diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
index 591870375b5927b2dd126585c2061c1d870106f6..7973ad9095c57a32f4c1f589857da324320154cf 100644
--- a/.gitattributes
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -4626,6 +4626,9 @@ SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/install_qpid.sh eol=lf
 SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/lofarsys/bash_profile -text
 SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/lofarsys/bashrc -text
 SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/postinstall.sh eol=lf
+SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/postinstall_lofarbuild.sh eol=lf
+SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/postinstall_lofarsys.sh eol=lf
+SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/postinstall_root.sh eol=lf
 SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/test/Beamformer/tCoherentStokes_3sec_2st_3sb.output/Beam_0.float.raw -text
 SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/test/Beamformer/tComplexVoltages_3sec_2st_3sb.output/Beam_0.float.raw -text
 SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/test/Beamformer/tComplexVoltages_3sec_2st_3sb.output/Beam_1.float.raw -text
diff --git a/CMake/FindLibXML++.cmake b/CMake/FindLibXML++.cmake
deleted file mode 100644
index 716ff2da006148bca1ce76f47300b354ca28d428..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/CMake/FindLibXML++.cmake
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,49 +0,0 @@
-# - Try to find libxml++-2.6: A library to parse XML DOM trees
-# Variables used by this module:
-#  LIBXML_CPP_ROOT_DIR     - QPID root directory
-# Variables defined by this module:
-#  LIBXML_CPP_FOUND        - system has LIBXML_CPP
-#  LIBXML_CPP_INCLUDE_DIR  - the LIBXML_CPP include directory (cached)
-#  LIBXML_CPP_INCLUDE_DIRS - the LIBXML_CPP include directories
-#                        (identical to LIBXML_CPP_INCLUDE_DIR)
-#  LIBXML_CPP_LIBRARY      - the LIBXML_CPP library (cached)
-#  LIBXML_CPP_LIBRARIES    - the LIBXML_CPP libraries
-#                        (identical to LIBXML_CPP_LIBRARY)
-
-# Copyright (C) 2015
-# ASTRON (Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy)
-# P.O.Box 2, 7990 AA Dwingeloo, The Netherlands
-#
-# This file is part of the LOFAR software suite.
-# The LOFAR software suite 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.
-#
-# The LOFAR software suite 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 the LOFAR software suite. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
-#
-# $Id$
-
-if(NOT LIBXML_CPP_FOUND)
-
-  find_path(LIBXML_CPP_INCLUDE_DIR libxml++/parsers/parser.h
-    HINTS ${LIBXML_CPP_ROOT_DIR} PATH_SUFFIXES include include/libxml++-2.6)
-  find_library(LIBXML_CPP_LIBRARY xml++-2.6
-    HINTS ${LIBXML_CPP_ROOT_DIR} PATH_SUFFIXES lib)
-
-  mark_as_advanced(LIBXML_CPP_INCLUDE_DIR LIBXML_CPP_LIBRARY)
-
-  include(FindPackageHandleStandardArgs)
-  find_package_handle_standard_args(LIBXML_CPP DEFAULT_MSG
-    LIBXML_CPP_LIBRARY LIBXML_CPP_INCLUDE_DIR)
-
-  set(LIBXML_CPP_INCLUDE_DIRS ${LIBXML_CPP_INCLUDE_DIR})
-  set(LIBXML_CPP_LIBRARIES ${LIBXML_CPP_LIBRARY})
-
-endif(NOT LIBXML_CPP_FOUND)
diff --git a/CMake/FindLibXMLxx.cmake b/CMake/FindLibXMLxx.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ca3888b7f1077d3ea4ae2257ebb3a97b474e738f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CMake/FindLibXMLxx.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+# - Try to find libxml++: A library to parse XML DOM trees
+# Variables used by this module:
+#  ENV{PKG_CONFIG_PATH}  - a colon-separated list of directories to search for .pc files
+# Variables defined by this module:
+#  LIBXMLXX_FOUND        - system has LIBXMLXX
+#  LIBXMLXX_INCLUDE_DIRS - the LIBXMLXX include directories
+#  LIBXMLXX_LIBRARIES    - the LIBXMLXX libraries
+
+# Copyright (C) 2015
+# ASTRON (Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy)
+# P.O.Box 2, 7990 AA Dwingeloo, The Netherlands
+#
+# This file is part of the LOFAR software suite.
+# The LOFAR software suite 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.
+#
+# The LOFAR software suite 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 the LOFAR software suite. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+# $Id$
+
+if(NOT LIBXMLXX_FOUND)
+  include(FindPkgConfig)
+  pkg_search_module(LIBXMLXX REQUIRED libxml++-2.8 libxml++-2.7 libxml++-2.6 libxml++-2.5)
+  mark_as_advanced(LIBXMLXX_INCLUDE_DIRS LIBXMLXX_LIBRARIES)
+endif(NOT LIBXMLXX_FOUND)
diff --git a/CMake/variants/variants.cbt001 b/CMake/variants/variants.cbt001
index f79a4cd2a4a46f82fc50a0dfb8ada617fe50aab8..dc5e782f112befdf4fda799bc4bfcf484e4fd6c3 100644
--- a/CMake/variants/variants.cbt001
+++ b/CMake/variants/variants.cbt001
@@ -10,11 +10,10 @@ option(USE_OPENMP    "Use OpenMP"    ON)
 option(USE_MPI       "Use MPI"       ON)
 option(USE_CUDA      "Use CUDA"      ON)
 
-# Note: use of /opt/casacore is depricated
-set(CASACORE_ROOT_DIR /localhome/lofar/casacore-1.7.0)
+set(CASACORE_ROOT_DIR /opt/casacore)
 set(MPI_ROOT_DIR /opt/openmpi)
-set(DAL_ROOT_DIR /localhome/lofar/DAL)
-set(QPID_ROOT_DIR /localhome/lofar/qpid)
+set(DAL_ROOT_DIR /opt/DAL)
+set(QPID_ROOT_DIR /opt/qpid)
 #set(VALGRIND_ROOT_DIR       /globalhome/lofarsystem/cobalt-root)
 
 #set(GNU_C         /globalhome/amesfoort/cbtroot/bin/gcc-4.8)
diff --git a/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/install_DAL.sh b/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/install_DAL.sh
index 689f1df2782046eea821fdf65bf1cf8d085739d7..05d50d840a685ff658a14437f559ac15d4c857da 100755
--- a/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/install_DAL.sh
+++ b/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/install_DAL.sh
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ cd DAL
 echo "  Configuring..."
 mkdir build
 cd build
-cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/localhome/lofar/DAL .. > cmake.log
+cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/opt/DAL .. > cmake.log
 
 echo "  Building..."
 make -j 8 > make.log
diff --git a/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/install_casacore.sh b/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/install_casacore.sh
index a99f854b102b3bfd7aa7572b5116e7208a09e4a3..cda0f9c3e4592c6a3387441112b14ed474f64e1c 100755
--- a/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/install_casacore.sh
+++ b/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/install_casacore.sh
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ mkdir build
 cd build
 # Note that the -DDATA_DIR option does not fully override the measures tables search paths.
 # In fact, some of ., ./data, $HOME/aips++/data, $HOME/data, $HOME/casacore/data are still searched first.
-cmake .. -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/localhome/lofar/$CASACOREVERSION \
+cmake .. -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/opt/$CASACOREVERSION \
   -DUSE_HDF5=ON -DUSE_FFTW3=ON -DFFTW3_DISABLE_THREADS=OFF \
   -DUSE_THREADS=ON -DUSE_OPENMP=ON \
   -DDATA_DIR=/localhome/lofar/IERS/current/data > cmake.log
@@ -52,6 +52,9 @@ make -j 8 install > make_install.log
 echo "  Validating measures tables..."
 /localhome/lofar/$CASACOREVERSION/bin/findmeastable >/dev/null
 
+echo "  Creating softlink /opt/casacore..."
+ln -sfT /opt/$CASACOREVERSION /opt/casacore
+
 echo "  Cleaning up..."
 popd >/dev/null
 rm -rf "$CASACOREDIR"
diff --git a/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/install_qpid.sh b/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/install_qpid.sh
index f77144ac0c639abd23fcaaf38c4c71e35fbf9084..cb26d03ce44d353ec08c7595333ce10be68d08b3 100755
--- a/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/install_qpid.sh
+++ b/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/install_qpid.sh
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@
 PROTON_SOURCE="http://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/qpid/proton/branches/0.8"
 QPID_SOURCE="http://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/qpid/branches/0.30/qpid/"
 
-QPID_INSTALLDIR=/localhome/lofar/qpid
+QPID_INSTALLDIR=/opt/qpid-0.30
+QPID_SYMLINK=/opt/qpid
 
 # ********************************************
 #  Install latest PROTON & QPID
@@ -84,6 +85,9 @@ export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=\$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:$QPID_INSTALLDIR/lib:$QPID_INSTALLDIR/l
 export PYTHONPATH=\$PYTHONPATH:$QPID_INSTALLDIR/lib/python/:$QPID_INSTALLDIR/lib/python$PYTHONVERSION/site-packages/
 EOF
 
+echo "  Creating symlink $QPID_SYMLINK..."
+ln -sfT $QPID_INSTALLDIR $QPID_SYMLINK
+
 echo "  Cleaning up..."
 popd >/dev/null
 rm -rf "$QPID_BUILDDIR"
diff --git a/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/postinstall.sh b/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/postinstall.sh
index f84f819ca187c5192751a64c6c35ce8c7999b052..8d8b46ebbfda4a92e052768ced09889e5ea79880 100755
--- a/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/postinstall.sh
+++ b/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/postinstall.sh
@@ -1,54 +1,14 @@
 #!/bin/bash -eu
 
-function postinstall_lofarsys {
-  # ********************************************
-  #  Populate ~/.ssh directory
-  #
-  #  We draw a copy from /globalhome/lofarsystem
-  #  to stay in sync with the rest of LOFAR.
-  # ********************************************
-  echo "Configuring ssh..."
-  cp -a /globalhome/lofarsystem/.ssh ~
+sudo -n true >&/dev/null || error "Need to be root or have sudo rights active (run 'sudo true' first)."
 
-  echo "  Testing..."
-  ssh localhost true >/dev/null
+echo "[Postinstall as root]"
+sudo -u root ./postinstall_root
 
-  # ********************************************
-  #  Install bash initialisation scripts
-  # ********************************************
-  echo "Configuring bash..."
-  cp lofarsys/bashrc ~/.bashrc
-  cp lofarsys/bash_profile ~/.bash_profile
+echo "[Postinstall as lofarbuild]"
+sudo -u lofarbuild ./postinstall_lofarbuild
 
-  echo "  Validating login..."
-  ssh localhost true
-
-  # ********************************************
-  #  Create directories for LOFAR's
-  #  temporary files
-  # ********************************************
-  echo "Configuring /opt/lofar/var..."
-  mkdir -p ~/lofar/var/{log,run}
-}
-
-function postinstall_lofarbuild {
-  ./install_IERS.sh
-  ./install_DAL.sh
-  ./install_casacore.sh
-  ./install_qpid.sh
-}
-
-case "`whoami`" in
-  lofarsys)
-    postinstall_lofarsys
-    ;;
-  lofarbuild)
-    postinstall_lofarbuild
-    ;;
-  *)
-    error "Need to be either lofarsys or lofarbuild!"
-    ;;
-esac
-
-echo "Done!"
+echo "[Postinstall as lofarsys]"
+sudo -u lofarsys ./postinstall_lofarsys
 
+echo "[Done]"
diff --git a/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/postinstall_lofarbuild.sh b/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/postinstall_lofarbuild.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..68fbd30c8a199228284111b8e9ec58422ceee88a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/postinstall_lofarbuild.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#!/bin/bash -eu
+
+./install_IERS.sh
+./install_DAL.sh
+./install_casacore.sh
+./install_qpid.sh
+
diff --git a/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/postinstall_lofarsys.sh b/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/postinstall_lofarsys.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6231324df9ef1b2fdc7c6c4bb0487b957577aeaa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/postinstall_lofarsys.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+#!/bin/bash -eu
+
+# ********************************************
+#  Populate ~/.ssh directory
+#
+#  We draw a copy from /globalhome/lofarsystem
+#  to stay in sync with the rest of LOFAR.
+# ********************************************
+echo "Configuring ssh..."
+cp -a /globalhome/lofarsystem/.ssh ~
+
+echo "  Testing..."
+ssh localhost true >/dev/null
+
+# ********************************************
+#  Install bash initialisation scripts
+# ********************************************
+echo "Configuring bash..."
+cp lofarsys/bashrc ~/.bashrc
+cp lofarsys/bash_profile ~/.bash_profile
+
+echo "  Validating login..."
+ssh localhost true
+
+# ********************************************
+#  Create directories for LOFAR's
+#  temporary files
+# ********************************************
+echo "Configuring /opt/lofar/var..."
+mkdir -p ~/lofar/var/{log,run}
diff --git a/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/postinstall_root.sh b/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/postinstall_root.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..cfa026bbe7e0368f73c08f36784ec5e881b9988c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/SubSystems/Online_Cobalt/install/postinstall_root.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#!/bin/bash -eu
+
+echo "Removing system-supplied /opt/casacore..."
+rm -rf /opt/casacore
+
+echo "Giving /opt to lofarbuild..."
+chown lofarbuild.lofarbuild /opt