diff --git a/core/store/pom.xml b/core/store/pom.xml
index 9b3067c..518acd7 100644
--- a/core/store/pom.xml
+++ b/core/store/pom.xml
@@ -32,9 +32,10 @@
     <description>ONOS Core Store subsystem</description>
 
     <modules>
+        <module>primitives</module>
         <module>dist</module>
         <module>persistence</module>
-    <module>serializers</module>
+        <module>serializers</module>
     </modules>
 
     <dependencies>
diff --git a/core/store/primitives/pom.xml b/core/store/primitives/pom.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a781198
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/store/primitives/pom.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<!--
+  ~ Copyright 2016 Open Networking Laboratory
+  ~
+  ~ 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 at
+  ~
+  ~     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+  ~
+  ~ Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+  ~ distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+  ~ WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+  ~ See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+  ~ limitations under the License.
+  -->
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
+         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/maven-v4_0_0.xsd">
+    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+
+    <parent>
+        <groupId>org.onosproject</groupId>
+        <artifactId>onos-core-store</artifactId>
+        <version>1.5.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+        <relativePath>../pom.xml</relativePath>
+    </parent>
+
+    <artifactId>onos-core-primitives</artifactId>
+    <packaging>bundle</packaging>
+
+    <description>ONOS distributed state management primitives</description>
+
+    <dependencies>
+
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.onosproject</groupId>
+            <artifactId>onos-api</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+
+        <!-- for shaded atomix/copycat -->
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.onosproject</groupId>
+            <artifactId>onlab-thirdparty</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+    </dependencies>
+</project>
diff --git a/core/store/primitives/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/primitives/impl/CopycatTransport.java b/core/store/primitives/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/primitives/impl/CopycatTransport.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4c69605
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/store/primitives/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/primitives/impl/CopycatTransport.java
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016 Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * 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 at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.onosproject.store.primitives.impl;
+
+import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
+
+import org.onosproject.store.cluster.messaging.MessagingService;
+
+import io.atomix.catalyst.transport.Client;
+import io.atomix.catalyst.transport.Server;
+import io.atomix.catalyst.transport.Transport;
+
+/**
+ * Custom {@link Transport transport} for Copycat interactions
+ * built on top of {@link MessagingService}.
+ *
+ * @see CopycatTransportServer
+ * @see CopycatTransportClient
+ */
+public class CopycatTransport implements Transport {
+
+    /**
+     * Transport Mode.
+     */
+    public enum Mode {
+        /**
+         * Signifies transport for client -> server interaction.
+         */
+        CLIENT,
+
+        /**
+         * Signified transport for server -> server interaction.
+         */
+        SERVER
+    }
+
+    private final Mode mode;
+    private final String clusterName;
+    private final MessagingService messagingService;
+
+    public CopycatTransport(Mode mode, String clusterName, MessagingService messagingService) {
+        this.mode = checkNotNull(mode);
+        this.clusterName = checkNotNull(clusterName);
+        this.messagingService = checkNotNull(messagingService);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Client client() {
+        return new CopycatTransportClient(clusterName,
+                                          messagingService,
+                                          mode);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Server server() {
+        return new CopycatTransportServer(clusterName,
+                                          messagingService);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/core/store/primitives/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/primitives/impl/CopycatTransportClient.java b/core/store/primitives/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/primitives/impl/CopycatTransportClient.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..607e25d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/store/primitives/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/primitives/impl/CopycatTransportClient.java
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016 Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * 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 at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.onosproject.store.primitives.impl;
+
+import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
+
+import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
+import org.apache.commons.lang.math.RandomUtils;
+import org.onosproject.store.cluster.messaging.MessagingService;
+
+import com.google.common.collect.Sets;
+
+import io.atomix.catalyst.transport.Address;
+import io.atomix.catalyst.transport.Client;
+import io.atomix.catalyst.transport.Connection;
+import io.atomix.catalyst.util.concurrent.ThreadContext;
+
+/**
+ * {@link Client} implementation for {@link CopycatTransport}.
+ */
+public class CopycatTransportClient implements Client {
+
+    private final String clusterName;
+    private final MessagingService messagingService;
+    private final CopycatTransport.Mode mode;
+    private final ThreadContext context;
+    private final Set<CopycatTransportConnection> connections = Sets.newConcurrentHashSet();
+
+    CopycatTransportClient(String clusterName, MessagingService messagingService, CopycatTransport.Mode mode) {
+        this.clusterName = checkNotNull(clusterName);
+        this.messagingService = checkNotNull(messagingService);
+        this.mode = checkNotNull(mode);
+        this.context = ThreadContext.currentContextOrThrow();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public CompletableFuture<Connection> connect(Address remoteAddress) {
+        CopycatTransportConnection connection = new CopycatTransportConnection(
+                nextConnectionId(),
+                CopycatTransport.Mode.CLIENT,
+                clusterName,
+                remoteAddress,
+                messagingService,
+                context);
+        if (mode == CopycatTransport.Mode.CLIENT) {
+            connection.setBidirectional();
+        }
+        connections.add(connection);
+        return CompletableFuture.supplyAsync(() -> connection, context.executor());
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public CompletableFuture<Void> close() {
+        return CompletableFuture.allOf(connections.stream().map(Connection::close).toArray(CompletableFuture[]::new));
+    }
+
+    private long nextConnectionId() {
+        return RandomUtils.nextLong();
+    }
+ }
diff --git a/core/store/primitives/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/primitives/impl/CopycatTransportConnection.java b/core/store/primitives/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/primitives/impl/CopycatTransportConnection.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7b5d42a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/store/primitives/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/primitives/impl/CopycatTransportConnection.java
@@ -0,0 +1,275 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016 Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * 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 at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.onosproject.store.primitives.impl;
+
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
+import java.io.DataInputStream;
+import java.io.DataOutputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.net.InetAddress;
+import java.net.UnknownHostException;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Objects;
+import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
+import java.util.function.Consumer;
+
+import org.apache.commons.io.IOUtils;
+import org.onlab.packet.IpAddress;
+import org.onlab.util.Tools;
+import org.onosproject.store.cluster.messaging.Endpoint;
+import org.onosproject.store.cluster.messaging.MessagingService;
+
+import com.google.common.base.MoreObjects;
+import com.google.common.base.Throwables;
+import com.google.common.collect.Maps;
+
+import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
+import io.atomix.catalyst.transport.Address;
+import io.atomix.catalyst.transport.Connection;
+import io.atomix.catalyst.transport.MessageHandler;
+import io.atomix.catalyst.transport.TransportException;
+import io.atomix.catalyst.util.Assert;
+import io.atomix.catalyst.util.Listener;
+import io.atomix.catalyst.util.Listeners;
+import io.atomix.catalyst.util.ReferenceCounted;
+import io.atomix.catalyst.util.concurrent.ThreadContext;
+
+/**
+ * {@link Connection} implementation for CopycatTransport.
+ */
+public class CopycatTransportConnection implements Connection {
+
+    private final Listeners<Throwable> exceptionListeners = new Listeners<>();
+    private final Listeners<Connection> closeListeners = new Listeners<>();
+
+    static final byte SUCCESS = 0x03;
+    static final byte FAILURE = 0x04;
+
+    private final long connectionId;
+    private CopycatTransport.Mode mode;
+    private final Address remoteAddress;
+    private final MessagingService messagingService;
+    private final String outboundMessageSubject;
+    private final String inboundMessageSubject;
+    private final ThreadContext context;
+    private final Map<Class<?>, InternalHandler> handlers = Maps.newConcurrentMap();
+    private final AtomicInteger messagesSent = new AtomicInteger(0);
+    private final AtomicInteger sendFailures = new AtomicInteger(0);
+    private final AtomicInteger messagesReceived = new AtomicInteger(0);
+    private final AtomicInteger receiveFailures = new AtomicInteger(0);
+
+    CopycatTransportConnection(long connectionId,
+            CopycatTransport.Mode mode,
+            String clusterName,
+            Address address,
+            MessagingService messagingService,
+            ThreadContext context) {
+        this.connectionId = connectionId;
+        this.mode = checkNotNull(mode);
+        this.remoteAddress = checkNotNull(address);
+        this.messagingService = checkNotNull(messagingService);
+        if (mode == CopycatTransport.Mode.CLIENT) {
+            this.outboundMessageSubject = String.format("onos-copycat-%s", clusterName);
+            this.inboundMessageSubject = String.format("onos-copycat-%s-%d", clusterName, connectionId);
+        } else {
+            this.outboundMessageSubject = String.format("onos-copycat-%s-%d", clusterName, connectionId);
+            this.inboundMessageSubject = String.format("onos-copycat-%s", clusterName);
+        }
+        this.context = checkNotNull(context);
+    }
+
+    public void setBidirectional() {
+        messagingService.registerHandler(inboundMessageSubject, (sender, payload) -> {
+            try (DataInputStream input = new DataInputStream(new ByteArrayInputStream(payload))) {
+                if (input.readLong() !=  connectionId) {
+                    throw new IllegalStateException("Invalid connection Id");
+                }
+                return handle(IOUtils.toByteArray(input));
+            } catch (IOException e) {
+                Throwables.propagate(e);
+                return null;
+            }
+        });
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public <T, U> CompletableFuture<U> send(T message) {
+        ThreadContext context = ThreadContext.currentContextOrThrow();
+        CompletableFuture<U> result = new CompletableFuture<>();
+        try (ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream()) {
+            new DataOutputStream(baos).writeLong(connectionId);
+            context.serializer().writeObject(message, baos);
+            if (message instanceof ReferenceCounted) {
+                ((ReferenceCounted<?>) message).release();
+            }
+            messagingService.sendAndReceive(toEndpoint(remoteAddress),
+                                            outboundMessageSubject,
+                                            baos.toByteArray(),
+                                            context.executor())
+                    .whenComplete((r, e) -> {
+                        if (e == null) {
+                            messagesSent.incrementAndGet();
+                        } else {
+                            sendFailures.incrementAndGet();
+                        }
+                        handleResponse(r, e, result, context);
+                    });
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            result.completeExceptionally(new TransportException("Failed to send request", e));
+        }
+        return result;
+    }
+
+    private <T> void handleResponse(byte[] response,
+                                    Throwable error,
+                                    CompletableFuture<T> future,
+                                    ThreadContext context) {
+        if (error != null) {
+            context.execute(() -> future.completeExceptionally(error));
+            return;
+        }
+        checkNotNull(response);
+        InputStream input = new ByteArrayInputStream(response);
+        try {
+            byte status = (byte) input.read();
+            if (status == FAILURE) {
+                Throwable t = context.serializer().readObject(input);
+                context.execute(() -> future.completeExceptionally(t));
+            } else {
+                context.execute(() -> future.complete(context.serializer().readObject(input)));
+            }
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            context.execute(() -> future.completeExceptionally(e));
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public <T, U> Connection handler(Class<T> type, MessageHandler<T, U> handler) {
+        Assert.notNull(type, "type");
+        handlers.put(type, new InternalHandler(handler, ThreadContext.currentContextOrThrow()));
+        return null;
+    }
+
+   public CompletableFuture<byte[]> handle(byte[] message) {
+        try {
+            Object request = context.serializer().readObject(new ByteArrayInputStream(message));
+            InternalHandler handler = handlers.get(request.getClass());
+            if (handler == null) {
+                return Tools.exceptionalFuture(new IllegalStateException(
+                        "No handler registered for " + request.getClass()));
+            }
+            return handler.handle(request).handle((result, error) -> {
+                if (error == null) {
+                    messagesReceived.incrementAndGet();
+                } else {
+                    receiveFailures.incrementAndGet();
+                }
+                try (ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream()) {
+                    baos.write(error != null ? FAILURE : SUCCESS);
+                    context.serializer().writeObject(error != null ? error : result, baos);
+                    return baos.toByteArray();
+                } catch (IOException e) {
+                    Throwables.propagate(e);
+                    return null;
+                }
+            });
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            return Tools.exceptionalFuture(e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Listener<Throwable> exceptionListener(Consumer<Throwable> listener) {
+        return exceptionListeners.add(listener);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Listener<Connection> closeListener(Consumer<Connection> listener) {
+        return closeListeners.add(listener);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public CompletableFuture<Void> close() {
+        // TODO: need to unregister message handler
+        closeListeners.forEach(listener -> listener.accept(this));
+        if (mode == CopycatTransport.Mode.CLIENT) {
+            messagingService.unregisterHandler(inboundMessageSubject);
+        }
+        return CompletableFuture.completedFuture(null);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int hashCode() {
+        return Objects.hash(connectionId);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean equals(Object other) {
+        if (!(other instanceof CopycatTransportConnection)) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        return connectionId == ((CopycatTransportConnection) other).connectionId;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String toString() {
+        return MoreObjects.toStringHelper(getClass())
+                .add("id", connectionId)
+                .add("sent", messagesSent.get())
+                .add("received", messagesReceived.get())
+                .add("sendFailures", sendFailures.get())
+                .add("receiveFailures", receiveFailures.get())
+                .toString();
+    }
+
+    private Endpoint toEndpoint(Address address) {
+        try {
+            return new Endpoint(IpAddress.valueOf(InetAddress.getByName(address.host())), address.port());
+        } catch (UnknownHostException e) {
+            Throwables.propagate(e);
+            return null;
+        }
+    }
+
+    @SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
+    private final class InternalHandler {
+
+        private final MessageHandler handler;
+        private final ThreadContext context;
+
+        private InternalHandler(MessageHandler handler, ThreadContext context) {
+            this.handler = handler;
+            this.context = context;
+        }
+
+        @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+        public CompletableFuture<Object> handle(Object message) {
+            CompletableFuture<Object> answer = new CompletableFuture<>();
+            context.execute(() -> handler.handle(message).whenComplete((r, e) -> {
+                if (e != null) {
+                    answer.completeExceptionally((Throwable) e);
+                } else {
+                    answer.complete(r);
+                }
+            }));
+            return answer;
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/core/store/primitives/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/primitives/impl/CopycatTransportServer.java b/core/store/primitives/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/primitives/impl/CopycatTransportServer.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..43c2cfc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/store/primitives/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/primitives/impl/CopycatTransportServer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016 Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * 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 at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.onosproject.store.primitives.impl;
+
+import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
+
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
+import java.io.DataInputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.InetAddress;
+import java.net.InetSocketAddress;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
+import java.util.function.Consumer;
+
+import org.apache.commons.io.IOUtils;
+import org.onlab.util.Tools;
+import org.onosproject.store.cluster.messaging.MessagingService;
+
+import com.google.common.collect.Maps;
+
+import io.atomix.catalyst.transport.Address;
+import io.atomix.catalyst.transport.Connection;
+import io.atomix.catalyst.transport.Server;
+import io.atomix.catalyst.util.concurrent.SingleThreadContext;
+import io.atomix.catalyst.util.concurrent.ThreadContext;
+
+/**
+ * {@link Server} implementation for {@link CopycatTransport}.
+ */
+public class CopycatTransportServer implements Server {
+
+    private final AtomicBoolean listening = new AtomicBoolean(false);
+    private CompletableFuture<Void> listenFuture;
+    private final String clusterName;
+    private final MessagingService messagingService;
+    private final String messageSubject;
+    private final Map<Long, CopycatTransportConnection> connections = Maps.newConcurrentMap();
+
+    CopycatTransportServer(String clusterName, MessagingService messagingService) {
+        this.clusterName = checkNotNull(clusterName);
+        this.messagingService = checkNotNull(messagingService);
+        this.messageSubject = String.format("onos-copycat-%s", clusterName);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public CompletableFuture<Void> listen(Address address, Consumer<Connection> listener) {
+        if (listening.get()) {
+            return CompletableFuture.completedFuture(null);
+        }
+        ThreadContext context = ThreadContext.currentContextOrThrow();
+        synchronized (this) {
+            if (listenFuture == null) {
+                listenFuture = new CompletableFuture<>();
+                listen(address, listener, context);
+            }
+        }
+        return listenFuture;
+    }
+
+    public void listen(Address address, Consumer<Connection> listener, ThreadContext context) {
+        messagingService.registerHandler(messageSubject, (sender, payload) -> {
+            try (DataInputStream input = new DataInputStream(new ByteArrayInputStream(payload))) {
+                long connectionId = input.readLong();
+                InetAddress senderHost = InetAddress.getByAddress(sender.host().toOctets());
+                int senderPort = sender.port();
+                Address senderAddress = new Address(new InetSocketAddress(senderHost, senderPort));
+                AtomicBoolean newConnection = new AtomicBoolean(false);
+                CopycatTransportConnection connection = connections.computeIfAbsent(connectionId, k -> {
+                    newConnection.set(true);
+                    return new CopycatTransportConnection(connectionId,
+                            CopycatTransport.Mode.SERVER,
+                            clusterName,
+                            senderAddress,
+                            messagingService,
+                            getOrCreateContext(context));
+                });
+                byte[] request = IOUtils.toByteArray(input);
+                return CompletableFuture.supplyAsync(
+                        () -> {
+                            if (newConnection.get()) {
+                                listener.accept(connection);
+                            }
+                            return connection;
+                        }, context.executor()).thenCompose(c -> c.handle(request));
+            } catch (IOException e) {
+                return Tools.exceptionalFuture(e);
+            }
+        });
+        listening.set(true);
+        context.execute(() -> {
+            listenFuture.complete(null);
+        });
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public CompletableFuture<Void> close() {
+        messagingService.unregisterHandler(messageSubject);
+        return CompletableFuture.completedFuture(null);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the current execution context or creates one.
+     */
+    private ThreadContext getOrCreateContext(ThreadContext parentContext) {
+        ThreadContext context = ThreadContext.currentContext();
+        if (context != null) {
+            return context;
+        }
+        return new SingleThreadContext("copycat-transport-server-" + clusterName, parentContext.serializer().clone());
+    }
+}
diff --git a/core/store/primitives/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/primitives/impl/package-info.java b/core/store/primitives/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/primitives/impl/package-info.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0176cb5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/store/primitives/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/primitives/impl/package-info.java
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016 Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * 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 at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Implementation for distributed state management primitives.
+ */
+package org.onosproject.store.primitives.impl;
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 13a3ef1..b43e246 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -77,6 +77,8 @@
         <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
         <onos-build-conf.version>1.1</onos-build-conf.version>
         <netty4.version>4.0.33.Final</netty4.version>
+        <!-- TODO: replace with final release version when it is out -->
+        <atomix.version>0.1.0-beta4</atomix.version>
         <copycat.version>0.5.1.onos</copycat.version>
         <openflowj.version>0.9.1.onos</openflowj.version>
         <onos-maven-plugin.version>1.8-SNAPSHOT</onos-maven-plugin.version>
@@ -87,6 +89,7 @@
         <codehaus.jackson.version>1.9.13</codehaus.jackson.version>
         <slf4j.version>1.7.6</slf4j.version>
         <guava.version>19.0</guava.version>
+        <commons.io.version>2.4</commons.io.version>
         <!-- TODO argLine was originally added maven-surfire-plugin configuration
                   to fix locale errors for non-US developers. However, it breaks
                   SonarQube's test coverage, so moving here for now. -->
@@ -801,4 +804,4 @@
             </plugin>
         </plugins>
     </reporting>
-</project>
\ No newline at end of file
+</project>
diff --git a/utils/thirdparty/pom.xml b/utils/thirdparty/pom.xml
index 9c4c493..d2ec8f0 100644
--- a/utils/thirdparty/pom.xml
+++ b/utils/thirdparty/pom.xml
@@ -38,6 +38,18 @@
     </dependency>
 
     <dependency>
+      <groupId>commons-io</groupId>
+      <artifactId>commons-io</artifactId>
+      <version>${commons.io.version}</version>
+    </dependency>
+
+    <dependency>
+        <groupId>io.atomix</groupId>
+        <artifactId>atomix</artifactId>
+        <version>${atomix.version}</version>
+    </dependency>
+
+    <dependency>
       <!-- FIXME once fixes get merged to upstream -->
       <groupId>org.onosproject</groupId>
         <artifactId>copycat-api</artifactId>
@@ -57,6 +69,7 @@
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
         <artifactId>maven-shade-plugin</artifactId>
+        <version>2.4.1</version>
         <configuration>
           <createSourcesJar>true</createSourcesJar>
 
@@ -81,13 +94,35 @@
             </filter>
 
             <filter>
+              <artifact>commons-io:commons-io</artifact>
+              <includes>
+                <include>org/apache/commons/io/**</include>
+              </includes>
+            </filter>
+
+            <filter>
               <artifact>org.onosproject:copycat*</artifact>
               <includes>
                 <include>**</include>
               </includes>
             </filter>
 
+            <filter>
+              <artifact>io.atomix:atomix-all</artifact>
+              <includes>
+                <include>**</include>
+              </includes>
+            </filter>
+
           </filters>
+          <transformers>
+              <transformer implementation="org.apache.maven.plugins.shade.resource.AppendingTransformer">
+                  <resource>META-INF/services/io.atomix.catalyst.serializer.CatalystSerializable</resource>
+              </transformer>
+              <transformer implementation="org.apache.maven.plugins.shade.resource.AppendingTransformer">
+                  <resource>META-INF/services/io.atomix.resource.Resource</resource>
+              </transformer>
+          </transformers>
         </configuration>
         <executions>
           <execution>
@@ -104,8 +139,11 @@
         <configuration>
           <instructions>
             <Export-Package>
-              com.googlecode.concurrenttrees.*;net.kuujo.copycat.*
+              com.googlecode.concurrenttrees.*;net.kuujo.copycat.*;io.atomix.*
             </Export-Package>
+            <Import-Package>
+              !sun.nio.ch,!sun.misc,*
+            </Import-Package>
           </instructions>
         </configuration>
       </plugin>