diff --git a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/configuration/KafkaConfig.java b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/configuration/KafkaConfig.java
index ee2102de..6fd1454d 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/configuration/KafkaConfig.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/configuration/KafkaConfig.java
@@ -17,8 +17,10 @@
 
 package monasca.persister.configuration;
 
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonIgnoreProperties;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
 
+@JsonIgnoreProperties(ignoreUnknown=true)
 public class KafkaConfig {
 
   @JsonProperty
@@ -26,110 +28,170 @@ public class KafkaConfig {
 
   @JsonProperty
   String zookeeperConnect;
+  String _zookeeperConnect = "127.0.0.1";
 
   @JsonProperty
   Integer socketTimeoutMs;
+  Integer _socketTimeoutMs = 30000;
 
   @JsonProperty
   Integer socketReceiveBufferBytes;
+  Integer _socketReceiveBufferBytes = 65536;
 
   @JsonProperty
   Integer fetchMessageMaxBytes;
+  Integer _fetchMessageMaxBytes = 1048576;
 
   @JsonProperty
   Integer queuedMaxMessageChunks;
+  Integer _queuedMaxMessageChunks = 10;
 
   @JsonProperty
   Integer rebalanceMaxRetries;
+  Integer _rebalanceMaxRetries = 4;
 
   @JsonProperty
   Integer fetchMinBytes;
+  Integer _fetchMinBytes = 1;
 
   @JsonProperty
   Integer fetchWaitMaxMs;
+  Integer _fetchWaitMaxMs = 100;
 
   @JsonProperty
   Integer rebalanceBackoffMs;
+  Integer _rebalanceBackoffMs = 2000;
 
   @JsonProperty
   Integer refreshLeaderBackoffMs;
+  Integer _refreshLeaderBackoffMs = 200;
 
   @JsonProperty
   String autoOffsetReset;
+  String _autoOffsetReset = "largest";
 
   @JsonProperty
   Integer consumerTimeoutMs;
+  Integer _consumerTimeoutMs = 1000;
 
   @JsonProperty
   Integer zookeeperSessionTimeoutMs;
+  Integer _zookeeperSessionTimeoutMs = 60000;
 
   @JsonProperty
   Integer zookeeperConnectionTimeoutMs;
+  Integer _zookeeperConnectionTimeoutMs = 60000;
 
   @JsonProperty
   Integer zookeeperSyncTimeMs;
+  Integer _zookeeperSyncTimeMs = 2000;
 
   public String getTopic() {
     return topic;
   }
 
   public String getZookeeperConnect() {
+    if ( zookeeperConnect == null ) {
+      return _zookeeperConnect;
+    }
     return zookeeperConnect;
   }
 
   public Integer getSocketTimeoutMs() {
+    if ( socketTimeoutMs == null ) {
+      return _socketTimeoutMs;
+    }
     return socketTimeoutMs;
   }
 
   public Integer getSocketReceiveBufferBytes() {
+    if ( socketReceiveBufferBytes == null ) {
+      return _socketReceiveBufferBytes;
+    }
     return socketReceiveBufferBytes;
   }
 
   public Integer getFetchMessageMaxBytes() {
+    if ( fetchMessageMaxBytes == null ) {
+      return _fetchMessageMaxBytes;
+    }
     return fetchMessageMaxBytes;
   }
 
   public Integer getQueuedMaxMessageChunks() {
+    if ( queuedMaxMessageChunks == null ) {
+      return _queuedMaxMessageChunks;
+    }
     return queuedMaxMessageChunks;
   }
 
   public Integer getRebalanceMaxRetries() {
+    if ( rebalanceMaxRetries == null ) {
+      return _rebalanceMaxRetries;
+    }
     return rebalanceMaxRetries;
   }
 
   public Integer getFetchMinBytes() {
+    if ( fetchMinBytes == null ) {
+      return _fetchMinBytes;
+    }
     return fetchMinBytes;
   }
 
   public Integer getFetchWaitMaxMs() {
+    if ( fetchWaitMaxMs == null ) {
+      return _fetchWaitMaxMs;
+    }
     return fetchWaitMaxMs;
   }
 
   public Integer getRebalanceBackoffMs() {
+    if ( rebalanceBackoffMs == null ) {
+      return _rebalanceBackoffMs;
+    }
     return rebalanceBackoffMs;
   }
 
   public Integer getRefreshLeaderBackoffMs() {
+    if ( refreshLeaderBackoffMs == null ) {
+      return _refreshLeaderBackoffMs;
+    }
     return refreshLeaderBackoffMs;
   }
 
   public String getAutoOffsetReset() {
+    if ( autoOffsetReset == null ) {
+      return _autoOffsetReset;
+    }
     return autoOffsetReset;
   }
 
   public Integer getConsumerTimeoutMs() {
+    if ( consumerTimeoutMs == null ) {
+      return _consumerTimeoutMs;
+    }
     return consumerTimeoutMs;
   }
 
   public Integer getZookeeperSessionTimeoutMs() {
+    if ( zookeeperSessionTimeoutMs == null ) {
+      return _zookeeperSessionTimeoutMs;
+    }
     return zookeeperSessionTimeoutMs;
   }
 
   public Integer getZookeeperConnectionTimeoutMs() {
+    if ( zookeeperConnectionTimeoutMs == null ) {
+      return _zookeeperConnectionTimeoutMs;
+    }
     return zookeeperConnectionTimeoutMs;
   }
 
   public Integer getZookeeperSyncTimeMs() {
+    if ( zookeeperSyncTimeMs == null ) {
+      return _zookeeperSyncTimeMs;
+    }
     return zookeeperSyncTimeMs;
   }
 }
diff --git a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/configuration/PersisterConfig.java b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/configuration/PersisterConfig.java
index b8d09a68..9efab2e9 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/configuration/PersisterConfig.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/configuration/PersisterConfig.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 
 package monasca.persister.configuration;
 
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonIgnoreProperties;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
 
 import monasca.common.configuration.CassandraDbConfiguration;
@@ -30,22 +31,30 @@ import io.dropwizard.db.DataSourceFactory;
 import javax.validation.Valid;
 import javax.validation.constraints.NotNull;
 
+@JsonIgnoreProperties(ignoreUnknown=true)
 public class PersisterConfig extends Configuration {
 
   @JsonProperty
   private String name;
+  private String _name = "monasca-persister";
 
   public String getName() {
+    if ( name == null ) {
+      return _name;
+    }
     return name;
   }
 
   @JsonProperty
   @NotNull
   @Valid
-  private final PipelineConfig alarmHistoryConfiguration =
-      new PipelineConfig();
+  private final PipelineConfig alarmHistoryConfiguration = new PipelineConfig();
 
   public PipelineConfig getAlarmHistoryConfiguration() {
+    // Set alarm history configuration specific defaults
+    alarmHistoryConfiguration.setDefaults("alarm-state-transitions",
+                               "1_alarm-state-transitions",
+                               1);
     return alarmHistoryConfiguration;
   }
 
@@ -54,7 +63,12 @@ public class PersisterConfig extends Configuration {
   @Valid
   private final PipelineConfig metricConfiguration = new PipelineConfig();
 
+
   public PipelineConfig getMetricConfiguration() {
+    // Set metric configuration specific defaults
+    metricConfiguration.setDefaults("metrics",
+                                    "1_metrics",
+                                    20000);
     return metricConfiguration;
   }
 
diff --git a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/configuration/PipelineConfig.java b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/configuration/PipelineConfig.java
index b5f95016..d578280e 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/configuration/PipelineConfig.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/configuration/PipelineConfig.java
@@ -17,35 +17,58 @@
 
 package monasca.persister.configuration;
 
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonIgnoreProperties;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
 
+@JsonIgnoreProperties(ignoreUnknown=true)
 public class PipelineConfig {
 
   @JsonProperty
   String topic;
+  String _topic; // No default: default provided by constructor
 
   @JsonProperty
   String groupId;
+  String _groupId; // No default: default provided by constructor
 
   @JsonProperty
   String consumerId;
+  String _consumerId = "monasca-persister";
 
   @JsonProperty
   String clientId;
+  String _clientId = "monasca-persister";
 
   @JsonProperty
   Integer batchSize;
+  Integer _batchSize; // No default: default provided by constructor
 
   @JsonProperty
   Integer numThreads;
+  Integer _numThreads = 1;
 
   @JsonProperty
   Integer maxBatchTime;
+  Integer _maxBatchTime = 10;
 
   @JsonProperty
   Integer commitBatchTime;
+  Integer _commitBatchTime = 0;
+
+  /** Used to set default values for properties that have different sensible
+   * defaults for metric and alarm configurations, respectively.
+   */
+  public void setDefaults(String defaultTopic, String defaultGroupId,
+                          Integer defaultBatchSize) {
+    _batchSize = defaultBatchSize;
+    _groupId = defaultGroupId;
+    _topic = defaultTopic;
+  }
 
   public Integer getCommitBatchTime() {
+    if ( commitBatchTime == null ) {
+      return _commitBatchTime;
+    }
     return commitBatchTime;
   }
 
@@ -54,10 +77,16 @@ public class PipelineConfig {
   }
 
   public String getTopic() {
+    if ( topic == null ) {
+      return _topic;
+    }
     return topic;
   }
 
   public String getGroupId() {
+    if ( groupId == null ) {
+      return _groupId;
+    }
     return groupId;
   }
 
@@ -66,6 +95,9 @@ public class PipelineConfig {
   }
 
   public String getConsumerId() {
+    if ( consumerId == null ) {
+      return _consumerId;
+    }
     return consumerId;
   }
 
@@ -74,6 +106,9 @@ public class PipelineConfig {
   }
 
   public String getClientId() {
+    if ( clientId == null ) {
+      return _clientId;
+    }
     return clientId;
   }
 
@@ -94,14 +129,23 @@ public class PipelineConfig {
   }
 
   public Integer getBatchSize() {
+    if ( batchSize == null ) {
+      return _batchSize;
+    }
     return batchSize;
   }
 
   public Integer getNumThreads() {
+    if ( numThreads == null ) {
+      return _numThreads;
+    }
     return numThreads;
   }
 
   public Integer getMaxBatchTime() {
+    if ( maxBatchTime == null ) {
+      return _maxBatchTime;
+    }
     return maxBatchTime;
   }
 }