diff --git a/ohmu_common_py/fileutil.py b/ohmu_common_py/fileutil.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b7f060d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ohmu_common_py/fileutil.py
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+"""
+ohmu_common_py - json file handling utility functions
+
+Copyright (c) 2015 Ohmu Ltd
+See LICENSE for details
+"""
+import datetime
+import json
+import os
+import tempfile
+
+
+def default_json_serialization(obj):
+    if isinstance(obj, datetime.datetime):
+        if obj.tzinfo:
+            return obj.isoformat().replace("+00:00", "Z")
+        # assume UTC for datetime objects without a timezone
+        return obj.isoformat() + "Z"
+
+
+def json_encode(obj, compact=True, binary=False):
+    res = json.dumps(obj,
+                     sort_keys=not compact,
+                     indent=None if compact else 4,
+                     separators=(",", ":") if compact else None,
+                     default=default_json_serialization)
+    return res.encode("utf-8") if binary else res
+
+
+def write_json_file(filename, obj, *, compact=False):
+    json_data = json_encode(obj, compact=compact)
+    dirname, basename = os.path.dirname(filename), os.path.basename(filename)
+    fd, tempname = tempfile.mkstemp(dir=dirname or ".", prefix=basename, suffix=".tmp")
+    with os.fdopen(fd, "w") as fp:
+        fp.write(json_data)
+        if not compact:
+            fp.write("\n")
+    os.rename(tempname, filename)
diff --git a/ohmu_common_py/logutil.py b/ohmu_common_py/logutil.py
index 7defec1..50ba18c 100644
--- a/ohmu_common_py/logutil.py
+++ b/ohmu_common_py/logutil.py
@@ -15,30 +15,43 @@
     daemon = None
 
 
-LOG_FORMAT = "%(asctime)s\t%(name)s\t%(threadName)s\t%(levelname)s\t%(message)s"
+LOG_FORMAT_BASIC = "%(asctime)s\t%(name)s\t%(levelname)s\t%(message)s"
+LOG_FORMAT_BASIC_MT = "%(asctime)s\t%(name)s\t%(threadName)s\t%(levelname)s\t%(message)s"
 LOG_FORMAT_SHORT = "%(levelname)s\t%(message)s"
-LOG_FORMAT_SYSLOG = "%(name)s %(threadName)s %(levelname)s: %(message)s"
+LOG_FORMAT_SYSLOG = "%(name)s %(levelname)s: %(message)s"
+LOG_FORMAT_SYSLOG_MT = "%(name)s %(threadName)s %(levelname)s: %(message)s"
 
+_multi_threaded = False
 
-def set_syslog_handler(address, facility, logger):
+
+def set_syslog_handler(address, facility, logger, multi_threaded=None):
+    if multi_threaded is None:
+        multi_threaded = _multi_threaded
     syslog_handler = logging.handlers.SysLogHandler(address=address, facility=facility)
     logger.addHandler(syslog_handler)
-    formatter = logging.Formatter(LOG_FORMAT_SYSLOG)
+    formatter = logging.Formatter(LOG_FORMAT_SYSLOG_MT if multi_threaded else LOG_FORMAT_SYSLOG)
     syslog_handler.setFormatter(formatter)
     return syslog_handler
 
 
-def configure_logging(level=logging.DEBUG, short_log=False):
+def configure_logging(level=logging.DEBUG, short_log=False, multi_threaded=False):
+    global _multi_threaded  # pylint: disable=global-statement
+    _multi_threaded = multi_threaded
+
     # Are we running under systemd?
     if os.getenv("NOTIFY_SOCKET"):
-        logging.basicConfig(level=level, format=LOG_FORMAT_SYSLOG)
+        format_string = LOG_FORMAT_SYSLOG_MT if multi_threaded else LOG_FORMAT_SYSLOG
         if not daemon:
             print(
                 "WARNING: Running under systemd but python-systemd not available, "
                 "systemd won't see our notifications"
             )
+    elif short_log:
+        format_string = LOG_FORMAT_SHORT
     else:
-        logging.basicConfig(level=level, format=LOG_FORMAT_SHORT if short_log else LOG_FORMAT)
+        format_string = LOG_FORMAT_BASIC_MT if multi_threaded else LOG_FORMAT_BASIC
+
+    logging.basicConfig(level=level, format=format_string)
 
 
 def notify_systemd(status):
diff --git a/ohmu_common_py/statsd.py b/ohmu_common_py/statsd.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2061840
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ohmu_common_py/statsd.py
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+"""
+ohmu_common_py - StatsD client
+
+Copyright (c) 2015 Ohmu Ltd
+See LICENSE for details
+
+Supports telegraf's statsd protocol extension for 'key=value' tags:
+
+    https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/tree/master/plugins/inputs/statsd
+"""
+
+import logging
+import socket
+
+
+class StatsClient(object):
+    def __init__(self, host="127.0.0.1", port=8125, tags=None):
+        self.log = logging.getLogger("StatsClient")
+        self._dest_addr = (host, port)
+        self._socket = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_DGRAM)
+        self._tags = tags or {}
+
+    def gauge(self, metric, value, tags=None):
+        self._send(metric, b"g", value, tags)
+
+    def increase(self, metric, inc_value=1, tags=None):
+        self._send(metric, b"c", inc_value, tags)
+
+    def timing(self, metric, value, tags=None):
+        self._send(metric, b"ms", value, tags)
+
+    def unexpected_exception(self, ex, where, tags=None):
+        all_tags = {
+            "exception": ex.__class__.__name__,
+            "where": where,
+        }
+        all_tags.update(tags or {})
+        self.increase("exception", tags=all_tags)
+
+    def _send(self, metric, metric_type, value, tags):
+        if None in self._dest_addr:
+            # stats sending is disabled
+            return
+
+        try:
+            # format: "user.logins,service=payroll,region=us-west:1|c"
+            parts = [metric.encode("utf-8"), b":", str(value).encode("utf-8"), b"|", metric_type]
+            send_tags = self._tags.copy()
+            send_tags.update(tags or {})
+            for tag, value in send_tags.items():
+                parts.insert(1, ",{}={}".format(tag, value).encode("utf-8"))
+
+            self._socket.sendto(b"".join(parts), self._dest_addr)
+        except Exception as ex:  # pylint: disable=broad-except
+            self.log.error("Unexpected exception in statsd send: %s: %s",
+                           ex.__class__.__name__, ex)
diff --git a/sync.py b/sync.py
index 2b8de38..255ae0b 100644
--- a/sync.py
+++ b/sync.py
@@ -5,30 +5,60 @@
 See LICENSE for details
 """
 
+import logging
 import os
 import version
 import sys
 
 
 FILES = [
+    "ohmu_common_py/fileutil.py",
     "ohmu_common_py/logutil.py",
     "ohmu_common_py/pgutil.py",
+    "ohmu_common_py/statsd.py",
+    "test/test_fileutil.py",
+    "test/test_logutil.py",
     "test/test_pgutil.py",
     "version.py",
 ]
 
 
-def main(target):
-    ver = version.get_project_version("ohmu_common_py/version.py")
-    curdir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
+def sync_files(source_dir, target_name, target_dir=None, common_dir=None, test_dir=None):
+    ver = version.get_project_version(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "ohmu_common_py/version.py"))
     for src_f in FILES:
-        with open(os.path.join(curdir, src_f), "r") as fp:
+        with open(os.path.join(source_dir, src_f), "r") as fp:
             source = fp.read()
-        dst_f = src_f.replace("ohmu_common_py", target)
-        dst = os.path.join(curdir, "..", target, dst_f)
+        source = source.replace("ohmu_common_py", target_name)
+        if target_dir:
+            dst = os.path.join(target_dir, src_f.replace("ohmu_common_py", target_name))
+        elif src_f.startswith("ohmu_common_py/") and common_dir:
+            dst = os.path.join(common_dir, src_f.replace("ohmu_common_py/", ""))
+        elif src_f.startswith("test/") and test_dir:
+            dst = os.path.join(test_dir, src_f.replace("test/", ""))
+        else:
+            logging.info("%r: skipping", src_f)
+            continue
+
+        # check existing file for changes
+        if os.path.exists(dst):
+            with open(dst, "r") as fp:
+                existing_data = fp.read()
+            existing_data = "\n".join(existing_data.splitlines()[1:]) + "\n"
+            if existing_data == source:
+                logging.info("%r: no update required", dst)
+                continue
         with open(dst, "w") as fp:
             fp.write("# Copied from https://github.com/ohmu/ohmu_common_py {} version {}\n".format(src_f, ver))
-            fp.write(source.replace("ohmu_common_py", target))
+            fp.write(source)
+            logging.info("%r: UPDATED", dst)
+
+
+def main(target):
+    from ohmu_common_py import logutil
+    logutil.configure_logging()
+    curdir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
+    target_dir = os.path.join(curdir, "..", target)
+    sync_files(source_dir=curdir, target_name=target, target_dir=target_dir)
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
diff --git a/test/conftest.py b/test/conftest.py
index e7f98ff..fe18c72 100644
--- a/test/conftest.py
+++ b/test/conftest.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 See LICENSE for details
 """
 
-from ohmu_common_py import logutil
+from ohmu_common_py import logutil, version  # noqa pylint: disable=unused-import
 
 
 logutil.configure_logging()
diff --git a/test/test_fileutil.py b/test/test_fileutil.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fe187c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_fileutil.py
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+"""
+ohmu_common_py - fileutil tests
+
+Copyright (c) 2016 Ohmu Ltd
+See LICENSE for details
+"""
+from ohmu_common_py import fileutil
+import datetime
+import json
+
+
+def test_json_serialization(tmpdir):
+    ob = {
+        "foo": [
+            "bar",
+            "baz",
+            42,
+        ],
+        "t": datetime.datetime(2015, 9, 1, 4, 0, 0),
+        "f": 0.42,
+    }
+    res = json.dumps(ob, default=fileutil.default_json_serialization, separators=(",", ":"), sort_keys=True)
+    assert res == '{"f":0.42,"foo":["bar","baz",42],"t":"2015-09-01T04:00:00Z"}'
+
+    assert isinstance(fileutil.json_encode(ob), str)
+    assert isinstance(fileutil.json_encode(ob, binary=True), bytes)
+    assert "\n" not in fileutil.json_encode(ob)
+    assert "\n" in fileutil.json_encode(ob, compact=False)
+
+    output_file = tmpdir.join("test.json").strpath
+    fileutil.write_json_file(output_file, ob)
+    with open(output_file, "r") as fp:
+        ob2 = json.load(fp)
+    ob_ = dict(ob, t=ob["t"].isoformat() + "Z")
+    assert ob2 == ob_
+
+    fileutil.write_json_file(output_file, ob, compact=True)
+    with open(output_file, "r") as fp:
+        output_data = fp.read()
+    assert "\n" not in output_data
+    ob2_ = json.loads(output_data)
+
+    assert ob2 == ob2_
diff --git a/test/test_logutil.py b/test/test_logutil.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..708baec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_logutil.py
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+"""
+ohmu_common_py - logutil tests
+
+Copyright (c) 2016 Ohmu Ltd
+See LICENSE for details
+"""
+# pylint: disable=protected-access
+from ohmu_common_py import logutil
+import logging
+import logging.handlers
+import os
+import pytest
+
+
+@pytest.yield_fixture
+def reset_logging():
+    """reset root log handler to the default value after running the test"""
+    notify_socket = os.environ.pop("NOTIFY_SOCKET", None)
+    roothandlers = logging.getLogger().handlers
+    oldhandlers = roothandlers.copy()
+    roothandlers.clear()
+    try:
+        yield
+    finally:
+        roothandlers.clear()
+        roothandlers.extend(oldhandlers)
+        if notify_socket is not None:
+            os.environ["NOTIFY_SOCKET"] = notify_socket
+
+
+def test_configure_logging(reset_logging):  # pylint: disable=redefined-outer-name,unused-argument
+    roothandlers = logging.getLogger().handlers
+    roothandlers.clear()
+    logutil.configure_logging(short_log=True)
+    assert "(name)" not in roothandlers[0].formatter._fmt
+
+    roothandlers.clear()
+    logutil.configure_logging(short_log=False)
+    assert "(name)" in roothandlers[0].formatter._fmt
+    assert "(threadName)" not in roothandlers[0].formatter._fmt
+
+    roothandlers.clear()
+    logutil.configure_logging(multi_threaded=True)
+    assert "(threadName)" in roothandlers[0].formatter._fmt
+    assert "(asctime)" in roothandlers[0].formatter._fmt
+
+    os.environ["NOTIFY_SOCKET"] = "/dev/null"
+    roothandlers.clear()
+    logutil.configure_logging(multi_threaded=True)
+    assert "(threadName)" in roothandlers[0].formatter._fmt
+    assert "(asctime)" not in roothandlers[0].formatter._fmt
+
+
+def test_syslog_handler(reset_logging):  # pylint: disable=redefined-outer-name,unused-argument
+    rootlogger = logging.getLogger()
+    roothandlers = rootlogger.handlers
+    roothandlers.clear()
+    logutil.configure_logging()
+    logutil.set_syslog_handler("/dev/log", "local2", rootlogger)
+    assert len(roothandlers) == 2
+
+    assert isinstance(roothandlers[0], logging.StreamHandler)
+    assert "(asctime)" in roothandlers[0].formatter._fmt
+    assert "(threadName)" not in roothandlers[0].formatter._fmt
+
+    assert isinstance(roothandlers[1], logging.handlers.SysLogHandler)
+    assert "(asctime)" not in roothandlers[1].formatter._fmt
+    assert "(threadName)" not in roothandlers[1].formatter._fmt
+
+    roothandlers.clear()
+    logutil.configure_logging(multi_threaded=True)
+    logutil.set_syslog_handler("/dev/log", "local2", rootlogger)
+    assert len(roothandlers) == 2
+
+    assert isinstance(roothandlers[0], logging.StreamHandler)
+    assert "(threadName)" in roothandlers[0].formatter._fmt
+    assert isinstance(roothandlers[1], logging.handlers.SysLogHandler)
+    assert "(threadName)" in roothandlers[1].formatter._fmt