Index: lams_central/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/web/LamsStartupServlet.java
===================================================================
diff -u
--- lams_central/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/web/LamsStartupServlet.java	(revision 0)
+++ lams_central/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/web/LamsStartupServlet.java	(revision b495ec47552a05d4e14f2b3e402ea5a8521c8542)
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+package org.lamsfoundation.lams.web;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import javax.servlet.ServletException;
+import javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet;
+import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
+import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
+
+import org.apache.log4j.Logger;
+import org.lamsfoundation.lams.util.Configuration;
+import org.lamsfoundation.lams.util.ConfigurationKeys;
+
+/**
+ * 
+ * @author lfoxton
+ * 
+ *         A servlet that loads at startup to do some maintainence like removing
+ *         temp directories
+ * 
+ * @web:servlet name="lamsStartupServlet" load-on-startup = "1"
+ * 
+ * @web:servlet-mapping url-pattern="/lamsstartupservlet"
+ */
+
+public class LamsStartupServlet extends HttpServlet {
+
+    private static Logger log = Logger.getLogger(LamsStartupServlet.class);
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 8010145709788505351L;
+
+    /**
+     * Initialize the servlet.<br>
+     * Retrieve from the servlet configuration the "baseDir" which is the root
+     * of the file repository:<br>
+     * If not specified the value of "/UserFiles/" will be used.
+     * 
+     */
+    public void init() throws ServletException {
+
+	// Removing all the files in the temp directory
+	String tempDirStr = Configuration.get(ConfigurationKeys.LAMS_TEMP_DIR);
+	File tempDir = new File(tempDirStr);
+	File[] files = tempDir.listFiles();
+	log.info("Deleting temporary files from: " + tempDir);
+	for (File file : files) {
+
+	    if (file.isDirectory()) {
+		// Recursively delete each directory
+		log.debug("Deleting temporary file directory: " + file);
+		if (!deleteDir(file)) {
+		    log.equals("Failed to delete " + file); 
+		}
+	    } else {
+		//Delete each file
+		log.debug("Deleting temporary file: " + file);
+		if (!file.delete()) {
+		    log.equals("Failed to delete " + file);
+		}
+	    }
+
+	}
+    }
+
+    public void doGet(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException, IOException {
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Deletes all files and subdirectories under dir. Returns true if all
+     * deletions were successful. If a deletion fails, the method stops
+     * attempting to delete and returns false.
+     */
+    private boolean deleteDir(File dir) {
+	if (dir.isDirectory()) {
+	    String[] children = dir.list();
+	    for (int i = 0; i < children.length; i++) {
+		boolean success = deleteDir(new File(dir, children[i]));
+		if (!success) {
+		    return false;
+		}
+	    }
+	}
+
+	// The directory is now empty so delete it
+	return dir.delete();
+    }
+
+}
Index: lams_central/web/WEB-INF/web.xml
===================================================================
diff -u -r4abf8ee86bc60a0b94edfdc4c907c28c6c5df13e -rb495ec47552a05d4e14f2b3e402ea5a8521c8542
--- lams_central/web/WEB-INF/web.xml	(.../web.xml)	(revision 4abf8ee86bc60a0b94edfdc4c907c28c6c5df13e)
+++ lams_central/web/WEB-INF/web.xml	(.../web.xml)	(revision b495ec47552a05d4e14f2b3e402ea5a8521c8542)
@@ -313,6 +313,13 @@
 
    </servlet>
    <servlet>
+      <servlet-name>lamsStartupServlet</servlet-name>
+      <servlet-class>org.lamsfoundation.lams.web.LamsStartupServlet</servlet-class>
+
+      <load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
+
+   </servlet>
+   <servlet>
       <servlet-name>GetRecordingServlet</servlet-name>
       <servlet-class>org.lamsfoundation.lams.webservice.GetRecordingServlet</servlet-class>
 
@@ -511,6 +518,10 @@
       <url-pattern>/servlet/notebook/storeNotebookEntry</url-pattern>
    </servlet-mapping>
    <servlet-mapping>
+      <servlet-name>lamsStartupServlet</servlet-name>
+      <url-pattern>/lamsstartupservlet</url-pattern>
+   </servlet-mapping>
+   <servlet-mapping>
       <servlet-name>GetRecordingServlet</servlet-name>
       <url-pattern>/GetRecording</url-pattern>
    </servlet-mapping>
Index: lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/util/FileUtil.java
===================================================================
diff -u -r88885f462c4ff03e52e374f971ee2069f95b570f -rb495ec47552a05d4e14f2b3e402ea5a8521c8542
--- lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/util/FileUtil.java	(.../FileUtil.java)	(revision 88885f462c4ff03e52e374f971ee2069f95b570f)
+++ lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/util/FileUtil.java	(.../FileUtil.java)	(revision b495ec47552a05d4e14f2b3e402ea5a8521c8542)
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@
     private static final long numMilliSecondsInADay = 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
 
     protected static final String prefix = "lamstmp_"; // protected rather than private to suit junit test
-    public static final String TEMP_DIR = System.getProperty("java.io.tmpdir");
+    public static final String TEMP_DIR = Configuration.get(ConfigurationKeys.LAMS_TEMP_DIR);
 
     /**
      * Deleting a directory using File.delete() only works if the directory is empty. This method deletes a directory