diff --git a/installedPlugins/.data/.empty b/installedPlugins/.data/.empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..e69de29bb2d1d
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)
+};