diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ca73a7e10..c785967b3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -32,4 +32,6 @@ classes/*
 
 /*.iml
 .extract/*
-UserDatabase.mv.db
\ No newline at end of file
+UserDatabase.mv.db
+webgoat-container/src/main/webapp/users/guest.org.owasp.webgoat.plugin.*.props
+webgoat-container/src/main/webapp/plugin_lessons/dist-*.pom
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/webgoat-container/src/main/java/org/owasp/webgoat/plugins/PluginsLoader.java b/webgoat-container/src/main/java/org/owasp/webgoat/plugins/PluginsLoader.java
index cdea39ee2..1a02be5fd 100644
--- a/webgoat-container/src/main/java/org/owasp/webgoat/plugins/PluginsLoader.java
+++ b/webgoat-container/src/main/java/org/owasp/webgoat/plugins/PluginsLoader.java
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.net.URL;
 import java.nio.file.FileVisitResult;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
@@ -17,6 +16,11 @@ import java.nio.file.Paths;
 import java.nio.file.SimpleFileVisitor;
 import java.nio.file.attribute.BasicFileAttributes;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.concurrent.Callable;
+import java.util.concurrent.CompletionService;
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorCompletionService;
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
+import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
 
 public class PluginsLoader implements Runnable {
 
@@ -35,7 +39,7 @@ public class PluginsLoader implements Runnable {
     }
 
     public List<Plugin> loadPlugins(final boolean reload) {
-        final PluginClassLoader cl = (PluginClassLoader)Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader();
+        final PluginClassLoader cl = (PluginClassLoader) Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader();
         List<Plugin> plugins = Lists.newArrayList();
 
         try {
@@ -43,7 +47,7 @@ public class PluginsLoader implements Runnable {
             List<URL> jars = listJars();
             cl.addURL(jars);
             plugins = processPlugins(jars, reload);
-        } catch (IOException | URISyntaxException e) {
+        } catch (Exception e) {
             logger.error("Loading plugins failed", e);
         }
         return plugins;
@@ -64,13 +68,18 @@ public class PluginsLoader implements Runnable {
         return jars;
     }
 
-    private List<Plugin> processPlugins(List<URL> jars, boolean reload) throws URISyntaxException, IOException {
+    private List<Plugin> processPlugins(List<URL> jars, boolean reload) throws Exception {
         final List<Plugin> plugins = Lists.newArrayList();
-        for (URL jar : jars) {
-
-            PluginExtractor extractor = new PluginExtractor(Paths.get(jar.toURI()));
-            extractor.extract(pluginTarget);
+        final ExecutorService executorService = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(20);
+        final CompletionService<PluginExtractor> completionService = new ExecutorCompletionService<>(executorService);
+        final List<Callable<PluginExtractor>> callables = extractJars(jars);
 
+        for (Callable<PluginExtractor> s : callables) {
+            completionService.submit(s);
+        }
+        int n = callables.size();
+        for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
+            PluginExtractor extractor = completionService.take().get();
             Plugin plugin = new Plugin(pluginTarget, extractor.getClasses());
             if (plugin.getLesson().isPresent()) {
                 PluginFileUtils.createDirsIfNotExists(pluginTarget);
@@ -83,6 +92,22 @@ public class PluginsLoader implements Runnable {
         return plugins;
     }
 
+    private List<Callable<PluginExtractor>> extractJars(List<URL> jars) {
+        List<Callable<PluginExtractor>> extractorCallables = Lists.newArrayList();
+        for (final URL jar : jars) {
+            extractorCallables.add(new Callable<PluginExtractor>() {
+
+                @Override
+                public PluginExtractor call() throws Exception {
+                    PluginExtractor extractor = new PluginExtractor(Paths.get(jar.toURI()));
+                    extractor.extract(pluginTarget);
+                    return extractor;
+                }
+            });
+        }
+        return extractorCallables;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public void run() {
         loadPlugins(true);
diff --git a/webgoat-container/src/main/java/org/owasp/webgoat/session/WebSession.java b/webgoat-container/src/main/java/org/owasp/webgoat/session/WebSession.java
index b479a3d7e..879c3af03 100644
--- a/webgoat-container/src/main/java/org/owasp/webgoat/session/WebSession.java
+++ b/webgoat-container/src/main/java/org/owasp/webgoat/session/WebSession.java
@@ -842,13 +842,17 @@ public class WebSession {
             } else if (al instanceof RandomLessonAdapter) {
                 try {
                     RandomLessonAdapter rla = (RandomLessonAdapter) al;
-                    int stage = myParser.getIntParameter(STAGE) - 1;
-                    String[] stages = rla.getStages();
-                    if (stages == null) {
-                        stages = new String[0];
-                    }
-                    if (stage >= 0 && stage < stages.length) {
-                        rla.setStage(this, stages[stage]);
+                    if (!myParser.getRawParameter(STAGE).equals("null")) {
+                        int stage = myParser.getIntParameter(STAGE) - 1;
+                        String[] stages = rla.getStages();
+                        if (stages == null) {
+                            stages = new String[0];
+                        }
+                        if (stage >= 0 && stage < stages.length) {
+                            rla.setStage(this, stages[stage]);
+                        }
+                    } else {
+                        rla.setStage(this, null);
                     }
                 } catch (ParameterNotFoundException pnfe) {
                 }
diff --git a/webgoat-container/src/main/java/org/owasp/webgoat/util/LabelProvider.java b/webgoat-container/src/main/java/org/owasp/webgoat/util/LabelProvider.java
index 5aa3a85c8..4c1192c52 100644
--- a/webgoat-container/src/main/java/org/owasp/webgoat/util/LabelProvider.java
+++ b/webgoat-container/src/main/java/org/owasp/webgoat/util/LabelProvider.java
@@ -2,12 +2,13 @@
 package org.owasp.webgoat.util;
 
 import org.springframework.context.support.ReloadableResourceBundleMessageSource;
-import org.springframework.core.io.FileSystemResource;
 import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
 import org.springframework.core.io.ResourceLoader;
+import org.springframework.core.io.UrlResource;
 import org.springframework.stereotype.Component;
 
 import javax.inject.Singleton;
+import java.net.MalformedURLException;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -66,7 +67,11 @@ public class LabelProvider {
         pluginLabels.setResourceLoader(new ResourceLoader() {
             @Override
             public Resource getResource(String location) {
-                return new FileSystemResource(propertyFile.toFile());
+                try {
+                    return new UrlResource(propertyFile.toUri());
+                } catch (MalformedURLException e) {
+                    throw new RuntimeException(e);
+                }
             }
 
             @Override