SCRIPT_CMD" != "restart" ] && [ "$SCRIPT_CMD" != "status" ]; then
   print_usage "" "$SCRIPT_CMD is not a valid command!"
   exit 1
 fi
@@ -581,7 +600,7 @@ if [ $# -gt 0 ]; then
             shift
         ;;
         -d|-dir)
-            if [[ "$2" == "" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
+            if [[ -z "$2" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
               print_usage "$SCRIPT_CMD" "Server directory is required when using the $1 option!"
               exit 1
             fi
@@ -601,7 +620,7 @@ if [ $# -gt 0 ]; then
             shift 2
         ;;
         -s|-solr.home)
-            if [[ "$2" == "" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
+            if [[ -z "$2" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
               print_usage "$SCRIPT_CMD" "Solr home directory is required when using the $1 option!"
               exit 1
             fi
@@ -610,7 +629,7 @@ if [ $# -gt 0 ]; then
             shift 2
         ;;
         -e|-example)
-            if [[ "$2" == "" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
+            if [[ -z "$2" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
               print_usage "$SCRIPT_CMD" "Example name is required when using the $1 option!"
               exit 1
             fi
@@ -622,7 +641,7 @@ if [ $# -gt 0 ]; then
             shift
         ;;
         -h|-host)
-            if [[ "$2" == "" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
+            if [[ -z "$2" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
               print_usage "$SCRIPT_CMD" "Hostname is required when using the $1 option!"
               exit 1
             fi
@@ -630,7 +649,7 @@ if [ $# -gt 0 ]; then
             shift 2
         ;;
         -m|-memory)
-            if [[ "$2" == "" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
+            if [[ -z "$2" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
               print_usage "$SCRIPT_CMD" "Memory setting is required when using the $1 option!"
               exit 1
             fi
@@ -638,7 +657,7 @@ if [ $# -gt 0 ]; then
             shift 2
         ;;
         -p|-port)
-            if [[ "$2" == "" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
+            if [[ -z "$2" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
               print_usage "$SCRIPT_CMD" "Port number is required when using the $1 option!"
               exit 1
             fi
@@ -646,11 +665,12 @@ if [ $# -gt 0 ]; then
             shift 2
         ;;
         -z|-zkhost)
-            if [[ "$2" == "" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
+            if [[ -z "$2" || "${2:0:1}" == "-" ]]; then
               print_usage "$SCRIPT_CMD" "ZooKeeper connection string is required when using the $1 option!"
               exit 1
             fi
             ZK_HOST="$2"
+            SOLR_MODE="solrcloud"
             shift 2
         ;;
         -a|-addlopts)
@@ -711,7 +731,7 @@ else
   SOLR_HOST_ARG=""
 fi
 
-if [ "$SOLR_SERVER_DIR" == "" ]; then
+if [ -z "$SOLR_SERVER_DIR" ]; then
   SOLR_SERVER_DIR=$DEFAULT_SERVER_DIR
 fi
 
@@ -740,7 +760,7 @@ if [ "$EXAMPLE" != "" ]; then
               while true
               do
                 CLOUD_NUM_NODES=`echo $USER_INPUT | tr -d ' '`
-                if [ "$CLOUD_NUM_NODES" == "" ]; then
+                if [ -z "$CLOUD_NUM_NODES" ]; then
                   CLOUD_NUM_NODES=2
                 fi
                 if [[ $CLOUD_NUM_NODES > 4 || $CLOUD_NUM_NODES < 1 ]]; then
@@ -760,7 +780,7 @@ if [ "$EXAMPLE" != "" ]; then
                   CLOUD_PORT=`echo $USER_INPUT | tr -d ' '`
                   
                   # handle the default selection or empty input
-                  if [ "$CLOUD_PORT" == "" ]; then
+                  if [ -z "$CLOUD_PORT" ]; then
                     CLOUD_PORT=${CLOUD_PORTS[$s]}
                   fi
                                   
@@ -840,15 +860,15 @@ if [[ "$FG" == "true" && "$EXAMPLE" != "" ]]; then
   echo -e "\nWARNING: Foreground mode (-f) not supported when running examples.\n"
 fi
 
-if [ "$STOP_KEY" == "" ]; then
+if [ -z "$STOP_KEY" ]; then
   STOP_KEY="solrrocks"
 fi
 
 # stop all if no port specified
-if [[ "$SCRIPT_CMD" == "stop" && "$SOLR_PORT" == "" ]]; then
+if [[ "$SCRIPT_CMD" == "stop" && -z "$SOLR_PORT" ]]; then
   if $stop_all; then
     none_stopped=true
-    for PIDF in `find $SOLR_TIP/bin -name "solr-*.pid" -type f`
+    for PIDF in `find $SOLR_PID_DIR -name "solr-*.pid" -type f`
       do
         NEXT_PID=`cat $PIDF`
         port=`jetty_port "$NEXT_PID"`
@@ -862,17 +882,33 @@ if [[ "$SCRIPT_CMD" == "stop" && "$SOLR_PORT" == "" ]]; then
       echo -e "\nNo Solr nodes found to stop.\n"
     fi
   else
-    echo -e "\nERROR: Must either specify a port using -p or -all to stop all Solr nodes on this host.\n"
-    exit 1
+    # not stopping all and don't have a port, but if we can find the pid file for the default port 8983, then use that
+    none_stopped=true
+    if [ -e "$SOLR_PID_DIR/solr-8983.pid" ]; then
+      PID=`cat $SOLR_PID_DIR/solr-8983.pid`
+      CHECK_PID=`ps auxww | awk '{print $2}' | grep $PID | sort -r | tr -d ' '`
+      if [ "$CHECK_PID" != "" ]; then
+        port=`jetty_port "$CHECK_PID"`
+        if [ "$port" != "" ]; then
+          stop_solr "$SOLR_SERVER_DIR" "$port" "$STOP_KEY" "$CHECK_PID"
+          none_stopped=false
+        fi
+        rm -f $SOLR_PID_DIR/solr-8983.pid
+      fi
+    fi
+    if $none_stopped; then
+      echo -e "\nMust either specify a port using -p or -all to stop all Solr nodes on this host.\nUse the status command to see if any Solr nodes are running."
+      exit 1
+    fi
   fi
   exit
 fi
 
-if [ "$SOLR_PORT" == "" ]; then
+if [ -z "$SOLR_PORT" ]; then
   SOLR_PORT="8983"
 fi
 
-if [ "$STOP_PORT" == "" ]; then
+if [ -z "$STOP_PORT" ]; then
   STOP_PORT=`expr $SOLR_PORT - 1000`
 fi
 
@@ -880,20 +916,20 @@ if [[ "$SCRIPT_CMD" == "start" ]]; then
   # see if Solr is already running
   SOLR_PID=`solr_pid_by_port "$SOLR_PORT"`
 
-  if [ "$SOLR_PID" == "" ]; then
+  if [ -z "$SOLR_PID" ]; then
     # not found using the pid file ... but use ps to ensure not found
     SOLR_PID=`ps auxww | grep start.jar | grep $SOLR_PORT | grep -v grep | awk '{print $2}' | sort -r`
   fi
 
   if [ "$SOLR_PID" != "" ]; then
-    echo -e "\nPort $SOLR_PORT is already being used by another process (pid: $SOLR_PID)\n"
+    echo -e "\nPort $SOLR_PORT is already being used by another process (pid: $SOLR_PID)\nPlease choose a different port using the -p option.\n"
     exit 1
   fi
 else
   # either stop or restart
   # see if Solr is already running
   SOLR_PID=`solr_pid_by_port "$SOLR_PORT"`
-  if [ "$SOLR_PID" == "" ]; then
+  if [ -z "$SOLR_PID" ]; then
     # not found using the pid file ... but use ps to ensure not found
     SOLR_PID=`ps auxww | grep start.jar | grep $SOLR_PORT | grep -v grep | awk '{print $2}' | sort -r`
   fi
@@ -907,11 +943,12 @@ else
   fi
 fi
 
-if [ "$SOLR_HOME" == "" ]; then
+if [ -z "$SOLR_HOME" ]; then
   SOLR_HOME="$SOLR_SERVER_DIR/solr"
 else
   if [[ $SOLR_HOME != /* ]] && [[ -d "$SOLR_SERVER_DIR/$SOLR_HOME" ]]; then
     SOLR_HOME="$SOLR_SERVER_DIR/$SOLR_HOME"
+    SOLR_PID_DIR=$SOLR_HOME
   elif [[ $SOLR_HOME != /* ]] && [[ -d "`pwd`/$SOLR_HOME" ]]; then
     SOLR_HOME="`pwd`/$SOLR_HOME"
   fi
@@ -919,11 +956,16 @@ fi
 
 # This is quite hacky, but examples rely on a different log4j.properties
 # so that we can write logs for examples to $SOLR_HOME/../logs
-SOLR_LOGS_DIR=$SOLR_SERVER_DIR/logs
+if [ -z "$SOLR_LOGS_DIR" ]; then
+  SOLR_LOGS_DIR=$SOLR_SERVER_DIR/logs
+fi
 EXAMPLE_DIR=$SOLR_TIP/example
 if [ "${SOLR_HOME:0:${#EXAMPLE_DIR}}" = $EXAMPLE_DIR ]; then
   LOG4J_PROPS=$EXAMPLE_DIR/resources/log4j.properties
   SOLR_LOGS_DIR=$SOLR_HOME/../logs
+fi
+
+if [ -n "$LOG4J_PROPS" ]; then
   LOG4J_CONFIG="-Dlog4j.configuration=file:$LOG4J_PROPS"
 fi
 
@@ -964,7 +1006,7 @@ if [ "$GC_LOG_OPTS" != "" ]; then
 fi
 
 if [ "$SOLR_MODE" == "solrcloud" ]; then
-  if [ "$ZK_CLIENT_TIMEOUT" == "" ]; then
+  if [ -z "$ZK_CLIENT_TIMEOUT" ]; then
     ZK_CLIENT_TIMEOUT="15000"
   fi
   
@@ -990,7 +1032,7 @@ fi
 # These are useful for attaching remove profilers like VisualVM/JConsole
 if [ "$ENABLE_REMOTE_JMX_OPTS" == "true" ]; then
 
-  if [ "$RMI_PORT" == "" ]; then
+  if [ -z "$RMI_PORT" ]; then
     RMI_PORT=1$SOLR_PORT
   fi
 
@@ -1013,11 +1055,11 @@ if [ "$SOLR_HEAP" != "" ]; then
   SOLR_JAVA_MEM="-Xms$SOLR_HEAP -Xmx$SOLR_HEAP"
 fi
 
-if [ "$SOLR_JAVA_MEM" == "" ]; then
+if [ -z "$SOLR_JAVA_MEM" ]; then
   SOLR_JAVA_MEM="-Xms512m -Xmx512m"
 fi
 
-if [ "$SOLR_TIMEZONE" == "" ]; then
+if [ -z "$SOLR_TIMEZONE" ]; then
   SOLR_TIMEZONE="UTC"
 fi
 
@@ -1099,10 +1141,10 @@ $SOLR_OPTS"
 
   if [ "$run_in_foreground" == "true" ]; then
     echo -e "\nStarting Solr$IN_CLOUD_MODE on port $SOLR_PORT from $SOLR_SERVER_DIR\n"
-    $JAVA $SOLR_START_OPTS $SOLR_ADDL_ARGS -XX:OnOutOfMemoryError="$SOLR_TIP/bin/oom_solr.sh $SOLR_PORT" -jar start.jar
+    $JAVA $SOLR_START_OPTS $SOLR_ADDL_ARGS -jar start.jar
   else
     # run Solr in the background
-    nohup $JAVA $SOLR_START_OPTS $SOLR_ADDL_ARGS -XX:OnOutOfMemoryError="$SOLR_TIP/bin/oom_solr.sh $SOLR_PORT" -jar start.jar 1>$SOLR_LOGS_DIR/solr-$SOLR_PORT-console.log 2>&1 & echo $! > $SOLR_TIP/bin/solr-$SOLR_PORT.pid
+    nohup $JAVA $SOLR_START_OPTS $SOLR_ADDL_ARGS -XX:OnOutOfMemoryError="$SOLR_TIP/bin/oom_solr.sh $SOLR_PORT $SOLR_LOGS_DIR" -jar start.jar 1>$SOLR_LOGS_DIR/solr-$SOLR_PORT-console.log 2>&1 & echo $! > $SOLR_PID_DIR/solr-$SOLR_PORT.pid
   
     # no lsof on cygwin though
     if [ "$hasLsof" != "" ]; then
@@ -1112,7 +1154,7 @@ $SOLR_OPTS"
       while true
       do
         running=`lsof -Pni:$SOLR_PORT`
-        if [ "$running" == "" ]; then
+        if [ -z "$running" ]; then
           if [ $loops -lt 6 ]; then
             sleep 5
             loops=$[$loops+1]
@@ -1184,7 +1226,7 @@ else
 
   # if user did not define a specific -z parameter, assume embedded in first cloud node we launched above
   zk_host=$ZK_HOST
-  if [ "$zk_host" == "" ]; then
+  if [ -z "$zk_host" ]; then
     zk_port=$[$SOLR_PORT+1000]
     zk_host=localhost:$zk_port
   fi
@@ -1213,7 +1255,7 @@ else
     CLOUD_COLLECTION=`echo $USER_INPUT | tr -d ' '`
 
     # handle the default selection or empty input
-    if [ "$CLOUD_COLLECTION" == "" ]; then
+    if [ -z "$CLOUD_COLLECTION" ]; then
       CLOUD_COLLECTION=gettingstarted
     fi                    
     echo $CLOUD_COLLECTION
@@ -1224,7 +1266,7 @@ else
     CLOUD_NUM_SHARDS=`echo $USER_INPUT | tr -d ' '`
     
     # handle the default selection or empty input
-    if [ "$CLOUD_NUM_SHARDS" == "" ]; then
+    if [ -z "$CLOUD_NUM_SHARDS" ]; then
       CLOUD_NUM_SHARDS=2
     fi                    
     echo $CLOUD_NUM_SHARDS
@@ -1235,7 +1277,7 @@ else
     CLOUD_REPFACT=`echo $USER_INPUT | tr -d ' '`
     
     # handle the default selection or empty input
-    if [ "$CLOUD_REPFACT" == "" ]; then
+    if [ -z "$CLOUD_REPFACT" ]; then
       CLOUD_REPFACT=2
     fi                    
     echo $CLOUD_REPFACT
@@ -1247,7 +1289,7 @@ else
     CLOUD_CONFIG=`echo $USER_INPUT | tr -d ' '`
 
     # handle the default selection or empty input
-    if [ "$CLOUD_CONFIG" == "" ]; then
+    if [ -z "$CLOUD_CONFIG" ]; then
       CLOUD_CONFIG=data_driven_schema_configs
     fi                    
   fi
diff --git a/solr/bin/solr.cmd b/solr/bin/solr.cmd
index 7efa367fa58..8c670e123fd 100644
--- a/solr/bin/solr.cmd
+++ b/solr/bin/solr.cmd
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ IF "%1"=="-usage" goto usage
 IF "%1"=="/?" goto usage
 IF "%1"=="-i" goto get_info
 IF "%1"=="-info" goto get_info
+IF "%1"=="status" goto get_info
 
 REM Only allow the command to be the first argument, assume start if not supplied
 IF "%1"=="start" goto set_script_cmd
diff --git a/solr/bin/solr.in.cmd b/solr/bin/solr.in.cmd
index 607ae09464d..d8ab1ba7f09 100644
--- a/solr/bin/solr.in.cmd
+++ b/solr/bin/solr.in.cmd
@@ -73,3 +73,9 @@ REM set SOLR_OPTS=%SOLR_OPTS% -Dsolr.autoSoftCommit.maxTime=3000
 REM set SOLR_OPTS=%SOLR_OPTS% -Dsolr.autoCommit.maxTime=60000
 REM set SOLR_OPTS=%SOLR_OPTS% -Dsolr.clustering.enabled=true
 
+REM Path to a directory where Solr creates index files, the specified directory
+REM must contain a solr.xml; by default, Solr will use server/solr
+REM set SOLR_HOME=
+
+REM Sets the port Solr binds to, default is 8983
+REM set SOLR_PORT=8983
diff --git a/solr/bin/solr.in.sh b/solr/bin/solr.in.sh
index b61d9fe1f21..9f4114ba7f0 100644
--- a/solr/bin/solr.in.sh
+++ b/solr/bin/solr.in.sh
@@ -70,3 +70,24 @@ ENABLE_REMOTE_JMX_OPTS="false"
 #SOLR_OPTS="$SOLR_OPTS -Dsolr.autoSoftCommit.maxTime=3000"
 #SOLR_OPTS="$SOLR_OPTS -Dsolr.autoCommit.maxTime=60000"
 #SOLR_OPTS="$SOLR_OPTS -Dsolr.clustering.enabled=true"
+
+# Location where the bin/solr script will save PID files for running instances
+# If not set, the script will create PID files in $SOLR_TIP/bin
+#SOLR_PID_DIR=
+
+# Path to a directory where Solr creates index files, the specified directory
+# must contain a solr.xml; by default, Solr will use server/solr
+#SOLR_HOME=
+
+# Solr provides a default Log4J configuration properties file in server/resources
+# however, you may want to customize the log settings and file appender location
+# so you can point the script to use a different log4j.properties file
+#LOG4J_PROPS=/var/solr/log4j.properties
+
+# Location where Solr should write logs to; should agree with the file appender
+# settings in server/resources/log4j.properties
+#SOLR_LOGS_DIR=
+
+# Sets the port Solr binds to, default is 8983
+#SOLR_PORT=8983
+
diff --git a/solr/build.xml b/solr/build.xml
index e6a6f1b80ef..852b7b2a41f 100644
--- a/solr/build.xml
+++ b/solr/build.xml
@@ -299,6 +299,9 @@
     <delete dir="example/techproducts" />
     <delete dir="example/schemaless" />
     <delete includeemptydirs="true">
+      <fileset dir="bin">
+        <include name="*.pid" />
+      </fileset>
       <fileset dir="example">
         <include name="**/data/**/*" />
         <exclude name="**/.gitignore" />
@@ -482,7 +485,7 @@
       <tarfileset dir="."
                   filemode="755"
                   prefix="${fullnamever}"
-                  includes="bin/* server/**/*.sh example/**/*.sh example/**/bin/" />
+                  includes="bin/** server/**/*.sh example/**/*.sh example/**/bin/" />
       <tarfileset dir="."
                   prefix="${fullnamever}"
                   includes="dist/*.jar