diff --git a/asterix-installer/src/main/resources/clusters/local/conf/asterix-conf.xml b/asterix-installer/src/main/resources/clusters/local/conf/asterix-conf.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..48930be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-installer/src/main/resources/clusters/local/conf/asterix-conf.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+<asterixConfiguration xmlns="asterixconf">
+  
+  <lsm>
+    <size_memory_component>128m</size_memory_component>
+    <total_size_memory_component>512m</total_size_memory_component>
+  </lsm>
+  
+  <transactions>
+     <log_buffer_num_pages>8</log_buffer_num_pages>
+     <log_buffer_page_size>128m</log_buffer_page_size>
+     <group_commit_interval>200ms</group_commit_interval>
+  </transactions>
+  
+  <operators>
+    <sort_op_memory></sort_op_memory>
+    <join_op_memory></join_op_memory>
+  </operators>
+  
+  <ports>
+    <web_interface_port></web_interface_port>
+    <nc_port></nc_port>
+  </ports>
+
+  <misc>
+    <num_pages_buffer_cache></num_pages_buffer_cache>
+    <log_level></log_level>
+  </misc>
+  
+</asterixConfiguration>
diff --git a/asterix-installer/src/main/resources/schema/asterix-conf.xsd b/asterix-installer/src/main/resources/schema/asterix-conf.xsd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..24a35cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-installer/src/main/resources/schema/asterix-conf.xsd
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>
+<xs:schema xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:mg="asterixconf" targetNamespace="asterixconf" elementFormDefault="qualified">
+
+<!-- definition of simple types --> 
+<xs:element name="lsm_size_memory_component" type="xs:string"/>
+<xs:element name="lsm_total_size_memory_component" type="xs:integer"/>
+<xs:element name="num_pages_buffer_cache" type="xs:integer"/>
+<xs:element name="sort_op_memory" type="xs:string"/>
+<xs:element name="join_op_memory" type="xs:string"/>
+<xs:element name="log_buffer_num_pages" type="xs:integer"/>
+<xs:element name="web_interface_port" type="xs:string"/>
+<xs:element name="nc_port" type="xs:string"/>
+
+<!-- definition of complex elements -->
+
+<xs:element name="lsm">
+  <xs:complexType>
+    <xs:sequence>
+      <xs:element ref="mg:lsm_size_memory_component"/>
+      <xs:element ref="mg:lsm_total_size_memory_component"/>
+      <xs:element ref="mg:lsm_total_size_memory_component" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
+    </xs:sequence>
+  </xs:complexType>
+</xs:element>
+
+<xs:element name="transactions">
+  <xs:complexType>
+    <xs:sequence>
+      <xs:element ref="mg:log_buffer_num_pages"/>
+    </xs:sequence>
+  </xs:complexType>
+</xs:element>
+
+<xs:element name="ports">
+  <xs:complexType>
+    <xs:sequence>
+      <xs:element ref="mg:web_interface_port"/>
+      <xs:element ref="mg:nc_port"/>
+    </xs:sequence>
+  </xs:complexType>
+</xs:element>
+
+<xs:element name="operators">
+  <xs:complexType>
+    <xs:sequence>
+      <xs:element ref="mg:sort_op_memory"/>
+      <xs:element ref="mg:join_op_memory"/>
+    </xs:sequence>
+  </xs:complexType>
+</xs:element>
+
+<xs:element name="misc">
+  <xs:complexType>
+    <xs:sequence>
+      <xs:element ref="mg:num_pages_buffer_cache"/>
+    </xs:sequence>
+  </xs:complexType>
+</xs:element>
+
+
+<xs:element name="asterixConfiguration">
+  <xs:complexType>
+    <xs:sequence>
+      <xs:element ref="mg:lsm" minOccurs="0"/>
+      <xs:element ref="mg:transactions" minOccurs="0"/>
+      <xs:element ref="mg:ports"/>
+      <xs:element ref="mg:operators"/>
+      <xs:element ref="mg:misc"/>
+    </xs:sequence>
+  </xs:complexType>
+</xs:element>
+
+</xs:schema>