diff --git a/src/daemon/config-file.hpp b/src/daemon/config-file.hpp
index fca4af2..a177bfa 100644
--- a/src/daemon/config-file.hpp
+++ b/src/daemon/config-file.hpp
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
 /* -*- Mode:C++; c-file-style:"gnu"; indent-tabs-mode:nil; -*- */
-/**
- * Copyright (c) 2014, Regents of the University of California.
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2014-2018,  Regents of the University of California,
+ *                           Arizona Board of Regents,
+ *                           Colorado State University,
+ *                           University Pierre & Marie Curie, Sorbonne University,
+ *                           Washington University in St. Louis,
+ *                           Beijing Institute of Technology,
+ *                           The University of Memphis.
  *
  * This file is part of NDNS (Named Data Networking Domain Name Service).
  * See AUTHORS.md for complete list of NDNS authors and contributors.
@@ -17,59 +23,40 @@
  * NDNS, e.g., in COPYING.md file.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
  */
 
-/**
- * Copyright (c) 2014  Regents of the University of California,
- *                     Arizona Board of Regents,
- *                     Colorado State University,
- *                     University Pierre & Marie Curie, Sorbonne University,
- *                     Washington University in St. Louis,
- *                     Beijing Institute of Technology
- *
- * This file is part of NFD (Named Data Networking Forwarding Daemon).
- * See AUTHORS.md for complete list of NFD authors and contributors.
- *
- * NFD 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.
- *
- * NFD 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
- * NFD, e.g., in COPYING.md file.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
- **/
-
 #ifndef NDNS_DAEMON_CONFIG_FILE_HPP
 #define NDNS_DAEMON_CONFIG_FILE_HPP
 
 #include "common.hpp"
-#include <functional>
-#include <map>
-#include <boost/noncopyable.hpp>
-#include <boost/property_tree/ptree.hpp>
-
 
 namespace ndn {
 namespace ndns {
 
+/** \brief a config file section
+ */
 typedef boost::property_tree::ptree ConfigSection;
 
-/// \brief callback for config file sections
-typedef std::function<void(const ConfigSection& /*section*/,
-                      bool /*isDryRun*/,
-                      const std::string& /*filename*/)> ConfigSectionHandler;
+/** \brief an optional config file section
+ */
+typedef boost::optional<const ConfigSection&> OptionalConfigSection;
 
-/// \brief callback for config file sections without a subscribed handler
-typedef std::function<void(const std::string& /*filename*/,
-                      const std::string& /*sectionName*/,
-                      const ConfigSection& /*section*/,
-                      bool /*isDryRun*/)> UnknownConfigSectionHandler;
+/** \brief callback to process a config file section
+ */
+typedef function<void(const ConfigSection& section,
+                      bool isDryRun,
+                      const std::string& filename)> ConfigSectionHandler;
 
-class ConfigFile : boost::noncopyable
+/** \brief callback to process a config file section without a \p ConfigSectionHandler
+ */
+typedef function<void(const std::string& filename,
+                      const std::string& sectionName,
+                      const ConfigSection& section,
+                      bool isDryRun)> UnknownConfigSectionHandler;
+
+/** \brief configuration file parsing utility
+ */
+class ConfigFile : noncopyable
 {
 public:
-
   class Error : public std::runtime_error
   {
   public:
@@ -77,12 +64,13 @@
     Error(const std::string& what)
       : std::runtime_error(what)
     {
-
     }
   };
 
+  explicit
   ConfigFile(UnknownConfigSectionHandler unknownSectionCallback = throwErrorOnUnknownSection);
 
+public: // unknown section handlers
   static void
   throwErrorOnUnknownSection(const std::string& filename,
                              const std::string& sectionName,
@@ -95,12 +83,55 @@
                        const ConfigSection& section,
                        bool isDryRun);
 
+public: // parse helpers
+  /** \brief parse a config option that can be either "yes" or "no"
+   *  \retval true "yes"
+   *  \retval false "no"
+   *  \throw Error the value is neither "yes" nor "no"
+   */
+  static bool
+  parseYesNo(const ConfigSection& node, const std::string& key, const std::string& sectionName);
+
+  static bool
+  parseYesNo(const ConfigSection::value_type& option, const std::string& sectionName)
+  {
+    return parseYesNo(option.second, option.first, sectionName);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * \brief parse a numeric (integral or floating point) config option
+   * \tparam T an arithmetic type
+   *
+   * \return the numeric value of the parsed option
+   * \throw Error the value cannot be converted to the specified type
+   */
+  template<typename T>
+  static T
+  parseNumber(const ConfigSection& node, const std::string& key, const std::string& sectionName)
+  {
+    static_assert(std::is_arithmetic<T>::value, "T must be an arithmetic type");
+
+    boost::optional<T> value = node.get_value_optional<T>();
+    if (value) {
+      return *value;
+    }
+    BOOST_THROW_EXCEPTION(Error("Invalid value \"" + node.get_value<std::string>() +
+                                "\" for option \"" + key + "\" in \"" + sectionName + "\" section"));
+  }
+
+  template <typename T>
+  static T
+  parseNumber(const ConfigSection::value_type& option, const std::string& sectionName)
+  {
+    return parseNumber<T>(option.second, option.first, sectionName);
+  }
+
+public: // setup and parsing
   /// \brief setup notification of configuration file sections
   void
   addSectionHandler(const std::string& sectionName,
                     ConfigSectionHandler subscriber);
 
-
   /**
    * \param filename file to parse
    * \param isDryRun true if performing a dry run of configuration, false otherwise
@@ -113,7 +144,7 @@
   /**
    * \param input configuration (as a string) to parse
    * \param isDryRun true if performing a dry run of configuration, false otherwise
-   * \param filename optional convenience argument to provide more detailed error messages
+   * \param filename logical filename of the config file, can appear in error messages
    * \throws ConfigFile::Error if file not found
    * \throws ConfigFile::Error if parse error
    */
@@ -123,24 +154,28 @@
   /**
    * \param input stream to parse
    * \param isDryRun true if performing a dry run of configuration, false otherwise
-   * \param filename optional convenience argument to provide more detailed error messages
+   * \param filename logical filename of the config file, can appear in error messages
    * \throws ConfigFile::Error if parse error
    */
   void
   parse(std::istream& input, bool isDryRun, const std::string& filename);
 
-private:
-
+  /**
+   * \param config ConfigSection that needs to be processed
+   * \param isDryRun true if performing a dry run of configuration, false otherwise
+   * \param filename logical filename of the config file, can appear in error messages
+   * \throws ConfigFile::Error if parse error
+   */
   void
-  process(bool isDryRun, const std::string& filename);
+  parse(const ConfigSection& config, bool isDryRun, const std::string& filename);
+
+private:
+  void
+  process(bool isDryRun, const std::string& filename) const;
 
 private:
   UnknownConfigSectionHandler m_unknownSectionCallback;
-
-  typedef std::map<std::string, ConfigSectionHandler> SubscriptionTable;
-
-  SubscriptionTable m_subscriptions;
-
+  std::map<std::string, ConfigSectionHandler> m_subscriptions;
   ConfigSection m_global;
 };