diff --git a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/impl/ClusterDefinition.java b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/impl/ClusterDefinition.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 75f05a3..0000000
--- a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/impl/ClusterDefinition.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,58 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright 2015 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.cluster.impl;
-
-import java.util.Set;
-
-import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableSet;
-
-/**
- * Cluster definition.
- */
-public class ClusterDefinition {
-
-    private Set<NodeInfo> nodes;
-    private String ipPrefix;
-
-    /**
-     * Creates a new cluster definition.
-     * @param nodes cluster nodes information
-     * @param ipPrefix ip prefix common to all cluster nodes
-     * @return cluster definition
-     */
-    public static ClusterDefinition from(Set<NodeInfo> nodes, String ipPrefix) {
-        ClusterDefinition definition = new ClusterDefinition();
-        definition.ipPrefix = ipPrefix;
-        definition.nodes = ImmutableSet.copyOf(nodes);
-        return definition;
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Returns set of cluster nodes info.
-     * @return cluster nodes info
-     */
-    public Set<NodeInfo> getNodes() {
-        return ImmutableSet.copyOf(nodes);
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Returns ipPrefix in dotted decimal notion.
-     * @return ip prefix
-     */
-    public String getIpPrefix() {
-        return ipPrefix;
-    }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/impl/ClusterDefinitionManager.java b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/impl/ClusterDefinitionManager.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 8b0001d..0000000
--- a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/impl/ClusterDefinitionManager.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,194 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright 2015 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.cluster.impl;
-
-import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableSet;
-import com.google.common.collect.Sets;
-import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Activate;
-import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Component;
-import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Deactivate;
-import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Service;
-import org.onlab.packet.IpAddress;
-import org.onosproject.cluster.ClusterDefinitionService;
-import org.onosproject.cluster.ControllerNode;
-import org.onosproject.cluster.DefaultControllerNode;
-import org.onosproject.cluster.NodeId;
-import org.onosproject.store.consistent.impl.DatabaseDefinition;
-import org.onosproject.store.consistent.impl.DatabaseDefinitionStore;
-import org.slf4j.Logger;
-
-import java.io.File;
-import java.io.IOException;
-import java.net.InetAddress;
-import java.net.NetworkInterface;
-import java.net.SocketException;
-import java.util.Enumeration;
-import java.util.Set;
-import java.util.stream.Collectors;
-
-import static java.net.NetworkInterface.getNetworkInterfaces;
-import static java.util.Collections.list;
-import static org.onosproject.cluster.DefaultControllerNode.DEFAULT_PORT;
-import static org.onosproject.store.consistent.impl.DatabaseManager.PARTITION_DEFINITION_FILE;
-import static org.slf4j.LoggerFactory.getLogger;
-
-/**
- * Implementation of ClusterDefinitionService.
- */
-@Component(immediate = true)
-@Service
-public class ClusterDefinitionManager implements ClusterDefinitionService {
-
-    public static final String CLUSTER_DEFINITION_FILE = "../config/cluster.json";
-    private static final String ONOS_NIC = "ONOS_NIC";
-    private static final Logger log = getLogger(ClusterDefinitionManager.class);
-    private ControllerNode localNode;
-    private Set<ControllerNode> seedNodes;
-
-    @Activate
-    public void activate() {
-        File clusterDefinitionFile = new File(CLUSTER_DEFINITION_FILE);
-        ClusterDefinitionStore clusterDefinitionStore =
-                new ClusterDefinitionStore(clusterDefinitionFile.getPath());
-
-        if (!clusterDefinitionFile.exists()) {
-            createDefaultClusterDefinition(clusterDefinitionStore);
-        }
-
-        try {
-            ClusterDefinition clusterDefinition = clusterDefinitionStore.read();
-            establishSelfIdentity(clusterDefinition);
-            seedNodes = ImmutableSet
-                    .copyOf(clusterDefinition.getNodes())
-                    .stream()
-                    .filter(n -> !localNode.id().equals(new NodeId(n.getId())))
-                    .map(n -> new DefaultControllerNode(new NodeId(n.getId()),
-                                                        IpAddress.valueOf(n.getIp()),
-                                                        n.getTcpPort()))
-                    .collect(Collectors.toSet());
-        } catch (IOException e) {
-            throw new IllegalStateException("Failed to read cluster definition.", e);
-        }
-
-        log.info("Started");
-    }
-
-    @Deactivate
-    public void deactivate() {
-        log.info("Stopped");
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    public ControllerNode localNode() {
-        return localNode;
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    public Set<ControllerNode> seedNodes() {
-        return seedNodes;
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    public void formCluster(Set<ControllerNode> nodes, String ipPrefix) {
-        try {
-            Set<NodeInfo> infos = Sets.newHashSet();
-            nodes.forEach(n -> infos.add(NodeInfo.from(n.id().toString(),
-                                                       n.ip().toString(),
-                                                       n.tcpPort())));
-
-            ClusterDefinition cdef = ClusterDefinition.from(infos, ipPrefix);
-            new ClusterDefinitionStore(CLUSTER_DEFINITION_FILE).write(cdef);
-
-            DatabaseDefinition ddef = DatabaseDefinition.from(infos);
-            new DatabaseDefinitionStore(PARTITION_DEFINITION_FILE).write(ddef);
-        } catch (IOException e) {
-            log.error("Unable to form cluster", e);
-        }
-    }
-
-    private IpAddress findLocalIp(ClusterDefinition clusterDefinition) throws SocketException {
-        Enumeration<NetworkInterface> interfaces =
-                NetworkInterface.getNetworkInterfaces();
-        while (interfaces.hasMoreElements()) {
-            NetworkInterface iface = interfaces.nextElement();
-            Enumeration<InetAddress> inetAddresses = iface.getInetAddresses();
-            while (inetAddresses.hasMoreElements()) {
-                IpAddress ip = IpAddress.valueOf(inetAddresses.nextElement());
-                if (clusterDefinition.getNodes().stream()
-                        .map(NodeInfo::getIp)
-                        .map(IpAddress::valueOf)
-                        .anyMatch(nodeIp -> ip.equals(nodeIp))) {
-                    return ip;
-                }
-            }
-        }
-        throw new IllegalStateException("Unable to determine local ip");
-    }
-
-    private void establishSelfIdentity(ClusterDefinition clusterDefinition) {
-        try {
-            IpAddress ip = findLocalIp(clusterDefinition);
-            localNode = new DefaultControllerNode(new NodeId(ip.toString()), ip);
-        } catch (SocketException e) {
-            throw new IllegalStateException("Cannot determine local IP", e);
-        }
-    }
-
-    private void createDefaultClusterDefinition(ClusterDefinitionStore store) {
-        // Assumes IPv4 is returned.
-        String ip = 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 address that matches the IP prefix given in ONOS_NIC
-     * environment variable if one was specified, or the first site local
-     * address if one can be found or the loopback address otherwise.
-     *
-     * @return site-local address in string form
-     */
-    public static String getSiteLocalAddress() {
-        try {
-            String ipPrefix = System.getenv(ONOS_NIC);
-            for (NetworkInterface nif : list(getNetworkInterfaces())) {
-                for (InetAddress address : list(nif.getInetAddresses())) {
-                    IpAddress ip = IpAddress.valueOf(address);
-                    if (ipPrefix == null && address.isSiteLocalAddress() ||
-                            ipPrefix != null && matchInterface(ip.toString(), ipPrefix)) {
-                        return ip.toString();
-                    }
-                }
-            }
-        } catch (SocketException e) {
-            log.error("Unable to get network interfaces", e);
-        }
-
-        return IpAddress.valueOf(InetAddress.getLoopbackAddress()).toString();
-    }
-
-    // Indicates whether the specified interface address matches the given prefix.
-    // FIXME: Add a facility to IpPrefix to make this more robust
-    private static boolean matchInterface(String ip, String ipPrefix) {
-        String s = ipPrefix.replaceAll("\\.\\*", "");
-        return ip.startsWith(s);
-    }
-}
diff --git a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/impl/ClusterDefinitionStore.java b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/impl/ClusterDefinitionStore.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 2a2f4dc..0000000
--- a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/impl/ClusterDefinitionStore.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,63 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright 2014-2015 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.cluster.impl;
-
-import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
-
-import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
-import com.google.common.io.Files;
-
-import java.io.File;
-import java.io.IOException;
-
-/**
- * Allows for reading and writing cluster definition as a JSON file.
- */
-public class ClusterDefinitionStore {
-
-    private final File file;
-
-    /**
-     * Creates a reader/writer of the cluster definition file.
-     * @param filePath location of the definition file
-     */
-    public ClusterDefinitionStore(String filePath) {
-        file = new File(filePath);
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Returns the cluster definition.
-     * @return cluster definition
-     * @throws IOException when I/O exception of some sort has occurred
-     */
-    public ClusterDefinition read() throws IOException {
-        ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
-        return mapper.readValue(file, ClusterDefinition.class);
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Writes the specified cluster definition to file.
-     * @param definition cluster definition
-     * @throws IOException when I/O exception of some sort has occurred
-     */
-    public void write(ClusterDefinition definition) throws IOException {
-        checkNotNull(definition);
-        // write back to file
-        Files.createParentDirs(file);
-        ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
-        mapper.writeValue(file, definition);
-    }
-}
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 859efeb..3bb6a70 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
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@
 import org.joda.time.DateTime;
 import org.onlab.packet.IpAddress;
 import org.onlab.util.KryoNamespace;
-import org.onosproject.cluster.ClusterDefinitionService;
 import org.onosproject.cluster.ClusterEvent;
+import org.onosproject.cluster.ClusterMetadataService;
 import org.onosproject.cluster.ClusterStore;
 import org.onosproject.cluster.ClusterStoreDelegate;
 import org.onosproject.cluster.ControllerNode;
@@ -99,14 +99,14 @@
     private ControllerNode localNode;
 
     @Reference(cardinality = ReferenceCardinality.MANDATORY_UNARY)
-    protected ClusterDefinitionService clusterDefinitionService;
+    protected ClusterMetadataService clusterMetadataService;
 
     @Reference(cardinality = ReferenceCardinality.MANDATORY_UNARY)
     protected MessagingService messagingService;
 
     @Activate
     public void activate() {
-        localNode = clusterDefinitionService.localNode();
+        localNode = clusterMetadataService.getLocalNode();
 
         messagingService.registerHandler(HEARTBEAT_MESSAGE,
                                          new HeartbeatMessageHandler(), heartBeatMessageHandler);
@@ -116,9 +116,6 @@
         heartBeatSender.scheduleWithFixedDelay(this::heartbeat, 0,
                                                HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL_MS, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
 
-        addNode(localNode);
-        updateState(localNode.id(), State.ACTIVE);
-
         log.info("Started");
     }
 
@@ -188,7 +185,7 @@
 
     private void addNode(ControllerNode node) {
         allNodes.put(node.id(), node);
-        updateState(node.id(), State.INACTIVE);
+        updateState(node.id(), node.equals(localNode) ? State.ACTIVE : State.INACTIVE);
         notifyDelegate(new ClusterEvent(ClusterEvent.Type.INSTANCE_ADDED, node));
     }
 
diff --git a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/impl/StaticClusterMetadataStore.java b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/impl/StaticClusterMetadataStore.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9f6c413
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/impl/StaticClusterMetadataStore.java
@@ -0,0 +1,221 @@
+package org.onosproject.store.cluster.impl;
+
+import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
+import static java.net.NetworkInterface.getNetworkInterfaces;
+import static org.slf4j.LoggerFactory.getLogger;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.InetAddress;
+import java.net.NetworkInterface;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
+import java.util.function.Function;
+
+import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Activate;
+import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Component;
+import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Deactivate;
+import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Service;
+import org.onlab.packet.IpAddress;
+import org.onosproject.cluster.ClusterMetadata;
+import org.onosproject.cluster.ClusterMetadataEvent;
+import org.onosproject.cluster.ClusterMetadataStore;
+import org.onosproject.cluster.ClusterMetadataStoreDelegate;
+import org.onosproject.cluster.ControllerNode;
+import org.onosproject.cluster.DefaultControllerNode;
+import org.onosproject.cluster.NodeId;
+import org.onosproject.cluster.Partition;
+import org.onosproject.store.AbstractStore;
+import org.onosproject.store.service.Versioned;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonGenerator;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonParser;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonProcessingException;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.DeserializationContext;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonDeserializer;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonNode;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonSerializer;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.SerializerProvider;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.module.SimpleModule;
+import com.google.common.base.Throwables;
+import com.google.common.collect.Lists;
+import com.google.common.io.Files;
+
+/**
+ * ClusterMetadataStore backed by a local file.
+ */
+@Component(immediate = true, enabled = true)
+@Service
+public class StaticClusterMetadataStore
+    extends AbstractStore<ClusterMetadataEvent, ClusterMetadataStoreDelegate>
+    implements ClusterMetadataStore {
+
+    private final Logger log = getLogger(getClass());
+    private static final String CLUSTER_METADATA_FILE = "../config/cluster.json";
+    private static final int DEFAULT_ONOS_PORT = 9876;
+    private final File metadataFile = new File(CLUSTER_METADATA_FILE);
+    private AtomicReference<ClusterMetadata> metadata = new AtomicReference<>();
+    private ObjectMapper mapper;
+    private long version;
+
+    @Activate
+    public void activate() {
+        mapper = new ObjectMapper();
+        SimpleModule module = new SimpleModule();
+        module.addSerializer(NodeId.class, new NodeIdSerializer());
+        module.addDeserializer(NodeId.class, new NodeIdDeserializer());
+        module.addSerializer(ControllerNode.class, new ControllerNodeSerializer());
+        module.addDeserializer(ControllerNode.class, new ControllerNodeDeserializer());
+        mapper.registerModule(module);
+        File metadataFile = new File(CLUSTER_METADATA_FILE);
+        if (metadataFile.exists()) {
+            try {
+                metadata.set(mapper.readValue(metadataFile, ClusterMetadata.class));
+                version = metadataFile.lastModified();
+            } catch (IOException e) {
+                Throwables.propagate(e);
+            }
+        } else {
+            String localIp = getSiteLocalAddress();
+            ControllerNode localNode =
+                    new DefaultControllerNode(new NodeId(localIp), IpAddress.valueOf(localIp), DEFAULT_ONOS_PORT);
+            metadata.set(ClusterMetadata.builder()
+                    .withName("default")
+                    .withControllerNodes(Arrays.asList(localNode))
+                    .withPartitions(Lists.newArrayList(new Partition("p1", Lists.newArrayList(localNode.id()))))
+                    .build());
+            version = System.currentTimeMillis();
+        }
+        log.info("Started");
+    }
+
+    @Deactivate
+    public void deactivate() {
+        log.info("Stopped");
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void setDelegate(ClusterMetadataStoreDelegate delegate) {
+        checkNotNull(delegate, "Delegate cannot be null");
+        this.delegate = delegate;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void unsetDelegate(ClusterMetadataStoreDelegate delegate) {
+        this.delegate = null;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean hasDelegate() {
+        return this.delegate != null;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Versioned<ClusterMetadata> getClusterMetadata() {
+        return new Versioned<>(metadata.get(), version);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void setClusterMetadata(ClusterMetadata metadata) {
+        checkNotNull(metadata);
+        try {
+            Files.createParentDirs(metadataFile);
+            mapper.writeValue(metadataFile, metadata);
+            this.metadata.set(metadata);
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            Throwables.propagate(e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void setActiveReplica(String partitionId, NodeId nodeId) {
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void unsetActiveReplica(String partitionId, NodeId nodeId) {
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Collection<NodeId> getActiveReplicas(String partitionId) {
+        return metadata.get().getPartitions()
+                       .stream()
+                       .filter(r -> r.getName().equals(partitionId))
+                       .findFirst()
+                       .map(r -> r.getMembers())
+                       .orElse(null);
+    }
+
+    private static class ControllerNodeSerializer extends JsonSerializer<ControllerNode> {
+        @Override
+        public void serialize(ControllerNode node, JsonGenerator jgen, SerializerProvider provider)
+          throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
+            jgen.writeStartObject();
+            jgen.writeStringField("id", node.id().toString());
+            jgen.writeStringField("ip", node.ip().toString());
+            jgen.writeNumberField("port", node.tcpPort());
+            jgen.writeEndObject();
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static class ControllerNodeDeserializer extends JsonDeserializer<ControllerNode> {
+        @Override
+        public ControllerNode deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt)
+                throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
+            JsonNode node = jp.getCodec().readTree(jp);
+            NodeId nodeId = new NodeId(node.get("id").textValue());
+            IpAddress ip = IpAddress.valueOf(node.get("ip").textValue());
+            int port = node.get("port").asInt();
+            return new DefaultControllerNode(nodeId, ip, port);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static class NodeIdSerializer extends JsonSerializer<NodeId> {
+        @Override
+        public void serialize(NodeId nodeId, JsonGenerator jgen, SerializerProvider provider)
+          throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
+            jgen.writeString(nodeId.toString());
+        }
+    }
+
+    private class NodeIdDeserializer extends JsonDeserializer<NodeId> {
+        @Override
+        public NodeId deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt)
+          throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
+            JsonNode node = jp.getCodec().readTree(jp);
+            return new NodeId(node.asText());
+        }
+    }
+
+
+    private static String getSiteLocalAddress() {
+        Function<NetworkInterface, IpAddress> ipLookup = nif -> {
+            for (InetAddress address : Collections.list(nif.getInetAddresses())) {
+                if (address.isSiteLocalAddress()) {
+                    return IpAddress.valueOf(address);
+                }
+            }
+            return null;
+        };
+        try {
+            IpAddress ip = ipLookup.apply(NetworkInterface.getByName("eth0"));
+            if (ip != null) {
+                return ip.toString();
+            }
+            for (NetworkInterface nif : Collections.list(getNetworkInterfaces())) {
+                ip = ipLookup.apply(nif);
+                if (ip != null) {
+                    return ip.toString();
+                }
+            }
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            throw new IllegalStateException("Unable to get network interfaces", e);
+        }
+        return IpAddress.valueOf(InetAddress.getLoopbackAddress()).toString();
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file