diff --git a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cli/PackageToolTest.java b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cli/PackageToolTest.java
index e8cb48874b68..9282af37e520 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cli/PackageToolTest.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cli/PackageToolTest.java
@@ -373,6 +373,63 @@ public static void testForResponseElement(
         success);
   }
 
+  /** Validates that collection existence is checked before package resolution. */
+  @Test
+  public void testDeployValidationMessages() throws Exception {
+    String solrUrl = cluster.getJettySolrRunner(0).getBaseUrl().toString();
+
+    withBasicAuth(CollectionAdminRequest.createCollection("validation-test", "conf1", 1, 1))
+        .processAndWait(cluster.getSolrClient(), 10);
+
+    CLITestHelper.TestingRuntime captureRuntime = new CLITestHelper.TestingRuntime(true);
+    PackageTool tool = new PackageTool(captureRuntime);
+
+    // Collection exists but package does not — collection validation should pass,
+    // package lookup should fail.
+    tool.runTool(
+        SolrCLI.processCommandLineArgs(
+            tool,
+            new String[] {
+              "--solr-url",
+              solrUrl,
+              "deploy",
+              "NONEXISTENT_PKG",
+              "--collections",
+              "validation-test",
+              "--credentials",
+              SecurityJson.USER_PASS
+            }));
+    String deployOut = captureRuntime.getOutput();
+    assertFalse(
+        "Should not complain about invalid collection", deployOut.contains("Invalid collection"));
+    assertTrue(
+        "Should report missing package",
+        deployOut.contains("Package instance doesn't exist: NONEXISTENT_PKG:null"));
+
+    captureRuntime.clearOutput();
+
+    // Undeploy of a package that was never deployed should give a clear message.
+    tool.runTool(
+        SolrCLI.processCommandLineArgs(
+            tool,
+            new String[] {
+              "--solr-url",
+              solrUrl,
+              "undeploy",
+              "NONEXISTENT_PKG",
+              "--collections",
+              "validation-test",
+              "--credentials",
+              SecurityJson.USER_PASS
+            }));
+    String undeployOut = captureRuntime.getOutput();
+    assertFalse(
+        "Should not complain about invalid collection", undeployOut.contains("Invalid collection"));
+    assertTrue(
+        "Should report package not deployed",
+        undeployOut.contains("Package NONEXISTENT_PKG not deployed on collection validation-test"));
+  }
+
   private void run(PackageTool tool, String[] args) throws Exception {
     int res = tool.runTool(SolrCLI.processCommandLineArgs(tool, args));
     assertEquals("Non-zero status returned for: " + Arrays.toString(args), 0, res);
diff --git a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/servlet/GzipCompressionTest.java b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/servlet/GzipCompressionTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..c6a2d69b4ab6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/servlet/GzipCompressionTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+package org.apache.solr.servlet;
+
+import org.apache.solr.client.solrj.request.CollectionAdminRequest;
+import org.apache.solr.client.solrj.request.UpdateRequest;
+import org.apache.solr.cloud.SolrCloudTestCase;
+import org.apache.solr.common.SolrInputDocument;
+import org.eclipse.jetty.client.ContentResponse;
+import org.eclipse.jetty.client.HttpClient;
+import org.eclipse.jetty.http.HttpHeader;
+import org.junit.AfterClass;
+import org.junit.BeforeClass;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+/**
+ * Verifies that Solr's Jetty GzipHandler correctly compresses HTTP responses when the client sends
+ * {@code Accept-Encoding: gzip} and omits compression when that header is absent.
+ */
+public class GzipCompressionTest extends SolrCloudTestCase {
+
+  private static final String COLLECTION = "gzip-test";
+
+  @BeforeClass
+  public static void setupCluster() throws Exception {
+    // Lower the minGzipSize threshold so any non-empty response body is eligible for compression.
+    // jetty-gzip.xml reads this property at Jetty start time via <Property
+    // name="jetty.gzip.minGzipSize">.
+    System.setProperty("jetty.gzip.minGzipSize", "1");
+
+    configureCluster(1).configure();
+
+    CollectionAdminRequest.createCollection(COLLECTION, null, 1, 1)
+        .process(cluster.getSolrClient());
+
+    // Index a few documents so the select response has a non-trivial body
+    UpdateRequest req = new UpdateRequest();
+    for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
+      SolrInputDocument doc = new SolrInputDocument();
+      doc.addField("id", "doc-" + i);
+      doc.addField("name_s", "Document number " + i + " for gzip compression test");
+      req.add(doc);
+    }
+    req.commit(cluster.getSolrClient(), COLLECTION);
+  }
+
+  @AfterClass
+  public static void clearGzipSysProp() {
+    System.clearProperty("jetty.gzip.minGzipSize");
+  }
+
+  private HttpClient getHttpClient() {
+    return cluster.getJettySolrRunner(0).getSolrClient().getHttpClient();
+  }
+
+  private String getSelectUrl() {
+    return cluster.getJettySolrRunner(0).getBaseUrl() + "/" + COLLECTION + "/select?q=*:*&rows=10";
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testNoCompressionWithoutAcceptEncodingHeader() throws Exception {
+    ContentResponse response = getHttpClient().GET(getSelectUrl());
+    assertEquals("Expected HTTP 200", 200, response.getStatus());
+    assertNull(
+        "Content-Encoding should not be set when Accept-Encoding header is absent",
+        response.getHeaders().get(HttpHeader.CONTENT_ENCODING));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testGzipCompressionWithAcceptEncodingHeader() throws Exception {
+    ContentResponse response =
+        getHttpClient()
+            .newRequest(getSelectUrl())
+            .headers(h -> h.add(HttpHeader.ACCEPT_ENCODING, "gzip"))
+            .send();
+    assertEquals("Expected HTTP 200", 200, response.getStatus());
+    assertEquals(
+        "Expected gzip Content-Encoding when Accept-Encoding: gzip was requested",
+        "gzip",
+        response.getHeaders().get(HttpHeader.CONTENT_ENCODING));
+  }
+}
diff --git a/solr/packaging/test/test_compression.bats b/solr/packaging/test/test_compression.bats
deleted file mode 100644
index 575490c8f99a..000000000000
--- a/solr/packaging/test/test_compression.bats
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,47 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bats
-
-# 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.
-
-load bats_helper
-
-setup_file() {
-  common_clean_setup
-  solr start -e films
-}
-
-setup() {
-  common_setup
-}
-
-teardown_file() {
-  save_home_on_failure
-  solr stop --all >/dev/null 2>&1
-}
-
-@test "server does not compress response without Accept-Encoding header" {
-  run curl -s -D - -o /dev/null "http://localhost:${SOLR_PORT}/solr/films/select?q=*:*&rows=100"
-  refute_output --partial "Content-Encoding:"
-}
-
-@test "server compresses response when Accept-Encoding: gzip is requested" {
-  run curl -s -D - -o /dev/null -H "Accept-Encoding: gzip" "http://localhost:${SOLR_PORT}/solr/films/select?q=*:*&rows=100"
-  assert_output --partial "gzip"
-}
-
-@test "compressed response can be decompressed and parsed" {
-  run curl -s --compressed "http://localhost:${SOLR_PORT}/solr/films/select?q=*:*&rows=100"
-  assert_output --partial '"status":0'
-}
diff --git a/solr/packaging/test/test_example.bats b/solr/packaging/test/test_example.bats
index a15ba4b6f625..a5b4108e549d 100644
--- a/solr/packaging/test/test_example.bats
+++ b/solr/packaging/test/test_example.bats
@@ -17,25 +17,36 @@
 
 load bats_helper
 
-setup() {
+setup_file() {
   common_clean_setup
+  solr start -e cloud --no-prompt --jvm-opts "-Dcustom.prop=helloworld"
+  solr assert --started http://localhost:${SOLR_PORT} --cloud http://localhost:${SOLR_PORT} --timeout 60000
+  solr assert --started http://localhost:${SOLR2_PORT} --cloud http://localhost:${SOLR2_PORT} --timeout 60000
+}
+
+teardown_file() {
+  common_setup
+  solr stop --all >/dev/null 2>&1
+}
+
+setup() {
+  common_setup
 }
 
 teardown() {
   # save a snapshot of SOLR_HOME for failed tests
   save_home_on_failure
+}
 
-  solr stop --all >/dev/null 2>&1
+@test "start -e cloud works with --no-prompt" {
+  solr assert --started http://localhost:${SOLR_PORT} --cloud http://localhost:${SOLR_PORT} --timeout 10000
+  solr assert --started http://localhost:${SOLR2_PORT} --cloud http://localhost:${SOLR2_PORT} --timeout 10000
 }
 
 @test "start -e cloud works with --jvm-opts" {
-  solr start -e cloud --no-prompt --jvm-opts "-Dcustom.prop=helloworld"
-  solr assert --started http://localhost:${SOLR_PORT} --cloud http://localhost:${SOLR_PORT} --timeout 60000
-  solr assert --started http://localhost:${SOLR2_PORT} --cloud http://localhost:${SOLR2_PORT} --timeout 60000
-
   run curl "http://localhost:${SOLR_PORT}/solr/admin/info/properties"
   assert_output --partial 'helloworld'
-  
+
   run curl "http://localhost:${SOLR2_PORT}/solr/admin/info/properties"
   assert_output --partial 'helloworld'
 }
diff --git a/solr/packaging/test/test_example_noprompt.bats b/solr/packaging/test/test_example_noprompt.bats
deleted file mode 100644
index 19329a8041af..000000000000
--- a/solr/packaging/test/test_example_noprompt.bats
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,35 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bats
-
-# 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.
-
-load bats_helper
-
-setup() {
-  common_clean_setup
-}
-
-teardown() {
-  # save a snapshot of SOLR_HOME for failed tests
-  save_home_on_failure
-
-  solr stop --all >/dev/null 2>&1
-}
-
-@test "start -e cloud works with --no-prompt" {
-  solr start -e cloud --no-prompt
-  solr assert --started http://localhost:${SOLR_PORT} --cloud http://localhost:${SOLR_PORT} --timeout 10000
-  solr assert --started http://localhost:${SOLR2_PORT} --cloud http://localhost:${SOLR2_PORT} --timeout 10000
-}
diff --git a/solr/packaging/test/test_healthcheck.bats b/solr/packaging/test/test_healthcheck.bats
index 30edfeff2357..ce5f480398d7 100644
--- a/solr/packaging/test/test_healthcheck.bats
+++ b/solr/packaging/test/test_healthcheck.bats
@@ -29,15 +29,14 @@ teardown() {
 }
 
 @test "healthcheck on cloud solr" {
-  solr start -e films
-  run solr healthcheck -c films
+  solr start
+  solr create -c healthcheck_test -d _default
+  run solr healthcheck -c healthcheck_test
   refute_output --partial 'error'
-  
 }
 
 @test "healthcheck errors on standalone solr" {
-  solr start --user-managed -e films
-  run solr healthcheck -c films
+  solr start --user-managed
+  run solr healthcheck -c healthcheck_test
   assert_output --partial 'Healthcheck tool only works in Solr Cloud mode'
-  
 }
diff --git a/solr/packaging/test/test_opennlp.bats b/solr/packaging/test/test_opennlp.bats
index 69ee71253cf4..c5d53c78f581 100644
--- a/solr/packaging/test/test_opennlp.bats
+++ b/solr/packaging/test/test_opennlp.bats
@@ -43,6 +43,9 @@ teardown() {
 # I also have dreams of incorporating this as code snippets in a Tutorial via the ascii doc tags
 # like we use for the SolrJ code snippets.  That way we know the snippets continue to work!
 @test "Check lifecycle of sentiment classification" {
+  if [ -z "${SOLR_BATS_OPENNLP_TESTS:-}" ]; then
+    skip "Set SOLR_BATS_OPENNLP_TESTS=true to run OpenNLP integration tests (downloads models from network)"
+  fi
 
   echo "Downloading onnx model and vocab..."
   
diff --git a/solr/packaging/test/test_packages.bats b/solr/packaging/test/test_packages.bats
deleted file mode 100644
index 1f60523e53f0..000000000000
--- a/solr/packaging/test/test_packages.bats
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,81 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bats
-
-# 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.
-
-load bats_helper
-
-setup() {
-  common_clean_setup
-}
-
-teardown() {
-  # save a snapshot of SOLR_HOME for failed tests
-  save_home_on_failure
-
-  solr stop --all >/dev/null 2>&1
-}
-
-@test "lifecycle of package" {
-  run solr start -Dsolr.packages.enabled=true
-
-  run solr package --help
-  assert_output --partial "Add a repository to Solr"
-
-  run solr package list-available
-  assert_output --partial "Available packages:"
-}
-
-@test "deploying and undeploying a collection level package" {
-  run solr start -Dsolr.packages.enabled=true
-
-  solr create -c foo-1.2
-
-  # Deploy package - the package doesn't need to exist before the collection validation kicks in
-  run solr package deploy PACKAGE_NAME --collections foo-1.2
-  # assert_output --partial "Deployment successful"
-  refute_output --partial "Invalid collection"
-  
-  # Until PACKAGE_NAME refers to an actual installable package, this is as far as we get.
-  assert_output --partial "Package instance doesn't exist: PACKAGE_NAME:null"
-
-  # Undeploy package
-  run solr package undeploy PACKAGE_NAME --collections foo-1.2
-  refute_output --partial "Invalid collection"
-  assert_output --partial "Package PACKAGE_NAME not deployed on collection foo-1.2"
-}
-
-# This test is useful if you are debugging/working with packages.
-# We have disabled it for now since it depends on a live internet
-# connection to run.  This could be updated with a local Repo server if we had
-# a package that is part of the Solr project to use.
-@test "deploying and undeploying a cluster level package" {
-  skip "For developing package infra; requires a connection to github"
-
-  run solr start -Dsolr.packages.enabled=true
-  
-  run solr package add-repo splainer "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/o19s/splainer/refs/heads/main/solr-splainer-package/repo/"
-  assert_output --partial "Added repository: splainer"
-  
-  run solr package list-available
-  assert_output --partial "solr-splainer 		Splainer for Solr"
-  run solr package install solr-splainer
-  assert_output --partial "solr-splainer installed."
-
-  run solr package deploy solr-splainer -y --cluster
-  assert_output --partial "Deployment successful"
-  
-  run -0 curl --fail http://localhost:${SOLR_PORT}/v2/splainer/index.html
-}
diff --git a/solr/packaging/test/test_ssl.bats b/solr/packaging/test/test_ssl.bats
index 5075ec763380..cf92d144d4f9 100644
--- a/solr/packaging/test/test_ssl.bats
+++ b/solr/packaging/test/test_ssl.bats
@@ -572,26 +572,26 @@ teardown() {
     # Replace server1 keystore with client's
     cp cert2.keystore.p12 server1.keystore.p12
   )
-  # Give some time for the server reload
-  sleep 6
+  # Wait for Jetty keystore-reload scan to pick up the new certificate
+  wait_for 30 1 solr api --solr-url "https://localhost:${SOLR_PORT}/solr/admin/info/system"
 
-  run solr healthcheck --solr-url https://localhost:${SOLR_PORT}
+  run solr healthcheck -c test --solr-url https://localhost:${SOLR_PORT}
 
   # Server 2 still uses the cert1, so this request should fail
   run ! solr api --solr-url "https://localhost:${SOLR2_PORT}/solr/test/select?q=query2"
 
-  run ! solr healthcheck --solr-url https://localhost:${SOLR2_PORT}
+  run ! solr healthcheck -c test --solr-url https://localhost:${SOLR2_PORT}
 
   (
     cd "$ssl_dir"
     # Replace server2 keystore with client's
     cp cert2.keystore.p12 server2.keystore.p12
   )
-  # Give some time for the server reload
-  sleep 6
+  # Wait for Jetty keystore-reload scan to pick up the new certificate
+  wait_for 30 1 solr api --solr-url "https://localhost:${SOLR2_PORT}/solr/admin/info/system"
 
-  run solr healthcheck --solr-url https://localhost:${SOLR_PORT}
-  run solr healthcheck --solr-url https://localhost:${SOLR2_PORT}
+  run solr healthcheck -c test --solr-url https://localhost:${SOLR_PORT}
+  run solr healthcheck -c test --solr-url https://localhost:${SOLR2_PORT}
 
   run solr api --solr-url "https://localhost:${SOLR_PORT}/solr/test/select?q=query3"
   assert_output --partial '"numFound":0'
diff --git a/solr/packaging/test/test_start_solr.bats b/solr/packaging/test/test_start_solr.bats
index a24ceadd24c5..d136413c882b 100644
--- a/solr/packaging/test/test_start_solr.bats
+++ b/solr/packaging/test/test_start_solr.bats
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ teardown() {
   # save a snapshot of SOLR_HOME for failed tests
   save_home_on_failure
 
-  solr stop --all >/dev/null 2>&1
+  SOLR_STOP_WAIT=30 solr stop --all >/dev/null 2>&1
 }
 
 @test "SOLR-11740 check 'solr stop' connection" {
diff --git a/solr/packaging/test/test_status.bats b/solr/packaging/test/test_status.bats
index 5399a0b9fd6c..22589b35a1f7 100644
--- a/solr/packaging/test/test_status.bats
+++ b/solr/packaging/test/test_status.bats
@@ -17,40 +17,38 @@
 
 load bats_helper
 
-setup() {
+setup_file() {
   common_clean_setup
+  solr start
+}
+
+teardown_file() {
+  common_setup
+  solr stop --all
+}
+
+setup() {
+  common_setup
 }
 
 teardown() {
   # save a snapshot of SOLR_HOME for failed tests
   save_home_on_failure
-
-  solr stop --all >/dev/null 2>&1
 }
 
 @test "status detects locally running solr" {
-  run solr status
-  assert_output --partial "No Solr nodes are running."
-  solr start
   run solr status
   assert_output --partial "running on port ${SOLR_PORT}"
-  solr stop
-  run solr status
-  assert_output --partial "No Solr nodes are running."
 }
 
 @test "status with --solr-url from user" {
-  solr start
   run solr status --solr-url http://localhost:${SOLR_PORT}
   assert_output --partial "\"solr_home\":"
-  solr stop
 }
 
 @test "status with --port from user" {
-  solr start
   run solr status --port ${SOLR_PORT}
   assert_output --partial "running on port ${SOLR_PORT}"
-  solr stop
 }
 
 @test "multiple connection options are prevented" {
@@ -64,8 +62,6 @@ teardown() {
 }
 
 @test "status with --short format" {
-  solr start
   run solr status --port ${SOLR_PORT} --short
   assert_output --partial "http://localhost:${SOLR_PORT}/solr"
-  solr stop
 }
diff --git a/solr/packaging/test/test_zk.bats b/solr/packaging/test/test_zk.bats
index 11ee3a7a76d1..5f5fe6b1ad2f 100644
--- a/solr/packaging/test/test_zk.bats
+++ b/solr/packaging/test/test_zk.bats
@@ -59,13 +59,11 @@ teardown() {
 }
 
 @test "listing out files" {
-  sleep 1
   run solr zk ls / -z localhost:${ZK_PORT} --recursive
   assert_output --partial "aliases.json"
 }
 
 @test "connecting to solr via various solr urls and zk hosts" {
-  sleep 1
   run solr zk ls / --solr-url http://localhost:${SOLR_PORT}
   assert_output --partial "aliases.json"
 
@@ -87,20 +85,17 @@ teardown() {
 
   run solr zk cp myfile.txt zk:/myfile.txt -z localhost:${ZK_PORT}
   assert_output --partial "Copying from 'myfile.txt' to 'zk:/myfile.txt'. ZooKeeper at localhost:${ZK_PORT}"
-  sleep 1
   run solr zk ls / -z localhost:${ZK_PORT}
   assert_output --partial "myfile.txt"
 
   touch myfile2.txt
   run solr zk cp myfile2.txt zk:myfile2.txt -z localhost:${ZK_PORT}
-  sleep 1
   run solr zk ls / -z localhost:${ZK_PORT}
   assert_output --partial "myfile2.txt"
 
   touch myfile3.txt
   run solr zk cp myfile3.txt zk:/myfile3.txt -z localhost:${ZK_PORT}
   assert_output --partial "Copying from 'myfile3.txt' to 'zk:/myfile3.txt'. ZooKeeper at localhost:${ZK_PORT}"
-  sleep 1
   run solr zk ls / -z localhost:${ZK_PORT}
   assert_output --partial "myfile3.txt"
 
@@ -122,7 +117,7 @@ teardown() {
   assert_output --partial "Uploading"
   refute_output --partial "ERROR"
 
-  sleep 1
+  wait_for 10 1 bash -c "curl -s 'http://localhost:${SOLR_PORT}/api/configsets' | grep -q techproducts2"
   run curl "http://localhost:${SOLR_PORT}/api/configsets"
   assert_output --partial '"configSets":["_default","techproducts2"]'
 }
@@ -169,8 +164,6 @@ teardown() {
 }
 
 @test "env var ZK_HOST is honored" {
-  sleep 1
-
   # Need to unset SOLR_PORT to avoid the tool being smart and look at SOLR_PORT
   export SOLR_PORT_KEEP=$SOLR_PORT_LISTEN
   unset SOLR_PORT_LISTEN