diff --git a/src/util/config-file.hpp b/src/util/config-file.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cecceba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/util/config-file.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+/* -*- Mode:C++; c-file-style:"gnu"; indent-tabs-mode:nil; -*- */
+/**
+ * Copyright (C) 2014 Named Data Networking Project
+ * See COPYING for copyright and distribution information.
+ */
+
+#ifndef NDN_MANAGEMENT_CONFIG_FILE_HPP
+#define NDN_MANAGEMENT_CONFIG_FILE_HPP
+
+#include "../common.hpp"
+
+#include <boost/property_tree/ptree.hpp>
+#include <boost/filesystem.hpp>
+
+namespace ndn {
+
+class ConfigFile : noncopyable
+{
+public:
+
+  class Error : public std::runtime_error
+  {
+  public:
+    Error(const std::string& what)
+      : std::runtime_error(what)
+    {
+
+    }
+  };
+
+  typedef boost::property_tree::ptree Parsed;
+
+  /**
+   * Locate, open, and parse a library configuration file.
+   *
+   * @throws ConfigFile::Error on parse error
+   */
+  ConfigFile();
+
+  ~ConfigFile();
+
+  const boost::filesystem::path&
+  getPath() const;
+
+  const Parsed&
+  getParsedConfiguration() const;
+
+private:
+
+  bool
+  open();
+
+  void
+  close();
+
+  /**
+   * Parse a previously discovered and opened configuration file.
+   * For convenience this method will attempt to open the file
+   * if it has previously been located, but open() has not been called.
+   *
+   * @throws ConfigFile::Error on parse error
+   * @throws ConfigFile::Error on failure to open previously un-open configuration file
+   * @throws ConfigFile::Error if no configuration file was previously located
+   */
+  const Parsed&
+  parse();
+
+  /**
+   * Looking for the configuration file in these well-known locations:
+   *
+   * 1. $HOME/.ndn/client.conf
+   * 2. @SYSCONFDIR@/ndn/client.conf
+   * 3. /etc/ndn/client.conf
+   *
+   * @return path to preferred configuration (according to above order) or empty path on failure
+   */
+
+  boost::filesystem::path
+  findConfigFile();
+
+private:
+  boost::filesystem::path m_path; // absolute path to active configuration file (if any)
+  std::ifstream m_input;
+  Parsed m_config;
+};
+
+inline const boost::filesystem::path&
+ConfigFile::getPath() const
+{
+  return m_path;
+}
+
+inline const ConfigFile::Parsed&
+ConfigFile::getParsedConfiguration() const
+{
+  return m_config;
+}
+
+} // namespace ndn
+
+
+#endif // NDN_MANAGEMENT_CONFIG_FILE_HPP
+