diff --git a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/impl/DistributedClusterStore.java b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/impl/DistributedClusterStore.java
index dec2c23..0472cff 100644
--- a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/impl/DistributedClusterStore.java
+++ b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/impl/DistributedClusterStore.java
@@ -57,6 +57,8 @@
 
 import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkArgument;
 import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
+import static java.net.NetworkInterface.getNetworkInterfaces;
+import static java.util.Collections.list;
 import static org.onlab.util.Tools.groupedThreads;
 import static org.slf4j.LoggerFactory.getLogger;
 
@@ -70,7 +72,7 @@
         extends AbstractStore<ClusterEvent, ClusterStoreDelegate>
         implements ClusterStore {
 
-    private final Logger log = getLogger(DistributedClusterStore.class);
+    private static final Logger log = getLogger(DistributedClusterStore.class);
 
     // TODO: make these configurable.
     private static final int HEARTBEAT_FD_PORT = 2419;
@@ -81,14 +83,16 @@
     private static final String CLUSTER_DEFINITION_FILE = "cluster.json";
     private static final String HEARTBEAT_MESSAGE = "onos-cluster-heartbeat";
 
+    public static final int DEFAULT_PORT = 9876;
+
     private static final KryoSerializer SERIALIZER = new KryoSerializer() {
         @Override
         protected void setupKryoPool() {
             serializerPool = KryoNamespace.newBuilder()
-                .register(KryoNamespaces.API)
-                .register(HeartbeatMessage.class)
-                .build()
-                .populate(1);
+                    .register(KryoNamespaces.API)
+                    .register(HeartbeatMessage.class)
+                    .build()
+                    .populate(1);
         }
     };
 
@@ -112,18 +116,22 @@
 
     @Activate
     public void activate() {
-        File clusterDefinitionFile = new File(CONFIG_DIR,
-                CLUSTER_DEFINITION_FILE);
+        File clusterDefinitionFile = new File(CONFIG_DIR, CLUSTER_DEFINITION_FILE);
+        ClusterDefinitionStore clusterDefinitionStore =
+                new ClusterDefinitionStore(clusterDefinitionFile.getPath());
+
+        if (!clusterDefinitionFile.exists()) {
+            createDefaultClusterDefinition(clusterDefinitionStore);
+        }
 
         try {
-            clusterDefinition = new ClusterDefinitionStore(
-                    clusterDefinitionFile.getPath()).read();
+            clusterDefinition = clusterDefinitionStore.read();
             seedNodes = ImmutableSet
                     .copyOf(clusterDefinition.getNodes())
                     .stream()
-                    .map(nodeInfo -> new DefaultControllerNode(new NodeId(
-                            nodeInfo.getId()), IpAddress.valueOf(nodeInfo
-                            .getIp()), nodeInfo.getTcpPort()))
+                    .map(nodeInfo -> new DefaultControllerNode(new NodeId(nodeInfo.getId()),
+                                                               IpAddress.valueOf(nodeInfo.getIp()),
+                                                               nodeInfo.getTcpPort()))
                     .collect(Collectors.toSet());
         } catch (IOException e) {
             throw new IllegalStateException(
@@ -148,16 +156,51 @@
                             + " failure detector communication channel.", e);
         }
         messagingService.registerHandler(HEARTBEAT_MESSAGE,
-                new HeartbeatMessageHandler(), heartBeatMessageHandler);
+                                         new HeartbeatMessageHandler(), heartBeatMessageHandler);
 
         failureDetector = new PhiAccrualFailureDetector();
 
         heartBeatSender.scheduleWithFixedDelay(this::heartbeat, 0,
-                HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL_MS, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
+                                               HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL_MS, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
 
         log.info("Started");
     }
 
+    private void createDefaultClusterDefinition(ClusterDefinitionStore store) {
+        // Assumes IPv4 is returned.
+        String ip = DistributedClusterStore.getSiteLocalAddress();
+        String ipPrefix = ip.replaceFirst("\\.[0-9]*$", ".*");
+        NodeInfo node = NodeInfo.from(ip, ip, DEFAULT_PORT);
+        try {
+            store.write(ClusterDefinition.from(ImmutableSet.of(node), ipPrefix));
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            log.warn("Unable to write default cluster definition", e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the site local address if one can be found, loopback otherwise.
+     *
+     * @return site-local address in string form
+     */
+    public static String getSiteLocalAddress() {
+        try {
+            for (NetworkInterface nif : list(getNetworkInterfaces())) {
+                for (InetAddress address : list(nif.getInetAddresses())) {
+                    if (address.getAddress()[0] == (byte) 0xC0) {
+                        return address.toString().substring(1);
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            return InetAddress.getLoopbackAddress().toString().substring(1);
+
+        } catch (SocketException e) {
+            log.error("Unable to get network interfaces", e);
+        }
+
+        return null;
+    }
+
     @Deactivate
     public void deactivate() {
         try {
@@ -300,7 +343,7 @@
                 NetworkInterface.getNetworkInterfaces();
         while (interfaces.hasMoreElements()) {
             NetworkInterface iface = interfaces.nextElement();
-            Enumeration<InetAddress> inetAddresses =  iface.getInetAddresses();
+            Enumeration<InetAddress> inetAddresses = iface.getInetAddresses();
             while (inetAddresses.hasMoreElements()) {
                 IpAddress ip = IpAddress.valueOf(inetAddresses.nextElement());
                 if (AddressUtil.matchInterface(ip.toString(), clusterDefinition.getIpPrefix())) {