diff --git a/installedPlugins/.empty b/installedPlugins/.data/.empty
similarity index 100%
rename from installedPlugins/.empty
rename to installedPlugins/.data/.empty
diff --git a/src/cli/serve/serve.js b/src/cli/serve/serve.js
index 9b73b11720f28..a104eb5eb94f1 100644
--- a/src/cli/serve/serve.js
+++ b/src/cli/serve/serve.js
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { statSync } from 'fs';
 import { isWorker } from 'cluster';
 import { resolve } from 'path';
 import { fromRoot } from '../../utils';
+import { getConfig } from '../../server/path';
 import readYamlConfig from './read_yaml_config';
 
 let canCluster;
@@ -77,7 +78,7 @@ module.exports = function (program) {
     'Path to the config file, can be changed with the CONFIG_PATH environment variable as well. ' +
     'Use mulitple --config args to include multiple config files.',
     configPathCollector,
-    [ process.env.CONFIG_PATH || fromRoot('config/kibana.yml') ]
+    [ getConfig() ]
   )
   .option('-p, --port <port>', 'The port to bind to', parseInt)
   .option('-q, --quiet', 'Prevent all logging except errors')
diff --git a/src/cli_plugin/install/index.js b/src/cli_plugin/install/index.js
index cb5bdaf69bc69..74f19bef53729 100644
--- a/src/cli_plugin/install/index.js
+++ b/src/cli_plugin/install/index.js
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import fs from 'fs';
 import install from './install';
 import Logger from '../lib/logger';
 import pkg from '../../utils/package_json';
+import { getConfig } from '../../server/path';
 import { parse, parseMilliseconds } from './settings';
 import { find } from 'lodash';
 
@@ -20,24 +21,6 @@ function processCommand(command, options) {
   install(settings, logger);
 }
 
-function getDefaultConfigPath() {
-  const paths = [
-    fromRoot('config/kibana.yml'),
-    '/etc/kibana/kibana.yml'
-  ];
-
-  const availablePath = find(paths, configPath => {
-    try {
-      fs.accessSync(configPath, fs.R_OK);
-      return true;
-    } catch (e) {
-      //Check the next path
-    }
-  });
-
-  return availablePath || paths[0];
-}
-
 export default function pluginInstall(program) {
   program
   .command('install <plugin/url>')
@@ -46,7 +29,7 @@ export default function pluginInstall(program) {
   .option(
     '-c, --config <path>',
     'path to the config file',
-    getDefaultConfigPath()
+    getConfig()
   )
   .option(
     '-t, --timeout <duration>',
diff --git a/src/cli_plugin/remove/index.js b/src/cli_plugin/remove/index.js
index b763e6882fc6d..3ea83a1b7200f 100644
--- a/src/cli_plugin/remove/index.js
+++ b/src/cli_plugin/remove/index.js
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { fromRoot } from '../../utils';
 import remove from './remove';
 import Logger from '../lib/logger';
 import { parse } from './settings';
+import { getConfig } from '../../server/path';
 
 function processCommand(command, options) {
   let settings;
@@ -25,7 +26,7 @@ export default function pluginRemove(program) {
   .option(
     '-c, --config <path>',
     'path to the config file',
-    fromRoot('config/kibana.yml')
+    getConfig()
   )
   .option(
     '-d, --plugin-dir <path>',
diff --git a/src/server/config/schema.js b/src/server/config/schema.js
index 55f4d31bad6c3..bb78856f1c72b 100644
--- a/src/server/config/schema.js
+++ b/src/server/config/schema.js
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import { randomBytes } from 'crypto';
 import os from 'os';
 
 import { fromRoot } from '../../utils';
+import { getData } from '../path';
 
 module.exports = () => Joi.object({
   pkg: Joi.object({
@@ -95,6 +96,10 @@ module.exports = () => Joi.object({
     initialize: Joi.boolean().default(true)
   }).default(),
 
+  path: Joi.object({
+    data: Joi.string().default(getData())
+  }).default(),
+
   optimize: Joi.object({
     enabled: Joi.boolean().default(true),
     bundleFilter: Joi.string().default('!tests'),
diff --git a/src/server/path/__tests__/index.js b/src/server/path/__tests__/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..c709df29dc0e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/server/path/__tests__/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+import expect from 'expect.js';
+import path from '../';
+import { accessSync, R_OK} from 'fs';
+
+describe('Default path finder', function () {
+  it('should find a kibana.yml', () => {
+    const configPath = path.getConfig();
+    expect(() => accessSync(configPath, R_OK)).to.not.throwError();
+  });
+
+  it('should find a data directory', () => {
+    const dataPath = path.getData();
+    expect(() => accessSync(dataPath, R_OK)).to.not.throwError();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/server/path/index.js b/src/server/path/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..e0bd49097c08f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/server/path/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+import { accessSync, R_OK} from 'fs';
+import { find } from 'lodash';
+import { fromRoot } from '../../utils';
+
+const CONFIG_PATHS = [
+  process.env.CONFIG_PATH,
+  fromRoot('config/kibana.yml'),
+  '/etc/kibana/kibana.yml'
+].filter(Boolean);
+
+const DATA_PATHS = [
+  process.env.DATA_PATH,
+  fromRoot('installedPlugins/.data'),
+  '/var/lib/kibana'
+].filter(Boolean);
+
+function findFile(paths) {
+  const availablePath = find(paths, configPath => {
+    try {
+      accessSync(configPath, R_OK);
+      return true;
+    } catch (e) {
+      //Check the next path
+    }
+  });
+  return availablePath || paths[0];
+}
+
+export default {
+  getConfig: () => findFile(CONFIG_PATHS),
+  getData: () => findFile(DATA_PATHS)
+};
diff --git a/tasks/build/installed_plugins.js b/tasks/build/installed_plugins.js
index 7d8d6618ff488..5d2fcc4d4ed37 100644
--- a/tasks/build/installed_plugins.js
+++ b/tasks/build/installed_plugins.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 module.exports = function (grunt) {
   grunt.registerTask('_build:installedPlugins', function () {
     grunt.file.mkdir('build/kibana/installedPlugins');
+    grunt.file.mkdir('build/kibana/installedPlugins/.data');
   });
 };
diff --git a/tasks/build/os_packages.js b/tasks/build/os_packages.js
index c739bf122e1c2..7a869ca7a2f77 100644
--- a/tasks/build/os_packages.js
+++ b/tasks/build/os_packages.js
@@ -44,9 +44,11 @@ export default (grunt) => {
         '--template-value', `optimizeDir=${packages.path.home}/optimize`,
         '--template-value', `configDir=${packages.path.conf}`,
         '--template-value', `pluginsDir=${packages.path.plugins}`,
+        '--template-value', `dataDir=${packages.path.data}`,
         //config folder is moved to path.conf, exclude {path.home}/config
         //uses relative path to --prefix, strip the leading /
-        '--exclude', `${packages.path.home.slice(1)}/config`
+        '--exclude', `${packages.path.home.slice(1)}/config`,
+        '--exclude', `${packages.path.home.slice(1)}/installedPlugins/.data`
       ];
       const debOptions = [
         '-t', 'deb',
@@ -59,6 +61,7 @@ export default (grunt) => {
       const args = [
         `${buildDir}/=${packages.path.home}/`,
         `${buildDir}/config/=${packages.path.conf}/`,
+        `${buildDir}/installedPlugins/.data/=${packages.path.data}/`,
         `${servicesByName.sysv.outputDir}/etc/=/etc/`,
         `${servicesByName.systemd.outputDir}/lib/=/lib/`
       ];
diff --git a/tasks/build/package_scripts/post_install.sh b/tasks/build/package_scripts/post_install.sh
index beef49af21753..bc31f19f19953 100644
--- a/tasks/build/package_scripts/post_install.sh
+++ b/tasks/build/package_scripts/post_install.sh
@@ -15,3 +15,5 @@ if ! user_check "<%= user %>" ; then
   user_create "<%= user %>"
 fi
 chown -R <%= user %>:<%= group %> <%= optimizeDir %>
+chown <%= user %>:<%= group %> <%= dataDir %>
+chown <%= user %>:<%= group %> <%= pluginsDir %>
diff --git a/tasks/build/package_scripts/post_remove.sh b/tasks/build/package_scripts/post_remove.sh
index d0ac977cdd3b2..c1499c2940d83 100644
--- a/tasks/build/package_scripts/post_remove.sh
+++ b/tasks/build/package_scripts/post_remove.sh
@@ -59,4 +59,8 @@ if [ "$REMOVE_DIRS" = "true" ]; then
   if [ -d "<%= configDir %>" ]; then
     rmdir --ignore-fail-on-non-empty "<%= configDir %>"
   fi
+
+  if [ -d "<%= dataDir %>" ]; then
+    rmdir --ignore-fail-on-non-empty "<%= dataDir %>"
+  fi
 fi
diff --git a/tasks/config/packages.js b/tasks/config/packages.js
index 3162c4bffff33..1c6aef8c2934c 100644
--- a/tasks/config/packages.js
+++ b/tasks/config/packages.js
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ export default (grunt) => {
 
   const FOLDER_CONFIG = '/etc/kibana';
   const FOLDER_HOME = '/usr/share/kibana';
+  const FOLDER_DATA = '/var/lib/kibana';
   const FOLDER_PLUGINS = `${FOLDER_HOME}/installedPlugins`;
 
   const FILE_KIBANA_CONF = `${FOLDER_CONFIG}/kibana.yml`;
@@ -43,6 +44,7 @@ export default (grunt) => {
     version: VERSION,
     path: {
       conf: FOLDER_CONFIG,
+      data: FOLDER_DATA,
       plugins: FOLDER_PLUGINS,
       home: FOLDER_HOME,
       kibanaBin: FILE_KIBANA_BINARY,