diff --git a/bundles/org.openhab.ui.dashboard/src/main/java/org/openhab/ui/dashboard/DashboardReady.java b/bundles/org.openhab.ui.dashboard/src/main/java/org/openhab/ui/dashboard/DashboardReady.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e4e0a49053e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bundles/org.openhab.ui.dashboard/src/main/java/org/openhab/ui/dashboard/DashboardReady.java
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) 2015-2018 by the respective copyright holders.
+ *
+ * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
+ * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
+ * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
+ * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
+ */
+package org.openhab.ui.dashboard;
+
+/**
+ * This is a marker interface to declare that the dashboard is up and ready to be used.
+ *
+ * @author Kai Kreuzer - Initial contribution
+ *
+ */
+public interface DashboardReady {
+
+}
diff --git a/bundles/org.openhab.ui.dashboard/src/main/java/org/openhab/ui/dashboard/internal/DashboardService.java b/bundles/org.openhab.ui.dashboard/src/main/java/org/openhab/ui/dashboard/internal/DashboardService.java
index 8f37c44c6f2..9b3ad0e648f 100644
--- a/bundles/org.openhab.ui.dashboard/src/main/java/org/openhab/ui/dashboard/internal/DashboardService.java
+++ b/bundles/org.openhab.ui.dashboard/src/main/java/org/openhab/ui/dashboard/internal/DashboardService.java
@@ -24,10 +24,12 @@
 import org.eclipse.smarthome.core.i18n.TranslationProvider;
 import org.eclipse.smarthome.core.net.HttpServiceUtil;
 import org.eclipse.smarthome.core.net.NetworkAddressService;
+import org.openhab.ui.dashboard.DashboardReady;
 import org.openhab.ui.dashboard.DashboardTile;
 import org.osgi.framework.BundleContext;
 import org.osgi.service.cm.ConfigurationAdmin;
 import org.osgi.service.component.ComponentContext;
+import org.osgi.service.component.ComponentException;
 import org.osgi.service.component.annotations.Activate;
 import org.osgi.service.component.annotations.Component;
 import org.osgi.service.component.annotations.Deactivate;
@@ -46,8 +48,8 @@
  * @author Laurent Garnier - internationalization
  * @author Hilbrand Bouwkamp - internationalization
  */
-@Component(service = DashboardService.class, immediate = true, name = "org.openhab.dashboard")
-public class DashboardService {
+@Component(service = { DashboardService.class, DashboardReady.class }, immediate = true, name = "org.openhab.dashboard")
+public class DashboardService implements DashboardReady {
 
     public static final String DASHBOARD_ALIAS = "/start";
 
@@ -166,10 +168,10 @@ protected HttpServlet createServlet() {
             try {
                 indexTemplate = IOUtils.toString(index.openStream());
             } catch (IOException e) {
-                throw new RuntimeException(e);
+                throw new ComponentException(e);
             }
         } else {
-            throw new RuntimeException("Cannot find index.html - failed to initialize Dashboard servlet");
+            throw new ComponentException("Cannot find index.html - failed to initialize Dashboard servlet");
         }
 
         URL entry = bundleContext.getBundle().getEntry("templates/entry.html");
@@ -177,10 +179,10 @@ protected HttpServlet createServlet() {
             try {
                 entryTemplate = IOUtils.toString(entry.openStream());
             } catch (IOException e) {
-                throw new RuntimeException(e);
+                throw new ComponentException(e);
             }
         } else {
-            throw new RuntimeException("Cannot find entry.html - failed to initialize Dashboard servlet");
+            throw new ComponentException("Cannot find entry.html - failed to initialize Dashboard servlet");
         }
 
         URL warn = bundleContext.getBundle().getEntry("templates/warn.html");
@@ -188,7 +190,7 @@ protected HttpServlet createServlet() {
             try {
                 warnTemplate = IOUtils.toString(warn.openStream());
             } catch (IOException e) {
-                throw new RuntimeException(e);
+                throw new ComponentException(e);
             }
         } else {
             throw new RuntimeException("Cannot find warn.html - failed to initialize Dashboard servlet");
@@ -199,10 +201,10 @@ protected HttpServlet createServlet() {
             try {
                 setupTemplate = IOUtils.toString(setup.openStream());
             } catch (IOException e) {
-                throw new RuntimeException(e);
+                throw new ComponentException(e);
             }
         } else {
-            throw new RuntimeException("Cannot find setup.html - failed to initialize Dashboard servlet");
+            throw new ComponentException("Cannot find setup.html - failed to initialize Dashboard servlet");
         }
 
         return new DashboardServlet(configurationAdmin, indexTemplate, entryTemplate, warnTemplate, setupTemplate,
diff --git a/bundles/org.openhab.ui.start/pom.xml b/bundles/org.openhab.ui.start/pom.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e6ba16c3ca1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bundles/org.openhab.ui.start/pom.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
+  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+  <parent>
+    <groupId>org.openhab.core</groupId>
+    <artifactId>pom-bundles</artifactId>
+    <version>2.4.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+  </parent>
+
+  <artifactId>org.openhab.ui.start</artifactId>
+
+  <packaging>eclipse-plugin</packaging>
+  <name>openHAB Start UI</name>
+</project>
diff --git a/bundles/org.openhab.ui.start/src/main/java/org/openhab/ui/start/internal/RootServlet.java b/bundles/org.openhab.ui.start/src/main/java/org/openhab/ui/start/internal/RootServlet.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..61980bdc705
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bundles/org.openhab.ui.start/src/main/java/org/openhab/ui/start/internal/RootServlet.java
@@ -0,0 +1,173 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) 2015-2018 by the respective copyright holders.
+ *
+ * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
+ * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
+ * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
+ * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
+ */
+package org.openhab.ui.start.internal;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.URL;
+import java.util.Properties;
+
+import javax.servlet.ServletException;
+import javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet;
+import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
+import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
+
+import org.apache.commons.io.IOUtils;
+import org.openhab.ui.dashboard.DashboardReady;
+import org.osgi.framework.Bundle;
+import org.osgi.framework.BundleEvent;
+import org.osgi.framework.SynchronousBundleListener;
+import org.osgi.service.component.ComponentContext;
+import org.osgi.service.component.ComponentException;
+import org.osgi.service.component.annotations.Activate;
+import org.osgi.service.component.annotations.Component;
+import org.osgi.service.component.annotations.Deactivate;
+import org.osgi.service.component.annotations.Reference;
+import org.osgi.service.component.annotations.ReferenceCardinality;
+import org.osgi.service.component.annotations.ReferencePolicy;
+import org.osgi.service.http.HttpService;
+import org.osgi.service.http.NamespaceException;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
+/**
+ * This servlet registers status (starting/stopping/updating) pages and serves the 404 page if system is started and an
+ * unknown url is called.
+ *
+ * @author Kai Kreuzer - Initial contribution
+ *
+ */
+@Component(immediate = true)
+public class RootServlet extends HttpServlet {
+
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = -2091860295954594917L;
+
+    private final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(RootServlet.class);
+
+    protected HttpService httpService;
+
+    // an enumeration for the state the whole system is in
+    private enum LifeCycleState {
+        STARTING,
+        STARTED,
+        STOPPING,
+        UPDATING;
+    }
+
+    private String page404;
+    private String pageStatus;
+
+    private DashboardReady dashboardStarted;
+    private LifeCycleState lifecycleState = LifeCycleState.STARTING;
+
+    @Override
+    protected void doGet(HttpServletRequest req, HttpServletResponse resp) throws ServletException, IOException {
+        if (dashboardStarted != null) {
+            // all is up and running
+            if (req.getRequestURI().equals("/")) {
+                resp.sendRedirect("/start/index");
+            } else {
+                resp.sendError(HttpServletResponse.SC_NOT_FOUND);
+                resp.setContentType("text/html;charset=UTF-8");
+                resp.getWriter().append(page404);
+                resp.getWriter().close();
+            }
+        } else {
+            // report current system state
+            String message = null;
+            String subMessage = null;
+            switch (lifecycleState) {
+                case STARTING:
+                    message = "openHAB is starting...";
+                    subMessage = "Please wait a moment!";
+                    break;
+                case UPDATING:
+                    message = "openHAB is updating...";
+                    subMessage = "Please wait a moment!";
+                    break;
+                case STOPPING:
+                    message = "openHAB is shutting down...";
+                    subMessage = "Please stand by.";
+                    break;
+                default:
+                    throw new IllegalStateException("Invalid system state " + lifecycleState);
+            }
+            resp.setContentType("text/html;charset=UTF-8");
+            resp.getWriter().append(pageStatus.replace("${message}", message).replace("${submessage}", subMessage));
+            resp.getWriter().close();
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Activate
+    protected void activate(ComponentContext context) {
+        try {
+            httpService.registerServlet("/", this, new Properties(), httpService.createDefaultHttpContext());
+        } catch (ServletException | NamespaceException e) {
+            logger.error("Failed registering root servlet!", e);
+        }
+        URL notfound = context.getBundleContext().getBundle().getEntry("pages/404.html");
+        if (notfound != null) {
+            try {
+                page404 = IOUtils.toString(notfound.openStream());
+            } catch (IOException e) {
+                throw new ComponentException(e);
+            }
+        } else {
+            throw new ComponentException("Cannot find 404.html - failed to initialize root servlet");
+        }
+        URL status = context.getBundleContext().getBundle().getEntry("pages/status.html");
+        if (status != null) {
+            try {
+                pageStatus = IOUtils.toString(status.openStream());
+            } catch (IOException e) {
+                throw new ComponentException(e);
+            }
+        } else {
+            throw new ComponentException("Cannot find status.html - failed to initialize root servlet");
+        }
+
+        // we can determine whether the whole framework is shutdown by listening to a STOPPING event for bundle 0.
+        Bundle systemBundle = context.getBundleContext().getBundle(0);
+        systemBundle.getBundleContext().addBundleListener(new SynchronousBundleListener() {
+            @Override
+            public void bundleChanged(final BundleEvent event) {
+                if (event.getBundle().getBundleId() == 0 && event.getType() == BundleEvent.STOPPING) {
+                    lifecycleState = LifeCycleState.STOPPING;
+                }
+            }
+        });
+    }
+
+    @Deactivate
+    protected void deactivate() {
+        // reset, if this component is ever reused (should normally not be the case), it should be "starting" again.
+        lifecycleState = LifeCycleState.STARTING;
+    }
+
+    @Reference(cardinality = ReferenceCardinality.OPTIONAL, policy = ReferencePolicy.DYNAMIC)
+    protected void setDashboardStarted(DashboardReady dashboardStarted) {
+        this.dashboardStarted = dashboardStarted;
+        this.lifecycleState = LifeCycleState.STARTED;
+    }
+
+    protected void unsetDashboardStarted(DashboardReady dashboardStarted) {
+        if (lifecycleState != LifeCycleState.STOPPING) {
+            lifecycleState = LifeCycleState.UPDATING;
+        }
+        this.dashboardStarted = null;
+    }
+
+    @Reference
+    protected void setHttpService(HttpService httpService) {
+        this.httpService = httpService;
+    }
+
+    protected void unsetHttpService(HttpService httpService) {
+        this.httpService = null;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/bundles/pom.xml b/bundles/pom.xml
index 81f01e935cc..0cf6d160d3e 100644
--- a/bundles/pom.xml
+++ b/bundles/pom.xml
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
     <module>org.openhab.ui.classicui</module>
     <module>org.openhab.ui.homebuilder</module>
     <module>org.openhab.ui.paperui</module>
+    <module>org.openhab.ui.start</module>
   </modules>
 
   <dependencies>
diff --git a/features/openhab-core/src/main/feature/feature.xml b/features/openhab-core/src/main/feature/feature.xml
index b2d22351683..414cff95940 100644
--- a/features/openhab-core/src/main/feature/feature.xml
+++ b/features/openhab-core/src/main/feature/feature.xml
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@
         <feature>openhab-transport-http</feature>
         <feature prerequisite="true">shell</feature>
         <feature prerequisite="true">wrapper</feature>
+        <!-- This bundle needs to be started early as it registers the 404 and startup pages on Jetty -->
+        <bundle start-level="30">mvn:org.openhab.core/org.openhab.ui.start/${project.version}</bundle>
         <bundle start-level="90">mvn:org.openhab.core/org.openhab.core/${project.version}</bundle>
         <bundle>mvn:org.openhab.core/org.openhab.core.karaf/${project.version}</bundle>
         <bundle>mvn:org.openhab.core/org.openhab.io.sound/${project.version}</bundle>
diff --git a/features/p2/feature.xml b/features/p2/feature.xml
index 075d7889e44..5679122e3cf 100644
--- a/features/p2/feature.xml
+++ b/features/p2/feature.xml
@@ -86,4 +86,10 @@
          version="0.0.0"
          unpack="false"/>
 
+   <plugin
+         id="org.openhab.ui.start"
+         download-size="0"
+         install-size="0"
+         version="0.0.0"
+         unpack="false"/>
 </feature>