diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/file/FeedOperations.java b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/file/FeedOperations.java
index af8763e..bf12375 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/file/FeedOperations.java
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/file/FeedOperations.java
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@
 package edu.uci.ics.asterix.file;
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.logging.Logger;
 
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.DatasetConfig.DatasetType;
@@ -100,7 +102,9 @@
                 feedMessages.add(new FeedMessage(MessageType.STOP));
                 break;
             case ALTER:
-                feedMessages.add(new AlterFeedMessage(controlFeedStatement.getProperties()));
+                Map<String, Object> wrappedProperties = new HashMap<String, Object>();
+                wrappedProperties.putAll(controlFeedStatement.getProperties());
+                feedMessages.add(new AlterFeedMessage(wrappedProperties));
                 break;
         }
 
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/CCApplicationEntryPoint.java b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/CCApplicationEntryPoint.java
index 6ccf08b..97a536d 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/CCApplicationEntryPoint.java
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/CCApplicationEntryPoint.java
@@ -33,12 +33,9 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.MetadataManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.api.IAsterixStateProxy;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.bootstrap.AsterixStateProxy;
-<<<<<<< HEAD
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.feeds.FeedJobLifecycleListener;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.feeds.FeedLifecycleListener;
-=======
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.util.AsterixAppContextInfo;
->>>>>>> master
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.application.ICCApplicationContext;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.application.ICCApplicationEntryPoint;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.client.HyracksConnection;
@@ -62,10 +59,8 @@
             LOGGER.info("Starting Asterix cluster controller");
         }
 
-        AsterixAppContextInfo.initialize(appCtx, getNewHyracksClientConnection());
-
         appCtx.setThreadFactory(AsterixThreadFactory.INSTANCE);
-        AsterixAppContextInfo.initialize(appCtx);
+        AsterixAppContextInfo.initialize(appCtx, getNewHyracksClientConnection());
 
         proxy = AsterixStateProxy.registerRemoteObject();
         appCtx.setDistributedState(proxy);
@@ -75,9 +70,9 @@
 
         AsterixAppContextInfo.getInstance().getCCApplicationContext()
                 .addJobLifecycleListener(FeedLifecycleListener.INSTANCE);
-        
+
         AsterixAppContextInfo.getInstance().getCCApplicationContext()
-        .addClusterLifecycleListener(FeedLifecycleListener.INSTANCE);
+                .addClusterLifecycleListener(FeedLifecycleListener.INSTANCE);
 
         AsterixExternalProperties externalProperties = AsterixAppContextInfo.getInstance().getExternalProperties();
         setupWebServer(externalProperties);
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/NCApplicationEntryPoint.java b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/NCApplicationEntryPoint.java
index bf4f869..069cdb6 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/NCApplicationEntryPoint.java
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/NCApplicationEntryPoint.java
@@ -21,11 +21,6 @@
 import java.util.logging.Level;
 import java.util.logging.Logger;
 
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixClusterProperties;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixMetadataProperties;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.context.AsterixAppRuntimeContext;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.schema.cluster.Cluster;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.schema.cluster.Node;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.api.common.AsterixAppRuntimeContext;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.api.AsterixThreadFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.api.IAsterixAppRuntimeContext;
@@ -33,11 +28,14 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.IAsterixPropertiesProvider;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.IRecoveryManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.IRecoveryManager.SystemState;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.schema.cluster.Cluster;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.schema.cluster.Node;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.MetadataManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.MetadataNode;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.api.IAsterixStateProxy;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.api.IMetadataNode;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.bootstrap.MetadataBootstrap;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.util.AsterixClusterProperties;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.resource.PersistentLocalResourceRepository;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.application.INCApplicationContext;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.application.INCApplicationEntryPoint;
@@ -64,7 +62,6 @@
         JVMShutdownHook sHook = new JVMShutdownHook(this);
         Runtime.getRuntime().addShutdownHook(sHook);
 
-     
         runtimeContext = new AsterixAppRuntimeContext(ncApplicationContext);
         runtimeContext.initialize();
         ncApplicationContext.setApplicationObject(runtimeContext);
@@ -116,7 +113,8 @@
     @Override
     public void notifyStartupComplete() throws Exception {
         IAsterixStateProxy proxy = (IAsterixStateProxy) ncApplicationContext.getDistributedState();
-        AsterixMetadataProperties metadataProperties = runtimeContext.getMetadataProperties();
+        AsterixMetadataProperties metadataProperties = ((IAsterixPropertiesProvider) runtimeContext)
+                .getMetadataProperties();
         if (!metadataProperties.getNodeNames().contains(nodeId)) {
             metadataProperties.getNodeNames().add(nodeId);
             Cluster cluster = AsterixClusterProperties.INSTANCE.getCluster();
@@ -162,7 +160,7 @@
                 LOGGER.info("Bootstrapping metadata");
             }
 
-            MetadataBootstrap.startUniverse(runtimeContext, ncApplicationContext,
+            MetadataBootstrap.startUniverse(((IAsterixPropertiesProvider) runtimeContext), ncApplicationContext,
                     systemState == SystemState.NEW_UNIVERSE);
             MetadataBootstrap.startDDLRecovery();
         }
@@ -170,7 +168,7 @@
         if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
             LOGGER.info("Starting lifecycle components");
         }
-        
+
         Map<String, String> lifecycleMgmtConfiguration = new HashMap<String, String>();
         String key = LifeCycleComponentManager.Config.DUMP_PATH_KEY;
         String value = metadataProperties.getCoredumpPath(nodeId);
@@ -182,7 +180,7 @@
         if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
             LOGGER.info("Configured:" + LifeCycleComponentManager.INSTANCE);
         }
-        
+
         LifeCycleComponentManager.INSTANCE.startAll();
 
         IRecoveryManager recoveryMgr = runtimeContext.getTransactionSubsystem().getRecoveryManager();
diff --git a/asterix-common/src/main/resources/schema/asterix-conf.xsd b/asterix-common/src/main/resources/schema/asterix-conf.xsd
index 0211a99..3033893 100644
--- a/asterix-common/src/main/resources/schema/asterix-conf.xsd
+++ b/asterix-common/src/main/resources/schema/asterix-conf.xsd
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 	<!-- definition of simple types -->
 
-        
+
 	<xs:element name="instanceName" type="xs:string" />
 	<xs:element name="metadataNode" type="xs:string" />
 	<xs:element name="coredumpPath" type="xs:string" />
@@ -14,9 +14,9 @@
 	<xs:element name="name" type="xs:string" />
 	<xs:element name="value" type="xs:string" />
 	<xs:element name="description" type="xs:string" />
-    <xs:element name="txnLogDirPath" type="xs:string" />
-	
-	
+	<xs:element name="txnLogDirPath" type="xs:string" />
+
+
 	<!-- definition of complex elements -->
 	<xs:element name="store">
 		<xs:complexType>
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 			</xs:sequence>
 		</xs:complexType>
 	</xs:element>
-	
+
 	<xs:element name="transactionLogDir">
 		<xs:complexType>
 			<xs:sequence>
@@ -59,11 +59,11 @@
 	<xs:element name="asterixConfiguration">
 		<xs:complexType>
 			<xs:sequence>
-				<xs:element ref="mg:instanceName" minOccurs="0"/>
-				<xs:element ref="mg:metadataNode" minOccurs="0"/>
+				<xs:element ref="mg:instanceName" minOccurs="0" />
+				<xs:element ref="mg:metadataNode" minOccurs="0" />
 				<xs:element ref="mg:store" maxOccurs="unbounded" />
 				<xs:element ref="mg:coredump" maxOccurs="unbounded" />
-				<xs:element ref="mg:transactionLogDir" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
+				<xs:element ref="mg:transactionLogDir" maxOccurs="unbounded" />
 				<xs:element ref="mg:property" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded" />
 			</xs:sequence>
 		</xs:complexType>
diff --git a/asterix-common/src/main/resources/schema/cluster.xsd b/asterix-common/src/main/resources/schema/cluster.xsd
index be7d863..09b71d5 100644
--- a/asterix-common/src/main/resources/schema/cluster.xsd
+++ b/asterix-common/src/main/resources/schema/cluster.xsd
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@
 	<xs:element name="iodevices" type="xs:string" />
 	<xs:element name="java_home" type="xs:string" />
 	<xs:element name="username" type="xs:string" />
+	<xs:element name="web_port" type="xs:string" />
+	<xs:element name="client_port" type="xs:integer" />
+	<xs:element name="cluster_port" type="xs:integer" />
+	<xs:element name="http_port" type="xs:integer" />
 
 	<!-- definition of complex elements -->
 	<xs:element name="working_dir">
@@ -36,6 +40,9 @@
 				<xs:element ref="cl:cluster_ip" />
 				<xs:element ref="cl:java_home" minOccurs="0" />
 				<xs:element ref="cl:log_dir" minOccurs="0" />
+				<xs:element ref="cl:client_port"  />
+				<xs:element ref="cl:cluster_port"  />
+				<xs:element ref="cl:http_port"  />
 			</xs:sequence>
 		</xs:complexType>
 	</xs:element>
diff --git a/asterix-events/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/event/service/AsterixEventServiceUtil.java b/asterix-events/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/event/service/AsterixEventServiceUtil.java
index c806d52..1bca9e9 100644
--- a/asterix-events/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/event/service/AsterixEventServiceUtil.java
+++ b/asterix-events/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/event/service/AsterixEventServiceUtil.java
@@ -47,12 +47,12 @@
 import org.apache.commons.io.IOUtils;
 
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.configuration.AsterixConfiguration;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.configuration.Coredump;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.configuration.Store;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.configuration.TransactionLogDir;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.driver.EventDriver;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.error.EventException;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.error.OutputHandler;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.management.EventUtil;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.management.AsterixEventServiceClient;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.model.AsterixInstance;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.model.AsterixInstance.State;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.schema.cluster.Cluster;
@@ -71,6 +71,10 @@
     public static final String EVENT_DIR = "events";
     public static final String DEFAULT_ASTERIX_CONFIGURATION_PATH = "conf" + File.separator + File.separator
             + "asterix-configuration.xml";
+    public static final int CLUSTER_NET_PORT_DEFAULT = 1098;
+    public static final int CLIENT_NET_PORT_DEFAULT = 1099;
+    public static final int HTTP_PORT_DEFAULT = 8888;
+    public static final int WEB_INTERFACE_PORT_DEFAULT = 19001;
 
     public static final String MANAGIX_INTERNAL_DIR = ".installer";
     public static final String MANAGIX_CONF_XML = "conf" + File.separator + "managix-conf.xml";
@@ -112,16 +116,28 @@
         }
         clusterProperties.add(new Property("ASTERIX_HOME", cluster.getWorkingDir().getDir() + File.separator
                 + "asterix"));
-        clusterProperties.add(new Property("CLUSTER_NET_IP", cluster.getMasterNode().getClusterIp()));
-        clusterProperties.add(new Property("CLIENT_NET_IP", cluster.getMasterNode().getClientIp()));
         clusterProperties.add(new Property("LOG_DIR", cluster.getLogDir()));
         clusterProperties.add(new Property("JAVA_HOME", cluster.getJavaHome()));
         clusterProperties.add(new Property("WORKING_DIR", cluster.getWorkingDir().getDir()));
+        clusterProperties.add(new Property("CLIENT_NET_IP", cluster.getMasterNode().getClientIp()));
+        clusterProperties.add(new Property("CLUSTER_NET_IP", cluster.getMasterNode().getClusterIp()));
+
+        int clusterNetPort = cluster.getMasterNode().getClusterPort() != null ? cluster.getMasterNode()
+                .getClusterPort().intValue() : CLUSTER_NET_PORT_DEFAULT;
+        int clientNetPort = cluster.getMasterNode().getClientPort() != null ? cluster.getMasterNode().getClientPort()
+                .intValue() : CLIENT_NET_PORT_DEFAULT;
+        int httpPort = cluster.getMasterNode().getHttpPort() != null ? cluster.getMasterNode().getHttpPort().intValue()
+                : HTTP_PORT_DEFAULT;
+
+        clusterProperties.add(new Property("CLIENT_NET_PORT", "" + clientNetPort));
+        clusterProperties.add(new Property("CLUSTER_NET_PORT", "" + clusterNetPort));
+        clusterProperties.add(new Property("HTTP_PORT", "" + httpPort));
+
         cluster.setEnv(new Env(clusterProperties));
     }
-    
-    public static void poulateClusterEnvironmentProperties(Cluster cluster){
-    	
+
+    public static void poulateClusterEnvironmentProperties(Cluster cluster) {
+
     }
 
     private static String injectAsterixPropertyFile(String origZipFile, AsterixInstance asterixInstance)
@@ -264,6 +280,21 @@
         }
         configuration.setStore(stores);
 
+        List<Coredump> coredump = new ArrayList<Coredump>();
+        String coredumpDir = null;
+        List<TransactionLogDir> txnLogDirs = new ArrayList<TransactionLogDir>();
+        String txnLogDir = null;
+        for (Node node : cluster.getNode()) {
+            coredumpDir = node.getLogDir() == null ? cluster.getLogDir() : node.getLogDir();
+            coredump.add(new Coredump(asterixInstanceName + "_" + node.getId(), coredumpDir + File.separator
+                    + asterixInstanceName + "_" + node.getId()));
+
+            txnLogDir = node.getTxnLogDir() == null ? cluster.getTxnLogDir() : node.getTxnLogDir();
+            txnLogDirs.add(new TransactionLogDir(asterixInstanceName + "_" + node.getId(), txnLogDir));
+        }
+        configuration.setCoredump(coredump);
+        configuration.setTransactionLogDir(txnLogDirs);
+
         File asterixConfDir = new File(AsterixEventService.getAsterixDir() + File.separator + asterixInstanceName);
         asterixConfDir.mkdirs();
 
diff --git a/asterix-events/src/main/resources/schema/cluster.xsd b/asterix-events/src/main/resources/schema/cluster.xsd
deleted file mode 100644
index 09b71d5..0000000
--- a/asterix-events/src/main/resources/schema/cluster.xsd
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,108 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>
-<xs:schema xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
-	xmlns:cl="cluster" targetNamespace="cluster" elementFormDefault="qualified">
-
-	<!-- definition of simple types -->
-	<xs:element name="name" type="xs:string" />
-	<xs:element name="log_dir" type="xs:string" />
-	<xs:element name="txn_log_dir" type="xs:string" />
-	<xs:element name="id" type="xs:string" />
-	<xs:element name="client_ip" type="xs:string" />
-	<xs:element name="cluster_ip" type="xs:string" />
-	<xs:element name="key" type="xs:string" />
-	<xs:element name="value" type="xs:string" />
-	<xs:element name="dir" type="xs:string" />
-	<xs:element name="NFS" type="xs:boolean" />
-	<xs:element name="store" type="xs:string" />
-	<xs:element name="iodevices" type="xs:string" />
-	<xs:element name="java_home" type="xs:string" />
-	<xs:element name="username" type="xs:string" />
-	<xs:element name="web_port" type="xs:string" />
-	<xs:element name="client_port" type="xs:integer" />
-	<xs:element name="cluster_port" type="xs:integer" />
-	<xs:element name="http_port" type="xs:integer" />
-
-	<!-- definition of complex elements -->
-	<xs:element name="working_dir">
-		<xs:complexType>
-			<xs:sequence>
-				<xs:element ref="cl:dir" />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:NFS" />
-			</xs:sequence>
-		</xs:complexType>
-	</xs:element>
-
-	<xs:element name="master_node">
-		<xs:complexType>
-			<xs:sequence>
-				<xs:element ref="cl:id" />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:client_ip" />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:cluster_ip" />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:java_home" minOccurs="0" />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:log_dir" minOccurs="0" />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:client_port"  />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:cluster_port"  />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:http_port"  />
-			</xs:sequence>
-		</xs:complexType>
-	</xs:element>
-
-	<xs:element name="property">
-		<xs:complexType>
-			<xs:sequence>
-				<xs:element ref="cl:key" />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:value" />
-			</xs:sequence>
-		</xs:complexType>
-	</xs:element>
-
-	<xs:element name="env">
-		<xs:complexType>
-			<xs:sequence>
-				<xs:element ref="cl:property" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded" />
-			</xs:sequence>
-		</xs:complexType>
-	</xs:element>
-
-	<xs:element name="node">
-		<xs:complexType>
-			<xs:sequence>
-				<xs:element ref="cl:id" />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:cluster_ip" />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:java_home" minOccurs="0" />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:log_dir" minOccurs="0" />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:txn_log_dir" minOccurs="0" />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:store" minOccurs="0" />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:iodevices" minOccurs="0" />
-			</xs:sequence>
-		</xs:complexType>
-	</xs:element>
-
-	<xs:element name="substitute_nodes">
-		<xs:complexType>
-			<xs:sequence>
-				<xs:element ref="cl:node" maxOccurs="unbounded" />
-			</xs:sequence>
-		</xs:complexType>
-	</xs:element>
-
-	<xs:element name="cluster">
-		<xs:complexType>
-			<xs:sequence>
-				<xs:element ref="cl:name" />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:username" />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:env" minOccurs="0" />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:java_home" minOccurs="0" />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:log_dir" minOccurs="0" />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:txn_log_dir" minOccurs="0" />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:store" minOccurs="0" />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:iodevices" minOccurs="0" />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:working_dir" />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:master_node" />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:node" maxOccurs="unbounded" />
-				<xs:element ref="cl:substitute_nodes"/>
-			</xs:sequence>
-		</xs:complexType>
-	</xs:element>
-
-</xs:schema>     
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/IPullBasedFeedClient.java b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/IPullBasedFeedClient.java
index df9ecca..e8aadff 100644
--- a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/IPullBasedFeedClient.java
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/IPullBasedFeedClient.java
@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@
     /**
      * @param configuration
      */
-    public boolean alter(Map<String, String> configuration);
+    public boolean alter(Map<String, Object> configuration);
+
+    public void stop();
 
 }
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedAdapter.java b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedAdapter.java
index abeb9ce..a789a20 100644
--- a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedAdapter.java
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedAdapter.java
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.dataset.adapter;
 
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
-import java.rmi.RemoteException;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.logging.Logger;
 
@@ -25,7 +24,6 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.feeds.IManagedFeedAdapter;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.feeds.ITypedDatasourceAdapter;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.ARecordType;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.exception.ACIDException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.comm.IFrameWriter;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.comm.io.ArrayTupleBuilder;
@@ -50,7 +48,7 @@
     private ByteBuffer frame;
     protected boolean continueIngestion = true;
     protected boolean alterRequested = false;
-    private Map<String, String> modifiedConfiguration = null;
+    private Map<String, Object> modifiedConfiguration = null;
     private long tupleCount = 0;
     private FeedPolicyEnforcer policyEnforcer;
 
@@ -60,7 +58,7 @@
         return tupleCount;
     }
 
-    public void alter(Map<String, String> modifedConfiguration) {
+    public void alter(Map<String, Object> modifedConfiguration) {
         this.modifiedConfiguration = modifedConfiguration;
     }
 
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedTwitterAdapter.java b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedTwitterAdapter.java
index be261ee..97b1d77 100644
--- a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedTwitterAdapter.java
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedTwitterAdapter.java
@@ -70,21 +70,15 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public void alter(Map<String, String> properties) {
+    public void alter(Map<String, Object> properties) {
         alterRequested = true;
-        this.alteredParams = properties;
     }
 
     public boolean isAlterRequested() {
         return alterRequested;
     }
 
-    public Map<String, String> getAlteredParams() {
-        return alteredParams;
-    }
-
     public void postAlteration() {
-        alteredParams = null;
         alterRequested = false;
     }
 
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedTwitterFeedClient.java b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedTwitterFeedClient.java
index 6d140a4..b84e357 100644
--- a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedTwitterFeedClient.java
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedTwitterFeedClient.java
@@ -115,9 +115,15 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public boolean alter(Map<String, String> configuration) {
+    public boolean alter(Map<String, Object> configuration) {
         // TODO Auto-generated method stub
         return false;
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public void stop() {
+        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
+        
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/RSSFeedAdapter.java b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/RSSFeedAdapter.java
index f304602..c3c5ae0 100644
--- a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/RSSFeedAdapter.java
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/RSSFeedAdapter.java
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
     private List<String> feedURLs = new ArrayList<String>();
     private boolean isStopRequested = false;
     private boolean isAlterRequested = false;
-    private Map<String, String> alteredParams = new HashMap<String, String>();
+    private Map<String, Object> alteredParams = new HashMap<String, Object>();
     private String id_prefix = "";
     private ARecordType recordType;
 
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public void alter(Map<String, String> properties) {
+    public void alter(Map<String, Object> properties) {
         isAlterRequested = true;
         this.alteredParams = properties;
         reconfigure(properties);
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@
         }
     }
 
-    protected void reconfigure(Map<String, String> arguments) {
+    protected void reconfigure(Map<String, Object> arguments) {
         String rssURLProperty = (String) configuration.get(KEY_RSS_URL);
         if (rssURLProperty != null) {
             initializeFeedURLs(rssURLProperty);
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@
         return isAlterRequested;
     }
 
-    public Map<String, String> getAlteredParams() {
+    public Map<String, Object> getAlteredParams() {
         return alteredParams;
     }
 
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/RSSFeedClient.java b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/RSSFeedClient.java
index 3e3a2ce..531eb3d 100644
--- a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/RSSFeedClient.java
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/RSSFeedClient.java
@@ -140,11 +140,17 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public boolean alter(Map<String, String> configuration) {
+    public boolean alter(Map<String, Object> configuration) {
         // TODO Auto-generated method stub
         return false;
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public void stop() {
+        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
+
+    }
+
 }
 
 class FetcherEventListenerImpl implements FetcherListener {
diff --git a/asterix-installer/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/installer/command/AlterCommand.java b/asterix-installer/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/installer/command/AlterCommand.java
index 44a6428..4be8cd5 100644
--- a/asterix-installer/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/installer/command/AlterCommand.java
+++ b/asterix-installer/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/installer/command/AlterCommand.java
@@ -29,44 +29,50 @@
 
 public class AlterCommand extends AbstractCommand {
 
-    @Override
-    protected void execCommand() throws Exception {
-        InstallerDriver.initConfig(true);
-        String instanceName = ((AlterConfig) config).name;
-        AsterixEventServiceUtil.validateAsterixInstanceExists(instanceName, State.INACTIVE);
-        ILookupService lookupService = ServiceProvider.INSTANCE.getLookupService();
-        AsterixInstance instance = ServiceProvider.INSTANCE.getLookupService().getAsterixInstance(instanceName);
-        AsterixEventServiceUtil.createClusterProperties(instance.getCluster(), instance.getAsterixConfiguration());
-        AsterixConfiguration asterixConfiguration = InstallerUtil
-                .getAsterixConfiguration(((AlterConfig) config).confPath);
-        instance.setAsterixConfiguration(asterixConfiguration);
-        instance.setModifiedTimestamp(new Date());
-        lookupService.updateAsterixInstance(instance);
-        LOGGER.info("Altered configuration settings for Asterix instance: " + instanceName);
+	@Override
+	protected void execCommand() throws Exception {
+		InstallerDriver.initConfig(true);
+		String instanceName = ((AlterConfig) config).name;
+		AsterixEventServiceUtil.validateAsterixInstanceExists(instanceName,
+				State.INACTIVE);
+		ILookupService lookupService = ServiceProvider.INSTANCE
+				.getLookupService();
+		AsterixInstance instance = ServiceProvider.INSTANCE.getLookupService()
+				.getAsterixInstance(instanceName);
+		AsterixEventServiceUtil.createClusterProperties(instance.getCluster(),
+				instance.getAsterixConfiguration());
+		AsterixConfiguration asterixConfiguration = InstallerUtil
+				.getAsterixConfiguration(((AlterConfig) config).confPath);
+		instance.setAsterixConfiguration(asterixConfiguration);
+		instance.setModifiedTimestamp(new Date());
+		lookupService.updateAsterixInstance(instance);
+		LOGGER.info("Altered configuration settings for Asterix instance: "
+				+ instanceName);
 
-    }
+	}
 
-    @Override
-    protected CommandConfig getCommandConfig() {
-        return new AlterConfig();
-    }
+	@Override
+	protected CommandConfig getCommandConfig() {
+		return new AlterConfig();
+	}
 
-    @Override
-    protected String getUsageDescription() {
-        return "\nAlter the instance's configuration settings."
-                + "\nPrior to running this command, the instance is required to be INACTIVE state."
-                + "\nChanged configuration settings will be reflected when the instance is started."
-                + "\n\nAvailable arguments/options" + "\n-n name of the ASTERIX instance.";
-    }
+	@Override
+	protected String getUsageDescription() {
+		return "\nAlter the instance's configuration settings."
+				+ "\nPrior to running this command, the instance is required to be INACTIVE state."
+				+ "\nChanged configuration settings will be reflected when the instance is started."
+				+ "\n\nAvailable arguments/options"
+				+ "\n-n name of the ASTERIX instance.";
+	}
 
 }
 
 class AlterConfig extends CommandConfig {
 
-    @Option(name = "-n", required = true, usage = "Name of Asterix Instance")
-    public String name;
+	@Option(name = "-n", required = true, usage = "Name of Asterix Instance")
+	public String name;
 
-    @Option(name = "-a", required = true, usage = "Path to asterix instance configuration")
-    public String confPath;
+	@Option(name = "-a", required = true, usage = "Path to asterix instance configuration")
+	public String confPath;
 
 }
diff --git a/asterix-installer/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/installer/command/BackupCommand.java b/asterix-installer/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/installer/command/BackupCommand.java
index fe3b4c6..3f30619 100644
--- a/asterix-installer/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/installer/command/BackupCommand.java
+++ b/asterix-installer/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/installer/command/BackupCommand.java
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.service.ServiceProvider;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.util.PatternCreator;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.installer.driver.InstallerDriver;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.installer.driver.InstallerUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.installer.schema.conf.Backup;
 
 public class BackupCommand extends AbstractCommand {
diff --git a/asterix-installer/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/installer/command/CreateCommand.java b/asterix-installer/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/installer/command/CreateCommand.java
index e9ed5d1..7784d79 100644
--- a/asterix-installer/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/installer/command/CreateCommand.java
+++ b/asterix-installer/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/installer/command/CreateCommand.java
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@
 
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.configuration.AsterixConfiguration;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.error.VerificationUtil;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.management.EventUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.management.AsterixEventServiceClient;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.management.EventUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.model.AsterixInstance;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.model.AsterixRuntimeState;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.schema.cluster.Cluster;
diff --git a/asterix-installer/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/installer/command/LogCommand.java b/asterix-installer/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/installer/command/LogCommand.java
index 11b4aa7..bf30a48 100644
--- a/asterix-installer/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/installer/command/LogCommand.java
+++ b/asterix-installer/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/installer/command/LogCommand.java
@@ -21,14 +21,15 @@
 import org.apache.commons.io.FileUtils;
 import org.kohsuke.args4j.Option;
 
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.management.EventrixClient;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.management.AsterixEventServiceClient;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.model.AsterixInstance;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.model.AsterixInstance.State;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.schema.pattern.Patterns;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.service.AsterixEventService;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.service.AsterixEventServiceUtil;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.util.PatternCreator;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.installer.driver.InstallerDriver;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.installer.driver.InstallerUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.installer.error.InstallerException;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.installer.events.PatternCreator;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.installer.model.AsterixInstance;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.installer.model.AsterixInstance.State;
 
 public class LogCommand extends AbstractCommand {
 
@@ -36,12 +37,15 @@
     protected void execCommand() throws Exception {
         InstallerDriver.initConfig(true);
         String asterixInstanceName = ((LogConfig) config).name;
-        AsterixInstance instance = InstallerUtil.validateAsterixInstanceExists(asterixInstanceName, State.INACTIVE,
-                State.UNUSABLE, State.ACTIVE);
-        PatternCreator pc = new PatternCreator();
-        EventrixClient client = InstallerUtil.getEventrixClient(instance.getCluster());
-        String outputDir = ((LogConfig) config).outputDir == null ? InstallerDriver.getManagixHome() + File.separator + "logdump"
-                : ((LogConfig) config).outputDir;
+        AsterixInstance instance = AsterixEventServiceUtil.validateAsterixInstanceExists(asterixInstanceName,
+                State.INACTIVE, State.UNUSABLE, State.ACTIVE);
+        PatternCreator pc = PatternCreator.INSTANCE;
+
+        AsterixEventServiceClient eventrixClient = AsterixEventService.getAsterixEventServiceClient(
+                instance.getCluster(), true, false);
+
+        String outputDir = ((LogConfig) config).outputDir == null ? InstallerDriver.getManagixHome() + File.separator
+                + "logdump" : ((LogConfig) config).outputDir;
         File f = new File(outputDir);
         String outputDirPath = f.getAbsolutePath();
         if (!f.exists()) {
@@ -50,12 +54,13 @@
                 throw new InstallerException("Unable to create output directory:" + outputDirPath);
             }
         }
-        Patterns transferLogPattern = pc.getGenerateLogPattern(asterixInstanceName, instance.getCluster(), outputDirPath);
-        client.submit(transferLogPattern);
+        Patterns transferLogPattern = pc.getGenerateLogPattern(asterixInstanceName, instance.getCluster(),
+                outputDirPath);
+        eventrixClient.submit(transferLogPattern);
         File outputDirFile = new File(outputDirPath);
         final String destFileName = "log_" + new Date().toString().replace(' ', '_') + ".zip";
         File destFile = new File(outputDirFile, destFileName);
-        InstallerUtil.zipDir(outputDirFile, destFile);
+        AsterixEventServiceUtil.zipDir(outputDirFile, destFile);
 
         String[] filesToDelete = outputDirFile.list(new FilenameFilter() {
             @Override
@@ -65,7 +70,7 @@
 
         });
         for (String fileS : filesToDelete) {
-             f = new File(outputDirFile, fileS);
+            f = new File(outputDirFile, fileS);
             if (f.isDirectory()) {
                 FileUtils.deleteDirectory(f);
             } else {
diff --git a/asterix-installer/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/installer/command/RestoreCommand.java b/asterix-installer/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/installer/command/RestoreCommand.java
index 573af24..5b76099 100644
--- a/asterix-installer/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/installer/command/RestoreCommand.java
+++ b/asterix-installer/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/installer/command/RestoreCommand.java
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.service.AsterixEventServiceUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.util.PatternCreator;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.installer.driver.InstallerDriver;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.installer.driver.InstallerUtil;
 
 public class RestoreCommand extends AbstractCommand {
 
diff --git a/asterix-installer/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/installer/driver/InstallerUtil.java b/asterix-installer/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/installer/driver/InstallerUtil.java
index 95a8a29..2569363 100644
--- a/asterix-installer/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/installer/driver/InstallerUtil.java
+++ b/asterix-installer/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/installer/driver/InstallerUtil.java
@@ -23,21 +23,8 @@
 import javax.xml.bind.Unmarshaller;
 
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.configuration.AsterixConfiguration;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.configuration.Coredump;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.configuration.Store;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.configuration.TransactionLogDir;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.driver.EventDriver;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.management.EventUtil;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.management.EventrixClient;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.schema.cluster.Cluster;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.schema.cluster.Env;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.schema.cluster.Node;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.schema.cluster.Property;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.installer.error.InstallerException;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.installer.error.OutputHandler;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.installer.model.AsterixInstance;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.installer.model.AsterixInstance.State;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.installer.service.ServiceProvider;
 
 public class InstallerUtil {
 
@@ -53,133 +40,6 @@
     public static final int HTTP_PORT_DEFAULT = 8888;
     public static final int WEB_INTERFACE_PORT_DEFAULT = 19001;
 
-    public static AsterixInstance createAsterixInstance(String asterixInstanceName, Cluster cluster,
-            AsterixConfiguration asterixConfiguration) throws FileNotFoundException, IOException {
-        Node metadataNode = getMetadataNode(cluster);
-        String asterixZipName = InstallerDriver.getAsterixZip().substring(
-                InstallerDriver.getAsterixZip().lastIndexOf(File.separator) + 1);
-        String asterixVersion = asterixZipName.substring("asterix-server-".length(),
-                asterixZipName.indexOf("-binary-assembly"));
-        AsterixInstance instance = new AsterixInstance(asterixInstanceName, cluster, asterixConfiguration,
-                metadataNode.getId(), asterixVersion);
-        return instance;
-    }
-
-    public static void createAsterixZip(AsterixInstance asterixInstance) throws IOException, InterruptedException,
-            JAXBException, InstallerException {
-
-        String modifiedZipPath = injectAsterixPropertyFile(InstallerDriver.getAsterixZip(), asterixInstance);
-        injectAsterixLogPropertyFile(modifiedZipPath, asterixInstance);
-    }
-
-    public static void createClusterProperties(Cluster cluster, AsterixConfiguration asterixConfiguration) {
-        List<Property> clusterProperties = null;
-        if (cluster.getEnv() != null && cluster.getEnv().getProperty() != null) {
-            clusterProperties = cluster.getEnv().getProperty();
-            clusterProperties.clear();
-        } else {
-            clusterProperties = new ArrayList<Property>();
-        }
-        for (edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.configuration.Property property : asterixConfiguration.getProperty()) {
-            if (property.getName().equalsIgnoreCase(EventUtil.CC_JAVA_OPTS)) {
-                clusterProperties.add(new Property(EventUtil.CC_JAVA_OPTS, property.getValue()));
-            } else if (property.getName().equalsIgnoreCase(EventUtil.NC_JAVA_OPTS)) {
-                clusterProperties.add(new Property(EventUtil.NC_JAVA_OPTS, property.getValue()));
-            }
-        }
-        clusterProperties.add(new Property("ASTERIX_HOME", cluster.getWorkingDir().getDir() + File.separator
-                + "asterix"));
-        clusterProperties.add(new Property("LOG_DIR", cluster.getLogDir()));
-        clusterProperties.add(new Property("JAVA_HOME", cluster.getJavaHome()));
-        clusterProperties.add(new Property("WORKING_DIR", cluster.getWorkingDir().getDir()));
-        clusterProperties.add(new Property("CLIENT_NET_IP", cluster.getMasterNode().getClientIp()));
-        clusterProperties.add(new Property("CLUSTER_NET_IP", cluster.getMasterNode().getClusterIp()));
-
-        int clusterNetPort = cluster.getMasterNode().getClusterPort() != null ? cluster.getMasterNode()
-                .getClusterPort().intValue() : CLUSTER_NET_PORT_DEFAULT;
-        int clientNetPort = cluster.getMasterNode().getClientPort() != null ? cluster.getMasterNode().getClientPort()
-                .intValue() : CLIENT_NET_PORT_DEFAULT;
-        int httpPort = cluster.getMasterNode().getHttpPort() != null ? cluster.getMasterNode().getHttpPort().intValue()
-                : HTTP_PORT_DEFAULT;
-
-        clusterProperties.add(new Property("CLIENT_NET_PORT", "" + clientNetPort));
-        clusterProperties.add(new Property("CLUSTER_NET_PORT", "" + clusterNetPort));
-        clusterProperties.add(new Property("HTTP_PORT", "" + httpPort));
-
-        cluster.setEnv(new Env(clusterProperties));
-    }
-
-    private static String injectAsterixPropertyFile(String origZipFile, AsterixInstance asterixInstance)
-            throws IOException, JAXBException {
-        writeAsterixConfigurationFile(asterixInstance);
-        String asterixInstanceDir = InstallerDriver.getAsterixDir() + File.separator + asterixInstance.getName();
-        unzip(origZipFile, asterixInstanceDir);
-        File sourceJar = new File(asterixInstanceDir + File.separator + "lib" + File.separator + "asterix-app-"
-                + asterixInstance.getAsterixVersion() + ".jar");
-        File replacementFile = new File(asterixInstanceDir + File.separator + ASTERIX_CONFIGURATION_FILE);
-        replaceInJar(sourceJar, ASTERIX_CONFIGURATION_FILE, replacementFile);
-        new File(asterixInstanceDir + File.separator + ASTERIX_CONFIGURATION_FILE).delete();
-        String asterixZipName = InstallerDriver.getAsterixZip().substring(
-                InstallerDriver.getAsterixZip().lastIndexOf(File.separator) + 1);
-        zipDir(new File(asterixInstanceDir), new File(asterixInstanceDir + File.separator + asterixZipName));
-        return asterixInstanceDir + File.separator + asterixZipName;
-    }
-
-    private static String injectAsterixLogPropertyFile(String origZipFile, AsterixInstance asterixInstance)
-            throws IOException, InstallerException {
-        String asterixInstanceDir = InstallerDriver.getAsterixDir() + File.separator + asterixInstance.getName();
-        unzip(origZipFile, asterixInstanceDir);
-        File sourceJar1 = new File(asterixInstanceDir + File.separator + "lib" + File.separator + "asterix-app-"
-                + asterixInstance.getAsterixVersion() + ".jar");
-        Properties txnLogProperties = new Properties();
-        URLClassLoader urlClassLoader = new URLClassLoader(new URL[] { sourceJar1.toURI().toURL() });
-        InputStream in = urlClassLoader.getResourceAsStream(TXN_LOG_CONFIGURATION_FILE);
-        if (in != null) {
-            txnLogProperties.load(in);
-        }
-
-        writeAsterixLogConfigurationFile(asterixInstance, txnLogProperties);
-
-        File sourceJar2 = new File(asterixInstanceDir + File.separator + "lib" + File.separator + "asterix-app-"
-                + asterixInstance.getAsterixVersion() + ".jar");
-        File replacementFile = new File(asterixInstanceDir + File.separator + "log.properties");
-        replaceInJar(sourceJar2, TXN_LOG_CONFIGURATION_FILE, replacementFile);
-
-        new File(asterixInstanceDir + File.separator + "log.properties").delete();
-        String asterixZipName = InstallerDriver.getAsterixZip().substring(
-                InstallerDriver.getAsterixZip().lastIndexOf(File.separator) + 1);
-        zipDir(new File(asterixInstanceDir), new File(asterixInstanceDir + File.separator + asterixZipName));
-        return asterixInstanceDir + File.separator + asterixZipName;
-    }
-
-    public static void addLibraryToAsterixZip(AsterixInstance asterixInstance, String dataverseName,
-            String libraryName, String libraryPath) throws IOException {
-        File instanceDir = new File(InstallerDriver.getAsterixDir() + File.separator + asterixInstance.getName());
-        if (!instanceDir.exists()) {
-            instanceDir.mkdirs();
-        }
-        String asterixZipName = InstallerDriver.getAsterixZip().substring(
-                InstallerDriver.getAsterixZip().lastIndexOf(File.separator) + 1);
-
-        String sourceZip = instanceDir.getAbsolutePath() + File.separator + asterixZipName;
-        unzip(sourceZip, instanceDir.getAbsolutePath());
-        File libraryPathInZip = new File(instanceDir.getAbsolutePath() + File.separator + "external" + File.separator
-                + "library" + dataverseName + File.separator + "to-add" + File.separator + libraryName);
-        libraryPathInZip.mkdirs();
-        Runtime.getRuntime().exec("cp" + " " + libraryPath + " " + libraryPathInZip.getAbsolutePath());
-        Runtime.getRuntime().exec("rm " + sourceZip);
-        String destZip = InstallerDriver.getAsterixDir() + File.separator + asterixInstance.getName() + File.separator
-                + asterixZipName;
-        zipDir(instanceDir, new File(destZip));
-        Runtime.getRuntime().exec("mv" + " " + destZip + " " + sourceZip);
-    }
-
-    private static Node getMetadataNode(Cluster cluster) {
-        Random random = new Random();
-        int nNodes = cluster.getNode().size();
-        return cluster.getNode().get(random.nextInt(nNodes));
-    }
-
     public static String getNodeDirectories(String asterixInstanceName, Node node, Cluster cluster) {
         String storeDataSubDir = asterixInstanceName + File.separator + "data" + File.separator;
         String[] storeDirs = null;
@@ -202,78 +62,6 @@
         return nodeDataStore.toString();
     }
 
-    private static void writeAsterixConfigurationFile(AsterixInstance asterixInstance) throws IOException,
-            JAXBException {
-        String asterixInstanceName = asterixInstance.getName();
-        Cluster cluster = asterixInstance.getCluster();
-        String metadataNodeId = asterixInstance.getMetadataNodeId();
-
-        AsterixConfiguration configuration = asterixInstance.getAsterixConfiguration();
-        configuration.setMetadataNode(asterixInstanceName + "_" + metadataNodeId);
-
-        String storeDir = null;
-        List<Store> stores = new ArrayList<Store>();
-        for (Node node : cluster.getNode()) {
-            storeDir = node.getStore() == null ? cluster.getStore() : node.getStore();
-            stores.add(new Store(asterixInstanceName + "_" + node.getId(), storeDir));
-        }
-        configuration.setStore(stores);
-
-        List<Coredump> coredump = new ArrayList<Coredump>();
-        String coredumpDir = null;
-        List<TransactionLogDir> txnLogDirs = new ArrayList<TransactionLogDir>();
-        String txnLogDir = null;
-        for (Node node : cluster.getNode()) {
-            coredumpDir = node.getLogDir() == null ? cluster.getLogDir() : node.getLogDir();
-            coredump.add(new Coredump(asterixInstanceName + "_" + node.getId(), coredumpDir + File.separator
-                    + asterixInstanceName + "_" + node.getId()));
-
-            txnLogDir = node.getTxnLogDir() == null ? cluster.getTxnLogDir() : node.getTxnLogDir();
-            txnLogDirs.add(new TransactionLogDir(asterixInstanceName + "_" + node.getId(), txnLogDir));
-        }
-        configuration.setCoredump(coredump);
-        configuration.setTransactionLogDir(txnLogDirs);
-
-        File asterixConfDir = new File(InstallerDriver.getAsterixDir() + File.separator + asterixInstanceName);
-        asterixConfDir.mkdirs();
-
-        JAXBContext ctx = JAXBContext.newInstance(AsterixConfiguration.class);
-        Marshaller marshaller = ctx.createMarshaller();
-        marshaller.setProperty(Marshaller.JAXB_FORMATTED_OUTPUT, true);
-        marshaller.marshal(configuration, new FileOutputStream(asterixConfDir + File.separator
-                + ASTERIX_CONFIGURATION_FILE));
-    }
-
-    private static void writeAsterixLogConfigurationFile(AsterixInstance asterixInstance, Properties logProperties)
-            throws IOException, InstallerException {
-        String asterixInstanceName = asterixInstance.getName();
-        Cluster cluster = asterixInstance.getCluster();
-        StringBuffer conf = new StringBuffer();
-        for (Map.Entry<Object, Object> p : logProperties.entrySet()) {
-            conf.append(p.getKey() + "=" + p.getValue() + "\n");
-        }
-
-        for (Node node : cluster.getNode()) {
-            String txnLogDir = node.getTxnLogDir() == null ? cluster.getTxnLogDir() : node.getTxnLogDir();
-            if (txnLogDir == null) {
-                throw new InstallerException("Transaction log directory (txn_log_dir) not configured for node: "
-                        + node.getId());
-            }
-            conf.append(asterixInstanceName + "_" + node.getId() + "." + TXN_LOG_DIR_KEY_SUFFIX + "=" + txnLogDir
-                    + "\n");
-        }
-        List<edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.configuration.Property> properties = asterixInstance.getAsterixConfiguration()
-                .getProperty();
-        for (edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.configuration.Property p : properties) {
-            if (p.getName().trim().toLowerCase().contains("log")) {
-                conf.append(p.getValue() + "=" + p.getValue());
-            }
-        }
-        dumpToFile(InstallerDriver.getAsterixDir() + File.separator + asterixInstanceName + File.separator
-                + "log.properties", conf.toString());
-
-    }
-
     public static AsterixConfiguration getAsterixConfiguration(String asterixConf) throws FileNotFoundException,
             IOException, JAXBException {
         if (asterixConf == null) {
diff --git a/asterix-installer/src/main/resources/schema/installer-conf.xsd b/asterix-installer/src/main/resources/schema/installer-conf.xsd
deleted file mode 100644
index c21fc5b..0000000
--- a/asterix-installer/src/main/resources/schema/installer-conf.xsd
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,66 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>
-<xs:schema xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:mg="installer" targetNamespace="installer" elementFormDefault="qualified">
-
-<!-- definition of simple types --> 
-<xs:element name="asterix_home" type="xs:string"/>
-<xs:element name="hyracks_home" type="xs:string"/>
-<xs:element name="hdfsurl" type="xs:string"/>
-<xs:element name="server" type="xs:string"/>
-<xs:element name="clientPort" type="xs:integer"/>
-<xs:element name="homeDir" type="xs:string"/>
-<xs:element name="version" type="xs:string"/>
-<xs:element name="url" type="xs:string"/>
-<xs:element name="backupDir" type="xs:string"/>
-<xs:element name="java_home" type="xs:string"/>
-
-<!-- definition of complex elements -->
-<xs:element name="hdfs">
-  <xs:complexType>
-    <xs:sequence>
-      <xs:element ref="mg:version"/>
-      <xs:element ref="mg:url"/>
-    </xs:sequence>
-  </xs:complexType>
-</xs:element>
-
-<xs:element name="backup">
-  <xs:complexType>
-    <xs:sequence>
-      <xs:element ref="mg:hdfs" minOccurs="0"/> 
-      <xs:element ref="mg:backupDir"/>
-    </xs:sequence>
-  </xs:complexType>
-</xs:element>
-
-<xs:element name="zookeeper">
-  <xs:complexType>
-    <xs:sequence>
-      <xs:element ref="mg:homeDir"/>
-      <xs:element ref="mg:clientPort"/>
-      <xs:element ref="mg:servers"/>
-    </xs:sequence>
-  </xs:complexType>
-</xs:element>
-
-<xs:element name="servers">
-  <xs:complexType>
-    <xs:sequence>
-      <xs:element ref="mg:java_home"/>
-      <xs:element ref="mg:server" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
-    </xs:sequence>
-  </xs:complexType>
-</xs:element>
-
-<xs:element name="configuration">
-  <xs:complexType>
-    <xs:sequence>
-      <xs:element ref="mg:backup" minOccurs="0"/>
-      <xs:element ref="mg:asterix_home" minOccurs="0"/>
-      <xs:element ref="mg:hyracks_home" minOccurs="0"/>
-      <xs:element ref="mg:hdfsurl" minOccurs="0"/>
-      <xs:element ref="mg:zookeeper"/>
-    </xs:sequence>
-  </xs:complexType>
-</xs:element>
-
-</xs:schema>     
diff --git a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/declared/AqlMetadataProvider.java b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/declared/AqlMetadataProvider.java
index 3a2ec1e..b2ccbc0 100644
--- a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/declared/AqlMetadataProvider.java
+++ b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/declared/AqlMetadataProvider.java
@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.std.file.IFileSplitProvider;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.std.file.ITupleParserFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.std.result.ResultWriterOperatorDescriptor;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.hdfs.scheduler.Scheduler;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.btree.dataflow.BTreeSearchOperatorDescriptor;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.btree.frames.BTreeNSMInteriorFrameFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory;
@@ -168,6 +169,8 @@
 
     private static final Map<String, String> adapterFactoryMapping = initializeAdapterFactoryMapping();
     private static Scheduler hdfsScheduler;
+    public static final String CLUSTER_LOCATIONS = "cluster-locations";
+    public static transient String SCHEDULER = "hdfs-scheduler";
 
     public String getPropertyValue(String propertyName) {
         return config.get(propertyName);
@@ -481,11 +484,14 @@
 
         FeedPolicy feedPolicy = (FeedPolicy) ((AqlDataSource) dataSource).getProperties().get(
                 BuiltinFeedPolicies.CONFIG_FEED_POLICY_KEY);
+
+        // public FeedIntakeOperatorDescriptor(JobSpecification spec, FeedId feedId, String adapter,
+        //        Map<String, Object> arguments, ARecordType atype, RecordDescriptor rDesc, Map<String, String> feedPolicy) {
+
         FeedIntakeOperatorDescriptor feedIngestor = new FeedIntakeOperatorDescriptor(jobSpec, new FeedId(
                 dataset.getDataverseName(), dataset.getDatasetName()), adapterFactoryClassname,
-                datasetDetails.getProperties(), (ARecordType) adapterOutputType, feedDesc, feedPolicy.getProperties());
-                this.wrapPropertiesEmpty(datasetDetails.getProperties(), (ARecordType) adapterOutputType, feedDesc,
-                adapterFactory);
+                this.wrapPropertiesEmpty(datasetDetails.getProperties()), (ARecordType) adapterOutputType, feedDesc,
+                feedPolicy.getProperties());
 
         AlgebricksPartitionConstraint constraint = null;
         try {
@@ -1531,8 +1537,8 @@
     private Map<String, Object> wrapProperties(Map<String, String> properties) {
         Map<String, Object> wrappedProperties = new HashMap<String, Object>();
         wrappedProperties.putAll(properties);
-        wrappedProperties.put(HDFSAdapterFactory.SCHEDULER, hdfsScheduler);
-        wrappedProperties.put(HDFSAdapterFactory.CLUSTER_LOCATIONS, getClusterLocations());
+        wrappedProperties.put(SCHEDULER, hdfsScheduler);
+        wrappedProperties.put(CLUSTER_LOCATIONS, getClusterLocations());
         return wrappedProperties;
     }
 
diff --git a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/feeds/AlterFeedMessage.java b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/feeds/AlterFeedMessage.java
index fedfa69..96f1dca 100644
--- a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/feeds/AlterFeedMessage.java
+++ b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/feeds/AlterFeedMessage.java
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@
 
 import java.util.Map;
 
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.feeds.IFeedMessage.MessageType;
-
 /**
  * A feed control message containing the altered values for
  * adapter configuration parameters. This message is dispatched
@@ -27,9 +25,9 @@
 
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
 
-    private final Map<String, String> alteredConfParams;
+    private final Map<String, Object> alteredConfParams;
 
-    public AlterFeedMessage(Map<String, String> alteredConfParams) {
+    public AlterFeedMessage(Map<String, Object> alteredConfParams) {
         super(MessageType.ALTER);
         this.alteredConfParams = alteredConfParams;
     }
@@ -39,7 +37,7 @@
         return MessageType.ALTER;
     }
 
-    public Map<String, String> getAlteredConfParams() {
+    public Map<String, Object> getAlteredConfParams() {
         return alteredConfParams;
     }
 }
diff --git a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/feeds/FeedIntakeOperatorNodePushable.java b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/feeds/FeedIntakeOperatorNodePushable.java
index 3bafbaf..f6bde26 100644
--- a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/feeds/FeedIntakeOperatorNodePushable.java
+++ b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/feeds/FeedIntakeOperatorNodePushable.java
@@ -19,13 +19,6 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.LinkedBlockingQueue;
 
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.api.AsterixThreadExecutor;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.dataset.adapter.IDatasourceAdapter;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.feed.lifecycle.AlterFeedMessage;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.feed.lifecycle.FeedId;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.feed.lifecycle.FeedManager;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.feed.lifecycle.IFeedManager;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.feed.lifecycle.IFeedMessage;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.feed.managed.adapter.IManagedFeedAdapter;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.std.base.AbstractUnaryInputUnaryOutputOperatorNodePushable;
 
diff --git a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/feeds/IManagedFeedAdapter.java b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/feeds/IManagedFeedAdapter.java
index 95f4c23..23d582d 100644
--- a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/feeds/IManagedFeedAdapter.java
+++ b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/feeds/IManagedFeedAdapter.java
@@ -38,6 +38,6 @@
      *            A HashMap containing the set of configuration parameters
      *            that need to be altered.
      */
-    public void alter(Map<String, String> properties);
+    public void alter(Map<String, Object> properties);
 
 }
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/util/AsterixClusterProperties.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/util/AsterixClusterProperties.java
index f9258c5..7daf04c 100644
--- a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/util/AsterixClusterProperties.java
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/util/AsterixClusterProperties.java
@@ -15,11 +15,13 @@
 package edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.util;
 
 import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.logging.Level;
 import java.util.logging.Logger;
 
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.schema.cluster.Cluster;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.event.schema.cluster.Node;
 
 /**
  * A holder class for properties related to the Asterix cluster.
@@ -27,69 +29,78 @@
 
 public class AsterixClusterProperties {
 
-    private static final Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(AsterixClusterProperties.class.getName());
+	private static final Logger LOGGER = Logger
+			.getLogger(AsterixClusterProperties.class.getName());
 
-    private static final String IO_DEVICES = "iodevices";
+	private static final String IO_DEVICES = "iodevices";
 
-    public static final AsterixClusterProperties INSTANCE = new AsterixClusterProperties();
+	public static final AsterixClusterProperties INSTANCE = new AsterixClusterProperties();
 
-    private Map<String, Map<String, String>> ncConfiguration = new HashMap<String, Map<String, String>>();
+	private Map<String, Map<String, String>> ncConfiguration = new HashMap<String, Map<String, String>>();
 
-    private final Cluster cluster;
-    
-    private AsterixClusterProperties() {
-    	cluster = null;
-    }
+	private final Cluster cluster;
 
-    public enum State {
-        ACTIVE,
-        UNUSABLE
-    }
+	private AsterixClusterProperties() {
+		cluster = null;
+	}
 
-    private State state = State.UNUSABLE;
+	public enum State {
+		ACTIVE, UNUSABLE
+	}
 
-    public void removeNCConfiguration(String nodeId) {
-        state = State.UNUSABLE;
-        ncConfiguration.remove(nodeId);
-    }
+	private State state = State.UNUSABLE;
 
-    public void addNCConfiguration(String nodeId, Map<String, String> configuration) {
-        ncConfiguration.put(nodeId, configuration);
-        if (ncConfiguration.keySet().size() == AsterixAppContextInfo.getInstance().getMetadataProperties()
-                .getNodeNames().size()) {
-            state = State.ACTIVE;
-        }
-        if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
-            LOGGER.info(" Registering configuration parameters for node id" + nodeId);
-        }
-    }
+	public void removeNCConfiguration(String nodeId) {
+		state = State.UNUSABLE;
+		ncConfiguration.remove(nodeId);
+	}
 
-    /**
-     * Returns the number of IO devices configured for a Node Controller
-     * 
-     * @param nodeId
-     *            unique identifier of the Node Controller
-     * @return number of IO devices. -1 if the node id is not valid. A node id is not valid
-     *         if it does not correspond to the set of registered Node Controllers.
-     */
-    public int getNumberOfIODevices(String nodeId) {
-        Map<String, String> ncConfig = ncConfiguration.get(nodeId);
-        if (ncConfig == null) {
-            if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.WARNING)) {
-                LOGGER.warning("Configuration parameters for nodeId" + nodeId
-                        + " not found. The node has not joined yet or has left.");
-            }
-            return -1;
-        }
-        return ncConfig.get(IO_DEVICES).split(",").length;
-    }
+	public void addNCConfiguration(String nodeId,
+			Map<String, String> configuration) {
+		ncConfiguration.put(nodeId, configuration);
+		if (ncConfiguration.keySet().size() == AsterixAppContextInfo
+				.getInstance().getMetadataProperties().getNodeNames().size()) {
+			state = State.ACTIVE;
+		}
+		if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
+			LOGGER.info(" Registering configuration parameters for node id"
+					+ nodeId);
+		}
+	}
 
-    public State getState() {
-        return state;
-    }
+	/**
+	 * Returns the number of IO devices configured for a Node Controller
+	 * 
+	 * @param nodeId
+	 *            unique identifier of the Node Controller
+	 * @return number of IO devices. -1 if the node id is not valid. A node id
+	 *         is not valid if it does not correspond to the set of registered
+	 *         Node Controllers.
+	 */
+	public int getNumberOfIODevices(String nodeId) {
+		Map<String, String> ncConfig = ncConfiguration.get(nodeId);
+		if (ncConfig == null) {
+			if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.WARNING)) {
+				LOGGER.warning("Configuration parameters for nodeId"
+						+ nodeId
+						+ " not found. The node has not joined yet or has left.");
+			}
+			return -1;
+		}
+		return ncConfig.get(IO_DEVICES).split(",").length;
+	}
+
+	public State getState() {
+		return state;
+	}
 
 	public Cluster getCluster() {
 		return cluster;
 	}
 
+	public Node getAvailableSubstitutionNode() {
+		List<Node> subNodes = cluster.getSubstituteNodes().getNode();
+		return subNodes.isEmpty() ? null : subNodes.remove(0);
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/asterix-tools/pom.xml b/asterix-tools/pom.xml
index 0a538d9..861dd79 100644
--- a/asterix-tools/pom.xml
+++ b/asterix-tools/pom.xml
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.asterix</groupId>
 			<artifactId>asterix-external-data</artifactId>
-			<version>0.0.6-SNAPSHOT</version>
+			<version>0.8.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
 			<scope>compile</scope>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
diff --git a/asterix-tools/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/tools/external/data/RateControlledFileSystemBasedAdapter.java b/asterix-tools/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/tools/external/data/RateControlledFileSystemBasedAdapter.java
index f1bfb20..32b539c 100644
--- a/asterix-tools/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/tools/external/data/RateControlledFileSystemBasedAdapter.java
+++ b/asterix-tools/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/tools/external/data/RateControlledFileSystemBasedAdapter.java
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@
 
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.AsterixException;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.dataset.adapter.FileSystemBasedAdapter;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.feeds.IGenericDatasetAdapterFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.feeds.IManagedFeedAdapter;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.feeds.ITypedDatasourceAdapter;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.ARecordType;
@@ -136,8 +135,8 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public void alter(Map<String, String> properties) {
-        ((RateControlledTupleParser) parser).setInterTupleInterval(Long.parseLong(properties
+    public void alter(Map<String, Object> properties) {
+        ((RateControlledTupleParser) parser).setInterTupleInterval(Long.parseLong((String) properties
                 .get(RateControlledTupleParser.INTER_TUPLE_INTERVAL)));
     }
 
diff --git a/asterix-tools/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/tools/external/data/RateControlledFileSystemBasedAdapterFactory.java b/asterix-tools/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/tools/external/data/RateControlledFileSystemBasedAdapterFactory.java
index d0d563d..ff3108f 100644
--- a/asterix-tools/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/tools/external/data/RateControlledFileSystemBasedAdapterFactory.java
+++ b/asterix-tools/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/tools/external/data/RateControlledFileSystemBasedAdapterFactory.java
@@ -16,15 +16,10 @@
 
 import java.util.Map;
 
-<<<<<<< HEAD
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.AsterixException;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.dataset.adapter.FileSystemBasedAdapter;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.feeds.IDatasourceAdapter;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.feeds.IGenericDatasetAdapterFactory;
-=======
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.AsterixException;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.adapter.factory.IGenericDatasetAdapterFactory;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.dataset.adapter.FileSystemBasedAdapter;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.dataset.adapter.IDatasourceAdapter;
->>>>>>> master
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.ARecordType;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.IAType;
 
diff --git a/asterix-tools/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/tools/external/data/SyntheticTwitterFeedAdapter.java b/asterix-tools/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/tools/external/data/SyntheticTwitterFeedAdapter.java
index c8dcf20..33fa168 100644
--- a/asterix-tools/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/tools/external/data/SyntheticTwitterFeedAdapter.java
+++ b/asterix-tools/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/tools/external/data/SyntheticTwitterFeedAdapter.java
@@ -36,9 +36,9 @@
 public class SyntheticTwitterFeedAdapter extends PullBasedAdapter {
 
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
-    private Map<String, String> configuration;
+    private Map<String, Object> configuration;
 
-    public SyntheticTwitterFeedAdapter(Map<String, String> configuration) throws AsterixException {
+    public SyntheticTwitterFeedAdapter(Map<String, Object> configuration) throws AsterixException {
         this.configuration = configuration;
 
         String[] userFieldNames = new String[] { "screen-name", "lang", "friends_count", "statuses_count", "name",
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public void configure(Map<String, String> configuration) throws Exception {
+    public void configure(Map<String, Object> configuration) throws Exception {
         this.configuration = configuration;
 
     }
@@ -102,12 +102,12 @@
         private int partition;
         private int tweetCount = 0;
 
-        public SyntheticTwitterFeedClient(Map<String, String> configuration, ARecordType outputRecordType,
+        public SyntheticTwitterFeedClient(Map<String, Object> configuration, ARecordType outputRecordType,
                 int partition) throws AsterixException {
             this.outputRecordType = outputRecordType;
-            String value = configuration.get(KEY_DURATION);
+            String value = (String)configuration.get(KEY_DURATION);
             duration = value != null ? Integer.parseInt(value) : 60;
-            initializeTweetRate(configuration.get(KEY_TPS));
+            initializeTweetRate((String)configuration.get(KEY_TPS));
             InitializationInfo info = new InitializationInfo();
             info.timeDurationInSecs = duration;
             DataGenerator.initialize(info);
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@
         }
 
         @Override
-        public boolean alter(Map<String, String> configuration) {
+        public boolean alter(Map<String, Object> configuration) {
             // TODO Auto-generated method stub
             return false;
         }
@@ -221,5 +221,11 @@
             mutableRecord = new AMutableRecord(outputRecordType, mutableFields);
 
         }
+
+        @Override
+        public void stop() {
+            // TODO Auto-generated method stub
+
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/asterix-tools/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/tools/external/data/SyntheticTwitterFeedAdapterFactory.java b/asterix-tools/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/tools/external/data/SyntheticTwitterFeedAdapterFactory.java
index 897091c..7832f11 100644
--- a/asterix-tools/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/tools/external/data/SyntheticTwitterFeedAdapterFactory.java
+++ b/asterix-tools/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/tools/external/data/SyntheticTwitterFeedAdapterFactory.java
@@ -27,13 +27,18 @@
  */
 public class SyntheticTwitterFeedAdapterFactory implements ITypedDatasetAdapterFactory {
 
+    /**
+     * 
+     */
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
     @Override
     public String getName() {
         return "synthetic_twitter_feed";
     }
 
     @Override
-    public IDatasourceAdapter createAdapter(Map<String, String> configuration) throws Exception {
+    public IDatasourceAdapter createAdapter(Map<String, Object> configuration) throws Exception {
         return new SyntheticTwitterFeedAdapter(configuration);
     }
 
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/LockManager.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/LockManager.java
index a18b3d3..b09cd52 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/LockManager.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/LockManager.java
@@ -32,9 +32,9 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ITransactionContext;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ITransactionManager.TransactionState;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.JobId;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.LogUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.LogicalLogLocator;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.logging.LogType;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.logging.LogUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.transaction.TransactionManagementConstants.LockManagerConstants.LockMode;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.transaction.TransactionSubsystem;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.lifecycle.ILifeCycleComponent;
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/IndexLogger.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/IndexLogger.java
index 9c9439c..755e85b 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/IndexLogger.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/IndexLogger.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.IResourceManager.ResourceType;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ITransactionContext;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ITransactionSubsystem;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.LogUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.LogicalLogLocator;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ReusableLogContentObject;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.ITupleReference;
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 645b613..745abb3 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
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ILogCursor;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ILogFilter;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.LogManagerProperties;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.LogUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.LogicalLogLocator;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.PhysicalLogLocator;
 
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 d4eb8a4..e67f0164 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
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.io.OutputStream;
 import java.io.RandomAccessFile;
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
@@ -25,7 +24,6 @@
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
-import java.util.Properties;
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.concurrent.LinkedBlockingQueue;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
@@ -45,10 +43,10 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ILogger;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ITransactionContext;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.LogManagerProperties;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.LogUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.LogicalLogLocator;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.PhysicalLogLocator;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ReusableLogContentObject;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.transaction.TransactionManagementConstants;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.transaction.TransactionSubsystem;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.lifecycle.ILifeCycleComponent;
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/LogUtil.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/LogUtil.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 035a319..0000000
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/LogUtil.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,142 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright 2009-2013 by The Regents of the University of California
- * Licensed 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 from
- * 
- *     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 edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.logging;
-
-import java.io.File;
-import java.io.FilenameFilter;
-import java.io.IOException;
-import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.Collections;
-import java.util.Comparator;
-import java.util.List;
-import java.util.logging.Level;
-import java.util.logging.Logger;
-
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.ACIDException;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.FileUtil;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ILogManager;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.LogManagerProperties;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.LogicalLogLocator;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.PhysicalLogLocator;
-
-
-/**
- * A utility class providing helper methods for the {@link ILogManager}
- */
-public class LogUtil {
-
-    private static final Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(LogUtil.class.getName());
-
-    // read the log directory and initialize log anchor to point to the
-    // current log partition file and the offset where the log manager shall
-    // continue to insert log records.
-
-    public static PhysicalLogLocator initializeLogAnchor(ILogManager logManager) throws ACIDException {
-        int fileId = 0;
-        long offset = 0;
-        LogManagerProperties logManagerProperties = logManager.getLogManagerProperties();
-        File logDir = new File(logManagerProperties.getLogDir());
-        try {
-            if (logDir.exists()) {
-                List<String> logFiles = getLogFiles(logManagerProperties);
-                if (logFiles == null || logFiles.size() == 0) {
-                    FileUtil.createFileIfNotExists(getLogFilePath(logManagerProperties, 0));
-                    if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
-                        LOGGER.info("created a log file: " + getLogFilePath(logManagerProperties, 0));
-                    }
-                } else {
-                    File logFile = new File(LogUtil.getLogFilePath(logManagerProperties,
-                            Long.parseLong(logFiles.get(logFiles.size() - 1))));
-                    fileId = logFiles.size() - 1;
-                    offset = logFile.length();
-                }
-            } else {
-                FileUtil.createNewDirectory(logManagerProperties.getLogDir());
-                if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
-                    LOGGER.info("created the log directory: " + logManagerProperties.getLogDir());
-                }
-                FileUtil.createFileIfNotExists(getLogFilePath(logManagerProperties, 0));
-                if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
-                    LOGGER.info("created a log file: " + getLogFilePath(logManagerProperties, 0));
-                }
-            }
-        } catch (IOException ioe) {
-            throw new ACIDException("Unable to initialize log anchor", ioe);
-        }
-        if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
-            LOGGER.info(" file id :" + fileId + " offset " + offset);
-        }
-        return new PhysicalLogLocator(fileId, offset, logManager);
-    }
-
-    public static List<String> getLogFiles(final LogManagerProperties logManagerProperties) {
-        File logDir = new File(logManagerProperties.getLogDir());
-        String[] logFiles = new String[0];
-        List<String> logFileCollection = new ArrayList<String>();
-        if (logDir.exists()) {
-            logFiles = logDir.list(new FilenameFilter() {
-                public boolean accept(File dir, String name) {
-                    if (name.startsWith(logManagerProperties.getLogFilePrefix())) {
-                        return true;
-                    }
-                    return false;
-                }
-            });
-        }
-        for (String logFile : logFiles) {
-            logFileCollection.add(logFile.substring(logManagerProperties.getLogFilePrefix().length() + 1));
-        }
-        Collections.sort(logFileCollection, new Comparator<String>() {
-            @Override
-            public int compare(String arg0, String arg1) {
-                return Integer.parseInt(arg0) - Integer.parseInt(arg1);
-            }
-        });
-        return logFileCollection;
-    }
-
-    public static long getFileId(String logFilePath, LogManagerProperties logManagerProperties) {
-        String logFileName = logFilePath;
-        if (logFilePath.contains(File.separator)) {
-            logFileName = logFilePath.substring(logFilePath.lastIndexOf(File.separator));
-        }
-        return Long.parseLong(logFileName.substring(logFileName.indexOf(logManagerProperties.getLogFilePrefix())));
-    }
-
-    public static String getLogFilePath(LogManagerProperties logManagerProperties, long fileId) {
-        return logManagerProperties.getLogDir() + File.separator + logManagerProperties.getLogFilePrefix() + "_"
-                + fileId;
-    }
-
-    public static LogicalLogLocator getDummyLogicalLogLocator(ILogManager logManager) {
-        LogicalLogLocator logicalLogLocator = new LogicalLogLocator(-1, null, -1, logManager);
-        return logicalLogLocator;
-    }
-
-    /*
-     * given a lsn, get the offset within the log file where the corresponding
-     * log record is (to be) placed.
-     */
-    public static long getFileOffset(ILogManager logManager, long lsn) {
-        return lsn % logManager.getLogManagerProperties().getLogPartitionSize();
-    }
-
-    /*
-     * given a lsn, get the file id that contains the log record.
-     */
-    public static long getFileId(ILogManager logManager, long lsn) {
-        return lsn / logManager.getLogManagerProperties().getLogPartitionSize();
-    }
-}
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 5b946bc..ad1db1f 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
@@ -49,12 +49,12 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.IResourceManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.IResourceManager.ResourceType;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ITransactionContext;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.LogUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.LogicalLogLocator;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.PhysicalLogLocator;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.logging.IndexResourceManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.logging.LogManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.logging.LogType;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.logging.LogUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.transaction.TransactionManagementConstants;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.transaction.TransactionManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.transaction.TransactionSubsystem;
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/transaction/TransactionContext.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/transaction/TransactionContext.java
index 06a5fbf..33522e3 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/transaction/TransactionContext.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/transaction/TransactionContext.java
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ITransactionContext;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ITransactionManager.TransactionState;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.JobId;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.LogUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.LogicalLogLocator;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.logging.LogUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IModificationOperationCallback;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIndex;
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/logging/test/TransactionWorkloadSimulator.java b/asterix-transactions/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/logging/test/TransactionWorkloadSimulator.java
index 1298791..a74b079 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/logging/test/TransactionWorkloadSimulator.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/logging/test/TransactionWorkloadSimulator.java
@@ -28,11 +28,11 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ILogRecordHelper;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.IResourceManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.IResourceManager.ResourceType;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.LogUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.LogicalLogLocator;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.logging.BasicLogger;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.logging.LogActionType;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.logging.LogType;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.logging.LogUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.transaction.JobIdFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.transaction.TransactionContext;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.transaction.TransactionSubsystem;
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/test/LogRecordReader.java b/asterix-transactions/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/test/LogRecordReader.java
index 9aed571..8e13356 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/test/LogRecordReader.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/test/LogRecordReader.java
@@ -22,10 +22,10 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ILogFilter;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ILogManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ILogRecordHelper;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.LogUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.LogicalLogLocator;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.PhysicalLogLocator;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.logging.LogManager;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.logging.LogUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.transaction.TransactionSubsystem;
 
 public class LogRecordReader {
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/test/TransactionSimulator.java b/asterix-transactions/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/test/TransactionSimulator.java
index b683a93..4bebbc4 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/test/TransactionSimulator.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/test/TransactionSimulator.java
@@ -31,10 +31,10 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ITransactionContext;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ITransactionManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.JobId;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.LogUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.LogicalLogLocator;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.logging.IResource;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.logging.LogType;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.logging.LogUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.transaction.JobIdFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.transaction.TransactionSubsystem;