diff --git a/protocols/netconf/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/netconf/AbstractNetconfSession.java b/protocols/netconf/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/netconf/AbstractNetconfSession.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..07098f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/protocols/netconf/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/netconf/AbstractNetconfSession.java
@@ -0,0 +1,416 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2018-present Open Networking Foundation
+ *
+ * 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.netconf;
+
+import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
+
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+
+import com.google.common.annotations.Beta;
+
+import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
+import static org.slf4j.LoggerFactory.getLogger;
+
+
+/**
+ * Abstract netconf session implements methods common
+ * for different implementations of netconf session.
+ */
+public abstract class AbstractNetconfSession implements NetconfSession {
+
+    private static final Logger log = getLogger(AbstractNetconfSession.class);
+
+    private static final String ENDPATTERN = "]]>]]>";
+    private static final String MESSAGE_ID_STRING = "message-id";
+    private static final String NEW_LINE = "\n";
+    private static final String EQUAL = "=";
+    private static final String RPC_OPEN = "<rpc ";
+    private static final String RPC_CLOSE = "</rpc>";
+    private static final String GET_OPEN = "<get>";
+    private static final String GET_CLOSE = "</get>";
+    private static final String WITH_DEFAULT_OPEN = "<with-defaults ";
+    private static final String WITH_DEFAULT_CLOSE = "</with-defaults>";
+    private static final String DEFAULT_OPERATION_OPEN = "<default-operation>";
+    private static final String DEFAULT_OPERATION_CLOSE = "</default-operation>";
+    private static final String SUBTREE_FILTER_OPEN = "<filter type=\"subtree\">";
+    private static final String SUBTREE_FILTER_CLOSE = "</filter>";
+    private static final String EDIT_CONFIG_OPEN = "<edit-config>";
+    private static final String EDIT_CONFIG_CLOSE = "</edit-config>";
+    private static final String TARGET_OPEN = "<target>";
+    private static final String TARGET_CLOSE = "</target>";
+    // FIXME hard coded namespace nc
+    private static final String CONFIG_OPEN = "<config xmlns:nc=\"urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0\">";
+    private static final String CONFIG_CLOSE = "</config>";
+    private static final String XML_HEADER = "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>";
+    private static final String NETCONF_BASE_NAMESPACE =
+            "xmlns=\"urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0\"";
+    private static final String NETCONF_WITH_DEFAULTS_NAMESPACE =
+            "xmlns=\"urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-netconf-with-defaults\"";
+
+    @Override
+    public abstract CompletableFuture<String> request(String request) throws NetconfException;
+
+    @Override
+    public abstract CompletableFuture<String> rpc(String request) throws NetconfException;
+
+    @Override
+    public CompletableFuture<CharSequence> asyncGetConfig(DatastoreId datastore) throws NetconfException {
+        StringBuilder rpc = new StringBuilder();
+        rpc.append("<rpc xmlns=\"urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0\">\n");
+        rpc.append("<get-config>\n");
+        rpc.append("<source>\n");
+        rpc.append('<').append(checkNotNull(datastore)).append("/>");
+        rpc.append("</source>");
+        // filter here
+        rpc.append("</get-config>\n");
+        rpc.append("</rpc>");
+
+        return rpc(rpc.toString())
+                .thenApply(msg -> {
+                    // crude way of removing rpc-reply envelope
+                    int begin = msg.indexOf("<data>");
+                    int end = msg.lastIndexOf("</data>");
+                    if (begin != -1 && end != -1) {
+                        return msg.subSequence(begin, end + "</data>".length());
+                    } else {
+                        // FIXME probably should exceptionally fail here.
+                        return msg;
+                    }
+                });
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public CompletableFuture<CharSequence> asyncGet() throws NetconfException {
+        StringBuilder rpc = new StringBuilder();
+        rpc.append("<rpc xmlns=\"urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0\">\n");
+        rpc.append("<get>\n");
+        // filter here
+        rpc.append("</get>\n");
+        rpc.append("</rpc>");
+        return rpc(rpc.toString())
+                .thenApply(msg -> {
+                    // crude way of removing rpc-reply envelope
+                    int begin = msg.indexOf("<data>");
+                    int end = msg.lastIndexOf("</data>");
+                    if (begin != -1 && end != -1) {
+                        return msg.subSequence(begin, end + "</data>".length());
+                    } else {
+                        // FIXME probably should exceptionally fail here.
+                        return msg;
+                    }
+                });
+
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String get(String request) throws NetconfException {
+        return requestSync(request);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String get(String filterSchema, String withDefaultsMode) throws NetconfException {
+        StringBuilder rpc = new StringBuilder(XML_HEADER);
+        rpc.append(RPC_OPEN);
+        rpc.append(MESSAGE_ID_STRING);
+        rpc.append(EQUAL);
+        rpc.append("\"");
+        //Assign a random integer here, it will be replaced in formatting
+        rpc.append(1);
+        rpc.append("\"  ");
+        rpc.append(NETCONF_BASE_NAMESPACE).append(">\n");
+        rpc.append(GET_OPEN).append(NEW_LINE);
+        if (filterSchema != null) {
+            rpc.append(SUBTREE_FILTER_OPEN).append(NEW_LINE);
+            rpc.append(filterSchema).append(NEW_LINE);
+            rpc.append(SUBTREE_FILTER_CLOSE).append(NEW_LINE);
+        }
+        if (withDefaultsMode != null) {
+            rpc.append(WITH_DEFAULT_OPEN).append(NETCONF_WITH_DEFAULTS_NAMESPACE).append(">");
+            rpc.append(withDefaultsMode).append(WITH_DEFAULT_CLOSE).append(NEW_LINE);
+        }
+        rpc.append(GET_CLOSE).append(NEW_LINE);
+        rpc.append(RPC_CLOSE).append(NEW_LINE);
+        rpc.append(ENDPATTERN);
+        return requestSync(rpc.toString());
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String doWrappedRpc(String request) throws NetconfException {
+        StringBuilder rpc = new StringBuilder(XML_HEADER);
+        rpc.append(RPC_OPEN);
+        rpc.append(MESSAGE_ID_STRING);
+        rpc.append(EQUAL);
+        rpc.append("\"");
+        //Assign a random integer here, it will be replaced in formatting
+        rpc.append(1);
+        rpc.append("\"  ");
+        rpc.append(NETCONF_BASE_NAMESPACE).append(">\n");
+        rpc.append(request);
+        rpc.append(RPC_CLOSE).append(NEW_LINE);
+        rpc.append(ENDPATTERN);
+        return requestSync(rpc.toString());
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public abstract String requestSync(String request) throws NetconfException;
+
+    @Override
+    public String getConfig(DatastoreId netconfTargetConfig) throws NetconfException {
+        return getConfig(netconfTargetConfig, null);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String getConfig(DatastoreId netconfTargetConfig, String configurationFilterSchema) throws NetconfException {
+        StringBuilder rpc = new StringBuilder(XML_HEADER);
+        rpc.append("<rpc ");
+        rpc.append(MESSAGE_ID_STRING);
+        rpc.append(EQUAL);
+        rpc.append("\"");
+        //Assign a random integer here, it will be replaced in formatting
+        rpc.append(1);
+        rpc.append("\"  ");
+        rpc.append("xmlns=\"urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0\">\n");
+        rpc.append("<get-config>\n");
+        rpc.append("<source>\n");
+        rpc.append("<").append(netconfTargetConfig).append("/>");
+        rpc.append("</source>");
+        if (configurationFilterSchema != null) {
+            rpc.append("<filter type=\"subtree\">\n");
+            rpc.append(configurationFilterSchema).append("\n");
+            rpc.append("</filter>\n");
+        }
+        rpc.append("</get-config>\n");
+        rpc.append("</rpc>\n");
+        rpc.append(ENDPATTERN);
+        String reply = requestSync(rpc.toString());
+        return checkReply(reply) ? reply : "ERROR " + reply;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean editConfig(String newConfiguration) throws NetconfException {
+        if (!newConfiguration.endsWith(ENDPATTERN)) {
+            newConfiguration = newConfiguration + ENDPATTERN;
+        }
+        return checkReply(requestSync(newConfiguration));
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean editConfig(DatastoreId netconfTargetConfig,
+                              String mode,
+                              String newConfiguration) throws NetconfException {
+        newConfiguration = newConfiguration.trim();
+        StringBuilder rpc = new StringBuilder(XML_HEADER);
+        rpc.append(RPC_OPEN);
+        rpc.append(MESSAGE_ID_STRING);
+        rpc.append(EQUAL);
+        rpc.append("\"");
+        //Assign a random integer here, it will be replaced in formatting
+        rpc.append(1);
+        rpc.append("\"  ");
+        rpc.append(NETCONF_BASE_NAMESPACE).append(">\n");
+        rpc.append(EDIT_CONFIG_OPEN).append("\n");
+        rpc.append(TARGET_OPEN);
+        rpc.append("<").append(netconfTargetConfig).append("/>");
+        rpc.append(TARGET_CLOSE).append("\n");
+        if (mode != null) {
+            rpc.append(DEFAULT_OPERATION_OPEN);
+            rpc.append(mode);
+            rpc.append(DEFAULT_OPERATION_CLOSE).append("\n");
+        }
+        rpc.append(CONFIG_OPEN).append("\n");
+        rpc.append(newConfiguration);
+        rpc.append(CONFIG_CLOSE).append("\n");
+        rpc.append(EDIT_CONFIG_CLOSE).append("\n");
+        rpc.append(RPC_CLOSE);
+        rpc.append(ENDPATTERN);
+        String reply = requestSync(rpc.toString());
+        return checkReply(reply);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean copyConfig(DatastoreId destination, DatastoreId source) throws NetconfException {
+        return checkReply(requestSync(bareCopyConfig(destination.asXml(), source.asXml())));
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean copyConfig(DatastoreId netconfTargetConfig, String newConfiguration) throws NetconfException {
+        return checkReply(requestSync(bareCopyConfig(netconfTargetConfig.asXml(),
+                                                     normalizeCopyConfigParam(newConfiguration))));
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean copyConfig(String netconfTargetConfig, String newConfiguration) throws NetconfException {
+        return checkReply(requestSync(bareCopyConfig(normalizeCopyConfigParam(netconfTargetConfig),
+                                                     normalizeCopyConfigParam(newConfiguration))));
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean deleteConfig(DatastoreId netconfTargetConfig) throws NetconfException {
+        if (netconfTargetConfig.equals(DatastoreId.RUNNING)) {
+            return false;
+        }
+        StringBuilder rpc = new StringBuilder(XML_HEADER);
+        rpc.append("<rpc>");
+        rpc.append("<delete-config>");
+        rpc.append("<target>");
+        rpc.append("<").append(netconfTargetConfig).append("/>");
+        rpc.append("</target>");
+        rpc.append("</delete-config>");
+        rpc.append("</rpc>");
+        rpc.append(ENDPATTERN);
+        return checkReply(requestSync(rpc.toString()));
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void startSubscription() throws NetconfException {
+        startSubscription(null);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public abstract void startSubscription(String filterSchema) throws NetconfException;
+
+    @Override
+    public abstract void endSubscription() throws NetconfException;
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean lock(DatastoreId datastore) throws NetconfException {
+        StringBuilder rpc = new StringBuilder(XML_HEADER);
+        rpc.append("<rpc xmlns=\"urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0\">\n");
+        rpc.append("<lock>");
+        rpc.append("<target>");
+        rpc.append("<");
+        rpc.append(datastore.id());
+        rpc.append("/>");
+        rpc.append("</target>");
+        rpc.append("</lock>");
+        rpc.append("</rpc>");
+        rpc.append(ENDPATTERN);
+        String lockReply = requestSync(rpc.toString());
+        return checkReply(lockReply);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean unlock(DatastoreId datastore) throws NetconfException {
+        StringBuilder rpc = new StringBuilder(XML_HEADER);
+        rpc.append("<rpc xmlns=\"urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0\">\n");
+        rpc.append("<unlock>");
+        rpc.append("<target>");
+        rpc.append("<");
+        rpc.append(datastore.id());
+        rpc.append("/>");
+        rpc.append("</target>");
+        rpc.append("</unlock>");
+        rpc.append("</rpc>");
+        rpc.append(ENDPATTERN);
+        String unlockReply = requestSync(rpc.toString());
+        return checkReply(unlockReply);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean close() throws NetconfException {
+        StringBuilder rpc = new StringBuilder();
+        rpc.append("<rpc xmlns=\"urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0\">");
+        rpc.append("<close-session/>");
+        rpc.append("</rpc>");
+        rpc.append(ENDPATTERN);
+        boolean closed = checkReply(requestSync(rpc.toString()));
+        if (closed) {
+            return closed;
+        } else {
+            //forcefully kill session if not closed
+            rpc = new StringBuilder();
+            rpc.append("<rpc xmlns=\"urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0\">");
+            rpc.append("<kill-session/>");
+            rpc.append("</rpc>");
+            rpc.append(ENDPATTERN);
+            return checkReply(requestSync(rpc.toString()));
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public abstract String getSessionId();
+
+    @Override
+    public abstract Set<String> getDeviceCapabilitiesSet();
+
+    @Override
+    public abstract void addDeviceOutputListener(NetconfDeviceOutputEventListener listener);
+
+    @Override
+    public abstract void removeDeviceOutputListener(NetconfDeviceOutputEventListener listener);
+
+    /**
+     * Checks errors in reply from the session.
+     * @param reply reply string
+     * @return true if no error, else false
+     */
+    @Beta
+    protected boolean checkReply(String reply) {
+        if (reply != null) {
+            if (!reply.contains("<rpc-error>")) {
+                return true;
+            } else if (reply.contains("<ok/>")
+                    || (reply.contains("<rpc-error>")
+                    && reply.contains("warning"))) {
+                // FIXME rpc-error with a warning is considered same as Ok??
+                return true;
+            }
+        }
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    private String bareCopyConfig(CharSequence target,
+                                  CharSequence source)
+            throws NetconfException {
+        StringBuilder rpc = new StringBuilder(XML_HEADER);
+        rpc.append(RPC_OPEN);
+        rpc.append(NETCONF_BASE_NAMESPACE).append(">\n");
+        rpc.append("<copy-config>");
+        rpc.append("<target>");
+        rpc.append(target);
+        rpc.append("</target>");
+        rpc.append("<source>");
+        rpc.append(source);
+        rpc.append("</source>");
+        rpc.append("</copy-config>");
+        rpc.append("</rpc>");
+        rpc.append(ENDPATTERN);
+        return rpc.toString();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Normalize String parameter passed to copy-config API.
+     * <p>
+     * Provided for backward compatibility purpose
+     *
+     * @param input passed to copyConfig API
+     * @return XML likely to be suitable for copy-config source or target
+     */
+    private CharSequence normalizeCopyConfigParam(String input) {
+        input = input.trim();
+        if (input.startsWith("<url")) {
+            return input;
+        } else if (!input.startsWith("<")) {
+            // assume it is a datastore name
+            return DatastoreId.datastore(input).asXml();
+        } else if (!input.startsWith("<config>")) {
+            return "<config>" + input + "</config>";
+        }
+        return input;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/protocols/netconf/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/netconf/NetconfSession.java b/protocols/netconf/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/netconf/NetconfSession.java
index 0711137..bc04118 100644
--- a/protocols/netconf/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/netconf/NetconfSession.java
+++ b/protocols/netconf/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/netconf/NetconfSession.java
@@ -20,8 +20,6 @@
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
-import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
-
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
 
@@ -57,9 +55,7 @@
      * the underlying connection
      * @throws NetconfTransportException on secure transport-layer error
      */
-    default CompletableFuture<String> rpc(String request) throws NetconfException {
-        return request(request);
-    }
+    CompletableFuture<String> rpc(String request) throws NetconfException;
 
     /**
      * Retrieves the specified configuration.
@@ -70,30 +66,7 @@
      * @throws NetconfException when there is a problem in the communication process on
      * the underlying connection
      */
-    default CompletableFuture<CharSequence> asyncGetConfig(DatastoreId datastore) throws NetconfException {
-        StringBuilder rpc = new StringBuilder();
-        rpc.append("<rpc xmlns=\"urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0\">\n");
-        rpc.append("<get-config>\n");
-        rpc.append("<source>\n");
-        rpc.append('<').append(checkNotNull(datastore)).append("/>");
-        rpc.append("</source>");
-        // filter here
-        rpc.append("</get-config>\n");
-        rpc.append("</rpc>");
-
-        return rpc(rpc.toString())
-                .thenApply(msg -> {
-                    // crude way of removing rpc-reply envelope
-                    int begin = msg.indexOf("<data>");
-                    int end = msg.lastIndexOf("</data>");
-                    if (begin != -1 && end != -1) {
-                        return msg.subSequence(begin, end + "</data>".length());
-                    } else {
-                        // FIXME probably should exceptionally fail here.
-                        return msg;
-                    }
-                });
-    }
+    CompletableFuture<CharSequence> asyncGetConfig(DatastoreId datastore) throws NetconfException;
 
     /**
      * Retrieves running configuration and device state.
@@ -103,27 +76,7 @@
      * @throws NetconfException when there is a problem in the communication process on
      * the underlying connection
      */
-    default CompletableFuture<CharSequence> asyncGet() throws NetconfException {
-        StringBuilder rpc = new StringBuilder();
-        rpc.append("<rpc xmlns=\"urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0\">\n");
-        rpc.append("<get>\n");
-        // filter here
-        rpc.append("</get>\n");
-        rpc.append("</rpc>");
-        return rpc(rpc.toString())
-                .thenApply(msg -> {
-                    // crude way of removing rpc-reply envelope
-                    int begin = msg.indexOf("<data>");
-                    int end = msg.lastIndexOf("</data>");
-                    if (begin != -1 && end != -1) {
-                        return msg.subSequence(begin, end + "</data>".length());
-                    } else {
-                        // FIXME probably should exceptionally fail here.
-                        return msg;
-                    }
-                });
-
-    }
+    CompletableFuture<CharSequence> asyncGet() throws NetconfException;
 
 
     /**
@@ -357,7 +310,6 @@
      * session.
      *
      * @return Network capabilities as strings in a Set.
-     *
      * @since 1.10.0
      */
     Set<String> getDeviceCapabilitiesSet();
@@ -378,7 +330,6 @@
      * Sets the ONOS side capabilities.
      *
      * @param capabilities list of capabilities ONOS has.
-     *
      * @since 1.10.0
      */
     default void setOnosCapabilities(Iterable<String> capabilities) {
@@ -387,7 +338,7 @@
     }
 
     /**
-     * Remove a listener from the underlying stream handler implementation.
+     * Add a listener to the underlying stream handler implementation.
      *
      * @param listener event listener.
      */
@@ -406,7 +357,7 @@
      */
     default int timeoutConnectSec() {
         return 0;
-    };
+    }
 
     /**
      * Read the reply timeout that this session was created with.
@@ -414,7 +365,7 @@
      */
     default int timeoutReplySec() {
         return 0;
-    };
+    }
 
     /**
      * Read the idle timeout that this session was created with.
@@ -422,6 +373,6 @@
      */
     default int timeoutIdleSec() {
         return 0;
-    };
+    }
 
 }
diff --git a/protocols/netconf/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/netconf/NetconfSessionAdapter.java b/protocols/netconf/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/netconf/NetconfSessionAdapter.java
index 6ca84c7..afb9015 100644
--- a/protocols/netconf/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/netconf/NetconfSessionAdapter.java
+++ b/protocols/netconf/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/netconf/NetconfSessionAdapter.java
@@ -24,7 +24,11 @@
 /**
  * Adapter mainly intended for usage in tests.
  */
-public class NetconfSessionAdapter implements NetconfSession {
+public class NetconfSessionAdapter
+    extends AbstractNetconfSession
+    implements NetconfSession {
+
+    // TODO remove methods defined in AbstractNetconfSession
 
     @Override
     public void startSubscription(String filterSchema) throws NetconfException {
@@ -46,6 +50,13 @@
     }
 
     @Override
+    public CompletableFuture<String> rpc(String request)
+            throws NetconfException {
+        return Tools.exceptionalFuture(new UnsupportedOperationException());
+    }
+
+
+    @Override
     public void removeDeviceOutputListener(NetconfDeviceOutputEventListener listener) {
     }