diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/LogCursor.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/LogCursor.java
index e04ca95..9ad66bc 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/LogCursor.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/LogCursor.java
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@
         while (logicalLogLocator.getMemoryOffset() <= readOnlyBuffer.getSize()
                 - logManager.getLogRecordHelper().getLogHeaderSize(LogType.COMMIT)) {
             integerRead = readOnlyBuffer.readInt(logicalLogLocator.getMemoryOffset());
-            if (integerRead == logManager.getLogManagerProperties().logMagicNumber) {
+            if (integerRead == logManager.getLogManagerProperties().LOG_MAGIC_NUMBER) {
                 logRecordBeginPosFound = true;
                 break;
             }
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@
                 //----------------------------------------------------------------
                 int readNumber = -1;
                 int logPageSize = logManager.getLogManagerProperties().getLogPageSize();
-                int logMagicNumber = logManager.getLogManagerProperties().logMagicNumber;
+                int logMagicNumber = logManager.getLogManagerProperties().LOG_MAGIC_NUMBER;
                 int bytesSkipped = 0;
                 boolean logRecordBeginPosFound = false;
                 //check whether the currentOffset has enough space to have new log record by comparing
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/LogManager.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/LogManager.java
index 64376aa..f3c33f8 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/LogManager.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/LogManager.java
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.logging;
 
 import java.io.File;
-import java.io.FileInputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.io.RandomAccessFile;
@@ -158,21 +157,37 @@
      * initialize the log manager properties either from the configuration file
      * on disk or with default values
      */
-    private void initLogManagerProperties(LogManagerProperties logConfiguration) throws ACIDException {
-        if (logConfiguration == null) {
+    private void initLogManagerProperties(LogManagerProperties logProperties) throws ACIDException {
+        if (logProperties == null) {
             InputStream is = null;
             try {
-                File file = new File(TransactionManagementConstants.LogManagerConstants.LOG_CONF_DIR
-                        + File.pathSeparator + TransactionManagementConstants.LogManagerConstants.LOG_CONF_FILE);
-                if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
-                    LOGGER.info("Log Configuration file path is " + file.getAbsolutePath());
-                }
-                if (file.exists()) {
-                    is = new FileInputStream(TransactionManagementConstants.LogManagerConstants.LOG_CONF_DIR
+                is = this.getClass().getClassLoader()
+                        .getResourceAsStream(TransactionManagementConstants.LogManagerConstants.LOG_CONF_FILE);
+                if (is != null) {
+                    Properties p = new Properties();
+                    p.load(is);
+                    String logDir = p.getProperty(LogManagerProperties.LOG_DIR_KEY);
+                    if (logDir == null) {
+                        p.setProperty(LogManagerProperties.LOG_DIR_KEY,
+                                TransactionManagementConstants.LogManagerConstants.DEFAULT_LOG_DIR + File.separator
+                                        + provider.getId());
+                    }
+                    logProperties = new LogManagerProperties(p);
+
+                    /*
+                    File file = new File(TransactionManagementConstants.LogManagerConstants.LOG_CONF_DIR
                             + File.pathSeparator + TransactionManagementConstants.LogManagerConstants.LOG_CONF_FILE);
-                    Properties configuredProperties = new Properties();
-                    configuredProperties.load(is);
-                    logConfiguration = new LogManagerProperties(configuredProperties);
+                    if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
+                        LOGGER.info("Log Configuration file path is " + file.getAbsolutePath());
+                    }
+                    if (file.exists()) {
+                        is = new FileInputStream(TransactionManagementConstants.LogManagerConstants.LOG_CONF_DIR
+                                + File.pathSeparator + TransactionManagementConstants.LogManagerConstants.LOG_CONF_FILE);
+                        Properties configuredProperties = new Properties();
+                        configuredProperties.load(is);
+                        logConfiguration = new LogManagerProperties(configuredProperties);
+                    */
+
                 } else {
                     if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
                         LOGGER.info("Log configuration file not found, using defaults !");
@@ -181,7 +196,7 @@
                     configuredProperties.setProperty(LogManagerProperties.LOG_DIR_KEY,
                             TransactionManagementConstants.LogManagerConstants.DEFAULT_LOG_DIR + File.separator
                                     + provider.getId());
-                    logConfiguration = new LogManagerProperties(configuredProperties);
+                    logProperties = new LogManagerProperties(configuredProperties);
                 }
             } catch (IOException ioe) {
                 if (is != null) {
@@ -193,7 +208,7 @@
                 }
             }
         }
-        logManagerProperties = logConfiguration;
+        logManagerProperties = logProperties;
     }
 
     private void initLogManager() throws ACIDException {
@@ -574,7 +589,7 @@
             fileChannel.position(fileOffset);
             fileChannel.read(buffer);
             buffer.position(0);
-            
+
             byte logType = buffer.get(4);
             int logHeaderSize = logRecordHelper.getLogHeaderSize(logType);
             int logBodySize = buffer.getInt(logHeaderSize - 4);
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/LogManagerProperties.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/LogManagerProperties.java
index fde0669..84294c9 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/LogManagerProperties.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/LogManagerProperties.java
@@ -17,82 +17,63 @@
 import java.io.Serializable;
 import java.util.Properties;
 
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.transaction.TransactionManagementConstants;
-
 public class LogManagerProperties implements Serializable {
 
-    /**
-     * generated SerialVersionUID
-     */
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 2084227360840799662L;
 
-    private String logFilePrefix = "asterix_transaction_log"; // log files
-
-    // follow the
-    // naming
-    // convention
-    // <logFilePrefix>_<number>
-    // where number
-    // starts from 0
-
-    private String logDir = "asterix_logs"; // the path where the LogManager
-                                            // will create log files
-
-    private int logPageSize = 128 * 1024; // 128 KB
-    private int numLogPages = 8; // number of log pages in the log buffer.
-
-    private long groupCommitWaitPeriod = 1; // time in milliseconds for which a
-    // commit record will wait before
-    // the housing page is marked for
-    // flushing.
-    private int logBufferSize = logPageSize * numLogPages;
-    // maximum size of each log file
-    private long logPartitionSize = logBufferSize * 1024 * 2; //2GB
-
-    public int logMagicNumber = 123456789;
-
-    public static final String LOG_PARTITION_SIZE_KEY = "log_partition_size";
+    public static final int LOG_MAGIC_NUMBER = 123456789;
     public static final String LOG_DIR_KEY = "log_dir";
     public static final String LOG_PAGE_SIZE_KEY = "log_page_size";
+    public static final String LOG_PARTITION_SIZE_KEY = "log_partition_size";
     public static final String NUM_LOG_PAGES_KEY = "num_log_pages";
     public static final String LOG_FILE_PREFIX_KEY = "log_file_prefix";
-    public static final String GROUP_COMMIT_WAIT_PERIOD = "group_commit_wait_period";
+    public static final String GROUP_COMMIT_WAIT_PERIOD_KEY = "group_commit_wait_period";
+
+    private static final int DEFAULT_LOG_PAGE_SIZE = 128 * 1024; //128KB
+    private static final int DEFAULT_NUM_LOG_PAGES = 8;
+    private static final long DEFAULT_LOG_PARTITION_SIZE = (long) 1024 * 1024 * 1024 * 2; //2GB 
+    private static final long DEFAULT_GROUP_COMMIT_WAIT_PERIOD = 1; // time in millisec.
+    private static final String DEFAULT_LOG_FILE_PREFIX = "asterix_transaction_log";
+    private static final String DEFAULT_LOG_DIRECTORY = "asterix_logs";
+
+    // follow the naming convention <logFilePrefix>_<number> where number starts from 0
+    private final String logFilePrefix;
+    private final String logDir;
+
+    // number of log pages in the log buffer
+    private final int logPageSize;
+    // number of log pages in the log buffer.
+    private final int numLogPages;
+    // time in milliseconds
+    private final long groupCommitWaitPeriod;
+    // logBufferSize = logPageSize * numLogPages;
+    private final int logBufferSize;
+    // maximum size of each log file
+    private final long logPartitionSize;
 
     public LogManagerProperties(Properties properties) {
-        if (properties.get(LOG_PAGE_SIZE_KEY) != null) {
-            logPageSize = Integer.parseInt(properties.getProperty(LOG_PAGE_SIZE_KEY));
-        }
-        if (properties.get(NUM_LOG_PAGES_KEY) != null) {
-            numLogPages = Integer.parseInt(properties.getProperty(NUM_LOG_PAGES_KEY));
-        }
+        this.logPageSize = Integer.parseInt(properties.getProperty(LOG_PAGE_SIZE_KEY, "" + DEFAULT_LOG_PAGE_SIZE));
+        this.numLogPages = Integer.parseInt(properties.getProperty(NUM_LOG_PAGES_KEY, "" + DEFAULT_NUM_LOG_PAGES));
+        long logPartitionSize = Long.parseLong(properties.getProperty(LOG_PARTITION_SIZE_KEY, ""
+                + DEFAULT_LOG_PARTITION_SIZE));
+        this.logDir = properties.getProperty(LOG_DIR_KEY, DEFAULT_LOG_DIRECTORY);
+        this.logFilePrefix = properties.getProperty(LOG_FILE_PREFIX_KEY, DEFAULT_LOG_FILE_PREFIX);
+        this.groupCommitWaitPeriod = Long.parseLong(properties.getProperty(GROUP_COMMIT_WAIT_PERIOD_KEY, ""
+                + DEFAULT_GROUP_COMMIT_WAIT_PERIOD));
 
-        if (properties.get(LOG_PARTITION_SIZE_KEY) != null) {
-            logPartitionSize = Long.parseLong(properties.getProperty(LOG_PARTITION_SIZE_KEY));
-        }
-
-        groupCommitWaitPeriod = Long.parseLong(properties.getProperty("group_commit_wait_period", ""
-                + groupCommitWaitPeriod));
-        logFilePrefix = properties.getProperty(LOG_FILE_PREFIX_KEY, logFilePrefix);
-        logDir = properties
-                .getProperty(LOG_DIR_KEY, TransactionManagementConstants.LogManagerConstants.DEFAULT_LOG_DIR);
+        this.logBufferSize = logPageSize * numLogPages;
+        //make sure that the log partition size is the multiple of log buffer size.
+        this.logPartitionSize = (logPartitionSize / logBufferSize) * logBufferSize;
     }
 
     public long getLogPartitionSize() {
         return logPartitionSize;
     }
 
-    public void setLogPartitionSize(long logPartitionSize) {
-        this.logPartitionSize = logPartitionSize;
-    }
-
     public String getLogFilePrefix() {
         return logFilePrefix;
     }
 
-    public void setLogDir(String logDir) {
-        this.logDir = logDir;
-    }
-
     public String getLogDir() {
         return logDir;
     }
@@ -101,8 +82,16 @@
         return logPageSize;
     }
 
-    public void setLogPageSize(int logPageSize) {
-        this.logPageSize = logPageSize;
+    public int getNumLogPages() {
+        return numLogPages;
+    }
+
+    public int getLogBufferSize() {
+        return logBufferSize;
+    }
+
+    public long getGroupCommitWaitPeriod() {
+        return groupCommitWaitPeriod;
     }
 
     public String toString() {
@@ -115,29 +104,4 @@
         builder.append("group_commit_wait_period : " + groupCommitWaitPeriod + FileUtil.lineSeparator);
         return builder.toString();
     }
-
-    public void setNumLogPages(int numLogPages) {
-        this.numLogPages = numLogPages;
-    }
-
-    public int getNumLogPages() {
-        return numLogPages;
-    }
-
-    public void setLogBufferSize(int logBufferSize) {
-        this.logBufferSize = logBufferSize;
-    }
-
-    public int getLogBufferSize() {
-        return logBufferSize;
-    }
-
-    public long getGroupCommitWaitPeriod() {
-        return groupCommitWaitPeriod;
-    }
-
-    public void setGroupCommitWaitPeriod(long groupCommitWaitPeriod) {
-        this.groupCommitWaitPeriod = groupCommitWaitPeriod;
-    }
-
 }
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/LogRecordHelper.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/LogRecordHelper.java
index d9ee278..6b882ef 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/LogRecordHelper.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/LogRecordHelper.java
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@
 
         /* magic no */
         (logicalLogLocator.getBuffer()).writeInt(logicalLogLocator.getMemoryOffset() + MAGIC_NO_POS,
-                logManager.getLogManagerProperties().logMagicNumber);
+                logManager.getLogManagerProperties().LOG_MAGIC_NUMBER);
 
         /* log type */
         (logicalLogLocator.getBuffer()).put(logicalLogLocator.getMemoryOffset() + LOG_TYPE_POS, logType);
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/recovery/RecoveryManager.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/recovery/RecoveryManager.java
index 226c81b..e2f26b2 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/recovery/RecoveryManager.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/recovery/RecoveryManager.java
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@
 import java.io.ObjectOutputStream;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collections;
-import java.util.Comparator;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.LinkedList;
@@ -681,7 +680,7 @@
         while (iter.hasNext()) {
             //TODO 
             //Sort the lsns in order to undo in one pass. 
-            
+
             Map.Entry<TxnId, List<Long>> loserTxn = (Map.Entry<TxnId, List<Long>>) iter.next();
             txnId = loserTxn.getKey();
 
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/transaction/TransactionManagementConstants.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/transaction/TransactionManagementConstants.java
index cb71e9f..3d25e54 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/transaction/TransactionManagementConstants.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/transaction/TransactionManagementConstants.java
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 
     public static class LogManagerConstants {
         public static final String LOG_CONF_DIR = "log_conf";
-        public static final String LOG_CONF_FILE = "log.conf";
+        public static final String LOG_CONF_FILE = "log.properties";
         public static final String ASTERIX_CONF_DIR = "src/main/resources";
         public static final String ASTERIX_CONF_FILE = "test.properties";
         public static final String DEFAULT_LOG_DIR = "asterix_logs";
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/transaction/TransactionSubsystem.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/transaction/TransactionSubsystem.java
index 35d1c9b..c83b7bc 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/transaction/TransactionSubsystem.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/transaction/TransactionSubsystem.java
@@ -51,8 +51,12 @@
         this.loggerRepository = new IndexLoggerRepository(this);
         this.resourceRepository = new TransactionalResourceManagerRepository();
         this.asterixAppRuntimeContextProvider = asterixAppRuntimeContextProvider;
-        this.checkpointThread = new CheckpointThread(recoveryManager,
-                asterixAppRuntimeContextProvider.getIndexLifecycleManager(), 0);
+        if (asterixAppRuntimeContextProvider != null) {
+	        this.checkpointThread = new CheckpointThread(recoveryManager,
+	                asterixAppRuntimeContextProvider.getIndexLifecycleManager(), 0);
+        } else {
+        	this.checkpointThread = null;
+        }
     }
 
     public ILogManager getLogManager() {