diff --git a/catalog/src/util/mysql-util.hpp b/catalog/src/util/mysql-util.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..da3c0b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/catalog/src/util/mysql-util.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+/** NDN-Atmos: Cataloging Service for distributed data originally developed
+ *  for atmospheric science data
+ *  Copyright (C) 2015 Colorado State University
+ *
+ *  NDN-Atmos is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ *  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ *  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ *  (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ *  NDN-Atmos is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ *  GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ *  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ *  along with NDN-Atmos.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+**/
+
+#ifndef ATMOS_UTIL_CONNECTION_DETAILS_HPP
+#define ATMOS_UTIL_CONNECTION_DETAILS_HPP
+
+#include "mysql/mysql.h"
+
+#include <memory>
+#include <string>
+
+namespace atmos {
+namespace util {
+struct ConnectionDetails {
+public:
+  std::string server;
+  std::string user;
+  std::string password;
+  std::string database;
+
+  ConnectionDetails(const std::string& serverInput, const std::string& userInput,
+                    const std::string& passwordInput, const std::string& databaseInput);
+};
+
+std::shared_ptr<MYSQL>
+MySQLConnectionSetup(ConnectionDetails& details);
+
+std::shared_ptr<MYSQL_RES>
+PerformQuery(std::shared_ptr<MYSQL> connection, const std::string& sql_query);
+
+} // namespace util
+} // namespace atmos
+#endif //ATMOS_UTIL_CONNECTION_DETAILS_HPP