diff --git a/src/util/config-file.cpp b/src/util/config-file.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..031df25
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/util/config-file.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+/* -*- Mode:C++; c-file-style:"gnu"; indent-tabs-mode:nil; -*- */
+/**
+ * Copyright (C) 2014 Named Data Networking Project
+ * See COPYING for copyright and distribution information.
+ */
+
+
+#include "config-file.hpp"
+
+#include <boost/property_tree/ini_parser.hpp>
+#include <boost/filesystem.hpp>
+
+namespace ndn {
+
+ConfigFile::ConfigFile()
+  : m_path(findConfigFile())
+{
+  if (open())
+    {
+      parse();
+      close();
+    }
+}
+
+ConfigFile::~ConfigFile()
+{
+  if (m_input.is_open())
+    {
+      m_input.close();
+    }
+}
+
+boost::filesystem::path
+ConfigFile::findConfigFile()
+{
+  using namespace boost::filesystem;
+
+  path home(std::getenv("HOME"));
+  if (!home.empty())
+    {
+      home /= ".ndn/client.conf";
+      if (exists(home))
+        {
+          return absolute(home);
+        }
+    }
+
+#ifdef NDN_CPP_SYSCONFDIR
+  path sysconfdir(NDN_CPP_SYSCONFDIR);
+  sysconfdir /= "ndn/client.conf";
+
+  if (exists(sysconfdir))
+    {
+      return absolute(sysconfdir);
+    }
+#endif // NDN_CPP_SYSCONFDIR
+
+  path etc("/etc/ndn/client.conf");
+  if (exists(etc))
+    {
+      return absolute(etc);
+    }
+
+  return path();
+}
+
+
+
+bool
+ConfigFile::open()
+{
+  if (m_path.empty())
+    {
+      return false;
+    }
+
+  m_input.open(m_path.c_str());
+  if (!m_input.good() || !m_input.is_open())
+    {
+      return false;
+    }
+  return true;
+}
+
+void
+ConfigFile::close()
+{
+  if (m_input.is_open())
+    {
+      m_input.close();
+    }
+}
+
+
+const ConfigFile::Parsed&
+ConfigFile::parse()
+{
+  if (m_path.empty())
+    {
+      throw Error("Failed to locate configuration file for parsing");
+    }
+  else if (!m_input.is_open() && !open())
+    {
+      throw Error("Failed to open configuration file for parsing");
+    }
+
+  try
+    {
+      boost::property_tree::read_ini(m_input, m_config);
+    }
+  catch (const boost::property_tree::ini_parser_error& error)
+    {
+      std::stringstream msg;
+      msg << "Failed to parse configuration file";
+      msg << " " << m_path;
+      msg << " " << error.message() << " line " << error.line();
+      throw Error(msg.str());
+    }
+  return m_config;
+}
+
+}
+
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
+