diff --git a/src/main/java/it/geosolutions/geoserver/rest/GeoServerRESTPublisher.java b/src/main/java/it/geosolutions/geoserver/rest/GeoServerRESTPublisher.java
index d5c0fed..12d3309 100644
--- a/src/main/java/it/geosolutions/geoserver/rest/GeoServerRESTPublisher.java
+++ b/src/main/java/it/geosolutions/geoserver/rest/GeoServerRESTPublisher.java
@@ -726,18 +726,34 @@ public class GeoServerRESTPublisher {
     //===
     //==========================================================================
 
+    /**
+     * @deprecated please use {@link configureLayer(String workspace, String layerName, GSLayerEncoder layer) }
+     */
+    public boolean configureLayer(final GSLayerEncoder layer, final String layerName)
+    {
+        return configureLayer(null, layerName, layer);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Allows to configure some layer attributes such as WmsPath and DefaultStyle
      *
      */
     public boolean configureLayer(final String workspace, final String layerName, final GSLayerEncoder layer) {
 
+        // TODO: check this usecase, layer should always be defined
         if (layer.isEmpty()) {
+            LOGGER.warn("Null layer name while configuring layer -- This behavior is suspicious.");
             return true;
         }
 
         String fqLayerName = workspace + ":" + layerName;
 
+        // this null check is here only for backward compatibility. workspace shall be mandatory.
+        if(workspace == null) {
+            LOGGER.warn("Null workspace while configuring layer : " + layerName + " -- This behavior is deprecated.");
+            fqLayerName = layerName;
+        }
+
         final String url = restURL + "/rest/layers/" + fqLayerName;
 
         String layerXml = layer.toString();
diff --git a/src/test/java/it/geosolutions/geoserver/rest/GeoserverRESTPublisherTest.java b/src/test/java/it/geosolutions/geoserver/rest/GeoserverRESTPublisherTest.java
index ce70bbd..fb1de65 100644
--- a/src/test/java/it/geosolutions/geoserver/rest/GeoserverRESTPublisherTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/it/geosolutions/geoserver/rest/GeoserverRESTPublisherTest.java
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ import org.springframework.core.io.ClassPathResource;
 public class GeoserverRESTPublisherTest extends GeoserverRESTTest {
 
     private final static Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(GeoserverRESTPublisherTest.class);
-    private static final String DEFAULT_WS = "it.geosolutions";
 
     public GeoserverRESTPublisherTest(String testName) {
         super(testName);
@@ -152,6 +151,7 @@ public class GeoserverRESTPublisherTest extends GeoserverRESTTest {
         if (publisher.removeDatastore(ns, storeName)) {
             LOGGER.info("Cleared stale datastore " + storeName);
         }
+
         assertFalse("Cleanup failed", existsLayer(layerName));
     }
 
@@ -172,18 +172,20 @@ public class GeoserverRESTPublisherTest extends GeoserverRESTTest {
             return;
         }
 //        Assume.assumeTrue(enabled);
+        deleteAllWorkspaces();
+        assertTrue(publisher.createWorkspace(DEFAULT_WS));
 
-        String ns = "it.geosolutions";
+//        String ns = "it.geosolutions";
         String storeName = "resttestshp";
         String layerName = "cities";
 
         File zipFile = new ClassPathResource("testdata/resttestshp.zip").getFile();
 
         // known state?
-        cleanupTestFT(layerName, ns, storeName);
+        cleanupTestFT(layerName, DEFAULT_WS, storeName);
 
         // test insert
-        boolean published = publisher.publishShp(ns, storeName, layerName, zipFile);
+        boolean published = publisher.publishShp(DEFAULT_WS, storeName, layerName, zipFile);
         assertTrue("publish() failed", published);
         assertTrue(existsLayer(layerName));
 
@@ -192,12 +194,12 @@ public class GeoserverRESTPublisherTest extends GeoserverRESTTest {
         LOGGER.info("Layer style is " + layer.getDefaultStyle());
 
         //test delete
-        boolean ok = publisher.unpublishFeatureType(ns, storeName, layerName);
+        boolean ok = publisher.unpublishFeatureType(DEFAULT_WS, storeName, layerName);
         assertTrue("Unpublish() failed", ok);
         assertFalse(existsLayer(layerName));
 
         // remove also datastore
-        boolean dsRemoved = publisher.removeDatastore(ns, storeName);
+        boolean dsRemoved = publisher.removeDatastore(DEFAULT_WS, storeName);
         assertTrue("removeDatastore() failed", dsRemoved);
 
     }
@@ -208,7 +210,7 @@ public class GeoserverRESTPublisherTest extends GeoserverRESTTest {
         }
 //        Assume.assumeTrue(enabled);
 
-        String ns = "it.geosolutions";
+        String ns = "geosolutions";
         String storeName = "resttestshp";
         String layerName = "cities";
 
@@ -344,7 +346,6 @@ public class GeoserverRESTPublisherTest extends GeoserverRESTTest {
             return;
         }
 
-        String ws = "it.geosolutions";
         String storeName = "resttestshp";
         String layerName = "cities";
 
@@ -370,10 +371,10 @@ public class GeoserverRESTPublisherTest extends GeoserverRESTTest {
         File zipFile = new ClassPathResource("testdata/resttestshp.zip").getFile();
 
         // known state?
-        cleanupTestFT(layerName, ws, storeName);
+        cleanupTestFT(layerName, DEFAULT_WS, storeName);
 
         // test insert
-        boolean published = publisher.publishShp(ws, storeName, layerName, zipFile, "EPSG:4326", styleName);
+        boolean published = publisher.publishShp(DEFAULT_WS, storeName, layerName, zipFile, "EPSG:4326", styleName);
         assertTrue("publish() failed", published);
         assertTrue(existsLayer(layerName));
 
@@ -385,7 +386,7 @@ public class GeoserverRESTPublisherTest extends GeoserverRESTTest {
 
         GSLayerEncoder le = new GSLayerEncoder();
         le.addDefaultStyle(styleName2);
-        publisher.configureLayer(ws, layerName, le);
+        publisher.configureLayer(DEFAULT_WS, layerName, le);
 
         {
             RESTLayer layer = reader.getLayer(layerName);
@@ -395,9 +396,9 @@ public class GeoserverRESTPublisherTest extends GeoserverRESTTest {
 
 
         // remove layer and datastore
-        boolean ok = publisher.unpublishFeatureType(ws, storeName, layerName);
+        boolean ok = publisher.unpublishFeatureType(DEFAULT_WS, storeName, layerName);
         assertFalse(existsLayer(layerName));
-        boolean dsRemoved = publisher.removeDatastore(ws, storeName);
+        boolean dsRemoved = publisher.removeDatastore(DEFAULT_WS, storeName);
         assertTrue("removeDatastore() failed", dsRemoved);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/it/geosolutions/geoserver/rest/GeoserverRESTTest.java b/src/test/java/it/geosolutions/geoserver/rest/GeoserverRESTTest.java
index a7cb1b4..7e0f4ba 100644
--- a/src/test/java/it/geosolutions/geoserver/rest/GeoserverRESTTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/it/geosolutions/geoserver/rest/GeoserverRESTTest.java
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ import org.apache.log4j.Logger;
 public abstract class GeoserverRESTTest extends TestCase {
     private final static Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(GeoserverRESTTest.class);
 
+    protected static final String DEFAULT_WS = "geosolutions";
+
 	public static final String RESTURL;
 	public static final String RESTUSER;
 	public static final String RESTPW;
@@ -68,13 +70,6 @@ public abstract class GeoserverRESTTest extends TestCase {
     private static Boolean existgs = null;
     
 	static {
-//        for (String propName : System.getProperties().stringPropertyNames()) {
-//            System.out.println("PROP " + propName);
-//        }
-        for (String envName : System.getenv().keySet()) {
-            System.out.println("ENVVAR " + envName + " = \""+System.getenv(envName)+"\"");
-        }
-
         RESTURL  = getenv("gsmgr_resturl",  "http://localhost:8080/geoserver");
         RESTUSER = getenv("gsmgr_restuser", "admin");
         RESTPW   = getenv("gsmgr_restpw",   "geoserver");
@@ -221,7 +216,7 @@ public abstract class GeoserverRESTTest extends TestCase {
         }
     }
 
-    private void deleteAllWorkspaces() {
+    protected void deleteAllWorkspaces() {
         List<String> workspaces = reader.getWorkspaceNames();
         for (String workspace : workspaces) {
                 LOGGER.warn("Deleting Workspace " + workspace );