merge develop

author: Matthew Hodgson <matthew@matrix.org> 2018-05-29 00:25:22 +0100
committer: Matthew Hodgson <matthew@matrix.org> 2018-05-29 00:25:22 +0100
commit: 7a6df013cc8a128278d2ce7e5eb569e0b424f9b0 (patch)
tree: 5de624a65953eb96ab67274462d850a88c0cce3c
parent: make lazy_load_members configurable in filters (diff)
parent: Merge pull request #3256 from matrix-org/3218-official-prom (diff)
download: synapse-7a6df013cc8a128278d2ce7e5eb569e0b424f9b0.tar.xz
242 files changed, 7386 insertions, 3342 deletions
diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f36f86fbb7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+Dockerfile
+.travis.yml
+.gitignore
+demo/etc
+tox.ini
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c8901eb206..7940158c5b 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 *.pyc
 .*.swp
+*~
 
 .DS_Store
 _trial_temp/
@@ -13,6 +14,7 @@ docs/build/
 cmdclient_config.json
 homeserver*.db
 homeserver*.log
+homeserver*.log.*
 homeserver*.pid
 homeserver*.yaml
 
@@ -32,6 +34,7 @@ demo/media_store.*
 demo/etc
 
 uploads
+cache
 
 .idea/
 media_store/
@@ -39,6 +42,7 @@ media_store/
 *.tac
 
 build/
+venv/
 
 localhost-800*/
 static/client/register/register_config.js
@@ -48,3 +52,4 @@ env/
 *.config
 
 .vscode/
+.ropeproject/
diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 3ce93cb434..e6ba6f4752 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -1,14 +1,22 @@
 sudo: false
 language: python
-python: 2.7
 
 # tell travis to cache ~/.cache/pip
 cache: pip
 
-env:
-  - TOX_ENV=packaging
-  - TOX_ENV=pep8
-  - TOX_ENV=py27
+matrix:
+  include:
+  - python: 2.7
+    env: TOX_ENV=packaging
+
+  - python: 2.7
+    env: TOX_ENV=pep8
+
+  - python: 2.7
+    env: TOX_ENV=py27
+    
+  - python: 3.6
+    env: TOX_ENV=py36
 
 install:
   - pip install tox
diff --git a/AUTHORS.rst b/AUTHORS.rst
index 3dcb1c2a89..e13ac5ad34 100644
--- a/AUTHORS.rst
+++ b/AUTHORS.rst
@@ -60,3 +60,6 @@ Niklas Riekenbrauck <nikriek at gmail dot.com>
 
 Christoph Witzany <christoph at web.crofting.com>
  * Add LDAP support for authentication
+
+Pierre Jaury <pierre at jaury.eu>
+* Docker packaging
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index a7ed49e105..0569b581db 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -1,11 +1,375 @@
-Unreleased
-==========
+Changes in synapse v0.30.0 (2018-05-24)
+==========================================
+
+'Server Notices' are a new feature introduced in Synapse 0.30. They provide a
+channel whereby server administrators can send messages to users on the server.
+
+They are used as part of communication of the server policies (see ``docs/consent_tracking.md``),
+however the intention is that they may also find a use for features such
+as "Message of the day".
+
+This feature is specific to Synapse, but uses standard Matrix communication mechanisms,
+so should work with any Matrix client. For more details see ``docs/server_notices.md``
+
+Further Server Notices/Consent Tracking Support:
+
+* Allow overriding the server_notices user's avatar (PR #3273)
+* Use the localpart in the consent uri (PR #3272)
+* Support for putting %(consent_uri)s in messages (PR #3271)
+* Block attempts to send server notices to remote users (PR #3270)
+* Docs on consent bits (PR #3268)
+
+
+
+Changes in synapse v0.30.0-rc1 (2018-05-23)
+==========================================
+
+Server Notices/Consent Tracking Support:
+
+* ConsentResource to gather policy consent from users (PR #3213)
+* Move RoomCreationHandler out of synapse.handlers.Handlers (PR #3225)
+* Infrastructure for a server notices room (PR #3232)
+* Send users a server notice about consent (PR #3236)
+* Reject attempts to send event before privacy consent is given (PR #3257)
+* Add a 'has_consented' template var to consent forms (PR #3262)
+* Fix dependency on jinja2 (PR #3263)
+
+Features:
+
+* Cohort analytics (PR #3163, #3241, #3251)
+* Add lxml to docker image for web previews (PR #3239) Thanks to @ptman!
+* Add in flight request metrics (PR #3252)
+
+Changes:
+
+* Remove unused `update_external_syncs` (PR #3233)
+* Use stream rather depth ordering for push actions (PR #3212)
+* Make purge_history operate on tokens (PR #3221)
+* Don't support limitless pagination (PR #3265)
+
+Bug Fixes:
+
+* Fix logcontext resource usage tracking (PR #3258)
+* Fix error in handling receipts (PR #3235)
+* Stop the transaction cache caching failures (PR #3255)
+
+
+Changes in synapse v0.29.1 (2018-05-17)
+==========================================
+Changes:
+
+* Update docker documentation (PR #3222)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.29.0 (2018-05-16)
+===========================================
+Not changes since v0.29.0-rc1
+
+Changes in synapse v0.29.0-rc1 (2018-05-14)
+===========================================
+
+Notable changes, a docker file for running Synapse (Thanks to @kaiyou!) and a
+closed spec bug in the Client Server API. Additionally further prep for Python 3
+migration.
+
+Potentially breaking change:
+
+* Make Client-Server API return 401 for invalid token (PR #3161).
+
+  This changes the Client-server spec to return a 401 error code instead of 403
+  when the access token is unrecognised. This is the behaviour required by the
+  specification, but some clients may be relying on the old, incorrect
+  behaviour.
+
+  Thanks to @NotAFile for fixing this.
+
+Features:
+
+* Add a Dockerfile for synapse (PR #2846) Thanks to @kaiyou!
+
+Changes - General:
+
+* nuke-room-from-db.sh: added postgresql option and help (PR #2337) Thanks to @rubo77!
+* Part user from rooms on account deactivate (PR #3201)
+* Make 'unexpected logging context' into warnings (PR #3007)
+* Set Server header in SynapseRequest (PR #3208)
+* remove duplicates from groups tables (PR #3129)
+* Improve exception handling for background processes (PR #3138)
+* Add missing consumeErrors to improve exception handling (PR #3139)
+* reraise exceptions more carefully (PR #3142)
+* Remove redundant call to preserve_fn (PR #3143)
+* Trap exceptions thrown within run_in_background (PR #3144)
+
+Changes - Refactors:
+
+* Refactor /context to reuse pagination storage functions (PR #3193)
+* Refactor recent events func to use pagination func (PR #3195)
+* Refactor pagination DB API to return concrete type (PR #3196)
+* Refactor get_recent_events_for_room return type (PR #3198)
+* Refactor sync APIs to reuse pagination API (PR #3199)
+* Remove unused code path from member change DB func (PR #3200)
+* Refactor request handling wrappers (PR #3203)
+* transaction_id, destination defined twice (PR #3209) Thanks to @damir-manapov!
+* Refactor event storage to prepare for changes in state calculations (PR #3141)
+* Set Server header in SynapseRequest (PR #3208)
+* Use deferred.addTimeout instead of time_bound_deferred (PR #3127, #3178)
+* Use run_in_background in preference to preserve_fn (PR #3140)
+
+Changes - Python 3 migration:
+
+* Construct HMAC as bytes on py3 (PR #3156) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+* run config tests on py3 (PR #3159) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+* Open certificate files as bytes (PR #3084) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+* Open config file in non-bytes mode (PR #3085) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+* Make event properties raise AttributeError instead (PR #3102) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+* Use six.moves.urlparse (PR #3108) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+* Add py3 tests to tox with folders that work (PR #3145) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+* Don't yield in list comprehensions (PR #3150) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+* Move more xrange to six (PR #3151) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+* make imports local (PR #3152) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+* move httplib import to six (PR #3153) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+* Replace stringIO imports with six (PR #3154, #3168) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+* more bytes strings (PR #3155) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+
+Bug Fixes:
+
+* synapse fails to start under Twisted >= 18.4 (PR #3157)
+* Fix a class of logcontext leaks (PR #3170)
+* Fix a couple of logcontext leaks in unit tests (PR #3172)
+* Fix logcontext leak in media repo (PR #3174)
+* Escape label values in prometheus metrics (PR #3175, #3186)
+* Fix 'Unhandled Error' logs with Twisted 18.4 (PR #3182) Thanks to @Half-Shot!
+* Fix logcontext leaks in rate limiter (PR #3183)
+* notifications: Convert next_token to string according to the spec (PR #3190) Thanks to @mujx!
+* nuke-room-from-db.sh: fix deletion from search table (PR #3194) Thanks to @rubo77!
+* add guard for None on purge_history api (PR #3160) Thanks to @krombel!
+
+Changes in synapse v0.28.1 (2018-05-01)
+=======================================
+
+SECURITY UPDATE
+
+* Clamp the allowed values of event depth received over federation to be
+  [0, 2^63 - 1].  This mitigates an attack where malicious events
+  injected with depth = 2^63 - 1 render rooms unusable.  Depth is used to
+  determine the cosmetic ordering of events within a room, and so the ordering
+  of events in such a room will default to using stream_ordering rather than depth
+  (topological_ordering).
+
+  This is a temporary solution to mitigate abuse in the wild, whilst a long term solution
+  is being implemented to improve how the depth parameter is used.
+
+  Full details at
+  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I3fi2S-XnpO45qrpCsowZv8P8dHcNZ4fsBsbOW7KABI
+
+* Pin Twisted to <18.4 until we stop using the private _OpenSSLECCurve API.
+
+
+Changes in synapse v0.28.0 (2018-04-26)
+=======================================
+
+Bug Fixes:
+
+* Fix quarantine media admin API and search reindex (PR #3130)
+* Fix media admin APIs (PR #3134)
+
+
+Changes in synapse v0.28.0-rc1 (2018-04-24)
+===========================================
+
+Minor performance improvement to federation sending and bug fixes.
+
+(Note: This release does not include the delta state resolution implementation discussed in matrix live)
+
+
+Features:
+
+* Add metrics for event processing lag (PR #3090)
+* Add metrics for ResponseCache (PR #3092)
+
+Changes:
+
+* Synapse on PyPy (PR #2760) Thanks to @Valodim!
+* move handling of auto_join_rooms to RegisterHandler (PR #2996) Thanks to @krombel!
+* Improve handling of SRV records for federation connections (PR #3016) Thanks to @silkeh!
+* Document the behaviour of ResponseCache (PR #3059)
+* Preparation for py3 (PR #3061, #3073, #3074, #3075, #3103, #3104, #3106, #3107, #3109, #3110) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+* update prometheus dashboard to use new metric names (PR #3069) Thanks to @krombel!
+* use python3-compatible prints (PR #3074) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+* Send federation events concurrently (PR #3078)
+* Limit concurrent event sends for a room (PR #3079)
+* Improve R30 stat definition (PR #3086)
+* Send events to ASes concurrently (PR #3088)
+* Refactor ResponseCache usage (PR #3093)
+* Clarify that SRV may not point to a CNAME (PR #3100) Thanks to @silkeh!
+* Use str(e) instead of e.message (PR #3103) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+* Use six.itervalues in some places (PR #3106) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+* Refactor store.have_events (PR #3117)
+
+Bug Fixes:
+
+* Return 401 for invalid access_token on logout (PR #2938) Thanks to @dklug!
+* Return a 404 rather than a 500 on rejoining empty rooms (PR #3080)
+* fix federation_domain_whitelist (PR #3099)
+* Avoid creating events with huge numbers of prev_events (PR #3113)
+* Reject events which have lots of prev_events (PR #3118)
+
+
+Changes in synapse v0.27.4 (2018-04-13)
+======================================
+
+Changes:
 
-synctl no longer starts the main synapse when using ``-a`` option with workers.
-A new worker file should be added with ``worker_app: synapse.app.homeserver``.
+* Update canonicaljson dependency (#3095)
+
+
+Changes in synapse v0.27.3 (2018-04-11)
+======================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+* URL quote path segments over federation (#3082)
+
+Changes in synapse v0.27.3-rc2 (2018-04-09)
+==========================================
+
+v0.27.3-rc1 used a stale version of the develop branch so the changelog overstates
+the functionality. v0.27.3-rc2 is up to date, rc1 should be ignored.
+
+Changes in synapse v0.27.3-rc1 (2018-04-09)
+=======================================
+
+Notable changes include API support for joinability of groups. Also new metrics
+and phone home stats. Phone home stats include better visibility of system usage
+so we can tweak synpase to work better for all users rather than our own experience
+with matrix.org. Also, recording 'r30' stat which is the measure we use to track
+overal growth of the Matrix ecosystem. It is defined as:-
+
+Counts the number of native 30 day retained users, defined as:-
+         * Users who have created their accounts more than 30 days
+         * Where last seen at most 30 days ago
+         * Where account creation and last_seen are > 30 days"
+
+
+Features:
+
+* Add joinability for groups (PR #3045)
+* Implement group join API (PR #3046)
+* Add counter metrics for calculating state delta (PR #3033)
+* R30 stats (PR #3041)
+* Measure time it takes to calculate state group ID (PR #3043)
+* Add basic performance statistics to phone home (PR #3044)
+* Add response size metrics (PR #3071)
+* phone home cache size configurations (PR #3063)
+
+Changes:
+
+* Add a blurb explaining the main synapse worker (PR #2886) Thanks to @turt2live!
+* Replace old style error catching with 'as' keyword (PR #3000) Thanks to @NotAFile!
+* Use .iter* to avoid copies in StateHandler (PR #3006)
+* Linearize calls to _generate_user_id (PR #3029)
+* Remove last usage of ujson (PR #3030)
+* Use simplejson throughout (PR #3048)
+* Use static JSONEncoders (PR #3049)
+* Remove uses of events.content (PR #3060)
+* Improve database cache performance (PR #3068)
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+* Add room_id to the response of `rooms/{roomId}/join` (PR #2986) Thanks to @jplatte!
+* Fix replication after switch to simplejson (PR #3015)
+* 404 correctly on missing paths via NoResource (PR #3022)
+* Fix error when claiming e2e keys from offline servers (PR #3034)
+* fix tests/storage/test_user_directory.py (PR #3042)
+* use PUT instead of POST for federating groups/m.join_policy (PR #3070) Thanks to @krombel!
+* postgres port script: fix state_groups_pkey error (PR #3072)
+
+
+Changes in synapse v0.27.2 (2018-03-26)
+=======================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+* Fix bug which broke TCP replication between workers (PR #3015)
+
+
+Changes in synapse v0.27.1 (2018-03-26)
+=======================================
+
+Meta release as v0.27.0 temporarily pointed to the wrong commit
+
+
+Changes in synapse v0.27.0 (2018-03-26)
+=======================================
+
+No changes since v0.27.0-rc2
+
+
+Changes in synapse v0.27.0-rc2 (2018-03-19)
+===========================================
+
+Pulls in v0.26.1
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+* Fix bug introduced in v0.27.0-rc1 that causes much increased memory usage in state cache (PR #3005)
+
+
+Changes in synapse v0.26.1 (2018-03-15)
+=======================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+* Fix bug where an invalid event caused server to stop functioning correctly,
+  due to parsing and serializing bugs in ujson library (PR #3008)
+
+
+Changes in synapse v0.27.0-rc1 (2018-03-14)
+===========================================
+
+The common case for running Synapse is not to run separate workers, but for those that do, be aware that synctl no longer starts the main synapse when using ``-a`` option with workers. A new worker file should be added with ``worker_app: synapse.app.homeserver``.
 
 This release also begins the process of renaming a number of the metrics
 reported to prometheus. See `docs/metrics-howto.rst <docs/metrics-howto.rst#block-and-response-metrics-renamed-for-0-27-0>`_.
+Note that the v0.28.0 release will remove the deprecated metric names.
+
+Features:
+
+* Add ability for ASes to override message send time (PR #2754)
+* Add support for custom storage providers for media repository (PR #2867, #2777, #2783, #2789, #2791, #2804, #2812, #2814, #2857, #2868, #2767)
+* Add purge API features, see `docs/admin_api/purge_history_api.rst <docs/admin_api/purge_history_api.rst>`_ for full details (PR #2858, #2867, #2882, #2946, #2962, #2943)
+* Add support for whitelisting 3PIDs that users can register. (PR #2813)
+* Add ``/room/{id}/event/{id}`` API (PR #2766)
+* Add an admin API to get all the media in a room (PR #2818) Thanks to @turt2live!
+* Add ``federation_domain_whitelist`` option (PR #2820, #2821)
+
+
+Changes:
+
+* Continue to factor out processing from main process and into worker processes. See updated `docs/workers.rst <docs/workers.rst>`_ (PR #2892 - #2904, #2913, #2920 - #2926, #2947, #2847, #2854, #2872, #2873, #2874, #2928, #2929, #2934, #2856, #2976 - #2984, #2987 - #2989, #2991 - #2993, #2995, #2784)
+* Ensure state cache is used when persisting events (PR #2864, #2871, #2802, #2835, #2836, #2841, #2842, #2849)
+* Change the default config to bind on both IPv4 and IPv6 on all platforms (PR #2435) Thanks to @silkeh!
+* No longer require a specific version of saml2 (PR #2695) Thanks to @okurz!
+* Remove ``verbosity``/``log_file`` from generated config (PR #2755)
+* Add and improve metrics and logging (PR #2770, #2778, #2785, #2786, #2787, #2793, #2794, #2795, #2809, #2810, #2833, #2834, #2844, #2965, #2927, #2975, #2790, #2796, #2838)
+* When using synctl with workers, don't start the main synapse automatically (PR #2774)
+* Minor performance improvements (PR #2773, #2792)
+* Use a connection pool for non-federation outbound connections (PR #2817)
+* Make it possible to run unit tests against postgres (PR #2829)
+* Update pynacl dependency to 1.2.1 or higher (PR #2888) Thanks to @bachp!
+* Remove ability for AS users to call /events and /sync (PR #2948)
+* Use bcrypt.checkpw (PR #2949) Thanks to @krombel!
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+* Fix broken ``ldap_config`` config option (PR #2683) Thanks to @seckrv!
+* Fix error message when user is not allowed to unban (PR #2761) Thanks to @turt2live!
+* Fix publicised groups GET API (singular) over federation (PR #2772)
+* Fix user directory when using ``user_directory_search_all_users`` config option (PR #2803, #2831)
+* Fix error on ``/publicRooms`` when no rooms exist (PR #2827)
+* Fix bug in quarantine_media (PR #2837)
+* Fix url_previews when no Content-Type is returned from URL (PR #2845)
+* Fix rare race in sync API when joining room (PR #2944)
+* Fix slow event search, switch back from GIST to GIN indexes (PR #2769, #2848)
 
 
 Changes in synapse v0.26.0 (2018-01-05)
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.rst b/CONTRIBUTING.rst
index 2a88647ca3..c6ee16efc7 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.rst
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.rst
@@ -30,8 +30,12 @@ use github's pull request workflow to review the contribution, and either ask
 you to make any refinements needed or merge it and make them ourselves. The
 changes will then land on master when we next do a release.
 
-We use Jenkins for continuous integration (http://matrix.org/jenkins), and
-typically all pull requests get automatically tested Jenkins: if your change breaks the build, Jenkins will yell about it in #matrix-dev:matrix.org so please lurk there and keep an eye open.
+We use `Jenkins <http://matrix.org/jenkins>`_ and 
+`Travis <https://travis-ci.org/matrix-org/synapse>`_ for continuous
+integration. All pull requests to synapse get automatically tested by Travis; 
+the Jenkins builds require an adminstrator to start them. If your change 
+breaks the build, this will be shown in github, so please keep an eye on the 
+pull request for feedback.
 
 Code style
 ~~~~~~~~~~
@@ -115,4 +119,4 @@ can't be accepted. Git makes this trivial - just use the -s flag when you do
 Conclusion
 ~~~~~~~~~~
 
-That's it!  Matrix is a very open and collaborative project as you might expect given our obsession with open communication.  If we're going to successfully matrix together all the fragmented communication technologies out there we are reliant on contributions and collaboration from the community to do so.  So please get involved - and we hope you have as much fun hacking on Matrix as we do!
\ No newline at end of file
+That's it!  Matrix is a very open and collaborative project as you might expect given our obsession with open communication.  If we're going to successfully matrix together all the fragmented communication technologies out there we are reliant on contributions and collaboration from the community to do so.  So please get involved - and we hope you have as much fun hacking on Matrix as we do!
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..565341fee3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+FROM docker.io/python:2-alpine3.7
+
+RUN apk add --no-cache --virtual .nacl_deps su-exec build-base libffi-dev zlib-dev libressl-dev libjpeg-turbo-dev linux-headers postgresql-dev libxslt-dev
+
+COPY . /synapse
+
+# A wheel cache may be provided in ./cache for faster build
+RUN cd /synapse \
+ && pip install --upgrade pip setuptools psycopg2 lxml \
+ && mkdir -p /synapse/cache \
+ && pip install -f /synapse/cache --upgrade --process-dependency-links . \
+ && mv /synapse/contrib/docker/start.py /synapse/contrib/docker/conf / \
+ && rm -rf setup.py setup.cfg synapse
+
+VOLUME ["/data"]
+
+EXPOSE 8008/tcp 8448/tcp
+
+ENTRYPOINT ["/start.py"]
diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
index afb60e12ee..e2a6623a63 100644
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ recursive-include synapse/static *.js
 exclude jenkins.sh
 exclude jenkins*.sh
 exclude jenkins*
+exclude Dockerfile
+exclude .dockerignore
 recursive-exclude jenkins *.sh
 
 prune .github
diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 76fe2e4139..4fe54b0c90 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -157,8 +157,9 @@ if you prefer.
 
 In case of problems, please see the _`Troubleshooting` section below.
 
-Alternatively, Silvio Fricke has contributed a Dockerfile to automate the
-above in Docker at https://registry.hub.docker.com/u/silviof/docker-matrix/.
+There is an offical synapse image available at https://hub.docker.com/r/matrixdotorg/synapse/tags/ which can be used with the docker-compose file available at `contrib/docker`. Further information on this including configuration options is available in `contrib/docker/README.md`.
+
+Alternatively, Andreas Peters (previously Silvio Fricke) has contributed a Dockerfile to automate a synapse server in a single Docker image, at https://hub.docker.com/r/avhost/docker-matrix/tags/
 
 Also, Martin Giess has created an auto-deployment process with vagrant/ansible,
 tested with VirtualBox/AWS/DigitalOcean - see https://github.com/EMnify/matrix-synapse-auto-deploy
@@ -354,6 +355,10 @@ https://matrix.org/docs/projects/try-matrix-now.html (or build your own with one
 Fedora
 ------
 
+Synapse is in the Fedora repositories as ``matrix-synapse``::
+
+    sudo dnf install matrix-synapse
+
 Oleg Girko provides Fedora RPMs at
 https://obs.infoserver.lv/project/monitor/matrix-synapse
 
@@ -610,6 +615,9 @@ should have the format ``_matrix._tcp.<yourdomain.com> <ttl> IN SRV 10 0 <port>
     $ dig -t srv _matrix._tcp.example.com
     _matrix._tcp.example.com. 3600    IN      SRV     10 0 8448 synapse.example.com.
 
+Note that the server hostname cannot be an alias (CNAME record): it has to point
+directly to the server hosting the synapse instance.
+
 You can then configure your homeserver to use ``<yourdomain.com>`` as the domain in
 its user-ids, by setting ``server_name``::
 
@@ -890,6 +898,17 @@ This should end with a 'PASSED' result::
 
     PASSED (successes=143)
 
+Running the Integration Tests
+=============================
+
+Synapse is accompanied by `SyTest <https://github.com/matrix-org/sytest>`_,
+a Matrix homeserver integration testing suite, which uses HTTP requests to
+access the API as a Matrix client would. It is able to run Synapse directly from
+the source tree, so installation of the server is not required.
+
+Testing with SyTest is recommended for verifying that changes related to the
+Client-Server API are functioning correctly. See the `installation instructions
+<https://github.com/matrix-org/sytest#installing>`_ for details.
 
 Building Internal API Documentation
 ===================================
diff --git a/UPGRADE.rst b/UPGRADE.rst
index 2efe7ea60f..f6bb1070b1 100644
--- a/UPGRADE.rst
+++ b/UPGRADE.rst
@@ -48,6 +48,18 @@ returned by the Client-Server API:
     # configured on port 443.
     curl -kv https://<host.name>/_matrix/client/versions 2>&1 | grep "Server:"
 
+Upgrading to $NEXT_VERSION
+====================
+
+This release expands the anonymous usage stats sent if the opt-in
+``report_stats`` configuration is set to ``true``. We now capture RSS memory 
+and cpu use at a very coarse level. This requires administrators to install
+the optional ``psutil`` python module.
+
+We would appreciate it if you could assist by ensuring this module is available
+and ``report_stats`` is enabled. This will let us see if performance changes to
+synapse are having an impact to the general community.
+
 Upgrading to v0.15.0
 ====================
 
diff --git a/contrib/README.rst b/contrib/README.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c296c55628
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/README.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+Community Contributions
+=======================
+
+Everything in this directory are projects submitted by the community that may be useful
+to others. As such, the project maintainers cannot guarantee support, stability
+or backwards compatibility of these projects. 
+
+Files in this directory should *not* be relied on directly, as they may not
+continue to work or exist in future. If you wish to use any of these files then
+they should be copied to avoid them breaking from underneath you.
diff --git a/contrib/docker/README.md b/contrib/docker/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..61592109cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/docker/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,153 @@
+# Synapse Docker
+
+The `matrixdotorg/synapse` Docker image will run Synapse as a single process. It does not provide a
+database server or a TURN server, you should run these separately.
+
+If you run a Postgres server, you should simply include it in the same Compose
+project or set the proper environment variables and the image will automatically
+use that server.
+
+## Build
+
+Build the docker image with the `docker build` command from the root of the synapse repository.
+
+```
+docker build -t docker.io/matrixdotorg/synapse .
+```
+
+The `-t` option sets the image tag. Official images are tagged `matrixdotorg/synapse:<version>` where `<version>` is the same as the release tag in the synapse git repository.
+
+You may have a local Python wheel cache available, in which case copy the relevant packages in the ``cache/`` directory at the root of the project.
+
+## Run
+
+This image is designed to run either with an automatically generated configuration
+file or with a custom configuration that requires manual edition.
+
+### Automated configuration
+
+It is recommended that you use Docker Compose to run your containers, including
+this image and a Postgres server. A sample ``docker-compose.yml`` is provided,
+including example labels for reverse proxying and other artifacts.
+
+Read the section about environment variables and set at least mandatory variables,
+then run the server:
+
+```
+docker-compose up -d
+```
+
+If secrets are not specified in the environment variables, they will be generated
+as part of the startup. Please ensure these secrets are kept between launches of the
+Docker container, as their loss may require users to log in again.
+
+### Manual configuration
+
+A sample ``docker-compose.yml`` is provided, including example labels for
+reverse proxying and other artifacts. The docker-compose file is an example,
+please comment/uncomment sections that are not suitable for your usecase.
+
+Specify a ``SYNAPSE_CONFIG_PATH``, preferably to a persistent path,
+to use manual configuration. To generate a fresh ``homeserver.yaml``, simply run:
+
+```
+docker-compose run --rm -e SYNAPSE_SERVER_NAME=my.matrix.host synapse generate
+```
+
+Then, customize your configuration and run the server:
+
+```
+docker-compose up -d
+```
+
+### Without Compose
+
+If you do not wish to use Compose, you may still run this image using plain
+Docker commands. Note that the following is just a guideline and you may need
+to add parameters to the docker run command to account for the network situation
+with your postgres database.
+
+```
+docker run \
+    -d \
+    --name synapse \
+    -v ${DATA_PATH}:/data \
+    -e SYNAPSE_SERVER_NAME=my.matrix.host \
+    -e SYNAPSE_REPORT_STATS=yes \
+    docker.io/matrixdotorg/synapse:latest
+```
+
+## Volumes
+
+The image expects a single volume, located at ``/data``, that will hold:
+
+* temporary files during uploads;
+* uploaded media and thumbnails;
+* the SQLite database if you do not configure postgres;
+* the appservices configuration.
+
+You are free to use separate volumes depending on storage endpoints at your
+disposal. For instance, ``/data/media`` coud be stored on a large but low
+performance hdd storage while other files could be stored on high performance
+endpoints.
+
+In order to setup an application service, simply create an ``appservices``
+directory in the data volume and write the application service Yaml
+configuration file there. Multiple application services are supported.
+
+## Environment
+
+Unless you specify a custom path for the configuration file, a very generic
+file will be generated, based on the following environment settings.
+These are a good starting point for setting up your own deployment.
+
+Global settings:
+
+* ``UID``, the user id Synapse will run as [default 991]
+* ``GID``, the group id Synapse will run as [default 991]
+* ``SYNAPSE_CONFIG_PATH``, path to a custom config file
+
+If ``SYNAPSE_CONFIG_PATH`` is set, you should generate a configuration file
+then customize it manually. No other environment variable is required.
+
+Otherwise, a dynamic configuration file will be used. The following environment
+variables are available for configuration:
+
+* ``SYNAPSE_SERVER_NAME`` (mandatory), the current server public hostname.
+* ``SYNAPSE_REPORT_STATS``, (mandatory, ``yes`` or ``no``), enable anonymous
+  statistics reporting back to the Matrix project which helps us to get funding.
+* ``SYNAPSE_NO_TLS``, set this variable to disable TLS in Synapse (use this if
+  you run your own TLS-capable reverse proxy).
+* ``SYNAPSE_ENABLE_REGISTRATION``, set this variable to enable registration on
+  the Synapse instance.
+* ``SYNAPSE_ALLOW_GUEST``, set this variable to allow guest joining this server.
+* ``SYNAPSE_EVENT_CACHE_SIZE``, the event cache size [default `10K`].
+* ``SYNAPSE_CACHE_FACTOR``, the cache factor [default `0.5`].
+* ``SYNAPSE_RECAPTCHA_PUBLIC_KEY``, set this variable to the recaptcha public
+  key in order to enable recaptcha upon registration.
+* ``SYNAPSE_RECAPTCHA_PRIVATE_KEY``, set this variable to the recaptcha private
+  key in order to enable recaptcha upon registration.
+* ``SYNAPSE_TURN_URIS``, set this variable to the coma-separated list of TURN
+  uris to enable TURN for this homeserver.
+* ``SYNAPSE_TURN_SECRET``, set this to the TURN shared secret if required.
+
+Shared secrets, that will be initialized to random values if not set:
+
+* ``SYNAPSE_REGISTRATION_SHARED_SECRET``, secret for registrering users if
+  registration is disable.
+* ``SYNAPSE_MACAROON_SECRET_KEY`` secret for signing access tokens
+  to the server.
+
+Database specific values (will use SQLite if not set):
+
+* `POSTGRES_DB` - The database name for the synapse postgres database. [default: `synapse`]
+* `POSTGRES_HOST` - The host of the postgres database if you wish to use postgresql instead of sqlite3. [default: `db` which is useful when using a container on the same docker network in a compose file where the postgres service is called `db`]
+* `POSTGRES_PASSWORD` - The password for the synapse postgres database. **If this is set then postgres will be used instead of sqlite3.** [default: none] **NOTE**: You are highly encouraged to use postgresql! Please use the compose file to make it easier to deploy.
+* `POSTGRES_USER` - The user for the synapse postgres database. [default: `matrix`]
+
+Mail server specific values (will not send emails if not set):
+
+* ``SYNAPSE_SMTP_HOST``, hostname to the mail server.
+* ``SYNAPSE_SMTP_PORT``, TCP port for accessing the mail server [default ``25``].
+* ``SYNAPSE_SMTP_USER``, username for authenticating against the mail server if any.
+* ``SYNAPSE_SMTP_PASSWORD``, password for authenticating against the mail server if any.
diff --git a/contrib/docker/conf/homeserver.yaml b/contrib/docker/conf/homeserver.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6bc25bb45f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/docker/conf/homeserver.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,219 @@
+# vim:ft=yaml
+
+## TLS ##
+
+tls_certificate_path: "/data/{{ SYNAPSE_SERVER_NAME }}.tls.crt"
+tls_private_key_path: "/data/{{ SYNAPSE_SERVER_NAME }}.tls.key"
+tls_dh_params_path: "/data/{{ SYNAPSE_SERVER_NAME }}.tls.dh"
+no_tls: {{ "True" if SYNAPSE_NO_TLS else "False" }}
+tls_fingerprints: []
+
+## Server ##
+
+server_name: "{{ SYNAPSE_SERVER_NAME }}"
+pid_file: /homeserver.pid
+web_client: False
+soft_file_limit: 0
+
+## Ports ##
+
+listeners:
+  {% if not SYNAPSE_NO_TLS %}
+  -
+    port: 8448
+    bind_addresses: ['0.0.0.0']
+    type: http
+    tls: true
+    x_forwarded: false
+    resources:
+      - names: [client]
+        compress: true
+      - names: [federation]  # Federation APIs
+        compress: false
+  {% endif %}
+
+  - port: 8008
+    tls: false
+    bind_addresses: ['0.0.0.0']
+    type: http
+    x_forwarded: false
+
+    resources:
+      - names: [client]
+        compress: true
+      - names: [federation]
+        compress: false
+
+## Database ##
+
+{% if POSTGRES_PASSWORD %}
+database:
+  name: "psycopg2"
+  args:
+    user: "{{ POSTGRES_USER or "synapse" }}"
+    password: "{{ POSTGRES_PASSWORD }}"
+    database: "{{ POSTGRES_DB or "synapse" }}"
+    host: "{{ POSTGRES_HOST or "db" }}"
+    port: "{{ POSTGRES_PORT or "5432" }}"
+    cp_min: 5
+    cp_max: 10
+{% else %}
+database:
+  name: "sqlite3"
+  args:
+    database: "/data/homeserver.db"
+{% endif %}
+
+## Performance ##
+
+event_cache_size: "{{ SYNAPSE_EVENT_CACHE_SIZE or "10K" }}"
+verbose: 0
+log_file: "/data/homeserver.log"
+log_config: "/compiled/log.config"
+
+## Ratelimiting ##
+
+rc_messages_per_second: 0.2
+rc_message_burst_count: 10.0
+federation_rc_window_size: 1000
+federation_rc_sleep_limit: 10
+federation_rc_sleep_delay: 500
+federation_rc_reject_limit: 50
+federation_rc_concurrent: 3
+
+## Files ##
+
+media_store_path: "/data/media"
+uploads_path: "/data/uploads"
+max_upload_size: "10M"
+max_image_pixels: "32M"
+dynamic_thumbnails: false
+
+# List of thumbnail to precalculate when an image is uploaded.
+thumbnail_sizes:
+- width: 32
+  height: 32
+  method: crop
+- width: 96
+  height: 96
+  method: crop
+- width: 320
+  height: 240
+  method: scale
+- width: 640
+  height: 480
+  method: scale
+- width: 800
+  height: 600
+  method: scale
+
+url_preview_enabled: False
+max_spider_size: "10M"
+
+## Captcha ##
+
+{% if SYNAPSE_RECAPTCHA_PUBLIC_KEY %}
+recaptcha_public_key: "{{ SYNAPSE_RECAPTCHA_PUBLIC_KEY }}"
+recaptcha_private_key: "{{ SYNAPSE_RECAPTCHA_PRIVATE_KEY }}"
+enable_registration_captcha: True
+recaptcha_siteverify_api: "https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api/siteverify"
+{% else %}
+recaptcha_public_key: "YOUR_PUBLIC_KEY"
+recaptcha_private_key: "YOUR_PRIVATE_KEY"
+enable_registration_captcha: False
+recaptcha_siteverify_api: "https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api/siteverify"
+{% endif %}
+
+## Turn ##
+
+{% if SYNAPSE_TURN_URIS %}
+turn_uris:
+{% for uri in SYNAPSE_TURN_URIS.split(',') %}    - "{{ uri }}"
+{% endfor %}
+turn_shared_secret: "{{ SYNAPSE_TURN_SECRET }}"
+turn_user_lifetime: "1h"
+turn_allow_guests: True
+{% else %}
+turn_uris: []
+turn_shared_secret: "YOUR_SHARED_SECRET"
+turn_user_lifetime: "1h"
+turn_allow_guests: True
+{% endif %}
+
+## Registration ##
+
+enable_registration: {{ "True" if SYNAPSE_ENABLE_REGISTRATION else "False" }}
+registration_shared_secret: "{{ SYNAPSE_REGISTRATION_SHARED_SECRET }}"
+bcrypt_rounds: 12
+allow_guest_access: {{ "True" if SYNAPSE_ALLOW_GUEST else "False" }}
+enable_group_creation: true
+
+# The list of identity servers trusted to verify third party
+# identifiers by this server.
+trusted_third_party_id_servers:
+    - matrix.org
+    - vector.im
+    - riot.im
+
+## Metrics ###
+
+{% if SYNAPSE_REPORT_STATS.lower() == "yes" %}
+enable_metrics: True
+report_stats: True
+{% else %}
+enable_metrics: False
+report_stats: False
+{% endif %}
+
+## API Configuration ##
+
+room_invite_state_types:
+    - "m.room.join_rules"
+    - "m.room.canonical_alias"
+    - "m.room.avatar"
+    - "m.room.name"
+
+{% if SYNAPSE_APPSERVICES %}
+app_service_config_files:
+{% for appservice in SYNAPSE_APPSERVICES %}    - "{{ appservice }}"
+{% endfor %}
+{% else %}
+app_service_config_files: []
+{% endif %}
+
+macaroon_secret_key: "{{ SYNAPSE_MACAROON_SECRET_KEY }}"
+expire_access_token: False
+
+## Signing Keys ##
+
+signing_key_path: "/data/{{ SYNAPSE_SERVER_NAME }}.signing.key"
+old_signing_keys: {}
+key_refresh_interval: "1d" # 1 Day.
+
+# The trusted servers to download signing keys from.
+perspectives:
+  servers:
+    "matrix.org":
+      verify_keys:
+        "ed25519:auto":
+          key: "Noi6WqcDj0QmPxCNQqgezwTlBKrfqehY1u2FyWP9uYw"
+
+password_config:
+   enabled: true
+
+{% if SYNAPSE_SMTP_HOST %}
+email:
+   enable_notifs: false
+   smtp_host: "{{ SYNAPSE_SMTP_HOST }}"
+   smtp_port: {{ SYNAPSE_SMTP_PORT or "25" }}
+   smtp_user: "{{ SYNAPSE_SMTP_USER }}"
+   smtp_pass: "{{ SYNAPSE_SMTP_PASSWORD }}"
+   require_transport_security: False
+   notif_from: "{{ SYNAPSE_SMTP_FROM or "hostmaster@" + SYNAPSE_SERVER_NAME }}"
+   app_name: Matrix
+   template_dir: res/templates
+   notif_template_html: notif_mail.html
+   notif_template_text: notif_mail.txt
+   notif_for_new_users: True
+   riot_base_url: "https://{{ SYNAPSE_SERVER_NAME }}"
+{% endif %}
diff --git a/contrib/docker/conf/log.config b/contrib/docker/conf/log.config
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1851995802
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/docker/conf/log.config
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+version: 1
+
+formatters:
+  precise:
+   format: '%(asctime)s - %(name)s - %(lineno)d - %(levelname)s - %(request)s- %(message)s'
+
+filters:
+  context:
+    (): synapse.util.logcontext.LoggingContextFilter
+    request: ""
+
+handlers:
+  console:
+    class: logging.StreamHandler
+    formatter: precise
+    filters: [context]
+
+loggers:
+    synapse:
+        level: {{ SYNAPSE_LOG_LEVEL or "WARNING" }}
+
+    synapse.storage.SQL:
+        # beware: increasing this to DEBUG will make synapse log sensitive
+        # information such as access tokens.
+        level: {{ SYNAPSE_LOG_LEVEL or "WARNING" }}
+
+root:
+    level: {{ SYNAPSE_LOG_LEVEL or "WARNING" }}
+    handlers: [console]
diff --git a/contrib/docker/docker-compose.yml b/contrib/docker/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0b531949e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/docker/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+# This compose file is compatible with Compose itself, it might need some
+# adjustments to run properly with stack.
+
+version: '3'
+
+services:
+
+  synapse:
+    image: docker.io/matrixdotorg/synapse:latest
+    # Since snyapse does not retry to connect to the database, restart upon
+    # failure
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    # See the readme for a full documentation of the environment settings
+    environment:
+      - SYNAPSE_SERVER_NAME=my.matrix.host
+      - SYNAPSE_REPORT_STATS=no
+      - SYNAPSE_ENABLE_REGISTRATION=yes
+      - SYNAPSE_LOG_LEVEL=INFO
+      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=changeme
+    volumes:
+      # You may either store all the files in a local folder
+      - ./files:/data
+      # .. or you may split this between different storage points
+      # - ./files:/data
+      # - /path/to/ssd:/data/uploads
+      # - /path/to/large_hdd:/data/media
+    depends_on:
+      - db
+    # In order to expose Synapse, remove one of the following, you might for
+    # instance expose the TLS port directly:
+    ports:
+      - 8448:8448/tcp
+    # ... or use a reverse proxy, here is an example for traefik:
+    labels:
+      - traefik.enable=true
+      - traefik.frontend.rule=Host:my.matrix.Host
+      - traefik.port=8448
+
+  db:
+    image: docker.io/postgres:10-alpine
+    # Change that password, of course!
+    environment:
+      - POSTGRES_USER=synapse
+      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=changeme
+    volumes:
+      # You may store the database tables in a local folder..
+      - ./schemas:/var/lib/postgresql/data
+      # .. or store them on some high performance storage for better results
+      # - /path/to/ssd/storage:/var/lib/postfesql/data
diff --git a/contrib/docker/start.py b/contrib/docker/start.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..90e8b9c51a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/docker/start.py
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+#!/usr/local/bin/python
+
+import jinja2
+import os
+import sys
+import subprocess
+import glob
+
+# Utility functions
+convert = lambda src, dst, environ: open(dst, "w").write(jinja2.Template(open(src).read()).render(**environ))
+
+def check_arguments(environ, args):
+    for argument in args:
+        if argument not in environ:
+            print("Environment variable %s is mandatory, exiting." % argument)
+            sys.exit(2)
+
+def generate_secrets(environ, secrets):
+    for name, secret in secrets.items():
+        if secret not in environ:
+            filename = "/data/%s.%s.key" % (environ["SYNAPSE_SERVER_NAME"], name)
+            if os.path.exists(filename):
+                with open(filename) as handle: value = handle.read()
+            else:
+                print("Generating a random secret for {}".format(name))
+                value = os.urandom(32).encode("hex")
+                with open(filename, "w") as handle: handle.write(value)
+            environ[secret] = value
+
+# Prepare the configuration
+mode = sys.argv[1] if len(sys.argv) > 1 else None
+environ = os.environ.copy()
+ownership = "{}:{}".format(environ.get("UID", 991), environ.get("GID", 991))
+args = ["python", "-m", "synapse.app.homeserver"]
+
+# In generate mode, generate a configuration, missing keys, then exit
+if mode == "generate":
+    check_arguments(environ, ("SYNAPSE_SERVER_NAME", "SYNAPSE_REPORT_STATS", "SYNAPSE_CONFIG_PATH"))
+    args += [
+        "--server-name", environ["SYNAPSE_SERVER_NAME"],
+        "--report-stats", environ["SYNAPSE_REPORT_STATS"],
+        "--config-path", environ["SYNAPSE_CONFIG_PATH"],
+        "--generate-config"
+    ]
+    os.execv("/usr/local/bin/python", args)
+
+# In normal mode, generate missing keys if any, then run synapse
+else:
+    # Parse the configuration file
+    if "SYNAPSE_CONFIG_PATH" in environ:
+        args += ["--config-path", environ["SYNAPSE_CONFIG_PATH"]]
+    else:
+        check_arguments(environ, ("SYNAPSE_SERVER_NAME", "SYNAPSE_REPORT_STATS"))
+        generate_secrets(environ, {
+            "registration": "SYNAPSE_REGISTRATION_SHARED_SECRET",
+            "macaroon": "SYNAPSE_MACAROON_SECRET_KEY"
+        })
+        environ["SYNAPSE_APPSERVICES"] = glob.glob("/data/appservices/*.yaml")
+        if not os.path.exists("/compiled"): os.mkdir("/compiled")
+        convert("/conf/homeserver.yaml", "/compiled/homeserver.yaml", environ)
+        convert("/conf/log.config", "/compiled/log.config", environ)
+        subprocess.check_output(["chown", "-R", ownership, "/data"])
+        args += ["--config-path", "/compiled/homeserver.yaml"]
+    # Generate missing keys and start synapse
+    subprocess.check_output(args + ["--generate-keys"])
+    os.execv("/sbin/su-exec", ["su-exec", ownership] + args)
diff --git a/contrib/graph/graph3.py b/contrib/graph/graph3.py
index 88d92c89d7..7d3b4d7eb6 100644
--- a/contrib/graph/graph3.py
+++ b/contrib/graph/graph3.py
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ import argparse
 from synapse.events import FrozenEvent
 from synapse.util.frozenutils import unfreeze
 
+from six import string_types
+
 
 def make_graph(file_name, room_id, file_prefix, limit):
     print "Reading lines"
@@ -58,7 +60,7 @@ def make_graph(file_name, room_id, file_prefix, limit):
         for key, value in unfreeze(event.get_dict()["content"]).items():
             if value is None:
                 value = "<null>"
-            elif isinstance(value, basestring):
+            elif isinstance(value, string_types):
                 pass
             else:
                 value = json.dumps(value)
diff --git a/contrib/prometheus/consoles/synapse.html b/contrib/prometheus/consoles/synapse.html
index e23d8a1fce..69aa87f85e 100644
--- a/contrib/prometheus/consoles/synapse.html
+++ b/contrib/prometheus/consoles/synapse.html
@@ -202,11 +202,11 @@ new PromConsole.Graph({
 <h1>Requests</h1>
 
 <h3>Requests by Servlet</h3>
-<div id="synapse_http_server_requests_servlet"></div>
+<div id="synapse_http_server_request_count_servlet"></div>
 <script>
 new PromConsole.Graph({
-  node: document.querySelector("#synapse_http_server_requests_servlet"),
-  expr: "rate(synapse_http_server_requests:servlet[2m])",
+  node: document.querySelector("#synapse_http_server_request_count_servlet"),
+  expr: "rate(synapse_http_server_request_count:servlet[2m])",
   name: "[[servlet]]",
   yAxisFormatter: PromConsole.NumberFormatter.humanize,
   yHoverFormatter: PromConsole.NumberFormatter.humanize,
@@ -215,11 +215,11 @@ new PromConsole.Graph({
 })
 </script>
 <h4>&nbsp;(without <tt>EventStreamRestServlet</tt> or <tt>SyncRestServlet</tt>)</h4>
-<div id="synapse_http_server_requests_servlet_minus_events"></div>
+<div id="synapse_http_server_request_count_servlet_minus_events"></div>
 <script>
 new PromConsole.Graph({
-  node: document.querySelector("#synapse_http_server_requests_servlet_minus_events"),
-  expr: "rate(synapse_http_server_requests:servlet{servlet!=\"EventStreamRestServlet\", servlet!=\"SyncRestServlet\"}[2m])",
+  node: document.querySelector("#synapse_http_server_request_count_servlet_minus_events"),
+  expr: "rate(synapse_http_server_request_count:servlet{servlet!=\"EventStreamRestServlet\", servlet!=\"SyncRestServlet\"}[2m])",
   name: "[[servlet]]",
   yAxisFormatter: PromConsole.NumberFormatter.humanize,
   yHoverFormatter: PromConsole.NumberFormatter.humanize,
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ new PromConsole.Graph({
 <script>
 new PromConsole.Graph({
   node: document.querySelector("#synapse_http_server_response_time_avg"),
-  expr: "rate(synapse_http_server_response_time:total[2m]) / rate(synapse_http_server_response_time:count[2m]) / 1000",
+  expr: "rate(synapse_http_server_response_time_seconds[2m]) / rate(synapse_http_server_response_count[2m]) / 1000",
   name: "[[servlet]]",
   yAxisFormatter: PromConsole.NumberFormatter.humanize,
   yHoverFormatter: PromConsole.NumberFormatter.humanize,
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ new PromConsole.Graph({
 <script>
 new PromConsole.Graph({
   node: document.querySelector("#synapse_http_server_response_ru_utime"),
-  expr: "rate(synapse_http_server_response_ru_utime:total[2m])",
+  expr: "rate(synapse_http_server_response_ru_utime_seconds[2m])",
   name: "[[servlet]]",
   yAxisFormatter: PromConsole.NumberFormatter.humanize,
   yHoverFormatter: PromConsole.NumberFormatter.humanize,
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ new PromConsole.Graph({
 <script>
 new PromConsole.Graph({
   node: document.querySelector("#synapse_http_server_response_db_txn_duration"),
-  expr: "rate(synapse_http_server_response_db_txn_duration:total[2m])",
+  expr: "rate(synapse_http_server_response_db_txn_duration_seconds[2m])",
   name: "[[servlet]]",
   yAxisFormatter: PromConsole.NumberFormatter.humanize,
   yHoverFormatter: PromConsole.NumberFormatter.humanize,
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ new PromConsole.Graph({
 <script>
 new PromConsole.Graph({
   node: document.querySelector("#synapse_http_server_send_time_avg"),
-  expr: "rate(synapse_http_server_response_time:total{servlet='RoomSendEventRestServlet'}[2m]) / rate(synapse_http_server_response_time:count{servlet='RoomSendEventRestServlet'}[2m]) / 1000",
+  expr: "rate(synapse_http_server_response_time_second{servlet='RoomSendEventRestServlet'}[2m]) / rate(synapse_http_server_response_count{servlet='RoomSendEventRestServlet'}[2m]) / 1000",
   name: "[[servlet]]",
   yAxisFormatter: PromConsole.NumberFormatter.humanize,
   yHoverFormatter: PromConsole.NumberFormatter.humanize,
diff --git a/contrib/prometheus/synapse-v1.rules b/contrib/prometheus/synapse-v1.rules
index b6f84174b0..4c900ba537 100644
--- a/contrib/prometheus/synapse-v1.rules
+++ b/contrib/prometheus/synapse-v1.rules
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 synapse_federation_transaction_queue_pendingEdus:total = sum(synapse_federation_transaction_queue_pendingEdus or absent(synapse_federation_transaction_queue_pendingEdus)*0)
 synapse_federation_transaction_queue_pendingPdus:total = sum(synapse_federation_transaction_queue_pendingPdus or absent(synapse_federation_transaction_queue_pendingPdus)*0)
 
-synapse_http_server_requests:method{servlet=""} = sum(synapse_http_server_requests) by (method)
-synapse_http_server_requests:servlet{method=""} = sum(synapse_http_server_requests) by (servlet)
+synapse_http_server_request_count:method{servlet=""} = sum(synapse_http_server_request_count) by (method)
+synapse_http_server_request_count:servlet{method=""} = sum(synapse_http_server_request_count) by (servlet)
 
-synapse_http_server_requests:total{servlet=""} = sum(synapse_http_server_requests:by_method) by (servlet)
+synapse_http_server_request_count:total{servlet=""} = sum(synapse_http_server_request_count:by_method) by (servlet)
 
 synapse_cache:hit_ratio_5m = rate(synapse_util_caches_cache:hits[5m]) / rate(synapse_util_caches_cache:total[5m])
 synapse_cache:hit_ratio_30s = rate(synapse_util_caches_cache:hits[30s]) / rate(synapse_util_caches_cache:total[30s])
diff --git a/contrib/prometheus/synapse-v2.rules b/contrib/prometheus/synapse-v2.rules
index 07e37a885e..6ccca2daaf 100644
--- a/contrib/prometheus/synapse-v2.rules
+++ b/contrib/prometheus/synapse-v2.rules
@@ -5,19 +5,19 @@ groups:
     expr: "sum(synapse_federation_transaction_queue_pendingEdus or absent(synapse_federation_transaction_queue_pendingEdus)*0)"
   - record: "synapse_federation_transaction_queue_pendingPdus:total"
     expr:   "sum(synapse_federation_transaction_queue_pendingPdus or absent(synapse_federation_transaction_queue_pendingPdus)*0)"
-  - record: 'synapse_http_server_requests:method'
+  - record: 'synapse_http_server_request_count:method'
     labels:
       servlet: ""
-    expr: "sum(synapse_http_server_requests) by (method)"
-  - record: 'synapse_http_server_requests:servlet'
+    expr: "sum(synapse_http_server_request_count) by (method)"
+  - record: 'synapse_http_server_request_count:servlet'
     labels:
       method: ""
-    expr: 'sum(synapse_http_server_requests) by (servlet)'
+    expr: 'sum(synapse_http_server_request_count) by (servlet)'
 
-  - record: 'synapse_http_server_requests:total'
+  - record: 'synapse_http_server_request_count:total'
     labels:
       servlet: ""
-    expr: 'sum(synapse_http_server_requests:by_method) by (servlet)'
+    expr: 'sum(synapse_http_server_request_count:by_method) by (servlet)'
 
   - record: 'synapse_cache:hit_ratio_5m'
     expr: 'rate(synapse_util_caches_cache:hits[5m]) / rate(synapse_util_caches_cache:total[5m])'
diff --git a/contrib/systemd/synapse.service b/contrib/systemd/synapse.service
index 3f037055b9..b81ce3915d 100644
--- a/contrib/systemd/synapse.service
+++ b/contrib/systemd/synapse.service
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 # (e.g. https://www.archlinux.org/packages/community/any/matrix-synapse/ for ArchLinux)
 # rather than in a user home directory or similar under virtualenv.
 
+# **NOTE:** This is an example service file that may change in the future. If you
+# wish to use this please copy rather than symlink it.
+
 [Unit]
 Description=Synapse Matrix homeserver
 
@@ -12,6 +15,7 @@ Group=synapse
 WorkingDirectory=/var/lib/synapse
 ExecStart=/usr/bin/python2.7 -m synapse.app.homeserver --config-path=/etc/synapse/homeserver.yaml
 ExecStop=/usr/bin/synctl stop /etc/synapse/homeserver.yaml
+# EnvironmentFile=-/etc/sysconfig/synapse  # Can be used to e.g. set SYNAPSE_CACHE_FACTOR 
 
 [Install]
 WantedBy=multi-user.target
diff --git a/docs/admin_api/purge_history_api.rst b/docs/admin_api/purge_history_api.rst
index ea2922da5c..2da833c827 100644
--- a/docs/admin_api/purge_history_api.rst
+++ b/docs/admin_api/purge_history_api.rst
@@ -16,9 +16,11 @@ including an ``access_token`` of a server admin.
 
 By default, events sent by local users are not deleted, as they may represent
 the only copies of this content in existence. (Events sent by remote users are
-deleted, and room state data before the cutoff is always removed).
+deleted.)
 
-To delete local events as well, set ``delete_local_events`` in the body:
+Room state data (such as joins, leaves, topic) is always preserved.
+
+To delete local message events as well, set ``delete_local_events`` in the body:
 
 .. code:: json
 
diff --git a/docs/consent_tracking.md b/docs/consent_tracking.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..064eae82f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/consent_tracking.md
@@ -0,0 +1,160 @@
+Support in Synapse for tracking agreement to server terms and conditions
+========================================================================
+
+Synapse 0.30 introduces support for tracking whether users have agreed to the
+terms and conditions set by the administrator of a server - and blocking access
+to the server until they have.
+
+There are several parts to this functionality; each requires some specific
+configuration in `homeserver.yaml` to be enabled.
+
+Note that various parts of the configuation and this document refer to the
+"privacy policy": agreement with a privacy policy is one particular use of this
+feature, but of course adminstrators can specify other terms and conditions
+unrelated to "privacy" per se.
+
+Collecting policy agreement from a user
+---------------------------------------
+
+Synapse can be configured to serve the user a simple policy form with an
+"accept" button. Clicking "Accept" records the user's acceptance in the
+database and shows a success page.
+
+To enable this, first create templates for the policy and success pages.
+These should be stored on the local filesystem.
+
+These templates use the [Jinja2](http://jinja.pocoo.org) templating language,
+and [docs/privacy_policy_templates](privacy_policy_templates) gives
+examples of the sort of thing that can be done.
+
+Note that the templates must be stored under a name giving the language of the
+template - currently this must always be `en` (for "English");
+internationalisation support is intended for the future.
+
+The template for the policy itself should be versioned and named according to 
+the version: for example `1.0.html`. The version of the policy which the user
+has agreed to is stored in the database.
+
+Once the templates are in place, make the following changes to `homeserver.yaml`:
+
+ 1. Add a `user_consent` section, which should look like:
+
+    ```yaml
+    user_consent:
+      template_dir: privacy_policy_templates
+      version: 1.0
+    ```
+
+    `template_dir` points to the directory containing the policy
+    templates. `version` defines the version of the policy which will be served
+    to the user. In the example above, Synapse will serve
+    `privacy_policy_templates/en/1.0.html`.
+
+
+ 2. Add a `form_secret` setting at the top level:
+
+
+    ```yaml
+    form_secret: "<unique secret>"
+    ```
+
+    This should be set to an arbitrary secret string (try `pwgen -y 30` to
+    generate suitable secrets).
+
+    More on what this is used for below.
+
+ 3. Add `consent` wherever the `client` resource is currently enabled in the
+    `listeners` configuration. For example:
+
+    ```yaml
+    listeners:
+      - port: 8008
+        resources:
+          - names:
+            - client
+            - consent
+    ```
+
+
+Finally, ensure that `jinja2` is installed. If you are using a virtualenv, this
+should be a matter of `pip install Jinja2`. On debian, try `apt-get install
+python-jinja2`.
+
+Once this is complete, and the server has been restarted, try visiting
+`https://<server>/_matrix/consent`. If correctly configured, this should give
+an error "Missing string query parameter 'u'". It is now possible to manually
+construct URIs where users can give their consent.
+
+### Constructing the consent URI
+
+It may be useful to manually construct the "consent URI" for a given user - for
+instance, in order to send them an email asking them to consent. To do this,
+take the base `https://<server>/_matrix/consent` URL and add the following
+query parameters:
+
+ * `u`: the user id of the user. This can either be a full MXID
+   (`@user:server.com`) or just the localpart (`user`).
+
+ * `h`: hex-encoded HMAC-SHA256 of `u` using the `form_secret` as a key. It is
+   possible to calculate this on the commandline with something like:
+
+   ```bash
+   echo -n '<user>' | openssl sha256 -hmac '<form_secret>'
+   ```
+
+   This should result in a URI which looks something like:
+   `https://<server>/_matrix/consent?u=<user>&h=68a152465a4d...`.
+
+
+Sending users a server notice asking them to agree to the policy
+----------------------------------------------------------------
+
+It is possible to configure Synapse to send a [server
+notice](server_notices.md) to anybody who has not yet agreed to the current
+version of the policy. To do so:
+
+ * ensure that the consent resource is configured, as in the previous section
+
+ * ensure that server notices are configured, as in [server_notices.md](server_notices.md).
+
+ * Add `server_notice_content` under `user_consent` in `homeserver.yaml`. For
+   example:
+
+   ```yaml
+   user_consent:
+     server_notice_content:
+       msgtype: m.text
+       body: >-
+         Please give your consent to the privacy policy at %(consent_uri)s.
+   ```
+
+   Synapse automatically replaces the placeholder `%(consent_uri)s` with the
+   consent uri for that user.
+
+ * ensure that `public_baseurl` is set in `homeserver.yaml`, and gives the base
+   URI that clients use to connect to the server. (It is used to construct
+   `consent_uri` in the server notice.)
+
+
+Blocking users from using the server until they agree to the policy
+-------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Synapse can be configured to block any attempts to join rooms or send messages
+until the user has given their agreement to the policy. (Joining the server
+notices room is exempted from this).
+
+To enable this, add `block_events_error` under `user_consent`. For example:
+
+```yaml
+user_consent:
+  block_events_error: >-
+    You can't send any messages until you consent to the privacy policy at
+    %(consent_uri)s.
+```
+
+Synapse automatically replaces the placeholder `%(consent_uri)s` with the
+consent uri for that user.
+
+ensure that `public_baseurl` is set in `homeserver.yaml`, and gives the base
+URI that clients use to connect to the server. (It is used to construct
+`consent_uri` in the error.)
diff --git a/docs/manhole.md b/docs/manhole.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7375f5ad46
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/manhole.md
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+Using the synapse manhole
+=========================
+
+The "manhole" allows server administrators to access a Python shell on a running
+Synapse installation. This is a very powerful mechanism for administration and
+debugging.
+
+To enable it, first uncomment the `manhole` listener configuration in
+`homeserver.yaml`:
+
+```yaml
+listeners:
+  - port: 9000
+    bind_addresses: ['::1', '127.0.0.1']
+    type: manhole
+```
+
+(`bind_addresses` in the above is important: it ensures that access to the
+manhole is only possible for local users).
+
+Note that this will give administrative access to synapse to **all users** with
+shell access to the server. It should therefore **not** be enabled in
+environments where untrusted users have shell access.
+
+Then restart synapse, and point an ssh client at port 9000 on localhost, using
+the username `matrix`:
+
+```bash
+ssh -p9000 matrix@localhost
+```
+
+The password is `rabbithole`.
+
+This gives a Python REPL in which `hs` gives access to the
+`synapse.server.HomeServer` object - which in turn gives access to many other
+parts of the process.
+
+As a simple example, retrieving an event from the database:
+
+```
+>>> hs.get_datastore().get_event('$1416420717069yeQaw:matrix.org')
+<Deferred at 0x7ff253fc6998 current result: <FrozenEvent event_id='$1416420717069yeQaw:matrix.org', type='m.room.create', state_key=''>>
+```
diff --git a/docs/postgres.rst b/docs/postgres.rst
index 904942ec74..296293e859 100644
--- a/docs/postgres.rst
+++ b/docs/postgres.rst
@@ -6,7 +6,13 @@ Postgres version 9.4 or later is known to work.
 Set up database
 ===============
 
-The PostgreSQL database used *must* have the correct encoding set, otherwise
+Assuming your PostgreSQL database user is called ``postgres``, create a user
+``synapse_user`` with::
+
+ su - postgres
+ createuser --pwprompt synapse_user
+
+The PostgreSQL database used *must* have the correct encoding set, otherwise it
 would not be able to store UTF8 strings. To create a database with the correct
 encoding use, e.g.::
 
@@ -46,8 +52,8 @@ As with Debian/Ubuntu, postgres support depends on the postgres python connector
 Synapse config
 ==============
 
-When you are ready to start using PostgreSQL, add the following line to your
-config file::
+When you are ready to start using PostgreSQL, edit the ``database`` section in
+your config file to match the following lines::
 
     database:
         name: psycopg2
@@ -96,9 +102,12 @@ complete, restart synapse.  For instance::
     cp homeserver.db homeserver.db.snapshot
     ./synctl start
 
-Assuming your new config file (as described in the section *Synapse config*)
-is named ``homeserver-postgres.yaml`` and the SQLite snapshot is at
-``homeserver.db.snapshot`` then simply run::
+Copy the old config file into a new config file::
+
+    cp homeserver.yaml homeserver-postgres.yaml
+
+Edit the database section as described in the section *Synapse config* above
+and with the SQLite snapshot located at ``homeserver.db.snapshot`` simply run::
 
     synapse_port_db --sqlite-database homeserver.db.snapshot \
         --postgres-config homeserver-postgres.yaml
@@ -117,6 +126,11 @@ run::
         --postgres-config homeserver-postgres.yaml
 
 Once that has completed, change the synapse config to point at the PostgreSQL
-database configuration file ``homeserver-postgres.yaml`` (i.e. rename it to 
-``homeserver.yaml``) and restart synapse. Synapse should now be running against
-PostgreSQL.
+database configuration file ``homeserver-postgres.yaml``:
+
+    ./synctl stop
+    mv homeserver.yaml homeserver-old-sqlite.yaml 
+    mv homeserver-postgres.yaml homeserver.yaml 
+    ./synctl start
+
+Synapse should now be running against PostgreSQL.
diff --git a/docs/privacy_policy_templates/en/1.0.html b/docs/privacy_policy_templates/en/1.0.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..55c5e4b612
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/privacy_policy_templates/en/1.0.html
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+<!doctype html>
+<html lang="en">
+  <head>
+    <title>Matrix.org Privacy policy</title>
+  </head>
+  <body>
+  {% if has_consented %}
+    <p>
+      Your base already belong to us.
+    </p>
+  {% else %}
+    <p>
+      All your base are belong to us.
+    </p>
+    <form method="post" action="consent">
+      <input type="hidden" name="v" value="{{version}}"/>
+      <input type="hidden" name="u" value="{{user}}"/>
+      <input type="hidden" name="h" value="{{userhmac}}"/>
+      <input type="submit" value="Sure thing!"/>
+    </form>
+  {% endif %}
+  </body>
+</html>
diff --git a/docs/privacy_policy_templates/en/success.html b/docs/privacy_policy_templates/en/success.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d55e90c94f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/privacy_policy_templates/en/success.html
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+<!doctype html>
+<html lang="en">
+  <head>
+    <title>Matrix.org Privacy policy</title>
+  </head>
+  <body>
+    <p>
+      Sweet.
+    </p>
+  </body>
+</html>
diff --git a/docs/server_notices.md b/docs/server_notices.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..58f8776319
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/server_notices.md
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+Server Notices
+==============
+
+'Server Notices' are a new feature introduced in Synapse 0.30. They provide a
+channel whereby server administrators can send messages to users on the server.
+
+They are used as part of communication of the server polices(see
+[consent_tracking.md](consent_tracking.md)), however the intention is that
+they may also find a use for features such as "Message of the day".
+
+This is a feature specific to Synapse, but it uses standard Matrix
+communication mechanisms, so should work with any Matrix client.
+
+User experience
+---------------
+
+When the user is first sent a server notice, they will get an invitation to a
+room (typically called 'Server Notices', though this is configurable in
+`homeserver.yaml`). They will be **unable to reject** this invitation -
+attempts to do so will receive an error.
+
+Once they accept the invitation, they will see the notice message in the room
+history; it will appear to have come from the 'server notices user' (see
+below).
+
+The user is prevented from sending any messages in this room by the power
+levels.
+
+Having joined the room, the user can leave the room if they want. Subsequent
+server notices will then cause a new room to be created.
+
+Synapse configuration
+---------------------
+
+Server notices come from a specific user id on the server. Server
+administrators are free to choose the user id - something like `server` is
+suggested, meaning the notices will come from
+`@server:<your_server_name>`. Once the Server Notices user is configured, that
+user id becomes a special, privileged user, so administrators should ensure
+that **it is not already allocated**.
+
+In order to support server notices, it is necessary to add some configuration
+to the `homeserver.yaml` file. In particular, you should add a `server_notices`
+section, which should look like this:
+
+```yaml
+server_notices:
+   system_mxid_localpart: server
+   system_mxid_display_name: "Server Notices"
+   system_mxid_avatar_url: "mxc://server.com/oumMVlgDnLYFaPVkExemNVVZ"
+   room_name: "Server Notices"
+```
+
+The only compulsory setting is `system_mxid_localpart`, which defines the user
+id of the Server Notices user, as above. `room_name` defines the name of the
+room which will be created.
+
+`system_mxid_display_name` and `system_mxid_avatar_url` can be used to set the
+displayname and avatar of the Server Notices user.
+
+Sending notices
+---------------
+
+As of the current version of synapse, there is no convenient interface for
+sending notices (other than the automated ones sent as part of consent
+tracking).
+
+In the meantime, it is possible to test this feature using the manhole. Having
+gone into the manhole as described in [manhole.md](manhole.md), a notice can be
+sent with something like:
+
+```
+>>> hs.get_server_notices_manager().send_notice('@user:server.com', {'msgtype':'m.text', 'body':'foo'})
+```
diff --git a/docs/workers.rst b/docs/workers.rst
index dee04bbf3e..1d521b9ec5 100644
--- a/docs/workers.rst
+++ b/docs/workers.rst
@@ -55,7 +55,12 @@ synapse process.)
 
 You then create a set of configs for the various worker processes.  These
 should be worker configuration files, and should be stored in a dedicated
-subdirectory, to allow synctl to manipulate them.
+subdirectory, to allow synctl to manipulate them. An additional configuration
+for the master synapse process will need to be created because the process will
+not be started automatically. That configuration should look like this::
+
+    worker_app: synapse.app.homeserver
+    daemonize: true
 
 Each worker configuration file inherits the configuration of the main homeserver
 configuration file.  You can then override configuration specific to that worker,
@@ -230,9 +235,11 @@ file. For example::
 ``synapse.app.event_creator``
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
-Handles non-state event creation. It can handle REST endpoints matching:
+Handles some event creation. It can handle REST endpoints matching::
 
     ^/_matrix/client/(api/v1|r0|unstable)/rooms/.*/send
+    ^/_matrix/client/(api/v1|r0|unstable)/rooms/.*/(join|invite|leave|ban|unban|kick)$
+    ^/_matrix/client/(api/v1|r0|unstable)/join/
 
 It will create events locally and then send them on to the main synapse
 instance to be persisted and handled.
diff --git a/jenkins/prepare_synapse.sh b/jenkins/prepare_synapse.sh
index ffcb1cfab9..a30179f2aa 100755
--- a/jenkins/prepare_synapse.sh
+++ b/jenkins/prepare_synapse.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 #! /bin/bash
 
+set -eux
+
 cd "`dirname $0`/.."
 
 TOX_DIR=$WORKSPACE/.tox
@@ -14,7 +16,20 @@ fi
 tox -e py27 --notest -v
 
 TOX_BIN=$TOX_DIR/py27/bin
-$TOX_BIN/pip install setuptools
+
+# cryptography 2.2 requires setuptools >= 18.5.
+#
+# older versions of virtualenv (?) give us a virtualenv with the same version
+# of setuptools as is installed on the system python (and tox runs virtualenv
+# under python3, so we get the version of setuptools that is installed on that).
+#
+# anyway, make sure that we have a recent enough setuptools.
+$TOX_BIN/pip install 'setuptools>=18.5'
+
+# we also need a semi-recent version of pip, because old ones fail to install
+# the "enum34" dependency of cryptography.
+$TOX_BIN/pip install 'pip>=10'
+
 { python synapse/python_dependencies.py
   echo lxml psycopg2
 } | xargs $TOX_BIN/pip install
diff --git a/scripts-dev/nuke-room-from-db.sh b/scripts-dev/nuke-room-from-db.sh
index 1201d176c2..c62928afdb 100755
--- a/scripts-dev/nuke-room-from-db.sh
+++ b/scripts-dev/nuke-room-from-db.sh
@@ -6,9 +6,19 @@
 
 ## Do not run it lightly.
 
+set -e
+
+if [ "$1" == "-h" ] || [ "$1" == "" ]; then
+  echo "Call with ROOM_ID as first option and then pipe it into the database. So for instance you might run"
+  echo " nuke-room-from-db.sh <room_id> | sqlite3 homeserver.db"
+  echo "or"
+  echo " nuke-room-from-db.sh <room_id> | psql --dbname=synapse"
+  exit
+fi
+
 ROOMID="$1"
 
-sqlite3 homeserver.db <<EOF
+cat <<EOF
 DELETE FROM event_forward_extremities WHERE room_id = '$ROOMID';
 DELETE FROM event_backward_extremities WHERE room_id = '$ROOMID';
 DELETE FROM event_edges WHERE room_id = '$ROOMID';
@@ -29,7 +39,7 @@ DELETE FROM state_groups WHERE room_id = '$ROOMID';
 DELETE FROM state_groups_state WHERE room_id = '$ROOMID';
 DELETE FROM receipts_graph WHERE room_id = '$ROOMID';
 DELETE FROM receipts_linearized WHERE room_id = '$ROOMID';
-DELETE FROM event_search_content WHERE c1room_id = '$ROOMID';
+DELETE FROM event_search WHERE room_id = '$ROOMID'; 
 DELETE FROM guest_access WHERE room_id = '$ROOMID';
 DELETE FROM history_visibility WHERE room_id = '$ROOMID';
 DELETE FROM room_tags WHERE room_id = '$ROOMID';
diff --git a/scripts/synapse_port_db b/scripts/synapse_port_db
index d46581e4e1..b9b828c154 100755
--- a/scripts/synapse_port_db
+++ b/scripts/synapse_port_db
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # Copyright 2015, 2016 OpenMarket Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -29,6 +30,8 @@ import time
 import traceback
 import yaml
 
+from six import string_types
+
 
 logger = logging.getLogger("synapse_port_db")
 
@@ -250,6 +253,12 @@ class Porter(object):
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def handle_table(self, table, postgres_size, table_size, forward_chunk,
                      backward_chunk):
+        logger.info(
+            "Table %s: %i/%i (rows %i-%i) already ported",
+            table, postgres_size, table_size,
+            backward_chunk+1, forward_chunk-1,
+        )
+
         if not table_size:
             return
 
@@ -467,31 +476,10 @@ class Porter(object):
             self.progress.set_state("Preparing PostgreSQL")
             self.setup_db(postgres_config, postgres_engine)
 
-            # Step 2. Get tables.
-            self.progress.set_state("Fetching tables")
-            sqlite_tables = yield self.sqlite_store._simple_select_onecol(
-                table="sqlite_master",
-                keyvalues={
-                    "type": "table",
-                },
-                retcol="name",
-            )
-
-            postgres_tables = yield self.postgres_store._simple_select_onecol(
-                table="information_schema.tables",
-                keyvalues={},
-                retcol="distinct table_name",
-            )
-
-            tables = set(sqlite_tables) & set(postgres_tables)
-
-            self.progress.set_state("Creating tables")
-
-            logger.info("Found %d tables", len(tables))
-
+            self.progress.set_state("Creating port tables")
             def create_port_table(txn):
                 txn.execute(
-                    "CREATE TABLE port_from_sqlite3 ("
+                    "CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS port_from_sqlite3 ("
                     " table_name varchar(100) NOT NULL UNIQUE,"
                     " forward_rowid bigint NOT NULL,"
                     " backward_rowid bigint NOT NULL"
@@ -517,18 +505,33 @@ class Porter(object):
                     "alter_table", alter_table
                 )
             except Exception as e:
-                logger.info("Failed to create port table: %s", e)
+                pass
 
-            try:
-                yield self.postgres_store.runInteraction(
-                    "create_port_table", create_port_table
-                )
-            except Exception as e:
-                logger.info("Failed to create port table: %s", e)
+            yield self.postgres_store.runInteraction(
+                "create_port_table", create_port_table
+            )
+
+            # Step 2. Get tables.
+            self.progress.set_state("Fetching tables")
+            sqlite_tables = yield self.sqlite_store._simple_select_onecol(
+                table="sqlite_master",
+                keyvalues={
+                    "type": "table",
+                },
+                retcol="name",
+            )
 
-            self.progress.set_state("Setting up")
+            postgres_tables = yield self.postgres_store._simple_select_onecol(
+                table="information_schema.tables",
+                keyvalues={},
+                retcol="distinct table_name",
+            )
 
-            # Set up tables.
+            tables = set(sqlite_tables) & set(postgres_tables)
+            logger.info("Found %d tables", len(tables))
+
+            # Step 3. Figure out what still needs copying
+            self.progress.set_state("Checking on port progress")
             setup_res = yield defer.gatherResults(
                 [
                     self.setup_table(table)
@@ -539,7 +542,8 @@ class Porter(object):
                 consumeErrors=True,
             )
 
-            # Process tables.
+            # Step 4. Do the copying.
+            self.progress.set_state("Copying to postgres")
             yield defer.gatherResults(
                 [
                     self.handle_table(*res)
@@ -548,6 +552,9 @@ class Porter(object):
                 consumeErrors=True,
             )
 
+            # Step 5. Do final post-processing
+            yield self._setup_state_group_id_seq()
+
             self.progress.done()
         except:
             global end_error_exec_info
@@ -569,7 +576,7 @@ class Porter(object):
         def conv(j, col):
             if j in bool_cols:
                 return bool(col)
-            elif isinstance(col, basestring) and "\0" in col:
+            elif isinstance(col, string_types) and "\0" in col:
                 logger.warn("DROPPING ROW: NUL value in table %s col %s: %r", table, headers[j], col)
                 raise BadValueException();
             return col
@@ -707,6 +714,16 @@ class Porter(object):
 
         defer.returnValue((done, remaining + done))
 
+    def _setup_state_group_id_seq(self):
+        def r(txn):
+            txn.execute("SELECT MAX(id) FROM state_groups")
+            next_id = txn.fetchone()[0]+1
+            txn.execute(
+                "ALTER SEQUENCE state_group_id_seq RESTART WITH %s",
+                (next_id,),
+            )
+        return self.postgres_store.runInteraction("setup_state_group_id_seq", r)
+
 
 ##############################################
 ###### The following is simply UI stuff ######
diff --git a/synapse/__init__.py b/synapse/__init__.py
index ef8853bd24..5bada5e290 100644
--- a/synapse/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/__init__.py
@@ -16,4 +16,4 @@
 """ This is a reference implementation of a Matrix home server.
 """
 
-__version__ = "0.26.0"
+__version__ = "0.30.0"
diff --git a/synapse/api/auth.py b/synapse/api/auth.py
index ac0a3655a5..b052cf532b 100644
--- a/synapse/api/auth.py
+++ b/synapse/api/auth.py
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ class Auth(object):
         self.TOKEN_NOT_FOUND_HTTP_STATUS = 401
 
         self.token_cache = LruCache(CACHE_SIZE_FACTOR * 10000)
-        register_cache("token_cache", self.token_cache)
+        register_cache("cache", "token_cache", self.token_cache)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def check_from_context(self, event, context, do_sig_check=True):
@@ -204,8 +204,8 @@ class Auth(object):
 
             ip_addr = self.hs.get_ip_from_request(request)
             user_agent = request.requestHeaders.getRawHeaders(
-                "User-Agent",
-                default=[""]
+                b"User-Agent",
+                default=[b""]
             )[0]
             if user and access_token and ip_addr:
                 self.store.insert_client_ip(
@@ -672,7 +672,7 @@ def has_access_token(request):
         bool: False if no access_token was given, True otherwise.
     """
     query_params = request.args.get("access_token")
-    auth_headers = request.requestHeaders.getRawHeaders("Authorization")
+    auth_headers = request.requestHeaders.getRawHeaders(b"Authorization")
     return bool(query_params) or bool(auth_headers)
 
 
@@ -692,8 +692,8 @@ def get_access_token_from_request(request, token_not_found_http_status=401):
         AuthError: If there isn't an access_token in the request.
     """
 
-    auth_headers = request.requestHeaders.getRawHeaders("Authorization")
-    query_params = request.args.get("access_token")
+    auth_headers = request.requestHeaders.getRawHeaders(b"Authorization")
+    query_params = request.args.get(b"access_token")
     if auth_headers:
         # Try the get the access_token from a "Authorization: Bearer"
         # header
diff --git a/synapse/api/constants.py b/synapse/api/constants.py
index 489efb7f86..5baba43966 100644
--- a/synapse/api/constants.py
+++ b/synapse/api/constants.py
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@
 
 """Contains constants from the specification."""
 
+# the "depth" field on events is limited to 2**63 - 1
+MAX_DEPTH = 2**63 - 1
+
 
 class Membership(object):
 
diff --git a/synapse/api/errors.py b/synapse/api/errors.py
index aa15f73f36..e6ad3768f0 100644
--- a/synapse/api/errors.py
+++ b/synapse/api/errors.py
@@ -15,9 +15,12 @@
 
 """Contains exceptions and error codes."""
 
-import json
 import logging
 
+import simplejson as json
+from six import iteritems
+from six.moves import http_client
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
@@ -49,6 +52,8 @@ class Codes(object):
     THREEPID_DENIED = "M_THREEPID_DENIED"
     INVALID_USERNAME = "M_INVALID_USERNAME"
     SERVER_NOT_TRUSTED = "M_SERVER_NOT_TRUSTED"
+    CONSENT_NOT_GIVEN = "M_CONSENT_NOT_GIVEN"
+    CANNOT_LEAVE_SERVER_NOTICE_ROOM = "M_CANNOT_LEAVE_SERVER_NOTICE_ROOM"
 
 
 class CodeMessageException(RuntimeError):
@@ -136,6 +141,32 @@ class SynapseError(CodeMessageException):
         return res
 
 
+class ConsentNotGivenError(SynapseError):
+    """The error returned to the client when the user has not consented to the
+    privacy policy.
+    """
+    def __init__(self, msg, consent_uri):
+        """Constructs a ConsentNotGivenError
+
+        Args:
+            msg (str): The human-readable error message
+            consent_url (str): The URL where the user can give their consent
+        """
+        super(ConsentNotGivenError, self).__init__(
+            code=http_client.FORBIDDEN,
+            msg=msg,
+            errcode=Codes.CONSENT_NOT_GIVEN
+        )
+        self._consent_uri = consent_uri
+
+    def error_dict(self):
+        return cs_error(
+            self.msg,
+            self.errcode,
+            consent_uri=self._consent_uri
+        )
+
+
 class RegistrationError(SynapseError):
     """An error raised when a registration event fails."""
     pass
@@ -290,13 +321,13 @@ def cs_error(msg, code=Codes.UNKNOWN, **kwargs):
 
     Args:
         msg (str): The error message.
-        code (int): The error code.
+        code (str): The error code.
         kwargs : Additional keys to add to the response.
     Returns:
         A dict representing the error response JSON.
     """
     err = {"error": msg, "errcode": code}
-    for key, value in kwargs.iteritems():
+    for key, value in iteritems(kwargs):
         err[key] = value
     return err
 
diff --git a/synapse/api/filtering.py b/synapse/api/filtering.py
index 339e4a31d6..7158dd75e9 100644
--- a/synapse/api/filtering.py
+++ b/synapse/api/filtering.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ from synapse.storage.presence import UserPresenceState
 from synapse.types import UserID, RoomID
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
-import ujson as json
+import simplejson as json
 import jsonschema
 from jsonschema import FormatChecker
 
diff --git a/synapse/api/urls.py b/synapse/api/urls.py
index 91a33a3402..bb46b5da8a 100644
--- a/synapse/api/urls.py
+++ b/synapse/api/urls.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # Copyright 2014-2016 OpenMarket Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd.
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -14,6 +15,12 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 """Contains the URL paths to prefix various aspects of the server with. """
+from hashlib import sha256
+import hmac
+
+from six.moves.urllib.parse import urlencode
+
+from synapse.config import ConfigError
 
 CLIENT_PREFIX = "/_matrix/client/api/v1"
 CLIENT_V2_ALPHA_PREFIX = "/_matrix/client/v2_alpha"
@@ -25,3 +32,46 @@ SERVER_KEY_PREFIX = "/_matrix/key/v1"
 SERVER_KEY_V2_PREFIX = "/_matrix/key/v2"
 MEDIA_PREFIX = "/_matrix/media/r0"
 LEGACY_MEDIA_PREFIX = "/_matrix/media/v1"
+
+
+class ConsentURIBuilder(object):
+    def __init__(self, hs_config):
+        """
+        Args:
+            hs_config (synapse.config.homeserver.HomeServerConfig):
+        """
+        if hs_config.form_secret is None:
+            raise ConfigError(
+                "form_secret not set in config",
+            )
+        if hs_config.public_baseurl is None:
+            raise ConfigError(
+                "public_baseurl not set in config",
+            )
+
+        self._hmac_secret = hs_config.form_secret.encode("utf-8")
+        self._public_baseurl = hs_config.public_baseurl
+
+    def build_user_consent_uri(self, user_id):
+        """Build a URI which we can give to the user to do their privacy
+        policy consent
+
+        Args:
+            user_id (str): mxid or username of user
+
+        Returns
+            (str) the URI where the user can do consent
+        """
+        mac = hmac.new(
+            key=self._hmac_secret,
+            msg=user_id,
+            digestmod=sha256,
+        ).hexdigest()
+        consent_uri = "%s_matrix/consent?%s" % (
+            self._public_baseurl,
+            urlencode({
+                "u": user_id,
+                "h": mac
+            }),
+        )
+        return consent_uri
diff --git a/synapse/app/appservice.py b/synapse/app/appservice.py
index c6fe4516d1..b1efacc9f8 100644
--- a/synapse/app/appservice.py
+++ b/synapse/app/appservice.py
@@ -32,11 +32,11 @@ from synapse.replication.tcp.client import ReplicationClientHandler
 from synapse.server import HomeServer
 from synapse.storage.engines import create_engine
 from synapse.util.httpresourcetree import create_resource_tree
-from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext, preserve_fn
+from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext, run_in_background
 from synapse.util.manhole import manhole
 from synapse.util.versionstring import get_version_string
-from twisted.internet import reactor
-from twisted.web.resource import Resource
+from twisted.internet import reactor, defer
+from twisted.web.resource import NoResource
 
 logger = logging.getLogger("synapse.app.appservice")
 
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ class AppserviceServer(HomeServer):
                 if name == "metrics":
                     resources[METRICS_PREFIX] = MetricsResource(self)
 
-        root_resource = create_resource_tree(resources, Resource())
+        root_resource = create_resource_tree(resources, NoResource())
 
         _base.listen_tcp(
             bind_addresses,
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ class AppserviceServer(HomeServer):
                 site_tag,
                 listener_config,
                 root_resource,
+                self.version_string,
             )
         )
 
@@ -112,9 +113,14 @@ class ASReplicationHandler(ReplicationClientHandler):
 
         if stream_name == "events":
             max_stream_id = self.store.get_room_max_stream_ordering()
-            preserve_fn(
-                self.appservice_handler.notify_interested_services
-            )(max_stream_id)
+            run_in_background(self._notify_app_services, max_stream_id)
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def _notify_app_services(self, room_stream_id):
+        try:
+            yield self.appservice_handler.notify_interested_services(room_stream_id)
+        except Exception:
+            logger.exception("Error notifying application services of event")
 
 
 def start(config_options):
diff --git a/synapse/app/client_reader.py b/synapse/app/client_reader.py
index 0a8ce9bc66..38b98382c6 100644
--- a/synapse/app/client_reader.py
+++ b/synapse/app/client_reader.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext
 from synapse.util.manhole import manhole
 from synapse.util.versionstring import get_version_string
 from twisted.internet import reactor
-from twisted.web.resource import Resource
+from twisted.web.resource import NoResource
 
 logger = logging.getLogger("synapse.app.client_reader")
 
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ class ClientReaderServer(HomeServer):
                         "/_matrix/client/api/v1": resource,
                     })
 
-        root_resource = create_resource_tree(resources, Resource())
+        root_resource = create_resource_tree(resources, NoResource())
 
         _base.listen_tcp(
             bind_addresses,
@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@ class ClientReaderServer(HomeServer):
                 site_tag,
                 listener_config,
                 root_resource,
+                self.version_string,
             )
         )
 
diff --git a/synapse/app/event_creator.py b/synapse/app/event_creator.py
index 172e989b54..bd7f3d5679 100644
--- a/synapse/app/event_creator.py
+++ b/synapse/app/event_creator.py
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext
 from synapse.util.manhole import manhole
 from synapse.util.versionstring import get_version_string
 from twisted.internet import reactor
-from twisted.web.resource import Resource
+from twisted.web.resource import NoResource
 
 logger = logging.getLogger("synapse.app.event_creator")
 
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ class EventCreatorServer(HomeServer):
                         "/_matrix/client/api/v1": resource,
                     })
 
-        root_resource = create_resource_tree(resources, Resource())
+        root_resource = create_resource_tree(resources, NoResource())
 
         _base.listen_tcp(
             bind_addresses,
@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ class EventCreatorServer(HomeServer):
                 site_tag,
                 listener_config,
                 root_resource,
+                self.version_string,
             )
         )
 
diff --git a/synapse/app/federation_reader.py b/synapse/app/federation_reader.py
index 20d157911b..6e10b27b9e 100644
--- a/synapse/app/federation_reader.py
+++ b/synapse/app/federation_reader.py
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext
 from synapse.util.manhole import manhole
 from synapse.util.versionstring import get_version_string
 from twisted.internet import reactor
-from twisted.web.resource import Resource
+from twisted.web.resource import NoResource
 
 logger = logging.getLogger("synapse.app.federation_reader")
 
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ class FederationReaderServer(HomeServer):
                         FEDERATION_PREFIX: TransportLayerServer(self),
                     })
 
-        root_resource = create_resource_tree(resources, Resource())
+        root_resource = create_resource_tree(resources, NoResource())
 
         _base.listen_tcp(
             bind_addresses,
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ class FederationReaderServer(HomeServer):
                 site_tag,
                 listener_config,
                 root_resource,
+                self.version_string,
             )
         )
 
diff --git a/synapse/app/federation_sender.py b/synapse/app/federation_sender.py
index f760826d27..6f24e32d6d 100644
--- a/synapse/app/federation_sender.py
+++ b/synapse/app/federation_sender.py
@@ -38,11 +38,11 @@ from synapse.server import HomeServer
 from synapse.storage.engines import create_engine
 from synapse.util.async import Linearizer
 from synapse.util.httpresourcetree import create_resource_tree
-from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext, preserve_fn
+from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext, run_in_background
 from synapse.util.manhole import manhole
 from synapse.util.versionstring import get_version_string
 from twisted.internet import defer, reactor
-from twisted.web.resource import Resource
+from twisted.web.resource import NoResource
 
 logger = logging.getLogger("synapse.app.federation_sender")
 
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ class FederationSenderServer(HomeServer):
                 if name == "metrics":
                     resources[METRICS_PREFIX] = MetricsResource(self)
 
-        root_resource = create_resource_tree(resources, Resource())
+        root_resource = create_resource_tree(resources, NoResource())
 
         _base.listen_tcp(
             bind_addresses,
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ class FederationSenderServer(HomeServer):
                 site_tag,
                 listener_config,
                 root_resource,
+                self.version_string,
             )
         )
 
@@ -229,7 +230,7 @@ class FederationSenderHandler(object):
         # presence, typing, etc.
         if stream_name == "federation":
             send_queue.process_rows_for_federation(self.federation_sender, rows)
-            preserve_fn(self.update_token)(token)
+            run_in_background(self.update_token, token)
 
         # We also need to poke the federation sender when new events happen
         elif stream_name == "events":
@@ -237,19 +238,22 @@ class FederationSenderHandler(object):
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def update_token(self, token):
-        self.federation_position = token
-
-        # We linearize here to ensure we don't have races updating the token
-        with (yield self._fed_position_linearizer.queue(None)):
-            if self._last_ack < self.federation_position:
-                yield self.store.update_federation_out_pos(
-                    "federation", self.federation_position
-                )
+        try:
+            self.federation_position = token
+
+            # We linearize here to ensure we don't have races updating the token
+            with (yield self._fed_position_linearizer.queue(None)):
+                if self._last_ack < self.federation_position:
+                    yield self.store.update_federation_out_pos(
+                        "federation", self.federation_position
+                    )
 
-                # We ACK this token over replication so that the master can drop
-                # its in memory queues
-                self.replication_client.send_federation_ack(self.federation_position)
-                self._last_ack = self.federation_position
+                    # We ACK this token over replication so that the master can drop
+                    # its in memory queues
+                    self.replication_client.send_federation_ack(self.federation_position)
+                    self._last_ack = self.federation_position
+        except Exception:
+            logger.exception("Error updating federation stream position")
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
diff --git a/synapse/app/frontend_proxy.py b/synapse/app/frontend_proxy.py
index 816c080d18..0f700ee786 100644
--- a/synapse/app/frontend_proxy.py
+++ b/synapse/app/frontend_proxy.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext
 from synapse.util.manhole import manhole
 from synapse.util.versionstring import get_version_string
 from twisted.internet import defer, reactor
-from twisted.web.resource import Resource
+from twisted.web.resource import NoResource
 
 logger = logging.getLogger("synapse.app.frontend_proxy")
 
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ class KeyUploadServlet(RestServlet):
             # They're actually trying to upload something, proxy to main synapse.
             # Pass through the auth headers, if any, in case the access token
             # is there.
-            auth_headers = request.requestHeaders.getRawHeaders("Authorization", [])
+            auth_headers = request.requestHeaders.getRawHeaders(b"Authorization", [])
             headers = {
                 "Authorization": auth_headers,
             }
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ class FrontendProxyServer(HomeServer):
                         "/_matrix/client/api/v1": resource,
                     })
 
-        root_resource = create_resource_tree(resources, Resource())
+        root_resource = create_resource_tree(resources, NoResource())
 
         _base.listen_tcp(
             bind_addresses,
@@ -152,6 +152,7 @@ class FrontendProxyServer(HomeServer):
                 site_tag,
                 listener_config,
                 root_resource,
+                self.version_string,
             )
         )
 
diff --git a/synapse/app/homeserver.py b/synapse/app/homeserver.py
index e477c7ced6..449bfacdb9 100755
--- a/synapse/app/homeserver.py
+++ b/synapse/app/homeserver.py
@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@ from synapse.module_api import ModuleApi
 from synapse.http.additional_resource import AdditionalResource
 from synapse.http.server import RootRedirect
 from synapse.http.site import SynapseSite
-from synapse.metrics import register_memory_metrics
-from synapse.metrics.resource import METRICS_PREFIX, MetricsResource
+from synapse.metrics import RegistryProxy
+from synapse.metrics.resource import METRICS_PREFIX
 from synapse.python_dependencies import CONDITIONAL_REQUIREMENTS, \
     check_requirements
 from synapse.replication.http import ReplicationRestResource, REPLICATION_PREFIX
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ from synapse.server import HomeServer
 from synapse.storage import are_all_users_on_domain
 from synapse.storage.engines import IncorrectDatabaseSetup, create_engine
 from synapse.storage.prepare_database import UpgradeDatabaseException, prepare_database
+from synapse.util.caches import CACHE_SIZE_FACTOR
 from synapse.util.httpresourcetree import create_resource_tree
 from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext
 from synapse.util.manhole import manhole
@@ -56,10 +57,12 @@ from synapse.util.rlimit import change_resource_limit
 from synapse.util.versionstring import get_version_string
 from twisted.application import service
 from twisted.internet import defer, reactor
-from twisted.web.resource import EncodingResourceWrapper, Resource
+from twisted.web.resource import EncodingResourceWrapper, NoResource
 from twisted.web.server import GzipEncoderFactory
 from twisted.web.static import File
 
+from prometheus_client.twisted import MetricsResource
+
 logger = logging.getLogger("synapse.app.homeserver")
 
 
@@ -126,7 +129,7 @@ class SynapseHomeServer(HomeServer):
         if WEB_CLIENT_PREFIX in resources:
             root_resource = RootRedirect(WEB_CLIENT_PREFIX)
         else:
-            root_resource = Resource()
+            root_resource = NoResource()
 
         root_resource = create_resource_tree(resources, root_resource)
 
@@ -139,6 +142,7 @@ class SynapseHomeServer(HomeServer):
                     site_tag,
                     listener_config,
                     root_resource,
+                    self.version_string,
                 ),
                 self.tls_server_context_factory,
             )
@@ -152,6 +156,7 @@ class SynapseHomeServer(HomeServer):
                     site_tag,
                     listener_config,
                     root_resource,
+                    self.version_string,
                 )
             )
         logger.info("Synapse now listening on port %d", port)
@@ -181,6 +186,15 @@ class SynapseHomeServer(HomeServer):
                 "/_matrix/client/versions": client_resource,
             })
 
+        if name == "consent":
+            from synapse.rest.consent.consent_resource import ConsentResource
+            consent_resource = ConsentResource(self)
+            if compress:
+                consent_resource = gz_wrap(consent_resource)
+            resources.update({
+                "/_matrix/consent": consent_resource,
+            })
+
         if name == "federation":
             resources.update({
                 FEDERATION_PREFIX: TransportLayerServer(self),
@@ -218,7 +232,7 @@ class SynapseHomeServer(HomeServer):
             resources[WEB_CLIENT_PREFIX] = build_resource_for_web_client(self)
 
         if name == "metrics" and self.get_config().enable_metrics:
-            resources[METRICS_PREFIX] = MetricsResource(self)
+            resources[METRICS_PREFIX] = MetricsResource(RegistryProxy())
 
         if name == "replication":
             resources[REPLICATION_PREFIX] = ReplicationRestResource(self)
@@ -350,8 +364,6 @@ def setup(config_options):
         hs.get_datastore().start_doing_background_updates()
         hs.get_federation_client().start_get_pdu_cache()
 
-        register_memory_metrics(hs)
-
     reactor.callWhenRunning(start)
 
     return hs
@@ -402,6 +414,10 @@ def run(hs):
 
     stats = {}
 
+    # Contains the list of processes we will be monitoring
+    # currently either 0 or 1
+    stats_process = []
+
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def phone_stats_home():
         logger.info("Gathering stats for reporting")
@@ -425,8 +441,21 @@ def run(hs):
         stats["daily_active_rooms"] = yield hs.get_datastore().count_daily_active_rooms()
         stats["daily_messages"] = yield hs.get_datastore().count_daily_messages()
 
+        r30_results = yield hs.get_datastore().count_r30_users()
+        for name, count in r30_results.iteritems():
+            stats["r30_users_" + name] = count
+
         daily_sent_messages = yield hs.get_datastore().count_daily_sent_messages()
         stats["daily_sent_messages"] = daily_sent_messages
+        stats["cache_factor"] = CACHE_SIZE_FACTOR
+        stats["event_cache_size"] = hs.config.event_cache_size
+
+        if len(stats_process) > 0:
+            stats["memory_rss"] = 0
+            stats["cpu_average"] = 0
+            for process in stats_process:
+                stats["memory_rss"] += process.memory_info().rss
+                stats["cpu_average"] += int(process.cpu_percent(interval=None))
 
         logger.info("Reporting stats to matrix.org: %s" % (stats,))
         try:
@@ -437,10 +466,40 @@ def run(hs):
         except Exception as e:
             logger.warn("Error reporting stats: %s", e)
 
+    def performance_stats_init():
+        try:
+            import psutil
+            process = psutil.Process()
+            # Ensure we can fetch both, and make the initial request for cpu_percent
+            # so the next request will use this as the initial point.
+            process.memory_info().rss
+            process.cpu_percent(interval=None)
+            logger.info("report_stats can use psutil")
+            stats_process.append(process)
+        except (ImportError, AttributeError):
+            logger.warn(
+                "report_stats enabled but psutil is not installed or incorrect version."
+                " Disabling reporting of memory/cpu stats."
+                " Ensuring psutil is available will help matrix.org track performance"
+                " changes across releases."
+            )
+
+    def generate_user_daily_visit_stats():
+        hs.get_datastore().generate_user_daily_visits()
+
+    # Rather than update on per session basis, batch up the requests.
+    # If you increase the loop period, the accuracy of user_daily_visits
+    # table will decrease
+    clock.looping_call(generate_user_daily_visit_stats, 5 * 60 * 1000)
+
     if hs.config.report_stats:
         logger.info("Scheduling stats reporting for 3 hour intervals")
         clock.looping_call(phone_stats_home, 3 * 60 * 60 * 1000)
 
+        # We need to defer this init for the cases that we daemonize
+        # otherwise the process ID we get is that of the non-daemon process
+        clock.call_later(0, performance_stats_init)
+
         # We wait 5 minutes to send the first set of stats as the server can
         # be quite busy the first few minutes
         clock.call_later(5 * 60, phone_stats_home)
diff --git a/synapse/app/media_repository.py b/synapse/app/media_repository.py
index 84c5791b3b..9c93195f0a 100644
--- a/synapse/app/media_repository.py
+++ b/synapse/app/media_repository.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext
 from synapse.util.manhole import manhole
 from synapse.util.versionstring import get_version_string
 from twisted.internet import reactor
-from twisted.web.resource import Resource
+from twisted.web.resource import NoResource
 
 logger = logging.getLogger("synapse.app.media_repository")
 
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ class MediaRepositoryServer(HomeServer):
                         ),
                     })
 
-        root_resource = create_resource_tree(resources, Resource())
+        root_resource = create_resource_tree(resources, NoResource())
 
         _base.listen_tcp(
             bind_addresses,
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ class MediaRepositoryServer(HomeServer):
                 site_tag,
                 listener_config,
                 root_resource,
+                self.version_string,
             )
         )
 
diff --git a/synapse/app/pusher.py b/synapse/app/pusher.py
index 98a4a7c62c..3912eae48c 100644
--- a/synapse/app/pusher.py
+++ b/synapse/app/pusher.py
@@ -33,11 +33,11 @@ from synapse.server import HomeServer
 from synapse.storage import DataStore
 from synapse.storage.engines import create_engine
 from synapse.util.httpresourcetree import create_resource_tree
-from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext, preserve_fn
+from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext, run_in_background
 from synapse.util.manhole import manhole
 from synapse.util.versionstring import get_version_string
 from twisted.internet import defer, reactor
-from twisted.web.resource import Resource
+from twisted.web.resource import NoResource
 
 logger = logging.getLogger("synapse.app.pusher")
 
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ class PusherServer(HomeServer):
                 if name == "metrics":
                     resources[METRICS_PREFIX] = MetricsResource(self)
 
-        root_resource = create_resource_tree(resources, Resource())
+        root_resource = create_resource_tree(resources, NoResource())
 
         _base.listen_tcp(
             bind_addresses,
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ class PusherServer(HomeServer):
                 site_tag,
                 listener_config,
                 root_resource,
+                self.version_string,
             )
         )
 
@@ -140,24 +141,27 @@ class PusherReplicationHandler(ReplicationClientHandler):
 
     def on_rdata(self, stream_name, token, rows):
         super(PusherReplicationHandler, self).on_rdata(stream_name, token, rows)
-        preserve_fn(self.poke_pushers)(stream_name, token, rows)
+        run_in_background(self.poke_pushers, stream_name, token, rows)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def poke_pushers(self, stream_name, token, rows):
-        if stream_name == "pushers":
-            for row in rows:
-                if row.deleted:
-                    yield self.stop_pusher(row.user_id, row.app_id, row.pushkey)
-                else:
-                    yield self.start_pusher(row.user_id, row.app_id, row.pushkey)
-        elif stream_name == "events":
-            yield self.pusher_pool.on_new_notifications(
-                token, token,
-            )
-        elif stream_name == "receipts":
-            yield self.pusher_pool.on_new_receipts(
-                token, token, set(row.room_id for row in rows)
-            )
+        try:
+            if stream_name == "pushers":
+                for row in rows:
+                    if row.deleted:
+                        yield self.stop_pusher(row.user_id, row.app_id, row.pushkey)
+                    else:
+                        yield self.start_pusher(row.user_id, row.app_id, row.pushkey)
+            elif stream_name == "events":
+                yield self.pusher_pool.on_new_notifications(
+                    token, token,
+                )
+            elif stream_name == "receipts":
+                yield self.pusher_pool.on_new_receipts(
+                    token, token, set(row.room_id for row in rows)
+                )
+        except Exception:
+            logger.exception("Error poking pushers")
 
     def stop_pusher(self, user_id, app_id, pushkey):
         key = "%s:%s" % (app_id, pushkey)
diff --git a/synapse/app/synchrotron.py b/synapse/app/synchrotron.py
index abe91dcfbd..c6294a7a0c 100644
--- a/synapse/app/synchrotron.py
+++ b/synapse/app/synchrotron.py
@@ -51,12 +51,14 @@ from synapse.storage.engines import create_engine
 from synapse.storage.presence import UserPresenceState
 from synapse.storage.roommember import RoomMemberStore
 from synapse.util.httpresourcetree import create_resource_tree
-from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext, preserve_fn
+from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext, run_in_background
 from synapse.util.manhole import manhole
 from synapse.util.stringutils import random_string
 from synapse.util.versionstring import get_version_string
 from twisted.internet import defer, reactor
-from twisted.web.resource import Resource
+from twisted.web.resource import NoResource
+
+from six import iteritems
 
 logger = logging.getLogger("synapse.app.synchrotron")
 
@@ -211,7 +213,7 @@ class SynchrotronPresence(object):
 
     def get_currently_syncing_users(self):
         return [
-            user_id for user_id, count in self.user_to_num_current_syncs.iteritems()
+            user_id for user_id, count in iteritems(self.user_to_num_current_syncs)
             if count > 0
         ]
 
@@ -269,7 +271,7 @@ class SynchrotronServer(HomeServer):
                         "/_matrix/client/api/v1": resource,
                     })
 
-        root_resource = create_resource_tree(resources, Resource())
+        root_resource = create_resource_tree(resources, NoResource())
 
         _base.listen_tcp(
             bind_addresses,
@@ -279,6 +281,7 @@ class SynchrotronServer(HomeServer):
                 site_tag,
                 listener_config,
                 root_resource,
+                self.version_string,
             )
         )
 
@@ -325,8 +328,7 @@ class SyncReplicationHandler(ReplicationClientHandler):
 
     def on_rdata(self, stream_name, token, rows):
         super(SyncReplicationHandler, self).on_rdata(stream_name, token, rows)
-
-        preserve_fn(self.process_and_notify)(stream_name, token, rows)
+        run_in_background(self.process_and_notify, stream_name, token, rows)
 
     def get_streams_to_replicate(self):
         args = super(SyncReplicationHandler, self).get_streams_to_replicate()
@@ -338,55 +340,58 @@ class SyncReplicationHandler(ReplicationClientHandler):
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def process_and_notify(self, stream_name, token, rows):
-        if stream_name == "events":
-            # We shouldn't get multiple rows per token for events stream, so
-            # we don't need to optimise this for multiple rows.
-            for row in rows:
-                event = yield self.store.get_event(row.event_id)
-                extra_users = ()
-                if event.type == EventTypes.Member:
-                    extra_users = (event.state_key,)
-                max_token = self.store.get_room_max_stream_ordering()
-                self.notifier.on_new_room_event(
-                    event, token, max_token, extra_users
+        try:
+            if stream_name == "events":
+                # We shouldn't get multiple rows per token for events stream, so
+                # we don't need to optimise this for multiple rows.
+                for row in rows:
+                    event = yield self.store.get_event(row.event_id)
+                    extra_users = ()
+                    if event.type == EventTypes.Member:
+                        extra_users = (event.state_key,)
+                    max_token = self.store.get_room_max_stream_ordering()
+                    self.notifier.on_new_room_event(
+                        event, token, max_token, extra_users
+                    )
+            elif stream_name == "push_rules":
+                self.notifier.on_new_event(
+                    "push_rules_key", token, users=[row.user_id for row in rows],
                 )
-        elif stream_name == "push_rules":
-            self.notifier.on_new_event(
-                "push_rules_key", token, users=[row.user_id for row in rows],
-            )
-        elif stream_name in ("account_data", "tag_account_data",):
-            self.notifier.on_new_event(
-                "account_data_key", token, users=[row.user_id for row in rows],
-            )
-        elif stream_name == "receipts":
-            self.notifier.on_new_event(
-                "receipt_key", token, rooms=[row.room_id for row in rows],
-            )
-        elif stream_name == "typing":
-            self.typing_handler.process_replication_rows(token, rows)
-            self.notifier.on_new_event(
-                "typing_key", token, rooms=[row.room_id for row in rows],
-            )
-        elif stream_name == "to_device":
-            entities = [row.entity for row in rows if row.entity.startswith("@")]
-            if entities:
+            elif stream_name in ("account_data", "tag_account_data",):
                 self.notifier.on_new_event(
-                    "to_device_key", token, users=entities,
+                    "account_data_key", token, users=[row.user_id for row in rows],
                 )
-        elif stream_name == "device_lists":
-            all_room_ids = set()
-            for row in rows:
-                room_ids = yield self.store.get_rooms_for_user(row.user_id)
-                all_room_ids.update(room_ids)
-            self.notifier.on_new_event(
-                "device_list_key", token, rooms=all_room_ids,
-            )
-        elif stream_name == "presence":
-            yield self.presence_handler.process_replication_rows(token, rows)
-        elif stream_name == "receipts":
-            self.notifier.on_new_event(
-                "groups_key", token, users=[row.user_id for row in rows],
-            )
+            elif stream_name == "receipts":
+                self.notifier.on_new_event(
+                    "receipt_key", token, rooms=[row.room_id for row in rows],
+                )
+            elif stream_name == "typing":
+                self.typing_handler.process_replication_rows(token, rows)
+                self.notifier.on_new_event(
+                    "typing_key", token, rooms=[row.room_id for row in rows],
+                )
+            elif stream_name == "to_device":
+                entities = [row.entity for row in rows if row.entity.startswith("@")]
+                if entities:
+                    self.notifier.on_new_event(
+                        "to_device_key", token, users=entities,
+                    )
+            elif stream_name == "device_lists":
+                all_room_ids = set()
+                for row in rows:
+                    room_ids = yield self.store.get_rooms_for_user(row.user_id)
+                    all_room_ids.update(room_ids)
+                self.notifier.on_new_event(
+                    "device_list_key", token, rooms=all_room_ids,
+                )
+            elif stream_name == "presence":
+                yield self.presence_handler.process_replication_rows(token, rows)
+            elif stream_name == "receipts":
+                self.notifier.on_new_event(
+                    "groups_key", token, users=[row.user_id for row in rows],
+                )
+        except Exception:
+            logger.exception("Error processing replication")
 
 
 def start(config_options):
diff --git a/synapse/app/synctl.py b/synapse/app/synctl.py
index 0f0ddfa78a..712dfa870e 100755
--- a/synapse/app/synctl.py
+++ b/synapse/app/synctl.py
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ def pid_running(pid):
     try:
         os.kill(pid, 0)
         return True
-    except OSError, err:
+    except OSError as err:
         if err.errno == errno.EPERM:
             return True
         return False
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ def stop(pidfile, app):
         try:
             os.kill(pid, signal.SIGTERM)
             write("stopped %s" % (app,), colour=GREEN)
-        except OSError, err:
+        except OSError as err:
             if err.errno == errno.ESRCH:
                 write("%s not running" % (app,), colour=YELLOW)
             elif err.errno == errno.EPERM:
@@ -252,6 +252,7 @@ def main():
             for running_pid in running_pids:
                 while pid_running(running_pid):
                     time.sleep(0.2)
+            write("All processes exited; now restarting...")
 
     if action == "start" or action == "restart":
         if start_stop_synapse:
diff --git a/synapse/app/user_dir.py b/synapse/app/user_dir.py
index 494ccb702c..53eb3474da 100644
--- a/synapse/app/user_dir.py
+++ b/synapse/app/user_dir.py
@@ -39,11 +39,11 @@ from synapse.storage.engines import create_engine
 from synapse.storage.user_directory import UserDirectoryStore
 from synapse.util.caches.stream_change_cache import StreamChangeCache
 from synapse.util.httpresourcetree import create_resource_tree
-from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext, preserve_fn
+from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext, run_in_background
 from synapse.util.manhole import manhole
 from synapse.util.versionstring import get_version_string
-from twisted.internet import reactor
-from twisted.web.resource import Resource
+from twisted.internet import reactor, defer
+from twisted.web.resource import NoResource
 
 logger = logging.getLogger("synapse.app.user_dir")
 
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ class UserDirectoryServer(HomeServer):
                         "/_matrix/client/api/v1": resource,
                     })
 
-        root_resource = create_resource_tree(resources, Resource())
+        root_resource = create_resource_tree(resources, NoResource())
 
         _base.listen_tcp(
             bind_addresses,
@@ -126,6 +126,7 @@ class UserDirectoryServer(HomeServer):
                 site_tag,
                 listener_config,
                 root_resource,
+                self.version_string,
             )
         )
 
@@ -164,7 +165,14 @@ class UserDirectoryReplicationHandler(ReplicationClientHandler):
             stream_name, token, rows
         )
         if stream_name == "current_state_deltas":
-            preserve_fn(self.user_directory.notify_new_event)()
+            run_in_background(self._notify_directory)
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def _notify_directory(self):
+        try:
+            yield self.user_directory.notify_new_event()
+        except Exception:
+            logger.exception("Error notifiying user directory of state update")
 
 
 def start(config_options):
diff --git a/synapse/appservice/__init__.py b/synapse/appservice/__init__.py
index d5a7a5ce2f..5fdb579723 100644
--- a/synapse/appservice/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/appservice/__init__.py
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ from twisted.internet import defer
 import logging
 import re
 
+from six import string_types
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
@@ -146,7 +148,7 @@ class ApplicationService(object):
                         )
 
                 regex = regex_obj.get("regex")
-                if isinstance(regex, basestring):
+                if isinstance(regex, string_types):
                     regex_obj["regex"] = re.compile(regex)  # Pre-compile regex
                 else:
                     raise ValueError(
diff --git a/synapse/appservice/api.py b/synapse/appservice/api.py
index 40c433d7ae..00efff1464 100644
--- a/synapse/appservice/api.py
+++ b/synapse/appservice/api.py
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ from synapse.api.constants import ThirdPartyEntityKind
 from synapse.api.errors import CodeMessageException
 from synapse.http.client import SimpleHttpClient
 from synapse.events.utils import serialize_event
-from synapse.util.logcontext import preserve_fn, make_deferred_yieldable
 from synapse.util.caches.response_cache import ResponseCache
 from synapse.types import ThirdPartyInstanceID
 
@@ -73,7 +72,8 @@ class ApplicationServiceApi(SimpleHttpClient):
         super(ApplicationServiceApi, self).__init__(hs)
         self.clock = hs.get_clock()
 
-        self.protocol_meta_cache = ResponseCache(hs, timeout_ms=HOUR_IN_MS)
+        self.protocol_meta_cache = ResponseCache(hs, "as_protocol_meta",
+                                                 timeout_ms=HOUR_IN_MS)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def query_user(self, service, user_id):
@@ -193,12 +193,7 @@ class ApplicationServiceApi(SimpleHttpClient):
                 defer.returnValue(None)
 
         key = (service.id, protocol)
-        result = self.protocol_meta_cache.get(key)
-        if not result:
-            result = self.protocol_meta_cache.set(
-                key, preserve_fn(_get)()
-            )
-        return make_deferred_yieldable(result)
+        return self.protocol_meta_cache.wrap(key, _get)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def push_bulk(self, service, events, txn_id=None):
diff --git a/synapse/appservice/scheduler.py b/synapse/appservice/scheduler.py
index 6da315473d..6eddbc0828 100644
--- a/synapse/appservice/scheduler.py
+++ b/synapse/appservice/scheduler.py
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ components.
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
 from synapse.appservice import ApplicationServiceState
-from synapse.util.logcontext import preserve_fn
+from synapse.util.logcontext import run_in_background
 from synapse.util.metrics import Measure
 
 import logging
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ class _ServiceQueuer(object):
     def enqueue(self, service, event):
         # if this service isn't being sent something
         self.queued_events.setdefault(service.id, []).append(event)
-        preserve_fn(self._send_request)(service)
+        run_in_background(self._send_request, service)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _send_request(self, service):
@@ -152,10 +152,10 @@ class _TransactionController(object):
                 if sent:
                     yield txn.complete(self.store)
                 else:
-                    preserve_fn(self._start_recoverer)(service)
-        except Exception as e:
-            logger.exception(e)
-            preserve_fn(self._start_recoverer)(service)
+                    run_in_background(self._start_recoverer, service)
+        except Exception:
+            logger.exception("Error creating appservice transaction")
+            run_in_background(self._start_recoverer, service)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def on_recovered(self, recoverer):
@@ -176,17 +176,20 @@ class _TransactionController(object):
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _start_recoverer(self, service):
-        yield self.store.set_appservice_state(
-            service,
-            ApplicationServiceState.DOWN
-        )
-        logger.info(
-            "Application service falling behind. Starting recoverer. AS ID %s",
-            service.id
-        )
-        recoverer = self.recoverer_fn(service, self.on_recovered)
-        self.add_recoverers([recoverer])
-        recoverer.recover()
+        try:
+            yield self.store.set_appservice_state(
+                service,
+                ApplicationServiceState.DOWN
+            )
+            logger.info(
+                "Application service falling behind. Starting recoverer. AS ID %s",
+                service.id
+            )
+            recoverer = self.recoverer_fn(service, self.on_recovered)
+            self.add_recoverers([recoverer])
+            recoverer.recover()
+        except Exception:
+            logger.exception("Error starting AS recoverer")
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _is_service_up(self, service):
diff --git a/synapse/config/__init__.py b/synapse/config/__init__.py
index bfebb0f644..f2a5a41e92 100644
--- a/synapse/config/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/config/__init__.py
@@ -12,3 +12,9 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
+
+from ._base import ConfigError
+
+# export ConfigError if somebody does import *
+# this is largely a fudge to stop PEP8 moaning about the import
+__all__ = ["ConfigError"]
diff --git a/synapse/config/_base.py b/synapse/config/_base.py
index fa105bce72..b748ed2b0a 100644
--- a/synapse/config/_base.py
+++ b/synapse/config/_base.py
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ import os
 import yaml
 from textwrap import dedent
 
+from six import integer_types
+
 
 class ConfigError(Exception):
     pass
@@ -49,7 +51,7 @@ Missing mandatory `server_name` config option.
 class Config(object):
     @staticmethod
     def parse_size(value):
-        if isinstance(value, int) or isinstance(value, long):
+        if isinstance(value, integer_types):
             return value
         sizes = {"K": 1024, "M": 1024 * 1024}
         size = 1
@@ -61,7 +63,7 @@ class Config(object):
 
     @staticmethod
     def parse_duration(value):
-        if isinstance(value, int) or isinstance(value, long):
+        if isinstance(value, integer_types):
             return value
         second = 1000
         minute = 60 * second
@@ -279,31 +281,31 @@ class Config(object):
                     )
                 if not cls.path_exists(config_dir_path):
                     os.makedirs(config_dir_path)
-                with open(config_path, "wb") as config_file:
-                    config_bytes, config = obj.generate_config(
+                with open(config_path, "w") as config_file:
+                    config_str, config = obj.generate_config(
                         config_dir_path=config_dir_path,
                         server_name=server_name,
                         report_stats=(config_args.report_stats == "yes"),
                         is_generating_file=True
                     )
                     obj.invoke_all("generate_files", config)
-                    config_file.write(config_bytes)
-                print (
+                    config_file.write(config_str)
+                print((
                     "A config file has been generated in %r for server name"
                     " %r with corresponding SSL keys and self-signed"
                     " certificates. Please review this file and customise it"
                     " to your needs."
-                ) % (config_path, server_name)
-                print (
+                ) % (config_path, server_name))
+                print(
                     "If this server name is incorrect, you will need to"
                     " regenerate the SSL certificates"
                 )
                 return
             else:
-                print (
+                print((
                     "Config file %r already exists. Generating any missing key"
                     " files."
-                ) % (config_path,)
+                ) % (config_path,))
                 generate_keys = True
 
         parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
diff --git a/synapse/config/appservice.py b/synapse/config/appservice.py
index aba0aec6e8..277305e184 100644
--- a/synapse/config/appservice.py
+++ b/synapse/config/appservice.py
@@ -17,10 +17,12 @@ from ._base import Config, ConfigError
 from synapse.appservice import ApplicationService
 from synapse.types import UserID
 
-import urllib
 import yaml
 import logging
 
+from six import string_types
+from six.moves.urllib import parse as urlparse
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
@@ -89,21 +91,21 @@ def _load_appservice(hostname, as_info, config_filename):
         "id", "as_token", "hs_token", "sender_localpart"
     ]
     for field in required_string_fields:
-        if not isinstance(as_info.get(field), basestring):
+        if not isinstance(as_info.get(field), string_types):
             raise KeyError("Required string field: '%s' (%s)" % (
                 field, config_filename,
             ))
 
     # 'url' must either be a string or explicitly null, not missing
     # to avoid accidentally turning off push for ASes.
-    if (not isinstance(as_info.get("url"), basestring) and
+    if (not isinstance(as_info.get("url"), string_types) and
             as_info.get("url", "") is not None):
         raise KeyError(
             "Required string field or explicit null: 'url' (%s)" % (config_filename,)
         )
 
     localpart = as_info["sender_localpart"]
-    if urllib.quote(localpart) != localpart:
+    if urlparse.quote(localpart) != localpart:
         raise ValueError(
             "sender_localpart needs characters which are not URL encoded."
         )
@@ -128,7 +130,7 @@ def _load_appservice(hostname, as_info, config_filename):
                         "Expected namespace entry in %s to be an object,"
                         " but got %s", ns, regex_obj
                     )
-                if not isinstance(regex_obj.get("regex"), basestring):
+                if not isinstance(regex_obj.get("regex"), string_types):
                     raise ValueError(
                         "Missing/bad type 'regex' key in %s", regex_obj
                     )
diff --git a/synapse/config/consent_config.py b/synapse/config/consent_config.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8f6ed73328
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/config/consent_config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+from ._base import Config
+
+DEFAULT_CONFIG = """\
+# User Consent configuration
+#
+# Parts of this section are required if enabling the 'consent' resource under
+# 'listeners', in particular 'template_dir' and 'version'.
+#
+# 'template_dir' gives the location of the templates for the HTML forms.
+# This directory should contain one subdirectory per language (eg, 'en', 'fr'),
+# and each language directory should contain the policy document (named as
+# '<version>.html') and a success page (success.html).
+#
+# 'version' specifies the 'current' version of the policy document. It defines
+# the version to be served by the consent resource if there is no 'v'
+# parameter.
+#
+# 'server_notice_content', if enabled, will send a user a "Server Notice"
+# asking them to consent to the privacy policy. The 'server_notices' section
+# must also be configured for this to work. Notices will *not* be sent to
+# guest users unless 'send_server_notice_to_guests' is set to true.
+#
+# 'block_events_error', if set, will block any attempts to send events
+# until the user consents to the privacy policy. The value of the setting is
+# used as the text of the error.
+#
+# user_consent:
+#   template_dir: res/templates/privacy
+#   version: 1.0
+#   server_notice_content:
+#     msgtype: m.text
+#     body: >-
+#       To continue using this homeserver you must review and agree to the
+#       terms and conditions at %(consent_uri)s
+#   send_server_notice_to_guests: True
+#   block_events_error: >-
+#     To continue using this homeserver you must review and agree to the
+#     terms and conditions at %(consent_uri)s
+#
+"""
+
+
+class ConsentConfig(Config):
+    def __init__(self):
+        super(ConsentConfig, self).__init__()
+
+        self.user_consent_version = None
+        self.user_consent_template_dir = None
+        self.user_consent_server_notice_content = None
+        self.user_consent_server_notice_to_guests = False
+        self.block_events_without_consent_error = None
+
+    def read_config(self, config):
+        consent_config = config.get("user_consent")
+        if consent_config is None:
+            return
+        self.user_consent_version = str(consent_config["version"])
+        self.user_consent_template_dir = consent_config["template_dir"]
+        self.user_consent_server_notice_content = consent_config.get(
+            "server_notice_content",
+        )
+        self.block_events_without_consent_error = consent_config.get(
+            "block_events_error",
+        )
+        self.user_consent_server_notice_to_guests = bool(consent_config.get(
+            "send_server_notice_to_guests", False,
+        ))
+
+    def default_config(self, **kwargs):
+        return DEFAULT_CONFIG
diff --git a/synapse/config/homeserver.py b/synapse/config/homeserver.py
index bf19cfee29..1dea2ad024 100644
--- a/synapse/config/homeserver.py
+++ b/synapse/config/homeserver.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # Copyright 2014-2016 OpenMarket Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -12,7 +13,6 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
-
 from .tls import TlsConfig
 from .server import ServerConfig
 from .logger import LoggingConfig
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@ from .push import PushConfig
 from .spam_checker import SpamCheckerConfig
 from .groups import GroupsConfig
 from .user_directory import UserDirectoryConfig
+from .consent_config import ConsentConfig
+from .server_notices_config import ServerNoticesConfig
 
 
 class HomeServerConfig(TlsConfig, ServerConfig, DatabaseConfig, LoggingConfig,
@@ -45,12 +47,15 @@ class HomeServerConfig(TlsConfig, ServerConfig, DatabaseConfig, LoggingConfig,
                        AppServiceConfig, KeyConfig, SAML2Config, CasConfig,
                        JWTConfig, PasswordConfig, EmailConfig,
                        WorkerConfig, PasswordAuthProviderConfig, PushConfig,
-                       SpamCheckerConfig, GroupsConfig, UserDirectoryConfig,):
+                       SpamCheckerConfig, GroupsConfig, UserDirectoryConfig,
+                       ConsentConfig,
+                       ServerNoticesConfig,
+                       ):
     pass
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     import sys
     sys.stdout.write(
-        HomeServerConfig().generate_config(sys.argv[1], sys.argv[2])[0]
+        HomeServerConfig().generate_config(sys.argv[1], sys.argv[2], True)[0]
     )
diff --git a/synapse/config/key.py b/synapse/config/key.py
index 4b8fc063d0..d1382ad9ac 100644
--- a/synapse/config/key.py
+++ b/synapse/config/key.py
@@ -59,14 +59,20 @@ class KeyConfig(Config):
 
         self.expire_access_token = config.get("expire_access_token", False)
 
+        # a secret which is used to calculate HMACs for form values, to stop
+        # falsification of values
+        self.form_secret = config.get("form_secret", None)
+
     def default_config(self, config_dir_path, server_name, is_generating_file=False,
                        **kwargs):
         base_key_name = os.path.join(config_dir_path, server_name)
 
         if is_generating_file:
             macaroon_secret_key = random_string_with_symbols(50)
+            form_secret = '"%s"' % random_string_with_symbols(50)
         else:
             macaroon_secret_key = None
+            form_secret = 'null'
 
         return """\
         macaroon_secret_key: "%(macaroon_secret_key)s"
@@ -74,6 +80,10 @@ class KeyConfig(Config):
         # Used to enable access token expiration.
         expire_access_token: False
 
+        # a secret which is used to calculate HMACs for form values, to stop
+        # falsification of values
+        form_secret: %(form_secret)s
+
         ## Signing Keys ##
 
         # Path to the signing key to sign messages with
diff --git a/synapse/config/logger.py b/synapse/config/logger.py
index 3f70039acd..6a7228dc2f 100644
--- a/synapse/config/logger.py
+++ b/synapse/config/logger.py
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ class LoggingConfig(Config):
         log_config = config.get("log_config")
         if log_config and not os.path.exists(log_config):
             log_file = self.abspath("homeserver.log")
-            with open(log_config, "wb") as log_config_file:
+            with open(log_config, "w") as log_config_file:
                 log_config_file.write(
                     DEFAULT_LOG_CONFIG.substitute(log_file=log_file)
                 )
diff --git a/synapse/config/registration.py b/synapse/config/registration.py
index 336959094b..c5384b3ad4 100644
--- a/synapse/config/registration.py
+++ b/synapse/config/registration.py
@@ -77,7 +77,9 @@ class RegistrationConfig(Config):
 
         # Set the number of bcrypt rounds used to generate password hash.
         # Larger numbers increase the work factor needed to generate the hash.
-        # The default number of rounds is 12.
+        # The default number is 12 (which equates to 2^12 rounds).
+        # N.B. that increasing this will exponentially increase the time required
+        # to register or login - e.g. 24 => 2^24 rounds which will take >20 mins.
         bcrypt_rounds: 12
 
         # Allows users to register as guests without a password/email/etc, and
diff --git a/synapse/config/server_notices_config.py b/synapse/config/server_notices_config.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..be1d1f762c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/config/server_notices_config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+from ._base import Config
+from synapse.types import UserID
+
+DEFAULT_CONFIG = """\
+# Server Notices room configuration
+#
+# Uncomment this section to enable a room which can be used to send notices
+# from the server to users. It is a special room which cannot be left; notices
+# come from a special "notices" user id.
+#
+# If you uncomment this section, you *must* define the system_mxid_localpart
+# setting, which defines the id of the user which will be used to send the
+# notices.
+#
+# It's also possible to override the room name, the display name of the
+# "notices" user, and the avatar for the user.
+#
+# server_notices:
+#   system_mxid_localpart: notices
+#   system_mxid_display_name: "Server Notices"
+#   system_mxid_avatar_url: "mxc://server.com/oumMVlgDnLYFaPVkExemNVVZ"
+#   room_name: "Server Notices"
+"""
+
+
+class ServerNoticesConfig(Config):
+    """Configuration for the server notices room.
+
+    Attributes:
+        server_notices_mxid (str|None):
+            The MXID to use for server notices.
+            None if server notices are not enabled.
+
+        server_notices_mxid_display_name (str|None):
+            The display name to use for the server notices user.
+            None if server notices are not enabled.
+
+        server_notices_mxid_avatar_url (str|None):
+            The display name to use for the server notices user.
+            None if server notices are not enabled.
+
+        server_notices_room_name (str|None):
+            The name to use for the server notices room.
+            None if server notices are not enabled.
+    """
+    def __init__(self):
+        super(ServerNoticesConfig, self).__init__()
+        self.server_notices_mxid = None
+        self.server_notices_mxid_display_name = None
+        self.server_notices_mxid_avatar_url = None
+        self.server_notices_room_name = None
+
+    def read_config(self, config):
+        c = config.get("server_notices")
+        if c is None:
+            return
+
+        mxid_localpart = c['system_mxid_localpart']
+        self.server_notices_mxid = UserID(
+            mxid_localpart, self.server_name,
+        ).to_string()
+        self.server_notices_mxid_display_name = c.get(
+            'system_mxid_display_name', None,
+        )
+        self.server_notices_mxid_avatar_url = c.get(
+            'system_mxid_avatar_url', None,
+        )
+        # todo: i18n
+        self.server_notices_room_name = c.get('room_name', "Server Notices")
+
+    def default_config(self, **kwargs):
+        return DEFAULT_CONFIG
diff --git a/synapse/config/tls.py b/synapse/config/tls.py
index 29eb012ddb..b66154bc7c 100644
--- a/synapse/config/tls.py
+++ b/synapse/config/tls.py
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ class TlsConfig(Config):
         tls_dh_params_path = config["tls_dh_params_path"]
 
         if not self.path_exists(tls_private_key_path):
-            with open(tls_private_key_path, "w") as private_key_file:
+            with open(tls_private_key_path, "wb") as private_key_file:
                 tls_private_key = crypto.PKey()
                 tls_private_key.generate_key(crypto.TYPE_RSA, 2048)
                 private_key_pem = crypto.dump_privatekey(
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ class TlsConfig(Config):
                 )
 
         if not self.path_exists(tls_certificate_path):
-            with open(tls_certificate_path, "w") as certificate_file:
+            with open(tls_certificate_path, "wb") as certificate_file:
                 cert = crypto.X509()
                 subject = cert.get_subject()
                 subject.CN = config["server_name"]
diff --git a/synapse/crypto/context_factory.py b/synapse/crypto/context_factory.py
index cff3ca809a..0397f73ab4 100644
--- a/synapse/crypto/context_factory.py
+++ b/synapse/crypto/context_factory.py
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 from twisted.internet import ssl
-from OpenSSL import SSL
-from twisted.internet._sslverify import _OpenSSLECCurve, _defaultCurveName
+from OpenSSL import SSL, crypto
+from twisted.internet._sslverify import _defaultCurveName
 
 import logging
 
@@ -32,8 +32,9 @@ class ServerContextFactory(ssl.ContextFactory):
     @staticmethod
     def configure_context(context, config):
         try:
-            _ecCurve = _OpenSSLECCurve(_defaultCurveName)
-            _ecCurve.addECKeyToContext(context)
+            _ecCurve = crypto.get_elliptic_curve(_defaultCurveName)
+            context.set_tmp_ecdh(_ecCurve)
+
         except Exception:
             logger.exception("Failed to enable elliptic curve for TLS")
         context.set_options(SSL.OP_NO_SSLv2 | SSL.OP_NO_SSLv3)
diff --git a/synapse/crypto/keyring.py b/synapse/crypto/keyring.py
index 35f810b07b..22ee0fc93f 100644
--- a/synapse/crypto/keyring.py
+++ b/synapse/crypto/keyring.py
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@ from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError, Codes
 from synapse.util import unwrapFirstError, logcontext
 from synapse.util.logcontext import (
     PreserveLoggingContext,
-    preserve_fn
+    preserve_fn,
+    run_in_background,
 )
 from synapse.util.metrics import Measure
 
@@ -127,7 +128,7 @@ class Keyring(object):
 
             verify_requests.append(verify_request)
 
-        preserve_fn(self._start_key_lookups)(verify_requests)
+        run_in_background(self._start_key_lookups, verify_requests)
 
         # Pass those keys to handle_key_deferred so that the json object
         # signatures can be verified
@@ -146,53 +147,56 @@ class Keyring(object):
             verify_requests (List[VerifyKeyRequest]):
         """
 
-        # create a deferred for each server we're going to look up the keys
-        # for; we'll resolve them once we have completed our lookups.
-        # These will be passed into wait_for_previous_lookups to block
-        # any other lookups until we have finished.
-        # The deferreds are called with no logcontext.
-        server_to_deferred = {
-            rq.server_name: defer.Deferred()
-            for rq in verify_requests
-        }
-
-        # We want to wait for any previous lookups to complete before
-        # proceeding.
-        yield self.wait_for_previous_lookups(
-            [rq.server_name for rq in verify_requests],
-            server_to_deferred,
-        )
-
-        # Actually start fetching keys.
-        self._get_server_verify_keys(verify_requests)
-
-        # When we've finished fetching all the keys for a given server_name,
-        # resolve the deferred passed to `wait_for_previous_lookups` so that
-        # any lookups waiting will proceed.
-        #
-        # map from server name to a set of request ids
-        server_to_request_ids = {}
-
-        for verify_request in verify_requests:
-            server_name = verify_request.server_name
-            request_id = id(verify_request)
-            server_to_request_ids.setdefault(server_name, set()).add(request_id)
-
-        def remove_deferreds(res, verify_request):
-            server_name = verify_request.server_name
-            request_id = id(verify_request)
-            server_to_request_ids[server_name].discard(request_id)
-            if not server_to_request_ids[server_name]:
-                d = server_to_deferred.pop(server_name, None)
-                if d:
-                    d.callback(None)
-            return res
-
-        for verify_request in verify_requests:
-            verify_request.deferred.addBoth(
-                remove_deferreds, verify_request,
+        try:
+            # create a deferred for each server we're going to look up the keys
+            # for; we'll resolve them once we have completed our lookups.
+            # These will be passed into wait_for_previous_lookups to block
+            # any other lookups until we have finished.
+            # The deferreds are called with no logcontext.
+            server_to_deferred = {
+                rq.server_name: defer.Deferred()
+                for rq in verify_requests
+            }
+
+            # We want to wait for any previous lookups to complete before
+            # proceeding.
+            yield self.wait_for_previous_lookups(
+                [rq.server_name for rq in verify_requests],
+                server_to_deferred,
             )
 
+            # Actually start fetching keys.
+            self._get_server_verify_keys(verify_requests)
+
+            # When we've finished fetching all the keys for a given server_name,
+            # resolve the deferred passed to `wait_for_previous_lookups` so that
+            # any lookups waiting will proceed.
+            #
+            # map from server name to a set of request ids
+            server_to_request_ids = {}
+
+            for verify_request in verify_requests:
+                server_name = verify_request.server_name
+                request_id = id(verify_request)
+                server_to_request_ids.setdefault(server_name, set()).add(request_id)
+
+            def remove_deferreds(res, verify_request):
+                server_name = verify_request.server_name
+                request_id = id(verify_request)
+                server_to_request_ids[server_name].discard(request_id)
+                if not server_to_request_ids[server_name]:
+                    d = server_to_deferred.pop(server_name, None)
+                    if d:
+                        d.callback(None)
+                return res
+
+            for verify_request in verify_requests:
+                verify_request.deferred.addBoth(
+                    remove_deferreds, verify_request,
+                )
+        except Exception:
+            logger.exception("Error starting key lookups")
+
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def wait_for_previous_lookups(self, server_names, server_to_deferred):
         """Waits for any previous key lookups for the given servers to finish.
@@ -313,7 +317,7 @@ class Keyring(object):
                     if not verify_request.deferred.called:
                         verify_request.deferred.errback(err)
 
-        preserve_fn(do_iterations)().addErrback(on_err)
+        run_in_background(do_iterations).addErrback(on_err)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def get_keys_from_store(self, server_name_and_key_ids):
@@ -329,8 +333,9 @@ class Keyring(object):
         """
         res = yield logcontext.make_deferred_yieldable(defer.gatherResults(
             [
-                preserve_fn(self.store.get_server_verify_keys)(
-                    server_name, key_ids
+                run_in_background(
+                    self.store.get_server_verify_keys,
+                    server_name, key_ids,
                 ).addCallback(lambda ks, server: (server, ks), server_name)
                 for server_name, key_ids in server_name_and_key_ids
             ],
@@ -352,13 +357,13 @@ class Keyring(object):
                 logger.exception(
                     "Unable to get key from %r: %s %s",
                     perspective_name,
-                    type(e).__name__, str(e.message),
+                    type(e).__name__, str(e),
                 )
                 defer.returnValue({})
 
         results = yield logcontext.make_deferred_yieldable(defer.gatherResults(
             [
-                preserve_fn(get_key)(p_name, p_keys)
+                run_in_background(get_key, p_name, p_keys)
                 for p_name, p_keys in self.perspective_servers.items()
             ],
             consumeErrors=True,
@@ -384,7 +389,7 @@ class Keyring(object):
                 logger.info(
                     "Unable to get key %r for %r directly: %s %s",
                     key_ids, server_name,
-                    type(e).__name__, str(e.message),
+                    type(e).__name__, str(e),
                 )
 
             if not keys:
@@ -398,7 +403,7 @@ class Keyring(object):
 
         results = yield logcontext.make_deferred_yieldable(defer.gatherResults(
             [
-                preserve_fn(get_key)(server_name, key_ids)
+                run_in_background(get_key, server_name, key_ids)
                 for server_name, key_ids in server_name_and_key_ids
             ],
             consumeErrors=True,
@@ -481,7 +486,8 @@ class Keyring(object):
 
         yield logcontext.make_deferred_yieldable(defer.gatherResults(
             [
-                preserve_fn(self.store_keys)(
+                run_in_background(
+                    self.store_keys,
                     server_name=server_name,
                     from_server=perspective_name,
                     verify_keys=response_keys,
@@ -539,7 +545,8 @@ class Keyring(object):
 
         yield logcontext.make_deferred_yieldable(defer.gatherResults(
             [
-                preserve_fn(self.store_keys)(
+                run_in_background(
+                    self.store_keys,
                     server_name=key_server_name,
                     from_server=server_name,
                     verify_keys=verify_keys,
@@ -615,7 +622,8 @@ class Keyring(object):
 
         yield logcontext.make_deferred_yieldable(defer.gatherResults(
             [
-                preserve_fn(self.store.store_server_keys_json)(
+                run_in_background(
+                    self.store.store_server_keys_json,
                     server_name=server_name,
                     key_id=key_id,
                     from_server=server_name,
@@ -716,7 +724,8 @@ class Keyring(object):
         # TODO(markjh): Store whether the keys have expired.
         return logcontext.make_deferred_yieldable(defer.gatherResults(
             [
-                preserve_fn(self.store.store_server_verify_key)(
+                run_in_background(
+                    self.store.store_server_verify_key,
                     server_name, server_name, key.time_added, key
                 )
                 for key_id, key in verify_keys.items()
@@ -734,7 +743,7 @@ def _handle_key_deferred(verify_request):
     except IOError as e:
         logger.warn(
             "Got IOError when downloading keys for %s: %s %s",
-            server_name, type(e).__name__, str(e.message),
+            server_name, type(e).__name__, str(e),
         )
         raise SynapseError(
             502,
@@ -744,7 +753,7 @@ def _handle_key_deferred(verify_request):
     except Exception as e:
         logger.exception(
             "Got Exception when downloading keys for %s: %s %s",
-            server_name, type(e).__name__, str(e.message),
+            server_name, type(e).__name__, str(e),
         )
         raise SynapseError(
             401,
diff --git a/synapse/events/__init__.py b/synapse/events/__init__.py
index e673e96cc0..c3ff85c49a 100644
--- a/synapse/events/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/events/__init__.py
@@ -47,14 +47,26 @@ class _EventInternalMetadata(object):
 
 
 def _event_dict_property(key):
+    # We want to be able to use hasattr with the event dict properties.
+    # However, (on python3) hasattr expects AttributeError to be raised. Hence,
+    # we need to transform the KeyError into an AttributeError
     def getter(self):
-        return self._event_dict[key]
+        try:
+            return self._event_dict[key]
+        except KeyError:
+            raise AttributeError(key)
 
     def setter(self, v):
-        self._event_dict[key] = v
+        try:
+            self._event_dict[key] = v
+        except KeyError:
+            raise AttributeError(key)
 
     def delete(self):
-        del self._event_dict[key]
+        try:
+            del self._event_dict[key]
+        except KeyError:
+            raise AttributeError(key)
 
     return property(
         getter,
diff --git a/synapse/events/utils.py b/synapse/events/utils.py
index 824f4a42e3..29ae086786 100644
--- a/synapse/events/utils.py
+++ b/synapse/events/utils.py
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ from frozendict import frozendict
 
 import re
 
+from six import string_types
+
 # Split strings on "." but not "\." This uses a negative lookbehind assertion for '\'
 # (?<!stuff) matches if the current position in the string is not preceded
 # by a match for 'stuff'.
@@ -277,7 +279,7 @@ def serialize_event(e, time_now_ms, as_client_event=True,
 
     if only_event_fields:
         if (not isinstance(only_event_fields, list) or
-                not all(isinstance(f, basestring) for f in only_event_fields)):
+                not all(isinstance(f, string_types) for f in only_event_fields)):
             raise TypeError("only_event_fields must be a list of strings")
         d = only_fields(d, only_event_fields)
 
diff --git a/synapse/events/validator.py b/synapse/events/validator.py
index 2f4c8a1018..e0e5bf818c 100644
--- a/synapse/events/validator.py
+++ b/synapse/events/validator.py
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ from synapse.types import EventID, RoomID, UserID
 from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError
 from synapse.api.constants import EventTypes, Membership
 
+from six import string_types
+
 
 class EventValidator(object):
 
@@ -49,7 +51,7 @@ class EventValidator(object):
             strings.append("state_key")
 
         for s in strings:
-            if not isinstance(getattr(event, s), basestring):
+            if not isinstance(getattr(event, s), string_types):
                 raise SynapseError(400, "Not '%s' a string type" % (s,))
 
         if event.type == EventTypes.Member:
@@ -88,5 +90,5 @@ class EventValidator(object):
         for s in keys:
             if s not in d:
                 raise SynapseError(400, "'%s' not in content" % (s,))
-            if not isinstance(d[s], basestring):
+            if not isinstance(d[s], string_types):
                 raise SynapseError(400, "Not '%s' a string type" % (s,))
diff --git a/synapse/federation/federation_base.py b/synapse/federation/federation_base.py
index 79eaa31031..4cc98a3fe8 100644
--- a/synapse/federation/federation_base.py
+++ b/synapse/federation/federation_base.py
@@ -14,7 +14,10 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 import logging
 
-from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError
+import six
+
+from synapse.api.constants import MAX_DEPTH
+from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError, Codes
 from synapse.crypto.event_signing import check_event_content_hash
 from synapse.events import FrozenEvent
 from synapse.events.utils import prune_event
@@ -190,11 +193,23 @@ def event_from_pdu_json(pdu_json, outlier=False):
         FrozenEvent
 
     Raises:
-        SynapseError: if the pdu is missing required fields
+        SynapseError: if the pdu is missing required fields or is otherwise
+            not a valid matrix event
     """
     # we could probably enforce a bunch of other fields here (room_id, sender,
     # origin, etc etc)
-    assert_params_in_request(pdu_json, ('event_id', 'type'))
+    assert_params_in_request(pdu_json, ('event_id', 'type', 'depth'))
+
+    depth = pdu_json['depth']
+    if not isinstance(depth, six.integer_types):
+        raise SynapseError(400, "Depth %r not an intger" % (depth, ),
+                           Codes.BAD_JSON)
+
+    if depth < 0:
+        raise SynapseError(400, "Depth too small", Codes.BAD_JSON)
+    elif depth > MAX_DEPTH:
+        raise SynapseError(400, "Depth too large", Codes.BAD_JSON)
+
     event = FrozenEvent(
         pdu_json
     )
diff --git a/synapse/federation/federation_client.py b/synapse/federation/federation_client.py
index 38440da5b5..2761ffae07 100644
--- a/synapse/federation/federation_client.py
+++ b/synapse/federation/federation_client.py
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ import itertools
 import logging
 import random
 
+from six.moves import range
+
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
 from synapse.api.constants import Membership
@@ -30,20 +32,17 @@ from synapse.federation.federation_base import (
     FederationBase,
     event_from_pdu_json,
 )
-import synapse.metrics
 from synapse.util import logcontext, unwrapFirstError
 from synapse.util.caches.expiringcache import ExpiringCache
-from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable, preserve_fn
+from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable, run_in_background
 from synapse.util.logutils import log_function
 from synapse.util.retryutils import NotRetryingDestination
 
-logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
-
+from prometheus_client import Counter
 
-# synapse.federation.federation_client is a silly name
-metrics = synapse.metrics.get_metrics_for("synapse.federation.client")
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-sent_queries_counter = metrics.register_counter("sent_queries", labels=["type"])
+sent_queries_counter = Counter("synapse_federation_client_sent_queries", "", ["type"])
 
 
 PDU_RETRY_TIME_MS = 1 * 60 * 1000
@@ -106,7 +105,7 @@ class FederationClient(FederationBase):
             a Deferred which will eventually yield a JSON object from the
             response
         """
-        sent_queries_counter.inc(query_type)
+        sent_queries_counter.labels(query_type).inc()
 
         return self.transport_layer.make_query(
             destination, query_type, args, retry_on_dns_fail=retry_on_dns_fail,
@@ -125,7 +124,7 @@ class FederationClient(FederationBase):
             a Deferred which will eventually yield a JSON object from the
             response
         """
-        sent_queries_counter.inc("client_device_keys")
+        sent_queries_counter.labels("client_device_keys").inc()
         return self.transport_layer.query_client_keys(
             destination, content, timeout
         )
@@ -135,7 +134,7 @@ class FederationClient(FederationBase):
         """Query the device keys for a list of user ids hosted on a remote
         server.
         """
-        sent_queries_counter.inc("user_devices")
+        sent_queries_counter.labels("user_devices").inc()
         return self.transport_layer.query_user_devices(
             destination, user_id, timeout
         )
@@ -152,7 +151,7 @@ class FederationClient(FederationBase):
             a Deferred which will eventually yield a JSON object from the
             response
         """
-        sent_queries_counter.inc("client_one_time_keys")
+        sent_queries_counter.labels("client_one_time_keys").inc()
         return self.transport_layer.claim_client_keys(
             destination, content, timeout
         )
@@ -394,7 +393,7 @@ class FederationClient(FederationBase):
             seen_events = yield self.store.get_events(event_ids, allow_rejected=True)
             signed_events = seen_events.values()
         else:
-            seen_events = yield self.store.have_events(event_ids)
+            seen_events = yield self.store.have_seen_events(event_ids)
             signed_events = []
 
         failed_to_fetch = set()
@@ -413,11 +412,12 @@ class FederationClient(FederationBase):
 
         batch_size = 20
         missing_events = list(missing_events)
-        for i in xrange(0, len(missing_events), batch_size):
+        for i in range(0, len(missing_events), batch_size):
             batch = set(missing_events[i:i + batch_size])
 
             deferreds = [
-                preserve_fn(self.get_pdu)(
+                run_in_background(
+                    self.get_pdu,
                     destinations=random_server_list(),
                     event_id=e_id,
                 )
diff --git a/synapse/federation/federation_server.py b/synapse/federation/federation_server.py
index bea7fd0b71..2d420a58a2 100644
--- a/synapse/federation/federation_server.py
+++ b/synapse/federation/federation_server.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # Copyright 2015, 2016 OpenMarket Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -26,30 +27,32 @@ from synapse.federation.federation_base import (
 
 from synapse.federation.persistence import TransactionActions
 from synapse.federation.units import Edu, Transaction
-import synapse.metrics
 from synapse.types import get_domain_from_id
 from synapse.util import async
 from synapse.util.caches.response_cache import ResponseCache
-from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable, preserve_fn
 from synapse.util.logutils import log_function
 
+from prometheus_client import Counter
+
+from six import iteritems
+
 # when processing incoming transactions, we try to handle multiple rooms in
 # parallel, up to this limit.
 TRANSACTION_CONCURRENCY_LIMIT = 10
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-# synapse.federation.federation_server is a silly name
-metrics = synapse.metrics.get_metrics_for("synapse.federation.server")
+received_pdus_counter = Counter("synapse_federation_server_received_pdus", "")
 
-received_pdus_counter = metrics.register_counter("received_pdus")
+received_edus_counter = Counter("synapse_federation_server_received_edus", "")
 
-received_edus_counter = metrics.register_counter("received_edus")
-
-received_queries_counter = metrics.register_counter("received_queries", labels=["type"])
+received_queries_counter = Counter(
+    "synapse_federation_server_received_queries", "", ["type"]
+)
 
 
 class FederationServer(FederationBase):
+
     def __init__(self, hs):
         super(FederationServer, self).__init__(hs)
 
@@ -65,7 +68,7 @@ class FederationServer(FederationBase):
 
         # We cache responses to state queries, as they take a while and often
         # come in waves.
-        self._state_resp_cache = ResponseCache(hs, timeout_ms=30000)
+        self._state_resp_cache = ResponseCache(hs, "state_resp", timeout_ms=30000)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     @log_function
@@ -129,7 +132,7 @@ class FederationServer(FederationBase):
 
         logger.debug("[%s] Transaction is new", transaction.transaction_id)
 
-        received_pdus_counter.inc_by(len(transaction.pdus))
+        received_pdus_counter.inc(len(transaction.pdus))
 
         pdus_by_room = {}
 
@@ -212,16 +215,17 @@ class FederationServer(FederationBase):
         if not in_room:
             raise AuthError(403, "Host not in room.")
 
-        result = self._state_resp_cache.get((room_id, event_id))
-        if not result:
-            with (yield self._server_linearizer.queue((origin, room_id))):
-                d = self._state_resp_cache.set(
-                    (room_id, event_id),
-                    preserve_fn(self._on_context_state_request_compute)(room_id, event_id)
-                )
-                resp = yield make_deferred_yieldable(d)
-        else:
-            resp = yield make_deferred_yieldable(result)
+        # we grab the linearizer to protect ourselves from servers which hammer
+        # us. In theory we might already have the response to this query
+        # in the cache so we could return it without waiting for the linearizer
+        # - but that's non-trivial to get right, and anyway somewhat defeats
+        # the point of the linearizer.
+        with (yield self._server_linearizer.queue((origin, room_id))):
+            resp = yield self._state_resp_cache.wrap(
+                (room_id, event_id),
+                self._on_context_state_request_compute,
+                room_id, event_id,
+            )
 
         defer.returnValue((200, resp))
 
@@ -289,7 +293,7 @@ class FederationServer(FederationBase):
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def on_query_request(self, query_type, args):
-        received_queries_counter.inc(query_type)
+        received_queries_counter.labels(query_type).inc()
         resp = yield self.registry.on_query(query_type, args)
         defer.returnValue((200, resp))
 
@@ -425,9 +429,9 @@ class FederationServer(FederationBase):
             "Claimed one-time-keys: %s",
             ",".join((
                 "%s for %s:%s" % (key_id, user_id, device_id)
-                for user_id, user_keys in json_result.iteritems()
-                for device_id, device_keys in user_keys.iteritems()
-                for key_id, _ in device_keys.iteritems()
+                for user_id, user_keys in iteritems(json_result)
+                for device_id, device_keys in iteritems(user_keys)
+                for key_id, _ in iteritems(device_keys)
             )),
         )
 
@@ -494,13 +498,33 @@ class FederationServer(FederationBase):
     def _handle_received_pdu(self, origin, pdu):
         """ Process a PDU received in a federation /send/ transaction.
 
+        If the event is invalid, then this method throws a FederationError.
+        (The error will then be logged and sent back to the sender (which
+        probably won't do anything with it), and other events in the
+        transaction will be processed as normal).
+
+        It is likely that we'll then receive other events which refer to
+        this rejected_event in their prev_events, etc.  When that happens,
+        we'll attempt to fetch the rejected event again, which will presumably
+        fail, so those second-generation events will also get rejected.
+
+        Eventually, we get to the point where there are more than 10 events
+        between any new events and the original rejected event. Since we
+        only try to backfill 10 events deep on received pdu, we then accept the
+        new event, possibly introducing a discontinuity in the DAG, with new
+        forward extremities, so normal service is approximately returned,
+        until we try to backfill across the discontinuity.
+
         Args:
             origin (str): server which sent the pdu
             pdu (FrozenEvent): received pdu
 
         Returns (Deferred): completes with None
-        Raises: FederationError if the signatures / hash do not match
-    """
+
+        Raises: FederationError if the signatures / hash do not match, or
+            if the event was unacceptable for any other reason (eg, too large,
+            too many prev_events, couldn't find the prev_events)
+        """
         # check that it's actually being sent from a valid destination to
         # workaround bug #1753 in 0.18.5 and 0.18.6
         if origin != get_domain_from_id(pdu.event_id):
diff --git a/synapse/federation/send_queue.py b/synapse/federation/send_queue.py
index 93e5acebc1..c7ed465617 100644
--- a/synapse/federation/send_queue.py
+++ b/synapse/federation/send_queue.py
@@ -33,17 +33,16 @@ from .units import Edu
 
 from synapse.storage.presence import UserPresenceState
 from synapse.util.metrics import Measure
-import synapse.metrics
+from synapse.metrics import LaterGauge
 
 from blist import sorteddict
 from collections import namedtuple
 
 import logging
 
-logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
-
+from six import itervalues, iteritems
 
-metrics = synapse.metrics.get_metrics_for(__name__)
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
 class FederationRemoteSendQueue(object):
@@ -75,10 +74,8 @@ class FederationRemoteSendQueue(object):
         # lambda binds to the queue rather than to the name of the queue which
         # changes. ARGH.
         def register(name, queue):
-            metrics.register_callback(
-                queue_name + "_size",
-                lambda: len(queue),
-            )
+            LaterGauge("synapse_federation_send_queue_%s_size" % (queue_name,),
+                       "", lambda: len(queue))
 
         for queue_name in [
             "presence_map", "presence_changed", "keyed_edu", "keyed_edu_changed",
@@ -122,7 +119,7 @@ class FederationRemoteSendQueue(object):
 
             user_ids = set(
                 user_id
-                for uids in self.presence_changed.itervalues()
+                for uids in itervalues(self.presence_changed)
                 for user_id in uids
             )
 
@@ -276,7 +273,7 @@ class FederationRemoteSendQueue(object):
         # stream position.
         keyed_edus = {self.keyed_edu_changed[k]: k for k in keys[i:j]}
 
-        for ((destination, edu_key), pos) in keyed_edus.iteritems():
+        for ((destination, edu_key), pos) in iteritems(keyed_edus):
             rows.append((pos, KeyedEduRow(
                 key=edu_key,
                 edu=self.keyed_edu[(destination, edu_key)],
@@ -309,7 +306,7 @@ class FederationRemoteSendQueue(object):
         j = keys.bisect_right(to_token) + 1
         device_messages = {self.device_messages[k]: k for k in keys[i:j]}
 
-        for (destination, pos) in device_messages.iteritems():
+        for (destination, pos) in iteritems(device_messages):
             rows.append((pos, DeviceRow(
                 destination=destination,
             )))
@@ -528,19 +525,19 @@ def process_rows_for_federation(transaction_queue, rows):
     if buff.presence:
         transaction_queue.send_presence(buff.presence)
 
-    for destination, edu_map in buff.keyed_edus.iteritems():
+    for destination, edu_map in iteritems(buff.keyed_edus):
         for key, edu in edu_map.items():
             transaction_queue.send_edu(
                 edu.destination, edu.edu_type, edu.content, key=key,
             )
 
-    for destination, edu_list in buff.edus.iteritems():
+    for destination, edu_list in iteritems(buff.edus):
         for edu in edu_list:
             transaction_queue.send_edu(
                 edu.destination, edu.edu_type, edu.content, key=None,
             )
 
-    for destination, failure_list in buff.failures.iteritems():
+    for destination, failure_list in iteritems(buff.failures):
         for failure in failure_list:
             transaction_queue.send_failure(destination, failure)
 
diff --git a/synapse/federation/transaction_queue.py b/synapse/federation/transaction_queue.py
index a141ec9953..69312ec233 100644
--- a/synapse/federation/transaction_queue.py
+++ b/synapse/federation/transaction_queue.py
@@ -26,23 +26,23 @@ from synapse.util.retryutils import NotRetryingDestination, get_retry_limiter
 from synapse.util.metrics import measure_func
 from synapse.handlers.presence import format_user_presence_state, get_interested_remotes
 import synapse.metrics
+from synapse.metrics import LaterGauge
+from synapse.metrics import (
+    sent_edus_counter,
+    sent_transactions_counter,
+    events_processed_counter,
+)
+
+from prometheus_client import Counter
 
 import logging
 
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-metrics = synapse.metrics.get_metrics_for(__name__)
-
-client_metrics = synapse.metrics.get_metrics_for("synapse.federation.client")
-sent_pdus_destination_dist = client_metrics.register_distribution(
-    "sent_pdu_destinations"
+sent_pdus_destination_dist = Counter(
+    "synapse_federation_transaction_queue_sent_pdu_destinations", ""
 )
-sent_edus_counter = client_metrics.register_counter("sent_edus")
-
-sent_transactions_counter = client_metrics.register_counter("sent_transactions")
-
-events_processed_counter = client_metrics.register_counter("events_processed")
 
 
 class TransactionQueue(object):
@@ -69,8 +69,10 @@ class TransactionQueue(object):
         # done
         self.pending_transactions = {}
 
-        metrics.register_callback(
-            "pending_destinations",
+        LaterGauge(
+            "synapse_federation_transaction_queue_pending_destinations",
+            "",
+            [],
             lambda: len(self.pending_transactions),
         )
 
@@ -94,12 +96,16 @@ class TransactionQueue(object):
         # Map of destination -> (edu_type, key) -> Edu
         self.pending_edus_keyed_by_dest = edus_keyed = {}
 
-        metrics.register_callback(
-            "pending_pdus",
+        LaterGauge(
+            "synapse_federation_transaction_queue_pending_pdus",
+            "",
+            [],
             lambda: sum(map(len, pdus.values())),
         )
-        metrics.register_callback(
-            "pending_edus",
+        LaterGauge(
+            "synapse_federation_transaction_queue_pending_edus",
+            "",
+            [],
             lambda: (
                 sum(map(len, edus.values()))
                 + sum(map(len, presence.values()))
@@ -169,7 +175,7 @@ class TransactionQueue(object):
             while True:
                 last_token = yield self.store.get_federation_out_pos("events")
                 next_token, events = yield self.store.get_all_new_events_stream(
-                    last_token, self._last_poked_id, limit=20,
+                    last_token, self._last_poked_id, limit=100,
                 )
 
                 logger.debug("Handling %s -> %s", last_token, next_token)
@@ -177,24 +183,33 @@ class TransactionQueue(object):
                 if not events and next_token >= self._last_poked_id:
                     break
 
-                for event in events:
+                @defer.inlineCallbacks
+                def handle_event(event):
                     # Only send events for this server.
                     send_on_behalf_of = event.internal_metadata.get_send_on_behalf_of()
                     is_mine = self.is_mine_id(event.event_id)
                     if not is_mine and send_on_behalf_of is None:
-                        continue
-
-                    # Get the state from before the event.
-                    # We need to make sure that this is the state from before
-                    # the event and not from after it.
-                    # Otherwise if the last member on a server in a room is
-                    # banned then it won't receive the event because it won't
-                    # be in the room after the ban.
-                    destinations = yield self.state.get_current_hosts_in_room(
-                        event.room_id, latest_event_ids=[
-                            prev_id for prev_id, _ in event.prev_events
-                        ],
-                    )
+                        return
+
+                    try:
+                        # Get the state from before the event.
+                        # We need to make sure that this is the state from before
+                        # the event and not from after it.
+                        # Otherwise if the last member on a server in a room is
+                        # banned then it won't receive the event because it won't
+                        # be in the room after the ban.
+                        destinations = yield self.state.get_current_hosts_in_room(
+                            event.room_id, latest_event_ids=[
+                                prev_id for prev_id, _ in event.prev_events
+                            ],
+                        )
+                    except Exception:
+                        logger.exception(
+                            "Failed to calculate hosts in room for event: %s",
+                            event.event_id,
+                        )
+                        return
+
                     destinations = set(destinations)
 
                     if send_on_behalf_of is not None:
@@ -207,12 +222,41 @@ class TransactionQueue(object):
 
                     self._send_pdu(event, destinations)
 
-                events_processed_counter.inc_by(len(events))
+                @defer.inlineCallbacks
+                def handle_room_events(events):
+                    for event in events:
+                        yield handle_event(event)
+
+                events_by_room = {}
+                for event in events:
+                    events_by_room.setdefault(event.room_id, []).append(event)
+
+                yield logcontext.make_deferred_yieldable(defer.gatherResults(
+                    [
+                        logcontext.run_in_background(handle_room_events, evs)
+                        for evs in events_by_room.itervalues()
+                    ],
+                    consumeErrors=True
+                ))
 
                 yield self.store.update_federation_out_pos(
                     "events", next_token
                 )
 
+                if events:
+                    now = self.clock.time_msec()
+                    ts = yield self.store.get_received_ts(events[-1].event_id)
+
+                    synapse.metrics.event_processing_lag.labels(
+                        "federation_sender").set(now - ts)
+                    synapse.metrics.event_processing_last_ts.labels(
+                        "federation_sender").set(ts)
+
+                events_processed_counter.inc(len(events))
+
+                synapse.metrics.event_processing_positions.labels(
+                    "federation_sender").set(next_token)
+
         finally:
             self._is_processing = False
 
@@ -234,7 +278,7 @@ class TransactionQueue(object):
         if not destinations:
             return
 
-        sent_pdus_destination_dist.inc_by(len(destinations))
+        sent_pdus_destination_dist.inc(len(destinations))
 
         for destination in destinations:
             self.pending_pdus_by_dest.setdefault(destination, []).append(
@@ -282,6 +326,8 @@ class TransactionQueue(object):
                     break
 
                 yield self._process_presence_inner(states_map.values())
+        except Exception:
+            logger.exception("Error sending presence states to servers")
         finally:
             self._processing_pending_presence = False
 
diff --git a/synapse/federation/transport/client.py b/synapse/federation/transport/client.py
index 5488e82985..6db8efa6dd 100644
--- a/synapse/federation/transport/client.py
+++ b/synapse/federation/transport/client.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # Copyright 2014-2016 OpenMarket Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -20,6 +21,7 @@ from synapse.api.urls import FEDERATION_PREFIX as PREFIX
 from synapse.util.logutils import log_function
 
 import logging
+import urllib
 
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -49,7 +51,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
         logger.debug("get_room_state dest=%s, room=%s",
                      destination, room_id)
 
-        path = PREFIX + "/state/%s/" % room_id
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/state/%s/", room_id)
         return self.client.get_json(
             destination, path=path, args={"event_id": event_id},
         )
@@ -71,7 +73,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
         logger.debug("get_room_state_ids dest=%s, room=%s",
                      destination, room_id)
 
-        path = PREFIX + "/state_ids/%s/" % room_id
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/state_ids/%s/", room_id)
         return self.client.get_json(
             destination, path=path, args={"event_id": event_id},
         )
@@ -93,7 +95,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
         logger.debug("get_pdu dest=%s, event_id=%s",
                      destination, event_id)
 
-        path = PREFIX + "/event/%s/" % (event_id, )
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/event/%s/", event_id)
         return self.client.get_json(destination, path=path, timeout=timeout)
 
     @log_function
@@ -119,7 +121,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
             # TODO: raise?
             return
 
-        path = PREFIX + "/backfill/%s/" % (room_id,)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/backfill/%s/", room_id)
 
         args = {
             "v": event_tuples,
@@ -157,9 +159,11 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
         # generated by the json_data_callback.
         json_data = transaction.get_dict()
 
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/send/%s/", transaction.transaction_id)
+
         response = yield self.client.put_json(
             transaction.destination,
-            path=PREFIX + "/send/%s/" % transaction.transaction_id,
+            path=path,
             data=json_data,
             json_data_callback=json_data_callback,
             long_retries=True,
@@ -177,7 +181,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
     @log_function
     def make_query(self, destination, query_type, args, retry_on_dns_fail,
                    ignore_backoff=False):
-        path = PREFIX + "/query/%s" % query_type
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/query/%s", query_type)
 
         content = yield self.client.get_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -222,7 +226,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
                 "make_membership_event called with membership='%s', must be one of %s" %
                 (membership, ",".join(valid_memberships))
             )
-        path = PREFIX + "/make_%s/%s/%s" % (membership, room_id, user_id)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/make_%s/%s/%s", membership, room_id, user_id)
 
         ignore_backoff = False
         retry_on_dns_fail = False
@@ -248,7 +252,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     @log_function
     def send_join(self, destination, room_id, event_id, content):
-        path = PREFIX + "/send_join/%s/%s" % (room_id, event_id)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/send_join/%s/%s", room_id, event_id)
 
         response = yield self.client.put_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -261,7 +265,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     @log_function
     def send_leave(self, destination, room_id, event_id, content):
-        path = PREFIX + "/send_leave/%s/%s" % (room_id, event_id)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/send_leave/%s/%s", room_id, event_id)
 
         response = yield self.client.put_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -280,7 +284,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     @log_function
     def send_invite(self, destination, room_id, event_id, content):
-        path = PREFIX + "/invite/%s/%s" % (room_id, event_id)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/invite/%s/%s", room_id, event_id)
 
         response = yield self.client.put_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -322,7 +326,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     @log_function
     def exchange_third_party_invite(self, destination, room_id, event_dict):
-        path = PREFIX + "/exchange_third_party_invite/%s" % (room_id,)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/exchange_third_party_invite/%s", room_id,)
 
         response = yield self.client.put_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -335,7 +339,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     @log_function
     def get_event_auth(self, destination, room_id, event_id):
-        path = PREFIX + "/event_auth/%s/%s" % (room_id, event_id)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/event_auth/%s/%s", room_id, event_id)
 
         content = yield self.client.get_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -347,7 +351,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     @log_function
     def send_query_auth(self, destination, room_id, event_id, content):
-        path = PREFIX + "/query_auth/%s/%s" % (room_id, event_id)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/query_auth/%s/%s", room_id, event_id)
 
         content = yield self.client.post_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -409,7 +413,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
         Returns:
             A dict containg the device keys.
         """
-        path = PREFIX + "/user/devices/" + user_id
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/user/devices/%s", user_id)
 
         content = yield self.client.get_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -459,7 +463,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
     @log_function
     def get_missing_events(self, destination, room_id, earliest_events,
                            latest_events, limit, min_depth, timeout):
-        path = PREFIX + "/get_missing_events/%s" % (room_id,)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/get_missing_events/%s", room_id,)
 
         content = yield self.client.post_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -479,7 +483,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
     def get_group_profile(self, destination, group_id, requester_user_id):
         """Get a group profile
         """
-        path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/profile" % (group_id,)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/profile", group_id,)
 
         return self.client.get_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -498,7 +502,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
             requester_user_id (str)
             content (dict): The new profile of the group
         """
-        path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/profile" % (group_id,)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/profile", group_id,)
 
         return self.client.post_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -512,7 +516,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
     def get_group_summary(self, destination, group_id, requester_user_id):
         """Get a group summary
         """
-        path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/summary" % (group_id,)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/summary", group_id,)
 
         return self.client.get_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -525,7 +529,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
     def get_rooms_in_group(self, destination, group_id, requester_user_id):
         """Get all rooms in a group
         """
-        path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/rooms" % (group_id,)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/rooms", group_id,)
 
         return self.client.get_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -538,7 +542,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
                           content):
         """Add a room to a group
         """
-        path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/room/%s" % (group_id, room_id,)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/room/%s", group_id, room_id,)
 
         return self.client.post_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -552,7 +556,10 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
                              config_key, content):
         """Update room in group
         """
-        path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/room/%s/config/%s" % (group_id, room_id, config_key,)
+        path = _create_path(
+            PREFIX, "/groups/%s/room/%s/config/%s",
+            group_id, room_id, config_key,
+        )
 
         return self.client.post_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -565,7 +572,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
     def remove_room_from_group(self, destination, group_id, requester_user_id, room_id):
         """Remove a room from a group
         """
-        path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/room/%s" % (group_id, room_id,)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/room/%s", group_id, room_id,)
 
         return self.client.delete_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -578,7 +585,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
     def get_users_in_group(self, destination, group_id, requester_user_id):
         """Get users in a group
         """
-        path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/users" % (group_id,)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/users", group_id,)
 
         return self.client.get_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -591,7 +598,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
     def get_invited_users_in_group(self, destination, group_id, requester_user_id):
         """Get users that have been invited to a group
         """
-        path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/invited_users" % (group_id,)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/invited_users", group_id,)
 
         return self.client.get_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -604,7 +611,23 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
     def accept_group_invite(self, destination, group_id, user_id, content):
         """Accept a group invite
         """
-        path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/users/%s/accept_invite" % (group_id, user_id)
+        path = _create_path(
+            PREFIX, "/groups/%s/users/%s/accept_invite",
+            group_id, user_id,
+        )
+
+        return self.client.post_json(
+            destination=destination,
+            path=path,
+            data=content,
+            ignore_backoff=True,
+        )
+
+    @log_function
+    def join_group(self, destination, group_id, user_id, content):
+        """Attempts to join a group
+        """
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/users/%s/join", group_id, user_id)
 
         return self.client.post_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -617,7 +640,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
     def invite_to_group(self, destination, group_id, user_id, requester_user_id, content):
         """Invite a user to a group
         """
-        path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/users/%s/invite" % (group_id, user_id)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/users/%s/invite", group_id, user_id)
 
         return self.client.post_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -633,7 +656,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
         invited.
         """
 
-        path = PREFIX + "/groups/local/%s/users/%s/invite" % (group_id, user_id)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/local/%s/users/%s/invite", group_id, user_id)
 
         return self.client.post_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -647,7 +670,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
                                user_id, content):
         """Remove a user fron a group
         """
-        path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/users/%s/remove" % (group_id, user_id)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/users/%s/remove", group_id, user_id)
 
         return self.client.post_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -664,7 +687,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
         kicked from the group.
         """
 
-        path = PREFIX + "/groups/local/%s/users/%s/remove" % (group_id, user_id)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/local/%s/users/%s/remove", group_id, user_id)
 
         return self.client.post_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -679,7 +702,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
         the attestations
         """
 
-        path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/renew_attestation/%s" % (group_id, user_id)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/renew_attestation/%s", group_id, user_id)
 
         return self.client.post_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -694,11 +717,12 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
         """Update a room entry in a group summary
         """
         if category_id:
-            path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/summary/categories/%s/rooms/%s" % (
+            path = _create_path(
+                PREFIX, "/groups/%s/summary/categories/%s/rooms/%s",
                 group_id, category_id, room_id,
             )
         else:
-            path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/summary/rooms/%s" % (group_id, room_id,)
+            path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/summary/rooms/%s", group_id, room_id,)
 
         return self.client.post_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -714,11 +738,12 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
         """Delete a room entry in a group summary
         """
         if category_id:
-            path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/summary/categories/%s/rooms/%s" % (
+            path = _create_path(
+                PREFIX + "/groups/%s/summary/categories/%s/rooms/%s",
                 group_id, category_id, room_id,
             )
         else:
-            path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/summary/rooms/%s" % (group_id, room_id,)
+            path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/summary/rooms/%s", group_id, room_id,)
 
         return self.client.delete_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -731,7 +756,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
     def get_group_categories(self, destination, group_id, requester_user_id):
         """Get all categories in a group
         """
-        path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/categories" % (group_id,)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/categories", group_id,)
 
         return self.client.get_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -744,7 +769,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
     def get_group_category(self, destination, group_id, requester_user_id, category_id):
         """Get category info in a group
         """
-        path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/categories/%s" % (group_id, category_id,)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/categories/%s", group_id, category_id,)
 
         return self.client.get_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -758,7 +783,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
                               content):
         """Update a category in a group
         """
-        path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/categories/%s" % (group_id, category_id,)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/categories/%s", group_id, category_id,)
 
         return self.client.post_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -773,7 +798,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
                               category_id):
         """Delete a category in a group
         """
-        path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/categories/%s" % (group_id, category_id,)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/categories/%s", group_id, category_id,)
 
         return self.client.delete_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -786,7 +811,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
     def get_group_roles(self, destination, group_id, requester_user_id):
         """Get all roles in a group
         """
-        path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/roles" % (group_id,)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/roles", group_id,)
 
         return self.client.get_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -799,7 +824,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
     def get_group_role(self, destination, group_id, requester_user_id, role_id):
         """Get a roles info
         """
-        path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/roles/%s" % (group_id, role_id,)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/roles/%s", group_id, role_id,)
 
         return self.client.get_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -813,7 +838,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
                           content):
         """Update a role in a group
         """
-        path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/roles/%s" % (group_id, role_id,)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/roles/%s", group_id, role_id,)
 
         return self.client.post_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -827,7 +852,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
     def delete_group_role(self, destination, group_id, requester_user_id, role_id):
         """Delete a role in a group
         """
-        path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/roles/%s" % (group_id, role_id,)
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/roles/%s", group_id, role_id,)
 
         return self.client.delete_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -842,11 +867,12 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
         """Update a users entry in a group
         """
         if role_id:
-            path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/summary/roles/%s/users/%s" % (
+            path = _create_path(
+                PREFIX, "/groups/%s/summary/roles/%s/users/%s",
                 group_id, role_id, user_id,
             )
         else:
-            path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/summary/users/%s" % (group_id, user_id,)
+            path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/summary/users/%s", group_id, user_id,)
 
         return self.client.post_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -857,16 +883,32 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
         )
 
     @log_function
+    def set_group_join_policy(self, destination, group_id, requester_user_id,
+                              content):
+        """Sets the join policy for a group
+        """
+        path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/settings/m.join_policy", group_id,)
+
+        return self.client.put_json(
+            destination=destination,
+            path=path,
+            args={"requester_user_id": requester_user_id},
+            data=content,
+            ignore_backoff=True,
+        )
+
+    @log_function
     def delete_group_summary_user(self, destination, group_id, requester_user_id,
                                   user_id, role_id):
         """Delete a users entry in a group
         """
         if role_id:
-            path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/summary/roles/%s/users/%s" % (
+            path = _create_path(
+                PREFIX, "/groups/%s/summary/roles/%s/users/%s",
                 group_id, role_id, user_id,
             )
         else:
-            path = PREFIX + "/groups/%s/summary/users/%s" % (group_id, user_id,)
+            path = _create_path(PREFIX, "/groups/%s/summary/users/%s", group_id, user_id,)
 
         return self.client.delete_json(
             destination=destination,
@@ -889,3 +931,22 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
             data=content,
             ignore_backoff=True,
         )
+
+
+def _create_path(prefix, path, *args):
+    """Creates a path from the prefix, path template and args. Ensures that
+    all args are url encoded.
+
+    Example:
+
+        _create_path(PREFIX, "/event/%s/", event_id)
+
+    Args:
+        prefix (str)
+        path (str): String template for the path
+        args: ([str]): Args to insert into path. Each arg will be url encoded
+
+    Returns:
+        str
+    """
+    return prefix + path % tuple(urllib.quote(arg, "") for arg in args)
diff --git a/synapse/federation/transport/server.py b/synapse/federation/transport/server.py
index a66a6b0692..19d09f5422 100644
--- a/synapse/federation/transport/server.py
+++ b/synapse/federation/transport/server.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # Copyright 2014-2016 OpenMarket Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -24,7 +25,7 @@ from synapse.http.servlet import (
 )
 from synapse.util.ratelimitutils import FederationRateLimiter
 from synapse.util.versionstring import get_version_string
-from synapse.util.logcontext import preserve_fn
+from synapse.util.logcontext import run_in_background
 from synapse.types import ThirdPartyInstanceID, get_domain_from_id
 
 import functools
@@ -93,12 +94,6 @@ class Authenticator(object):
             "signatures": {},
         }
 
-        if (
-            self.federation_domain_whitelist is not None and
-            self.server_name not in self.federation_domain_whitelist
-        ):
-            raise FederationDeniedError(self.server_name)
-
         if content is not None:
             json_request["content"] = content
 
@@ -137,6 +132,12 @@ class Authenticator(object):
                 json_request["origin"] = origin
                 json_request["signatures"].setdefault(origin, {})[key] = sig
 
+        if (
+            self.federation_domain_whitelist is not None and
+            origin not in self.federation_domain_whitelist
+        ):
+            raise FederationDeniedError(origin)
+
         if not json_request["signatures"]:
             raise NoAuthenticationError(
                 401, "Missing Authorization headers", Codes.UNAUTHORIZED,
@@ -151,11 +152,18 @@ class Authenticator(object):
         # alive
         retry_timings = yield self.store.get_destination_retry_timings(origin)
         if retry_timings and retry_timings["retry_last_ts"]:
-            logger.info("Marking origin %r as up", origin)
-            preserve_fn(self.store.set_destination_retry_timings)(origin, 0, 0)
+            run_in_background(self._reset_retry_timings, origin)
 
         defer.returnValue(origin)
 
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def _reset_retry_timings(self, origin):
+        try:
+            logger.info("Marking origin %r as up", origin)
+            yield self.store.set_destination_retry_timings(origin, 0, 0)
+        except Exception:
+            logger.exception("Error resetting retry timings on %s", origin)
+
 
 class BaseFederationServlet(object):
     REQUIRE_AUTH = True
@@ -802,6 +810,23 @@ class FederationGroupsAcceptInviteServlet(BaseFederationServlet):
         defer.returnValue((200, new_content))
 
 
+class FederationGroupsJoinServlet(BaseFederationServlet):
+    """Attempt to join a group
+    """
+    PATH = "/groups/(?P<group_id>[^/]*)/users/(?P<user_id>[^/]*)/join$"
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def on_POST(self, origin, content, query, group_id, user_id):
+        if get_domain_from_id(user_id) != origin:
+            raise SynapseError(403, "user_id doesn't match origin")
+
+        new_content = yield self.handler.join_group(
+            group_id, user_id, content,
+        )
+
+        defer.returnValue((200, new_content))
+
+
 class FederationGroupsRemoveUserServlet(BaseFederationServlet):
     """Leave or kick a user from the group
     """
@@ -1124,6 +1149,24 @@ class FederationGroupsBulkPublicisedServlet(BaseFederationServlet):
         defer.returnValue((200, resp))
 
 
+class FederationGroupsSettingJoinPolicyServlet(BaseFederationServlet):
+    """Sets whether a group is joinable without an invite or knock
+    """
+    PATH = "/groups/(?P<group_id>[^/]*)/settings/m.join_policy$"
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def on_PUT(self, origin, content, query, group_id):
+        requester_user_id = parse_string_from_args(query, "requester_user_id")
+        if get_domain_from_id(requester_user_id) != origin:
+            raise SynapseError(403, "requester_user_id doesn't match origin")
+
+        new_content = yield self.handler.set_group_join_policy(
+            group_id, requester_user_id, content
+        )
+
+        defer.returnValue((200, new_content))
+
+
 FEDERATION_SERVLET_CLASSES = (
     FederationSendServlet,
     FederationPullServlet,
@@ -1163,6 +1206,7 @@ GROUP_SERVER_SERVLET_CLASSES = (
     FederationGroupsInvitedUsersServlet,
     FederationGroupsInviteServlet,
     FederationGroupsAcceptInviteServlet,
+    FederationGroupsJoinServlet,
     FederationGroupsRemoveUserServlet,
     FederationGroupsSummaryRoomsServlet,
     FederationGroupsCategoriesServlet,
@@ -1172,6 +1216,7 @@ GROUP_SERVER_SERVLET_CLASSES = (
     FederationGroupsSummaryUsersServlet,
     FederationGroupsAddRoomsServlet,
     FederationGroupsAddRoomsConfigServlet,
+    FederationGroupsSettingJoinPolicyServlet,
 )
 
 
diff --git a/synapse/federation/units.py b/synapse/federation/units.py
index 3f645acc43..01c5b8fe17 100644
--- a/synapse/federation/units.py
+++ b/synapse/federation/units.py
@@ -74,8 +74,6 @@ class Transaction(JsonEncodedObject):
         "previous_ids",
         "pdus",
         "edus",
-        "transaction_id",
-        "destination",
         "pdu_failures",
     ]
 
diff --git a/synapse/groups/attestations.py b/synapse/groups/attestations.py
index 1fb709e6c3..6f11fa374b 100644
--- a/synapse/groups/attestations.py
+++ b/synapse/groups/attestations.py
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ from twisted.internet import defer
 
 from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError
 from synapse.types import get_domain_from_id
-from synapse.util.logcontext import preserve_fn
+from synapse.util.logcontext import run_in_background
 
 from signedjson.sign import sign_json
 
@@ -165,31 +165,35 @@ class GroupAttestionRenewer(object):
 
         @defer.inlineCallbacks
         def _renew_attestation(group_id, user_id):
-            if not self.is_mine_id(group_id):
-                destination = get_domain_from_id(group_id)
-            elif not self.is_mine_id(user_id):
-                destination = get_domain_from_id(user_id)
-            else:
-                logger.warn(
-                    "Incorrectly trying to do attestations for user: %r in %r",
-                    user_id, group_id,
+            try:
+                if not self.is_mine_id(group_id):
+                    destination = get_domain_from_id(group_id)
+                elif not self.is_mine_id(user_id):
+                    destination = get_domain_from_id(user_id)
+                else:
+                    logger.warn(
+                        "Incorrectly trying to do attestations for user: %r in %r",
+                        user_id, group_id,
+                    )
+                    yield self.store.remove_attestation_renewal(group_id, user_id)
+                    return
+
+                attestation = self.attestations.create_attestation(group_id, user_id)
+
+                yield self.transport_client.renew_group_attestation(
+                    destination, group_id, user_id,
+                    content={"attestation": attestation},
                 )
-                yield self.store.remove_attestation_renewal(group_id, user_id)
-                return
-
-            attestation = self.attestations.create_attestation(group_id, user_id)
 
-            yield self.transport_client.renew_group_attestation(
-                destination, group_id, user_id,
-                content={"attestation": attestation},
-            )
-
-            yield self.store.update_attestation_renewal(
-                group_id, user_id, attestation
-            )
+                yield self.store.update_attestation_renewal(
+                    group_id, user_id, attestation
+                )
+            except Exception:
+                logger.exception("Error renewing attestation of %r in %r",
+                                 user_id, group_id)
 
         for row in rows:
             group_id = row["group_id"]
             user_id = row["user_id"]
 
-            preserve_fn(_renew_attestation)(group_id, user_id)
+            run_in_background(_renew_attestation, group_id, user_id)
diff --git a/synapse/groups/groups_server.py b/synapse/groups/groups_server.py
index 0b995aed70..62d20ad130 100644
--- a/synapse/groups/groups_server.py
+++ b/synapse/groups/groups_server.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # Copyright 2017 Vector Creations Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -19,6 +20,8 @@ from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError
 from synapse.types import GroupID, RoomID, UserID, get_domain_from_id
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
+from six import string_types
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
@@ -206,6 +209,28 @@ class GroupsServerHandler(object):
         defer.returnValue({})
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def set_group_join_policy(self, group_id, requester_user_id, content):
+        """Sets the group join policy.
+
+        Currently supported policies are:
+         - "invite": an invite must be received and accepted in order to join.
+         - "open": anyone can join.
+        """
+        yield self.check_group_is_ours(
+            group_id, requester_user_id, and_exists=True, and_is_admin=requester_user_id
+        )
+
+        join_policy = _parse_join_policy_from_contents(content)
+        if join_policy is None:
+            raise SynapseError(
+                400, "No value specified for 'm.join_policy'"
+            )
+
+        yield self.store.set_group_join_policy(group_id, join_policy=join_policy)
+
+        defer.returnValue({})
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def get_group_categories(self, group_id, requester_user_id):
         """Get all categories in a group (as seen by user)
         """
@@ -381,9 +406,16 @@ class GroupsServerHandler(object):
 
         yield self.check_group_is_ours(group_id, requester_user_id)
 
-        group_description = yield self.store.get_group(group_id)
+        group = yield self.store.get_group(group_id)
+
+        if group:
+            cols = [
+                "name", "short_description", "long_description",
+                "avatar_url", "is_public",
+            ]
+            group_description = {key: group[key] for key in cols}
+            group_description["is_openly_joinable"] = group["join_policy"] == "open"
 
-        if group_description:
             defer.returnValue(group_description)
         else:
             raise SynapseError(404, "Unknown group")
@@ -401,7 +433,7 @@ class GroupsServerHandler(object):
                         "long_description"):
             if keyname in content:
                 value = content[keyname]
-                if not isinstance(value, basestring):
+                if not isinstance(value, string_types):
                     raise SynapseError(400, "%r value is not a string" % (keyname,))
                 profile[keyname] = value
 
@@ -655,30 +687,21 @@ class GroupsServerHandler(object):
             raise SynapseError(502, "Unknown state returned by HS")
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def accept_invite(self, group_id, requester_user_id, content):
-        """User tries to accept an invite to the group.
+    def _add_user(self, group_id, user_id, content):
+        """Add a user to a group based on a content dict.
 
-        This is different from them asking to join, and so should error if no
-        invite exists (and they're not a member of the group)
+        See accept_invite, join_group.
         """
-
-        yield self.check_group_is_ours(group_id, requester_user_id, and_exists=True)
-
-        is_invited = yield self.store.is_user_invited_to_local_group(
-            group_id, requester_user_id,
-        )
-        if not is_invited:
-            raise SynapseError(403, "User not invited to group")
-
-        if not self.hs.is_mine_id(requester_user_id):
+        if not self.hs.is_mine_id(user_id):
             local_attestation = self.attestations.create_attestation(
-                group_id, requester_user_id,
+                group_id, user_id,
             )
+
             remote_attestation = content["attestation"]
 
             yield self.attestations.verify_attestation(
                 remote_attestation,
-                user_id=requester_user_id,
+                user_id=user_id,
                 group_id=group_id,
             )
         else:
@@ -688,13 +711,53 @@ class GroupsServerHandler(object):
         is_public = _parse_visibility_from_contents(content)
 
         yield self.store.add_user_to_group(
-            group_id, requester_user_id,
+            group_id, user_id,
             is_admin=False,
             is_public=is_public,
             local_attestation=local_attestation,
             remote_attestation=remote_attestation,
         )
 
+        defer.returnValue(local_attestation)
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def accept_invite(self, group_id, requester_user_id, content):
+        """User tries to accept an invite to the group.
+
+        This is different from them asking to join, and so should error if no
+        invite exists (and they're not a member of the group)
+        """
+
+        yield self.check_group_is_ours(group_id, requester_user_id, and_exists=True)
+
+        is_invited = yield self.store.is_user_invited_to_local_group(
+            group_id, requester_user_id,
+        )
+        if not is_invited:
+            raise SynapseError(403, "User not invited to group")
+
+        local_attestation = yield self._add_user(group_id, requester_user_id, content)
+
+        defer.returnValue({
+            "state": "join",
+            "attestation": local_attestation,
+        })
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def join_group(self, group_id, requester_user_id, content):
+        """User tries to join the group.
+
+        This will error if the group requires an invite/knock to join
+        """
+
+        group_info = yield self.check_group_is_ours(
+            group_id, requester_user_id, and_exists=True
+        )
+        if group_info['join_policy'] != "open":
+            raise SynapseError(403, "Group is not publicly joinable")
+
+        local_attestation = yield self._add_user(group_id, requester_user_id, content)
+
         defer.returnValue({
             "state": "join",
             "attestation": local_attestation,
@@ -835,6 +898,31 @@ class GroupsServerHandler(object):
         })
 
 
+def _parse_join_policy_from_contents(content):
+    """Given a content for a request, return the specified join policy or None
+    """
+
+    join_policy_dict = content.get("m.join_policy")
+    if join_policy_dict:
+        return _parse_join_policy_dict(join_policy_dict)
+    else:
+        return None
+
+
+def _parse_join_policy_dict(join_policy_dict):
+    """Given a dict for the "m.join_policy" config return the join policy specified
+    """
+    join_policy_type = join_policy_dict.get("type")
+    if not join_policy_type:
+        return "invite"
+
+    if join_policy_type not in ("invite", "open"):
+        raise SynapseError(
+            400, "Synapse only supports 'invite'/'open' join rule"
+        )
+    return join_policy_type
+
+
 def _parse_visibility_from_contents(content):
     """Given a content for a request parse out whether the entity should be
     public or not
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/__init__.py b/synapse/handlers/__init__.py
index 8f8fd82eb0..d358842b3e 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/__init__.py
@@ -14,9 +14,7 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 from .register import RegistrationHandler
-from .room import (
-    RoomCreationHandler, RoomContextHandler,
-)
+from .room import RoomContextHandler
 from .message import MessageHandler
 from .federation import FederationHandler
 from .directory import DirectoryHandler
@@ -47,7 +45,6 @@ class Handlers(object):
     def __init__(self, hs):
         self.registration_handler = RegistrationHandler(hs)
         self.message_handler = MessageHandler(hs)
-        self.room_creation_handler = RoomCreationHandler(hs)
         self.federation_handler = FederationHandler(hs)
         self.directory_handler = DirectoryHandler(hs)
         self.admin_handler = AdminHandler(hs)
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/appservice.py b/synapse/handlers/appservice.py
index 3dd3fa2a27..d9f35a5dba 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/appservice.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/appservice.py
@@ -18,15 +18,16 @@ from twisted.internet import defer
 import synapse
 from synapse.api.constants import EventTypes
 from synapse.util.metrics import Measure
-from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable, preserve_fn
+from synapse.util.logcontext import (
+    make_deferred_yieldable, run_in_background,
+)
+from prometheus_client import Counter
 
 import logging
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-metrics = synapse.metrics.get_metrics_for(__name__)
-
-events_processed_counter = metrics.register_counter("events_processed")
+events_processed_counter = Counter("synapse_handlers_appservice_events_processed", "")
 
 
 def log_failure(failure):
@@ -84,11 +85,16 @@ class ApplicationServicesHandler(object):
                     if not events:
                         break
 
+                    events_by_room = {}
                     for event in events:
+                        events_by_room.setdefault(event.room_id, []).append(event)
+
+                    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+                    def handle_event(event):
                         # Gather interested services
                         services = yield self._get_services_for_event(event)
                         if len(services) == 0:
-                            continue  # no services need notifying
+                            return  # no services need notifying
 
                         # Do we know this user exists? If not, poke the user
                         # query API for all services which match that user regex.
@@ -104,13 +110,32 @@ class ApplicationServicesHandler(object):
 
                         # Fork off pushes to these services
                         for service in services:
-                            preserve_fn(self.scheduler.submit_event_for_as)(
-                                service, event
-                            )
+                            self.scheduler.submit_event_for_as(service, event)
 
-                    events_processed_counter.inc_by(len(events))
+                    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+                    def handle_room_events(events):
+                        for event in events:
+                            yield handle_event(event)
+
+                    yield make_deferred_yieldable(defer.gatherResults([
+                        run_in_background(handle_room_events, evs)
+                        for evs in events_by_room.itervalues()
+                    ], consumeErrors=True))
 
                     yield self.store.set_appservice_last_pos(upper_bound)
+
+                    now = self.clock.time_msec()
+                    ts = yield self.store.get_received_ts(events[-1].event_id)
+
+                    synapse.metrics.event_processing_positions.labels(
+                        "appservice_sender").set(upper_bound)
+
+                    events_processed_counter.inc(len(events))
+
+                    synapse.metrics.event_processing_lag.labels(
+                        "appservice_sender").set(now - ts)
+                    synapse.metrics.event_processing_last_ts.labels(
+                        "appservice_sender").set(ts)
             finally:
                 self.is_processing = False
 
@@ -167,7 +192,10 @@ class ApplicationServicesHandler(object):
         services = yield self._get_services_for_3pn(protocol)
 
         results = yield make_deferred_yieldable(defer.DeferredList([
-            preserve_fn(self.appservice_api.query_3pe)(service, kind, protocol, fields)
+            run_in_background(
+                self.appservice_api.query_3pe,
+                service, kind, protocol, fields,
+            )
             for service in services
         ], consumeErrors=True))
 
@@ -228,11 +256,15 @@ class ApplicationServicesHandler(object):
             event based on the service regex.
         """
         services = self.store.get_app_services()
-        interested_list = [
-            s for s in services if (
-                yield s.is_interested(event, self.store)
-            )
-        ]
+
+        # we can't use a list comprehension here. Since python 3, list
+        # comprehensions use a generator internally. This means you can't yield
+        # inside of a list comprehension anymore.
+        interested_list = []
+        for s in services:
+            if (yield s.is_interested(event, self.store)):
+                interested_list.append(s)
+
         defer.returnValue(interested_list)
 
     def _get_services_for_user(self, user_id):
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/deactivate_account.py b/synapse/handlers/deactivate_account.py
index b1d3814909..c5e92f6214 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/deactivate_account.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/deactivate_account.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-# Copyright 2017 New Vector Ltd
+# Copyright 2017, 2018 New Vector Ltd
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -12,9 +12,11 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
-from twisted.internet import defer
+from twisted.internet import defer, reactor
 
 from ._base import BaseHandler
+from synapse.types import UserID, create_requester
+from synapse.util.logcontext import run_in_background
 
 import logging
 
@@ -27,6 +29,15 @@ class DeactivateAccountHandler(BaseHandler):
         super(DeactivateAccountHandler, self).__init__(hs)
         self._auth_handler = hs.get_auth_handler()
         self._device_handler = hs.get_device_handler()
+        self._room_member_handler = hs.get_room_member_handler()
+        self.user_directory_handler = hs.get_user_directory_handler()
+
+        # Flag that indicates whether the process to part users from rooms is running
+        self._user_parter_running = False
+
+        # Start the user parter loop so it can resume parting users from rooms where
+        # it left off (if it has work left to do).
+        reactor.callWhenRunning(self._start_user_parting)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def deactivate_account(self, user_id):
@@ -50,3 +61,73 @@ class DeactivateAccountHandler(BaseHandler):
 
         yield self.store.user_delete_threepids(user_id)
         yield self.store.user_set_password_hash(user_id, None)
+
+        # Add the user to a table of users pending deactivation (ie.
+        # removal from all the rooms they're a member of)
+        yield self.store.add_user_pending_deactivation(user_id)
+
+        # delete from user directory
+        yield self.user_directory_handler.handle_user_deactivated(user_id)
+
+        # Now start the process that goes through that list and
+        # parts users from rooms (if it isn't already running)
+        self._start_user_parting()
+
+    def _start_user_parting(self):
+        """
+        Start the process that goes through the table of users
+        pending deactivation, if it isn't already running.
+
+        Returns:
+            None
+        """
+        if not self._user_parter_running:
+            run_in_background(self._user_parter_loop)
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def _user_parter_loop(self):
+        """Loop that parts deactivated users from rooms
+
+        Returns:
+            None
+        """
+        self._user_parter_running = True
+        logger.info("Starting user parter")
+        try:
+            while True:
+                user_id = yield self.store.get_user_pending_deactivation()
+                if user_id is None:
+                    break
+                logger.info("User parter parting %r", user_id)
+                yield self._part_user(user_id)
+                yield self.store.del_user_pending_deactivation(user_id)
+                logger.info("User parter finished parting %r", user_id)
+            logger.info("User parter finished: stopping")
+        finally:
+            self._user_parter_running = False
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def _part_user(self, user_id):
+        """Causes the given user_id to leave all the rooms they're joined to
+
+        Returns:
+            None
+        """
+        user = UserID.from_string(user_id)
+
+        rooms_for_user = yield self.store.get_rooms_for_user(user_id)
+        for room_id in rooms_for_user:
+            logger.info("User parter parting %r from %r", user_id, room_id)
+            try:
+                yield self._room_member_handler.update_membership(
+                    create_requester(user),
+                    user,
+                    room_id,
+                    "leave",
+                    ratelimit=False,
+                )
+            except Exception:
+                logger.exception(
+                    "Failed to part user %r from room %r: ignoring and continuing",
+                    user_id, room_id,
+                )
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/device.py b/synapse/handlers/device.py
index 40f3d24678..31bd0e60c6 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/device.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/device.py
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ from ._base import BaseHandler
 
 import logging
 
+from six import itervalues, iteritems
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
@@ -155,7 +157,7 @@ class DeviceHandler(BaseHandler):
 
         try:
             yield self.store.delete_device(user_id, device_id)
-        except errors.StoreError, e:
+        except errors.StoreError as e:
             if e.code == 404:
                 # no match
                 pass
@@ -204,7 +206,7 @@ class DeviceHandler(BaseHandler):
 
         try:
             yield self.store.delete_devices(user_id, device_ids)
-        except errors.StoreError, e:
+        except errors.StoreError as e:
             if e.code == 404:
                 # no match
                 pass
@@ -243,7 +245,7 @@ class DeviceHandler(BaseHandler):
                 new_display_name=content.get("display_name")
             )
             yield self.notify_device_update(user_id, [device_id])
-        except errors.StoreError, e:
+        except errors.StoreError as e:
             if e.code == 404:
                 raise errors.NotFoundError()
             else:
@@ -318,7 +320,7 @@ class DeviceHandler(BaseHandler):
             # The user may have left the room
             # TODO: Check if they actually did or if we were just invited.
             if room_id not in room_ids:
-                for key, event_id in current_state_ids.iteritems():
+                for key, event_id in iteritems(current_state_ids):
                     etype, state_key = key
                     if etype != EventTypes.Member:
                         continue
@@ -338,7 +340,7 @@ class DeviceHandler(BaseHandler):
             # special-case for an empty prev state: include all members
             # in the changed list
             if not event_ids:
-                for key, event_id in current_state_ids.iteritems():
+                for key, event_id in iteritems(current_state_ids):
                     etype, state_key = key
                     if etype != EventTypes.Member:
                         continue
@@ -354,10 +356,10 @@ class DeviceHandler(BaseHandler):
 
             # Check if we've joined the room? If so we just blindly add all the users to
             # the "possibly changed" users.
-            for state_dict in prev_state_ids.itervalues():
+            for state_dict in itervalues(prev_state_ids):
                 member_event = state_dict.get((EventTypes.Member, user_id), None)
                 if not member_event or member_event != current_member_id:
-                    for key, event_id in current_state_ids.iteritems():
+                    for key, event_id in iteritems(current_state_ids):
                         etype, state_key = key
                         if etype != EventTypes.Member:
                             continue
@@ -367,14 +369,14 @@ class DeviceHandler(BaseHandler):
             # If there has been any change in membership, include them in the
             # possibly changed list. We'll check if they are joined below,
             # and we're not toooo worried about spuriously adding users.
-            for key, event_id in current_state_ids.iteritems():
+            for key, event_id in iteritems(current_state_ids):
                 etype, state_key = key
                 if etype != EventTypes.Member:
                     continue
 
                 # check if this member has changed since any of the extremities
                 # at the stream_ordering, and add them to the list if so.
-                for state_dict in prev_state_ids.itervalues():
+                for state_dict in itervalues(prev_state_ids):
                     prev_event_id = state_dict.get(key, None)
                     if not prev_event_id or prev_event_id != event_id:
                         if state_key != user_id:
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/e2e_keys.py b/synapse/handlers/e2e_keys.py
index 31b1ece13e..8a2d177539 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/e2e_keys.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/e2e_keys.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # Copyright 2016 OpenMarket Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -13,17 +14,18 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-import ujson as json
+import simplejson as json
 import logging
 
 from canonicaljson import encode_canonical_json
 from twisted.internet import defer
+from six import iteritems
 
 from synapse.api.errors import (
     SynapseError, CodeMessageException, FederationDeniedError,
 )
 from synapse.types import get_domain_from_id, UserID
-from synapse.util.logcontext import preserve_fn, make_deferred_yieldable
+from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable, run_in_background
 from synapse.util.retryutils import NotRetryingDestination
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -91,7 +93,7 @@ class E2eKeysHandler(object):
         remote_queries_not_in_cache = {}
         if remote_queries:
             query_list = []
-            for user_id, device_ids in remote_queries.iteritems():
+            for user_id, device_ids in iteritems(remote_queries):
                 if device_ids:
                     query_list.extend((user_id, device_id) for device_id in device_ids)
                 else:
@@ -102,9 +104,9 @@ class E2eKeysHandler(object):
                     query_list
                 )
             )
-            for user_id, devices in remote_results.iteritems():
+            for user_id, devices in iteritems(remote_results):
                 user_devices = results.setdefault(user_id, {})
-                for device_id, device in devices.iteritems():
+                for device_id, device in iteritems(devices):
                     keys = device.get("keys", None)
                     device_display_name = device.get("device_display_name", None)
                     if keys:
@@ -134,28 +136,13 @@ class E2eKeysHandler(object):
                     if user_id in destination_query:
                         results[user_id] = keys
 
-            except CodeMessageException as e:
-                failures[destination] = {
-                    "status": e.code, "message": e.message
-                }
-            except NotRetryingDestination as e:
-                failures[destination] = {
-                    "status": 503, "message": "Not ready for retry",
-                }
-            except FederationDeniedError as e:
-                failures[destination] = {
-                    "status": 403, "message": "Federation Denied",
-                }
             except Exception as e:
-                # include ConnectionRefused and other errors
-                failures[destination] = {
-                    "status": 503, "message": e.message
-                }
+                failures[destination] = _exception_to_failure(e)
 
         yield make_deferred_yieldable(defer.gatherResults([
-            preserve_fn(do_remote_query)(destination)
+            run_in_background(do_remote_query, destination)
             for destination in remote_queries_not_in_cache
-        ]))
+        ], consumeErrors=True))
 
         defer.returnValue({
             "device_keys": results, "failures": failures,
@@ -252,32 +239,21 @@ class E2eKeysHandler(object):
                 for user_id, keys in remote_result["one_time_keys"].items():
                     if user_id in device_keys:
                         json_result[user_id] = keys
-            except CodeMessageException as e:
-                failures[destination] = {
-                    "status": e.code, "message": e.message
-                }
-            except NotRetryingDestination as e:
-                failures[destination] = {
-                    "status": 503, "message": "Not ready for retry",
-                }
             except Exception as e:
-                # include ConnectionRefused and other errors
-                failures[destination] = {
-                    "status": 503, "message": e.message
-                }
+                failures[destination] = _exception_to_failure(e)
 
         yield make_deferred_yieldable(defer.gatherResults([
-            preserve_fn(claim_client_keys)(destination)
+            run_in_background(claim_client_keys, destination)
             for destination in remote_queries
-        ]))
+        ], consumeErrors=True))
 
         logger.info(
             "Claimed one-time-keys: %s",
             ",".join((
                 "%s for %s:%s" % (key_id, user_id, device_id)
-                for user_id, user_keys in json_result.iteritems()
-                for device_id, device_keys in user_keys.iteritems()
-                for key_id, _ in device_keys.iteritems()
+                for user_id, user_keys in iteritems(json_result)
+                for device_id, device_keys in iteritems(user_keys)
+                for key_id, _ in iteritems(device_keys)
             )),
         )
 
@@ -362,6 +338,31 @@ class E2eKeysHandler(object):
         )
 
 
+def _exception_to_failure(e):
+    if isinstance(e, CodeMessageException):
+        return {
+            "status": e.code, "message": e.message,
+        }
+
+    if isinstance(e, NotRetryingDestination):
+        return {
+            "status": 503, "message": "Not ready for retry",
+        }
+
+    if isinstance(e, FederationDeniedError):
+        return {
+            "status": 403, "message": "Federation Denied",
+        }
+
+    # include ConnectionRefused and other errors
+    #
+    # Note that some Exceptions (notably twisted's ResponseFailed etc) don't
+    # give a string for e.message, which simplejson then fails to serialize.
+    return {
+        "status": 503, "message": str(e.message),
+    }
+
+
 def _one_time_keys_match(old_key_json, new_key):
     old_key = json.loads(old_key_json)
 
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/events.py b/synapse/handlers/events.py
index d3685fb12a..8bc642675f 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/events.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/events.py
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ class EventStreamHandler(BaseHandler):
 
         self.notifier = hs.get_notifier()
         self.state = hs.get_state_handler()
+        self._server_notices_sender = hs.get_server_notices_sender()
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     @log_function
@@ -58,6 +59,10 @@ class EventStreamHandler(BaseHandler):
 
         If `only_keys` is not None, events from keys will be sent down.
         """
+
+        # send any outstanding server notices to the user.
+        yield self._server_notices_sender.on_user_syncing(auth_user_id)
+
         auth_user = UserID.from_string(auth_user_id)
         presence_handler = self.hs.get_presence_handler()
 
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/federation.py b/synapse/handlers/federation.py
index 080aca3d71..87c0615820 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/federation.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/federation.py
@@ -15,8 +15,17 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 """Contains handlers for federation events."""
+
+import itertools
+import logging
+import sys
+
 from signedjson.key import decode_verify_key_bytes
 from signedjson.sign import verify_signed_json
+import six
+from six.moves import http_client
+from six import iteritems
+from twisted.internet import defer
 from unpaddedbase64 import decode_base64
 
 from ._base import BaseHandler
@@ -43,10 +52,6 @@ from synapse.util.retryutils import NotRetryingDestination
 
 from synapse.util.distributor import user_joined_room
 
-from twisted.internet import defer
-
-import itertools
-import logging
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -77,6 +82,7 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
         self.pusher_pool = hs.get_pusherpool()
         self.spam_checker = hs.get_spam_checker()
         self.event_creation_handler = hs.get_event_creation_handler()
+        self._server_notices_mxid = hs.config.server_notices_mxid
 
         # When joining a room we need to queue any events for that room up
         self.room_queues = {}
@@ -115,6 +121,19 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
             logger.debug("Already seen pdu %s", pdu.event_id)
             return
 
+        # do some initial sanity-checking of the event. In particular, make
+        # sure it doesn't have hundreds of prev_events or auth_events, which
+        # could cause a huge state resolution or cascade of event fetches.
+        try:
+            self._sanity_check_event(pdu)
+        except SynapseError as err:
+            raise FederationError(
+                "ERROR",
+                err.code,
+                err.msg,
+                affected=pdu.event_id,
+            )
+
         # If we are currently in the process of joining this room, then we
         # queue up events for later processing.
         if pdu.room_id in self.room_queues:
@@ -149,10 +168,6 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
 
         auth_chain = []
 
-        have_seen = yield self.store.have_events(
-            [ev for ev, _ in pdu.prev_events]
-        )
-
         fetch_state = False
 
         # Get missing pdus if necessary.
@@ -168,7 +183,7 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
             )
 
             prevs = {e_id for e_id, _ in pdu.prev_events}
-            seen = set(have_seen.keys())
+            seen = yield self.store.have_seen_events(prevs)
 
             if min_depth and pdu.depth < min_depth:
                 # This is so that we don't notify the user about this
@@ -196,8 +211,7 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
 
                         # Update the set of things we've seen after trying to
                         # fetch the missing stuff
-                        have_seen = yield self.store.have_events(prevs)
-                        seen = set(have_seen.iterkeys())
+                        seen = yield self.store.have_seen_events(prevs)
 
                         if not prevs - seen:
                             logger.info(
@@ -248,8 +262,7 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
             min_depth (int): Minimum depth of events to return.
         """
         # We recalculate seen, since it may have changed.
-        have_seen = yield self.store.have_events(prevs)
-        seen = set(have_seen.keys())
+        seen = yield self.store.have_seen_events(prevs)
 
         if not prevs - seen:
             return
@@ -361,9 +374,7 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
             if auth_chain:
                 event_ids |= {e.event_id for e in auth_chain}
 
-            seen_ids = set(
-                (yield self.store.have_events(event_ids)).keys()
-            )
+            seen_ids = yield self.store.have_seen_events(event_ids)
 
             if state and auth_chain is not None:
                 # If we have any state or auth_chain given to us by the replication
@@ -469,18 +480,18 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
         # to get all state ids that we're interested in.
         event_map = yield self.store.get_events([
             e_id
-            for key_to_eid in event_to_state_ids.values()
-            for key, e_id in key_to_eid.items()
+            for key_to_eid in event_to_state_ids.itervalues()
+            for key, e_id in key_to_eid.iteritems()
             if key[0] != EventTypes.Member or check_match(key[1])
         ])
 
         event_to_state = {
             e_id: {
                 key: event_map[inner_e_id]
-                for key, inner_e_id in key_to_eid.items()
+                for key, inner_e_id in key_to_eid.iteritems()
                 if inner_e_id in event_map
             }
-            for e_id, key_to_eid in event_to_state_ids.items()
+            for e_id, key_to_eid in event_to_state_ids.iteritems()
         }
 
         def redact_disallowed(event, state):
@@ -495,7 +506,7 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
                     # membership states for the requesting server to determine
                     # if the server is either in the room or has been invited
                     # into the room.
-                    for ev in state.values():
+                    for ev in state.itervalues():
                         if ev.type != EventTypes.Member:
                             continue
                         try:
@@ -527,9 +538,16 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
     def backfill(self, dest, room_id, limit, extremities):
         """ Trigger a backfill request to `dest` for the given `room_id`
 
-        This will attempt to get more events from the remote. This may return
-        be successfull and still return no events if the other side has no new
-        events to offer.
+        This will attempt to get more events from the remote. If the other side
+        has no new events to offer, this will return an empty list.
+
+        As the events are received, we check their signatures, and also do some
+        sanity-checking on them. If any of the backfilled events are invalid,
+        this method throws a SynapseError.
+
+        TODO: make this more useful to distinguish failures of the remote
+        server from invalid events (there is probably no point in trying to
+        re-fetch invalid events from every other HS in the room.)
         """
         if dest == self.server_name:
             raise SynapseError(400, "Can't backfill from self.")
@@ -541,6 +559,16 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
             extremities=extremities,
         )
 
+        # ideally we'd sanity check the events here for excess prev_events etc,
+        # but it's hard to reject events at this point without completely
+        # breaking backfill in the same way that it is currently broken by
+        # events whose signature we cannot verify (#3121).
+        #
+        # So for now we accept the events anyway. #3124 tracks this.
+        #
+        # for ev in events:
+        #     self._sanity_check_event(ev)
+
         # Don't bother processing events we already have.
         seen_events = yield self.store.have_events_in_timeline(
             set(e.event_id for e in events)
@@ -613,7 +641,8 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
 
                 results = yield logcontext.make_deferred_yieldable(defer.gatherResults(
                     [
-                        logcontext.preserve_fn(self.replication_layer.get_pdu)(
+                        logcontext.run_in_background(
+                            self.replication_layer.get_pdu,
                             [dest],
                             event_id,
                             outlier=True,
@@ -633,7 +662,7 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
 
                 failed_to_fetch = missing_auth - set(auth_events)
 
-        seen_events = yield self.store.have_events(
+        seen_events = yield self.store.have_seen_events(
             set(auth_events.keys()) | set(state_events.keys())
         )
 
@@ -723,9 +752,19 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
         curr_state = yield self.state_handler.get_current_state(room_id)
 
         def get_domains_from_state(state):
+            """Get joined domains from state
+
+            Args:
+                state (dict[tuple, FrozenEvent]): State map from type/state
+                    key to event.
+
+            Returns:
+                list[tuple[str, int]]: Returns a list of servers with the
+                lowest depth of their joins. Sorted by lowest depth first.
+            """
             joined_users = [
                 (state_key, int(event.depth))
-                for (e_type, state_key), event in state.items()
+                for (e_type, state_key), event in state.iteritems()
                 if e_type == EventTypes.Member
                 and event.membership == Membership.JOIN
             ]
@@ -742,7 +781,7 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
                 except Exception:
                     pass
 
-            return sorted(joined_domains.items(), key=lambda d: d[1])
+            return sorted(joined_domains.iteritems(), key=lambda d: d[1])
 
         curr_domains = get_domains_from_state(curr_state)
 
@@ -759,7 +798,7 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
                     yield self.backfill(
                         dom, room_id,
                         limit=100,
-                        extremities=[e for e in extremities.keys()]
+                        extremities=extremities,
                     )
                     # If this succeeded then we probably already have the
                     # appropriate stuff.
@@ -805,7 +844,7 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
         tried_domains = set(likely_domains)
         tried_domains.add(self.server_name)
 
-        event_ids = list(extremities.keys())
+        event_ids = list(extremities.iterkeys())
 
         logger.debug("calling resolve_state_groups in _maybe_backfill")
         resolve = logcontext.preserve_fn(
@@ -815,34 +854,69 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
             [resolve(room_id, [e]) for e in event_ids],
             consumeErrors=True,
         ))
+
+        # dict[str, dict[tuple, str]], a map from event_id to state map of
+        # event_ids.
         states = dict(zip(event_ids, [s.state for s in states]))
 
         state_map = yield self.store.get_events(
-            [e_id for ids in states.values() for e_id in ids],
+            [e_id for ids in states.itervalues() for e_id in ids.itervalues()],
             get_prev_content=False
         )
         states = {
             key: {
                 k: state_map[e_id]
-                for k, e_id in state_dict.items()
+                for k, e_id in state_dict.iteritems()
                 if e_id in state_map
-            } for key, state_dict in states.items()
+            } for key, state_dict in states.iteritems()
         }
 
         for e_id, _ in sorted_extremeties_tuple:
             likely_domains = get_domains_from_state(states[e_id])
 
             success = yield try_backfill([
-                dom for dom in likely_domains
+                dom for dom, _ in likely_domains
                 if dom not in tried_domains
             ])
             if success:
                 defer.returnValue(True)
 
-            tried_domains.update(likely_domains)
+            tried_domains.update(dom for dom, _ in likely_domains)
 
         defer.returnValue(False)
 
+    def _sanity_check_event(self, ev):
+        """
+        Do some early sanity checks of a received event
+
+        In particular, checks it doesn't have an excessive number of
+        prev_events or auth_events, which could cause a huge state resolution
+        or cascade of event fetches.
+
+        Args:
+            ev (synapse.events.EventBase): event to be checked
+
+        Returns: None
+
+        Raises:
+            SynapseError if the event does not pass muster
+        """
+        if len(ev.prev_events) > 20:
+            logger.warn("Rejecting event %s which has %i prev_events",
+                        ev.event_id, len(ev.prev_events))
+            raise SynapseError(
+                http_client.BAD_REQUEST,
+                "Too many prev_events",
+            )
+
+        if len(ev.auth_events) > 10:
+            logger.warn("Rejecting event %s which has %i auth_events",
+                        ev.event_id, len(ev.auth_events))
+            raise SynapseError(
+                http_client.BAD_REQUEST,
+                "Too many auth_events",
+            )
+
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def send_invite(self, target_host, event):
         """ Sends the invite to the remote server for signing.
@@ -967,7 +1041,7 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
             # lots of requests for missing prev_events which we do actually
             # have. Hence we fire off the deferred, but don't wait for it.
 
-            logcontext.preserve_fn(self._handle_queued_pdus)(room_queue)
+            logcontext.run_in_background(self._handle_queued_pdus, room_queue)
 
         defer.returnValue(True)
 
@@ -1121,6 +1195,13 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
         if not self.is_mine_id(event.state_key):
             raise SynapseError(400, "The invite event must be for this server")
 
+        # block any attempts to invite the server notices mxid
+        if event.state_key == self._server_notices_mxid:
+            raise SynapseError(
+                http_client.FORBIDDEN,
+                "Cannot invite this user",
+            )
+
         event.internal_metadata.outlier = True
         event.internal_metadata.invite_from_remote = True
 
@@ -1308,7 +1389,7 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
         )
 
         if state_groups:
-            _, state = state_groups.items().pop()
+            _, state = list(iteritems(state_groups)).pop()
             results = {
                 (e.type, e.state_key): e for e in state
             }
@@ -1457,18 +1538,21 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
                 backfilled=backfilled,
             )
         except:  # noqa: E722, as we reraise the exception this is fine.
-            # Ensure that we actually remove the entries in the push actions
-            # staging area
-            logcontext.preserve_fn(
-                self.store.remove_push_actions_from_staging
-            )(event.event_id)
-            raise
+            tp, value, tb = sys.exc_info()
+
+            logcontext.run_in_background(
+                self.store.remove_push_actions_from_staging,
+                event.event_id,
+            )
+
+            six.reraise(tp, value, tb)
 
         if not backfilled:
             # this intentionally does not yield: we don't care about the result
             # and don't need to wait for it.
-            logcontext.preserve_fn(self.pusher_pool.on_new_notifications)(
-                event_stream_id, max_stream_id
+            logcontext.run_in_background(
+                self.pusher_pool.on_new_notifications,
+                event_stream_id, max_stream_id,
             )
 
         defer.returnValue((context, event_stream_id, max_stream_id))
@@ -1482,7 +1566,8 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
         """
         contexts = yield logcontext.make_deferred_yieldable(defer.gatherResults(
             [
-                logcontext.preserve_fn(self._prep_event)(
+                logcontext.run_in_background(
+                    self._prep_event,
                     origin,
                     ev_info["event"],
                     state=ev_info.get("state"),
@@ -1736,7 +1821,8 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
             event_key = None
 
         if event_auth_events - current_state:
-            have_events = yield self.store.have_events(
+            # TODO: can we use store.have_seen_events here instead?
+            have_events = yield self.store.get_seen_events_with_rejections(
                 event_auth_events - current_state
             )
         else:
@@ -1759,12 +1845,12 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
                     origin, event.room_id, event.event_id
                 )
 
-                seen_remotes = yield self.store.have_events(
+                seen_remotes = yield self.store.have_seen_events(
                     [e.event_id for e in remote_auth_chain]
                 )
 
                 for e in remote_auth_chain:
-                    if e.event_id in seen_remotes.keys():
+                    if e.event_id in seen_remotes:
                         continue
 
                     if e.event_id == event.event_id:
@@ -1791,7 +1877,7 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
                     except AuthError:
                         pass
 
-                have_events = yield self.store.have_events(
+                have_events = yield self.store.get_seen_events_with_rejections(
                     [e_id for e_id, _ in event.auth_events]
                 )
                 seen_events = set(have_events.keys())
@@ -1810,7 +1896,8 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
 
             different_events = yield logcontext.make_deferred_yieldable(
                 defer.gatherResults([
-                    logcontext.preserve_fn(self.store.get_event)(
+                    logcontext.run_in_background(
+                        self.store.get_event,
                         d,
                         allow_none=True,
                         allow_rejected=False,
@@ -1876,13 +1963,13 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
                         local_auth_chain,
                     )
 
-                    seen_remotes = yield self.store.have_events(
+                    seen_remotes = yield self.store.have_seen_events(
                         [e.event_id for e in result["auth_chain"]]
                     )
 
                     # 3. Process any remote auth chain events we haven't seen.
                     for ev in result["auth_chain"]:
-                        if ev.event_id in seen_remotes.keys():
+                        if ev.event_id in seen_remotes:
                             continue
 
                         if ev.event_id == event.event_id:
@@ -1948,7 +2035,7 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
                 this will not be included in the current_state in the context.
         """
         state_updates = {
-            k: a.event_id for k, a in auth_events.iteritems()
+            k: a.event_id for k, a in iteritems(auth_events)
             if k != event_key
         }
         context.current_state_ids = dict(context.current_state_ids)
@@ -1958,7 +2045,7 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
             context.delta_ids.update(state_updates)
         context.prev_state_ids = dict(context.prev_state_ids)
         context.prev_state_ids.update({
-            k: a.event_id for k, a in auth_events.iteritems()
+            k: a.event_id for k, a in iteritems(auth_events)
         })
         context.state_group = yield self.store.store_state_group(
             event.event_id,
@@ -2010,7 +2097,7 @@ class FederationHandler(BaseHandler):
 
         def get_next(it, opt=None):
             try:
-                return it.next()
+                return next(it)
             except Exception:
                 return opt
 
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/groups_local.py b/synapse/handlers/groups_local.py
index e4d0cc8b02..dcae083734 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/groups_local.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/groups_local.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # Copyright 2017 Vector Creations Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -14,6 +15,7 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 from twisted.internet import defer
+from six import iteritems
 
 from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError
 from synapse.types import get_domain_from_id
@@ -90,6 +92,8 @@ class GroupsLocalHandler(object):
     get_group_role = _create_rerouter("get_group_role")
     get_group_roles = _create_rerouter("get_group_roles")
 
+    set_group_join_policy = _create_rerouter("set_group_join_policy")
+
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def get_group_summary(self, group_id, requester_user_id):
         """Get the group summary for a group.
@@ -226,7 +230,45 @@ class GroupsLocalHandler(object):
     def join_group(self, group_id, user_id, content):
         """Request to join a group
         """
-        raise NotImplementedError()  # TODO
+        if self.is_mine_id(group_id):
+            yield self.groups_server_handler.join_group(
+                group_id, user_id, content
+            )
+            local_attestation = None
+            remote_attestation = None
+        else:
+            local_attestation = self.attestations.create_attestation(group_id, user_id)
+            content["attestation"] = local_attestation
+
+            res = yield self.transport_client.join_group(
+                get_domain_from_id(group_id), group_id, user_id, content,
+            )
+
+            remote_attestation = res["attestation"]
+
+            yield self.attestations.verify_attestation(
+                remote_attestation,
+                group_id=group_id,
+                user_id=user_id,
+                server_name=get_domain_from_id(group_id),
+            )
+
+        # TODO: Check that the group is public and we're being added publically
+        is_publicised = content.get("publicise", False)
+
+        token = yield self.store.register_user_group_membership(
+            group_id, user_id,
+            membership="join",
+            is_admin=False,
+            local_attestation=local_attestation,
+            remote_attestation=remote_attestation,
+            is_publicised=is_publicised,
+        )
+        self.notifier.on_new_event(
+            "groups_key", token, users=[user_id],
+        )
+
+        defer.returnValue({})
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def accept_invite(self, group_id, user_id, content):
@@ -408,7 +450,7 @@ class GroupsLocalHandler(object):
 
         results = {}
         failed_results = []
-        for destination, dest_user_ids in destinations.iteritems():
+        for destination, dest_user_ids in iteritems(destinations):
             try:
                 r = yield self.transport_client.bulk_get_publicised_groups(
                     destination, list(dest_user_ids),
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/identity.py b/synapse/handlers/identity.py
index 9efcdff1d6..91a0898860 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/identity.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/identity.py
@@ -15,6 +15,11 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 """Utilities for interacting with Identity Servers"""
+
+import logging
+
+import simplejson as json
+
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
 from synapse.api.errors import (
@@ -24,9 +29,6 @@ from ._base import BaseHandler
 from synapse.util.async import run_on_reactor
 from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError, Codes
 
-import json
-import logging
-
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/initial_sync.py b/synapse/handlers/initial_sync.py
index c5267b4b84..71af86fe21 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/initial_sync.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/initial_sync.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ from synapse.types import (
 from synapse.util import unwrapFirstError
 from synapse.util.async import concurrently_execute
 from synapse.util.caches.snapshot_cache import SnapshotCache
-from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable, preserve_fn
+from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable, run_in_background
 from synapse.visibility import filter_events_for_client
 
 from ._base import BaseHandler
@@ -166,7 +166,8 @@ class InitialSyncHandler(BaseHandler):
                 (messages, token), current_state = yield make_deferred_yieldable(
                     defer.gatherResults(
                         [
-                            preserve_fn(self.store.get_recent_events_for_room)(
+                            run_in_background(
+                                self.store.get_recent_events_for_room,
                                 event.room_id,
                                 limit=limit,
                                 end_token=room_end_token,
@@ -180,8 +181,8 @@ class InitialSyncHandler(BaseHandler):
                     self.store, user_id, messages
                 )
 
-                start_token = now_token.copy_and_replace("room_key", token[0])
-                end_token = now_token.copy_and_replace("room_key", token[1])
+                start_token = now_token.copy_and_replace("room_key", token)
+                end_token = now_token.copy_and_replace("room_key", room_end_token)
                 time_now = self.clock.time_msec()
 
                 d["messages"] = {
@@ -324,8 +325,8 @@ class InitialSyncHandler(BaseHandler):
             self.store, user_id, messages, is_peeking=is_peeking
         )
 
-        start_token = StreamToken.START.copy_and_replace("room_key", token[0])
-        end_token = StreamToken.START.copy_and_replace("room_key", token[1])
+        start_token = StreamToken.START.copy_and_replace("room_key", token)
+        end_token = StreamToken.START.copy_and_replace("room_key", stream_token)
 
         time_now = self.clock.time_msec()
 
@@ -391,9 +392,10 @@ class InitialSyncHandler(BaseHandler):
 
         presence, receipts, (messages, token) = yield defer.gatherResults(
             [
-                preserve_fn(get_presence)(),
-                preserve_fn(get_receipts)(),
-                preserve_fn(self.store.get_recent_events_for_room)(
+                run_in_background(get_presence),
+                run_in_background(get_receipts),
+                run_in_background(
+                    self.store.get_recent_events_for_room,
                     room_id,
                     limit=limit,
                     end_token=now_token.room_key,
@@ -406,8 +408,8 @@ class InitialSyncHandler(BaseHandler):
             self.store, user_id, messages, is_peeking=is_peeking,
         )
 
-        start_token = now_token.copy_and_replace("room_key", token[0])
-        end_token = now_token.copy_and_replace("room_key", token[1])
+        start_token = now_token.copy_and_replace("room_key", token)
+        end_token = now_token
 
         time_now = self.clock.time_msec()
 
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/message.py b/synapse/handlers/message.py
index 4f97c8db79..81cff0870e 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/message.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/message.py
@@ -13,11 +13,23 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
+import logging
+import simplejson
+import sys
+
+from canonicaljson import encode_canonical_json
+import six
+from six import string_types, itervalues, iteritems
 from twisted.internet import defer, reactor
+from twisted.internet.defer import succeed
 from twisted.python.failure import Failure
 
-from synapse.api.constants import EventTypes, Membership
-from synapse.api.errors import AuthError, Codes, SynapseError
+from synapse.api.constants import EventTypes, Membership, MAX_DEPTH
+from synapse.api.errors import (
+    AuthError, Codes, SynapseError,
+    ConsentNotGivenError,
+)
+from synapse.api.urls import ConsentURIBuilder
 from synapse.crypto.event_signing import add_hashes_and_signatures
 from synapse.events.utils import serialize_event
 from synapse.events.validator import EventValidator
@@ -25,21 +37,15 @@ from synapse.types import (
     UserID, RoomAlias, RoomStreamToken,
 )
 from synapse.util.async import run_on_reactor, ReadWriteLock, Limiter
-from synapse.util.logcontext import preserve_fn, run_in_background
+from synapse.util.logcontext import run_in_background
 from synapse.util.metrics import measure_func
-from synapse.util.frozenutils import unfreeze
+from synapse.util.frozenutils import frozendict_json_encoder
 from synapse.util.stringutils import random_string
 from synapse.visibility import filter_events_for_client
 from synapse.replication.http.send_event import send_event_to_master
 
 from ._base import BaseHandler
 
-from canonicaljson import encode_canonical_json
-
-import logging
-import random
-import ujson
-
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
@@ -86,14 +92,14 @@ class MessageHandler(BaseHandler):
         # map from purge id to PurgeStatus
         self._purges_by_id = {}
 
-    def start_purge_history(self, room_id, topological_ordering,
+    def start_purge_history(self, room_id, token,
                             delete_local_events=False):
         """Start off a history purge on a room.
 
         Args:
             room_id (str): The room to purge from
 
-            topological_ordering (int): minimum topo ordering to preserve
+            token (str): topological token to delete events before
             delete_local_events (bool): True to delete local events as well as
                 remote ones
 
@@ -115,19 +121,19 @@ class MessageHandler(BaseHandler):
         self._purges_by_id[purge_id] = PurgeStatus()
         run_in_background(
             self._purge_history,
-            purge_id, room_id, topological_ordering, delete_local_events,
+            purge_id, room_id, token, delete_local_events,
         )
         return purge_id
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def _purge_history(self, purge_id, room_id, topological_ordering,
+    def _purge_history(self, purge_id, room_id, token,
                        delete_local_events):
         """Carry out a history purge on a room.
 
         Args:
             purge_id (str): The id for this purge
             room_id (str): The room to purge from
-            topological_ordering (int): minimum topo ordering to preserve
+            token (str): topological token to delete events before
             delete_local_events (bool): True to delete local events as well as
                 remote ones
 
@@ -138,7 +144,7 @@ class MessageHandler(BaseHandler):
         try:
             with (yield self.pagination_lock.write(room_id)):
                 yield self.store.purge_history(
-                    room_id, topological_ordering, delete_local_events,
+                    room_id, token, delete_local_events,
                 )
             logger.info("[purge] complete")
             self._purges_by_id[purge_id].status = PurgeStatus.STATUS_COMPLETE
@@ -397,7 +403,7 @@ class MessageHandler(BaseHandler):
                 "avatar_url": profile.avatar_url,
                 "display_name": profile.display_name,
             }
-            for user_id, profile in users_with_profile.iteritems()
+            for user_id, profile in iteritems(users_with_profile)
         })
 
 
@@ -431,9 +437,12 @@ class EventCreationHandler(object):
 
         self.spam_checker = hs.get_spam_checker()
 
+        if self.config.block_events_without_consent_error is not None:
+            self._consent_uri_builder = ConsentURIBuilder(self.config)
+
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def create_event(self, requester, event_dict, token_id=None, txn_id=None,
-                     prev_event_ids=None):
+                     prev_events_and_hashes=None):
         """
         Given a dict from a client, create a new event.
 
@@ -447,50 +456,136 @@ class EventCreationHandler(object):
             event_dict (dict): An entire event
             token_id (str)
             txn_id (str)
-            prev_event_ids (list): The prev event ids to use when creating the event
+
+            prev_events_and_hashes (list[(str, dict[str, str], int)]|None):
+                the forward extremities to use as the prev_events for the
+                new event. For each event, a tuple of (event_id, hashes, depth)
+                where *hashes* is a map from algorithm to hash.
+
+                If None, they will be requested from the database.
 
         Returns:
             Tuple of created event (FrozenEvent), Context
         """
         builder = self.event_builder_factory.new(event_dict)
 
-        with (yield self.limiter.queue(builder.room_id)):
-            self.validator.validate_new(builder)
-
-            if builder.type == EventTypes.Member:
-                membership = builder.content.get("membership", None)
-                target = UserID.from_string(builder.state_key)
-
-                if membership in {Membership.JOIN, Membership.INVITE}:
-                    # If event doesn't include a display name, add one.
-                    profile = self.profile_handler
-                    content = builder.content
-
-                    try:
-                        if "displayname" not in content:
-                            content["displayname"] = yield profile.get_displayname(target)
-                        if "avatar_url" not in content:
-                            content["avatar_url"] = yield profile.get_avatar_url(target)
-                    except Exception as e:
-                        logger.info(
-                            "Failed to get profile information for %r: %s",
-                            target, e
-                        )
+        self.validator.validate_new(builder)
+
+        if builder.type == EventTypes.Member:
+            membership = builder.content.get("membership", None)
+            target = UserID.from_string(builder.state_key)
+
+            if membership in {Membership.JOIN, Membership.INVITE}:
+                # If event doesn't include a display name, add one.
+                profile = self.profile_handler
+                content = builder.content
+
+                try:
+                    if "displayname" not in content:
+                        content["displayname"] = yield profile.get_displayname(target)
+                    if "avatar_url" not in content:
+                        content["avatar_url"] = yield profile.get_avatar_url(target)
+                except Exception as e:
+                    logger.info(
+                        "Failed to get profile information for %r: %s",
+                        target, e
+                    )
 
-            if token_id is not None:
-                builder.internal_metadata.token_id = token_id
+        is_exempt = yield self._is_exempt_from_privacy_policy(builder)
+        if not is_exempt:
+            yield self.assert_accepted_privacy_policy(requester)
 
-            if txn_id is not None:
-                builder.internal_metadata.txn_id = txn_id
+        if token_id is not None:
+            builder.internal_metadata.token_id = token_id
 
-            event, context = yield self.create_new_client_event(
-                builder=builder,
-                requester=requester,
-                prev_event_ids=prev_event_ids,
-            )
+        if txn_id is not None:
+            builder.internal_metadata.txn_id = txn_id
+
+        event, context = yield self.create_new_client_event(
+            builder=builder,
+            requester=requester,
+            prev_events_and_hashes=prev_events_and_hashes,
+        )
 
         defer.returnValue((event, context))
 
+    def _is_exempt_from_privacy_policy(self, builder):
+        """"Determine if an event to be sent is exempt from having to consent
+        to the privacy policy
+
+        Args:
+            builder (synapse.events.builder.EventBuilder): event being created
+
+        Returns:
+            Deferred[bool]: true if the event can be sent without the user
+                consenting
+        """
+        # the only thing the user can do is join the server notices room.
+        if builder.type == EventTypes.Member:
+            membership = builder.content.get("membership", None)
+            if membership == Membership.JOIN:
+                return self._is_server_notices_room(builder.room_id)
+        return succeed(False)
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def _is_server_notices_room(self, room_id):
+        if self.config.server_notices_mxid is None:
+            defer.returnValue(False)
+        user_ids = yield self.store.get_users_in_room(room_id)
+        defer.returnValue(self.config.server_notices_mxid in user_ids)
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def assert_accepted_privacy_policy(self, requester):
+        """Check if a user has accepted the privacy policy
+
+        Called when the given user is about to do something that requires
+        privacy consent. We see if the user is exempt and otherwise check that
+        they have given consent. If they have not, a ConsentNotGiven error is
+        raised.
+
+        Args:
+            requester (synapse.types.Requester):
+                The user making the request
+
+        Returns:
+            Deferred[None]: returns normally if the user has consented or is
+                exempt
+
+        Raises:
+            ConsentNotGivenError: if the user has not given consent yet
+        """
+        if self.config.block_events_without_consent_error is None:
+            return
+
+        # exempt AS users from needing consent
+        if requester.app_service is not None:
+            return
+
+        user_id = requester.user.to_string()
+
+        # exempt the system notices user
+        if (
+            self.config.server_notices_mxid is not None and
+            user_id == self.config.server_notices_mxid
+        ):
+            return
+
+        u = yield self.store.get_user_by_id(user_id)
+        assert u is not None
+        if u["consent_version"] == self.config.user_consent_version:
+            return
+
+        consent_uri = self._consent_uri_builder.build_user_consent_uri(
+            requester.user.localpart,
+        )
+        msg = self.config.block_events_without_consent_error % {
+            'consent_uri': consent_uri,
+        }
+        raise ConsentNotGivenError(
+            msg=msg,
+            consent_uri=consent_uri,
+        )
+
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def send_nonmember_event(self, requester, event, context, ratelimit=True):
         """
@@ -557,64 +652,80 @@ class EventCreationHandler(object):
 
         See self.create_event and self.send_nonmember_event.
         """
-        event, context = yield self.create_event(
-            requester,
-            event_dict,
-            token_id=requester.access_token_id,
-            txn_id=txn_id
-        )
 
-        spam_error = self.spam_checker.check_event_for_spam(event)
-        if spam_error:
-            if not isinstance(spam_error, basestring):
-                spam_error = "Spam is not permitted here"
-            raise SynapseError(
-                403, spam_error, Codes.FORBIDDEN
+        # We limit the number of concurrent event sends in a room so that we
+        # don't fork the DAG too much. If we don't limit then we can end up in
+        # a situation where event persistence can't keep up, causing
+        # extremities to pile up, which in turn leads to state resolution
+        # taking longer.
+        with (yield self.limiter.queue(event_dict["room_id"])):
+            event, context = yield self.create_event(
+                requester,
+                event_dict,
+                token_id=requester.access_token_id,
+                txn_id=txn_id
             )
 
-        yield self.send_nonmember_event(
-            requester,
-            event,
-            context,
-            ratelimit=ratelimit,
-        )
+            spam_error = self.spam_checker.check_event_for_spam(event)
+            if spam_error:
+                if not isinstance(spam_error, string_types):
+                    spam_error = "Spam is not permitted here"
+                raise SynapseError(
+                    403, spam_error, Codes.FORBIDDEN
+                )
+
+            yield self.send_nonmember_event(
+                requester,
+                event,
+                context,
+                ratelimit=ratelimit,
+            )
         defer.returnValue(event)
 
     @measure_func("create_new_client_event")
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def create_new_client_event(self, builder, requester=None, prev_event_ids=None):
-        if prev_event_ids:
-            prev_events = yield self.store.add_event_hashes(prev_event_ids)
-            prev_max_depth = yield self.store.get_max_depth_of_events(prev_event_ids)
-            depth = prev_max_depth + 1
-        else:
-            latest_ret = yield self.store.get_latest_event_ids_and_hashes_in_room(
-                builder.room_id,
-            )
+    def create_new_client_event(self, builder, requester=None,
+                                prev_events_and_hashes=None):
+        """Create a new event for a local client
 
-            # We want to limit the max number of prev events we point to in our
-            # new event
-            if len(latest_ret) > 10:
-                # Sort by reverse depth, so we point to the most recent.
-                latest_ret.sort(key=lambda a: -a[2])
-                new_latest_ret = latest_ret[:5]
-
-                # We also randomly point to some of the older events, to make
-                # sure that we don't completely ignore the older events.
-                if latest_ret[5:]:
-                    sample_size = min(5, len(latest_ret[5:]))
-                    new_latest_ret.extend(random.sample(latest_ret[5:], sample_size))
-                latest_ret = new_latest_ret
-
-            if latest_ret:
-                depth = max([d for _, _, d in latest_ret]) + 1
-            else:
-                depth = 1
+        Args:
+            builder (EventBuilder):
+
+            requester (synapse.types.Requester|None):
+
+            prev_events_and_hashes (list[(str, dict[str, str], int)]|None):
+                the forward extremities to use as the prev_events for the
+                new event. For each event, a tuple of (event_id, hashes, depth)
+                where *hashes* is a map from algorithm to hash.
 
-            prev_events = [
-                (event_id, prev_hashes)
-                for event_id, prev_hashes, _ in latest_ret
-            ]
+                If None, they will be requested from the database.
+
+        Returns:
+            Deferred[(synapse.events.EventBase, synapse.events.snapshot.EventContext)]
+        """
+
+        if prev_events_and_hashes is not None:
+            assert len(prev_events_and_hashes) <= 10, \
+                "Attempting to create an event with %i prev_events" % (
+                    len(prev_events_and_hashes),
+            )
+        else:
+            prev_events_and_hashes = \
+                yield self.store.get_prev_events_for_room(builder.room_id)
+
+        if prev_events_and_hashes:
+            depth = max([d for _, _, d in prev_events_and_hashes]) + 1
+            # we cap depth of generated events, to ensure that they are not
+            # rejected by other servers (and so that they can be persisted in
+            # the db)
+            depth = min(depth, MAX_DEPTH)
+        else:
+            depth = 1
+
+        prev_events = [
+            (event_id, prev_hashes)
+            for event_id, prev_hashes, _ in prev_events_and_hashes
+        ]
 
         builder.prev_events = prev_events
         builder.depth = depth
@@ -678,8 +789,8 @@ class EventCreationHandler(object):
 
         # Ensure that we can round trip before trying to persist in db
         try:
-            dump = ujson.dumps(unfreeze(event.content))
-            ujson.loads(dump)
+            dump = frozendict_json_encoder.encode(event.content)
+            simplejson.loads(dump)
         except Exception:
             logger.exception("Failed to encode content: %r", event.content)
             raise
@@ -713,8 +824,14 @@ class EventCreationHandler(object):
         except:  # noqa: E722, as we reraise the exception this is fine.
             # Ensure that we actually remove the entries in the push actions
             # staging area, if we calculated them.
-            preserve_fn(self.store.remove_push_actions_from_staging)(event.event_id)
-            raise
+            tp, value, tb = sys.exc_info()
+
+            run_in_background(
+                self.store.remove_push_actions_from_staging,
+                event.event_id,
+            )
+
+            six.reraise(tp, value, tb)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def persist_and_notify_client_event(
@@ -765,7 +882,7 @@ class EventCreationHandler(object):
 
                 state_to_include_ids = [
                     e_id
-                    for k, e_id in context.current_state_ids.iteritems()
+                    for k, e_id in iteritems(context.current_state_ids)
                     if k[0] in self.hs.config.room_invite_state_types
                     or k == (EventTypes.Member, event.sender)
                 ]
@@ -779,7 +896,7 @@ class EventCreationHandler(object):
                         "content": e.content,
                         "sender": e.sender,
                     }
-                    for e in state_to_include.itervalues()
+                    for e in itervalues(state_to_include)
                 ]
 
                 invitee = UserID.from_string(event.state_key)
@@ -834,22 +951,33 @@ class EventCreationHandler(object):
 
         # this intentionally does not yield: we don't care about the result
         # and don't need to wait for it.
-        preserve_fn(self.pusher_pool.on_new_notifications)(
+        run_in_background(
+            self.pusher_pool.on_new_notifications,
             event_stream_id, max_stream_id
         )
 
         @defer.inlineCallbacks
         def _notify():
             yield run_on_reactor()
-            self.notifier.on_new_room_event(
-                event, event_stream_id, max_stream_id,
-                extra_users=extra_users
-            )
+            try:
+                self.notifier.on_new_room_event(
+                    event, event_stream_id, max_stream_id,
+                    extra_users=extra_users
+                )
+            except Exception:
+                logger.exception("Error notifying about new room event")
 
-        preserve_fn(_notify)()
+        run_in_background(_notify)
 
         if event.type == EventTypes.Message:
-            presence = self.hs.get_presence_handler()
             # We don't want to block sending messages on any presence code. This
             # matters as sometimes presence code can take a while.
-            preserve_fn(presence.bump_presence_active_time)(requester.user)
+            run_in_background(self._bump_active_time, requester.user)
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def _bump_active_time(self, user):
+        try:
+            presence = self.hs.get_presence_handler()
+            yield presence.bump_presence_active_time(user)
+        except Exception:
+            logger.exception("Error bumping presence active time")
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/presence.py b/synapse/handlers/presence.py
index a5e501897c..26fc0d3ec7 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/presence.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/presence.py
@@ -25,38 +25,42 @@ The methods that define policy are:
 from twisted.internet import defer, reactor
 from contextlib import contextmanager
 
+from six import itervalues, iteritems
+
 from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError
 from synapse.api.constants import PresenceState
 from synapse.storage.presence import UserPresenceState
 
 from synapse.util.caches.descriptors import cachedInlineCallbacks
 from synapse.util.async import Linearizer
-from synapse.util.logcontext import preserve_fn
+from synapse.util.logcontext import run_in_background
 from synapse.util.logutils import log_function
 from synapse.util.metrics import Measure
 from synapse.util.wheel_timer import WheelTimer
 from synapse.types import UserID, get_domain_from_id
-import synapse.metrics
+from synapse.metrics import LaterGauge
 
 import logging
 
+from prometheus_client import Counter
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-metrics = synapse.metrics.get_metrics_for(__name__)
 
-notified_presence_counter = metrics.register_counter("notified_presence")
-federation_presence_out_counter = metrics.register_counter("federation_presence_out")
-presence_updates_counter = metrics.register_counter("presence_updates")
-timers_fired_counter = metrics.register_counter("timers_fired")
-federation_presence_counter = metrics.register_counter("federation_presence")
-bump_active_time_counter = metrics.register_counter("bump_active_time")
+notified_presence_counter = Counter("synapse_handler_presence_notified_presence", "")
+federation_presence_out_counter = Counter(
+    "synapse_handler_presence_federation_presence_out", "")
+presence_updates_counter = Counter("synapse_handler_presence_presence_updates", "")
+timers_fired_counter = Counter("synapse_handler_presence_timers_fired", "")
+federation_presence_counter = Counter("synapse_handler_presence_federation_presence", "")
+bump_active_time_counter = Counter("synapse_handler_presence_bump_active_time", "")
 
-get_updates_counter = metrics.register_counter("get_updates", labels=["type"])
+get_updates_counter = Counter("synapse_handler_presence_get_updates", "", ["type"])
 
-notify_reason_counter = metrics.register_counter("notify_reason", labels=["reason"])
-state_transition_counter = metrics.register_counter(
-    "state_transition", labels=["from", "to"]
+notify_reason_counter = Counter(
+    "synapse_handler_presence_notify_reason", "", ["reason"])
+state_transition_counter = Counter(
+    "synapse_handler_presence_state_transition", "", ["from", "to"]
 )
 
 
@@ -87,6 +91,11 @@ assert LAST_ACTIVE_GRANULARITY < IDLE_TIMER
 class PresenceHandler(object):
 
     def __init__(self, hs):
+        """
+
+        Args:
+            hs (synapse.server.HomeServer):
+        """
         self.is_mine = hs.is_mine
         self.is_mine_id = hs.is_mine_id
         self.clock = hs.get_clock()
@@ -94,7 +103,6 @@ class PresenceHandler(object):
         self.wheel_timer = WheelTimer()
         self.notifier = hs.get_notifier()
         self.federation = hs.get_federation_sender()
-
         self.state = hs.get_state_handler()
 
         federation_registry = hs.get_federation_registry()
@@ -137,8 +145,9 @@ class PresenceHandler(object):
             for state in active_presence
         }
 
-        metrics.register_callback(
-            "user_to_current_state_size", lambda: len(self.user_to_current_state)
+        LaterGauge(
+            "synapse_handlers_presence_user_to_current_state_size", "", [],
+            lambda: len(self.user_to_current_state)
         )
 
         now = self.clock.time_msec()
@@ -208,7 +217,8 @@ class PresenceHandler(object):
             60 * 1000,
         )
 
-        metrics.register_callback("wheel_timer_size", lambda: len(self.wheel_timer))
+        LaterGauge("synapse_handlers_presence_wheel_timer_size", "", [],
+                   lambda: len(self.wheel_timer))
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _on_shutdown(self):
@@ -255,6 +265,14 @@ class PresenceHandler(object):
         logger.info("Finished _persist_unpersisted_changes")
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def _update_states_and_catch_exception(self, new_states):
+        try:
+            res = yield self._update_states(new_states)
+            defer.returnValue(res)
+        except Exception:
+            logger.exception("Error updating presence")
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _update_states(self, new_states):
         """Updates presence of users. Sets the appropriate timeouts. Pokes
         the notifier and federation if and only if the changed presence state
@@ -303,10 +321,10 @@ class PresenceHandler(object):
 
             # TODO: We should probably ensure there are no races hereafter
 
-            presence_updates_counter.inc_by(len(new_states))
+            presence_updates_counter.inc(len(new_states))
 
             if to_notify:
-                notified_presence_counter.inc_by(len(to_notify))
+                notified_presence_counter.inc(len(to_notify))
                 yield self._persist_and_notify(to_notify.values())
 
             self.unpersisted_users_changes |= set(s.user_id for s in new_states)
@@ -317,7 +335,7 @@ class PresenceHandler(object):
                 if user_id not in to_notify
             }
             if to_federation_ping:
-                federation_presence_out_counter.inc_by(len(to_federation_ping))
+                federation_presence_out_counter.inc(len(to_federation_ping))
 
                 self._push_to_remotes(to_federation_ping.values())
 
@@ -355,7 +373,7 @@ class PresenceHandler(object):
                     for user_id in users_to_check
                 ]
 
-                timers_fired_counter.inc_by(len(states))
+                timers_fired_counter.inc(len(states))
 
                 changes = handle_timeouts(
                     states,
@@ -364,7 +382,7 @@ class PresenceHandler(object):
                     now=now,
                 )
 
-            preserve_fn(self._update_states)(changes)
+            run_in_background(self._update_states_and_catch_exception, changes)
         except Exception:
             logger.exception("Exception in _handle_timeouts loop")
 
@@ -422,20 +440,23 @@ class PresenceHandler(object):
 
         @defer.inlineCallbacks
         def _end():
-            if affect_presence:
+            try:
                 self.user_to_num_current_syncs[user_id] -= 1
 
                 prev_state = yield self.current_state_for_user(user_id)
                 yield self._update_states([prev_state.copy_and_replace(
                     last_user_sync_ts=self.clock.time_msec(),
                 )])
+            except Exception:
+                logger.exception("Error updating presence after sync")
 
         @contextmanager
         def _user_syncing():
             try:
                 yield
             finally:
-                preserve_fn(_end)()
+                if affect_presence:
+                    run_in_background(_end)
 
         defer.returnValue(_user_syncing())
 
@@ -453,61 +474,6 @@ class PresenceHandler(object):
         return syncing_user_ids
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def update_external_syncs(self, process_id, syncing_user_ids):
-        """Update the syncing users for an external process
-
-        Args:
-            process_id(str): An identifier for the process the users are
-                syncing against. This allows synapse to process updates
-                as user start and stop syncing against a given process.
-            syncing_user_ids(set(str)): The set of user_ids that are
-                currently syncing on that server.
-        """
-
-        # Grab the previous list of user_ids that were syncing on that process
-        prev_syncing_user_ids = (
-            self.external_process_to_current_syncs.get(process_id, set())
-        )
-        # Grab the current presence state for both the users that are syncing
-        # now and the users that were syncing before this update.
-        prev_states = yield self.current_state_for_users(
-            syncing_user_ids | prev_syncing_user_ids
-        )
-        updates = []
-        time_now_ms = self.clock.time_msec()
-
-        # For each new user that is syncing check if we need to mark them as
-        # being online.
-        for new_user_id in syncing_user_ids - prev_syncing_user_ids:
-            prev_state = prev_states[new_user_id]
-            if prev_state.state == PresenceState.OFFLINE:
-                updates.append(prev_state.copy_and_replace(
-                    state=PresenceState.ONLINE,
-                    last_active_ts=time_now_ms,
-                    last_user_sync_ts=time_now_ms,
-                ))
-            else:
-                updates.append(prev_state.copy_and_replace(
-                    last_user_sync_ts=time_now_ms,
-                ))
-
-        # For each user that is still syncing or stopped syncing update the
-        # last sync time so that we will correctly apply the grace period when
-        # they stop syncing.
-        for old_user_id in prev_syncing_user_ids:
-            prev_state = prev_states[old_user_id]
-            updates.append(prev_state.copy_and_replace(
-                last_user_sync_ts=time_now_ms,
-            ))
-
-        yield self._update_states(updates)
-
-        # Update the last updated time for the process. We expire the entries
-        # if we don't receive an update in the given timeframe.
-        self.external_process_last_updated_ms[process_id] = self.clock.time_msec()
-        self.external_process_to_current_syncs[process_id] = syncing_user_ids
-
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def update_external_syncs_row(self, process_id, user_id, is_syncing, sync_time_msec):
         """Update the syncing users for an external process as a delta.
 
@@ -570,7 +536,7 @@ class PresenceHandler(object):
                 prev_state.copy_and_replace(
                     last_user_sync_ts=time_now_ms,
                 )
-                for prev_state in prev_states.itervalues()
+                for prev_state in itervalues(prev_states)
             ])
             self.external_process_last_updated_ms.pop(process_id, None)
 
@@ -593,14 +559,14 @@ class PresenceHandler(object):
             for user_id in user_ids
         }
 
-        missing = [user_id for user_id, state in states.iteritems() if not state]
+        missing = [user_id for user_id, state in iteritems(states) if not state]
         if missing:
             # There are things not in our in memory cache. Lets pull them out of
             # the database.
             res = yield self.store.get_presence_for_users(missing)
             states.update(res)
 
-            missing = [user_id for user_id, state in states.iteritems() if not state]
+            missing = [user_id for user_id, state in iteritems(states) if not state]
             if missing:
                 new = {
                     user_id: UserPresenceState.default(user_id)
@@ -696,7 +662,7 @@ class PresenceHandler(object):
             updates.append(prev_state.copy_and_replace(**new_fields))
 
         if updates:
-            federation_presence_counter.inc_by(len(updates))
+            federation_presence_counter.inc(len(updates))
             yield self._update_states(updates)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
@@ -971,28 +937,28 @@ def should_notify(old_state, new_state):
         return False
 
     if old_state.status_msg != new_state.status_msg:
-        notify_reason_counter.inc("status_msg_change")
+        notify_reason_counter.labels("status_msg_change").inc()
         return True
 
     if old_state.state != new_state.state:
-        notify_reason_counter.inc("state_change")
-        state_transition_counter.inc(old_state.state, new_state.state)
+        notify_reason_counter.labels("state_change").inc()
+        state_transition_counter.labels(old_state.state, new_state.state).inc()
         return True
 
     if old_state.state == PresenceState.ONLINE:
         if new_state.currently_active != old_state.currently_active:
-            notify_reason_counter.inc("current_active_change")
+            notify_reason_counter.labels("current_active_change").inc()
             return True
 
         if new_state.last_active_ts - old_state.last_active_ts > LAST_ACTIVE_GRANULARITY:
             # Only notify about last active bumps if we're not currently acive
             if not new_state.currently_active:
-                notify_reason_counter.inc("last_active_change_online")
+                notify_reason_counter.labels("last_active_change_online").inc()
                 return True
 
     elif new_state.last_active_ts - old_state.last_active_ts > LAST_ACTIVE_GRANULARITY:
         # Always notify for a transition where last active gets bumped.
-        notify_reason_counter.inc("last_active_change_not_online")
+        notify_reason_counter.labels("last_active_change_not_online").inc()
         return True
 
     return False
@@ -1066,14 +1032,14 @@ class PresenceEventSource(object):
             if changed is not None and len(changed) < 500:
                 # For small deltas, its quicker to get all changes and then
                 # work out if we share a room or they're in our presence list
-                get_updates_counter.inc("stream")
+                get_updates_counter.labels("stream").inc()
                 for other_user_id in changed:
                     if other_user_id in users_interested_in:
                         user_ids_changed.add(other_user_id)
             else:
                 # Too many possible updates. Find all users we can see and check
                 # if any of them have changed.
-                get_updates_counter.inc("full")
+                get_updates_counter.labels("full").inc()
 
                 if from_key:
                     user_ids_changed = stream_change_cache.get_entities_changed(
@@ -1088,7 +1054,7 @@ class PresenceEventSource(object):
             defer.returnValue((updates.values(), max_token))
         else:
             defer.returnValue(([
-                s for s in updates.itervalues()
+                s for s in itervalues(updates)
                 if s.state != PresenceState.OFFLINE
             ], max_token))
 
@@ -1345,11 +1311,11 @@ def get_interested_remotes(store, states, state_handler):
     # hosts in those rooms.
     room_ids_to_states, users_to_states = yield get_interested_parties(store, states)
 
-    for room_id, states in room_ids_to_states.iteritems():
+    for room_id, states in iteritems(room_ids_to_states):
         hosts = yield state_handler.get_current_hosts_in_room(room_id)
         hosts_and_states.append((hosts, states))
 
-    for user_id, states in users_to_states.iteritems():
+    for user_id, states in iteritems(users_to_states):
         host = get_domain_from_id(user_id)
         hosts_and_states.append(([host], states))
 
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/receipts.py b/synapse/handlers/receipts.py
index 3f215c2b4e..2e0672161c 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/receipts.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/receipts.py
@@ -135,37 +135,40 @@ class ReceiptsHandler(BaseHandler):
         """Given a list of receipts, works out which remote servers should be
         poked and pokes them.
         """
-        # TODO: Some of this stuff should be coallesced.
-        for receipt in receipts:
-            room_id = receipt["room_id"]
-            receipt_type = receipt["receipt_type"]
-            user_id = receipt["user_id"]
-            event_ids = receipt["event_ids"]
-            data = receipt["data"]
-
-            users = yield self.state.get_current_user_in_room(room_id)
-            remotedomains = set(get_domain_from_id(u) for u in users)
-            remotedomains = remotedomains.copy()
-            remotedomains.discard(self.server_name)
-
-            logger.debug("Sending receipt to: %r", remotedomains)
-
-            for domain in remotedomains:
-                self.federation.send_edu(
-                    destination=domain,
-                    edu_type="m.receipt",
-                    content={
-                        room_id: {
-                            receipt_type: {
-                                user_id: {
-                                    "event_ids": event_ids,
-                                    "data": data,
+        try:
+            # TODO: Some of this stuff should be coallesced.
+            for receipt in receipts:
+                room_id = receipt["room_id"]
+                receipt_type = receipt["receipt_type"]
+                user_id = receipt["user_id"]
+                event_ids = receipt["event_ids"]
+                data = receipt["data"]
+
+                users = yield self.state.get_current_user_in_room(room_id)
+                remotedomains = set(get_domain_from_id(u) for u in users)
+                remotedomains = remotedomains.copy()
+                remotedomains.discard(self.server_name)
+
+                logger.debug("Sending receipt to: %r", remotedomains)
+
+                for domain in remotedomains:
+                    self.federation.send_edu(
+                        destination=domain,
+                        edu_type="m.receipt",
+                        content={
+                            room_id: {
+                                receipt_type: {
+                                    user_id: {
+                                        "event_ids": event_ids,
+                                        "data": data,
+                                    }
                                 }
-                            }
+                            },
                         },
-                    },
-                    key=(room_id, receipt_type, user_id),
-                )
+                        key=(room_id, receipt_type, user_id),
+                    )
+        except Exception:
+            logger.exception("Error pushing receipts to remote servers")
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def get_receipts_for_room(self, room_id, to_key):
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/register.py b/synapse/handlers/register.py
index ed5939880a..7e52adda3c 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/register.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/register.py
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ from synapse.api.errors import (
 )
 from synapse.http.client import CaptchaServerHttpClient
 from synapse import types
-from synapse.types import UserID
-from synapse.util.async import run_on_reactor
+from synapse.types import UserID, create_requester, RoomID, RoomAlias
+from synapse.util.async import run_on_reactor, Linearizer
 from synapse.util.threepids import check_3pid_allowed
 from ._base import BaseHandler
 
@@ -34,6 +34,11 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 class RegistrationHandler(BaseHandler):
 
     def __init__(self, hs):
+        """
+
+        Args:
+            hs (synapse.server.HomeServer):
+        """
         super(RegistrationHandler, self).__init__(hs)
 
         self.auth = hs.get_auth()
@@ -46,6 +51,11 @@ class RegistrationHandler(BaseHandler):
 
         self.macaroon_gen = hs.get_macaroon_generator()
 
+        self._generate_user_id_linearizer = Linearizer(
+            name="_generate_user_id_linearizer",
+        )
+        self._server_notices_mxid = hs.config.server_notices_mxid
+
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def check_username(self, localpart, guest_access_token=None,
                        assigned_user_id=None):
@@ -201,10 +211,17 @@ class RegistrationHandler(BaseHandler):
                     token = None
                     attempts += 1
 
+        # auto-join the user to any rooms we're supposed to dump them into
+        fake_requester = create_requester(user_id)
+        for r in self.hs.config.auto_join_rooms:
+            try:
+                yield self._join_user_to_room(fake_requester, r)
+            except Exception as e:
+                logger.error("Failed to join new user to %r: %r", r, e)
+
         # We used to generate default identicons here, but nowadays
         # we want clients to generate their own as part of their branding
         # rather than there being consistent matrix-wide ones, so we don't.
-
         defer.returnValue((user_id, token))
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
@@ -327,6 +344,14 @@ class RegistrationHandler(BaseHandler):
             yield identity_handler.bind_threepid(c, user_id)
 
     def check_user_id_not_appservice_exclusive(self, user_id, allowed_appservice=None):
+        # don't allow people to register the server notices mxid
+        if self._server_notices_mxid is not None:
+            if user_id == self._server_notices_mxid:
+                raise SynapseError(
+                    400, "This user ID is reserved.",
+                    errcode=Codes.EXCLUSIVE
+                )
+
         # valid user IDs must not clash with any user ID namespaces claimed by
         # application services.
         services = self.store.get_app_services()
@@ -345,9 +370,11 @@ class RegistrationHandler(BaseHandler):
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _generate_user_id(self, reseed=False):
         if reseed or self._next_generated_user_id is None:
-            self._next_generated_user_id = (
-                yield self.store.find_next_generated_user_id_localpart()
-            )
+            with (yield self._generate_user_id_linearizer.queue(())):
+                if reseed or self._next_generated_user_id is None:
+                    self._next_generated_user_id = (
+                        yield self.store.find_next_generated_user_id_localpart()
+                    )
 
         id = self._next_generated_user_id
         self._next_generated_user_id += 1
@@ -477,3 +504,28 @@ class RegistrationHandler(BaseHandler):
         )
 
         defer.returnValue((user_id, access_token))
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def _join_user_to_room(self, requester, room_identifier):
+        room_id = None
+        room_member_handler = self.hs.get_room_member_handler()
+        if RoomID.is_valid(room_identifier):
+            room_id = room_identifier
+        elif RoomAlias.is_valid(room_identifier):
+            room_alias = RoomAlias.from_string(room_identifier)
+            room_id, remote_room_hosts = (
+                yield room_member_handler.lookup_room_alias(room_alias)
+            )
+            room_id = room_id.to_string()
+        else:
+            raise SynapseError(400, "%s was not legal room ID or room alias" % (
+                room_identifier,
+            ))
+
+        yield room_member_handler.update_membership(
+            requester=requester,
+            target=requester.user,
+            room_id=room_id,
+            remote_room_hosts=remote_room_hosts,
+            action="join",
+        )
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/room.py b/synapse/handlers/room.py
index 8df8fcbbad..b5850db42f 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/room.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/room.py
@@ -68,14 +68,27 @@ class RoomCreationHandler(BaseHandler):
         self.event_creation_handler = hs.get_event_creation_handler()
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def create_room(self, requester, config, ratelimit=True):
+    def create_room(self, requester, config, ratelimit=True,
+                    creator_join_profile=None):
         """ Creates a new room.
 
         Args:
-            requester (Requester): The user who requested the room creation.
+            requester (synapse.types.Requester):
+                The user who requested the room creation.
             config (dict) : A dict of configuration options.
+            ratelimit (bool): set to False to disable the rate limiter
+
+            creator_join_profile (dict|None):
+                Set to override the displayname and avatar for the creating
+                user in this room. If unset, displayname and avatar will be
+                derived from the user's profile. If set, should contain the
+                values to go in the body of the 'join' event (typically
+                `avatar_url` and/or `displayname`.
+
         Returns:
-            The new room ID.
+            Deferred[dict]:
+                a dict containing the keys `room_id` and, if an alias was
+                requested, `room_alias`.
         Raises:
             SynapseError if the room ID couldn't be stored, or something went
             horribly wrong.
@@ -113,6 +126,10 @@ class RoomCreationHandler(BaseHandler):
             except Exception:
                 raise SynapseError(400, "Invalid user_id: %s" % (i,))
 
+        yield self.event_creation_handler.assert_accepted_privacy_policy(
+            requester,
+        )
+
         invite_3pid_list = config.get("invite_3pid", [])
 
         visibility = config.get("visibility", None)
@@ -176,7 +193,8 @@ class RoomCreationHandler(BaseHandler):
             initial_state=initial_state,
             creation_content=creation_content,
             room_alias=room_alias,
-            power_level_content_override=config.get("power_level_content_override", {})
+            power_level_content_override=config.get("power_level_content_override", {}),
+            creator_join_profile=creator_join_profile,
         )
 
         if "name" in config:
@@ -256,6 +274,7 @@ class RoomCreationHandler(BaseHandler):
             creation_content,
             room_alias,
             power_level_content_override,
+            creator_join_profile,
     ):
         def create(etype, content, **kwargs):
             e = {
@@ -299,6 +318,7 @@ class RoomCreationHandler(BaseHandler):
             room_id,
             "join",
             ratelimit=False,
+            content=creator_join_profile,
         )
 
         # We treat the power levels override specially as this needs to be one
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/room_list.py b/synapse/handlers/room_list.py
index 5d81f59b44..5757bb7f8a 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/room_list.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/room_list.py
@@ -15,12 +15,13 @@
 
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
+from six.moves import range
+
 from ._base import BaseHandler
 
 from synapse.api.constants import (
     EventTypes, JoinRules,
 )
-from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable, preserve_fn
 from synapse.util.async import concurrently_execute
 from synapse.util.caches.descriptors import cachedInlineCallbacks
 from synapse.util.caches.response_cache import ResponseCache
@@ -44,8 +45,9 @@ EMTPY_THIRD_PARTY_ID = ThirdPartyInstanceID(None, None)
 class RoomListHandler(BaseHandler):
     def __init__(self, hs):
         super(RoomListHandler, self).__init__(hs)
-        self.response_cache = ResponseCache(hs)
-        self.remote_response_cache = ResponseCache(hs, timeout_ms=30 * 1000)
+        self.response_cache = ResponseCache(hs, "room_list")
+        self.remote_response_cache = ResponseCache(hs, "remote_room_list",
+                                                   timeout_ms=30 * 1000)
 
     def get_local_public_room_list(self, limit=None, since_token=None,
                                    search_filter=None,
@@ -77,18 +79,11 @@ class RoomListHandler(BaseHandler):
             )
 
         key = (limit, since_token, network_tuple)
-        result = self.response_cache.get(key)
-        if not result:
-            logger.info("No cached result, calculating one.")
-            result = self.response_cache.set(
-                key,
-                preserve_fn(self._get_public_room_list)(
-                    limit, since_token, network_tuple=network_tuple
-                )
-            )
-        else:
-            logger.info("Using cached deferred result.")
-        return make_deferred_yieldable(result)
+        return self.response_cache.wrap(
+            key,
+            self._get_public_room_list,
+            limit, since_token, network_tuple=network_tuple,
+        )
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _get_public_room_list(self, limit=None, since_token=None,
@@ -207,7 +202,7 @@ class RoomListHandler(BaseHandler):
             step = len(rooms_to_scan) if len(rooms_to_scan) != 0 else 1
 
         chunk = []
-        for i in xrange(0, len(rooms_to_scan), step):
+        for i in range(0, len(rooms_to_scan), step):
             batch = rooms_to_scan[i:i + step]
             logger.info("Processing %i rooms for result", len(batch))
             yield concurrently_execute(
@@ -422,18 +417,14 @@ class RoomListHandler(BaseHandler):
             server_name, limit, since_token, include_all_networks,
             third_party_instance_id,
         )
-        result = self.remote_response_cache.get(key)
-        if not result:
-            result = self.remote_response_cache.set(
-                key,
-                repl_layer.get_public_rooms(
-                    server_name, limit=limit, since_token=since_token,
-                    search_filter=search_filter,
-                    include_all_networks=include_all_networks,
-                    third_party_instance_id=third_party_instance_id,
-                )
-            )
-        return result
+        return self.remote_response_cache.wrap(
+            key,
+            repl_layer.get_public_rooms,
+            server_name, limit=limit, since_token=since_token,
+            search_filter=search_filter,
+            include_all_networks=include_all_networks,
+            third_party_instance_id=third_party_instance_id,
+        )
 
 
 class RoomListNextBatch(namedtuple("RoomListNextBatch", (
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/room_member.py b/synapse/handlers/room_member.py
index 9977be8831..f930e939e8 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/room_member.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/room_member.py
@@ -17,11 +17,14 @@
 import abc
 import logging
 
+from six.moves import http_client
+
 from signedjson.key import decode_verify_key_bytes
 from signedjson.sign import verify_signed_json
 from twisted.internet import defer
 from unpaddedbase64 import decode_base64
 
+import synapse.server
 import synapse.types
 from synapse.api.constants import (
     EventTypes, Membership,
@@ -46,6 +49,11 @@ class RoomMemberHandler(object):
     __metaclass__ = abc.ABCMeta
 
     def __init__(self, hs):
+        """
+
+        Args:
+            hs (synapse.server.HomeServer):
+        """
         self.hs = hs
         self.store = hs.get_datastore()
         self.auth = hs.get_auth()
@@ -63,6 +71,7 @@ class RoomMemberHandler(object):
 
         self.clock = hs.get_clock()
         self.spam_checker = hs.get_spam_checker()
+        self._server_notices_mxid = self.config.server_notices_mxid
 
     @abc.abstractmethod
     def _remote_join(self, requester, remote_room_hosts, room_id, user, content):
@@ -149,7 +158,7 @@ class RoomMemberHandler(object):
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _local_membership_update(
         self, requester, target, room_id, membership,
-        prev_event_ids,
+        prev_events_and_hashes,
         txn_id=None,
         ratelimit=True,
         content=None,
@@ -175,7 +184,7 @@ class RoomMemberHandler(object):
             },
             token_id=requester.access_token_id,
             txn_id=txn_id,
-            prev_event_ids=prev_event_ids,
+            prev_events_and_hashes=prev_events_and_hashes,
         )
 
         # Check if this event matches the previous membership event for the user.
@@ -290,11 +299,26 @@ class RoomMemberHandler(object):
             if is_blocked:
                 raise SynapseError(403, "This room has been blocked on this server")
 
-        if effective_membership_state == "invite":
+        if effective_membership_state == Membership.INVITE:
+            # block any attempts to invite the server notices mxid
+            if target.to_string() == self._server_notices_mxid:
+                raise SynapseError(
+                    http_client.FORBIDDEN,
+                    "Cannot invite this user",
+                )
+
             block_invite = False
-            is_requester_admin = yield self.auth.is_server_admin(
-                requester.user,
-            )
+
+            if (self._server_notices_mxid is not None and
+                    requester.user.to_string() == self._server_notices_mxid):
+                # allow the server notices mxid to send invites
+                is_requester_admin = True
+
+            else:
+                is_requester_admin = yield self.auth.is_server_admin(
+                    requester.user,
+                )
+
             if not is_requester_admin:
                 if self.config.block_non_admin_invites:
                     logger.info(
@@ -314,7 +338,12 @@ class RoomMemberHandler(object):
                     403, "Invites have been disabled on this server",
                 )
 
-        latest_event_ids = yield self.store.get_latest_event_ids_in_room(room_id)
+        prev_events_and_hashes = yield self.store.get_prev_events_for_room(
+            room_id,
+        )
+        latest_event_ids = (
+            event_id for (event_id, _, _) in prev_events_and_hashes
+        )
         current_state_ids = yield self.state_handler.get_current_state_ids(
             room_id, latest_event_ids=latest_event_ids,
         )
@@ -344,6 +373,20 @@ class RoomMemberHandler(object):
                 if same_sender and same_membership and same_content:
                     defer.returnValue(old_state)
 
+            # we don't allow people to reject invites to the server notice
+            # room, but they can leave it once they are joined.
+            if (
+                old_membership == Membership.INVITE and
+                effective_membership_state == Membership.LEAVE
+            ):
+                is_blocked = yield self._is_server_notice_room(room_id)
+                if is_blocked:
+                    raise SynapseError(
+                        http_client.FORBIDDEN,
+                        "You cannot reject this invite",
+                        errcode=Codes.CANNOT_LEAVE_SERVER_NOTICE_ROOM,
+                    )
+
         is_host_in_room = yield self._is_host_in_room(current_state_ids)
 
         if effective_membership_state == Membership.JOIN:
@@ -403,7 +446,7 @@ class RoomMemberHandler(object):
             membership=effective_membership_state,
             txn_id=txn_id,
             ratelimit=ratelimit,
-            prev_event_ids=latest_event_ids,
+            prev_events_and_hashes=prev_events_and_hashes,
             content=content,
         )
         defer.returnValue(res)
@@ -839,6 +882,13 @@ class RoomMemberHandler(object):
 
         defer.returnValue(False)
 
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def _is_server_notice_room(self, room_id):
+        if self._server_notices_mxid is None:
+            defer.returnValue(False)
+        user_ids = yield self.store.get_users_in_room(room_id)
+        defer.returnValue(self._server_notices_mxid in user_ids)
+
 
 class RoomMemberMasterHandler(RoomMemberHandler):
     def __init__(self, hs):
@@ -852,6 +902,14 @@ class RoomMemberMasterHandler(RoomMemberHandler):
     def _remote_join(self, requester, remote_room_hosts, room_id, user, content):
         """Implements RoomMemberHandler._remote_join
         """
+        # filter ourselves out of remote_room_hosts: do_invite_join ignores it
+        # and if it is the only entry we'd like to return a 404 rather than a
+        # 500.
+
+        remote_room_hosts = [
+            host for host in remote_room_hosts if host != self.hs.hostname
+        ]
+
         if len(remote_room_hosts) == 0:
             raise SynapseError(404, "No known servers")
 
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/sync.py b/synapse/handlers/sync.py
index f521d22e91..05bf6d46dd 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/sync.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/sync.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 from synapse.api.constants import Membership, EventTypes
 from synapse.util.async import concurrently_execute
-from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext, make_deferred_yieldable, preserve_fn
+from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext
 from synapse.util.metrics import Measure, measure_func
 from synapse.util.caches.response_cache import ResponseCache
 from synapse.push.clientformat import format_push_rules_for_user
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ import collections
 import logging
 import itertools
 
+from six import itervalues, iteritems
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
@@ -53,6 +55,7 @@ class TimelineBatch(collections.namedtuple("TimelineBatch", [
         to tell if room needs to be part of the sync result.
         """
         return bool(self.events)
+    __bool__ = __nonzero__  # python3
 
 
 class JoinedSyncResult(collections.namedtuple("JoinedSyncResult", [
@@ -77,6 +80,7 @@ class JoinedSyncResult(collections.namedtuple("JoinedSyncResult", [
             # nb the notification count does not, er, count: if there's nothing
             # else in the result, we don't need to send it.
         )
+    __bool__ = __nonzero__  # python3
 
 
 class ArchivedSyncResult(collections.namedtuple("ArchivedSyncResult", [
@@ -96,6 +100,7 @@ class ArchivedSyncResult(collections.namedtuple("ArchivedSyncResult", [
             or self.state
             or self.account_data
         )
+    __bool__ = __nonzero__  # python3
 
 
 class InvitedSyncResult(collections.namedtuple("InvitedSyncResult", [
@@ -107,6 +112,7 @@ class InvitedSyncResult(collections.namedtuple("InvitedSyncResult", [
     def __nonzero__(self):
         """Invited rooms should always be reported to the client"""
         return True
+    __bool__ = __nonzero__  # python3
 
 
 class GroupsSyncResult(collections.namedtuple("GroupsSyncResult", [
@@ -118,6 +124,7 @@ class GroupsSyncResult(collections.namedtuple("GroupsSyncResult", [
 
     def __nonzero__(self):
         return bool(self.join or self.invite or self.leave)
+    __bool__ = __nonzero__  # python3
 
 
 class DeviceLists(collections.namedtuple("DeviceLists", [
@@ -128,6 +135,7 @@ class DeviceLists(collections.namedtuple("DeviceLists", [
 
     def __nonzero__(self):
         return bool(self.changed or self.left)
+    __bool__ = __nonzero__  # python3
 
 
 class SyncResult(collections.namedtuple("SyncResult", [
@@ -160,6 +168,7 @@ class SyncResult(collections.namedtuple("SyncResult", [
             self.device_lists or
             self.groups
         )
+    __bool__ = __nonzero__  # python3
 
 
 class SyncHandler(object):
@@ -170,7 +179,7 @@ class SyncHandler(object):
         self.presence_handler = hs.get_presence_handler()
         self.event_sources = hs.get_event_sources()
         self.clock = hs.get_clock()
-        self.response_cache = ResponseCache(hs)
+        self.response_cache = ResponseCache(hs, "sync")
         self.state = hs.get_state_handler()
 
     def wait_for_sync_for_user(self, sync_config, since_token=None, timeout=0,
@@ -181,15 +190,11 @@ class SyncHandler(object):
         Returns:
             A Deferred SyncResult.
         """
-        result = self.response_cache.get(sync_config.request_key)
-        if not result:
-            result = self.response_cache.set(
-                sync_config.request_key,
-                preserve_fn(self._wait_for_sync_for_user)(
-                    sync_config, since_token, timeout, full_state
-                )
-            )
-        return make_deferred_yieldable(result)
+        return self.response_cache.wrap(
+            sync_config.request_key,
+            self._wait_for_sync_for_user,
+            sync_config, since_token, timeout, full_state,
+        )
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _wait_for_sync_for_user(self, sync_config, since_token, timeout,
@@ -273,7 +278,7 @@ class SyncHandler(object):
                 # result returned by the event source is poor form (it might cache
                 # the object)
                 room_id = event["room_id"]
-                event_copy = {k: v for (k, v) in event.iteritems()
+                event_copy = {k: v for (k, v) in iteritems(event)
                               if k != "room_id"}
                 ephemeral_by_room.setdefault(room_id, []).append(event_copy)
 
@@ -292,7 +297,7 @@ class SyncHandler(object):
             for event in receipts:
                 room_id = event["room_id"]
                 # exclude room id, as above
-                event_copy = {k: v for (k, v) in event.iteritems()
+                event_copy = {k: v for (k, v) in iteritems(event)
                               if k != "room_id"}
                 ephemeral_by_room.setdefault(room_id, []).append(event_copy)
 
@@ -323,7 +328,7 @@ class SyncHandler(object):
                 current_state_ids = frozenset()
                 if any(e.is_state() for e in recents):
                     current_state_ids = yield self.state.get_current_state_ids(room_id)
-                    current_state_ids = frozenset(current_state_ids.itervalues())
+                    current_state_ids = frozenset(itervalues(current_state_ids))
 
                 recents = yield filter_events_for_client(
                     self.store,
@@ -352,12 +357,24 @@ class SyncHandler(object):
                 since_key = since_token.room_key
 
             while limited and len(recents) < timeline_limit and max_repeat:
-                events, end_key = yield self.store.get_room_events_stream_for_room(
-                    room_id,
-                    limit=load_limit + 1,
-                    from_key=since_key,
-                    to_key=end_key,
-                )
+                # If we have a since_key then we are trying to get any events
+                # that have happened since `since_key` up to `end_key`, so we
+                # can just use `get_room_events_stream_for_room`.
+                # Otherwise, we want to return the last N events in the room
+                # in toplogical ordering.
+                if since_key:
+                    events, end_key = yield self.store.get_room_events_stream_for_room(
+                        room_id,
+                        limit=load_limit + 1,
+                        from_key=since_key,
+                        to_key=end_key,
+                    )
+                else:
+                    events, end_key = yield self.store.get_recent_events_for_room(
+                        room_id,
+                        limit=load_limit + 1,
+                        end_token=end_key,
+                    )
                 loaded_recents = sync_config.filter_collection.filter_room_timeline(
                     events
                 )
@@ -368,7 +385,7 @@ class SyncHandler(object):
                 current_state_ids = frozenset()
                 if any(e.is_state() for e in loaded_recents):
                     current_state_ids = yield self.state.get_current_state_ids(room_id)
-                    current_state_ids = frozenset(current_state_ids.itervalues())
+                    current_state_ids = frozenset(itervalues(current_state_ids))
 
                 loaded_recents = yield filter_events_for_client(
                     self.store,
@@ -427,7 +444,7 @@ class SyncHandler(object):
         Returns:
             A Deferred map from ((type, state_key)->Event)
         """
-        last_events, token = yield self.store.get_recent_events_for_room(
+        last_events, _ = yield self.store.get_recent_events_for_room(
             room_id, end_token=stream_position.room_key, limit=1,
         )
 
@@ -1026,7 +1043,7 @@ class SyncHandler(object):
         if since_token:
             for joined_sync in sync_result_builder.joined:
                 it = itertools.chain(
-                    joined_sync.timeline.events, joined_sync.state.itervalues()
+                    joined_sync.timeline.events, itervalues(joined_sync.state)
                 )
                 for event in it:
                     if event.type == EventTypes.Member:
@@ -1104,7 +1121,7 @@ class SyncHandler(object):
         newly_left_rooms = []
         room_entries = []
         invited = []
-        for room_id, events in mem_change_events_by_room_id.iteritems():
+        for room_id, events in iteritems(mem_change_events_by_room_id):
             non_joins = [e for e in events if e.membership != Membership.JOIN]
             has_join = len(non_joins) != len(events)
 
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/typing.py b/synapse/handlers/typing.py
index 77c0cf146f..5d9736e88f 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/typing.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/typing.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
 from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError, AuthError
-from synapse.util.logcontext import preserve_fn
+from synapse.util.logcontext import run_in_background
 from synapse.util.metrics import Measure
 from synapse.util.wheel_timer import WheelTimer
 from synapse.types import UserID, get_domain_from_id
@@ -97,7 +97,8 @@ class TypingHandler(object):
             if self.hs.is_mine_id(member.user_id):
                 last_fed_poke = self._member_last_federation_poke.get(member, None)
                 if not last_fed_poke or last_fed_poke + FEDERATION_PING_INTERVAL <= now:
-                    preserve_fn(self._push_remote)(
+                    run_in_background(
+                        self._push_remote,
                         member=member,
                         typing=True
                     )
@@ -196,7 +197,7 @@ class TypingHandler(object):
     def _push_update(self, member, typing):
         if self.hs.is_mine_id(member.user_id):
             # Only send updates for changes to our own users.
-            preserve_fn(self._push_remote)(member, typing)
+            run_in_background(self._push_remote, member, typing)
 
         self._push_update_local(
             member=member,
@@ -205,28 +206,31 @@ class TypingHandler(object):
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _push_remote(self, member, typing):
-        users = yield self.state.get_current_user_in_room(member.room_id)
-        self._member_last_federation_poke[member] = self.clock.time_msec()
+        try:
+            users = yield self.state.get_current_user_in_room(member.room_id)
+            self._member_last_federation_poke[member] = self.clock.time_msec()
 
-        now = self.clock.time_msec()
-        self.wheel_timer.insert(
-            now=now,
-            obj=member,
-            then=now + FEDERATION_PING_INTERVAL,
-        )
+            now = self.clock.time_msec()
+            self.wheel_timer.insert(
+                now=now,
+                obj=member,
+                then=now + FEDERATION_PING_INTERVAL,
+            )
 
-        for domain in set(get_domain_from_id(u) for u in users):
-            if domain != self.server_name:
-                self.federation.send_edu(
-                    destination=domain,
-                    edu_type="m.typing",
-                    content={
-                        "room_id": member.room_id,
-                        "user_id": member.user_id,
-                        "typing": typing,
-                    },
-                    key=member,
-                )
+            for domain in set(get_domain_from_id(u) for u in users):
+                if domain != self.server_name:
+                    self.federation.send_edu(
+                        destination=domain,
+                        edu_type="m.typing",
+                        content={
+                            "room_id": member.room_id,
+                            "user_id": member.user_id,
+                            "typing": typing,
+                        },
+                        key=member,
+                    )
+        except Exception:
+            logger.exception("Error pushing typing notif to remotes")
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _recv_edu(self, origin, content):
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/user_directory.py b/synapse/handlers/user_directory.py
index 714f0195c8..a39f0f7343 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/user_directory.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/user_directory.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ from synapse.util.metrics import Measure
 from synapse.util.async import sleep
 from synapse.types import get_localpart_from_id
 
+from six import iteritems
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -123,6 +124,13 @@ class UserDirectoryHandler(object):
         )
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def handle_user_deactivated(self, user_id):
+        """Called when a user ID is deactivated
+        """
+        yield self.store.remove_from_user_dir(user_id)
+        yield self.store.remove_from_user_in_public_room(user_id)
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _unsafe_process(self):
         # If self.pos is None then means we haven't fetched it from DB
         if self.pos is None:
@@ -403,7 +411,7 @@ class UserDirectoryHandler(object):
 
         if change:
             users_with_profile = yield self.state.get_current_user_in_room(room_id)
-            for user_id, profile in users_with_profile.iteritems():
+            for user_id, profile in iteritems(users_with_profile):
                 yield self._handle_new_user(room_id, user_id, profile)
         else:
             users = yield self.store.get_users_in_public_due_to_room(room_id)
diff --git a/synapse/http/__init__.py b/synapse/http/__init__.py
index bfebb0f644..054372e179 100644
--- a/synapse/http/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/http/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # Copyright 2014-2016 OpenMarket Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -12,3 +13,24 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
+from twisted.internet.defer import CancelledError
+from twisted.python import failure
+
+from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError
+
+
+class RequestTimedOutError(SynapseError):
+    """Exception representing timeout of an outbound request"""
+    def __init__(self):
+        super(RequestTimedOutError, self).__init__(504, "Timed out")
+
+
+def cancelled_to_request_timed_out_error(value, timeout):
+    """Turns CancelledErrors into RequestTimedOutErrors.
+
+    For use with async.add_timeout_to_deferred
+    """
+    if isinstance(value, failure.Failure):
+        value.trap(CancelledError)
+        raise RequestTimedOutError()
+    return value
diff --git a/synapse/http/additional_resource.py b/synapse/http/additional_resource.py
index 343e932cb1..a797396ade 100644
--- a/synapse/http/additional_resource.py
+++ b/synapse/http/additional_resource.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-from synapse.http.server import wrap_request_handler
+from synapse.http.server import wrap_json_request_handler
 from twisted.web.resource import Resource
 from twisted.web.server import NOT_DONE_YET
 
@@ -42,14 +42,13 @@ class AdditionalResource(Resource):
         Resource.__init__(self)
         self._handler = handler
 
-        # these are required by the request_handler wrapper
-        self.version_string = hs.version_string
+        # required by the request_handler wrapper
         self.clock = hs.get_clock()
 
     def render(self, request):
         self._async_render(request)
         return NOT_DONE_YET
 
-    @wrap_request_handler
+    @wrap_json_request_handler
     def _async_render(self, request):
         return self._handler(request)
diff --git a/synapse/http/client.py b/synapse/http/client.py
index f3e4973c2e..4d4eee3d64 100644
--- a/synapse/http/client.py
+++ b/synapse/http/client.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # Copyright 2014-2016 OpenMarket Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -18,10 +19,10 @@ from OpenSSL.SSL import VERIFY_NONE
 from synapse.api.errors import (
     CodeMessageException, MatrixCodeMessageException, SynapseError, Codes,
 )
+from synapse.http import cancelled_to_request_timed_out_error
+from synapse.util.async import add_timeout_to_deferred
 from synapse.util.caches import CACHE_SIZE_FACTOR
 from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable
-from synapse.util import logcontext
-import synapse.metrics
 from synapse.http.endpoint import SpiderEndpoint
 
 from canonicaljson import encode_canonical_json
@@ -38,8 +39,9 @@ from twisted.web.http import PotentialDataLoss
 from twisted.web.http_headers import Headers
 from twisted.web._newclient import ResponseDone
 
-from StringIO import StringIO
+from six import StringIO
 
+from prometheus_client import Counter
 import simplejson as json
 import logging
 import urllib
@@ -47,16 +49,9 @@ import urllib
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-metrics = synapse.metrics.get_metrics_for(__name__)
-
-outgoing_requests_counter = metrics.register_counter(
-    "requests",
-    labels=["method"],
-)
-incoming_responses_counter = metrics.register_counter(
-    "responses",
-    labels=["method", "code"],
-)
+outgoing_requests_counter = Counter("synapse_http_client_requests", "", ["method"])
+incoming_responses_counter = Counter("synapse_http_client_responses", "",
+                                     ["method", "code"])
 
 
 class SimpleHttpClient(object):
@@ -93,32 +88,28 @@ class SimpleHttpClient(object):
     def request(self, method, uri, *args, **kwargs):
         # A small wrapper around self.agent.request() so we can easily attach
         # counters to it
-        outgoing_requests_counter.inc(method)
+        outgoing_requests_counter.labels(method).inc()
 
-        def send_request():
+        logger.info("Sending request %s %s", method, uri)
+
+        try:
             request_deferred = self.agent.request(
                 method, uri, *args, **kwargs
             )
-
-            return self.clock.time_bound_deferred(
+            add_timeout_to_deferred(
                 request_deferred,
-                time_out=60,
+                60, cancelled_to_request_timed_out_error,
             )
+            response = yield make_deferred_yieldable(request_deferred)
 
-        logger.info("Sending request %s %s", method, uri)
-
-        try:
-            with logcontext.PreserveLoggingContext():
-                response = yield send_request()
-
-            incoming_responses_counter.inc(method, response.code)
+            incoming_responses_counter.labels(method, response.code).inc()
             logger.info(
                 "Received response to  %s %s: %s",
                 method, uri, response.code
             )
             defer.returnValue(response)
         except Exception as e:
-            incoming_responses_counter.inc(method, "ERR")
+            incoming_responses_counter.labels(method, "ERR").inc()
             logger.info(
                 "Error sending request to  %s %s: %s %s",
                 method, uri, type(e).__name__, e.message
@@ -509,7 +500,7 @@ class SpiderHttpClient(SimpleHttpClient):
                     reactor,
                     SpiderEndpointFactory(hs)
                 )
-            ), [('gzip', GzipDecoder)]
+            ), [(b'gzip', GzipDecoder)]
         )
         # We could look like Chrome:
         # self.user_agent = ("Mozilla/5.0 (%s) (KHTML, like Gecko)
diff --git a/synapse/http/endpoint.py b/synapse/http/endpoint.py
index 87639b9151..87a482650d 100644
--- a/synapse/http/endpoint.py
+++ b/synapse/http/endpoint.py
@@ -12,8 +12,6 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
-import socket
-
 from twisted.internet.endpoints import HostnameEndpoint, wrapClientTLS
 from twisted.internet import defer, reactor
 from twisted.internet.error import ConnectError
@@ -33,7 +31,7 @@ SERVER_CACHE = {}
 
 # our record of an individual server which can be tried to reach a destination.
 #
-# "host" is actually a dotted-quad or ipv6 address string. Except when there's
+# "host" is the hostname acquired from the SRV record. Except when there's
 # no SRV record, in which case it is the original hostname.
 _Server = collections.namedtuple(
     "_Server", "priority weight host port expires"
@@ -117,10 +115,15 @@ class _WrappedConnection(object):
         if time.time() - self.last_request >= 2.5 * 60:
             self.abort()
             # Abort the underlying TLS connection. The abort() method calls
-            # loseConnection() on the underlying TLS connection which tries to
+            # loseConnection() on the TLS connection which tries to
             # shutdown the connection cleanly. We call abortConnection()
-            # since that will promptly close the underlying TCP connection.
-            self.transport.abortConnection()
+            # since that will promptly close the TLS connection.
+            #
+            # In Twisted >18.4; the TLS connection will be None if it has closed
+            # which will make abortConnection() throw. Check that the TLS connection
+            # is not None before trying to close it.
+            if self.transport.getHandle() is not None:
+                self.transport.abortConnection()
 
     def request(self, request):
         self.last_request = time.time()
@@ -288,7 +291,7 @@ def resolve_service(service_name, dns_client=client, cache=SERVER_CACHE, clock=t
         if (len(answers) == 1
                 and answers[0].type == dns.SRV
                 and answers[0].payload
-                and answers[0].payload.target == dns.Name('.')):
+                and answers[0].payload.target == dns.Name(b'.')):
             raise ConnectError("Service %s unavailable" % service_name)
 
         for answer in answers:
@@ -297,20 +300,13 @@ def resolve_service(service_name, dns_client=client, cache=SERVER_CACHE, clock=t
 
             payload = answer.payload
 
-            hosts = yield _get_hosts_for_srv_record(
-                dns_client, str(payload.target)
-            )
-
-            for (ip, ttl) in hosts:
-                host_ttl = min(answer.ttl, ttl)
-
-                servers.append(_Server(
-                    host=ip,
-                    port=int(payload.port),
-                    priority=int(payload.priority),
-                    weight=int(payload.weight),
-                    expires=int(clock.time()) + host_ttl,
-                ))
+            servers.append(_Server(
+                host=str(payload.target),
+                port=int(payload.port),
+                priority=int(payload.priority),
+                weight=int(payload.weight),
+                expires=int(clock.time()) + answer.ttl,
+            ))
 
         servers.sort()
         cache[service_name] = list(servers)
@@ -328,81 +324,3 @@ def resolve_service(service_name, dns_client=client, cache=SERVER_CACHE, clock=t
             raise e
 
     defer.returnValue(servers)
-
-
-@defer.inlineCallbacks
-def _get_hosts_for_srv_record(dns_client, host):
-    """Look up each of the hosts in a SRV record
-
-    Args:
-        dns_client (twisted.names.dns.IResolver):
-        host (basestring): host to look up
-
-    Returns:
-        Deferred[list[(str, int)]]: a list of (host, ttl) pairs
-
-    """
-    ip4_servers = []
-    ip6_servers = []
-
-    def cb(res):
-        # lookupAddress and lookupIP6Address return a three-tuple
-        # giving the answer, authority, and additional sections of the
-        # response.
-        #
-        # we only care about the answers.
-
-        return res[0]
-
-    def eb(res, record_type):
-        if res.check(DNSNameError):
-            return []
-        logger.warn("Error looking up %s for %s: %s", record_type, host, res)
-        return res
-
-    # no logcontexts here, so we can safely fire these off and gatherResults
-    d1 = dns_client.lookupAddress(host).addCallbacks(
-        cb, eb, errbackArgs=("A", ))
-    d2 = dns_client.lookupIPV6Address(host).addCallbacks(
-        cb, eb, errbackArgs=("AAAA", ))
-    results = yield defer.DeferredList(
-        [d1, d2], consumeErrors=True)
-
-    # if all of the lookups failed, raise an exception rather than blowing out
-    # the cache with an empty result.
-    if results and all(s == defer.FAILURE for (s, _) in results):
-        defer.returnValue(results[0][1])
-
-    for (success, result) in results:
-        if success == defer.FAILURE:
-            continue
-
-        for answer in result:
-            if not answer.payload:
-                continue
-
-            try:
-                if answer.type == dns.A:
-                    ip = answer.payload.dottedQuad()
-                    ip4_servers.append((ip, answer.ttl))
-                elif answer.type == dns.AAAA:
-                    ip = socket.inet_ntop(
-                        socket.AF_INET6, answer.payload.address,
-                    )
-                    ip6_servers.append((ip, answer.ttl))
-                else:
-                    # the most likely candidate here is a CNAME record.
-                    # rfc2782 says srvs may not point to aliases.
-                    logger.warn(
-                        "Ignoring unexpected DNS record type %s for %s",
-                        answer.type, host,
-                    )
-                    continue
-            except Exception as e:
-                logger.warn("Ignoring invalid DNS response for %s: %s",
-                            host, e)
-                continue
-
-    # keep the ipv4 results before the ipv6 results, mostly to match historical
-    # behaviour.
-    defer.returnValue(ip4_servers + ip6_servers)
diff --git a/synapse/http/matrixfederationclient.py b/synapse/http/matrixfederationclient.py
index 9145405cb0..821aed362b 100644
--- a/synapse/http/matrixfederationclient.py
+++ b/synapse/http/matrixfederationclient.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # Copyright 2014-2016 OpenMarket Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -12,17 +13,19 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
-import synapse.util.retryutils
 from twisted.internet import defer, reactor, protocol
 from twisted.internet.error import DNSLookupError
 from twisted.web.client import readBody, HTTPConnectionPool, Agent
 from twisted.web.http_headers import Headers
 from twisted.web._newclient import ResponseDone
 
+from synapse.http import cancelled_to_request_timed_out_error
 from synapse.http.endpoint import matrix_federation_endpoint
-from synapse.util.async import sleep
-from synapse.util import logcontext
 import synapse.metrics
+from synapse.util.async import sleep, add_timeout_to_deferred
+from synapse.util import logcontext
+from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable
+import synapse.util.retryutils
 
 from canonicaljson import encode_canonical_json
 
@@ -38,22 +41,19 @@ import logging
 import random
 import sys
 import urllib
-import urlparse
+from six.moves.urllib import parse as urlparse
+from six import string_types
+
 
+from prometheus_client import Counter
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 outbound_logger = logging.getLogger("synapse.http.outbound")
 
-metrics = synapse.metrics.get_metrics_for(__name__)
-
-outgoing_requests_counter = metrics.register_counter(
-    "requests",
-    labels=["method"],
-)
-incoming_responses_counter = metrics.register_counter(
-    "responses",
-    labels=["method", "code"],
-)
+outgoing_requests_counter = Counter("synapse_http_matrixfederationclient_requests",
+                                    "", ["method"])
+incoming_responses_counter = Counter("synapse_http_matrixfederationclient_responses",
+                                     "", ["method", "code"])
 
 
 MAX_LONG_RETRIES = 10
@@ -184,21 +184,20 @@ class MatrixFederationHttpClient(object):
                         producer = body_callback(method, http_url_bytes, headers_dict)
 
                     try:
-                        def send_request():
-                            request_deferred = self.agent.request(
-                                method,
-                                url_bytes,
-                                Headers(headers_dict),
-                                producer
-                            )
-
-                            return self.clock.time_bound_deferred(
-                                request_deferred,
-                                time_out=timeout / 1000. if timeout else 60,
-                            )
-
-                        with logcontext.PreserveLoggingContext():
-                            response = yield send_request()
+                        request_deferred = self.agent.request(
+                            method,
+                            url_bytes,
+                            Headers(headers_dict),
+                            producer
+                        )
+                        add_timeout_to_deferred(
+                            request_deferred,
+                            timeout / 1000. if timeout else 60,
+                            cancelled_to_request_timed_out_error,
+                        )
+                        response = yield make_deferred_yieldable(
+                            request_deferred,
+                        )
 
                         log_result = "%d %s" % (response.code, response.phrase,)
                         break
@@ -286,7 +285,8 @@ class MatrixFederationHttpClient(object):
         headers_dict[b"Authorization"] = auth_headers
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def put_json(self, destination, path, data={}, json_data_callback=None,
+    def put_json(self, destination, path, args={}, data={},
+                 json_data_callback=None,
                  long_retries=False, timeout=None,
                  ignore_backoff=False,
                  backoff_on_404=False):
@@ -296,6 +296,7 @@ class MatrixFederationHttpClient(object):
             destination (str): The remote server to send the HTTP request
                 to.
             path (str): The HTTP path.
+            args (dict): query params
             data (dict): A dict containing the data that will be used as
                 the request body. This will be encoded as JSON.
             json_data_callback (callable): A callable returning the dict to
@@ -342,6 +343,7 @@ class MatrixFederationHttpClient(object):
             path,
             body_callback=body_callback,
             headers_dict={"Content-Type": ["application/json"]},
+            query_bytes=encode_query_args(args),
             long_retries=long_retries,
             timeout=timeout,
             ignore_backoff=ignore_backoff,
@@ -373,6 +375,7 @@ class MatrixFederationHttpClient(object):
                 giving up. None indicates no timeout.
             ignore_backoff (bool): true to ignore the historical backoff data and
                 try the request anyway.
+            args (dict): query params
         Returns:
             Deferred: Succeeds when we get a 2xx HTTP response. The result
             will be the decoded JSON body.
@@ -548,7 +551,7 @@ class MatrixFederationHttpClient(object):
 
         encoded_args = {}
         for k, vs in args.items():
-            if isinstance(vs, basestring):
+            if isinstance(vs, string_types):
                 vs = [vs]
             encoded_args[k] = [v.encode("UTF-8") for v in vs]
 
@@ -663,7 +666,7 @@ def check_content_type_is_json(headers):
         RuntimeError if the
 
     """
-    c_type = headers.getRawHeaders("Content-Type")
+    c_type = headers.getRawHeaders(b"Content-Type")
     if c_type is None:
         raise RuntimeError(
             "No Content-Type header"
@@ -680,7 +683,7 @@ def check_content_type_is_json(headers):
 def encode_query_args(args):
     encoded_args = {}
     for k, vs in args.items():
-        if isinstance(vs, basestring):
+        if isinstance(vs, string_types):
             vs = [vs]
         encoded_args[k] = [v.encode("UTF-8") for v in vs]
 
diff --git a/synapse/http/request_metrics.py b/synapse/http/request_metrics.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dc06f6c443
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/http/request_metrics.py
@@ -0,0 +1,273 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright 2014-2016 OpenMarket Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+import logging
+
+from prometheus_client.core import Counter, Histogram
+from synapse.metrics import LaterGauge
+
+from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+# total number of responses served, split by method/servlet/tag
+response_count = Counter(
+    "synapse_http_server_response_count", "", ["method", "servlet", "tag"]
+)
+
+requests_counter = Counter(
+    "synapse_http_server_requests_received", "", ["method", "servlet"]
+)
+
+outgoing_responses_counter = Counter(
+    "synapse_http_server_responses", "", ["method", "code"]
+)
+
+response_timer = Histogram(
+    "synapse_http_server_response_time_seconds", "sec", ["method", "servlet", "tag"]
+)
+
+response_ru_utime = Counter(
+    "synapse_http_server_response_ru_utime_seconds", "sec", ["method", "servlet", "tag"]
+)
+
+response_ru_stime = Counter(
+    "synapse_http_server_response_ru_stime_seconds", "sec", ["method", "servlet", "tag"]
+)
+
+response_db_txn_count = Counter(
+    "synapse_http_server_response_db_txn_count", "", ["method", "servlet", "tag"]
+)
+
+# seconds spent waiting for db txns, excluding scheduling time, when processing
+# this request
+response_db_txn_duration = Counter(
+    "synapse_http_server_response_db_txn_duration_seconds",
+    "",
+    ["method", "servlet", "tag"],
+)
+
+# seconds spent waiting for a db connection, when processing this request
+response_db_sched_duration = Counter(
+    "synapse_http_server_response_db_sched_duration_seconds",
+    "",
+    ["method", "servlet", "tag"],
+)
+
+# size in bytes of the response written
+response_size = Counter(
+    "synapse_http_server_response_size", "", ["method", "servlet", "tag"]
+)
+
+# In flight metrics are incremented while the requests are in flight, rather
+# than when the response was written.
+
+in_flight_requests_ru_utime = Counter(
+    "synapse_http_server_in_flight_requests_ru_utime_seconds",
+    "",
+    ["method", "servlet"],
+)
+
+in_flight_requests_ru_stime = Counter(
+    "synapse_http_server_in_flight_requests_ru_stime_seconds",
+    "",
+    ["method", "servlet"],
+)
+
+in_flight_requests_db_txn_count = Counter(
+    "synapse_http_server_in_flight_requests_db_txn_count", "", ["method", "servlet"]
+)
+
+# seconds spent waiting for db txns, excluding scheduling time, when processing
+# this request
+in_flight_requests_db_txn_duration = Counter(
+    "synapse_http_server_in_flight_requests_db_txn_duration_seconds",
+    "",
+    ["method", "servlet"],
+)
+
+# seconds spent waiting for a db connection, when processing this request
+in_flight_requests_db_sched_duration = Counter(
+    "synapse_http_server_in_flight_requests_db_sched_duration_seconds",
+    "",
+    ["method", "servlet"],
+)
+
+# The set of all in flight requests, set[RequestMetrics]
+_in_flight_requests = set()
+
+
+def _get_in_flight_counts():
+    """Returns a count of all in flight requests by (method, server_name)
+
+    Returns:
+        dict[tuple[str, str], int]
+    """
+    for rm in _in_flight_requests:
+        rm.update_metrics()
+
+    # Map from (method, name) -> int, the number of in flight requests of that
+    # type
+    counts = {}
+    for rm in _in_flight_requests:
+        key = (rm.method, rm.name,)
+        counts[key] = counts.get(key, 0) + 1
+
+    return counts
+
+
+LaterGauge(
+    "synapse_http_request_metrics_in_flight_requests_count",
+    "",
+    ["method", "servlet"],
+    _get_in_flight_counts,
+)
+
+
+class RequestMetrics(object):
+    def start(self, time_sec, name, method):
+        self.start = time_sec
+        self.start_context = LoggingContext.current_context()
+        self.name = name
+        self.method = method
+
+        self._request_stats = _RequestStats.from_context(self.start_context)
+
+        _in_flight_requests.add(self)
+
+    def stop(self, time_sec, request):
+        _in_flight_requests.discard(self)
+
+        context = LoggingContext.current_context()
+
+        tag = ""
+        if context:
+            tag = context.tag
+
+            if context != self.start_context:
+                logger.warn(
+                    "Context have unexpectedly changed %r, %r",
+                    context, self.start_context
+                )
+                return
+
+        outgoing_responses_counter.labels(request.method, str(request.code)).inc()
+
+        response_count.labels(request.method, self.name, tag).inc()
+
+        response_timer.labels(request.method, self.name, tag).observe(
+            time_sec - self.start
+        )
+
+        ru_utime, ru_stime = context.get_resource_usage()
+
+        response_ru_utime.labels(request.method, self.name, tag).inc(ru_utime)
+        response_ru_stime.labels(request.method, self.name, tag).inc(ru_stime)
+        response_db_txn_count.labels(request.method, self.name, tag).inc(
+            context.db_txn_count
+        )
+        response_db_txn_duration.labels(request.method, self.name, tag).inc(
+            context.db_txn_duration_sec
+        )
+        response_db_sched_duration.labels(request.method, self.name, tag).inc(
+            context.db_sched_duration_sec
+        )
+
+        response_size.labels(request.method, self.name, tag).inc(request.sentLength)
+
+        # We always call this at the end to ensure that we update the metrics
+        # regardless of whether a call to /metrics while the request was in
+        # flight.
+        self.update_metrics()
+
+    def update_metrics(self):
+        """Updates the in flight metrics with values from this request.
+        """
+        diff = self._request_stats.update(self.start_context)
+
+        in_flight_requests_ru_utime.labels(self.method, self.name).inc(diff.ru_utime)
+        in_flight_requests_ru_stime.labels(self.method, self.name).inc(diff.ru_stime)
+
+        in_flight_requests_db_txn_count.labels(self.method, self.name).inc(
+            diff.db_txn_count
+        )
+
+        in_flight_requests_db_txn_duration.labels(self.method, self.name).inc(
+            diff.db_txn_duration_sec
+        )
+
+        in_flight_requests_db_sched_duration.labels(self.method, self.name).inc(
+            diff.db_sched_duration_sec
+        )
+
+
+class _RequestStats(object):
+    """Keeps tracks of various metrics for an in flight request.
+    """
+
+    __slots__ = [
+        "ru_utime",
+        "ru_stime",
+        "db_txn_count",
+        "db_txn_duration_sec",
+        "db_sched_duration_sec",
+    ]
+
+    def __init__(
+        self, ru_utime, ru_stime, db_txn_count, db_txn_duration_sec, db_sched_duration_sec
+    ):
+        self.ru_utime = ru_utime
+        self.ru_stime = ru_stime
+        self.db_txn_count = db_txn_count
+        self.db_txn_duration_sec = db_txn_duration_sec
+        self.db_sched_duration_sec = db_sched_duration_sec
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def from_context(context):
+        ru_utime, ru_stime = context.get_resource_usage()
+
+        return _RequestStats(
+            ru_utime, ru_stime,
+            context.db_txn_count,
+            context.db_txn_duration_sec,
+            context.db_sched_duration_sec,
+        )
+
+    def update(self, context):
+        """Updates the current values and returns the difference between the
+        old and new values.
+
+        Returns:
+            _RequestStats: The difference between the old and new values
+        """
+        new = _RequestStats.from_context(context)
+
+        diff = _RequestStats(
+            new.ru_utime - self.ru_utime,
+            new.ru_stime - self.ru_stime,
+            new.db_txn_count - self.db_txn_count,
+            new.db_txn_duration_sec - self.db_txn_duration_sec,
+            new.db_sched_duration_sec - self.db_sched_duration_sec,
+        )
+
+        self.ru_utime = new.ru_utime
+        self.ru_stime = new.ru_stime
+        self.db_txn_count = new.db_txn_count
+        self.db_txn_duration_sec = new.db_txn_duration_sec
+        self.db_sched_duration_sec = new.db_sched_duration_sec
+
+        return diff
diff --git a/synapse/http/server.py b/synapse/http/server.py
index e64aa92729..bc09b8b2be 100644
--- a/synapse/http/server.py
+++ b/synapse/http/server.py
@@ -13,11 +13,15 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
-
+import cgi
+from six.moves import http_client
 
 from synapse.api.errors import (
     cs_exception, SynapseError, CodeMessageException, UnrecognizedRequestError, Codes
 )
+from synapse.http.request_metrics import (
+    requests_counter,
+)
 from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext, PreserveLoggingContext
 from synapse.util.caches import intern_dict
 from synapse.util.metrics import Measure
@@ -41,173 +45,174 @@ import simplejson
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-metrics = synapse.metrics.get_metrics_for(__name__)
-
-# total number of responses served, split by method/servlet/tag
-response_count = metrics.register_counter(
-    "response_count",
-    labels=["method", "servlet", "tag"],
-    alternative_names=(
-        # the following are all deprecated aliases for the same metric
-        metrics.name_prefix + x for x in (
-            "_requests",
-            "_response_time:count",
-            "_response_ru_utime:count",
-            "_response_ru_stime:count",
-            "_response_db_txn_count:count",
-            "_response_db_txn_duration:count",
-        )
-    )
-)
+HTML_ERROR_TEMPLATE = """<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html lang=en>
+  <head>
+    <meta charset="utf-8">
+    <title>Error {code}</title>
+  </head>
+  <body>
+     <p>{msg}</p>
+  </body>
+</html>
+"""
 
-requests_counter = metrics.register_counter(
-    "requests_received",
-    labels=["method", "servlet", ],
-)
 
-outgoing_responses_counter = metrics.register_counter(
-    "responses",
-    labels=["method", "code"],
-)
+def wrap_json_request_handler(h):
+    """Wraps a request handler method with exception handling.
 
-response_timer = metrics.register_counter(
-    "response_time_seconds",
-    labels=["method", "servlet", "tag"],
-    alternative_names=(
-        metrics.name_prefix + "_response_time:total",
-    ),
-)
+    Also adds logging as per wrap_request_handler_with_logging.
 
-response_ru_utime = metrics.register_counter(
-    "response_ru_utime_seconds", labels=["method", "servlet", "tag"],
-    alternative_names=(
-        metrics.name_prefix + "_response_ru_utime:total",
-    ),
-)
+    The handler method must have a signature of "handle_foo(self, request)",
+    where "self" must have a "clock" attribute (and "request" must be a
+    SynapseRequest).
 
-response_ru_stime = metrics.register_counter(
-    "response_ru_stime_seconds", labels=["method", "servlet", "tag"],
-    alternative_names=(
-        metrics.name_prefix + "_response_ru_stime:total",
-    ),
-)
+    The handler must return a deferred. If the deferred succeeds we assume that
+    a response has been sent. If the deferred fails with a SynapseError we use
+    it to send a JSON response with the appropriate HTTP reponse code. If the
+    deferred fails with any other type of error we send a 500 reponse.
+    """
 
-response_db_txn_count = metrics.register_counter(
-    "response_db_txn_count", labels=["method", "servlet", "tag"],
-    alternative_names=(
-        metrics.name_prefix + "_response_db_txn_count:total",
-    ),
-)
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def wrapped_request_handler(self, request):
+        try:
+            yield h(self, request)
+        except CodeMessageException as e:
+            code = e.code
+            if isinstance(e, SynapseError):
+                logger.info(
+                    "%s SynapseError: %s - %s", request, code, e.msg
+                )
+            else:
+                logger.exception(e)
+            respond_with_json(
+                request, code, cs_exception(e), send_cors=True,
+                pretty_print=_request_user_agent_is_curl(request),
+            )
 
-# seconds spent waiting for db txns, excluding scheduling time, when processing
-# this request
-response_db_txn_duration = metrics.register_counter(
-    "response_db_txn_duration_seconds", labels=["method", "servlet", "tag"],
-    alternative_names=(
-        metrics.name_prefix + "_response_db_txn_duration:total",
-    ),
-)
+        except Exception:
+            # failure.Failure() fishes the original Failure out
+            # of our stack, and thus gives us a sensible stack
+            # trace.
+            f = failure.Failure()
+            logger.error(
+                "Failed handle request via %r: %r: %s",
+                h,
+                request,
+                f.getTraceback().rstrip(),
+            )
+            respond_with_json(
+                request,
+                500,
+                {
+                    "error": "Internal server error",
+                    "errcode": Codes.UNKNOWN,
+                },
+                send_cors=True,
+                pretty_print=_request_user_agent_is_curl(request),
+            )
 
-# seconds spent waiting for a db connection, when processing this request
-response_db_sched_duration = metrics.register_counter(
-    "response_db_sched_duration_seconds", labels=["method", "servlet", "tag"]
-)
+    return wrap_request_handler_with_logging(wrapped_request_handler)
 
-_next_request_id = 0
 
+def wrap_html_request_handler(h):
+    """Wraps a request handler method with exception handling.
 
-def request_handler(include_metrics=False):
-    """Decorator for ``wrap_request_handler``"""
-    return lambda request_handler: wrap_request_handler(request_handler, include_metrics)
+    Also adds logging as per wrap_request_handler_with_logging.
 
+    The handler method must have a signature of "handle_foo(self, request)",
+    where "self" must have a "clock" attribute (and "request" must be a
+    SynapseRequest).
+    """
+    def wrapped_request_handler(self, request):
+        d = defer.maybeDeferred(h, self, request)
+        d.addErrback(_return_html_error, request)
+        return d
 
-def wrap_request_handler(request_handler, include_metrics=False):
-    """Wraps a method that acts as a request handler with the necessary logging
-    and exception handling.
+    return wrap_request_handler_with_logging(wrapped_request_handler)
 
-    The method must have a signature of "handle_foo(self, request)". The
-    argument "self" must have "version_string" and "clock" attributes. The
-    argument "request" must be a twisted HTTP request.
 
-    The method must return a deferred. If the deferred succeeds we assume that
-    a response has been sent. If the deferred fails with a SynapseError we use
-    it to send a JSON response with the appropriate HTTP reponse code. If the
-    deferred fails with any other type of error we send a 500 reponse.
+def _return_html_error(f, request):
+    """Sends an HTML error page corresponding to the given failure
 
-    We insert a unique request-id into the logging context for this request and
-    log the response and duration for this request.
+    Args:
+        f (twisted.python.failure.Failure):
+        request (twisted.web.iweb.IRequest):
     """
+    if f.check(CodeMessageException):
+        cme = f.value
+        code = cme.code
+        msg = cme.msg
+
+        if isinstance(cme, SynapseError):
+            logger.info(
+                "%s SynapseError: %s - %s", request, code, msg
+            )
+        else:
+            logger.error(
+                "Failed handle request %r: %s",
+                request,
+                f.getTraceback().rstrip(),
+            )
+    else:
+        code = http_client.INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR
+        msg = "Internal server error"
+
+        logger.error(
+            "Failed handle request %r: %s",
+            request,
+            f.getTraceback().rstrip(),
+        )
+
+    body = HTML_ERROR_TEMPLATE.format(
+        code=code, msg=cgi.escape(msg),
+    ).encode("utf-8")
+    request.setResponseCode(code)
+    request.setHeader(b"Content-Type", b"text/html; charset=utf-8")
+    request.setHeader(b"Content-Length", b"%i" % (len(body),))
+    request.write(body)
+    finish_request(request)
+
+
+def wrap_request_handler_with_logging(h):
+    """Wraps a request handler to provide logging and metrics
 
+    The handler method must have a signature of "handle_foo(self, request)",
+    where "self" must have a "clock" attribute (and "request" must be a
+    SynapseRequest).
+
+    As well as calling `request.processing` (which will log the response and
+    duration for this request), the wrapped request handler will insert the
+    request id into the logging context.
+    """
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def wrapped_request_handler(self, request):
-        global _next_request_id
-        request_id = "%s-%s" % (request.method, _next_request_id)
-        _next_request_id += 1
+        """
+        Args:
+            self:
+            request (synapse.http.site.SynapseRequest):
+        """
 
+        request_id = request.get_request_id()
         with LoggingContext(request_id) as request_context:
+            request_context.request = request_id
             with Measure(self.clock, "wrapped_request_handler"):
-                request_metrics = RequestMetrics()
                 # we start the request metrics timer here with an initial stab
                 # at the servlet name. For most requests that name will be
                 # JsonResource (or a subclass), and JsonResource._async_render
                 # will update it once it picks a servlet.
                 servlet_name = self.__class__.__name__
-                request_metrics.start(self.clock, name=servlet_name)
-
-                request_context.request = request_id
-                with request.processing():
-                    try:
-                        with PreserveLoggingContext(request_context):
-                            if include_metrics:
-                                yield request_handler(self, request, request_metrics)
-                            else:
-                                requests_counter.inc(request.method, servlet_name)
-                                yield request_handler(self, request)
-                    except CodeMessageException as e:
-                        code = e.code
-                        if isinstance(e, SynapseError):
-                            logger.info(
-                                "%s SynapseError: %s - %s", request, code, e.msg
-                            )
-                        else:
-                            logger.exception(e)
-                        outgoing_responses_counter.inc(request.method, str(code))
-                        respond_with_json(
-                            request, code, cs_exception(e), send_cors=True,
-                            pretty_print=_request_user_agent_is_curl(request),
-                            version_string=self.version_string,
-                        )
-                    except Exception:
-                        # failure.Failure() fishes the original Failure out
-                        # of our stack, and thus gives us a sensible stack
-                        # trace.
-                        f = failure.Failure()
-                        logger.error(
-                            "Failed handle request %s.%s on %r: %r: %s",
-                            request_handler.__module__,
-                            request_handler.__name__,
-                            self,
-                            request,
-                            f.getTraceback().rstrip(),
-                        )
-                        respond_with_json(
-                            request,
-                            500,
-                            {
-                                "error": "Internal server error",
-                                "errcode": Codes.UNKNOWN,
-                            },
-                            send_cors=True,
-                            pretty_print=_request_user_agent_is_curl(request),
-                            version_string=self.version_string,
-                        )
-                    finally:
-                        try:
-                            request_metrics.stop(
-                                self.clock, request
-                            )
-                        except Exception as e:
-                            logger.warn("Failed to stop metrics: %r", e)
+                with request.processing(servlet_name):
+                    with PreserveLoggingContext(request_context):
+                        d = defer.maybeDeferred(h, self, request)
+
+                        # record the arrival of the request *after*
+                        # dispatching to the handler, so that the handler
+                        # can update the servlet name in the request
+                        # metrics
+                        requests_counter.labels(request.method,
+                                                request.request_metrics.name).inc()
+                        yield d
     return wrapped_request_handler
 
 
@@ -257,7 +262,6 @@ class JsonResource(HttpServer, resource.Resource):
         self.canonical_json = canonical_json
         self.clock = hs.get_clock()
         self.path_regexs = {}
-        self.version_string = hs.version_string
         self.hs = hs
 
     def register_paths(self, method, path_patterns, callback):
@@ -273,13 +277,9 @@ class JsonResource(HttpServer, resource.Resource):
         self._async_render(request)
         return server.NOT_DONE_YET
 
-    # Disable metric reporting because _async_render does its own metrics.
-    # It does its own metric reporting because _async_render dispatches to
-    # a callback and it's the class name of that callback we want to report
-    # against rather than the JsonResource itself.
-    @request_handler(include_metrics=True)
+    @wrap_json_request_handler
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def _async_render(self, request, request_metrics):
+    def _async_render(self, request):
         """ This gets called from render() every time someone sends us a request.
             This checks if anyone has registered a callback for that method and
             path.
@@ -291,9 +291,7 @@ class JsonResource(HttpServer, resource.Resource):
             servlet_classname = servlet_instance.__class__.__name__
         else:
             servlet_classname = "%r" % callback
-
-        request_metrics.name = servlet_classname
-        requests_counter.inc(request.method, servlet_classname)
+        request.request_metrics.name = servlet_classname
 
         # Now trigger the callback. If it returns a response, we send it
         # here. If it throws an exception, that is handled by the wrapper
@@ -324,7 +322,7 @@ class JsonResource(HttpServer, resource.Resource):
                 register_paths, so will return (possibly via Deferred) either
                 None, or a tuple of (http code, response body).
         """
-        if request.method == "OPTIONS":
+        if request.method == b"OPTIONS":
             return _options_handler, {}
 
         # Loop through all the registered callbacks to check if the method
@@ -340,15 +338,12 @@ class JsonResource(HttpServer, resource.Resource):
 
     def _send_response(self, request, code, response_json_object,
                        response_code_message=None):
-        outgoing_responses_counter.inc(request.method, str(code))
-
         # TODO: Only enable CORS for the requests that need it.
         respond_with_json(
             request, code, response_json_object,
             send_cors=True,
             response_code_message=response_code_message,
             pretty_print=_request_user_agent_is_curl(request),
-            version_string=self.version_string,
             canonical_json=self.canonical_json,
         )
 
@@ -381,52 +376,6 @@ def _unrecognised_request_handler(request):
     raise UnrecognizedRequestError()
 
 
-class RequestMetrics(object):
-    def start(self, clock, name):
-        self.start = clock.time_msec()
-        self.start_context = LoggingContext.current_context()
-        self.name = name
-
-    def stop(self, clock, request):
-        context = LoggingContext.current_context()
-
-        tag = ""
-        if context:
-            tag = context.tag
-
-            if context != self.start_context:
-                logger.warn(
-                    "Context have unexpectedly changed %r, %r",
-                    context, self.start_context
-                )
-                return
-
-        response_count.inc(request.method, self.name, tag)
-
-        response_timer.inc_by(
-            clock.time_msec() - self.start, request.method,
-            self.name, tag
-        )
-
-        ru_utime, ru_stime = context.get_resource_usage()
-
-        response_ru_utime.inc_by(
-            ru_utime, request.method, self.name, tag
-        )
-        response_ru_stime.inc_by(
-            ru_stime, request.method, self.name, tag
-        )
-        response_db_txn_count.inc_by(
-            context.db_txn_count, request.method, self.name, tag
-        )
-        response_db_txn_duration.inc_by(
-            context.db_txn_duration_ms / 1000., request.method, self.name, tag
-        )
-        response_db_sched_duration.inc_by(
-            context.db_sched_duration_ms / 1000., request.method, self.name, tag
-        )
-
-
 class RootRedirect(resource.Resource):
     """Redirects the root '/' path to another path."""
 
@@ -445,7 +394,7 @@ class RootRedirect(resource.Resource):
 
 def respond_with_json(request, code, json_object, send_cors=False,
                       response_code_message=None, pretty_print=False,
-                      version_string="", canonical_json=True):
+                      canonical_json=True):
     # could alternatively use request.notifyFinish() and flip a flag when
     # the Deferred fires, but since the flag is RIGHT THERE it seems like
     # a waste.
@@ -461,19 +410,17 @@ def respond_with_json(request, code, json_object, send_cors=False,
         if canonical_json or synapse.events.USE_FROZEN_DICTS:
             json_bytes = encode_canonical_json(json_object)
         else:
-            # ujson doesn't like frozen_dicts.
             json_bytes = simplejson.dumps(json_object)
 
     return respond_with_json_bytes(
         request, code, json_bytes,
         send_cors=send_cors,
         response_code_message=response_code_message,
-        version_string=version_string
     )
 
 
 def respond_with_json_bytes(request, code, json_bytes, send_cors=False,
-                            version_string="", response_code_message=None):
+                            response_code_message=None):
     """Sends encoded JSON in response to the given request.
 
     Args:
@@ -487,8 +434,8 @@ def respond_with_json_bytes(request, code, json_bytes, send_cors=False,
 
     request.setResponseCode(code, message=response_code_message)
     request.setHeader(b"Content-Type", b"application/json")
-    request.setHeader(b"Server", version_string)
     request.setHeader(b"Content-Length", b"%d" % (len(json_bytes),))
+    request.setHeader(b"Cache-Control", b"no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate")
 
     if send_cors:
         set_cors_headers(request)
@@ -536,9 +483,9 @@ def finish_request(request):
 
 def _request_user_agent_is_curl(request):
     user_agents = request.requestHeaders.getRawHeaders(
-        "User-Agent", default=[]
+        b"User-Agent", default=[]
     )
     for user_agent in user_agents:
-        if "curl" in user_agent:
+        if b"curl" in user_agent:
             return True
     return False
diff --git a/synapse/http/site.py b/synapse/http/site.py
index e422c8dfae..60299657b9 100644
--- a/synapse/http/site.py
+++ b/synapse/http/site.py
@@ -12,27 +12,51 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext
-from twisted.web.server import Site, Request
-
 import contextlib
 import logging
 import re
 import time
 
-ACCESS_TOKEN_RE = re.compile(r'(\?.*access(_|%5[Ff])token=)[^&]*(.*)$')
+from twisted.web.server import Site, Request
+
+from synapse.http.request_metrics import RequestMetrics
+from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+ACCESS_TOKEN_RE = re.compile(br'(\?.*access(_|%5[Ff])token=)[^&]*(.*)$')
+
+_next_request_seq = 0
 
 
 class SynapseRequest(Request):
+    """Class which encapsulates an HTTP request to synapse.
+
+    All of the requests processed in synapse are of this type.
+
+    It extends twisted's twisted.web.server.Request, and adds:
+     * Unique request ID
+     * Redaction of access_token query-params in __repr__
+     * Logging at start and end
+     * Metrics to record CPU, wallclock and DB time by endpoint.
+
+    It provides a method `processing` which should be called by the Resource
+    which is handling the request, and returns a context manager.
+
+    """
     def __init__(self, site, *args, **kw):
         Request.__init__(self, *args, **kw)
         self.site = site
         self.authenticated_entity = None
         self.start_time = 0
 
+        global _next_request_seq
+        self.request_seq = _next_request_seq
+        _next_request_seq += 1
+
     def __repr__(self):
         # We overwrite this so that we don't log ``access_token``
-        return '<%s at 0x%x method=%s uri=%s clientproto=%s site=%s>' % (
+        return '<%s at 0x%x method=%r uri=%r clientproto=%r site=%r>' % (
             self.__class__.__name__,
             id(self),
             self.method,
@@ -41,16 +65,30 @@ class SynapseRequest(Request):
             self.site.site_tag,
         )
 
+    def get_request_id(self):
+        return "%s-%i" % (self.method, self.request_seq)
+
     def get_redacted_uri(self):
         return ACCESS_TOKEN_RE.sub(
-            r'\1<redacted>\3',
+            br'\1<redacted>\3',
             self.uri
         )
 
     def get_user_agent(self):
-        return self.requestHeaders.getRawHeaders("User-Agent", [None])[-1]
+        return self.requestHeaders.getRawHeaders(b"User-Agent", [None])[-1]
+
+    def render(self, resrc):
+        # override the Server header which is set by twisted
+        self.setHeader("Server", self.site.server_version_string)
+        return Request.render(self, resrc)
+
+    def _started_processing(self, servlet_name):
+        self.start_time = time.time()
+        self.request_metrics = RequestMetrics()
+        self.request_metrics.start(
+            self.start_time, name=servlet_name, method=self.method,
+        )
 
-    def started_processing(self):
         self.site.access_logger.info(
             "%s - %s - Received request: %s %s",
             self.getClientIP(),
@@ -58,32 +96,32 @@ class SynapseRequest(Request):
             self.method,
             self.get_redacted_uri()
         )
-        self.start_time = int(time.time() * 1000)
-
-    def finished_processing(self):
 
+    def _finished_processing(self):
         try:
             context = LoggingContext.current_context()
             ru_utime, ru_stime = context.get_resource_usage()
             db_txn_count = context.db_txn_count
-            db_txn_duration_ms = context.db_txn_duration_ms
-            db_sched_duration_ms = context.db_sched_duration_ms
+            db_txn_duration_sec = context.db_txn_duration_sec
+            db_sched_duration_sec = context.db_sched_duration_sec
         except Exception:
             ru_utime, ru_stime = (0, 0)
-            db_txn_count, db_txn_duration_ms = (0, 0)
+            db_txn_count, db_txn_duration_sec = (0, 0)
+
+        end_time = time.time()
 
         self.site.access_logger.info(
             "%s - %s - {%s}"
-            " Processed request: %dms (%dms, %dms) (%dms/%dms/%d)"
+            " Processed request: %.3fsec (%.3fsec, %.3fsec) (%.3fsec/%.3fsec/%d)"
             " %sB %s \"%s %s %s\" \"%s\"",
             self.getClientIP(),
             self.site.site_tag,
             self.authenticated_entity,
-            int(time.time() * 1000) - self.start_time,
-            int(ru_utime * 1000),
-            int(ru_stime * 1000),
-            db_sched_duration_ms,
-            db_txn_duration_ms,
+            end_time - self.start_time,
+            ru_utime,
+            ru_stime,
+            db_sched_duration_sec,
+            db_txn_duration_sec,
             int(db_txn_count),
             self.sentLength,
             self.code,
@@ -93,11 +131,38 @@ class SynapseRequest(Request):
             self.get_user_agent(),
         )
 
+        try:
+            self.request_metrics.stop(end_time, self)
+        except Exception as e:
+            logger.warn("Failed to stop metrics: %r", e)
+
     @contextlib.contextmanager
-    def processing(self):
-        self.started_processing()
+    def processing(self, servlet_name):
+        """Record the fact that we are processing this request.
+
+        Returns a context manager; the correct way to use this is:
+
+        @defer.inlineCallbacks
+        def handle_request(request):
+            with request.processing("FooServlet"):
+                yield really_handle_the_request()
+
+        This will log the request's arrival. Once the context manager is
+        closed, the completion of the request will be logged, and the various
+        metrics will be updated.
+
+        Args:
+            servlet_name (str): the name of the servlet which will be
+                processing this request. This is used in the metrics.
+
+                It is possible to update this afterwards by updating
+                self.request_metrics.servlet_name.
+        """
+        # TODO: we should probably just move this into render() and finish(),
+        # to save having to call a separate method.
+        self._started_processing(servlet_name)
         yield
-        self.finished_processing()
+        self._finished_processing()
 
 
 class XForwardedForRequest(SynapseRequest):
@@ -135,7 +200,8 @@ class SynapseSite(Site):
     Subclass of a twisted http Site that does access logging with python's
     standard logging
     """
-    def __init__(self, logger_name, site_tag, config, resource, *args, **kwargs):
+    def __init__(self, logger_name, site_tag, config, resource,
+                 server_version_string, *args, **kwargs):
         Site.__init__(self, resource, *args, **kwargs)
 
         self.site_tag = site_tag
@@ -143,6 +209,7 @@ class SynapseSite(Site):
         proxied = config.get("x_forwarded", False)
         self.requestFactory = SynapseRequestFactory(self, proxied)
         self.access_logger = logging.getLogger(logger_name)
+        self.server_version_string = server_version_string
 
     def log(self, request):
         pass
diff --git a/synapse/metrics/__init__.py b/synapse/metrics/__init__.py
index 50d99d7a5c..371c300cac 100644
--- a/synapse/metrics/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/metrics/__init__.py
@@ -17,130 +17,170 @@ import logging
 import functools
 import time
 import gc
+import os
+import platform
+import attr
 
-from twisted.internet import reactor
+from prometheus_client import Gauge, Histogram, Counter
+from prometheus_client.core import GaugeMetricFamily, REGISTRY
 
-from .metric import (
-    CounterMetric, CallbackMetric, DistributionMetric, CacheMetric,
-    MemoryUsageMetric,
-)
-from .process_collector import register_process_collector
+from twisted.internet import reactor
 
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-
+running_on_pypy = platform.python_implementation() == "PyPy"
 all_metrics = []
 all_collectors = []
+all_gauges = {}
+
+
+class RegistryProxy(object):
+
+    def collect(self):
+        for metric in REGISTRY.collect():
+            if not metric.name.startswith("__"):
+                yield metric
+
 
+@attr.s(hash=True)
+class LaterGauge(object):
 
-class Metrics(object):
-    """ A single Metrics object gives a (mutable) slice view of the all_metrics
-    dict, allowing callers to easily register new metrics that are namespaced
-    nicely."""
+    name = attr.ib()
+    desc = attr.ib()
+    labels = attr.ib(hash=False)
+    caller = attr.ib()
 
-    def __init__(self, name):
-        self.name_prefix = name
+    def collect(self):
 
-    def make_subspace(self, name):
-        return Metrics("%s_%s" % (self.name_prefix, name))
+        g = GaugeMetricFamily(self.name, self.desc, labels=self.labels)
 
-    def register_collector(self, func):
-        all_collectors.append(func)
+        try:
+            calls = self.caller()
+        except Exception as e:
+            print(e)
+            logger.err()
+            yield g
+
+        if isinstance(calls, dict):
+            for k, v in calls.items():
+                g.add_metric(k, v)
+        else:
+            g.add_metric([], calls)
 
-    def _register(self, metric_class, name, *args, **kwargs):
-        full_name = "%s_%s" % (self.name_prefix, name)
+        yield g
 
-        metric = metric_class(full_name, *args, **kwargs)
+    def __attrs_post_init__(self):
+        self._register()
 
-        all_metrics.append(metric)
-        return metric
+    def _register(self):
+        if self.name in all_gauges.keys():
+            logger.warning("%s already registered, reregistering" % (self.name,))
+            REGISTRY.unregister(all_gauges.pop(self.name))
 
-    def register_counter(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        """
-        Returns:
-            CounterMetric
-        """
-        return self._register(CounterMetric, *args, **kwargs)
+        REGISTRY.register(self)
+        all_gauges[self.name] = self
 
-    def register_callback(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        """
-        Returns:
-            CallbackMetric
-        """
-        return self._register(CallbackMetric, *args, **kwargs)
 
-    def register_distribution(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        """
-        Returns:
-            DistributionMetric
-        """
-        return self._register(DistributionMetric, *args, **kwargs)
+#
+# Detailed CPU metrics
+#
 
-    def register_cache(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        """
-        Returns:
-            CacheMetric
-        """
-        return self._register(CacheMetric, *args, **kwargs)
+class CPUMetrics(object):
 
+    def __init__(self):
+        ticks_per_sec = 100
+        try:
+            # Try and get the system config
+            ticks_per_sec = os.sysconf('SC_CLK_TCK')
+        except (ValueError, TypeError, AttributeError):
+            pass
 
-def register_memory_metrics(hs):
-    try:
-        import psutil
-        process = psutil.Process()
-        process.memory_info().rss
-    except (ImportError, AttributeError):
-        logger.warn(
-            "psutil is not installed or incorrect version."
-            " Disabling memory metrics."
-        )
-        return
-    metric = MemoryUsageMetric(hs, psutil)
-    all_metrics.append(metric)
+        self.ticks_per_sec = ticks_per_sec
 
+    def collect(self):
 
-def get_metrics_for(pkg_name):
-    """ Returns a Metrics instance for conveniently creating metrics
-    namespaced with the given name prefix. """
+        with open("/proc/self/stat") as s:
+            line = s.read()
+            raw_stats = line.split(") ", 1)[1].split(" ")
 
-    # Convert a "package.name" to "package_name" because Prometheus doesn't
-    # let us use . in metric names
-    return Metrics(pkg_name.replace(".", "_"))
+            user = GaugeMetricFamily("process_cpu_user_seconds_total", "")
+            user.add_metric([], float(raw_stats[11]) / self.ticks_per_sec)
+            yield user
 
+            sys = GaugeMetricFamily("process_cpu_system_seconds_total", "")
+            sys.add_metric([], float(raw_stats[12]) / self.ticks_per_sec)
+            yield sys
 
-def render_all():
-    strs = []
 
-    for collector in all_collectors:
-        collector()
+REGISTRY.register(CPUMetrics())
 
-    for metric in all_metrics:
-        try:
-            strs += metric.render()
-        except Exception:
-            strs += ["# FAILED to render"]
-            logger.exception("Failed to render metric")
+#
+# Python GC metrics
+#
+
+gc_unreachable = Gauge("python_gc_unreachable_total", "Unreachable GC objects", ["gen"])
+gc_time = Histogram(
+    "python_gc_time",
+    "Time taken to GC (sec)",
+    ["gen"],
+    buckets=[0.0025, 0.005, 0.01, 0.025, 0.05, 0.10, 0.25, 0.50, 1.00, 2.50,
+             5.00, 7.50, 15.00, 30.00, 45.00, 60.00],
+)
 
-    strs.append("")  # to generate a final CRLF
 
-    return "\n".join(strs)
+class GCCounts(object):
 
+    def collect(self):
+        cm = GaugeMetricFamily("python_gc_counts", "GC cycle counts", labels=["gen"])
+        for n, m in enumerate(gc.get_count()):
+            cm.add_metric([str(n)], m)
 
-register_process_collector(get_metrics_for("process"))
+        yield cm
 
 
-python_metrics = get_metrics_for("python")
+REGISTRY.register(GCCounts())
+
+#
+# Twisted reactor metrics
+#
 
-gc_time = python_metrics.register_distribution("gc_time", labels=["gen"])
-gc_unreachable = python_metrics.register_counter("gc_unreachable_total", labels=["gen"])
-python_metrics.register_callback(
-    "gc_counts", lambda: {(i,): v for i, v in enumerate(gc.get_count())}, labels=["gen"]
+tick_time = Histogram(
+    "python_twisted_reactor_tick_time",
+    "Tick time of the Twisted reactor (sec)",
+    buckets=[0.001, 0.002, 0.005, 0.01, 0.025, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 5],
+)
+pending_calls_metric = Histogram(
+    "python_twisted_reactor_pending_calls",
+    "Pending calls",
+    buckets=[1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500, 1000],
 )
 
-reactor_metrics = get_metrics_for("python.twisted.reactor")
-tick_time = reactor_metrics.register_distribution("tick_time")
-pending_calls_metric = reactor_metrics.register_distribution("pending_calls")
+#
+# Federation Metrics
+#
+
+sent_edus_counter = Counter("synapse_federation_client_sent_edus", "")
+
+sent_transactions_counter = Counter("synapse_federation_client_sent_transactions", "")
+
+events_processed_counter = Counter("synapse_federation_client_events_processed", "")
+
+# Used to track where various components have processed in the event stream,
+# e.g. federation sending, appservice sending, etc.
+event_processing_positions = Gauge("synapse_event_processing_positions", "", ["name"])
+
+# Used to track the current max events stream position
+event_persisted_position = Gauge("synapse_event_persisted_position", "")
+
+# Used to track the received_ts of the last event processed by various
+# components
+event_processing_last_ts = Gauge("synapse_event_processing_last_ts", "", ["name"])
+
+# Used to track the lag processing events. This is the time difference
+# between the last processed event's received_ts and the time it was
+# finished being processed.
+event_processing_lag = Gauge("synapse_event_processing_lag", "", ["name"])
 
 
 def runUntilCurrentTimer(func):
@@ -162,17 +202,20 @@ def runUntilCurrentTimer(func):
             num_pending += 1
 
         num_pending += len(reactor.threadCallQueue)
-        start = time.time() * 1000
+        start = time.time()
         ret = func(*args, **kwargs)
-        end = time.time() * 1000
+        end = time.time()
 
         # record the amount of wallclock time spent running pending calls.
         # This is a proxy for the actual amount of time between reactor polls,
         # since about 25% of time is actually spent running things triggered by
         # I/O events, but that is harder to capture without rewriting half the
         # reactor.
-        tick_time.inc_by(end - start)
-        pending_calls_metric.inc_by(num_pending)
+        tick_time.observe(end - start)
+        pending_calls_metric.observe(num_pending)
+
+        if running_on_pypy:
+            return ret
 
         # Check if we need to do a manual GC (since its been disabled), and do
         # one if necessary.
@@ -182,12 +225,12 @@ def runUntilCurrentTimer(func):
             if threshold[i] < counts[i]:
                 logger.info("Collecting gc %d", i)
 
-                start = time.time() * 1000
+                start = time.time()
                 unreachable = gc.collect(i)
-                end = time.time() * 1000
+                end = time.time()
 
-                gc_time.inc_by(end - start, i)
-                gc_unreachable.inc_by(unreachable, i)
+                gc_time.labels(i).observe(end - start)
+                gc_unreachable.labels(i).set(unreachable)
 
         return ret
 
@@ -206,6 +249,7 @@ try:
 
     # We manually run the GC each reactor tick so that we can get some metrics
     # about time spent doing GC,
-    gc.disable()
+    if not running_on_pypy:
+        gc.disable()
 except AttributeError:
     pass
diff --git a/synapse/metrics/metric.py b/synapse/metrics/metric.py
deleted file mode 100644
index ff5aa8c0e1..0000000000
--- a/synapse/metrics/metric.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,271 +0,0 @@
-# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-# Copyright 2015, 2016 OpenMarket Ltd
-#
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-
-from itertools import chain
-import logging
-
-logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
-
-
-def flatten(items):
-    """Flatten a list of lists
-
-    Args:
-        items: iterable[iterable[X]]
-
-    Returns:
-        list[X]: flattened list
-    """
-    return list(chain.from_iterable(items))
-
-
-class BaseMetric(object):
-    """Base class for metrics which report a single value per label set
-    """
-
-    def __init__(self, name, labels=[], alternative_names=[]):
-        """
-        Args:
-            name (str): principal name for this metric
-            labels (list(str)): names of the labels which will be reported
-                for this metric
-            alternative_names (iterable(str)): list of alternative names for
-                 this metric. This can be useful to provide a migration path
-                when renaming metrics.
-        """
-        self._names = [name] + list(alternative_names)
-        self.labels = labels  # OK not to clone as we never write it
-
-    def dimension(self):
-        return len(self.labels)
-
-    def is_scalar(self):
-        return not len(self.labels)
-
-    def _render_labelvalue(self, value):
-        # TODO: escape backslashes, quotes and newlines
-        return '"%s"' % (value)
-
-    def _render_key(self, values):
-        if self.is_scalar():
-            return ""
-        return "{%s}" % (
-            ",".join(["%s=%s" % (k, self._render_labelvalue(v))
-                      for k, v in zip(self.labels, values)])
-        )
-
-    def _render_for_labels(self, label_values, value):
-        """Render this metric for a single set of labels
-
-        Args:
-            label_values (list[str]): values for each of the labels
-            value: value of the metric at with these labels
-
-        Returns:
-            iterable[str]: rendered metric
-        """
-        rendered_labels = self._render_key(label_values)
-        return (
-            "%s%s %.12g" % (name, rendered_labels, value)
-            for name in self._names
-        )
-
-    def render(self):
-        """Render this metric
-
-        Each metric is rendered as:
-
-            name{label1="val1",label2="val2"} value
-
-        https://prometheus.io/docs/instrumenting/exposition_formats/#text-format-details
-
-        Returns:
-            iterable[str]: rendered metrics
-        """
-        raise NotImplementedError()
-
-
-class CounterMetric(BaseMetric):
-    """The simplest kind of metric; one that stores a monotonically-increasing
-    value that counts events or running totals.
-
-    Example use cases for Counters:
-    - Number of requests processed
-    - Number of items that were inserted into a queue
-    - Total amount of data that a system has processed
-    Counters can only go up (and be reset when the process restarts).
-    """
-
-    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        super(CounterMetric, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
-
-        # dict[list[str]]: value for each set of label values. the keys are the
-        # label values, in the same order as the labels in self.labels.
-        #
-        # (if the metric is a scalar, the (single) key is the empty list).
-        self.counts = {}
-
-        # Scalar metrics are never empty
-        if self.is_scalar():
-            self.counts[()] = 0.
-
-    def inc_by(self, incr, *values):
-        if len(values) != self.dimension():
-            raise ValueError(
-                "Expected as many values to inc() as labels (%d)" % (self.dimension())
-            )
-
-        # TODO: should assert that the tag values are all strings
-
-        if values not in self.counts:
-            self.counts[values] = incr
-        else:
-            self.counts[values] += incr
-
-    def inc(self, *values):
-        self.inc_by(1, *values)
-
-    def render(self):
-        return flatten(
-            self._render_for_labels(k, self.counts[k])
-            for k in sorted(self.counts.keys())
-        )
-
-
-class CallbackMetric(BaseMetric):
-    """A metric that returns the numeric value returned by a callback whenever
-    it is rendered. Typically this is used to implement gauges that yield the
-    size or other state of some in-memory object by actively querying it."""
-
-    def __init__(self, name, callback, labels=[]):
-        super(CallbackMetric, self).__init__(name, labels=labels)
-
-        self.callback = callback
-
-    def render(self):
-        try:
-            value = self.callback()
-        except Exception:
-            logger.exception("Failed to render %s", self.name)
-            return ["# FAILED to render " + self.name]
-
-        if self.is_scalar():
-            return list(self._render_for_labels([], value))
-
-        return flatten(
-            self._render_for_labels(k, value[k])
-            for k in sorted(value.keys())
-        )
-
-
-class DistributionMetric(object):
-    """A combination of an event counter and an accumulator, which counts
-    both the number of events and accumulates the total value. Typically this
-    could be used to keep track of method-running times, or other distributions
-    of values that occur in discrete occurances.
-
-    TODO(paul): Try to export some heatmap-style stats?
-    """
-
-    def __init__(self, name, *args, **kwargs):
-        self.counts = CounterMetric(name + ":count", **kwargs)
-        self.totals = CounterMetric(name + ":total", **kwargs)
-
-    def inc_by(self, inc, *values):
-        self.counts.inc(*values)
-        self.totals.inc_by(inc, *values)
-
-    def render(self):
-        return self.counts.render() + self.totals.render()
-
-
-class CacheMetric(object):
-    __slots__ = (
-        "name", "cache_name", "hits", "misses", "evicted_size", "size_callback",
-    )
-
-    def __init__(self, name, size_callback, cache_name):
-        self.name = name
-        self.cache_name = cache_name
-
-        self.hits = 0
-        self.misses = 0
-        self.evicted_size = 0
-
-        self.size_callback = size_callback
-
-    def inc_hits(self):
-        self.hits += 1
-
-    def inc_misses(self):
-        self.misses += 1
-
-    def inc_evictions(self, size=1):
-        self.evicted_size += size
-
-    def render(self):
-        size = self.size_callback()
-        hits = self.hits
-        total = self.misses + self.hits
-
-        return [
-            """%s:hits{name="%s"} %d""" % (self.name, self.cache_name, hits),
-            """%s:total{name="%s"} %d""" % (self.name, self.cache_name, total),
-            """%s:size{name="%s"} %d""" % (self.name, self.cache_name, size),
-            """%s:evicted_size{name="%s"} %d""" % (
-                self.name, self.cache_name, self.evicted_size
-            ),
-        ]
-
-
-class MemoryUsageMetric(object):
-    """Keeps track of the current memory usage, using psutil.
-
-    The class will keep the current min/max/sum/counts of rss over the last
-    WINDOW_SIZE_SEC, by polling UPDATE_HZ times per second
-    """
-
-    UPDATE_HZ = 2  # number of times to get memory per second
-    WINDOW_SIZE_SEC = 30  # the size of the window in seconds
-
-    def __init__(self, hs, psutil):
-        clock = hs.get_clock()
-        self.memory_snapshots = []
-
-        self.process = psutil.Process()
-
-        clock.looping_call(self._update_curr_values, 1000 / self.UPDATE_HZ)
-
-    def _update_curr_values(self):
-        max_size = self.UPDATE_HZ * self.WINDOW_SIZE_SEC
-        self.memory_snapshots.append(self.process.memory_info().rss)
-        self.memory_snapshots[:] = self.memory_snapshots[-max_size:]
-
-    def render(self):
-        if not self.memory_snapshots:
-            return []
-
-        max_rss = max(self.memory_snapshots)
-        min_rss = min(self.memory_snapshots)
-        sum_rss = sum(self.memory_snapshots)
-        len_rss = len(self.memory_snapshots)
-
-        return [
-            "process_psutil_rss:max %d" % max_rss,
-            "process_psutil_rss:min %d" % min_rss,
-            "process_psutil_rss:total %d" % sum_rss,
-            "process_psutil_rss:count %d" % len_rss,
-        ]
diff --git a/synapse/metrics/process_collector.py b/synapse/metrics/process_collector.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 6fec3de399..0000000000
--- a/synapse/metrics/process_collector.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,122 +0,0 @@
-# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-# Copyright 2015, 2016 OpenMarket Ltd
-#
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-import os
-
-
-TICKS_PER_SEC = 100
-BYTES_PER_PAGE = 4096
-
-HAVE_PROC_STAT = os.path.exists("/proc/stat")
-HAVE_PROC_SELF_STAT = os.path.exists("/proc/self/stat")
-HAVE_PROC_SELF_LIMITS = os.path.exists("/proc/self/limits")
-HAVE_PROC_SELF_FD = os.path.exists("/proc/self/fd")
-
-# Field indexes from /proc/self/stat, taken from the proc(5) manpage
-STAT_FIELDS = {
-    "utime": 14,
-    "stime": 15,
-    "starttime": 22,
-    "vsize": 23,
-    "rss": 24,
-}
-
-
-stats = {}
-
-# In order to report process_start_time_seconds we need to know the
-# machine's boot time, because the value in /proc/self/stat is relative to
-# this
-boot_time = None
-if HAVE_PROC_STAT:
-    with open("/proc/stat") as _procstat:
-        for line in _procstat:
-            if line.startswith("btime "):
-                boot_time = int(line.split()[1])
-
-
-def update_resource_metrics():
-    if HAVE_PROC_SELF_STAT:
-        global stats
-        with open("/proc/self/stat") as s:
-            line = s.read()
-            # line is PID (command) more stats go here ...
-            raw_stats = line.split(") ", 1)[1].split(" ")
-
-            for (name, index) in STAT_FIELDS.iteritems():
-                # subtract 3 from the index, because proc(5) is 1-based, and
-                # we've lost the first two fields in PID and COMMAND above
-                stats[name] = int(raw_stats[index - 3])
-
-
-def _count_fds():
-    # Not every OS will have a /proc/self/fd directory
-    if not HAVE_PROC_SELF_FD:
-        return 0
-
-    return len(os.listdir("/proc/self/fd"))
-
-
-def register_process_collector(process_metrics):
-    process_metrics.register_collector(update_resource_metrics)
-
-    if HAVE_PROC_SELF_STAT:
-        process_metrics.register_callback(
-            "cpu_user_seconds_total",
-            lambda: float(stats["utime"]) / TICKS_PER_SEC
-        )
-        process_metrics.register_callback(
-            "cpu_system_seconds_total",
-            lambda: float(stats["stime"]) / TICKS_PER_SEC
-        )
-        process_metrics.register_callback(
-            "cpu_seconds_total",
-            lambda: (float(stats["utime"] + stats["stime"])) / TICKS_PER_SEC
-        )
-
-        process_metrics.register_callback(
-            "virtual_memory_bytes",
-            lambda: int(stats["vsize"])
-        )
-        process_metrics.register_callback(
-            "resident_memory_bytes",
-            lambda: int(stats["rss"]) * BYTES_PER_PAGE
-        )
-
-        process_metrics.register_callback(
-            "start_time_seconds",
-            lambda: boot_time + int(stats["starttime"]) / TICKS_PER_SEC
-        )
-
-    if HAVE_PROC_SELF_FD:
-        process_metrics.register_callback(
-            "open_fds",
-            lambda: _count_fds()
-        )
-
-    if HAVE_PROC_SELF_LIMITS:
-        def _get_max_fds():
-            with open("/proc/self/limits") as limits:
-                for line in limits:
-                    if not line.startswith("Max open files "):
-                        continue
-                    # Line is  Max open files  $SOFT  $HARD
-                    return int(line.split()[3])
-            return None
-
-        process_metrics.register_callback(
-            "max_fds",
-            lambda: _get_max_fds()
-        )
diff --git a/synapse/metrics/resource.py b/synapse/metrics/resource.py
index 870f400600..7996e6ab66 100644
--- a/synapse/metrics/resource.py
+++ b/synapse/metrics/resource.py
@@ -13,27 +13,4 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-from twisted.web.resource import Resource
-
-import synapse.metrics
-
-
 METRICS_PREFIX = "/_synapse/metrics"
-
-
-class MetricsResource(Resource):
-    isLeaf = True
-
-    def __init__(self, hs):
-        Resource.__init__(self)  # Resource is old-style, so no super()
-
-        self.hs = hs
-
-    def render_GET(self, request):
-        response = synapse.metrics.render_all()
-
-        request.setHeader("Content-Type", "text/plain")
-        request.setHeader("Content-Length", str(len(response)))
-
-        # Encode as UTF-8 (default)
-        return response.encode()
diff --git a/synapse/notifier.py b/synapse/notifier.py
index ef042681bc..6dce20a284 100644
--- a/synapse/notifier.py
+++ b/synapse/notifier.py
@@ -14,33 +14,34 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 from twisted.internet import defer
+
 from synapse.api.constants import EventTypes, Membership
 from synapse.api.errors import AuthError
 from synapse.handlers.presence import format_user_presence_state
 
-from synapse.util import DeferredTimedOutError
 from synapse.util.logutils import log_function
-from synapse.util.async import ObservableDeferred
-from synapse.util.logcontext import PreserveLoggingContext, preserve_fn
+from synapse.util.async import (
+    ObservableDeferred, add_timeout_to_deferred,
+    DeferredTimeoutError,
+)
+from synapse.util.logcontext import PreserveLoggingContext, run_in_background
 from synapse.util.metrics import Measure
 from synapse.types import StreamToken
 from synapse.visibility import filter_events_for_client
-import synapse.metrics
+from synapse.metrics import LaterGauge
 
 from collections import namedtuple
+from prometheus_client import Counter
 
 import logging
 
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-metrics = synapse.metrics.get_metrics_for(__name__)
-
-notified_events_counter = metrics.register_counter("notified_events")
+notified_events_counter = Counter("synapse_notifier_notified_events", "")
 
-users_woken_by_stream_counter = metrics.register_counter(
-    "users_woken_by_stream", labels=["stream"]
-)
+users_woken_by_stream_counter = Counter(
+    "synapse_notifier_users_woken_by_stream", "", ["stream"])
 
 
 # TODO(paul): Should be shared somewhere
@@ -105,7 +106,7 @@ class _NotifierUserStream(object):
         self.last_notified_ms = time_now_ms
         noify_deferred = self.notify_deferred
 
-        users_woken_by_stream_counter.inc(stream_key)
+        users_woken_by_stream_counter.labels(stream_key).inc()
 
         with PreserveLoggingContext():
             self.notify_deferred = ObservableDeferred(defer.Deferred())
@@ -144,6 +145,7 @@ class _NotifierUserStream(object):
 class EventStreamResult(namedtuple("EventStreamResult", ("events", "tokens"))):
     def __nonzero__(self):
         return bool(self.events)
+    __bool__ = __nonzero__  # python3
 
 
 class Notifier(object):
@@ -193,14 +195,14 @@ class Notifier(object):
                 all_user_streams.add(x)
 
             return sum(stream.count_listeners() for stream in all_user_streams)
-        metrics.register_callback("listeners", count_listeners)
+        LaterGauge("synapse_notifier_listeners", "", [], count_listeners)
 
-        metrics.register_callback(
-            "rooms",
+        LaterGauge(
+            "synapse_notifier_rooms", "", [],
             lambda: count(bool, self.room_to_user_streams.values()),
         )
-        metrics.register_callback(
-            "users",
+        LaterGauge(
+            "synapse_notifier_users", "", [],
             lambda: len(self.user_to_user_stream),
         )
 
@@ -250,9 +252,7 @@ class Notifier(object):
     def _on_new_room_event(self, event, room_stream_id, extra_users=[]):
         """Notify any user streams that are interested in this room event"""
         # poke any interested application service.
-        preserve_fn(self.appservice_handler.notify_interested_services)(
-            room_stream_id
-        )
+        run_in_background(self._notify_app_services, room_stream_id)
 
         if self.federation_sender:
             self.federation_sender.notify_new_events(room_stream_id)
@@ -266,6 +266,13 @@ class Notifier(object):
             rooms=[event.room_id],
         )
 
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def _notify_app_services(self, room_stream_id):
+        try:
+            yield self.appservice_handler.notify_interested_services(room_stream_id)
+        except Exception:
+            logger.exception("Error notifying application services of event")
+
     def on_new_event(self, stream_key, new_token, users=[], rooms=[]):
         """ Used to inform listeners that something has happend event wise.
 
@@ -330,11 +337,12 @@ class Notifier(object):
                     # Now we wait for the _NotifierUserStream to be told there
                     # is a new token.
                     listener = user_stream.new_listener(prev_token)
+                    add_timeout_to_deferred(
+                        listener.deferred,
+                        (end_time - now) / 1000.,
+                    )
                     with PreserveLoggingContext():
-                        yield self.clock.time_bound_deferred(
-                            listener.deferred,
-                            time_out=(end_time - now) / 1000.
-                        )
+                        yield listener.deferred
 
                     current_token = user_stream.current_token
 
@@ -345,7 +353,7 @@ class Notifier(object):
                     # Update the prev_token to the current_token since nothing
                     # has happened between the old prev_token and the current_token
                     prev_token = current_token
-                except DeferredTimedOutError:
+                except DeferredTimeoutError:
                     break
                 except defer.CancelledError:
                     break
@@ -550,13 +558,14 @@ class Notifier(object):
             if end_time <= now:
                 break
 
+            add_timeout_to_deferred(
+                listener.deferred.addTimeout,
+                (end_time - now) / 1000.,
+            )
             try:
                 with PreserveLoggingContext():
-                    yield self.clock.time_bound_deferred(
-                        listener.deferred,
-                        time_out=(end_time - now) / 1000.
-                    )
-            except DeferredTimedOutError:
+                    yield listener.deferred
+            except DeferredTimeoutError:
                 break
             except defer.CancelledError:
                 break
diff --git a/synapse/push/bulk_push_rule_evaluator.py b/synapse/push/bulk_push_rule_evaluator.py
index 7c680659b6..a5cab1f043 100644
--- a/synapse/push/bulk_push_rule_evaluator.py
+++ b/synapse/push/bulk_push_rule_evaluator.py
@@ -22,35 +22,32 @@ from .push_rule_evaluator import PushRuleEvaluatorForEvent
 
 from synapse.event_auth import get_user_power_level
 from synapse.api.constants import EventTypes, Membership
-from synapse.metrics import get_metrics_for
-from synapse.util.caches import metrics as cache_metrics
+from synapse.util.caches import register_cache
 from synapse.util.caches.descriptors import cached
 from synapse.util.async import Linearizer
 from synapse.state import POWER_KEY
 
 from collections import namedtuple
-
+from prometheus_client import Counter
+from six import itervalues, iteritems
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
 rules_by_room = {}
 
-push_metrics = get_metrics_for(__name__)
 
-push_rules_invalidation_counter = push_metrics.register_counter(
-    "push_rules_invalidation_counter"
-)
-push_rules_state_size_counter = push_metrics.register_counter(
-    "push_rules_state_size_counter"
-)
+push_rules_invalidation_counter = Counter(
+    "synapse_push_bulk_push_rule_evaluator_push_rules_invalidation_counter", "")
+push_rules_state_size_counter = Counter(
+    "synapse_push_bulk_push_rule_evaluator_push_rules_state_size_counter", "")
 
 # Measures whether we use the fast path of using state deltas, or if we have to
 # recalculate from scratch
-push_rules_delta_state_cache_metric = cache_metrics.register_cache(
+push_rules_delta_state_cache_metric = register_cache(
     "cache",
-    size_callback=lambda: 0,  # Meaningless size, as this isn't a cache that stores values
-    cache_name="push_rules_delta_state_cache_metric",
+    "push_rules_delta_state_cache_metric",
+    cache=[],  # Meaningless size, as this isn't a cache that stores values
 )
 
 
@@ -64,10 +61,10 @@ class BulkPushRuleEvaluator(object):
         self.store = hs.get_datastore()
         self.auth = hs.get_auth()
 
-        self.room_push_rule_cache_metrics = cache_metrics.register_cache(
+        self.room_push_rule_cache_metrics = register_cache(
             "cache",
-            size_callback=lambda: 0,  # There's not good value for this
-            cache_name="room_push_rule_cache",
+            "room_push_rule_cache",
+            cache=[],  # Meaningless size, as this isn't a cache that stores values
         )
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
@@ -126,7 +123,7 @@ class BulkPushRuleEvaluator(object):
             )
             auth_events = yield self.store.get_events(auth_events_ids)
             auth_events = {
-                (e.type, e.state_key): e for e in auth_events.itervalues()
+                (e.type, e.state_key): e for e in itervalues(auth_events)
             }
 
         sender_level = get_user_power_level(event.sender, auth_events)
@@ -160,7 +157,7 @@ class BulkPushRuleEvaluator(object):
 
         condition_cache = {}
 
-        for uid, rules in rules_by_user.iteritems():
+        for uid, rules in iteritems(rules_by_user):
             if event.sender == uid:
                 continue
 
@@ -309,7 +306,7 @@ class RulesForRoom(object):
                 current_state_ids = context.current_state_ids
                 push_rules_delta_state_cache_metric.inc_misses()
 
-            push_rules_state_size_counter.inc_by(len(current_state_ids))
+            push_rules_state_size_counter.inc(len(current_state_ids))
 
             logger.debug(
                 "Looking for member changes in %r %r", state_group, current_state_ids
@@ -406,7 +403,7 @@ class RulesForRoom(object):
         # If the event is a join event then it will be in current state evnts
         # map but not in the DB, so we have to explicitly insert it.
         if event.type == EventTypes.Member:
-            for event_id in member_event_ids.itervalues():
+            for event_id in itervalues(member_event_ids):
                 if event_id == event.event_id:
                     members[event_id] = (event.state_key, event.membership)
 
@@ -414,7 +411,7 @@ class RulesForRoom(object):
             logger.debug("Found members %r: %r", self.room_id, members.values())
 
         interested_in_user_ids = set(
-            user_id for user_id, membership in members.itervalues()
+            user_id for user_id, membership in itervalues(members)
             if membership == Membership.JOIN
         )
 
@@ -426,7 +423,7 @@ class RulesForRoom(object):
         )
 
         user_ids = set(
-            uid for uid, have_pusher in if_users_with_pushers.iteritems() if have_pusher
+            uid for uid, have_pusher in iteritems(if_users_with_pushers) if have_pusher
         )
 
         logger.debug("With pushers: %r", user_ids)
@@ -447,7 +444,7 @@ class RulesForRoom(object):
         )
 
         ret_rules_by_user.update(
-            item for item in rules_by_user.iteritems() if item[0] is not None
+            item for item in iteritems(rules_by_user) if item[0] is not None
         )
 
         self.update_cache(sequence, members, ret_rules_by_user, state_group)
diff --git a/synapse/push/emailpusher.py b/synapse/push/emailpusher.py
index 58df98a793..ba7286cb72 100644
--- a/synapse/push/emailpusher.py
+++ b/synapse/push/emailpusher.py
@@ -77,10 +77,13 @@ class EmailPusher(object):
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def on_started(self):
         if self.mailer is not None:
-            self.throttle_params = yield self.store.get_throttle_params_by_room(
-                self.pusher_id
-            )
-            yield self._process()
+            try:
+                self.throttle_params = yield self.store.get_throttle_params_by_room(
+                    self.pusher_id
+                )
+                yield self._process()
+            except Exception:
+                logger.exception("Error starting email pusher")
 
     def on_stop(self):
         if self.timed_call:
diff --git a/synapse/push/httppusher.py b/synapse/push/httppusher.py
index 2cbac571b8..bf7ff74a1a 100644
--- a/synapse/push/httppusher.py
+++ b/synapse/push/httppusher.py
@@ -18,24 +18,19 @@ import logging
 from twisted.internet import defer, reactor
 from twisted.internet.error import AlreadyCalled, AlreadyCancelled
 
-import push_rule_evaluator
-import push_tools
-import synapse
+from . import push_rule_evaluator
+from . import push_tools
 from synapse.push import PusherConfigException
 from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext
 from synapse.util.metrics import Measure
 
-logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+from prometheus_client import Counter
 
-metrics = synapse.metrics.get_metrics_for(__name__)
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-http_push_processed_counter = metrics.register_counter(
-    "http_pushes_processed",
-)
+http_push_processed_counter = Counter("synapse_http_httppusher_http_pushes_processed", "")
 
-http_push_failed_counter = metrics.register_counter(
-    "http_pushes_failed",
-)
+http_push_failed_counter = Counter("synapse_http_httppusher_http_pushes_failed", "")
 
 
 class HttpPusher(object):
@@ -94,7 +89,10 @@ class HttpPusher(object):
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def on_started(self):
-        yield self._process()
+        try:
+            yield self._process()
+        except Exception:
+            logger.exception("Error starting http pusher")
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def on_new_notifications(self, min_stream_ordering, max_stream_ordering):
diff --git a/synapse/push/push_rule_evaluator.py b/synapse/push/push_rule_evaluator.py
index 3601f2d365..cf735f7468 100644
--- a/synapse/push/push_rule_evaluator.py
+++ b/synapse/push/push_rule_evaluator.py
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ from synapse.types import UserID
 from synapse.util.caches import CACHE_SIZE_FACTOR, register_cache
 from synapse.util.caches.lrucache import LruCache
 
+from six import string_types
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
@@ -150,7 +152,7 @@ class PushRuleEvaluatorForEvent(object):
 
 # Caches (glob, word_boundary) -> regex for push. See _glob_matches
 regex_cache = LruCache(50000 * CACHE_SIZE_FACTOR)
-register_cache("regex_push_cache", regex_cache)
+register_cache("cache", "regex_push_cache", regex_cache)
 
 
 def _glob_matches(glob, value, word_boundary=False):
@@ -238,7 +240,7 @@ def _flatten_dict(d, prefix=[], result=None):
     if result is None:
         result = {}
     for key, value in d.items():
-        if isinstance(value, basestring):
+        if isinstance(value, string_types):
             result[".".join(prefix + [key])] = value.lower()
         elif hasattr(value, "items"):
             _flatten_dict(value, prefix=(prefix + [key]), result=result)
diff --git a/synapse/push/pusher.py b/synapse/push/pusher.py
index 71576330a9..5aa6667e91 100644
--- a/synapse/push/pusher.py
+++ b/synapse/push/pusher.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-from httppusher import HttpPusher
+from .httppusher import HttpPusher
 
 import logging
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
diff --git a/synapse/push/pusherpool.py b/synapse/push/pusherpool.py
index 134e89b371..750d11ca38 100644
--- a/synapse/push/pusherpool.py
+++ b/synapse/push/pusherpool.py
@@ -14,13 +14,13 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
+import logging
+
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
-from .pusher import PusherFactory
-from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable, preserve_fn
+from synapse.push.pusher import PusherFactory
 from synapse.util.async import run_on_reactor
-
-import logging
+from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable, run_in_background
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -137,12 +137,15 @@ class PusherPool:
                 if u in self.pushers:
                     for p in self.pushers[u].values():
                         deferreds.append(
-                            preserve_fn(p.on_new_notifications)(
-                                min_stream_id, max_stream_id
+                            run_in_background(
+                                p.on_new_notifications,
+                                min_stream_id, max_stream_id,
                             )
                         )
 
-            yield make_deferred_yieldable(defer.gatherResults(deferreds))
+            yield make_deferred_yieldable(
+                defer.gatherResults(deferreds, consumeErrors=True),
+            )
         except Exception:
             logger.exception("Exception in pusher on_new_notifications")
 
@@ -164,10 +167,15 @@ class PusherPool:
                 if u in self.pushers:
                     for p in self.pushers[u].values():
                         deferreds.append(
-                            preserve_fn(p.on_new_receipts)(min_stream_id, max_stream_id)
+                            run_in_background(
+                                p.on_new_receipts,
+                                min_stream_id, max_stream_id,
+                            )
                         )
 
-            yield make_deferred_yieldable(defer.gatherResults(deferreds))
+            yield make_deferred_yieldable(
+                defer.gatherResults(deferreds, consumeErrors=True),
+            )
         except Exception:
             logger.exception("Exception in pusher on_new_receipts")
 
@@ -207,7 +215,7 @@ class PusherPool:
                 if appid_pushkey in byuser:
                     byuser[appid_pushkey].on_stop()
                 byuser[appid_pushkey] = p
-                preserve_fn(p.on_started)()
+                run_in_background(p.on_started)
 
         logger.info("Started pushers")
 
diff --git a/synapse/python_dependencies.py b/synapse/python_dependencies.py
index 91179ce532..478c497722 100644
--- a/synapse/python_dependencies.py
+++ b/synapse/python_dependencies.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # Copyright 2015, 2016 OpenMarket Ltd
 # Copyright 2017 Vector Creations Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -18,28 +19,44 @@ from distutils.version import LooseVersion
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
+# this dict maps from python package name to a list of modules we expect it to
+# provide.
+#
+# the key is a "requirement specifier", as used as a parameter to `pip
+# install`[1], or an `install_requires` argument to `setuptools.setup` [2].
+#
+# the value is a sequence of strings; each entry should be the name of the
+# python module, optionally followed by a version assertion which can be either
+# ">=<ver>" or "==<ver>".
+#
+# [1] https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/reference/pip_install/#requirement-specifiers.
+# [2] https://setuptools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/setuptools.html#declaring-dependencies
 REQUIREMENTS = {
     "jsonschema>=2.5.1": ["jsonschema>=2.5.1"],
     "frozendict>=0.4": ["frozendict"],
     "unpaddedbase64>=1.1.0": ["unpaddedbase64>=1.1.0"],
-    "canonicaljson>=1.0.0": ["canonicaljson>=1.0.0"],
+    "canonicaljson>=1.1.3": ["canonicaljson>=1.1.3"],
     "signedjson>=1.0.0": ["signedjson>=1.0.0"],
     "pynacl>=1.2.1": ["nacl>=1.2.1", "nacl.bindings"],
     "service_identity>=1.0.0": ["service_identity>=1.0.0"],
     "Twisted>=16.0.0": ["twisted>=16.0.0"],
-    "pyopenssl>=0.14": ["OpenSSL>=0.14"],
+
+    # We use crypto.get_elliptic_curve which is only supported in >=0.15
+    "pyopenssl>=0.15": ["OpenSSL>=0.15"],
+
     "pyyaml": ["yaml"],
     "pyasn1": ["pyasn1"],
     "daemonize": ["daemonize"],
     "bcrypt": ["bcrypt>=3.1.0"],
     "pillow": ["PIL"],
     "pydenticon": ["pydenticon"],
-    "ujson": ["ujson"],
     "blist": ["blist"],
     "pysaml2>=3.0.0": ["saml2>=3.0.0"],
     "pymacaroons-pynacl": ["pymacaroons"],
     "msgpack-python>=0.3.0": ["msgpack"],
     "phonenumbers>=8.2.0": ["phonenumbers"],
+    "six": ["six"],
+    "prometheus_client": ["prometheus_client"],
 }
 CONDITIONAL_REQUIREMENTS = {
     "web_client": {
diff --git a/synapse/replication/http/send_event.py b/synapse/replication/http/send_event.py
index bbe2f967b7..a9baa2c1c3 100644
--- a/synapse/replication/http/send_event.py
+++ b/synapse/replication/http/send_event.py
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ from synapse.events.snapshot import EventContext
 from synapse.http.servlet import RestServlet, parse_json_object_from_request
 from synapse.util.async import sleep
 from synapse.util.caches.response_cache import ResponseCache
-from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable, preserve_fn
 from synapse.util.metrics import Measure
 from synapse.types import Requester, UserID
 
@@ -115,20 +114,15 @@ class ReplicationSendEventRestServlet(RestServlet):
         self.clock = hs.get_clock()
 
         # The responses are tiny, so we may as well cache them for a while
-        self.response_cache = ResponseCache(hs, timeout_ms=30 * 60 * 1000)
+        self.response_cache = ResponseCache(hs, "send_event", timeout_ms=30 * 60 * 1000)
 
     def on_PUT(self, request, event_id):
-        result = self.response_cache.get(event_id)
-        if not result:
-            result = self.response_cache.set(
-                event_id,
-                self._handle_request(request)
-            )
-        else:
-            logger.warn("Returning cached response")
-        return make_deferred_yieldable(result)
-
-    @preserve_fn
+        return self.response_cache.wrap(
+            event_id,
+            self._handle_request,
+            request
+        )
+
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _handle_request(self, request):
         with Measure(self.clock, "repl_send_event_parse"):
diff --git a/synapse/replication/tcp/commands.py b/synapse/replication/tcp/commands.py
index 171227cce2..12aac3cc6b 100644
--- a/synapse/replication/tcp/commands.py
+++ b/synapse/replication/tcp/commands.py
@@ -19,11 +19,13 @@ allowed to be sent by which side.
 """
 
 import logging
-import ujson as json
+import simplejson
 
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
+_json_encoder = simplejson.JSONEncoder(namedtuple_as_object=False)
+
 
 class Command(object):
     """The base command class.
@@ -100,14 +102,14 @@ class RdataCommand(Command):
         return cls(
             stream_name,
             None if token == "batch" else int(token),
-            json.loads(row_json)
+            simplejson.loads(row_json)
         )
 
     def to_line(self):
         return " ".join((
             self.stream_name,
             str(self.token) if self.token is not None else "batch",
-            json.dumps(self.row),
+            _json_encoder.encode(self.row),
         ))
 
 
@@ -298,10 +300,12 @@ class InvalidateCacheCommand(Command):
     def from_line(cls, line):
         cache_func, keys_json = line.split(" ", 1)
 
-        return cls(cache_func, json.loads(keys_json))
+        return cls(cache_func, simplejson.loads(keys_json))
 
     def to_line(self):
-        return " ".join((self.cache_func, json.dumps(self.keys)))
+        return " ".join((
+            self.cache_func, _json_encoder.encode(self.keys),
+        ))
 
 
 class UserIpCommand(Command):
@@ -325,14 +329,14 @@ class UserIpCommand(Command):
     def from_line(cls, line):
         user_id, jsn = line.split(" ", 1)
 
-        access_token, ip, user_agent, device_id, last_seen = json.loads(jsn)
+        access_token, ip, user_agent, device_id, last_seen = simplejson.loads(jsn)
 
         return cls(
             user_id, access_token, ip, user_agent, device_id, last_seen
         )
 
     def to_line(self):
-        return self.user_id + " " + json.dumps((
+        return self.user_id + " " + _json_encoder.encode((
             self.access_token, self.ip, self.user_agent, self.device_id,
             self.last_seen,
         ))
diff --git a/synapse/replication/tcp/protocol.py b/synapse/replication/tcp/protocol.py
index 0a9a290af4..a6280aae70 100644
--- a/synapse/replication/tcp/protocol.py
+++ b/synapse/replication/tcp/protocol.py
@@ -53,28 +53,28 @@ from twisted.internet import defer
 from twisted.protocols.basic import LineOnlyReceiver
 from twisted.python.failure import Failure
 
-from commands import (
+from .commands import (
     COMMAND_MAP, VALID_CLIENT_COMMANDS, VALID_SERVER_COMMANDS,
     ErrorCommand, ServerCommand, RdataCommand, PositionCommand, PingCommand,
     NameCommand, ReplicateCommand, UserSyncCommand, SyncCommand,
 )
-from streams import STREAMS_MAP
+from .streams import STREAMS_MAP
 
+from synapse.metrics import LaterGauge
 from synapse.util.stringutils import random_string
-from synapse.metrics.metric import CounterMetric
 
-import logging
-import synapse.metrics
-import struct
-import fcntl
+from prometheus_client import Counter
 
+from collections import defaultdict
 
-metrics = synapse.metrics.get_metrics_for(__name__)
+from six import iterkeys, iteritems
 
-connection_close_counter = metrics.register_counter(
-    "close_reason", labels=["reason_type"],
-)
+import logging
+import struct
+import fcntl
 
+connection_close_counter = Counter(
+    "synapse_replication_tcp_protocol_close_reason", "", ["reason_type"])
 
 # A list of all connected protocols. This allows us to send metrics about the
 # connections.
@@ -136,12 +136,8 @@ class BaseReplicationStreamProtocol(LineOnlyReceiver):
         # The LoopingCall for sending pings.
         self._send_ping_loop = None
 
-        self.inbound_commands_counter = CounterMetric(
-            "inbound_commands", labels=["command"],
-        )
-        self.outbound_commands_counter = CounterMetric(
-            "outbound_commands", labels=["command"],
-        )
+        self.inbound_commands_counter = defaultdict(int)
+        self.outbound_commands_counter = defaultdict(int)
 
     def connectionMade(self):
         logger.info("[%s] Connection established", self.id())
@@ -201,7 +197,8 @@ class BaseReplicationStreamProtocol(LineOnlyReceiver):
 
         self.last_received_command = self.clock.time_msec()
 
-        self.inbound_commands_counter.inc(cmd_name)
+        self.inbound_commands_counter[cmd_name] = (
+            self.inbound_commands_counter[cmd_name] + 1)
 
         cmd_cls = COMMAND_MAP[cmd_name]
         try:
@@ -251,8 +248,8 @@ class BaseReplicationStreamProtocol(LineOnlyReceiver):
             self._queue_command(cmd)
             return
 
-        self.outbound_commands_counter.inc(cmd.NAME)
-
+        self.outbound_commands_counter[cmd.NAME] = (
+            self.outbound_commands_counter[cmd.NAME] + 1)
         string = "%s %s" % (cmd.NAME, cmd.to_line(),)
         if "\n" in string:
             raise Exception("Unexpected newline in command: %r", string)
@@ -317,9 +314,9 @@ class BaseReplicationStreamProtocol(LineOnlyReceiver):
     def connectionLost(self, reason):
         logger.info("[%s] Replication connection closed: %r", self.id(), reason)
         if isinstance(reason, Failure):
-            connection_close_counter.inc(reason.type.__name__)
+            connection_close_counter.labels(reason.type.__name__).inc()
         else:
-            connection_close_counter.inc(reason.__class__.__name__)
+            connection_close_counter.labels(reason.__class__.__name__).inc()
 
         try:
             # Remove us from list of connections to be monitored
@@ -392,7 +389,7 @@ class ServerReplicationStreamProtocol(BaseReplicationStreamProtocol):
 
         if stream_name == "ALL":
             # Subscribe to all streams we're publishing to.
-            for stream in self.streamer.streams_by_name.iterkeys():
+            for stream in iterkeys(self.streamer.streams_by_name):
                 self.subscribe_to_stream(stream, token)
         else:
             self.subscribe_to_stream(stream_name, token)
@@ -498,7 +495,7 @@ class ClientReplicationStreamProtocol(BaseReplicationStreamProtocol):
         BaseReplicationStreamProtocol.connectionMade(self)
 
         # Once we've connected subscribe to the necessary streams
-        for stream_name, token in self.handler.get_streams_to_replicate().iteritems():
+        for stream_name, token in iteritems(self.handler.get_streams_to_replicate()):
             self.replicate(stream_name, token)
 
         # Tell the server if we have any users currently syncing (should only
@@ -518,7 +515,7 @@ class ClientReplicationStreamProtocol(BaseReplicationStreamProtocol):
 
     def on_RDATA(self, cmd):
         stream_name = cmd.stream_name
-        inbound_rdata_count.inc(stream_name)
+        inbound_rdata_count.labels(stream_name).inc()
 
         try:
             row = STREAMS_MAP[stream_name].ROW_TYPE(*cmd.row)
@@ -566,14 +563,12 @@ class ClientReplicationStreamProtocol(BaseReplicationStreamProtocol):
 
 # The following simply registers metrics for the replication connections
 
-metrics.register_callback(
-    "pending_commands",
+pending_commands = LaterGauge(
+    "pending_commands", "", ["name", "conn_id"],
     lambda: {
         (p.name, p.conn_id): len(p.pending_commands)
         for p in connected_connections
-    },
-    labels=["name", "conn_id"],
-)
+    })
 
 
 def transport_buffer_size(protocol):
@@ -583,14 +578,12 @@ def transport_buffer_size(protocol):
     return 0
 
 
-metrics.register_callback(
-    "transport_send_buffer",
+transport_send_buffer = LaterGauge(
+    "synapse_replication_tcp_transport_send_buffer", "", ["name", "conn_id"],
     lambda: {
         (p.name, p.conn_id): transport_buffer_size(p)
         for p in connected_connections
-    },
-    labels=["name", "conn_id"],
-)
+    })
 
 
 def transport_kernel_read_buffer_size(protocol, read=True):
@@ -608,48 +601,38 @@ def transport_kernel_read_buffer_size(protocol, read=True):
     return 0
 
 
-metrics.register_callback(
-    "transport_kernel_send_buffer",
+tcp_transport_kernel_send_buffer = LaterGauge(
+    "synapse_replication_tcp_transport_kernel_send_buffer", "", ["name", "conn_id"],
     lambda: {
         (p.name, p.conn_id): transport_kernel_read_buffer_size(p, False)
         for p in connected_connections
-    },
-    labels=["name", "conn_id"],
-)
+    })
 
 
-metrics.register_callback(
-    "transport_kernel_read_buffer",
+tcp_transport_kernel_read_buffer = LaterGauge(
+    "synapse_replication_tcp_transport_kernel_read_buffer", "", ["name", "conn_id"],
     lambda: {
         (p.name, p.conn_id): transport_kernel_read_buffer_size(p, True)
         for p in connected_connections
-    },
-    labels=["name", "conn_id"],
-)
+    })
 
 
-metrics.register_callback(
-    "inbound_commands",
+tcp_inbound_commands = LaterGauge(
+    "synapse_replication_tcp_inbound_commands", "", ["command", "name", "conn_id"],
     lambda: {
         (k[0], p.name, p.conn_id): count
         for p in connected_connections
-        for k, count in p.inbound_commands_counter.counts.iteritems()
-    },
-    labels=["command", "name", "conn_id"],
-)
+        for k, count in iteritems(p.inbound_commands_counter.counts)
+    })
 
-metrics.register_callback(
-    "outbound_commands",
+tcp_outbound_commands = LaterGauge(
+    "synapse_replication_tcp_outbound_commands", "", ["command", "name", "conn_id"],
     lambda: {
         (k[0], p.name, p.conn_id): count
         for p in connected_connections
-        for k, count in p.outbound_commands_counter.counts.iteritems()
-    },
-    labels=["command", "name", "conn_id"],
-)
+        for k, count in iteritems(p.outbound_commands_counter.counts)
+    })
 
 # number of updates received for each RDATA stream
-inbound_rdata_count = metrics.register_counter(
-    "inbound_rdata_count",
-    labels=["stream_name"],
-)
+inbound_rdata_count = Counter("synapse_replication_tcp_inbound_rdata_count", "",
+                              ["stream_name"])
diff --git a/synapse/replication/tcp/resource.py b/synapse/replication/tcp/resource.py
index 786c3fe864..63bd6d2652 100644
--- a/synapse/replication/tcp/resource.py
+++ b/synapse/replication/tcp/resource.py
@@ -18,24 +18,25 @@
 from twisted.internet import defer, reactor
 from twisted.internet.protocol import Factory
 
-from streams import STREAMS_MAP, FederationStream
-from protocol import ServerReplicationStreamProtocol
+from .streams import STREAMS_MAP, FederationStream
+from .protocol import ServerReplicationStreamProtocol
 
 from synapse.util.metrics import Measure, measure_func
+from synapse.metrics import LaterGauge
 
 import logging
-import synapse.metrics
 
+from prometheus_client import Counter
+from six import itervalues
 
-metrics = synapse.metrics.get_metrics_for(__name__)
-stream_updates_counter = metrics.register_counter(
-    "stream_updates", labels=["stream_name"]
-)
-user_sync_counter = metrics.register_counter("user_sync")
-federation_ack_counter = metrics.register_counter("federation_ack")
-remove_pusher_counter = metrics.register_counter("remove_pusher")
-invalidate_cache_counter = metrics.register_counter("invalidate_cache")
-user_ip_cache_counter = metrics.register_counter("user_ip_cache")
+stream_updates_counter = Counter("synapse_replication_tcp_resource_stream_updates",
+                                 "", ["stream_name"])
+user_sync_counter = Counter("synapse_replication_tcp_resource_user_sync", "")
+federation_ack_counter = Counter("synapse_replication_tcp_resource_federation_ack", "")
+remove_pusher_counter = Counter("synapse_replication_tcp_resource_remove_pusher", "")
+invalidate_cache_counter = Counter("synapse_replication_tcp_resource_invalidate_cache",
+                                   "")
+user_ip_cache_counter = Counter("synapse_replication_tcp_resource_user_ip_cache", "")
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -69,33 +70,34 @@ class ReplicationStreamer(object):
         self.presence_handler = hs.get_presence_handler()
         self.clock = hs.get_clock()
         self.notifier = hs.get_notifier()
+        self._server_notices_sender = hs.get_server_notices_sender()
 
         # Current connections.
         self.connections = []
 
-        metrics.register_callback("total_connections", lambda: len(self.connections))
+        LaterGauge("synapse_replication_tcp_resource_total_connections", "", [],
+                   lambda: len(self.connections))
 
         # List of streams that clients can subscribe to.
         # We only support federation stream if federation sending hase been
         # disabled on the master.
         self.streams = [
-            stream(hs) for stream in STREAMS_MAP.itervalues()
+            stream(hs) for stream in itervalues(STREAMS_MAP)
             if stream != FederationStream or not hs.config.send_federation
         ]
 
         self.streams_by_name = {stream.NAME: stream for stream in self.streams}
 
-        metrics.register_callback(
-            "connections_per_stream",
+        LaterGauge(
+            "synapse_replication_tcp_resource_connections_per_stream", "",
+            ["stream_name"],
             lambda: {
                 (stream_name,): len([
                     conn for conn in self.connections
                     if stream_name in conn.replication_streams
                 ])
                 for stream_name in self.streams_by_name
-            },
-            labels=["stream_name"],
-        )
+            })
 
         self.federation_sender = None
         if not hs.config.send_federation:
@@ -175,7 +177,7 @@ class ReplicationStreamer(object):
                             logger.info(
                                 "Streaming: %s -> %s", stream.NAME, updates[-1][0]
                             )
-                            stream_updates_counter.inc_by(len(updates), stream.NAME)
+                            stream_updates_counter.labels(stream.NAME).inc(len(updates))
 
                         # Some streams return multiple rows with the same stream IDs,
                         # we need to make sure they get sent out in batches. We do
@@ -253,6 +255,7 @@ class ReplicationStreamer(object):
         yield self.store.insert_client_ip(
             user_id, access_token, ip, user_agent, device_id, last_seen,
         )
+        yield self._server_notices_sender.on_user_ip(user_id)
 
     def send_sync_to_all_connections(self, data):
         """Sends a SYNC command to all clients.
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/transactions.py b/synapse/rest/client/transactions.py
index fceca2edeb..20fa6678ef 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/transactions.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/transactions.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import logging
 
 from synapse.api.auth import get_access_token_from_request
 from synapse.util.async import ObservableDeferred
+from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable, run_in_background
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -80,27 +81,26 @@ class HttpTransactionCache(object):
         Returns:
             Deferred which resolves to a tuple of (response_code, response_dict).
         """
-        try:
-            return self.transactions[txn_key][0].observe()
-        except (KeyError, IndexError):
-            pass  # execute the function instead.
-
-        deferred = fn(*args, **kwargs)
-
-        # if the request fails with a Twisted failure, remove it
-        # from the transaction map. This is done to ensure that we don't
-        # cache transient errors like rate-limiting errors, etc.
-        def remove_from_map(err):
-            self.transactions.pop(txn_key, None)
-            return err
-        deferred.addErrback(remove_from_map)
-
-        # We don't add any other errbacks to the raw deferred, so we ask
-        # ObservableDeferred to swallow the error. This is fine as the error will
-        # still be reported to the observers.
-        observable = ObservableDeferred(deferred, consumeErrors=True)
-        self.transactions[txn_key] = (observable, self.clock.time_msec())
-        return observable.observe()
+        if txn_key in self.transactions:
+            observable = self.transactions[txn_key][0]
+        else:
+            # execute the function instead.
+            deferred = run_in_background(fn, *args, **kwargs)
+
+            observable = ObservableDeferred(deferred)
+            self.transactions[txn_key] = (observable, self.clock.time_msec())
+
+            # if the request fails with an exception, remove it
+            # from the transaction map. This is done to ensure that we don't
+            # cache transient errors like rate-limiting errors, etc.
+            def remove_from_map(err):
+                self.transactions.pop(txn_key, None)
+                # we deliberately do not propagate the error any further, as we
+                # expect the observers to have reported it.
+
+            deferred.addErrback(remove_from_map)
+
+        return make_deferred_yieldable(observable.observe())
 
     def _cleanup(self):
         now = self.clock.time_msec()
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v1/admin.py b/synapse/rest/client/v1/admin.py
index 303419d281..6835a7bba2 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v1/admin.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v1/admin.py
@@ -151,10 +151,11 @@ class PurgeHistoryRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
             if event.room_id != room_id:
                 raise SynapseError(400, "Event is for wrong room.")
 
-            depth = event.depth
+            token = yield self.store.get_topological_token_for_event(event_id)
+
             logger.info(
-                "[purge] purging up to depth %i (event_id %s)",
-                depth, event_id,
+                "[purge] purging up to token %s (event_id %s)",
+                token, event_id,
             )
         elif 'purge_up_to_ts' in body:
             ts = body['purge_up_to_ts']
@@ -168,15 +169,30 @@ class PurgeHistoryRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
                 yield self.store.find_first_stream_ordering_after_ts(ts)
             )
 
-            (_, depth, _) = (
+            room_event_after_stream_ordering = (
                 yield self.store.get_room_event_after_stream_ordering(
                     room_id, stream_ordering,
                 )
             )
+            if room_event_after_stream_ordering:
+                token = yield self.store.get_topological_token_for_event(
+                    room_event_after_stream_ordering,
+                )
+            else:
+                logger.warn(
+                    "[purge] purging events not possible: No event found "
+                    "(received_ts %i => stream_ordering %i)",
+                    ts, stream_ordering,
+                )
+                raise SynapseError(
+                    404,
+                    "there is no event to be purged",
+                    errcode=Codes.NOT_FOUND,
+                )
             logger.info(
-                "[purge] purging up to depth %i (received_ts %i => "
+                "[purge] purging up to token %d (received_ts %i => "
                 "stream_ordering %i)",
-                depth, ts, stream_ordering,
+                token, ts, stream_ordering,
             )
         else:
             raise SynapseError(
@@ -186,7 +202,7 @@ class PurgeHistoryRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
             )
 
         purge_id = yield self.handlers.message_handler.start_purge_history(
-            room_id, depth,
+            room_id, token,
             delete_local_events=delete_local_events,
         )
 
@@ -260,8 +276,8 @@ class ShutdownRoomRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
     def __init__(self, hs):
         super(ShutdownRoomRestServlet, self).__init__(hs)
         self.store = hs.get_datastore()
-        self.handlers = hs.get_handlers()
         self.state = hs.get_state_handler()
+        self._room_creation_handler = hs.get_room_creation_handler()
         self.event_creation_handler = hs.get_event_creation_handler()
         self.room_member_handler = hs.get_room_member_handler()
 
@@ -283,7 +299,7 @@ class ShutdownRoomRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
         message = content.get("message", self.DEFAULT_MESSAGE)
         room_name = content.get("room_name", "Content Violation Notification")
 
-        info = yield self.handlers.room_creation_handler.create_room(
+        info = yield self._room_creation_handler.create_room(
             room_creator_requester,
             config={
                 "preset": "public_chat",
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v1/base.py b/synapse/rest/client/v1/base.py
index c7aa0bbf59..197335d7aa 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v1/base.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v1/base.py
@@ -52,6 +52,10 @@ class ClientV1RestServlet(RestServlet):
     """A base Synapse REST Servlet for the client version 1 API.
     """
 
+    # This subclass was presumably created to allow the auth for the v1
+    # protocol version to be different, however this behaviour was removed.
+    # it may no longer be necessary
+
     def __init__(self, hs):
         """
         Args:
@@ -59,5 +63,5 @@ class ClientV1RestServlet(RestServlet):
         """
         self.hs = hs
         self.builder_factory = hs.get_event_builder_factory()
-        self.auth = hs.get_v1auth()
+        self.auth = hs.get_auth()
         self.txns = HttpTransactionCache(hs.get_clock())
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v1/login.py b/synapse/rest/client/v1/login.py
index 45844aa2d2..34df5be4e9 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v1/login.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v1/login.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ from .base import ClientV1RestServlet, client_path_patterns
 
 import simplejson as json
 import urllib
-import urlparse
+from six.moves.urllib import parse as urlparse
 
 import logging
 from saml2 import BINDING_HTTP_POST
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v1/logout.py b/synapse/rest/client/v1/logout.py
index ca49955935..e092158cb7 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v1/logout.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v1/logout.py
@@ -44,7 +44,10 @@ class LogoutRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
             requester = yield self.auth.get_user_by_req(request)
         except AuthError:
             # this implies the access token has already been deleted.
-            pass
+            defer.returnValue((401, {
+                "errcode": "M_UNKNOWN_TOKEN",
+                "error": "Access Token unknown or expired"
+            }))
         else:
             if requester.device_id is None:
                 # the acccess token wasn't associated with a device.
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v1/presence.py b/synapse/rest/client/v1/presence.py
index 4a73813c58..647994bd53 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v1/presence.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v1/presence.py
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ from synapse.handlers.presence import format_user_presence_state
 from synapse.http.servlet import parse_json_object_from_request
 from .base import ClientV1RestServlet, client_path_patterns
 
+from six import string_types
+
 import logging
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -71,7 +73,7 @@ class PresenceStatusRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
 
             if "status_msg" in content:
                 state["status_msg"] = content.pop("status_msg")
-                if not isinstance(state["status_msg"], basestring):
+                if not isinstance(state["status_msg"], string_types):
                     raise SynapseError(400, "status_msg must be a string.")
 
             if content:
@@ -129,7 +131,7 @@ class PresenceListRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
 
         if "invite" in content:
             for u in content["invite"]:
-                if not isinstance(u, basestring):
+                if not isinstance(u, string_types):
                     raise SynapseError(400, "Bad invite value.")
                 if len(u) == 0:
                     continue
@@ -140,7 +142,7 @@ class PresenceListRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
 
         if "drop" in content:
             for u in content["drop"]:
-                if not isinstance(u, basestring):
+                if not isinstance(u, string_types):
                     raise SynapseError(400, "Bad drop value.")
                 if len(u) == 0:
                     continue
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v1/pusher.py b/synapse/rest/client/v1/pusher.py
index 1819a560cb..40e523cc5f 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v1/pusher.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v1/pusher.py
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ class PushersRemoveRestServlet(RestServlet):
         super(RestServlet, self).__init__()
         self.hs = hs
         self.notifier = hs.get_notifier()
-        self.auth = hs.get_v1auth()
+        self.auth = hs.get_auth()
         self.pusher_pool = self.hs.get_pusherpool()
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
@@ -176,7 +176,6 @@ class PushersRemoveRestServlet(RestServlet):
 
         request.setResponseCode(200)
         request.setHeader(b"Content-Type", b"text/html; charset=utf-8")
-        request.setHeader(b"Server", self.hs.version_string)
         request.setHeader(b"Content-Length", b"%d" % (
             len(PushersRemoveRestServlet.SUCCESS_HTML),
         ))
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v1/register.py b/synapse/rest/client/v1/register.py
index 5c5fa8f7ab..9b3022e0b0 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v1/register.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v1/register.py
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ from hashlib import sha1
 import hmac
 import logging
 
+from six import string_types
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
@@ -333,11 +335,11 @@ class RegisterRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
     def _do_shared_secret(self, request, register_json, session):
         yield run_on_reactor()
 
-        if not isinstance(register_json.get("mac", None), basestring):
+        if not isinstance(register_json.get("mac", None), string_types):
             raise SynapseError(400, "Expected mac.")
-        if not isinstance(register_json.get("user", None), basestring):
+        if not isinstance(register_json.get("user", None), string_types):
             raise SynapseError(400, "Expected 'user' key.")
-        if not isinstance(register_json.get("password", None), basestring):
+        if not isinstance(register_json.get("password", None), string_types):
             raise SynapseError(400, "Expected 'password' key.")
 
         if not self.hs.config.registration_shared_secret:
@@ -348,9 +350,9 @@ class RegisterRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
         admin = register_json.get("admin", None)
 
         # Its important to check as we use null bytes as HMAC field separators
-        if "\x00" in user:
+        if b"\x00" in user:
             raise SynapseError(400, "Invalid user")
-        if "\x00" in password:
+        if b"\x00" in password:
             raise SynapseError(400, "Invalid password")
 
         # str() because otherwise hmac complains that 'unicode' does not
@@ -358,14 +360,14 @@ class RegisterRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
         got_mac = str(register_json["mac"])
 
         want_mac = hmac.new(
-            key=self.hs.config.registration_shared_secret,
+            key=self.hs.config.registration_shared_secret.encode(),
             digestmod=sha1,
         )
         want_mac.update(user)
-        want_mac.update("\x00")
+        want_mac.update(b"\x00")
         want_mac.update(password)
-        want_mac.update("\x00")
-        want_mac.update("admin" if admin else "notadmin")
+        want_mac.update(b"\x00")
+        want_mac.update(b"admin" if admin else b"notadmin")
         want_mac = want_mac.hexdigest()
 
         if compare_digest(want_mac, got_mac):
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v1/room.py b/synapse/rest/client/v1/room.py
index f8999d64d7..0b984987ed 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v1/room.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v1/room.py
@@ -28,9 +28,10 @@ from synapse.http.servlet import (
     parse_json_object_from_request, parse_string, parse_integer
 )
 
+from six.moves.urllib import parse as urlparse
+
 import logging
-import urllib
-import ujson as json
+import simplejson as json
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -40,7 +41,7 @@ class RoomCreateRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
 
     def __init__(self, hs):
         super(RoomCreateRestServlet, self).__init__(hs)
-        self.handlers = hs.get_handlers()
+        self._room_creation_handler = hs.get_room_creation_handler()
 
     def register(self, http_server):
         PATTERNS = "/createRoom"
@@ -63,8 +64,7 @@ class RoomCreateRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
     def on_POST(self, request):
         requester = yield self.auth.get_user_by_req(request)
 
-        handler = self.handlers.room_creation_handler
-        info = yield handler.create_room(
+        info = yield self._room_creation_handler.create_room(
             requester, self.get_room_config(request)
         )
 
@@ -165,17 +165,12 @@ class RoomStateEventRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
                 content=content,
             )
         else:
-            event, context = yield self.event_creation_hander.create_event(
+            event = yield self.event_creation_hander.create_and_send_nonmember_event(
                 requester,
                 event_dict,
-                token_id=requester.access_token_id,
                 txn_id=txn_id,
             )
 
-            yield self.event_creation_hander.send_nonmember_event(
-                requester, event, context,
-            )
-
         ret = {}
         if event:
             ret = {"event_id": event.event_id}
@@ -438,7 +433,7 @@ class RoomMessageListRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
         as_client_event = "raw" not in request.args
         filter_bytes = request.args.get("filter", None)
         if filter_bytes:
-            filter_json = urllib.unquote(filter_bytes[-1]).decode("UTF-8")
+            filter_json = urlparse.unquote(filter_bytes[-1]).decode("UTF-8")
             event_filter = Filter(json.loads(filter_json))
         else:
             event_filter = None
@@ -655,7 +650,12 @@ class RoomMembershipRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
             content=event_content,
         )
 
-        defer.returnValue((200, {}))
+        return_value = {}
+
+        if membership_action == "join":
+            return_value["room_id"] = room_id
+
+        defer.returnValue((200, return_value))
 
     def _has_3pid_invite_keys(self, content):
         for key in {"id_server", "medium", "address"}:
@@ -718,8 +718,8 @@ class RoomTypingRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
     def on_PUT(self, request, room_id, user_id):
         requester = yield self.auth.get_user_by_req(request)
 
-        room_id = urllib.unquote(room_id)
-        target_user = UserID.from_string(urllib.unquote(user_id))
+        room_id = urlparse.unquote(room_id)
+        target_user = UserID.from_string(urlparse.unquote(user_id))
 
         content = parse_json_object_from_request(request)
 
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/auth.py b/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/auth.py
index 8e5577148f..d6f3a19648 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/auth.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/auth.py
@@ -129,7 +129,6 @@ class AuthRestServlet(RestServlet):
             html_bytes = html.encode("utf8")
             request.setResponseCode(200)
             request.setHeader(b"Content-Type", b"text/html; charset=utf-8")
-            request.setHeader(b"Server", self.hs.version_string)
             request.setHeader(b"Content-Length", b"%d" % (len(html_bytes),))
 
             request.write(html_bytes)
@@ -175,7 +174,6 @@ class AuthRestServlet(RestServlet):
             html_bytes = html.encode("utf8")
             request.setResponseCode(200)
             request.setHeader(b"Content-Type", b"text/html; charset=utf-8")
-            request.setHeader(b"Server", self.hs.version_string)
             request.setHeader(b"Content-Length", b"%d" % (len(html_bytes),))
 
             request.write(html_bytes)
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/groups.py b/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/groups.py
index f762dbfa9a..3bb1ec2af6 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/groups.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/groups.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # Copyright 2017 Vector Creations Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -401,6 +402,32 @@ class GroupInvitedUsersServlet(RestServlet):
         defer.returnValue((200, result))
 
 
+class GroupSettingJoinPolicyServlet(RestServlet):
+    """Set group join policy
+    """
+    PATTERNS = client_v2_patterns("/groups/(?P<group_id>[^/]*)/settings/m.join_policy$")
+
+    def __init__(self, hs):
+        super(GroupSettingJoinPolicyServlet, self).__init__()
+        self.auth = hs.get_auth()
+        self.groups_handler = hs.get_groups_local_handler()
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def on_PUT(self, request, group_id):
+        requester = yield self.auth.get_user_by_req(request)
+        requester_user_id = requester.user.to_string()
+
+        content = parse_json_object_from_request(request)
+
+        result = yield self.groups_handler.set_group_join_policy(
+            group_id,
+            requester_user_id,
+            content,
+        )
+
+        defer.returnValue((200, result))
+
+
 class GroupCreateServlet(RestServlet):
     """Create a group
     """
@@ -738,6 +765,7 @@ def register_servlets(hs, http_server):
     GroupInvitedUsersServlet(hs).register(http_server)
     GroupUsersServlet(hs).register(http_server)
     GroupRoomServlet(hs).register(http_server)
+    GroupSettingJoinPolicyServlet(hs).register(http_server)
     GroupCreateServlet(hs).register(http_server)
     GroupAdminRoomsServlet(hs).register(http_server)
     GroupAdminRoomsConfigServlet(hs).register(http_server)
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/notifications.py b/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/notifications.py
index ec170109fe..66583d6778 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/notifications.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/notifications.py
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ class NotificationsServlet(RestServlet):
                     pa["topological_ordering"], pa["stream_ordering"]
                 )
             returned_push_actions.append(returned_pa)
-            next_token = pa["stream_ordering"]
+            next_token = str(pa["stream_ordering"])
 
         defer.returnValue((200, {
             "notifications": returned_push_actions,
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/register.py b/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/register.py
index 0ba62bddc1..5cab00aea9 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/register.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/register.py
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ import synapse
 import synapse.types
 from synapse.api.auth import get_access_token_from_request, has_access_token
 from synapse.api.constants import LoginType
-from synapse.types import RoomID, RoomAlias
 from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError, Codes, UnrecognizedRequestError
 from synapse.http.servlet import (
     RestServlet, parse_json_object_from_request, assert_params_in_request, parse_string
@@ -36,6 +35,8 @@ from hashlib import sha1
 from synapse.util.async import run_on_reactor
 from synapse.util.ratelimitutils import FederationRateLimiter
 
+from six import string_types
+
 
 # We ought to be using hmac.compare_digest() but on older pythons it doesn't
 # exist. It's a _really minor_ security flaw to use plain string comparison
@@ -211,14 +212,14 @@ class RegisterRestServlet(RestServlet):
         # in sessions. Pull out the username/password provided to us.
         desired_password = None
         if 'password' in body:
-            if (not isinstance(body['password'], basestring) or
+            if (not isinstance(body['password'], string_types) or
                     len(body['password']) > 512):
                 raise SynapseError(400, "Invalid password")
             desired_password = body["password"]
 
         desired_username = None
         if 'username' in body:
-            if (not isinstance(body['username'], basestring) or
+            if (not isinstance(body['username'], string_types) or
                     len(body['username']) > 512):
                 raise SynapseError(400, "Invalid username")
             desired_username = body['username']
@@ -244,7 +245,7 @@ class RegisterRestServlet(RestServlet):
 
             access_token = get_access_token_from_request(request)
 
-            if isinstance(desired_username, basestring):
+            if isinstance(desired_username, string_types):
                 result = yield self._do_appservice_registration(
                     desired_username, access_token, body
                 )
@@ -405,14 +406,6 @@ class RegisterRestServlet(RestServlet):
                 generate_token=False,
             )
 
-            # auto-join the user to any rooms we're supposed to dump them into
-            fake_requester = synapse.types.create_requester(registered_user_id)
-            for r in self.hs.config.auto_join_rooms:
-                try:
-                    yield self._join_user_to_room(fake_requester, r)
-                except Exception as e:
-                    logger.error("Failed to join new user to %r: %r", r, e)
-
             # remember that we've now registered that user account, and with
             #  what user ID (since the user may not have specified)
             self.auth_handler.set_session_data(
@@ -446,29 +439,6 @@ class RegisterRestServlet(RestServlet):
         return 200, {}
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def _join_user_to_room(self, requester, room_identifier):
-        room_id = None
-        if RoomID.is_valid(room_identifier):
-            room_id = room_identifier
-        elif RoomAlias.is_valid(room_identifier):
-            room_alias = RoomAlias.from_string(room_identifier)
-            room_id, remote_room_hosts = (
-                yield self.room_member_handler.lookup_room_alias(room_alias)
-            )
-            room_id = room_id.to_string()
-        else:
-            raise SynapseError(400, "%s was not legal room ID or room alias" % (
-                room_identifier,
-            ))
-
-        yield self.room_member_handler.update_membership(
-            requester=requester,
-            target=requester.user,
-            room_id=room_id,
-            action="join",
-        )
-
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _do_appservice_registration(self, username, as_token, body):
         user_id = yield self.registration_handler.appservice_register(
             username, as_token
@@ -496,7 +466,7 @@ class RegisterRestServlet(RestServlet):
         # includes the password and admin flag in the hashed text. Why are
         # these different?
         want_mac = hmac.new(
-            key=self.hs.config.registration_shared_secret,
+            key=self.hs.config.registration_shared_secret.encode(),
             msg=user,
             digestmod=sha1,
         ).hexdigest()
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/sync.py b/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/sync.py
index eb91c0b293..a291cffbf1 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/sync.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v2_alpha/sync.py
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ class SyncRestServlet(RestServlet):
         self.clock = hs.get_clock()
         self.filtering = hs.get_filtering()
         self.presence_handler = hs.get_presence_handler()
+        self._server_notices_sender = hs.get_server_notices_sender()
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def on_GET(self, request):
@@ -149,6 +150,9 @@ class SyncRestServlet(RestServlet):
         else:
             since_token = None
 
+        # send any outstanding server notices to the user.
+        yield self._server_notices_sender.on_user_syncing(user.to_string())
+
         affect_presence = set_presence != PresenceState.OFFLINE
 
         if affect_presence:
diff --git a/tests/metrics/__init__.py b/synapse/rest/consent/__init__.py
index e69de29bb2..e69de29bb2 100644
--- a/tests/metrics/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/consent/__init__.py
diff --git a/synapse/rest/consent/consent_resource.py b/synapse/rest/consent/consent_resource.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..724911d1e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/rest/consent/consent_resource.py
@@ -0,0 +1,222 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+from hashlib import sha256
+import hmac
+import logging
+from os import path
+from six.moves import http_client
+
+import jinja2
+from jinja2 import TemplateNotFound
+from twisted.internet import defer
+from twisted.web.resource import Resource
+from twisted.web.server import NOT_DONE_YET
+
+from synapse.api.errors import NotFoundError, SynapseError, StoreError
+from synapse.config import ConfigError
+from synapse.http.server import (
+    finish_request,
+    wrap_html_request_handler,
+)
+from synapse.http.servlet import parse_string
+from synapse.types import UserID
+
+
+# language to use for the templates. TODO: figure this out from Accept-Language
+TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE = "en"
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+# use hmac.compare_digest if we have it (python 2.7.7), else just use equality
+if hasattr(hmac, "compare_digest"):
+    compare_digest = hmac.compare_digest
+else:
+    def compare_digest(a, b):
+        return a == b
+
+
+class ConsentResource(Resource):
+    """A twisted Resource to display a privacy policy and gather consent to it
+
+    When accessed via GET, returns the privacy policy via a template.
+
+    When accessed via POST, records the user's consent in the database and
+    displays a success page.
+
+    The config should include a template_dir setting which contains templates
+    for the HTML. The directory should contain one subdirectory per language
+    (eg, 'en', 'fr'), and each language directory should contain the policy
+    document (named as '<version>.html') and a success page (success.html).
+
+    Both forms take a set of parameters from the browser. For the POST form,
+    these are normally sent as form parameters (but may be query-params); for
+    GET requests they must be query params. These are:
+
+        u: the complete mxid, or the localpart of the user giving their
+           consent. Required for both GET (where it is used as an input to the
+           template) and for POST (where it is used to find the row in the db
+           to update).
+
+        h: hmac_sha256(secret, u), where 'secret' is the privacy_secret in the
+           config file. If it doesn't match, the request is 403ed.
+
+        v: the version of the privacy policy being agreed to.
+
+           For GET: optional, and defaults to whatever was set in the config
+           file. Used to choose the version of the policy to pick from the
+           templates directory.
+
+           For POST: required; gives the value to be recorded in the database
+           against the user.
+    """
+    def __init__(self, hs):
+        """
+        Args:
+            hs (synapse.server.HomeServer): homeserver
+        """
+        Resource.__init__(self)
+
+        self.hs = hs
+        self.store = hs.get_datastore()
+
+        # this is required by the request_handler wrapper
+        self.clock = hs.get_clock()
+
+        self._default_consent_version = hs.config.user_consent_version
+        if self._default_consent_version is None:
+            raise ConfigError(
+                "Consent resource is enabled but user_consent section is "
+                "missing in config file.",
+            )
+
+        # daemonize changes the cwd to /, so make the path absolute now.
+        consent_template_directory = path.abspath(
+            hs.config.user_consent_template_dir,
+        )
+        if not path.isdir(consent_template_directory):
+            raise ConfigError(
+                "Could not find template directory '%s'" % (
+                    consent_template_directory,
+                ),
+            )
+
+        loader = jinja2.FileSystemLoader(consent_template_directory)
+        self._jinja_env = jinja2.Environment(
+            loader=loader,
+            autoescape=jinja2.select_autoescape(['html', 'htm', 'xml']),
+        )
+
+        if hs.config.form_secret is None:
+            raise ConfigError(
+                "Consent resource is enabled but form_secret is not set in "
+                "config file. It should be set to an arbitrary secret string.",
+            )
+
+        self._hmac_secret = hs.config.form_secret.encode("utf-8")
+
+    def render_GET(self, request):
+        self._async_render_GET(request)
+        return NOT_DONE_YET
+
+    @wrap_html_request_handler
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def _async_render_GET(self, request):
+        """
+        Args:
+            request (twisted.web.http.Request):
+        """
+
+        version = parse_string(request, "v",
+                               default=self._default_consent_version)
+        username = parse_string(request, "u", required=True)
+        userhmac = parse_string(request, "h", required=True)
+
+        self._check_hash(username, userhmac)
+
+        if username.startswith('@'):
+            qualified_user_id = username
+        else:
+            qualified_user_id = UserID(username, self.hs.hostname).to_string()
+
+        u = yield self.store.get_user_by_id(qualified_user_id)
+        if u is None:
+            raise NotFoundError("Unknown user")
+
+        try:
+            self._render_template(
+                request, "%s.html" % (version,),
+                user=username, userhmac=userhmac, version=version,
+                has_consented=(u["consent_version"] == version),
+            )
+        except TemplateNotFound:
+            raise NotFoundError("Unknown policy version")
+
+    def render_POST(self, request):
+        self._async_render_POST(request)
+        return NOT_DONE_YET
+
+    @wrap_html_request_handler
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def _async_render_POST(self, request):
+        """
+        Args:
+            request (twisted.web.http.Request):
+        """
+        version = parse_string(request, "v", required=True)
+        username = parse_string(request, "u", required=True)
+        userhmac = parse_string(request, "h", required=True)
+
+        self._check_hash(username, userhmac)
+
+        if username.startswith('@'):
+            qualified_user_id = username
+        else:
+            qualified_user_id = UserID(username, self.hs.hostname).to_string()
+
+        try:
+            yield self.store.user_set_consent_version(qualified_user_id, version)
+        except StoreError as e:
+            if e.code != 404:
+                raise
+            raise NotFoundError("Unknown user")
+
+        try:
+            self._render_template(request, "success.html")
+        except TemplateNotFound:
+            raise NotFoundError("success.html not found")
+
+    def _render_template(self, request, template_name, **template_args):
+        # get_template checks for ".." so we don't need to worry too much
+        # about path traversal here.
+        template_html = self._jinja_env.get_template(
+            path.join(TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE, template_name)
+        )
+        html_bytes = template_html.render(**template_args).encode("utf8")
+
+        request.setHeader(b"Content-Type", b"text/html; charset=utf-8")
+        request.setHeader(b"Content-Length", b"%i" % len(html_bytes))
+        request.write(html_bytes)
+        finish_request(request)
+
+    def _check_hash(self, userid, userhmac):
+        want_mac = hmac.new(
+            key=self._hmac_secret,
+            msg=userid,
+            digestmod=sha256,
+        ).hexdigest()
+
+        if not compare_digest(want_mac, userhmac):
+            raise SynapseError(http_client.FORBIDDEN, "HMAC incorrect")
diff --git a/synapse/rest/key/v1/server_key_resource.py b/synapse/rest/key/v1/server_key_resource.py
index bd4fea5774..1498d188c1 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/key/v1/server_key_resource.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/key/v1/server_key_resource.py
@@ -49,7 +49,6 @@ class LocalKey(Resource):
     """
 
     def __init__(self, hs):
-        self.version_string = hs.version_string
         self.response_body = encode_canonical_json(
             self.response_json_object(hs.config)
         )
@@ -84,7 +83,6 @@ class LocalKey(Resource):
     def render_GET(self, request):
         return respond_with_json_bytes(
             request, 200, self.response_body,
-            version_string=self.version_string
         )
 
     def getChild(self, name, request):
diff --git a/synapse/rest/key/v2/local_key_resource.py b/synapse/rest/key/v2/local_key_resource.py
index be68d9a096..04775b3c45 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/key/v2/local_key_resource.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/key/v2/local_key_resource.py
@@ -63,7 +63,6 @@ class LocalKey(Resource):
     isLeaf = True
 
     def __init__(self, hs):
-        self.version_string = hs.version_string
         self.config = hs.config
         self.clock = hs.clock
         self.update_response_body(self.clock.time_msec())
@@ -115,5 +114,4 @@ class LocalKey(Resource):
             self.update_response_body(time_now)
         return respond_with_json_bytes(
             request, 200, self.response_body,
-            version_string=self.version_string
         )
diff --git a/synapse/rest/key/v2/remote_key_resource.py b/synapse/rest/key/v2/remote_key_resource.py
index 17e6079cba..21b4c1175e 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/key/v2/remote_key_resource.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/key/v2/remote_key_resource.py
@@ -12,7 +12,9 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-from synapse.http.server import request_handler, respond_with_json_bytes
+from synapse.http.server import (
+    respond_with_json_bytes, wrap_json_request_handler,
+)
 from synapse.http.servlet import parse_integer, parse_json_object_from_request
 from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError, Codes
 from synapse.crypto.keyring import KeyLookupError
@@ -91,7 +93,6 @@ class RemoteKey(Resource):
     def __init__(self, hs):
         self.keyring = hs.get_keyring()
         self.store = hs.get_datastore()
-        self.version_string = hs.version_string
         self.clock = hs.get_clock()
         self.federation_domain_whitelist = hs.config.federation_domain_whitelist
 
@@ -99,7 +100,7 @@ class RemoteKey(Resource):
         self.async_render_GET(request)
         return NOT_DONE_YET
 
-    @request_handler()
+    @wrap_json_request_handler
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def async_render_GET(self, request):
         if len(request.postpath) == 1:
@@ -124,7 +125,7 @@ class RemoteKey(Resource):
         self.async_render_POST(request)
         return NOT_DONE_YET
 
-    @request_handler()
+    @wrap_json_request_handler
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def async_render_POST(self, request):
         content = parse_json_object_from_request(request)
@@ -240,5 +241,4 @@ class RemoteKey(Resource):
 
             respond_with_json_bytes(
                 request, 200, result_io.getvalue(),
-                version_string=self.version_string
             )
diff --git a/synapse/rest/media/v1/_base.py b/synapse/rest/media/v1/_base.py
index e7ac01da01..c0d2f06855 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/media/v1/_base.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/media/v1/_base.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ import os
 
 import logging
 import urllib
-import urlparse
+from six.moves.urllib import parse as urlparse
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -143,6 +143,7 @@ def respond_with_responder(request, responder, media_type, file_size, upload_nam
         respond_404(request)
         return
 
+    logger.debug("Responding to media request with responder %s")
     add_file_headers(request, media_type, file_size, upload_name)
     with responder:
         yield responder.write_to_consumer(request)
diff --git a/synapse/rest/media/v1/download_resource.py b/synapse/rest/media/v1/download_resource.py
index fe7e17596f..8cf8820c31 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/media/v1/download_resource.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/media/v1/download_resource.py
@@ -12,16 +12,18 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
-import synapse.http.servlet
+import logging
 
-from ._base import parse_media_id, respond_404
+from twisted.internet import defer
 from twisted.web.resource import Resource
-from synapse.http.server import request_handler, set_cors_headers
-
 from twisted.web.server import NOT_DONE_YET
-from twisted.internet import defer
 
-import logging
+from synapse.http.server import (
+    set_cors_headers,
+    wrap_json_request_handler,
+)
+import synapse.http.servlet
+from ._base import parse_media_id, respond_404
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -35,15 +37,14 @@ class DownloadResource(Resource):
         self.media_repo = media_repo
         self.server_name = hs.hostname
 
-        # Both of these are expected by @request_handler()
+        # this is expected by @wrap_json_request_handler
         self.clock = hs.get_clock()
-        self.version_string = hs.version_string
 
     def render_GET(self, request):
         self._async_render_GET(request)
         return NOT_DONE_YET
 
-    @request_handler()
+    @wrap_json_request_handler
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _async_render_GET(self, request):
         set_cors_headers(request)
diff --git a/synapse/rest/media/v1/media_repository.py b/synapse/rest/media/v1/media_repository.py
index bb79599379..2ac767d2dc 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/media/v1/media_repository.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/media/v1/media_repository.py
@@ -47,7 +47,8 @@ import shutil
 
 import cgi
 import logging
-import urlparse
+from six.moves.urllib import parse as urlparse
+from six import iteritems
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -603,7 +604,7 @@ class MediaRepository(object):
                 thumbnails[(t_width, t_height, r_type)] = r_method
 
         # Now we generate the thumbnails for each dimension, store it
-        for (t_width, t_height, t_type), t_method in thumbnails.iteritems():
+        for (t_width, t_height, t_type), t_method in iteritems(thumbnails):
             # Generate the thumbnail
             if t_method == "crop":
                 t_byte_source = yield make_deferred_yieldable(threads.deferToThread(
diff --git a/synapse/rest/media/v1/media_storage.py b/synapse/rest/media/v1/media_storage.py
index 83471b3173..d23fe10b07 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/media/v1/media_storage.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/media/v1/media_storage.py
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 from twisted.internet import defer, threads
 from twisted.protocols.basic import FileSender
 
+import six
+
 from ._base import Responder
 
 from synapse.util.file_consumer import BackgroundFileConsumer
@@ -119,7 +121,7 @@ class MediaStorage(object):
                 os.remove(fname)
             except Exception:
                 pass
-            raise t, v, tb
+            six.reraise(t, v, tb)
 
         if not finished_called:
             raise Exception("Finished callback not called")
@@ -253,7 +255,9 @@ class FileResponder(Responder):
         self.open_file = open_file
 
     def write_to_consumer(self, consumer):
-        return FileSender().beginFileTransfer(self.open_file, consumer)
+        return make_deferred_yieldable(
+            FileSender().beginFileTransfer(self.open_file, consumer)
+        )
 
     def __exit__(self, exc_type, exc_val, exc_tb):
         self.open_file.close()
diff --git a/synapse/rest/media/v1/preview_url_resource.py b/synapse/rest/media/v1/preview_url_resource.py
index 31fe7aa75c..565cef2b8d 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/media/v1/preview_url_resource.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/media/v1/preview_url_resource.py
@@ -23,8 +23,10 @@ import re
 import shutil
 import sys
 import traceback
-import ujson as json
-import urlparse
+import simplejson as json
+
+from six.moves import urllib_parse as urlparse
+from six import string_types
 
 from twisted.web.server import NOT_DONE_YET
 from twisted.internet import defer
@@ -35,13 +37,14 @@ from ._base import FileInfo
 from synapse.api.errors import (
     SynapseError, Codes,
 )
-from synapse.util.logcontext import preserve_fn, make_deferred_yieldable
+from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable, run_in_background
 from synapse.util.stringutils import random_string
 from synapse.util.caches.expiringcache import ExpiringCache
 from synapse.http.client import SpiderHttpClient
 from synapse.http.server import (
-    request_handler, respond_with_json_bytes,
+    respond_with_json_bytes,
     respond_with_json,
+    wrap_json_request_handler,
 )
 from synapse.util.async import ObservableDeferred
 from synapse.util.stringutils import is_ascii
@@ -57,7 +60,6 @@ class PreviewUrlResource(Resource):
 
         self.auth = hs.get_auth()
         self.clock = hs.get_clock()
-        self.version_string = hs.version_string
         self.filepaths = media_repo.filepaths
         self.max_spider_size = hs.config.max_spider_size
         self.server_name = hs.hostname
@@ -90,7 +92,7 @@ class PreviewUrlResource(Resource):
         self._async_render_GET(request)
         return NOT_DONE_YET
 
-    @request_handler()
+    @wrap_json_request_handler
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _async_render_GET(self, request):
 
@@ -144,7 +146,8 @@ class PreviewUrlResource(Resource):
         observable = self._cache.get(url)
 
         if not observable:
-            download = preserve_fn(self._do_preview)(
+            download = run_in_background(
+                self._do_preview,
                 url, requester.user, ts,
             )
             observable = ObservableDeferred(
@@ -589,8 +592,8 @@ def _iterate_over_text(tree, *tags_to_ignore):
     # to be returned.
     elements = iter([tree])
     while True:
-        el = elements.next()
-        if isinstance(el, basestring):
+        el = next(elements)
+        if isinstance(el, string_types):
             yield el
         elif el is not None and el.tag not in tags_to_ignore:
             # el.text is the text before the first child, so we can immediately
diff --git a/synapse/rest/media/v1/storage_provider.py b/synapse/rest/media/v1/storage_provider.py
index c188192f2b..0252afd9d3 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/media/v1/storage_provider.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/media/v1/storage_provider.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ from twisted.internet import defer, threads
 from .media_storage import FileResponder
 
 from synapse.config._base import Config
-from synapse.util.logcontext import preserve_fn
+from synapse.util.logcontext import run_in_background
 
 import logging
 import os
@@ -87,7 +87,12 @@ class StorageProviderWrapper(StorageProvider):
             return self.backend.store_file(path, file_info)
         else:
             # TODO: Handle errors.
-            preserve_fn(self.backend.store_file)(path, file_info)
+            def store():
+                try:
+                    return self.backend.store_file(path, file_info)
+                except Exception:
+                    logger.exception("Error storing file")
+            run_in_background(store)
             return defer.succeed(None)
 
     def fetch(self, path, file_info):
diff --git a/synapse/rest/media/v1/thumbnail_resource.py b/synapse/rest/media/v1/thumbnail_resource.py
index 58ada49711..aae6e464e8 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/media/v1/thumbnail_resource.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/media/v1/thumbnail_resource.py
@@ -14,18 +14,21 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 
-from ._base import (
-    parse_media_id, respond_404, respond_with_file, FileInfo,
-    respond_with_responder,
-)
-from twisted.web.resource import Resource
-from synapse.http.servlet import parse_string, parse_integer
-from synapse.http.server import request_handler, set_cors_headers
+import logging
 
-from twisted.web.server import NOT_DONE_YET
 from twisted.internet import defer
+from twisted.web.resource import Resource
+from twisted.web.server import NOT_DONE_YET
 
-import logging
+from synapse.http.server import (
+    set_cors_headers,
+    wrap_json_request_handler,
+)
+from synapse.http.servlet import parse_integer, parse_string
+from ._base import (
+    FileInfo, parse_media_id, respond_404, respond_with_file,
+    respond_with_responder,
+)
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -41,14 +44,13 @@ class ThumbnailResource(Resource):
         self.media_storage = media_storage
         self.dynamic_thumbnails = hs.config.dynamic_thumbnails
         self.server_name = hs.hostname
-        self.version_string = hs.version_string
         self.clock = hs.get_clock()
 
     def render_GET(self, request):
         self._async_render_GET(request)
         return NOT_DONE_YET
 
-    @request_handler()
+    @wrap_json_request_handler
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _async_render_GET(self, request):
         set_cors_headers(request)
diff --git a/synapse/rest/media/v1/upload_resource.py b/synapse/rest/media/v1/upload_resource.py
index f6f498cdc5..7567476fce 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/media/v1/upload_resource.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/media/v1/upload_resource.py
@@ -13,16 +13,17 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-from synapse.http.server import respond_with_json, request_handler
-
-from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError
+import logging
 
-from twisted.web.server import NOT_DONE_YET
 from twisted.internet import defer
-
 from twisted.web.resource import Resource
+from twisted.web.server import NOT_DONE_YET
 
-import logging
+from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError
+from synapse.http.server import (
+    respond_with_json,
+    wrap_json_request_handler,
+)
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -40,7 +41,6 @@ class UploadResource(Resource):
         self.server_name = hs.hostname
         self.auth = hs.get_auth()
         self.max_upload_size = hs.config.max_upload_size
-        self.version_string = hs.version_string
         self.clock = hs.get_clock()
 
     def render_POST(self, request):
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ class UploadResource(Resource):
         respond_with_json(request, 200, {}, send_cors=True)
         return NOT_DONE_YET
 
-    @request_handler()
+    @wrap_json_request_handler
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _async_render_POST(self, request):
         requester = yield self.auth.get_user_by_req(request)
@@ -81,15 +81,15 @@ class UploadResource(Resource):
         headers = request.requestHeaders
 
         if headers.hasHeader("Content-Type"):
-            media_type = headers.getRawHeaders("Content-Type")[0]
+            media_type = headers.getRawHeaders(b"Content-Type")[0]
         else:
             raise SynapseError(
                 msg="Upload request missing 'Content-Type'",
                 code=400,
             )
 
-        # if headers.hasHeader("Content-Disposition"):
-        #     disposition = headers.getRawHeaders("Content-Disposition")[0]
+        # if headers.hasHeader(b"Content-Disposition"):
+        #     disposition = headers.getRawHeaders(b"Content-Disposition")[0]
         # TODO(markjh): parse content-dispostion
 
         content_uri = yield self.media_repo.create_content(
diff --git a/synapse/server.py b/synapse/server.py
index cd0c1a51be..58dbf78437 100644
--- a/synapse/server.py
+++ b/synapse/server.py
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ from synapse.handlers.devicemessage import DeviceMessageHandler
 from synapse.handlers.device import DeviceHandler
 from synapse.handlers.e2e_keys import E2eKeysHandler
 from synapse.handlers.presence import PresenceHandler
+from synapse.handlers.room import RoomCreationHandler
 from synapse.handlers.room_list import RoomListHandler
 from synapse.handlers.room_member import RoomMemberMasterHandler
 from synapse.handlers.room_member_worker import RoomMemberWorkerHandler
@@ -71,6 +72,11 @@ from synapse.rest.media.v1.media_repository import (
     MediaRepository,
     MediaRepositoryResource,
 )
+from synapse.server_notices.server_notices_manager import ServerNoticesManager
+from synapse.server_notices.server_notices_sender import ServerNoticesSender
+from synapse.server_notices.worker_server_notices_sender import (
+    WorkerServerNoticesSender,
+)
 from synapse.state import StateHandler, StateResolutionHandler
 from synapse.storage import DataStore
 from synapse.streams.events import EventSources
@@ -97,6 +103,9 @@ class HomeServer(object):
     which must be implemented by the subclass. This code may call any of the
     required "get" methods on the instance to obtain the sub-dependencies that
     one requires.
+
+    Attributes:
+        config (synapse.config.homeserver.HomeserverConfig):
     """
 
     DEPENDENCIES = [
@@ -105,8 +114,8 @@ class HomeServer(object):
         'federation_client',
         'federation_server',
         'handlers',
-        'v1auth',
         'auth',
+        'room_creation_handler',
         'state_handler',
         'state_resolution_handler',
         'presence_handler',
@@ -152,6 +161,8 @@ class HomeServer(object):
         'spam_checker',
         'room_member_handler',
         'federation_registry',
+        'server_notices_manager',
+        'server_notices_sender',
     ]
 
     def __init__(self, hostname, **kwargs):
@@ -225,14 +236,8 @@ class HomeServer(object):
     def build_simple_http_client(self):
         return SimpleHttpClient(self)
 
-    def build_v1auth(self):
-        orf = Auth(self)
-        # Matrix spec makes no reference to what HTTP status code is returned,
-        # but the V1 API uses 403 where it means 401, and the webclient
-        # relies on this behaviour, so V1 gets its own copy of the auth
-        # with backwards compat behaviour.
-        orf.TOKEN_NOT_FOUND_HTTP_STATUS = 403
-        return orf
+    def build_room_creation_handler(self):
+        return RoomCreationHandler(self)
 
     def build_state_handler(self):
         return StateHandler(self)
@@ -400,6 +405,16 @@ class HomeServer(object):
     def build_federation_registry(self):
         return FederationHandlerRegistry()
 
+    def build_server_notices_manager(self):
+        if self.config.worker_app:
+            raise Exception("Workers cannot send server notices")
+        return ServerNoticesManager(self)
+
+    def build_server_notices_sender(self):
+        if self.config.worker_app:
+            return WorkerServerNoticesSender(self)
+        return ServerNoticesSender(self)
+
     def remove_pusher(self, app_id, push_key, user_id):
         return self.get_pusherpool().remove_pusher(app_id, push_key, user_id)
 
diff --git a/synapse/server.pyi b/synapse/server.pyi
index c3a9a3847b..ce28486233 100644
--- a/synapse/server.pyi
+++ b/synapse/server.pyi
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import synapse.api.auth
+import synapse.config.homeserver
 import synapse.federation.transaction_queue
 import synapse.federation.transport.client
 import synapse.handlers
@@ -8,11 +9,17 @@ import synapse.handlers.device
 import synapse.handlers.e2e_keys
 import synapse.handlers.set_password
 import synapse.rest.media.v1.media_repository
+import synapse.server_notices.server_notices_manager
+import synapse.server_notices.server_notices_sender
 import synapse.state
 import synapse.storage
 
 
 class HomeServer(object):
+    @property
+    def config(self) -> synapse.config.homeserver.HomeServerConfig:
+        pass
+
     def get_auth(self) -> synapse.api.auth.Auth:
         pass
 
@@ -40,6 +47,12 @@ class HomeServer(object):
     def get_deactivate_account_handler(self) -> synapse.handlers.deactivate_account.DeactivateAccountHandler:
         pass
 
+    def get_room_creation_handler(self) -> synapse.handlers.room.RoomCreationHandler:
+        pass
+
+    def get_event_creation_handler(self) -> synapse.handlers.message.EventCreationHandler:
+        pass
+
     def get_set_password_handler(self) -> synapse.handlers.set_password.SetPasswordHandler:
         pass
 
@@ -54,3 +67,9 @@ class HomeServer(object):
 
     def get_media_repository(self) -> synapse.rest.media.v1.media_repository.MediaRepository:
         pass
+
+    def get_server_notices_manager(self) -> synapse.server_notices.server_notices_manager.ServerNoticesManager:
+        pass
+
+    def get_server_notices_sender(self) -> synapse.server_notices.server_notices_sender.ServerNoticesSender:
+        pass
diff --git a/synapse/server_notices/__init__.py b/synapse/server_notices/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/server_notices/__init__.py
diff --git a/synapse/server_notices/consent_server_notices.py b/synapse/server_notices/consent_server_notices.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bb74af1af5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/server_notices/consent_server_notices.py
@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+import logging
+
+from six import (iteritems, string_types)
+from twisted.internet import defer
+
+from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError
+from synapse.api.urls import ConsentURIBuilder
+from synapse.config import ConfigError
+from synapse.types import get_localpart_from_id
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+class ConsentServerNotices(object):
+    """Keeps track of whether we need to send users server_notices about
+    privacy policy consent, and sends one if we do.
+    """
+    def __init__(self, hs):
+        """
+
+        Args:
+            hs (synapse.server.HomeServer):
+        """
+        self._server_notices_manager = hs.get_server_notices_manager()
+        self._store = hs.get_datastore()
+
+        self._users_in_progress = set()
+
+        self._current_consent_version = hs.config.user_consent_version
+        self._server_notice_content = hs.config.user_consent_server_notice_content
+        self._send_to_guests = hs.config.user_consent_server_notice_to_guests
+
+        if self._server_notice_content is not None:
+            if not self._server_notices_manager.is_enabled():
+                raise ConfigError(
+                    "user_consent configuration requires server notices, but "
+                    "server notices are not enabled.",
+                )
+            if 'body' not in self._server_notice_content:
+                raise ConfigError(
+                    "user_consent server_notice_consent must contain a 'body' "
+                    "key.",
+                )
+
+            self._consent_uri_builder = ConsentURIBuilder(hs.config)
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def maybe_send_server_notice_to_user(self, user_id):
+        """Check if we need to send a notice to this user, and does so if so
+
+        Args:
+            user_id (str): user to check
+
+        Returns:
+            Deferred
+        """
+        if self._server_notice_content is None:
+            # not enabled
+            return
+
+        # make sure we don't send two messages to the same user at once
+        if user_id in self._users_in_progress:
+            return
+        self._users_in_progress.add(user_id)
+        try:
+            u = yield self._store.get_user_by_id(user_id)
+
+            if u["is_guest"] and not self._send_to_guests:
+                # don't send to guests
+                return
+
+            if u["consent_version"] == self._current_consent_version:
+                # user has already consented
+                return
+
+            if u["consent_server_notice_sent"] == self._current_consent_version:
+                # we've already sent a notice to the user
+                return
+
+            # need to send a message.
+            try:
+                consent_uri = self._consent_uri_builder.build_user_consent_uri(
+                    get_localpart_from_id(user_id),
+                )
+                content = copy_with_str_subst(
+                    self._server_notice_content, {
+                        'consent_uri': consent_uri,
+                    },
+                )
+                yield self._server_notices_manager.send_notice(
+                    user_id, content,
+                )
+                yield self._store.user_set_consent_server_notice_sent(
+                    user_id, self._current_consent_version,
+                )
+            except SynapseError as e:
+                logger.error("Error sending server notice about user consent: %s", e)
+        finally:
+            self._users_in_progress.remove(user_id)
+
+
+def copy_with_str_subst(x, substitutions):
+    """Deep-copy a structure, carrying out string substitions on any strings
+
+    Args:
+        x (object): structure to be copied
+        substitutions (object): substitutions to be made - passed into the
+            string '%' operator
+
+    Returns:
+        copy of x
+    """
+    if isinstance(x, string_types):
+        return x % substitutions
+    if isinstance(x, dict):
+        return {
+            k: copy_with_str_subst(v, substitutions) for (k, v) in iteritems(x)
+        }
+    if isinstance(x, (list, tuple)):
+        return [copy_with_str_subst(y) for y in x]
+
+    # assume it's uninterested and can be shallow-copied.
+    return x
diff --git a/synapse/server_notices/server_notices_manager.py b/synapse/server_notices/server_notices_manager.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a26deace53
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/server_notices/server_notices_manager.py
@@ -0,0 +1,146 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+import logging
+
+from twisted.internet import defer
+
+from synapse.api.constants import EventTypes, Membership, RoomCreationPreset
+from synapse.types import create_requester
+from synapse.util.caches.descriptors import cachedInlineCallbacks
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+class ServerNoticesManager(object):
+    def __init__(self, hs):
+        """
+
+        Args:
+            hs (synapse.server.HomeServer):
+        """
+
+        self._store = hs.get_datastore()
+        self._config = hs.config
+        self._room_creation_handler = hs.get_room_creation_handler()
+        self._event_creation_handler = hs.get_event_creation_handler()
+        self._is_mine_id = hs.is_mine_id
+
+    def is_enabled(self):
+        """Checks if server notices are enabled on this server.
+
+        Returns:
+            bool
+        """
+        return self._config.server_notices_mxid is not None
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def send_notice(self, user_id, event_content):
+        """Send a notice to the given user
+
+        Creates the server notices room, if none exists.
+
+        Args:
+            user_id (str): mxid of user to send event to.
+            event_content (dict): content of event to send
+
+        Returns:
+            Deferred[None]
+        """
+        room_id = yield self.get_notice_room_for_user(user_id)
+
+        system_mxid = self._config.server_notices_mxid
+        requester = create_requester(system_mxid)
+
+        logger.info("Sending server notice to %s", user_id)
+
+        yield self._event_creation_handler.create_and_send_nonmember_event(
+            requester, {
+                "type": EventTypes.Message,
+                "room_id": room_id,
+                "sender": system_mxid,
+                "content": event_content,
+            },
+            ratelimit=False,
+        )
+
+    @cachedInlineCallbacks()
+    def get_notice_room_for_user(self, user_id):
+        """Get the room for notices for a given user
+
+        If we have not yet created a notice room for this user, create it
+
+        Args:
+            user_id (str): complete user id for the user we want a room for
+
+        Returns:
+            str: room id of notice room.
+        """
+        if not self.is_enabled():
+            raise Exception("Server notices not enabled")
+
+        assert self._is_mine_id(user_id), \
+            "Cannot send server notices to remote users"
+
+        rooms = yield self._store.get_rooms_for_user_where_membership_is(
+            user_id, [Membership.INVITE, Membership.JOIN],
+        )
+        system_mxid = self._config.server_notices_mxid
+        for room in rooms:
+            # it's worth noting that there is an asymmetry here in that we
+            # expect the user to be invited or joined, but the system user must
+            # be joined. This is kinda deliberate, in that if somebody somehow
+            # manages to invite the system user to a room, that doesn't make it
+            # the server notices room.
+            user_ids = yield self._store.get_users_in_room(room.room_id)
+            if system_mxid in user_ids:
+                # we found a room which our user shares with the system notice
+                # user
+                logger.info("Using room %s", room.room_id)
+                defer.returnValue(room.room_id)
+
+        # apparently no existing notice room: create a new one
+        logger.info("Creating server notices room for %s", user_id)
+
+        # see if we want to override the profile info for the server user.
+        # note that if we want to override either the display name or the
+        # avatar, we have to use both.
+        join_profile = None
+        if (
+            self._config.server_notices_mxid_display_name is not None or
+            self._config.server_notices_mxid_avatar_url is not None
+        ):
+            join_profile = {
+                "displayname": self._config.server_notices_mxid_display_name,
+                "avatar_url": self._config.server_notices_mxid_avatar_url,
+            }
+
+        requester = create_requester(system_mxid)
+        info = yield self._room_creation_handler.create_room(
+            requester,
+            config={
+                "preset": RoomCreationPreset.PRIVATE_CHAT,
+                "name": self._config.server_notices_room_name,
+                "power_level_content_override": {
+                    "users_default": -10,
+                },
+                "invite": (user_id,)
+            },
+            ratelimit=False,
+            creator_join_profile=join_profile,
+        )
+        room_id = info['room_id']
+
+        logger.info("Created server notices room %s for %s", room_id, user_id)
+        defer.returnValue(room_id)
diff --git a/synapse/server_notices/server_notices_sender.py b/synapse/server_notices/server_notices_sender.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5d23965f34
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/server_notices/server_notices_sender.py
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+from synapse.server_notices.consent_server_notices import ConsentServerNotices
+
+
+class ServerNoticesSender(object):
+    """A centralised place which sends server notices automatically when
+    Certain Events take place
+    """
+    def __init__(self, hs):
+        """
+
+        Args:
+            hs (synapse.server.HomeServer):
+        """
+        # todo: it would be nice to make this more dynamic
+        self._consent_server_notices = ConsentServerNotices(hs)
+
+    def on_user_syncing(self, user_id):
+        """Called when the user performs a sync operation.
+
+        Args:
+            user_id (str): mxid of user who synced
+
+        Returns:
+            Deferred
+        """
+        return self._consent_server_notices.maybe_send_server_notice_to_user(
+            user_id,
+        )
+
+    def on_user_ip(self, user_id):
+        """Called on the master when a worker process saw a client request.
+
+        Args:
+            user_id (str): mxid
+
+        Returns:
+            Deferred
+        """
+        # The synchrotrons use a stubbed version of ServerNoticesSender, so
+        # we check for notices to send to the user in on_user_ip as well as
+        # in on_user_syncing
+        return self._consent_server_notices.maybe_send_server_notice_to_user(
+            user_id,
+        )
diff --git a/synapse/server_notices/worker_server_notices_sender.py b/synapse/server_notices/worker_server_notices_sender.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4a133026c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/server_notices/worker_server_notices_sender.py
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+from twisted.internet import defer
+
+
+class WorkerServerNoticesSender(object):
+    """Stub impl of ServerNoticesSender which does nothing"""
+    def __init__(self, hs):
+        """
+        Args:
+            hs (synapse.server.HomeServer):
+        """
+
+    def on_user_syncing(self, user_id):
+        """Called when the user performs a sync operation.
+
+        Args:
+            user_id (str): mxid of user who synced
+
+        Returns:
+            Deferred
+        """
+        return defer.succeed(None)
+
+    def on_user_ip(self, user_id):
+        """Called on the master when a worker process saw a client request.
+
+        Args:
+            user_id (str): mxid
+
+        Returns:
+            Deferred
+        """
+        raise AssertionError("on_user_ip unexpectedly called on worker")
diff --git a/synapse/state.py b/synapse/state.py
index 932f602508..b8c27c6815 100644
--- a/synapse/state.py
+++ b/synapse/state.py
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@ from frozendict import frozendict
 import logging
 import hashlib
 
+from six import iteritems, itervalues
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
@@ -132,7 +134,7 @@ class StateHandler(object):
 
         state_map = yield self.store.get_events(state.values(), get_prev_content=False)
         state = {
-            key: state_map[e_id] for key, e_id in state.items() if e_id in state_map
+            key: state_map[e_id] for key, e_id in iteritems(state) if e_id in state_map
         }
 
         defer.returnValue(state)
@@ -338,7 +340,7 @@ class StateHandler(object):
         )
 
         if len(state_groups_ids) == 1:
-            name, state_list = state_groups_ids.items().pop()
+            name, state_list = list(state_groups_ids.items()).pop()
 
             prev_group, delta_ids = yield self.store.get_state_group_delta(name)
 
@@ -378,7 +380,7 @@ class StateHandler(object):
             new_state = resolve_events_with_state_map(state_set_ids, state_map)
 
         new_state = {
-            key: state_map[ev_id] for key, ev_id in new_state.items()
+            key: state_map[ev_id] for key, ev_id in iteritems(new_state)
         }
 
         return new_state
@@ -458,15 +460,15 @@ class StateResolutionHandler(object):
             # build a map from state key to the event_ids which set that state.
             # dict[(str, str), set[str])
             state = {}
-            for st in state_groups_ids.values():
-                for key, e_id in st.items():
+            for st in itervalues(state_groups_ids):
+                for key, e_id in iteritems(st):
                     state.setdefault(key, set()).add(e_id)
 
             # build a map from state key to the event_ids which set that state,
             # including only those where there are state keys in conflict.
             conflicted_state = {
                 k: list(v)
-                for k, v in state.items()
+                for k, v in iteritems(state)
                 if len(v) > 1
             }
 
@@ -474,42 +476,43 @@ class StateResolutionHandler(object):
                 logger.info("Resolving conflicted state for %r", room_id)
                 with Measure(self.clock, "state._resolve_events"):
                     new_state = yield resolve_events_with_factory(
-                        state_groups_ids.values(),
+                        list(state_groups_ids.values()),
                         event_map=event_map,
                         state_map_factory=state_map_factory,
                     )
             else:
                 new_state = {
-                    key: e_ids.pop() for key, e_ids in state.items()
+                    key: e_ids.pop() for key, e_ids in iteritems(state)
                 }
 
-            # if the new state matches any of the input state groups, we can
-            # use that state group again. Otherwise we will generate a state_id
-            # which will be used as a cache key for future resolutions, but
-            # not get persisted.
-            state_group = None
-            new_state_event_ids = frozenset(new_state.values())
-            for sg, events in state_groups_ids.items():
-                if new_state_event_ids == frozenset(e_id for e_id in events):
-                    state_group = sg
-                    break
-
-            # TODO: We want to create a state group for this set of events, to
-            # increase cache hits, but we need to make sure that it doesn't
-            # end up as a prev_group without being added to the database
-
-            prev_group = None
-            delta_ids = None
-            for old_group, old_ids in state_groups_ids.iteritems():
-                if not set(new_state) - set(old_ids):
-                    n_delta_ids = {
-                        k: v
-                        for k, v in new_state.iteritems()
-                        if old_ids.get(k) != v
-                    }
-                    if not delta_ids or len(n_delta_ids) < len(delta_ids):
-                        prev_group = old_group
-                        delta_ids = n_delta_ids
+            with Measure(self.clock, "state.create_group_ids"):
+                # if the new state matches any of the input state groups, we can
+                # use that state group again. Otherwise we will generate a state_id
+                # which will be used as a cache key for future resolutions, but
+                # not get persisted.
+                state_group = None
+                new_state_event_ids = frozenset(itervalues(new_state))
+                for sg, events in iteritems(state_groups_ids):
+                    if new_state_event_ids == frozenset(e_id for e_id in events):
+                        state_group = sg
+                        break
+
+                # TODO: We want to create a state group for this set of events, to
+                # increase cache hits, but we need to make sure that it doesn't
+                # end up as a prev_group without being added to the database
+
+                prev_group = None
+                delta_ids = None
+                for old_group, old_ids in iteritems(state_groups_ids):
+                    if not set(new_state) - set(old_ids):
+                        n_delta_ids = {
+                            k: v
+                            for k, v in iteritems(new_state)
+                            if old_ids.get(k) != v
+                        }
+                        if not delta_ids or len(n_delta_ids) < len(delta_ids):
+                            prev_group = old_group
+                            delta_ids = n_delta_ids
 
             cache = _StateCacheEntry(
                 state=new_state,
@@ -526,7 +529,7 @@ class StateResolutionHandler(object):
 
 def _ordered_events(events):
     def key_func(e):
-        return -int(e.depth), hashlib.sha1(e.event_id).hexdigest()
+        return -int(e.depth), hashlib.sha1(e.event_id.encode()).hexdigest()
 
     return sorted(events, key=key_func)
 
@@ -583,7 +586,7 @@ def _seperate(state_sets):
     conflicted_state = {}
 
     for state_set in state_sets[1:]:
-        for key, value in state_set.iteritems():
+        for key, value in iteritems(state_set):
             # Check if there is an unconflicted entry for the state key.
             unconflicted_value = unconflicted_state.get(key)
             if unconflicted_value is None:
@@ -639,7 +642,7 @@ def resolve_events_with_factory(state_sets, event_map, state_map_factory):
 
     needed_events = set(
         event_id
-        for event_ids in conflicted_state.itervalues()
+        for event_ids in itervalues(conflicted_state)
         for event_id in event_ids
     )
     if event_map is not None:
@@ -661,7 +664,7 @@ def resolve_events_with_factory(state_sets, event_map, state_map_factory):
         unconflicted_state, conflicted_state, state_map
     )
 
-    new_needed_events = set(auth_events.itervalues())
+    new_needed_events = set(itervalues(auth_events))
     new_needed_events -= needed_events
     if event_map is not None:
         new_needed_events -= set(event_map.iterkeys())
@@ -678,7 +681,7 @@ def resolve_events_with_factory(state_sets, event_map, state_map_factory):
 
 def _create_auth_events_from_maps(unconflicted_state, conflicted_state, state_map):
     auth_events = {}
-    for event_ids in conflicted_state.itervalues():
+    for event_ids in itervalues(conflicted_state):
         for event_id in event_ids:
             if event_id in state_map:
                 keys = event_auth.auth_types_for_event(state_map[event_id])
@@ -693,7 +696,7 @@ def _create_auth_events_from_maps(unconflicted_state, conflicted_state, state_ma
 def _resolve_with_state(unconflicted_state_ids, conflicted_state_ds, auth_event_ids,
                         state_map):
     conflicted_state = {}
-    for key, event_ids in conflicted_state_ds.iteritems():
+    for key, event_ids in iteritems(conflicted_state_ds):
         events = [state_map[ev_id] for ev_id in event_ids if ev_id in state_map]
         if len(events) > 1:
             conflicted_state[key] = events
@@ -702,7 +705,7 @@ def _resolve_with_state(unconflicted_state_ids, conflicted_state_ds, auth_event_
 
     auth_events = {
         key: state_map[ev_id]
-        for key, ev_id in auth_event_ids.items()
+        for key, ev_id in iteritems(auth_event_ids)
         if ev_id in state_map
     }
 
@@ -715,7 +718,7 @@ def _resolve_with_state(unconflicted_state_ids, conflicted_state_ds, auth_event_
         raise
 
     new_state = unconflicted_state_ids
-    for key, event in resolved_state.iteritems():
+    for key, event in iteritems(resolved_state):
         new_state[key] = event.event_id
 
     return new_state
@@ -740,7 +743,7 @@ def _resolve_state_events(conflicted_state, auth_events):
 
     auth_events.update(resolved_state)
 
-    for key, events in conflicted_state.items():
+    for key, events in iteritems(conflicted_state):
         if key[0] == EventTypes.JoinRules:
             logger.debug("Resolving conflicted join rules %r", events)
             resolved_state[key] = _resolve_auth_events(
@@ -750,7 +753,7 @@ def _resolve_state_events(conflicted_state, auth_events):
 
     auth_events.update(resolved_state)
 
-    for key, events in conflicted_state.items():
+    for key, events in iteritems(conflicted_state):
         if key[0] == EventTypes.Member:
             logger.debug("Resolving conflicted member lists %r", events)
             resolved_state[key] = _resolve_auth_events(
@@ -760,7 +763,7 @@ def _resolve_state_events(conflicted_state, auth_events):
 
     auth_events.update(resolved_state)
 
-    for key, events in conflicted_state.items():
+    for key, events in iteritems(conflicted_state):
         if key not in resolved_state:
             logger.debug("Resolving conflicted state %r:%r", key, events)
             resolved_state[key] = _resolve_normal_events(
diff --git a/synapse/storage/__init__.py b/synapse/storage/__init__.py
index de00cae447..979fa22438 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/__init__.py
@@ -14,7 +14,10 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-from twisted.internet import defer
+import datetime
+from dateutil import tz
+import time
+import logging
 
 from synapse.storage.devices import DeviceStore
 from .appservice import (
@@ -57,10 +60,6 @@ from .engines import PostgresEngine
 from synapse.api.constants import PresenceState
 from synapse.util.caches.stream_change_cache import StreamChangeCache
 
-
-import logging
-
-
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
@@ -215,6 +214,9 @@ class DataStore(RoomMemberStore, RoomStore,
         self._stream_order_on_start = self.get_room_max_stream_ordering()
         self._min_stream_order_on_start = self.get_room_min_stream_ordering()
 
+        # Used in _generate_user_daily_visits to keep track of progress
+        self._last_user_visit_update = self._get_start_of_day()
+
         super(DataStore, self).__init__(db_conn, hs)
 
     def take_presence_startup_info(self):
@@ -244,13 +246,12 @@ class DataStore(RoomMemberStore, RoomStore,
 
         return [UserPresenceState(**row) for row in rows]
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def count_daily_users(self):
         """
         Counts the number of users who used this homeserver in the last 24 hours.
         """
         def _count_users(txn):
-            yesterday = int(self._clock.time_msec()) - (1000 * 60 * 60 * 24),
+            yesterday = int(self._clock.time_msec()) - (1000 * 60 * 60 * 24)
 
             sql = """
                 SELECT COALESCE(count(*), 0) FROM (
@@ -264,8 +265,154 @@ class DataStore(RoomMemberStore, RoomStore,
             count, = txn.fetchone()
             return count
 
-        ret = yield self.runInteraction("count_users", _count_users)
-        defer.returnValue(ret)
+        return self.runInteraction("count_users", _count_users)
+
+    def count_r30_users(self):
+        """
+        Counts the number of 30 day retained users, defined as:-
+         * Users who have created their accounts more than 30 days ago
+         * Where last seen at most 30 days ago
+         * Where account creation and last_seen are > 30 days apart
+
+         Returns counts globaly for a given user as well as breaking
+         by platform
+        """
+        def _count_r30_users(txn):
+            thirty_days_in_secs = 86400 * 30
+            now = int(self._clock.time())
+            thirty_days_ago_in_secs = now - thirty_days_in_secs
+
+            sql = """
+                SELECT platform, COALESCE(count(*), 0) FROM (
+                     SELECT
+                        users.name, platform, users.creation_ts * 1000,
+                        MAX(uip.last_seen)
+                     FROM users
+                     INNER JOIN (
+                         SELECT
+                         user_id,
+                         last_seen,
+                         CASE
+                             WHEN user_agent LIKE '%%Android%%' THEN 'android'
+                             WHEN user_agent LIKE '%%iOS%%' THEN 'ios'
+                             WHEN user_agent LIKE '%%Electron%%' THEN 'electron'
+                             WHEN user_agent LIKE '%%Mozilla%%' THEN 'web'
+                             WHEN user_agent LIKE '%%Gecko%%' THEN 'web'
+                             ELSE 'unknown'
+                         END
+                         AS platform
+                         FROM user_ips
+                     ) uip
+                     ON users.name = uip.user_id
+                     AND users.appservice_id is NULL
+                     AND users.creation_ts < ?
+                     AND uip.last_seen/1000 > ?
+                     AND (uip.last_seen/1000) - users.creation_ts > 86400 * 30
+                     GROUP BY users.name, platform, users.creation_ts
+                ) u GROUP BY platform
+            """
+
+            results = {}
+            txn.execute(sql, (thirty_days_ago_in_secs,
+                              thirty_days_ago_in_secs))
+
+            for row in txn:
+                if row[0] is 'unknown':
+                    pass
+                results[row[0]] = row[1]
+
+            sql = """
+                SELECT COALESCE(count(*), 0) FROM (
+                    SELECT users.name, users.creation_ts * 1000,
+                                                        MAX(uip.last_seen)
+                    FROM users
+                    INNER JOIN (
+                        SELECT
+                        user_id,
+                        last_seen
+                        FROM user_ips
+                    ) uip
+                    ON users.name = uip.user_id
+                    AND appservice_id is NULL
+                    AND users.creation_ts < ?
+                    AND uip.last_seen/1000 > ?
+                    AND (uip.last_seen/1000) - users.creation_ts > 86400 * 30
+                    GROUP BY users.name, users.creation_ts
+                ) u
+            """
+
+            txn.execute(sql, (thirty_days_ago_in_secs,
+                              thirty_days_ago_in_secs))
+
+            count, = txn.fetchone()
+            results['all'] = count
+
+            return results
+
+        return self.runInteraction("count_r30_users", _count_r30_users)
+
+    def _get_start_of_day(self):
+        """
+        Returns millisecond unixtime for start of UTC day.
+        """
+        now = datetime.datetime.utcnow()
+        today_start = datetime.datetime(now.year, now.month,
+                                        now.day, tzinfo=tz.tzutc())
+        return int(time.mktime(today_start.timetuple())) * 1000
+
+    def generate_user_daily_visits(self):
+        """
+        Generates daily visit data for use in cohort/ retention analysis
+        """
+        def _generate_user_daily_visits(txn):
+            logger.info("Calling _generate_user_daily_visits")
+            today_start = self._get_start_of_day()
+            a_day_in_milliseconds = 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000
+            now = self.clock.time_msec()
+
+            sql = """
+                INSERT INTO user_daily_visits (user_id, device_id, timestamp)
+                    SELECT u.user_id, u.device_id, ?
+                    FROM user_ips AS u
+                    LEFT JOIN (
+                      SELECT user_id, device_id, timestamp FROM user_daily_visits
+                      WHERE timestamp = ?
+                    ) udv
+                    ON u.user_id = udv.user_id AND u.device_id=udv.device_id
+                    INNER JOIN users ON users.name=u.user_id
+                    WHERE last_seen > ? AND last_seen <= ?
+                    AND udv.timestamp IS NULL AND users.is_guest=0
+                    AND users.appservice_id IS NULL
+                    GROUP BY u.user_id, u.device_id
+            """
+
+            # This means that the day has rolled over but there could still
+            # be entries from the previous day. There is an edge case
+            # where if the user logs in at 23:59 and overwrites their
+            # last_seen at 00:01 then they will not be counted in the
+            # previous day's stats - it is important that the query is run
+            # often to minimise this case.
+            if today_start > self._last_user_visit_update:
+                yesterday_start = today_start - a_day_in_milliseconds
+                txn.execute(sql, (
+                    yesterday_start, yesterday_start,
+                    self._last_user_visit_update, today_start
+                ))
+                self._last_user_visit_update = today_start
+
+            txn.execute(sql, (
+                today_start, today_start,
+                self._last_user_visit_update,
+                now
+            ))
+            # Update _last_user_visit_update to now. The reason to do this
+            # rather just clamping to the beginning of the day is to limit
+            # the size of the join - meaning that the query can be run more
+            # frequently
+            self._last_user_visit_update = now
+
+        return self.runInteraction("generate_user_daily_visits",
+                                   _generate_user_daily_visits)
 
     def get_users(self):
         """Function to reterive a list of users in users table.
diff --git a/synapse/storage/_base.py b/synapse/storage/_base.py
index 2fbebd4907..22d6257a9f 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/_base.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/_base.py
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ from synapse.api.errors import StoreError
 from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext, PreserveLoggingContext
 from synapse.util.caches.descriptors import Cache
 from synapse.storage.engines import PostgresEngine
-import synapse.metrics
 
+from prometheus_client import Histogram
 
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
@@ -27,20 +27,25 @@ import sys
 import time
 import threading
 
+from six import itervalues, iterkeys, iteritems
+from six.moves import intern, range
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
+try:
+    MAX_TXN_ID = sys.maxint - 1
+except AttributeError:
+    # python 3 does not have a maximum int value
+    MAX_TXN_ID = 2**63 - 1
+
 sql_logger = logging.getLogger("synapse.storage.SQL")
 transaction_logger = logging.getLogger("synapse.storage.txn")
 perf_logger = logging.getLogger("synapse.storage.TIME")
 
+sql_scheduling_timer = Histogram("synapse_storage_schedule_time", "sec")
 
-metrics = synapse.metrics.get_metrics_for("synapse.storage")
-
-sql_scheduling_timer = metrics.register_distribution("schedule_time")
-
-sql_query_timer = metrics.register_distribution("query_time", labels=["verb"])
-sql_txn_timer = metrics.register_distribution("transaction_time", labels=["desc"])
+sql_query_timer = Histogram("synapse_storage_query_time", "sec", ["verb"])
+sql_txn_timer = Histogram("synapse_storage_transaction_time", "sec", ["desc"])
 
 
 class LoggingTransaction(object):
@@ -105,7 +110,7 @@ class LoggingTransaction(object):
                 # Don't let logging failures stop SQL from working
                 pass
 
-        start = time.time() * 1000
+        start = time.time()
 
         try:
             return func(
@@ -115,9 +120,9 @@ class LoggingTransaction(object):
             logger.debug("[SQL FAIL] {%s} %s", self.name, e)
             raise
         finally:
-            msecs = (time.time() * 1000) - start
-            sql_logger.debug("[SQL time] {%s} %f", self.name, msecs)
-            sql_query_timer.inc_by(msecs, sql.split()[0])
+            secs = time.time() - start
+            sql_logger.debug("[SQL time] {%s} %f sec", self.name, secs)
+            sql_query_timer.labels(sql.split()[0]).observe(secs)
 
 
 class PerformanceCounters(object):
@@ -127,7 +132,7 @@ class PerformanceCounters(object):
 
     def update(self, key, start_time, end_time=None):
         if end_time is None:
-            end_time = time.time() * 1000
+            end_time = time.time()
         duration = end_time - start_time
         count, cum_time = self.current_counters.get(key, (0, 0))
         count += 1
@@ -137,7 +142,7 @@ class PerformanceCounters(object):
 
     def interval(self, interval_duration, limit=3):
         counters = []
-        for name, (count, cum_time) in self.current_counters.iteritems():
+        for name, (count, cum_time) in iteritems(self.current_counters):
             prev_count, prev_time = self.previous_counters.get(name, (0, 0))
             counters.append((
                 (cum_time - prev_time) / interval_duration,
@@ -217,12 +222,12 @@ class SQLBaseStore(object):
 
     def _new_transaction(self, conn, desc, after_callbacks, exception_callbacks,
                          logging_context, func, *args, **kwargs):
-        start = time.time() * 1000
+        start = time.time()
         txn_id = self._TXN_ID
 
         # We don't really need these to be unique, so lets stop it from
         # growing really large.
-        self._TXN_ID = (self._TXN_ID + 1) % (sys.maxint - 1)
+        self._TXN_ID = (self._TXN_ID + 1) % (MAX_TXN_ID)
 
         name = "%s-%x" % (desc, txn_id, )
 
@@ -277,17 +282,17 @@ class SQLBaseStore(object):
             logger.debug("[TXN FAIL] {%s} %s", name, e)
             raise
         finally:
-            end = time.time() * 1000
+            end = time.time()
             duration = end - start
 
             if logging_context is not None:
                 logging_context.add_database_transaction(duration)
 
-            transaction_logger.debug("[TXN END] {%s} %f", name, duration)
+            transaction_logger.debug("[TXN END] {%s} %f sec", name, duration)
 
             self._current_txn_total_time += duration
             self._txn_perf_counters.update(desc, start, end)
-            sql_txn_timer.inc_by(duration, desc)
+            sql_txn_timer.labels(desc).observe(duration)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def runInteraction(self, desc, func, *args, **kwargs):
@@ -344,13 +349,13 @@ class SQLBaseStore(object):
         """
         current_context = LoggingContext.current_context()
 
-        start_time = time.time() * 1000
+        start_time = time.time()
 
         def inner_func(conn, *args, **kwargs):
             with LoggingContext("runWithConnection") as context:
-                sched_duration_ms = time.time() * 1000 - start_time
-                sql_scheduling_timer.inc_by(sched_duration_ms)
-                current_context.add_database_scheduled(sched_duration_ms)
+                sched_duration_sec = time.time() - start_time
+                sql_scheduling_timer.observe(sched_duration_sec)
+                current_context.add_database_scheduled(sched_duration_sec)
 
                 if self.database_engine.is_connection_closed(conn):
                     logger.debug("Reconnecting closed database connection")
@@ -376,7 +381,7 @@ class SQLBaseStore(object):
         Returns:
             A list of dicts where the key is the column header.
         """
-        col_headers = list(intern(column[0]) for column in cursor.description)
+        col_headers = list(intern(str(column[0])) for column in cursor.description)
         results = list(
             dict(zip(col_headers, row)) for row in cursor
         )
@@ -543,7 +548,7 @@ class SQLBaseStore(object):
             ", ".join("%s = ?" % (k,) for k in values),
             " AND ".join("%s = ?" % (k,) for k in keyvalues)
         )
-        sqlargs = values.values() + keyvalues.values()
+        sqlargs = list(values.values()) + list(keyvalues.values())
 
         txn.execute(sql, sqlargs)
         if txn.rowcount > 0:
@@ -561,7 +566,7 @@ class SQLBaseStore(object):
             ", ".join(k for k in allvalues),
             ", ".join("?" for _ in allvalues)
         )
-        txn.execute(sql, allvalues.values())
+        txn.execute(sql, list(allvalues.values()))
         # successfully inserted
         return True
 
@@ -629,8 +634,8 @@ class SQLBaseStore(object):
         }
 
         if keyvalues:
-            sql += " WHERE %s" % " AND ".join("%s = ?" % k for k in keyvalues.iterkeys())
-            txn.execute(sql, keyvalues.values())
+            sql += " WHERE %s" % " AND ".join("%s = ?" % k for k in iterkeys(keyvalues))
+            txn.execute(sql, list(keyvalues.values()))
         else:
             txn.execute(sql)
 
@@ -694,7 +699,7 @@ class SQLBaseStore(object):
                 table,
                 " AND ".join("%s = ?" % (k, ) for k in keyvalues)
             )
-            txn.execute(sql, keyvalues.values())
+            txn.execute(sql, list(keyvalues.values()))
         else:
             sql = "SELECT %s FROM %s" % (
                 ", ".join(retcols),
@@ -725,9 +730,12 @@ class SQLBaseStore(object):
         if not iterable:
             defer.returnValue(results)
 
+        # iterables can not be sliced, so convert it to a list first
+        it_list = list(iterable)
+
         chunks = [
-            iterable[i:i + batch_size]
-            for i in xrange(0, len(iterable), batch_size)
+            it_list[i:i + batch_size]
+            for i in range(0, len(it_list), batch_size)
         ]
         for chunk in chunks:
             rows = yield self.runInteraction(
@@ -767,7 +775,7 @@ class SQLBaseStore(object):
         )
         values.extend(iterable)
 
-        for key, value in keyvalues.iteritems():
+        for key, value in iteritems(keyvalues):
             clauses.append("%s = ?" % (key,))
             values.append(value)
 
@@ -790,7 +798,7 @@ class SQLBaseStore(object):
     @staticmethod
     def _simple_update_txn(txn, table, keyvalues, updatevalues):
         if keyvalues:
-            where = "WHERE %s" % " AND ".join("%s = ?" % k for k in keyvalues.iterkeys())
+            where = "WHERE %s" % " AND ".join("%s = ?" % k for k in iterkeys(keyvalues))
         else:
             where = ""
 
@@ -802,7 +810,7 @@ class SQLBaseStore(object):
 
         txn.execute(
             update_sql,
-            updatevalues.values() + keyvalues.values()
+            list(updatevalues.values()) + list(keyvalues.values())
         )
 
         return txn.rowcount
@@ -850,7 +858,7 @@ class SQLBaseStore(object):
             " AND ".join("%s = ?" % (k,) for k in keyvalues)
         )
 
-        txn.execute(select_sql, keyvalues.values())
+        txn.execute(select_sql, list(keyvalues.values()))
 
         row = txn.fetchone()
         if not row:
@@ -888,7 +896,7 @@ class SQLBaseStore(object):
             " AND ".join("%s = ?" % (k, ) for k in keyvalues)
         )
 
-        txn.execute(sql, keyvalues.values())
+        txn.execute(sql, list(keyvalues.values()))
         if txn.rowcount == 0:
             raise StoreError(404, "No row found")
         if txn.rowcount > 1:
@@ -906,7 +914,7 @@ class SQLBaseStore(object):
             " AND ".join("%s = ?" % (k, ) for k in keyvalues)
         )
 
-        return txn.execute(sql, keyvalues.values())
+        return txn.execute(sql, list(keyvalues.values()))
 
     def _simple_delete_many(self, table, column, iterable, keyvalues, desc):
         return self.runInteraction(
@@ -938,7 +946,7 @@ class SQLBaseStore(object):
         )
         values.extend(iterable)
 
-        for key, value in keyvalues.iteritems():
+        for key, value in iteritems(keyvalues):
             clauses.append("%s = ?" % (key,))
             values.append(value)
 
@@ -978,7 +986,7 @@ class SQLBaseStore(object):
         txn.close()
 
         if cache:
-            min_val = min(cache.itervalues())
+            min_val = min(itervalues(cache))
         else:
             min_val = max_value
 
@@ -1093,7 +1101,7 @@ class SQLBaseStore(object):
                 " AND ".join("%s = ?" % (k,) for k in keyvalues),
                 " ? ASC LIMIT ? OFFSET ?"
             )
-            txn.execute(sql, keyvalues.values() + pagevalues)
+            txn.execute(sql, list(keyvalues.values()) + list(pagevalues))
         else:
             sql = "SELECT %s FROM %s ORDER BY %s" % (
                 ", ".join(retcols),
diff --git a/synapse/storage/account_data.py b/synapse/storage/account_data.py
index e70c9423e3..f83ff0454a 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/account_data.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/account_data.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ from synapse.util.caches.stream_change_cache import StreamChangeCache
 from synapse.util.caches.descriptors import cached, cachedList, cachedInlineCallbacks
 
 import abc
-import ujson as json
+import simplejson as json
 import logging
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
diff --git a/synapse/storage/background_updates.py b/synapse/storage/background_updates.py
index c88759bf2c..8af325a9f5 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/background_updates.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/background_updates.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ from . import engines
 
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
-import ujson as json
+import simplejson as json
 import logging
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
diff --git a/synapse/storage/client_ips.py b/synapse/storage/client_ips.py
index a03d1d6104..ce338514e8 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/client_ips.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/client_ips.py
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ from . import background_updates
 
 from synapse.util.caches import CACHE_SIZE_FACTOR
 
+from six import iteritems
+
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -48,6 +50,20 @@ class ClientIpStore(background_updates.BackgroundUpdateStore):
             columns=["user_id", "device_id", "last_seen"],
         )
 
+        self.register_background_index_update(
+            "user_ips_last_seen_index",
+            index_name="user_ips_last_seen",
+            table="user_ips",
+            columns=["user_id", "last_seen"],
+        )
+
+        self.register_background_index_update(
+            "user_ips_last_seen_only_index",
+            index_name="user_ips_last_seen_only",
+            table="user_ips",
+            columns=["last_seen"],
+        )
+
         # (user_id, access_token, ip) -> (user_agent, device_id, last_seen)
         self._batch_row_update = {}
 
@@ -85,7 +101,7 @@ class ClientIpStore(background_updates.BackgroundUpdateStore):
     def _update_client_ips_batch_txn(self, txn, to_update):
         self.database_engine.lock_table(txn, "user_ips")
 
-        for entry in to_update.iteritems():
+        for entry in iteritems(to_update):
             (user_id, access_token, ip), (user_agent, device_id, last_seen) = entry
 
             self._simple_upsert_txn(
@@ -217,5 +233,5 @@ class ClientIpStore(background_updates.BackgroundUpdateStore):
                 "user_agent": user_agent,
                 "last_seen": last_seen,
             }
-            for (access_token, ip), (user_agent, last_seen) in results.iteritems()
+            for (access_token, ip), (user_agent, last_seen) in iteritems(results)
         ))
diff --git a/synapse/storage/deviceinbox.py b/synapse/storage/deviceinbox.py
index 548e795daf..a879e5bfc1 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/deviceinbox.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/deviceinbox.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 import logging
-import ujson
+import simplejson
 
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ class DeviceInboxStore(BackgroundUpdateStore):
             )
             rows = []
             for destination, edu in remote_messages_by_destination.items():
-                edu_json = ujson.dumps(edu)
+                edu_json = simplejson.dumps(edu)
                 rows.append((destination, stream_id, now_ms, edu_json))
             txn.executemany(sql, rows)
 
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ class DeviceInboxStore(BackgroundUpdateStore):
                     " WHERE user_id = ?"
                 )
                 txn.execute(sql, (user_id,))
-                message_json = ujson.dumps(messages_by_device["*"])
+                message_json = simplejson.dumps(messages_by_device["*"])
                 for row in txn:
                     # Add the message for all devices for this user on this
                     # server.
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ class DeviceInboxStore(BackgroundUpdateStore):
                     # Only insert into the local inbox if the device exists on
                     # this server
                     device = row[0]
-                    message_json = ujson.dumps(messages_by_device[device])
+                    message_json = simplejson.dumps(messages_by_device[device])
                     messages_json_for_user[device] = message_json
 
             if messages_json_for_user:
@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@ class DeviceInboxStore(BackgroundUpdateStore):
             messages = []
             for row in txn:
                 stream_pos = row[0]
-                messages.append(ujson.loads(row[1]))
+                messages.append(simplejson.loads(row[1]))
             if len(messages) < limit:
                 stream_pos = current_stream_id
             return (messages, stream_pos)
@@ -389,7 +389,7 @@ class DeviceInboxStore(BackgroundUpdateStore):
             messages = []
             for row in txn:
                 stream_pos = row[0]
-                messages.append(ujson.loads(row[1]))
+                messages.append(simplejson.loads(row[1]))
             if len(messages) < limit:
                 stream_pos = current_stream_id
             return (messages, stream_pos)
diff --git a/synapse/storage/devices.py b/synapse/storage/devices.py
index bd2effdf34..d149d8392e 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/devices.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/devices.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 import logging
-import ujson as json
+import simplejson as json
 
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ from synapse.api.errors import StoreError
 from ._base import SQLBaseStore, Cache
 from synapse.util.caches.descriptors import cached, cachedList, cachedInlineCallbacks
 
+from six import itervalues, iteritems
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -360,7 +361,7 @@ class DeviceStore(SQLBaseStore):
             return (now_stream_id, [])
 
         if len(query_map) >= 20:
-            now_stream_id = max(stream_id for stream_id in query_map.itervalues())
+            now_stream_id = max(stream_id for stream_id in itervalues(query_map))
 
         devices = self._get_e2e_device_keys_txn(
             txn, query_map.keys(), include_all_devices=True
@@ -373,13 +374,13 @@ class DeviceStore(SQLBaseStore):
         """
 
         results = []
-        for user_id, user_devices in devices.iteritems():
+        for user_id, user_devices in iteritems(devices):
             # The prev_id for the first row is always the last row before
             # `from_stream_id`
             txn.execute(prev_sent_id_sql, (destination, user_id, from_stream_id))
             rows = txn.fetchall()
             prev_id = rows[0][0]
-            for device_id, device in user_devices.iteritems():
+            for device_id, device in iteritems(user_devices):
                 stream_id = query_map[(user_id, device_id)]
                 result = {
                     "user_id": user_id,
@@ -483,7 +484,7 @@ class DeviceStore(SQLBaseStore):
         if devices:
             user_devices = devices[user_id]
             results = []
-            for device_id, device in user_devices.iteritems():
+            for device_id, device in iteritems(user_devices):
                 result = {
                     "device_id": device_id,
                 }
diff --git a/synapse/storage/end_to_end_keys.py b/synapse/storage/end_to_end_keys.py
index 2cebb203c6..b146487943 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/end_to_end_keys.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/end_to_end_keys.py
@@ -17,10 +17,12 @@ from twisted.internet import defer
 from synapse.util.caches.descriptors import cached
 
 from canonicaljson import encode_canonical_json
-import ujson as json
+import simplejson as json
 
 from ._base import SQLBaseStore
 
+from six import iteritems
+
 
 class EndToEndKeyStore(SQLBaseStore):
     def set_e2e_device_keys(self, user_id, device_id, time_now, device_keys):
@@ -81,8 +83,8 @@ class EndToEndKeyStore(SQLBaseStore):
             query_list, include_all_devices,
         )
 
-        for user_id, device_keys in results.iteritems():
-            for device_id, device_info in device_keys.iteritems():
+        for user_id, device_keys in iteritems(results):
+            for device_id, device_info in iteritems(device_keys):
                 device_info["keys"] = json.loads(device_info.pop("key_json"))
 
         defer.returnValue(results)
diff --git a/synapse/storage/engines/__init__.py b/synapse/storage/engines/__init__.py
index 338b495611..8c868ece75 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/engines/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/engines/__init__.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ from .postgres import PostgresEngine
 from .sqlite3 import Sqlite3Engine
 
 import importlib
+import platform
 
 
 SUPPORTED_MODULE = {
@@ -31,6 +32,10 @@ def create_engine(database_config):
     engine_class = SUPPORTED_MODULE.get(name, None)
 
     if engine_class:
+        # pypy requires psycopg2cffi rather than psycopg2
+        if (name == "psycopg2" and
+                platform.python_implementation() == "PyPy"):
+            name = "psycopg2cffi"
         module = importlib.import_module(name)
         return engine_class(module, database_config)
 
diff --git a/synapse/storage/event_federation.py b/synapse/storage/event_federation.py
index 00ee82d300..8fbf7ffba7 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/event_federation.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/event_federation.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
+import random
 
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
@@ -24,7 +25,9 @@ from synapse.util.caches.descriptors import cached
 from unpaddedbase64 import encode_base64
 
 import logging
-from Queue import PriorityQueue, Empty
+from six.moves.queue import PriorityQueue, Empty
+
+from six.moves import range
 
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -78,7 +81,7 @@ class EventFederationWorkerStore(EventsWorkerStore, SignatureWorkerStore,
             front_list = list(front)
             chunks = [
                 front_list[x:x + 100]
-                for x in xrange(0, len(front), 100)
+                for x in range(0, len(front), 100)
             ]
             for chunk in chunks:
                 txn.execute(
@@ -133,7 +136,47 @@ class EventFederationWorkerStore(EventsWorkerStore, SignatureWorkerStore,
             retcol="event_id",
         )
 
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def get_prev_events_for_room(self, room_id):
+        """
+        Gets a subset of the current forward extremities in the given room.
+
+        Limits the result to 10 extremities, so that we can avoid creating
+        events which refer to hundreds of prev_events.
+
+        Args:
+            room_id (str): room_id
+
+        Returns:
+            Deferred[list[(str, dict[str, str], int)]]
+                for each event, a tuple of (event_id, hashes, depth)
+                where *hashes* is a map from algorithm to hash.
+        """
+        res = yield self.get_latest_event_ids_and_hashes_in_room(room_id)
+        if len(res) > 10:
+            # Sort by reverse depth, so we point to the most recent.
+            res.sort(key=lambda a: -a[2])
+
+            # we use half of the limit for the actual most recent events, and
+            # the other half to randomly point to some of the older events, to
+            # make sure that we don't completely ignore the older events.
+            res = res[0:5] + random.sample(res[5:], 5)
+
+        defer.returnValue(res)
+
     def get_latest_event_ids_and_hashes_in_room(self, room_id):
+        """
+        Gets the current forward extremities in the given room
+
+        Args:
+            room_id (str): room_id
+
+        Returns:
+            Deferred[list[(str, dict[str, str], int)]]
+                for each event, a tuple of (event_id, hashes, depth)
+                where *hashes* is a map from algorithm to hash.
+        """
+
         return self.runInteraction(
             "get_latest_event_ids_and_hashes_in_room",
             self._get_latest_event_ids_and_hashes_in_room,
@@ -182,22 +225,6 @@ class EventFederationWorkerStore(EventsWorkerStore, SignatureWorkerStore,
             room_id,
         )
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def get_max_depth_of_events(self, event_ids):
-        sql = (
-            "SELECT MAX(depth) FROM events WHERE event_id IN (%s)"
-        ) % (",".join(["?"] * len(event_ids)),)
-
-        rows = yield self._execute(
-            "get_max_depth_of_events", None,
-            sql, *event_ids
-        )
-
-        if rows:
-            defer.returnValue(rows[0][0])
-        else:
-            defer.returnValue(1)
-
     def _get_min_depth_interaction(self, txn, room_id):
         min_depth = self._simple_select_one_onecol_txn(
             txn,
diff --git a/synapse/storage/event_push_actions.py b/synapse/storage/event_push_actions.py
index 01f8339825..d0350ee5fe 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/event_push_actions.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/event_push_actions.py
@@ -18,11 +18,11 @@ from synapse.storage._base import SQLBaseStore, LoggingTransaction
 from twisted.internet import defer
 from synapse.util.async import sleep
 from synapse.util.caches.descriptors import cachedInlineCallbacks
-from synapse.types import RoomStreamToken
-from .stream import lower_bound
 
 import logging
-import ujson as json
+import simplejson as json
+
+from six import iteritems
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ class EventPushActionsWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
     def _get_unread_counts_by_receipt_txn(self, txn, room_id, user_id,
                                           last_read_event_id):
         sql = (
-            "SELECT stream_ordering, topological_ordering"
+            "SELECT stream_ordering"
             " FROM events"
             " WHERE room_id = ? AND event_id = ?"
         )
@@ -111,17 +111,12 @@ class EventPushActionsWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
             return {"notify_count": 0, "highlight_count": 0}
 
         stream_ordering = results[0][0]
-        topological_ordering = results[0][1]
 
         return self._get_unread_counts_by_pos_txn(
-            txn, room_id, user_id, topological_ordering, stream_ordering
+            txn, room_id, user_id, stream_ordering
         )
 
-    def _get_unread_counts_by_pos_txn(self, txn, room_id, user_id, topological_ordering,
-                                      stream_ordering):
-        token = RoomStreamToken(
-            topological_ordering, stream_ordering
-        )
+    def _get_unread_counts_by_pos_txn(self, txn, room_id, user_id, stream_ordering):
 
         # First get number of notifications.
         # We don't need to put a notif=1 clause as all rows always have
@@ -132,10 +127,10 @@ class EventPushActionsWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
             " WHERE"
             " user_id = ?"
             " AND room_id = ?"
-            " AND %s"
-        ) % (lower_bound(token, self.database_engine, inclusive=False),)
+            " AND stream_ordering > ?"
+        )
 
-        txn.execute(sql, (user_id, room_id))
+        txn.execute(sql, (user_id, room_id, stream_ordering))
         row = txn.fetchone()
         notify_count = row[0] if row else 0
 
@@ -155,10 +150,10 @@ class EventPushActionsWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
             " highlight = 1"
             " AND user_id = ?"
             " AND room_id = ?"
-            " AND %s"
-        ) % (lower_bound(token, self.database_engine, inclusive=False),)
+            " AND stream_ordering > ?"
+        )
 
-        txn.execute(sql, (user_id, room_id))
+        txn.execute(sql, (user_id, room_id, stream_ordering))
         row = txn.fetchone()
         highlight_count = row[0] if row else 0
 
@@ -209,7 +204,6 @@ class EventPushActionsWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
                 "   ep.highlight "
                 " FROM ("
                 "   SELECT room_id,"
-                "       MAX(topological_ordering) as topological_ordering,"
                 "       MAX(stream_ordering) as stream_ordering"
                 "   FROM events"
                 "   INNER JOIN receipts_linearized USING (room_id, event_id)"
@@ -219,13 +213,7 @@ class EventPushActionsWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
                 " event_push_actions AS ep"
                 " WHERE"
                 "   ep.room_id = rl.room_id"
-                "   AND ("
-                "       ep.topological_ordering > rl.topological_ordering"
-                "       OR ("
-                "           ep.topological_ordering = rl.topological_ordering"
-                "           AND ep.stream_ordering > rl.stream_ordering"
-                "       )"
-                "   )"
+                "   AND ep.stream_ordering > rl.stream_ordering"
                 "   AND ep.user_id = ?"
                 "   AND ep.stream_ordering > ?"
                 "   AND ep.stream_ordering <= ?"
@@ -318,7 +306,6 @@ class EventPushActionsWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
                 "  ep.highlight, e.received_ts"
                 " FROM ("
                 "   SELECT room_id,"
-                "       MAX(topological_ordering) as topological_ordering,"
                 "       MAX(stream_ordering) as stream_ordering"
                 "   FROM events"
                 "   INNER JOIN receipts_linearized USING (room_id, event_id)"
@@ -329,13 +316,7 @@ class EventPushActionsWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
                 " INNER JOIN events AS e USING (room_id, event_id)"
                 " WHERE"
                 "   ep.room_id = rl.room_id"
-                "   AND ("
-                "       ep.topological_ordering > rl.topological_ordering"
-                "       OR ("
-                "           ep.topological_ordering = rl.topological_ordering"
-                "           AND ep.stream_ordering > rl.stream_ordering"
-                "       )"
-                "   )"
+                "   AND ep.stream_ordering > rl.stream_ordering"
                 "   AND ep.user_id = ?"
                 "   AND ep.stream_ordering > ?"
                 "   AND ep.stream_ordering <= ?"
@@ -441,13 +422,14 @@ class EventPushActionsWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
 
             txn.executemany(sql, (
                 _gen_entry(user_id, actions)
-                for user_id, actions in user_id_actions.iteritems()
+                for user_id, actions in iteritems(user_id_actions)
             ))
 
         return self.runInteraction(
             "add_push_actions_to_staging", _add_push_actions_to_staging_txn
         )
 
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def remove_push_actions_from_staging(self, event_id):
         """Called if we failed to persist the event to ensure that stale push
         actions don't build up in the DB
@@ -456,13 +438,22 @@ class EventPushActionsWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
             event_id (str)
         """
 
-        return self._simple_delete(
-            table="event_push_actions_staging",
-            keyvalues={
-                "event_id": event_id,
-            },
-            desc="remove_push_actions_from_staging",
-        )
+        try:
+            res = yield self._simple_delete(
+                table="event_push_actions_staging",
+                keyvalues={
+                    "event_id": event_id,
+                },
+                desc="remove_push_actions_from_staging",
+            )
+            defer.returnValue(res)
+        except Exception:
+            # this method is called from an exception handler, so propagating
+            # another exception here really isn't helpful - there's nothing
+            # the caller can do about it. Just log the exception and move on.
+            logger.exception(
+                "Error removing push actions after event persistence failure",
+            )
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _find_stream_orderings_for_times(self):
@@ -752,10 +743,10 @@ class EventPushActionsStore(EventPushActionsWorkerStore):
         )
 
     def _remove_old_push_actions_before_txn(self, txn, room_id, user_id,
-                                            topological_ordering, stream_ordering):
+                                            stream_ordering):
         """
         Purges old push actions for a user and room before a given
-        topological_ordering.
+        stream_ordering.
 
         We however keep a months worth of highlighted notifications, so that
         users can still get a list of recent highlights.
@@ -764,7 +755,7 @@ class EventPushActionsStore(EventPushActionsWorkerStore):
             txn: The transcation
             room_id: Room ID to delete from
             user_id: user ID to delete for
-            topological_ordering: The lowest topological ordering which will
+            stream_ordering: The lowest stream ordering which will
                                   not be deleted.
         """
         txn.call_after(
@@ -783,9 +774,9 @@ class EventPushActionsStore(EventPushActionsWorkerStore):
         txn.execute(
             "DELETE FROM event_push_actions "
             " WHERE user_id = ? AND room_id = ? AND "
-            " topological_ordering <= ?"
+            " stream_ordering <= ?"
             " AND ((stream_ordering < ? AND highlight = 1) or highlight = 0)",
-            (user_id, room_id, topological_ordering, self.stream_ordering_month_ago)
+            (user_id, room_id, stream_ordering, self.stream_ordering_month_ago)
         )
 
         txn.execute("""
diff --git a/synapse/storage/events.py b/synapse/storage/events.py
index 9fc65229fd..b96104ccae 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/events.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/events.py
@@ -14,52 +14,57 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-from synapse.storage.events_worker import EventsWorkerStore
+from collections import OrderedDict, deque, namedtuple
+from functools import wraps
+import itertools
+import logging
 
+import simplejson as json
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
-from synapse.events import USE_FROZEN_DICTS
-
+from synapse.storage.events_worker import EventsWorkerStore
 from synapse.util.async import ObservableDeferred
+from synapse.util.frozenutils import frozendict_json_encoder
 from synapse.util.logcontext import (
-    PreserveLoggingContext, make_deferred_yieldable
+    PreserveLoggingContext, make_deferred_yieldable,
 )
 from synapse.util.logutils import log_function
 from synapse.util.metrics import Measure
 from synapse.api.constants import EventTypes
 from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError
 from synapse.util.caches.descriptors import cached, cachedInlineCallbacks
-from synapse.types import get_domain_from_id
-
-from canonicaljson import encode_canonical_json
-from collections import deque, namedtuple, OrderedDict
-from functools import wraps
-
+from synapse.types import get_domain_from_id, RoomStreamToken
 import synapse.metrics
 
-import logging
-import simplejson as json
-
 # these are only included to make the type annotations work
 from synapse.events import EventBase    # noqa: F401
 from synapse.events.snapshot import EventContext   # noqa: F401
 
+from prometheus_client import Counter
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
+persist_event_counter = Counter("synapse_storage_events_persisted_events", "")
+event_counter = Counter("synapse_storage_events_persisted_events_sep", "",
+                        ["type", "origin_type", "origin_entity"])
 
-metrics = synapse.metrics.get_metrics_for(__name__)
-persist_event_counter = metrics.register_counter("persisted_events")
-event_counter = metrics.register_counter(
-    "persisted_events_sep", labels=["type", "origin_type", "origin_entity"]
-)
+# The number of times we are recalculating the current state
+state_delta_counter = Counter("synapse_storage_events_state_delta", "")
+
+# The number of times we are recalculating state when there is only a
+# single forward extremity
+state_delta_single_event_counter = Counter(
+    "synapse_storage_events_state_delta_single_event", "")
+
+# The number of times we are reculating state when we could have resonably
+# calculated the delta when we calculated the state for an event we were
+# persisting.
+state_delta_reuse_delta_counter = Counter(
+    "synapse_storage_events_state_delta_reuse_delta", "")
 
 
 def encode_json(json_object):
-    if USE_FROZEN_DICTS:
-        # ujson doesn't like frozen_dicts
-        return encode_canonical_json(json_object)
-    else:
-        return json.dumps(json_object, ensure_ascii=False)
+    return frozendict_json_encoder.encode(json_object)
 
 
 class _EventPeristenceQueue(object):
@@ -369,7 +374,8 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
                                 room_id, ev_ctx_rm, latest_event_ids
                             )
 
-                            if new_latest_event_ids == set(latest_event_ids):
+                            latest_event_ids = set(latest_event_ids)
+                            if new_latest_event_ids == latest_event_ids:
                                 # No change in extremities, so no change in state
                                 continue
 
@@ -390,12 +396,34 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
                                 if all_single_prev_not_state:
                                     continue
 
+                            state_delta_counter.inc()
+                            if len(new_latest_event_ids) == 1:
+                                state_delta_single_event_counter.inc()
+
+                                # This is a fairly handwavey check to see if we could
+                                # have guessed what the delta would have been when
+                                # processing one of these events.
+                                # What we're interested in is if the latest extremities
+                                # were the same when we created the event as they are
+                                # now. When this server creates a new event (as opposed
+                                # to receiving it over federation) it will use the
+                                # forward extremities as the prev_events, so we can
+                                # guess this by looking at the prev_events and checking
+                                # if they match the current forward extremities.
+                                for ev, _ in ev_ctx_rm:
+                                    prev_event_ids = set(e for e, _ in ev.prev_events)
+                                    if latest_event_ids == prev_event_ids:
+                                        state_delta_reuse_delta_counter.inc()
+                                        break
+
                             logger.info(
                                 "Calculating state delta for room %s", room_id,
                             )
                             current_state = yield self._get_new_state_after_events(
                                 room_id,
-                                ev_ctx_rm, new_latest_event_ids,
+                                ev_ctx_rm,
+                                latest_event_ids,
+                                new_latest_event_ids,
                             )
                             if current_state is not None:
                                 current_state_for_room[room_id] = current_state
@@ -414,7 +442,10 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
                     state_delta_for_room=state_delta_for_room,
                     new_forward_extremeties=new_forward_extremeties,
                 )
-                persist_event_counter.inc_by(len(chunk))
+                persist_event_counter.inc(len(chunk))
+                synapse.metrics.event_persisted_position.set(
+                    chunk[-1][0].internal_metadata.stream_ordering,
+                )
                 for event, context in chunk:
                     if context.app_service:
                         origin_type = "local"
@@ -426,7 +457,7 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
                         origin_type = "remote"
                         origin_entity = get_domain_from_id(event.sender)
 
-                    event_counter.inc(event.type, origin_type, origin_entity)
+                    event_counter.labels(event.type, origin_type, origin_entity).inc()
 
                 for room_id, new_state in current_state_for_room.iteritems():
                     self.get_current_state_ids.prefill(
@@ -480,7 +511,8 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
         defer.returnValue(new_latest_event_ids)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def _get_new_state_after_events(self, room_id, events_context, new_latest_event_ids):
+    def _get_new_state_after_events(self, room_id, events_context, old_latest_event_ids,
+                                    new_latest_event_ids):
         """Calculate the current state dict after adding some new events to
         a room
 
@@ -491,6 +523,9 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
             events_context (list[(EventBase, EventContext)]):
                 events and contexts which are being added to the room
 
+            old_latest_event_ids (iterable[str]):
+                the old forward extremities for the room.
+
             new_latest_event_ids (iterable[str]):
                 the new forward extremities for the room.
 
@@ -501,64 +536,89 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
         """
 
         if not new_latest_event_ids:
-            defer.returnValue({})
+            return
 
         # map from state_group to ((type, key) -> event_id) state map
-        state_groups = {}
-        missing_event_ids = []
-        was_updated = False
+        state_groups_map = {}
+        for ev, ctx in events_context:
+            if ctx.state_group is None:
+                # I don't think this can happen, but let's double-check
+                raise Exception(
+                    "Context for new extremity event %s has no state "
+                    "group" % (ev.event_id, ),
+                )
+
+            if ctx.state_group in state_groups_map:
+                continue
+
+            state_groups_map[ctx.state_group] = ctx.current_state_ids
+
+        # We need to map the event_ids to their state groups. First, let's
+        # check if the event is one we're persisting, in which case we can
+        # pull the state group from its context.
+        # Otherwise we need to pull the state group from the database.
+
+        # Set of events we need to fetch groups for. (We know none of the old
+        # extremities are going to be in events_context).
+        missing_event_ids = set(old_latest_event_ids)
+
+        event_id_to_state_group = {}
         for event_id in new_latest_event_ids:
-            # First search in the list of new events we're adding,
-            # and then use the current state from that
+            # First search in the list of new events we're adding.
             for ev, ctx in events_context:
                 if event_id == ev.event_id:
-                    if ctx.current_state_ids is None:
-                        raise Exception("Unknown current state")
-
-                    if ctx.state_group is None:
-                        # I don't think this can happen, but let's double-check
-                        raise Exception(
-                            "Context for new extremity event %s has no state "
-                            "group" % (event_id, ),
-                        )
-
-                    # If we've already seen the state group don't bother adding
-                    # it to the state sets again
-                    if ctx.state_group not in state_groups:
-                        state_groups[ctx.state_group] = ctx.current_state_ids
-                        if ctx.delta_ids or hasattr(ev, "state_key"):
-                            was_updated = True
+                    event_id_to_state_group[event_id] = ctx.state_group
                     break
             else:
                 # If we couldn't find it, then we'll need to pull
                 # the state from the database
-                was_updated = True
-                missing_event_ids.append(event_id)
-
-        if not was_updated:
-            return
+                missing_event_ids.add(event_id)
 
         if missing_event_ids:
-            # Now pull out the state for any missing events from DB
+            # Now pull out the state groups for any missing events from DB
             event_to_groups = yield self._get_state_group_for_events(
                 missing_event_ids,
             )
+            event_id_to_state_group.update(event_to_groups)
 
-            groups = set(event_to_groups.itervalues()) - set(state_groups.iterkeys())
+        # State groups of old_latest_event_ids
+        old_state_groups = set(
+            event_id_to_state_group[evid] for evid in old_latest_event_ids
+        )
 
-            if groups:
-                group_to_state = yield self._get_state_for_groups(groups)
-                state_groups.update(group_to_state)
+        # State groups of new_latest_event_ids
+        new_state_groups = set(
+            event_id_to_state_group[evid] for evid in new_latest_event_ids
+        )
 
-        if len(state_groups) == 1:
+        # If they old and new groups are the same then we don't need to do
+        # anything.
+        if old_state_groups == new_state_groups:
+            return
+
+        # Now that we have calculated new_state_groups we need to get
+        # their state IDs so we can resolve to a single state set.
+        missing_state = new_state_groups - set(state_groups_map)
+        if missing_state:
+            group_to_state = yield self._get_state_for_groups(missing_state)
+            state_groups_map.update(group_to_state)
+
+        if len(new_state_groups) == 1:
             # If there is only one state group, then we know what the current
             # state is.
-            defer.returnValue(state_groups.values()[0])
+            defer.returnValue(state_groups_map[new_state_groups.pop()])
+
+        # Ok, we need to defer to the state handler to resolve our state sets.
 
         def get_events(ev_ids):
             return self.get_events(
                 ev_ids, get_prev_content=False, check_redacted=False,
             )
+
+        state_groups = {
+            sg: state_groups_map[sg] for sg in new_state_groups
+        }
+
         events_map = {ev.event_id: ev for ev, _ in events_context}
         logger.debug("calling resolve_state_groups from preserve_events")
         res = yield self._state_resolution_handler.resolve_state_groups(
@@ -1288,13 +1348,49 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
 
         defer.returnValue(set(r["event_id"] for r in rows))
 
-    def have_events(self, event_ids):
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def have_seen_events(self, event_ids):
         """Given a list of event ids, check if we have already processed them.
 
+        Args:
+            event_ids (iterable[str]):
+
+        Returns:
+            Deferred[set[str]]: The events we have already seen.
+        """
+        results = set()
+
+        def have_seen_events_txn(txn, chunk):
+            sql = (
+                "SELECT event_id FROM events as e WHERE e.event_id IN (%s)"
+                % (",".join("?" * len(chunk)), )
+            )
+            txn.execute(sql, chunk)
+            for (event_id, ) in txn:
+                results.add(event_id)
+
+        # break the input up into chunks of 100
+        input_iterator = iter(event_ids)
+        for chunk in iter(lambda: list(itertools.islice(input_iterator, 100)),
+                          []):
+            yield self.runInteraction(
+                "have_seen_events",
+                have_seen_events_txn,
+                chunk,
+            )
+        defer.returnValue(results)
+
+    def get_seen_events_with_rejections(self, event_ids):
+        """Given a list of event ids, check if we rejected them.
+
+        Args:
+            event_ids (list[str])
+
         Returns:
-            dict: Has an entry for each event id we already have seen. Maps to
-            the rejected reason string if we rejected the event, else maps to
-            None.
+            Deferred[dict[str, str|None):
+                Has an entry for each event id we already have seen. Maps to
+                the rejected reason string if we rejected the event, else maps
+                to None.
         """
         if not event_ids:
             return defer.succeed({})
@@ -1316,9 +1412,7 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
 
             return res
 
-        return self.runInteraction(
-            "have_events", f,
-        )
+        return self.runInteraction("get_rejection_reasons", f)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def count_daily_messages(self):
@@ -1706,15 +1800,14 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
         return self.runInteraction("get_all_new_events", get_all_new_events_txn)
 
     def purge_history(
-        self, room_id, topological_ordering, delete_local_events,
+        self, room_id, token, delete_local_events,
     ):
         """Deletes room history before a certain point
 
         Args:
             room_id (str):
 
-            topological_ordering (int):
-                minimum topo ordering to preserve
+            token (str): A topological token to delete events before
 
             delete_local_events (bool):
                 if True, we will delete local events as well as remote ones
@@ -1724,13 +1817,15 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
 
         return self.runInteraction(
             "purge_history",
-            self._purge_history_txn, room_id, topological_ordering,
+            self._purge_history_txn, room_id, token,
             delete_local_events,
         )
 
     def _purge_history_txn(
-        self, txn, room_id, topological_ordering, delete_local_events,
+        self, txn, room_id, token_str, delete_local_events,
     ):
+        token = RoomStreamToken.parse(token_str)
+
         # Tables that should be pruned:
         #     event_auth
         #     event_backward_extremities
@@ -1775,6 +1870,13 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
             " ON events_to_purge(should_delete)",
         )
 
+        # We do joins against events_to_purge for e.g. calculating state
+        # groups to purge, etc., so lets make an index.
+        txn.execute(
+            "CREATE INDEX events_to_purge_id"
+            " ON events_to_purge(event_id)",
+        )
+
         # First ensure that we're not about to delete all the forward extremeties
         txn.execute(
             "SELECT e.event_id, e.depth FROM events as e "
@@ -1787,7 +1889,7 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
         rows = txn.fetchall()
         max_depth = max(row[0] for row in rows)
 
-        if max_depth <= topological_ordering:
+        if max_depth <= token.topological:
             # We need to ensure we don't delete all the events from the datanase
             # otherwise we wouldn't be able to send any events (due to not
             # having any backwards extremeties)
@@ -1803,7 +1905,7 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
             should_delete_expr += " AND event_id NOT LIKE ?"
             should_delete_params += ("%:" + self.hs.hostname, )
 
-        should_delete_params += (room_id, topological_ordering)
+        should_delete_params += (room_id, token.topological)
 
         txn.execute(
             "INSERT INTO events_to_purge"
@@ -1826,13 +1928,13 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
         logger.info("[purge] Finding new backward extremities")
 
         # We calculate the new entries for the backward extremeties by finding
-        # all events that point to events that are to be purged
+        # events to be purged that are pointed to by events we're not going to
+        # purge.
         txn.execute(
             "SELECT DISTINCT e.event_id FROM events_to_purge AS e"
             " INNER JOIN event_edges AS ed ON e.event_id = ed.prev_event_id"
-            " INNER JOIN events AS e2 ON e2.event_id = ed.event_id"
-            " WHERE e2.topological_ordering >= ?",
-            (topological_ordering, )
+            " LEFT JOIN events_to_purge AS ep2 ON ed.event_id = ep2.event_id"
+            " WHERE ep2.event_id IS NULL",
         )
         new_backwards_extrems = txn.fetchall()
 
@@ -1856,16 +1958,22 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
 
         # Get all state groups that are only referenced by events that are
         # to be deleted.
-        txn.execute(
-            "SELECT state_group FROM event_to_state_groups"
-            " INNER JOIN events USING (event_id)"
-            " WHERE state_group IN ("
-            "   SELECT DISTINCT state_group FROM events_to_purge"
-            "   INNER JOIN event_to_state_groups USING (event_id)"
-            " )"
-            " GROUP BY state_group HAVING MAX(topological_ordering) < ?",
-            (topological_ordering, )
-        )
+        # This works by first getting state groups that we may want to delete,
+        # joining against event_to_state_groups to get events that use that
+        # state group, then left joining against events_to_purge again. Any
+        # state group where the left join produce *no nulls* are referenced
+        # only by events that are going to be purged.
+        txn.execute("""
+            SELECT state_group FROM
+            (
+                SELECT DISTINCT state_group FROM events_to_purge
+                INNER JOIN event_to_state_groups USING (event_id)
+            ) AS sp
+            INNER JOIN event_to_state_groups USING (state_group)
+            LEFT JOIN events_to_purge AS ep USING (event_id)
+            GROUP BY state_group
+            HAVING SUM(CASE WHEN ep.event_id IS NULL THEN 1 ELSE 0 END) = 0
+        """)
 
         state_rows = txn.fetchall()
         logger.info("[purge] found %i redundant state groups", len(state_rows))
@@ -2012,10 +2120,25 @@ class EventsStore(EventsWorkerStore):
         #
         # So, let's stick it at the end so that we don't block event
         # persistence.
-        logger.info("[purge] updating room_depth")
+        #
+        # We do this by calculating the minimum depth of the backwards
+        # extremities. However, the events in event_backward_extremities
+        # are ones we don't have yet so we need to look at the events that
+        # point to it via event_edges table.
+        txn.execute("""
+            SELECT COALESCE(MIN(depth), 0)
+            FROM event_backward_extremities AS eb
+            INNER JOIN event_edges AS eg ON eg.prev_event_id = eb.event_id
+            INNER JOIN events AS e ON e.event_id = eg.event_id
+            WHERE eb.room_id = ?
+        """, (room_id,))
+        min_depth, = txn.fetchone()
+
+        logger.info("[purge] updating room_depth to %d", min_depth)
+
         txn.execute(
             "UPDATE room_depth SET min_depth = ? WHERE room_id = ?",
-            (topological_ordering, room_id,)
+            (min_depth, room_id,)
         )
 
         # finally, drop the temp table. this will commit the txn in sqlite,
diff --git a/synapse/storage/events_worker.py b/synapse/storage/events_worker.py
index 2e23dd78ba..32d9d00ffb 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/events_worker.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/events_worker.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ from synapse.events import FrozenEvent
 from synapse.events.utils import prune_event
 
 from synapse.util.logcontext import (
-    preserve_fn, PreserveLoggingContext, make_deferred_yieldable
+    PreserveLoggingContext, make_deferred_yieldable, run_in_background,
 )
 from synapse.util.metrics import Measure
 from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError
@@ -51,6 +51,26 @@ _EventCacheEntry = namedtuple("_EventCacheEntry", ("event", "redacted_event"))
 
 
 class EventsWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
+    def get_received_ts(self, event_id):
+        """Get received_ts (when it was persisted) for the event.
+
+        Raises an exception for unknown events.
+
+        Args:
+            event_id (str)
+
+        Returns:
+            Deferred[int|None]: Timestamp in milliseconds, or None for events
+            that were persisted before received_ts was implemented.
+        """
+        return self._simple_select_one_onecol(
+            table="events",
+            keyvalues={
+                "event_id": event_id,
+            },
+            retcol="received_ts",
+            desc="get_received_ts",
+        )
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def get_event(self, event_id, check_redacted=True,
@@ -299,7 +319,8 @@ class EventsWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
 
         res = yield make_deferred_yieldable(defer.gatherResults(
             [
-                preserve_fn(self._get_event_from_row)(
+                run_in_background(
+                    self._get_event_from_row,
                     row["internal_metadata"], row["json"], row["redacts"],
                     rejected_reason=row["rejects"],
                 )
@@ -316,7 +337,7 @@ class EventsWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
     def _fetch_event_rows(self, txn, events):
         rows = []
         N = 200
-        for i in range(1 + len(events) / N):
+        for i in range(1 + len(events) // N):
             evs = events[i * N:(i + 1) * N]
             if not evs:
                 break
diff --git a/synapse/storage/filtering.py b/synapse/storage/filtering.py
index 78b1e30945..2e2763126d 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/filtering.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/filtering.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ class FilteringStore(SQLBaseStore):
             desc="get_user_filter",
         )
 
-        defer.returnValue(json.loads(str(def_json).decode("utf-8")))
+        defer.returnValue(json.loads(bytes(def_json).decode("utf-8")))
 
     def add_user_filter(self, user_localpart, user_filter):
         def_json = encode_canonical_json(user_filter)
diff --git a/synapse/storage/group_server.py b/synapse/storage/group_server.py
index 8fde1aab8e..da05ccb027 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/group_server.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/group_server.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # Copyright 2017 Vector Creations Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -19,7 +20,7 @@ from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError
 
 from ._base import SQLBaseStore
 
-import ujson as json
+import simplejson as json
 
 
 # The category ID for the "default" category. We don't store as null in the
@@ -29,6 +30,24 @@ _DEFAULT_ROLE_ID = ""
 
 
 class GroupServerStore(SQLBaseStore):
+    def set_group_join_policy(self, group_id, join_policy):
+        """Set the join policy of a group.
+
+        join_policy can be one of:
+         * "invite"
+         * "open"
+        """
+        return self._simple_update_one(
+            table="groups",
+            keyvalues={
+                "group_id": group_id,
+            },
+            updatevalues={
+                "join_policy": join_policy,
+            },
+            desc="set_group_join_policy",
+        )
+
     def get_group(self, group_id):
         return self._simple_select_one(
             table="groups",
@@ -36,10 +55,11 @@ class GroupServerStore(SQLBaseStore):
                 "group_id": group_id,
             },
             retcols=(
-                "name", "short_description", "long_description", "avatar_url", "is_public"
+                "name", "short_description", "long_description",
+                "avatar_url", "is_public", "join_policy",
             ),
             allow_none=True,
-            desc="is_user_in_group",
+            desc="get_group",
         )
 
     def get_users_in_group(self, group_id, include_private=False):
diff --git a/synapse/storage/keys.py b/synapse/storage/keys.py
index 87aeaf71d6..0540c2b0b1 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/keys.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/keys.py
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ class KeyStore(SQLBaseStore):
 
         if verify_key_bytes:
             defer.returnValue(decode_verify_key_bytes(
-                key_id, str(verify_key_bytes)
+                key_id, bytes(verify_key_bytes)
             ))
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
diff --git a/synapse/storage/prepare_database.py b/synapse/storage/prepare_database.py
index c845a0cec5..c08e9cd65a 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/prepare_database.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/prepare_database.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # Copyright 2014 - 2016 OpenMarket Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -25,7 +26,7 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 # Remember to update this number every time a change is made to database
 # schema files, so the users will be informed on server restarts.
-SCHEMA_VERSION = 47
+SCHEMA_VERSION = 49
 
 dir_path = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
 
diff --git a/synapse/storage/receipts.py b/synapse/storage/receipts.py
index eac8694e0f..709c69a926 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/receipts.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/receipts.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ from twisted.internet import defer
 
 import abc
 import logging
-import ujson as json
+import simplejson as json
 
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -297,18 +297,22 @@ class ReceiptsWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
         if receipt_type != "m.read":
             return
 
-        # Returns an ObservableDeferred
+        # Returns either an ObservableDeferred or the raw result
         res = self.get_users_with_read_receipts_in_room.cache.get(
             room_id, None, update_metrics=False,
         )
 
-        if res:
-            if isinstance(res, defer.Deferred) and res.called:
+        # first handle the Deferred case
+        if isinstance(res, defer.Deferred):
+            if res.called:
                 res = res.result
-            if user_id in res:
-                # We'd only be adding to the set, so no point invalidating if the
-                # user is already there
-                return
+            else:
+                res = None
+
+        if res and user_id in res:
+            # We'd only be adding to the set, so no point invalidating if the
+            # user is already there
+            return
 
         self.get_users_with_read_receipts_in_room.invalidate((room_id,))
 
@@ -407,7 +411,6 @@ class ReceiptsStore(ReceiptsWorkerStore):
                 txn,
                 room_id=room_id,
                 user_id=user_id,
-                topological_ordering=topological_ordering,
                 stream_ordering=stream_ordering,
             )
 
diff --git a/synapse/storage/registration.py b/synapse/storage/registration.py
index d809b2ba46..a530e29f43 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/registration.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/registration.py
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ from synapse.storage import background_updates
 from synapse.storage._base import SQLBaseStore
 from synapse.util.caches.descriptors import cached, cachedInlineCallbacks
 
+from six.moves import range
+
 
 class RegistrationWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
     @cached()
@@ -31,7 +33,10 @@ class RegistrationWorkerStore(SQLBaseStore):
             keyvalues={
                 "name": user_id,
             },
-            retcols=["name", "password_hash", "is_guest"],
+            retcols=[
+                "name", "password_hash", "is_guest",
+                "consent_version", "consent_server_notice_sent",
+            ],
             allow_none=True,
             desc="get_user_by_id",
         )
@@ -284,6 +289,53 @@ class RegistrationStore(RegistrationWorkerStore,
             "user_set_password_hash", user_set_password_hash_txn
         )
 
+    def user_set_consent_version(self, user_id, consent_version):
+        """Updates the user table to record privacy policy consent
+
+        Args:
+            user_id (str): full mxid of the user to update
+            consent_version (str): version of the policy the user has consented
+                to
+
+        Raises:
+            StoreError(404) if user not found
+        """
+        def f(txn):
+            self._simple_update_one_txn(
+                txn,
+                table='users',
+                keyvalues={'name': user_id, },
+                updatevalues={'consent_version': consent_version, },
+            )
+            self._invalidate_cache_and_stream(
+                txn, self.get_user_by_id, (user_id,)
+            )
+        return self.runInteraction("user_set_consent_version", f)
+
+    def user_set_consent_server_notice_sent(self, user_id, consent_version):
+        """Updates the user table to record that we have sent the user a server
+        notice about privacy policy consent
+
+        Args:
+            user_id (str): full mxid of the user to update
+            consent_version (str): version of the policy we have notified the
+                user about
+
+        Raises:
+            StoreError(404) if user not found
+        """
+        def f(txn):
+            self._simple_update_one_txn(
+                txn,
+                table='users',
+                keyvalues={'name': user_id, },
+                updatevalues={'consent_server_notice_sent': consent_version, },
+            )
+            self._invalidate_cache_and_stream(
+                txn, self.get_user_by_id, (user_id,)
+            )
+        return self.runInteraction("user_set_consent_server_notice_sent", f)
+
     def user_delete_access_tokens(self, user_id, except_token_id=None,
                                   device_id=None):
         """
@@ -460,18 +512,16 @@ class RegistrationStore(RegistrationWorkerStore,
         """
         def _find_next_generated_user_id(txn):
             txn.execute("SELECT name FROM users")
-            rows = self.cursor_to_dict(txn)
 
             regex = re.compile("^@(\d+):")
 
             found = set()
 
-            for r in rows:
-                user_id = r["name"]
+            for user_id, in txn:
                 match = regex.search(user_id)
                 if match:
                     found.add(int(match.group(1)))
-            for i in xrange(len(found) + 1):
+            for i in range(len(found) + 1):
                 if i not in found:
                     return i
 
@@ -526,3 +576,42 @@ class RegistrationStore(RegistrationWorkerStore,
         except self.database_engine.module.IntegrityError:
             ret = yield self.get_3pid_guest_access_token(medium, address)
             defer.returnValue(ret)
+
+    def add_user_pending_deactivation(self, user_id):
+        """
+        Adds a user to the table of users who need to be parted from all the rooms they're
+        in
+        """
+        return self._simple_insert(
+            "users_pending_deactivation",
+            values={
+                "user_id": user_id,
+            },
+            desc="add_user_pending_deactivation",
+        )
+
+    def del_user_pending_deactivation(self, user_id):
+        """
+        Removes the given user to the table of users who need to be parted from all the
+        rooms they're in, effectively marking that user as fully deactivated.
+        """
+        return self._simple_delete_one(
+            "users_pending_deactivation",
+            keyvalues={
+                "user_id": user_id,
+            },
+            desc="del_user_pending_deactivation",
+        )
+
+    def get_user_pending_deactivation(self):
+        """
+        Gets one user from the table of users waiting to be parted from all the rooms
+        they're in.
+        """
+        return self._simple_select_one_onecol(
+            "users_pending_deactivation",
+            keyvalues={},
+            retcol="user_id",
+            allow_none=True,
+            desc="get_users_pending_deactivation",
+        )
diff --git a/synapse/storage/room.py b/synapse/storage/room.py
index 34ed84ea22..ea6a189185 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/room.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/room.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ from synapse.util.caches.descriptors import cached, cachedInlineCallbacks
 
 import collections
 import logging
-import ujson as json
+import simplejson as json
 import re
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -530,7 +530,7 @@ class RoomStore(RoomWorkerStore, SearchStore):
 
             # Convert the IDs to MXC URIs
             for media_id in local_mxcs:
-                local_media_mxcs.append("mxc://%s/%s" % (self.hostname, media_id))
+                local_media_mxcs.append("mxc://%s/%s" % (self.hs.hostname, media_id))
             for hostname, media_id in remote_mxcs:
                 remote_media_mxcs.append("mxc://%s/%s" % (hostname, media_id))
 
@@ -594,7 +594,8 @@ class RoomStore(RoomWorkerStore, SearchStore):
 
         while next_token:
             sql = """
-                SELECT stream_ordering, content FROM events
+                SELECT stream_ordering, json FROM events
+                JOIN event_json USING (room_id, event_id)
                 WHERE room_id = ?
                     AND stream_ordering < ?
                     AND contains_url = ? AND outlier = ?
@@ -606,8 +607,8 @@ class RoomStore(RoomWorkerStore, SearchStore):
             next_token = None
             for stream_ordering, content_json in txn:
                 next_token = stream_ordering
-                content = json.loads(content_json)
-
+                event_json = json.loads(content_json)
+                content = event_json["content"]
                 content_url = content.get("url")
                 thumbnail_url = content.get("info", {}).get("thumbnail_url")
 
@@ -618,7 +619,7 @@ class RoomStore(RoomWorkerStore, SearchStore):
                     if matches:
                         hostname = matches.group(1)
                         media_id = matches.group(2)
-                        if hostname == self.hostname:
+                        if hostname == self.hs.hostname:
                             local_media_mxcs.append(media_id)
                         else:
                             remote_media_mxcs.append((hostname, media_id))
diff --git a/synapse/storage/roommember.py b/synapse/storage/roommember.py
index 52e19e16b0..7bfc3d91b5 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/roommember.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/roommember.py
@@ -28,7 +28,9 @@ from synapse.api.constants import Membership, EventTypes
 from synapse.types import get_domain_from_id
 
 import logging
-import ujson as json
+import simplejson as json
+
+from six import itervalues, iteritems
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -272,7 +274,7 @@ class RoomMemberWorkerStore(EventsWorkerStore):
         users_in_room = {}
         member_event_ids = [
             e_id
-            for key, e_id in current_state_ids.iteritems()
+            for key, e_id in iteritems(current_state_ids)
             if key[0] == EventTypes.Member
         ]
 
@@ -289,7 +291,7 @@ class RoomMemberWorkerStore(EventsWorkerStore):
                     users_in_room = dict(prev_res)
                     member_event_ids = [
                         e_id
-                        for key, e_id in context.delta_ids.iteritems()
+                        for key, e_id in iteritems(context.delta_ids)
                         if key[0] == EventTypes.Member
                     ]
                     for etype, state_key in context.delta_ids:
@@ -645,8 +647,9 @@ class RoomMemberStore(RoomMemberWorkerStore):
 
         def add_membership_profile_txn(txn):
             sql = ("""
-                SELECT stream_ordering, event_id, events.room_id, content
+                SELECT stream_ordering, event_id, events.room_id, event_json.json
                 FROM events
+                INNER JOIN event_json USING (event_id)
                 INNER JOIN room_memberships USING (event_id)
                 WHERE ? <= stream_ordering AND stream_ordering < ?
                 AND type = 'm.room.member'
@@ -667,7 +670,8 @@ class RoomMemberStore(RoomMemberWorkerStore):
                 event_id = row["event_id"]
                 room_id = row["room_id"]
                 try:
-                    content = json.loads(row["content"])
+                    event_json = json.loads(row["json"])
+                    content = event_json['content']
                 except Exception:
                     continue
 
@@ -739,7 +743,7 @@ class _JoinedHostsCache(object):
             if state_entry.state_group == self.state_group:
                 pass
             elif state_entry.prev_group == self.state_group:
-                for (typ, state_key), event_id in state_entry.delta_ids.iteritems():
+                for (typ, state_key), event_id in iteritems(state_entry.delta_ids):
                     if typ != EventTypes.Member:
                         continue
 
@@ -769,7 +773,7 @@ class _JoinedHostsCache(object):
                 self.state_group = state_entry.state_group
             else:
                 self.state_group = object()
-            self._len = sum(len(v) for v in self.hosts_to_joined_users.itervalues())
+            self._len = sum(len(v) for v in itervalues(self.hosts_to_joined_users))
         defer.returnValue(frozenset(self.hosts_to_joined_users))
 
     def __len__(self):
diff --git a/synapse/storage/schema/delta/14/upgrade_appservice_db.py b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/14/upgrade_appservice_db.py
index 8755bb2e49..4d725b92fe 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/schema/delta/14/upgrade_appservice_db.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/14/upgrade_appservice_db.py
@@ -12,9 +12,10 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-import json
 import logging
 
+import simplejson as json
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
diff --git a/synapse/storage/schema/delta/25/fts.py b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/25/fts.py
index 4269ac69ad..e7351c3ae6 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/schema/delta/25/fts.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/25/fts.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import logging
 from synapse.storage.prepare_database import get_statements
 from synapse.storage.engines import PostgresEngine, Sqlite3Engine
 
-import ujson
+import simplejson
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ def run_create(cur, database_engine, *args, **kwargs):
             "max_stream_id_exclusive": max_stream_id + 1,
             "rows_inserted": 0,
         }
-        progress_json = ujson.dumps(progress)
+        progress_json = simplejson.dumps(progress)
 
         sql = (
             "INSERT into background_updates (update_name, progress_json)"
diff --git a/synapse/storage/schema/delta/27/ts.py b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/27/ts.py
index 71b12a2731..6df57b5206 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/schema/delta/27/ts.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/27/ts.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import logging
 
 from synapse.storage.prepare_database import get_statements
 
-import ujson
+import simplejson
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ def run_create(cur, database_engine, *args, **kwargs):
             "max_stream_id_exclusive": max_stream_id + 1,
             "rows_inserted": 0,
         }
-        progress_json = ujson.dumps(progress)
+        progress_json = simplejson.dumps(progress)
 
         sql = (
             "INSERT into background_updates (update_name, progress_json)"
diff --git a/synapse/storage/schema/delta/30/as_users.py b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/30/as_users.py
index c53e53c94f..85bd1a2006 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/schema/delta/30/as_users.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/30/as_users.py
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
 import logging
 from synapse.config.appservice import load_appservices
 
+from six.moves import range
+
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -58,7 +60,7 @@ def run_upgrade(cur, database_engine, config, *args, **kwargs):
 
     for as_id, user_ids in owned.items():
         n = 100
-        user_chunks = (user_ids[i:i + 100] for i in xrange(0, len(user_ids), n))
+        user_chunks = (user_ids[i:i + 100] for i in range(0, len(user_ids), n))
         for chunk in user_chunks:
             cur.execute(
                 database_engine.convert_param_style(
diff --git a/synapse/storage/schema/delta/31/search_update.py b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/31/search_update.py
index 470ae0c005..fe6b7d196d 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/schema/delta/31/search_update.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/31/search_update.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ from synapse.storage.engines import PostgresEngine
 from synapse.storage.prepare_database import get_statements
 
 import logging
-import ujson
+import simplejson
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ def run_create(cur, database_engine, *args, **kwargs):
             "rows_inserted": 0,
             "have_added_indexes": False,
         }
-        progress_json = ujson.dumps(progress)
+        progress_json = simplejson.dumps(progress)
 
         sql = (
             "INSERT into background_updates (update_name, progress_json)"
diff --git a/synapse/storage/schema/delta/33/event_fields.py b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/33/event_fields.py
index 83066cccc9..1e002f9db2 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/schema/delta/33/event_fields.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/33/event_fields.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 from synapse.storage.prepare_database import get_statements
 
 import logging
-import ujson
+import simplejson
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ def run_create(cur, database_engine, *args, **kwargs):
             "max_stream_id_exclusive": max_stream_id + 1,
             "rows_inserted": 0,
         }
-        progress_json = ujson.dumps(progress)
+        progress_json = simplejson.dumps(progress)
 
         sql = (
             "INSERT into background_updates (update_name, progress_json)"
diff --git a/synapse/storage/schema/delta/48/add_user_consent.sql b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/48/add_user_consent.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5237491506
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/48/add_user_consent.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+/* Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+/* record the version of the privacy policy the user has consented to
+ */
+ALTER TABLE users ADD COLUMN consent_version TEXT;
diff --git a/synapse/storage/schema/delta/48/add_user_ips_last_seen_index.sql b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/48/add_user_ips_last_seen_index.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9248b0b24a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/48/add_user_ips_last_seen_index.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+/* Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+INSERT into background_updates (update_name, progress_json)
+    VALUES ('user_ips_last_seen_index', '{}');
diff --git a/synapse/storage/schema/delta/48/deactivated_users.sql b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/48/deactivated_users.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e9013a6969
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/48/deactivated_users.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+/* Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+/*
+ * Store any accounts that have been requested to be deactivated.
+ * We part the account from all the rooms its in when its
+ * deactivated. This can take some time and synapse may be restarted
+ * before it completes, so store the user IDs here until the process
+ * is complete.
+ */
+CREATE TABLE users_pending_deactivation (
+    user_id TEXT NOT NULL
+);
diff --git a/synapse/storage/schema/delta/48/group_unique_indexes.py b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/48/group_unique_indexes.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2233af87d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/48/group_unique_indexes.py
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+from synapse.storage.engines import PostgresEngine
+from synapse.storage.prepare_database import get_statements
+
+FIX_INDEXES = """
+-- rebuild indexes as uniques
+DROP INDEX groups_invites_g_idx;
+CREATE UNIQUE INDEX group_invites_g_idx ON group_invites(group_id, user_id);
+DROP INDEX groups_users_g_idx;
+CREATE UNIQUE INDEX group_users_g_idx ON group_users(group_id, user_id);
+
+-- rename other indexes to actually match their table names..
+DROP INDEX groups_users_u_idx;
+CREATE INDEX group_users_u_idx ON group_users(user_id);
+DROP INDEX groups_invites_u_idx;
+CREATE INDEX group_invites_u_idx ON group_invites(user_id);
+DROP INDEX groups_rooms_g_idx;
+CREATE UNIQUE INDEX group_rooms_g_idx ON group_rooms(group_id, room_id);
+DROP INDEX groups_rooms_r_idx;
+CREATE INDEX group_rooms_r_idx ON group_rooms(room_id);
+"""
+
+
+def run_create(cur, database_engine, *args, **kwargs):
+    rowid = "ctid" if isinstance(database_engine, PostgresEngine) else "rowid"
+
+    # remove duplicates from group_users & group_invites tables
+    cur.execute("""
+        DELETE FROM group_users WHERE %s NOT IN (
+           SELECT min(%s) FROM group_users GROUP BY group_id, user_id
+        );
+    """ % (rowid, rowid))
+    cur.execute("""
+        DELETE FROM group_invites WHERE %s NOT IN (
+           SELECT min(%s) FROM group_invites GROUP BY group_id, user_id
+        );
+    """ % (rowid, rowid))
+
+    for statement in get_statements(FIX_INDEXES.splitlines()):
+        cur.execute(statement)
+
+
+def run_upgrade(*args, **kwargs):
+    pass
diff --git a/synapse/storage/schema/delta/48/groups_joinable.sql b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/48/groups_joinable.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ce26eaf0c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/48/groups_joinable.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+/* Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+/* 
+ * This isn't a real ENUM because sqlite doesn't support it
+ * and we use a default of NULL for inserted rows and interpret
+ * NULL at the python store level as necessary so that existing
+ * rows are given the correct default policy.
+ */
+ALTER TABLE groups ADD COLUMN join_policy TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT 'invite';
diff --git a/synapse/storage/schema/delta/49/add_user_consent_server_notice_sent.sql b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/49/add_user_consent_server_notice_sent.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..14dcf18d73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/49/add_user_consent_server_notice_sent.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+/* Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+/* record whether we have sent a server notice about consenting to the
+ * privacy policy. Specifically records the version of the policy we sent
+ * a message about.
+ */
+ALTER TABLE users ADD COLUMN consent_server_notice_sent TEXT;
diff --git a/synapse/storage/schema/delta/49/add_user_daily_visits.sql b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/49/add_user_daily_visits.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3dd478196f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/49/add_user_daily_visits.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+/* Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+
+CREATE TABLE user_daily_visits ( user_id TEXT NOT NULL,
+                                 device_id TEXT,
+                                 timestamp BIGINT NOT NULL );
+CREATE INDEX user_daily_visits_uts_idx ON user_daily_visits(user_id, timestamp);
+CREATE INDEX user_daily_visits_ts_idx ON user_daily_visits(timestamp);
diff --git a/synapse/storage/schema/delta/49/add_user_ips_last_seen_only_index.sql b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/49/add_user_ips_last_seen_only_index.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3a4ed59b5b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/synapse/storage/schema/delta/49/add_user_ips_last_seen_only_index.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+/* Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+INSERT into background_updates (update_name, progress_json)
+    VALUES ('user_ips_last_seen_only_index', '{}');
diff --git a/synapse/storage/search.py b/synapse/storage/search.py
index 2755acff40..6ba3e59889 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/search.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/search.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 from collections import namedtuple
 import logging
 import re
-import ujson as json
+import simplejson as json
 
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
@@ -75,8 +75,9 @@ class SearchStore(BackgroundUpdateStore):
 
         def reindex_search_txn(txn):
             sql = (
-                "SELECT stream_ordering, event_id, room_id, type, content, "
+                "SELECT stream_ordering, event_id, room_id, type, json, "
                 " origin_server_ts FROM events"
+                " JOIN event_json USING (room_id, event_id)"
                 " WHERE ? <= stream_ordering AND stream_ordering < ?"
                 " AND (%s)"
                 " ORDER BY stream_ordering DESC"
@@ -104,7 +105,8 @@ class SearchStore(BackgroundUpdateStore):
                     stream_ordering = row["stream_ordering"]
                     origin_server_ts = row["origin_server_ts"]
                     try:
-                        content = json.loads(row["content"])
+                        event_json = json.loads(row["json"])
+                        content = event_json["content"]
                     except Exception:
                         continue
 
diff --git a/synapse/storage/stream.py b/synapse/storage/stream.py
index 2956c3b3e0..fb463c525a 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/stream.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/stream.py
@@ -38,15 +38,17 @@ from twisted.internet import defer
 from synapse.storage._base import SQLBaseStore
 from synapse.storage.events import EventsWorkerStore
 
-from synapse.util.caches.descriptors import cached
 from synapse.types import RoomStreamToken
 from synapse.util.caches.stream_change_cache import StreamChangeCache
-from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable, preserve_fn
-from synapse.storage.engines import PostgresEngine, Sqlite3Engine
+from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable, run_in_background
+from synapse.storage.engines import PostgresEngine
 
 import abc
 import logging
 
+from six.moves import range
+from collections import namedtuple
+
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -58,6 +60,12 @@ _STREAM_TOKEN = "stream"
 _TOPOLOGICAL_TOKEN = "topological"
 
 
+# Used as return values for pagination APIs
+_EventDictReturn = namedtuple("_EventDictReturn", (
+    "event_id", "topological_ordering", "stream_ordering",
+))
+
+
 def lower_bound(token, engine, inclusive=False):
     inclusive = "=" if inclusive else ""
     if token.topological is None:
@@ -196,13 +204,14 @@ class StreamWorkerStore(EventsWorkerStore, SQLBaseStore):
 
         results = {}
         room_ids = list(room_ids)
-        for rm_ids in (room_ids[i:i + 20] for i in xrange(0, len(room_ids), 20)):
+        for rm_ids in (room_ids[i:i + 20] for i in range(0, len(room_ids), 20)):
             res = yield make_deferred_yieldable(defer.gatherResults([
-                preserve_fn(self.get_room_events_stream_for_room)(
+                run_in_background(
+                    self.get_room_events_stream_for_room,
                     room_id, from_key, to_key, limit, order=order,
                 )
                 for room_id in rm_ids
-            ]))
+            ], consumeErrors=True))
             results.update(dict(zip(rm_ids, res)))
 
         defer.returnValue(results)
@@ -224,54 +233,55 @@ class StreamWorkerStore(EventsWorkerStore, SQLBaseStore):
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def get_room_events_stream_for_room(self, room_id, from_key, to_key, limit=0,
                                         order='DESC'):
-        # Note: If from_key is None then we return in topological order. This
-        # is because in that case we're using this as a "get the last few messages
-        # in a room" function, rather than "get new messages since last sync"
-        if from_key is not None:
-            from_id = RoomStreamToken.parse_stream_token(from_key).stream
-        else:
-            from_id = None
-        to_id = RoomStreamToken.parse_stream_token(to_key).stream
 
+        """Get new room events in stream ordering since `from_key`.
+
+        Args:
+            room_id (str)
+            from_key (str): Token from which no events are returned before
+            to_key (str): Token from which no events are returned after. (This
+                is typically the current stream token)
+            limit (int): Maximum number of events to return
+            order (str): Either "DESC" or "ASC". Determines which events are
+                returned when the result is limited. If "DESC" then the most
+                recent `limit` events are returned, otherwise returns the
+                oldest `limit` events.
+
+        Returns:
+            Deferred[tuple[list[FrozenEvent], str]]: Returns the list of
+            events (in ascending order) and the token from the start of
+            the chunk of events returned.
+        """
         if from_key == to_key:
             defer.returnValue(([], from_key))
 
-        if from_id:
-            has_changed = yield self._events_stream_cache.has_entity_changed(
-                room_id, from_id
-            )
-
-            if not has_changed:
-                defer.returnValue(([], from_key))
+        from_id = RoomStreamToken.parse_stream_token(from_key).stream
+        to_id = RoomStreamToken.parse_stream_token(to_key).stream
 
-        def f(txn):
-            if from_id is not None:
-                sql = (
-                    "SELECT event_id, stream_ordering FROM events WHERE"
-                    " room_id = ?"
-                    " AND not outlier"
-                    " AND stream_ordering > ? AND stream_ordering <= ?"
-                    " ORDER BY stream_ordering %s LIMIT ?"
-                ) % (order,)
-                txn.execute(sql, (room_id, from_id, to_id, limit))
-            else:
-                sql = (
-                    "SELECT event_id, stream_ordering FROM events WHERE"
-                    " room_id = ?"
-                    " AND not outlier"
-                    " AND stream_ordering <= ?"
-                    " ORDER BY topological_ordering %s, stream_ordering %s LIMIT ?"
-                ) % (order, order,)
-                txn.execute(sql, (room_id, to_id, limit))
+        has_changed = yield self._events_stream_cache.has_entity_changed(
+            room_id, from_id
+        )
 
-            rows = self.cursor_to_dict(txn)
+        if not has_changed:
+            defer.returnValue(([], from_key))
 
+        def f(txn):
+            sql = (
+                "SELECT event_id, stream_ordering FROM events WHERE"
+                " room_id = ?"
+                " AND not outlier"
+                " AND stream_ordering > ? AND stream_ordering <= ?"
+                " ORDER BY stream_ordering %s LIMIT ?"
+            ) % (order,)
+            txn.execute(sql, (room_id, from_id, to_id, limit))
+
+            rows = [_EventDictReturn(row[0], None, row[1]) for row in txn]
             return rows
 
         rows = yield self.runInteraction("get_room_events_stream_for_room", f)
 
         ret = yield self._get_events(
-            [r["event_id"] for r in rows],
+            [r.event_id for r in rows],
             get_prev_content=True
         )
 
@@ -281,7 +291,7 @@ class StreamWorkerStore(EventsWorkerStore, SQLBaseStore):
             ret.reverse()
 
         if rows:
-            key = "s%d" % min(r["stream_ordering"] for r in rows)
+            key = "s%d" % min(r.stream_ordering for r in rows)
         else:
             # Assume we didn't get anything because there was nothing to
             # get.
@@ -291,10 +301,7 @@ class StreamWorkerStore(EventsWorkerStore, SQLBaseStore):
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def get_membership_changes_for_user(self, user_id, from_key, to_key):
-        if from_key is not None:
-            from_id = RoomStreamToken.parse_stream_token(from_key).stream
-        else:
-            from_id = None
+        from_id = RoomStreamToken.parse_stream_token(from_key).stream
         to_id = RoomStreamToken.parse_stream_token(to_key).stream
 
         if from_key == to_key:
@@ -308,34 +315,24 @@ class StreamWorkerStore(EventsWorkerStore, SQLBaseStore):
                 defer.returnValue([])
 
         def f(txn):
-            if from_id is not None:
-                sql = (
-                    "SELECT m.event_id, stream_ordering FROM events AS e,"
-                    " room_memberships AS m"
-                    " WHERE e.event_id = m.event_id"
-                    " AND m.user_id = ?"
-                    " AND e.stream_ordering > ? AND e.stream_ordering <= ?"
-                    " ORDER BY e.stream_ordering ASC"
-                )
-                txn.execute(sql, (user_id, from_id, to_id,))
-            else:
-                sql = (
-                    "SELECT m.event_id, stream_ordering FROM events AS e,"
-                    " room_memberships AS m"
-                    " WHERE e.event_id = m.event_id"
-                    " AND m.user_id = ?"
-                    " AND stream_ordering <= ?"
-                    " ORDER BY stream_ordering ASC"
-                )
-                txn.execute(sql, (user_id, to_id,))
-            rows = self.cursor_to_dict(txn)
+            sql = (
+                "SELECT m.event_id, stream_ordering FROM events AS e,"
+                " room_memberships AS m"
+                " WHERE e.event_id = m.event_id"
+                " AND m.user_id = ?"
+                " AND e.stream_ordering > ? AND e.stream_ordering <= ?"
+                " ORDER BY e.stream_ordering ASC"
+            )
+            txn.execute(sql, (user_id, from_id, to_id,))
+
+            rows = [_EventDictReturn(row[0], None, row[1]) for row in txn]
 
             return rows
 
         rows = yield self.runInteraction("get_membership_changes_for_user", f)
 
         ret = yield self._get_events(
-            [r["event_id"] for r in rows],
+            [r.event_id for r in rows],
             get_prev_content=True
         )
 
@@ -344,14 +341,28 @@ class StreamWorkerStore(EventsWorkerStore, SQLBaseStore):
         defer.returnValue(ret)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def get_recent_events_for_room(self, room_id, limit, end_token, from_token=None):
+    def get_recent_events_for_room(self, room_id, limit, end_token):
+        """Get the most recent events in the room in topological ordering.
+
+        Args:
+            room_id (str)
+            limit (int)
+            end_token (str): The stream token representing now.
+
+        Returns:
+            Deferred[tuple[list[FrozenEvent],  str]]: Returns a list of
+            events and a token pointing to the start of the returned
+            events.
+            The events returned are in ascending order.
+        """
+
         rows, token = yield self.get_recent_event_ids_for_room(
-            room_id, limit, end_token, from_token
+            room_id, limit, end_token,
         )
 
         logger.debug("stream before")
         events = yield self._get_events(
-            [r["event_id"] for r in rows],
+            [r.event_id for r in rows],
             get_prev_content=True
         )
         logger.debug("stream after")
@@ -360,60 +371,36 @@ class StreamWorkerStore(EventsWorkerStore, SQLBaseStore):
 
         defer.returnValue((events, token))
 
-    @cached(num_args=4)
-    def get_recent_event_ids_for_room(self, room_id, limit, end_token, from_token=None):
-        end_token = RoomStreamToken.parse_stream_token(end_token)
-
-        if from_token is None:
-            sql = (
-                "SELECT stream_ordering, topological_ordering, event_id"
-                " FROM events"
-                " WHERE room_id = ? AND stream_ordering <= ? AND outlier = ?"
-                " ORDER BY topological_ordering DESC, stream_ordering DESC"
-                " LIMIT ?"
-            )
-        else:
-            from_token = RoomStreamToken.parse_stream_token(from_token)
-            sql = (
-                "SELECT stream_ordering, topological_ordering, event_id"
-                " FROM events"
-                " WHERE room_id = ? AND stream_ordering > ?"
-                " AND stream_ordering <= ? AND outlier = ?"
-                " ORDER BY topological_ordering DESC, stream_ordering DESC"
-                " LIMIT ?"
-            )
-
-        def get_recent_events_for_room_txn(txn):
-            if from_token is None:
-                txn.execute(sql, (room_id, end_token.stream, False, limit,))
-            else:
-                txn.execute(sql, (
-                    room_id, from_token.stream, end_token.stream, False, limit
-                ))
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def get_recent_event_ids_for_room(self, room_id, limit, end_token):
+        """Get the most recent events in the room in topological ordering.
 
-            rows = self.cursor_to_dict(txn)
+        Args:
+            room_id (str)
+            limit (int)
+            end_token (str): The stream token representing now.
 
-            rows.reverse()  # As we selected with reverse ordering
+        Returns:
+            Deferred[tuple[list[_EventDictReturn],  str]]: Returns a list of
+            _EventDictReturn and a token pointing to the start of the returned
+            events.
+            The events returned are in ascending order.
+        """
+        # Allow a zero limit here, and no-op.
+        if limit == 0:
+            defer.returnValue(([], end_token))
 
-            if rows:
-                # Tokens are positions between events.
-                # This token points *after* the last event in the chunk.
-                # We need it to point to the event before it in the chunk
-                # since we are going backwards so we subtract one from the
-                # stream part.
-                topo = rows[0]["topological_ordering"]
-                toke = rows[0]["stream_ordering"] - 1
-                start_token = str(RoomStreamToken(topo, toke))
+        end_token = RoomStreamToken.parse(end_token)
 
-                token = (start_token, str(end_token))
-            else:
-                token = (str(end_token), str(end_token))
+        rows, token = yield self.runInteraction(
+            "get_recent_event_ids_for_room", self._paginate_room_events_txn,
+            room_id, from_token=end_token, limit=limit,
+        )
 
-            return rows, token
+        # We want to return the results in ascending order.
+        rows.reverse()
 
-        return self.runInteraction(
-            "get_recent_events_for_room", get_recent_events_for_room_txn
-        )
+        defer.returnValue((rows, token))
 
     def get_room_event_after_stream_ordering(self, room_id, stream_ordering):
         """Gets details of the first event in a room at or after a stream ordering
@@ -517,10 +504,20 @@ class StreamWorkerStore(EventsWorkerStore, SQLBaseStore):
 
     @staticmethod
     def _set_before_and_after(events, rows, topo_order=True):
+        """Inserts ordering information to events' internal metadata from
+        the DB rows.
+
+        Args:
+            events (list[FrozenEvent])
+            rows (list[_EventDictReturn])
+            topo_order (bool): Whether the events were ordered topologically
+                or by stream ordering. If true then all rows should have a non
+                null topological_ordering.
+        """
         for event, row in zip(events, rows):
-            stream = row["stream_ordering"]
-            if topo_order:
-                topo = event.depth
+            stream = row.stream_ordering
+            if topo_order and row.topological_ordering:
+                topo = row.topological_ordering
             else:
                 topo = None
             internal = event.internal_metadata
@@ -592,87 +589,27 @@ class StreamWorkerStore(EventsWorkerStore, SQLBaseStore):
             retcols=["stream_ordering", "topological_ordering"],
         )
 
-        token = RoomStreamToken(
-            results["topological_ordering"],
+        # Paginating backwards includes the event at the token, but paginating
+        # forward doesn't.
+        before_token = RoomStreamToken(
+            results["topological_ordering"] - 1,
             results["stream_ordering"],
         )
 
-        if isinstance(self.database_engine, Sqlite3Engine):
-            # SQLite3 doesn't optimise ``(x < a) OR (x = a AND y < b)``
-            # So we give pass it to SQLite3 as the UNION ALL of the two queries.
-
-            query_before = (
-                "SELECT topological_ordering, stream_ordering, event_id FROM events"
-                " WHERE room_id = ? AND topological_ordering < ?"
-                " UNION ALL"
-                " SELECT topological_ordering, stream_ordering, event_id FROM events"
-                " WHERE room_id = ? AND topological_ordering = ? AND stream_ordering < ?"
-                " ORDER BY topological_ordering DESC, stream_ordering DESC LIMIT ?"
-            )
-            before_args = (
-                room_id, token.topological,
-                room_id, token.topological, token.stream,
-                before_limit,
-            )
-
-            query_after = (
-                "SELECT topological_ordering, stream_ordering, event_id FROM events"
-                " WHERE room_id = ? AND topological_ordering > ?"
-                " UNION ALL"
-                " SELECT topological_ordering, stream_ordering, event_id FROM events"
-                " WHERE room_id = ? AND topological_ordering = ? AND stream_ordering > ?"
-                " ORDER BY topological_ordering ASC, stream_ordering ASC LIMIT ?"
-            )
-            after_args = (
-                room_id, token.topological,
-                room_id, token.topological, token.stream,
-                after_limit,
-            )
-        else:
-            query_before = (
-                "SELECT topological_ordering, stream_ordering, event_id FROM events"
-                " WHERE room_id = ? AND %s"
-                " ORDER BY topological_ordering DESC, stream_ordering DESC LIMIT ?"
-            ) % (upper_bound(token, self.database_engine, inclusive=False),)
-
-            before_args = (room_id, before_limit)
-
-            query_after = (
-                "SELECT topological_ordering, stream_ordering, event_id FROM events"
-                " WHERE room_id = ? AND %s"
-                " ORDER BY topological_ordering ASC, stream_ordering ASC LIMIT ?"
-            ) % (lower_bound(token, self.database_engine, inclusive=False),)
-
-            after_args = (room_id, after_limit)
-
-        txn.execute(query_before, before_args)
-
-        rows = self.cursor_to_dict(txn)
-        events_before = [r["event_id"] for r in rows]
-
-        if rows:
-            start_token = str(RoomStreamToken(
-                rows[0]["topological_ordering"],
-                rows[0]["stream_ordering"] - 1,
-            ))
-        else:
-            start_token = str(RoomStreamToken(
-                token.topological,
-                token.stream - 1,
-            ))
-
-        txn.execute(query_after, after_args)
+        after_token = RoomStreamToken(
+            results["topological_ordering"],
+            results["stream_ordering"],
+        )
 
-        rows = self.cursor_to_dict(txn)
-        events_after = [r["event_id"] for r in rows]
+        rows, start_token = self._paginate_room_events_txn(
+            txn, room_id, before_token, direction='b', limit=before_limit,
+        )
+        events_before = [r.event_id for r in rows]
 
-        if rows:
-            end_token = str(RoomStreamToken(
-                rows[-1]["topological_ordering"],
-                rows[-1]["stream_ordering"],
-            ))
-        else:
-            end_token = str(token)
+        rows, end_token = self._paginate_room_events_txn(
+            txn, room_id, after_token, direction='f', limit=after_limit,
+        )
+        events_after = [r.event_id for r in rows]
 
         return {
             "before": {
@@ -735,17 +672,30 @@ class StreamWorkerStore(EventsWorkerStore, SQLBaseStore):
     def has_room_changed_since(self, room_id, stream_id):
         return self._events_stream_cache.has_entity_changed(room_id, stream_id)
 
+    def _paginate_room_events_txn(self, txn, room_id, from_token, to_token=None,
+                                  direction='b', limit=-1, event_filter=None):
+        """Returns list of events before or after a given token.
 
-class StreamStore(StreamWorkerStore):
-    def get_room_max_stream_ordering(self):
-        return self._stream_id_gen.get_current_token()
+        Args:
+            txn
+            room_id (str)
+            from_token (RoomStreamToken): The token used to stream from
+            to_token (RoomStreamToken|None): A token which if given limits the
+                results to only those before
+            direction(char): Either 'b' or 'f' to indicate whether we are
+                paginating forwards or backwards from `from_key`.
+            limit (int): The maximum number of events to return.
+            event_filter (Filter|None): If provided filters the events to
+                those that match the filter.
 
-    def get_room_min_stream_ordering(self):
-        return self._backfill_id_gen.get_current_token()
+        Returns:
+            Deferred[tuple[list[_EventDictReturn], str]]: Returns the results
+            as a list of _EventDictReturn and a token that points to the end
+            of the result set.
+        """
+
+        assert int(limit) >= 0
 
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def paginate_room_events(self, room_id, from_key, to_key=None,
-                             direction='b', limit=-1, event_filter=None):
         # Tokens really represent positions between elements, but we use
         # the convention of pointing to the event before the gap. Hence
         # we have a bit of asymmetry when it comes to equalities.
@@ -753,20 +703,20 @@ class StreamStore(StreamWorkerStore):
         if direction == 'b':
             order = "DESC"
             bounds = upper_bound(
-                RoomStreamToken.parse(from_key), self.database_engine
+                from_token, self.database_engine
             )
-            if to_key:
+            if to_token:
                 bounds = "%s AND %s" % (bounds, lower_bound(
-                    RoomStreamToken.parse(to_key), self.database_engine
+                    to_token, self.database_engine
                 ))
         else:
             order = "ASC"
             bounds = lower_bound(
-                RoomStreamToken.parse(from_key), self.database_engine
+                from_token, self.database_engine
             )
-            if to_key:
+            if to_token:
                 bounds = "%s AND %s" % (bounds, upper_bound(
-                    RoomStreamToken.parse(to_key), self.database_engine
+                    to_token, self.database_engine
                 ))
 
         filter_clause, filter_args = filter_to_clause(event_filter)
@@ -775,52 +725,85 @@ class StreamStore(StreamWorkerStore):
             bounds += " AND " + filter_clause
             args.extend(filter_args)
 
-        if int(limit) > 0:
-            args.append(int(limit))
-            limit_str = " LIMIT ?"
-        else:
-            limit_str = ""
+        args.append(int(limit))
 
         sql = (
-            "SELECT * FROM events"
+            "SELECT event_id, topological_ordering, stream_ordering"
+            " FROM events"
             " WHERE outlier = ? AND room_id = ? AND %(bounds)s"
             " ORDER BY topological_ordering %(order)s,"
-            " stream_ordering %(order)s %(limit)s"
+            " stream_ordering %(order)s LIMIT ?"
         ) % {
             "bounds": bounds,
             "order": order,
-            "limit": limit_str
         }
 
-        def f(txn):
-            txn.execute(sql, args)
-
-            rows = self.cursor_to_dict(txn)
-
-            if rows:
-                topo = rows[-1]["topological_ordering"]
-                toke = rows[-1]["stream_ordering"]
-                if direction == 'b':
-                    # Tokens are positions between events.
-                    # This token points *after* the last event in the chunk.
-                    # We need it to point to the event before it in the chunk
-                    # when we are going backwards so we subtract one from the
-                    # stream part.
-                    toke -= 1
-                next_token = str(RoomStreamToken(topo, toke))
-            else:
-                # TODO (erikj): We should work out what to do here instead.
-                next_token = to_key if to_key else from_key
+        txn.execute(sql, args)
+
+        rows = [_EventDictReturn(row[0], row[1], row[2]) for row in txn]
+
+        if rows:
+            topo = rows[-1].topological_ordering
+            toke = rows[-1].stream_ordering
+            if direction == 'b':
+                # Tokens are positions between events.
+                # This token points *after* the last event in the chunk.
+                # We need it to point to the event before it in the chunk
+                # when we are going backwards so we subtract one from the
+                # stream part.
+                toke -= 1
+            next_token = RoomStreamToken(topo, toke)
+        else:
+            # TODO (erikj): We should work out what to do here instead.
+            next_token = to_token if to_token else from_token
+
+        return rows, str(next_token),
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def paginate_room_events(self, room_id, from_key, to_key=None,
+                             direction='b', limit=-1, event_filter=None):
+        """Returns list of events before or after a given token.
 
-            return rows, next_token,
+        Args:
+            room_id (str)
+            from_key (str): The token used to stream from
+            to_key (str|None): A token which if given limits the results to
+                only those before
+            direction(char): Either 'b' or 'f' to indicate whether we are
+                paginating forwards or backwards from `from_key`.
+            limit (int): The maximum number of events to return. Zero or less
+                means no limit.
+            event_filter (Filter|None): If provided filters the events to
+                those that match the filter.
 
-        rows, token = yield self.runInteraction("paginate_room_events", f)
+        Returns:
+            tuple[list[dict], str]: Returns the results as a list of dicts and
+            a token that points to the end of the result set. The dicts have
+            the keys "event_id", "topological_ordering" and "stream_orderign".
+        """
+
+        from_key = RoomStreamToken.parse(from_key)
+        if to_key:
+            to_key = RoomStreamToken.parse(to_key)
+
+        rows, token = yield self.runInteraction(
+            "paginate_room_events", self._paginate_room_events_txn,
+            room_id, from_key, to_key, direction, limit, event_filter,
+        )
 
         events = yield self._get_events(
-            [r["event_id"] for r in rows],
+            [r.event_id for r in rows],
             get_prev_content=True
         )
 
         self._set_before_and_after(events, rows)
 
         defer.returnValue((events, token))
+
+
+class StreamStore(StreamWorkerStore):
+    def get_room_max_stream_ordering(self):
+        return self._stream_id_gen.get_current_token()
+
+    def get_room_min_stream_ordering(self):
+        return self._backfill_id_gen.get_current_token()
diff --git a/synapse/storage/tags.py b/synapse/storage/tags.py
index fc46bf7bb3..6671d3cfca 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/tags.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/tags.py
@@ -19,9 +19,11 @@ from synapse.storage.account_data import AccountDataWorkerStore
 from synapse.util.caches.descriptors import cached
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
-import ujson as json
+import simplejson as json
 import logging
 
+from six.moves import range
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
@@ -98,7 +100,7 @@ class TagsWorkerStore(AccountDataWorkerStore):
 
         batch_size = 50
         results = []
-        for i in xrange(0, len(tag_ids), batch_size):
+        for i in range(0, len(tag_ids), batch_size):
             tags = yield self.runInteraction(
                 "get_all_updated_tag_content",
                 get_tag_content,
diff --git a/synapse/storage/transactions.py b/synapse/storage/transactions.py
index 8f61f7ffae..f825264ea9 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/transactions.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/transactions.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ from canonicaljson import encode_canonical_json
 from collections import namedtuple
 
 import logging
-import ujson as json
+import simplejson as json
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
diff --git a/synapse/storage/user_directory.py b/synapse/storage/user_directory.py
index dfdcbb3181..d6e289ffbe 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/user_directory.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/user_directory.py
@@ -667,7 +667,7 @@ class UserDirectoryStore(SQLBaseStore):
             # The array of numbers are the weights for the various part of the
             # search: (domain, _, display name, localpart)
             sql = """
-                SELECT d.user_id, display_name, avatar_url
+                SELECT d.user_id AS user_id, display_name, avatar_url
                 FROM user_directory_search
                 INNER JOIN user_directory AS d USING (user_id)
                 %s
@@ -702,7 +702,7 @@ class UserDirectoryStore(SQLBaseStore):
             search_query = _parse_query_sqlite(search_term)
 
             sql = """
-                SELECT d.user_id, display_name, avatar_url
+                SELECT d.user_id AS user_id, display_name, avatar_url
                 FROM user_directory_search
                 INNER JOIN user_directory AS d USING (user_id)
                 %s
diff --git a/synapse/types.py b/synapse/types.py
index 7cb24cecb2..cc7c182a78 100644
--- a/synapse/types.py
+++ b/synapse/types.py
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ class DomainSpecificString(
         except Exception:
             return False
 
-    __str__ = to_string
+    __repr__ = to_string
 
 
 class UserID(DomainSpecificString):
diff --git a/synapse/util/__init__.py b/synapse/util/__init__.py
index 756d8ffa32..fc11e26623 100644
--- a/synapse/util/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/util/__init__.py
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError
 from synapse.util.logcontext import PreserveLoggingContext
 
 from twisted.internet import defer, reactor, task
@@ -21,12 +20,9 @@ from twisted.internet import defer, reactor, task
 import time
 import logging
 
-logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
-
+from itertools import islice
 
-class DeferredTimedOutError(SynapseError):
-    def __init__(self):
-        super(DeferredTimedOutError, self).__init__(504, "Timed out")
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
 def unwrapFirstError(failure):
@@ -86,52 +82,18 @@ class Clock(object):
             if not ignore_errs:
                 raise
 
-    def time_bound_deferred(self, given_deferred, time_out):
-        if given_deferred.called:
-            return given_deferred
-
-        ret_deferred = defer.Deferred()
-
-        def timed_out_fn():
-            e = DeferredTimedOutError()
-
-            try:
-                ret_deferred.errback(e)
-            except Exception:
-                pass
-
-            try:
-                given_deferred.cancel()
-            except Exception:
-                pass
 
-        timer = None
+def batch_iter(iterable, size):
+    """batch an iterable up into tuples with a maximum size
 
-        def cancel(res):
-            try:
-                self.cancel_call_later(timer)
-            except Exception:
-                pass
-            return res
+    Args:
+        iterable (iterable): the iterable to slice
+        size (int): the maximum batch size
 
-        ret_deferred.addBoth(cancel)
-
-        def success(res):
-            try:
-                ret_deferred.callback(res)
-            except Exception:
-                pass
-
-            return res
-
-        def err(res):
-            try:
-                ret_deferred.errback(res)
-            except Exception:
-                pass
-
-        given_deferred.addCallbacks(callback=success, errback=err)
-
-        timer = self.call_later(time_out, timed_out_fn)
-
-        return ret_deferred
+    Returns:
+        an iterator over the chunks
+    """
+    # make sure we can deal with iterables like lists too
+    sourceiter = iter(iterable)
+    # call islice until it returns an empty tuple
+    return iter(lambda: tuple(islice(sourceiter, size)), ())
diff --git a/synapse/util/async.py b/synapse/util/async.py
index 0729bb2863..9dd4e6b5bc 100644
--- a/synapse/util/async.py
+++ b/synapse/util/async.py
@@ -15,9 +15,11 @@
 
 
 from twisted.internet import defer, reactor
+from twisted.internet.defer import CancelledError
+from twisted.python import failure
 
 from .logcontext import (
-    PreserveLoggingContext, make_deferred_yieldable, preserve_fn
+    PreserveLoggingContext, make_deferred_yieldable, run_in_background
 )
 from synapse.util import logcontext, unwrapFirstError
 
@@ -25,6 +27,8 @@ from contextlib import contextmanager
 
 import logging
 
+from six.moves import range
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
@@ -156,13 +160,13 @@ def concurrently_execute(func, args, limit):
     def _concurrently_execute_inner():
         try:
             while True:
-                yield func(it.next())
+                yield func(next(it))
         except StopIteration:
             pass
 
     return logcontext.make_deferred_yieldable(defer.gatherResults([
-        preserve_fn(_concurrently_execute_inner)()
-        for _ in xrange(limit)
+        run_in_background(_concurrently_execute_inner)
+        for _ in range(limit)
     ], consumeErrors=True)).addErrback(unwrapFirstError)
 
 
@@ -392,3 +396,68 @@ class ReadWriteLock(object):
                     self.key_to_current_writer.pop(key)
 
         defer.returnValue(_ctx_manager())
+
+
+class DeferredTimeoutError(Exception):
+    """
+    This error is raised by default when a L{Deferred} times out.
+    """
+
+
+def add_timeout_to_deferred(deferred, timeout, on_timeout_cancel=None):
+    """
+    Add a timeout to a deferred by scheduling it to be cancelled after
+    timeout seconds.
+
+    This is essentially a backport of deferred.addTimeout, which was introduced
+    in twisted 16.5.
+
+    If the deferred gets timed out, it errbacks with a DeferredTimeoutError,
+    unless a cancelable function was passed to its initialization or unless
+    a different on_timeout_cancel callable is provided.
+
+    Args:
+        deferred (defer.Deferred): deferred to be timed out
+        timeout (Number): seconds to time out after
+
+        on_timeout_cancel (callable): A callable which is called immediately
+            after the deferred times out, and not if this deferred is
+            otherwise cancelled before the timeout.
+
+            It takes an arbitrary value, which is the value of the deferred at
+            that exact point in time (probably a CancelledError Failure), and
+            the timeout.
+
+            The default callable (if none is provided) will translate a
+            CancelledError Failure into a DeferredTimeoutError.
+    """
+    timed_out = [False]
+
+    def time_it_out():
+        timed_out[0] = True
+        deferred.cancel()
+
+    delayed_call = reactor.callLater(timeout, time_it_out)
+
+    def convert_cancelled(value):
+        if timed_out[0]:
+            to_call = on_timeout_cancel or _cancelled_to_timed_out_error
+            return to_call(value, timeout)
+        return value
+
+    deferred.addBoth(convert_cancelled)
+
+    def cancel_timeout(result):
+        # stop the pending call to cancel the deferred if it's been fired
+        if delayed_call.active():
+            delayed_call.cancel()
+        return result
+
+    deferred.addBoth(cancel_timeout)
+
+
+def _cancelled_to_timed_out_error(value, timeout):
+    if isinstance(value, failure.Failure):
+        value.trap(CancelledError)
+        raise DeferredTimeoutError(timeout, "Deferred")
+    return value
diff --git a/synapse/util/caches/__init__.py b/synapse/util/caches/__init__.py
index 4adae96681..183faf75a1 100644
--- a/synapse/util/caches/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/util/caches/__init__.py
@@ -13,28 +13,77 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-import synapse.metrics
+from prometheus_client.core import Gauge, REGISTRY, GaugeMetricFamily
+
 import os
 
-CACHE_SIZE_FACTOR = float(os.environ.get("SYNAPSE_CACHE_FACTOR", 0.5))
+from six.moves import intern
+import six
 
-metrics = synapse.metrics.get_metrics_for("synapse.util.caches")
+CACHE_SIZE_FACTOR = float(os.environ.get("SYNAPSE_CACHE_FACTOR", 0.5))
 
 caches_by_name = {}
-# cache_counter = metrics.register_cache(
-#     "cache",
-#     lambda: {(name,): len(caches_by_name[name]) for name in caches_by_name.keys()},
-#     labels=["name"],
-# )
-
-
-def register_cache(name, cache):
-    caches_by_name[name] = cache
-    return metrics.register_cache(
-        "cache",
-        lambda: len(cache),
-        name,
-    )
+collectors_by_name = {}
+
+cache_size = Gauge("synapse_util_caches_cache:size", "", ["name"])
+cache_hits = Gauge("synapse_util_caches_cache:hits", "", ["name"])
+cache_evicted = Gauge("synapse_util_caches_cache:evicted_size", "", ["name"])
+cache_total = Gauge("synapse_util_caches_cache:total", "", ["name"])
+
+response_cache_size = Gauge("synapse_util_caches_response_cache:size", "", ["name"])
+response_cache_hits = Gauge("synapse_util_caches_response_cache:hits", "", ["name"])
+response_cache_evicted = Gauge(
+    "synapse_util_caches_response_cache:evicted_size", "", ["name"]
+)
+response_cache_total = Gauge("synapse_util_caches_response_cache:total", "", ["name"])
+
+
+def register_cache(cache_type, cache_name, cache):
+
+    # Check if the metric is already registered. Unregister it, if so.
+    # This usually happens during tests, as at runtime these caches are
+    # effectively singletons.
+    metric_name = "cache_%s_%s" % (cache_type, cache_name)
+    if metric_name in collectors_by_name.keys():
+        REGISTRY.unregister(collectors_by_name[metric_name])
+
+    class CacheMetric(object):
+
+        hits = 0
+        misses = 0
+        evicted_size = 0
+
+        def inc_hits(self):
+            self.hits += 1
+
+        def inc_misses(self):
+            self.misses += 1
+
+        def inc_evictions(self, size=1):
+            self.evicted_size += size
+
+        def describe(self):
+            return []
+
+        def collect(self):
+            if cache_type == "response_cache":
+                response_cache_size.labels(cache_name).set(len(cache))
+                response_cache_hits.labels(cache_name).set(self.hits)
+                response_cache_evicted.labels(cache_name).set(self.evicted_size)
+                response_cache_total.labels(cache_name).set(self.hits + self.misses)
+            else:
+                cache_size.labels(cache_name).set(len(cache))
+                cache_hits.labels(cache_name).set(self.hits)
+                cache_evicted.labels(cache_name).set(self.evicted_size)
+                cache_total.labels(cache_name).set(self.hits + self.misses)
+
+            yield GaugeMetricFamily("__unused", "")
+
+    metric = CacheMetric()
+    REGISTRY.register(metric)
+    caches_by_name[cache_name] = cache
+    collectors_by_name[metric_name] = metric
+    return metric
 
 
 KNOWN_KEYS = {
@@ -66,7 +115,9 @@ def intern_string(string):
         return None
 
     try:
-        string = string.encode("ascii")
+        if six.PY2:
+            string = string.encode("ascii")
+
         return intern(string)
     except UnicodeEncodeError:
         return string
diff --git a/synapse/util/caches/descriptors.py b/synapse/util/caches/descriptors.py
index bf3a66eae4..8a9dcb2fc2 100644
--- a/synapse/util/caches/descriptors.py
+++ b/synapse/util/caches/descriptors.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # Copyright 2015, 2016 OpenMarket Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -39,12 +40,11 @@ _CacheSentinel = object()
 
 class CacheEntry(object):
     __slots__ = [
-        "deferred", "sequence", "callbacks", "invalidated"
+        "deferred", "callbacks", "invalidated"
     ]
 
-    def __init__(self, deferred, sequence, callbacks):
+    def __init__(self, deferred, callbacks):
         self.deferred = deferred
-        self.sequence = sequence
         self.callbacks = set(callbacks)
         self.invalidated = False
 
@@ -62,7 +62,6 @@ class Cache(object):
         "max_entries",
         "name",
         "keylen",
-        "sequence",
         "thread",
         "metrics",
         "_pending_deferred_cache",
@@ -80,9 +79,8 @@ class Cache(object):
 
         self.name = name
         self.keylen = keylen
-        self.sequence = 0
         self.thread = None
-        self.metrics = register_cache(name, self.cache)
+        self.metrics = register_cache("cache", name, self.cache)
 
     def _on_evicted(self, evicted_count):
         self.metrics.inc_evictions(evicted_count)
@@ -113,11 +111,10 @@ class Cache(object):
         callbacks = [callback] if callback else []
         val = self._pending_deferred_cache.get(key, _CacheSentinel)
         if val is not _CacheSentinel:
-            if val.sequence == self.sequence:
-                val.callbacks.update(callbacks)
-                if update_metrics:
-                    self.metrics.inc_hits()
-                return val.deferred
+            val.callbacks.update(callbacks)
+            if update_metrics:
+                self.metrics.inc_hits()
+            return val.deferred
 
         val = self.cache.get(key, _CacheSentinel, callbacks=callbacks)
         if val is not _CacheSentinel:
@@ -137,12 +134,9 @@ class Cache(object):
         self.check_thread()
         entry = CacheEntry(
             deferred=value,
-            sequence=self.sequence,
             callbacks=callbacks,
         )
 
-        entry.callbacks.update(callbacks)
-
         existing_entry = self._pending_deferred_cache.pop(key, None)
         if existing_entry:
             existing_entry.invalidate()
@@ -150,13 +144,25 @@ class Cache(object):
         self._pending_deferred_cache[key] = entry
 
         def shuffle(result):
-            if self.sequence == entry.sequence:
-                existing_entry = self._pending_deferred_cache.pop(key, None)
-                if existing_entry is entry:
-                    self.cache.set(key, result, entry.callbacks)
-                else:
-                    entry.invalidate()
+            existing_entry = self._pending_deferred_cache.pop(key, None)
+            if existing_entry is entry:
+                self.cache.set(key, result, entry.callbacks)
             else:
+                # oops, the _pending_deferred_cache has been updated since
+                # we started our query, so we are out of date.
+                #
+                # Better put back whatever we took out. (We do it this way
+                # round, rather than peeking into the _pending_deferred_cache
+                # and then removing on a match, to make the common case faster)
+                if existing_entry is not None:
+                    self._pending_deferred_cache[key] = existing_entry
+
+                # we're not going to put this entry into the cache, so need
+                # to make sure that the invalidation callbacks are called.
+                # That was probably done when _pending_deferred_cache was
+                # updated, but it's possible that `set` was called without
+                # `invalidate` being previously called, in which case it may
+                # not have been. Either way, let's double-check now.
                 entry.invalidate()
             return result
 
@@ -168,25 +174,29 @@ class Cache(object):
 
     def invalidate(self, key):
         self.check_thread()
+        self.cache.pop(key, None)
 
-        # Increment the sequence number so that any SELECT statements that
-        # raced with the INSERT don't update the cache (SYN-369)
-        self.sequence += 1
+        # if we have a pending lookup for this key, remove it from the
+        # _pending_deferred_cache, which will (a) stop it being returned
+        # for future queries and (b) stop it being persisted as a proper entry
+        # in self.cache.
         entry = self._pending_deferred_cache.pop(key, None)
+
+        # run the invalidation callbacks now, rather than waiting for the
+        # deferred to resolve.
         if entry:
             entry.invalidate()
 
-        self.cache.pop(key, None)
-
     def invalidate_many(self, key):
         self.check_thread()
         if not isinstance(key, tuple):
             raise TypeError(
                 "The cache key must be a tuple not %r" % (type(key),)
             )
-        self.sequence += 1
         self.cache.del_multi(key)
 
+        # if we have a pending lookup for this key, remove it from the
+        # _pending_deferred_cache, as above
         entry_dict = self._pending_deferred_cache.pop(key, None)
         if entry_dict is not None:
             for entry in iterate_tree_cache_entry(entry_dict):
@@ -194,8 +204,10 @@ class Cache(object):
 
     def invalidate_all(self):
         self.check_thread()
-        self.sequence += 1
         self.cache.clear()
+        for entry in self._pending_deferred_cache.itervalues():
+            entry.invalidate()
+        self._pending_deferred_cache.clear()
 
 
 class _CacheDescriptorBase(object):
diff --git a/synapse/util/caches/dictionary_cache.py b/synapse/util/caches/dictionary_cache.py
index d4105822b3..bdc21e348f 100644
--- a/synapse/util/caches/dictionary_cache.py
+++ b/synapse/util/caches/dictionary_cache.py
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ class DictionaryCache(object):
             __slots__ = []
 
         self.sentinel = Sentinel()
-        self.metrics = register_cache(name, self.cache)
+        self.metrics = register_cache("dictionary", name, self.cache)
 
     def check_thread(self):
         expected_thread = self.thread
@@ -132,9 +132,13 @@ class DictionaryCache(object):
                 self._update_or_insert(key, value, known_absent)
 
     def _update_or_insert(self, key, value, known_absent):
-        entry = self.cache.setdefault(key, DictionaryEntry(False, set(), {}))
+        # We pop and reinsert as we need to tell the cache the size may have
+        # changed
+
+        entry = self.cache.pop(key, DictionaryEntry(False, set(), {}))
         entry.value.update(value)
         entry.known_absent.update(known_absent)
+        self.cache[key] = entry
 
     def _insert(self, key, value, known_absent):
         self.cache[key] = DictionaryEntry(True, known_absent, value)
diff --git a/synapse/util/caches/expiringcache.py b/synapse/util/caches/expiringcache.py
index 0aa103eecb..ff04c91955 100644
--- a/synapse/util/caches/expiringcache.py
+++ b/synapse/util/caches/expiringcache.py
@@ -52,12 +52,12 @@ class ExpiringCache(object):
 
         self._cache = OrderedDict()
 
-        self.metrics = register_cache(cache_name, self)
-
         self.iterable = iterable
 
         self._size_estimate = 0
 
+        self.metrics = register_cache("expiring", cache_name, self)
+
     def start(self):
         if not self._expiry_ms:
             # Don't bother starting the loop if things never expire
diff --git a/synapse/util/caches/lrucache.py b/synapse/util/caches/lrucache.py
index f088dd430e..1c5a982094 100644
--- a/synapse/util/caches/lrucache.py
+++ b/synapse/util/caches/lrucache.py
@@ -154,14 +154,21 @@ class LruCache(object):
         def cache_set(key, value, callbacks=[]):
             node = cache.get(key, None)
             if node is not None:
-                if value != node.value:
+                # We sometimes store large objects, e.g. dicts, which cause
+                # the inequality check to take a long time. So let's only do
+                # the check if we have some callbacks to call.
+                if node.callbacks and value != node.value:
                     for cb in node.callbacks:
                         cb()
                     node.callbacks.clear()
 
-                    if size_callback:
-                        cached_cache_len[0] -= size_callback(node.value)
-                        cached_cache_len[0] += size_callback(value)
+                # We don't bother to protect this by value != node.value as
+                # generally size_callback will be cheap compared with equality
+                # checks. (For example, taking the size of two dicts is quicker
+                # than comparing them for equality.)
+                if size_callback:
+                    cached_cache_len[0] -= size_callback(node.value)
+                    cached_cache_len[0] += size_callback(value)
 
                 node.callbacks.update(callbacks)
 
diff --git a/synapse/util/caches/response_cache.py b/synapse/util/caches/response_cache.py
index 00af539880..a8491b42d5 100644
--- a/synapse/util/caches/response_cache.py
+++ b/synapse/util/caches/response_cache.py
@@ -12,8 +12,15 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
+import logging
+
+from twisted.internet import defer
 
 from synapse.util.async import ObservableDeferred
+from synapse.util.caches import register_cache
+from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable, run_in_background
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
 class ResponseCache(object):
@@ -24,20 +31,69 @@ class ResponseCache(object):
     used rather than trying to compute a new response.
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, hs, timeout_ms=0):
+    def __init__(self, hs, name, timeout_ms=0):
         self.pending_result_cache = {}  # Requests that haven't finished yet.
 
         self.clock = hs.get_clock()
         self.timeout_sec = timeout_ms / 1000.
 
+        self._name = name
+        self._metrics = register_cache(
+            "response_cache", name, self
+        )
+
+    def size(self):
+        return len(self.pending_result_cache)
+
+    def __len__(self):
+        return self.size()
+
     def get(self, key):
+        """Look up the given key.
+
+        Can return either a new Deferred (which also doesn't follow the synapse
+        logcontext rules), or, if the request has completed, the actual
+        result. You will probably want to make_deferred_yieldable the result.
+
+        If there is no entry for the key, returns None. It is worth noting that
+        this means there is no way to distinguish a completed result of None
+        from an absent cache entry.
+
+        Args:
+            key (hashable):
+
+        Returns:
+            twisted.internet.defer.Deferred|None|E: None if there is no entry
+            for this key; otherwise either a deferred result or the result
+            itself.
+        """
         result = self.pending_result_cache.get(key)
         if result is not None:
+            self._metrics.inc_hits()
             return result.observe()
         else:
+            self._metrics.inc_misses()
             return None
 
     def set(self, key, deferred):
+        """Set the entry for the given key to the given deferred.
+
+        *deferred* should run its callbacks in the sentinel logcontext (ie,
+        you should wrap normal synapse deferreds with
+        logcontext.run_in_background).
+
+        Can return either a new Deferred (which also doesn't follow the synapse
+        logcontext rules), or, if *deferred* was already complete, the actual
+        result. You will probably want to make_deferred_yieldable the result.
+
+        Args:
+            key (hashable):
+            deferred (twisted.internet.defer.Deferred[T):
+
+        Returns:
+            twisted.internet.defer.Deferred[T]|T: a new deferred, or the actual
+                result.
+        """
         result = ObservableDeferred(deferred, consumeErrors=True)
         self.pending_result_cache[key] = result
 
@@ -53,3 +109,52 @@ class ResponseCache(object):
 
         result.addBoth(remove)
         return result.observe()
+
+    def wrap(self, key, callback, *args, **kwargs):
+        """Wrap together a *get* and *set* call, taking care of logcontexts
+
+        First looks up the key in the cache, and if it is present makes it
+        follow the synapse logcontext rules and returns it.
+
+        Otherwise, makes a call to *callback(*args, **kwargs)*, which should
+        follow the synapse logcontext rules, and adds the result to the cache.
+
+        Example usage:
+
+            @defer.inlineCallbacks
+            def handle_request(request):
+                # etc
+                defer.returnValue(result)
+
+            result = yield response_cache.wrap(
+                key,
+                handle_request,
+                request,
+            )
+
+        Args:
+            key (hashable): key to get/set in the cache
+
+            callback (callable): function to call if the key is not found in
+                the cache
+
+            *args: positional parameters to pass to the callback, if it is used
+
+            **kwargs: named paramters to pass to the callback, if it is used
+
+        Returns:
+            twisted.internet.defer.Deferred: yieldable result
+        """
+        result = self.get(key)
+        if not result:
+            logger.info("[%s]: no cached result for [%s], calculating new one",
+                        self._name, key)
+            d = run_in_background(callback, *args, **kwargs)
+            result = self.set(key, d)
+        elif not isinstance(result, defer.Deferred) or result.called:
+            logger.info("[%s]: using completed cached result for [%s]",
+                        self._name, key)
+        else:
+            logger.info("[%s]: using incomplete cached result for [%s]",
+                        self._name, key)
+        return make_deferred_yieldable(result)
diff --git a/synapse/util/caches/stream_change_cache.py b/synapse/util/caches/stream_change_cache.py
index 941d873ab8..a7fe0397fa 100644
--- a/synapse/util/caches/stream_change_cache.py
+++ b/synapse/util/caches/stream_change_cache.py
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ class StreamChangeCache(object):
         self._cache = sorteddict()
         self._earliest_known_stream_pos = current_stream_pos
         self.name = name
-        self.metrics = register_cache(self.name, self._cache)
+        self.metrics = register_cache("cache", self.name, self._cache)
 
         for entity, stream_pos in prefilled_cache.items():
             self.entity_has_changed(entity, stream_pos)
diff --git a/synapse/util/file_consumer.py b/synapse/util/file_consumer.py
index 90a2608d6f..3380970e4e 100644
--- a/synapse/util/file_consumer.py
+++ b/synapse/util/file_consumer.py
@@ -15,9 +15,9 @@
 
 from twisted.internet import threads, reactor
 
-from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable, preserve_fn
+from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable, run_in_background
 
-import Queue
+from six.moves import queue
 
 
 class BackgroundFileConsumer(object):
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ class BackgroundFileConsumer(object):
 
         # Queue of slices of bytes to be written. When producer calls
         # unregister a final None is sent.
-        self._bytes_queue = Queue.Queue()
+        self._bytes_queue = queue.Queue()
 
         # Deferred that is resolved when finished writing
         self._finished_deferred = None
@@ -70,7 +70,9 @@ class BackgroundFileConsumer(object):
 
         self._producer = producer
         self.streaming = streaming
-        self._finished_deferred = preserve_fn(threads.deferToThread)(self._writer)
+        self._finished_deferred = run_in_background(
+            threads.deferToThread, self._writer
+        )
         if not streaming:
             self._producer.resumeProducing()
 
diff --git a/synapse/util/frozenutils.py b/synapse/util/frozenutils.py
index 6322f0f55c..f497b51f4a 100644
--- a/synapse/util/frozenutils.py
+++ b/synapse/util/frozenutils.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 from frozendict import frozendict
+import simplejson as json
 
 
 def freeze(o):
@@ -49,3 +50,21 @@ def unfreeze(o):
         pass
 
     return o
+
+
+def _handle_frozendict(obj):
+    """Helper for EventEncoder. Makes frozendicts serializable by returning
+    the underlying dict
+    """
+    if type(obj) is frozendict:
+        # fishing the protected dict out of the object is a bit nasty,
+        # but we don't really want the overhead of copying the dict.
+        return obj._dict
+    raise TypeError('Object of type %s is not JSON serializable' %
+                    obj.__class__.__name__)
+
+
+# A JSONEncoder which is capable of encoding frozendics without barfing
+frozendict_json_encoder = json.JSONEncoder(
+    default=_handle_frozendict,
+)
diff --git a/synapse/util/httpresourcetree.py b/synapse/util/httpresourcetree.py
index 45be47159a..e9f0f292ee 100644
--- a/synapse/util/httpresourcetree.py
+++ b/synapse/util/httpresourcetree.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-from twisted.web.resource import Resource
+from twisted.web.resource import NoResource
 
 import logging
 
@@ -40,12 +40,15 @@ def create_resource_tree(desired_tree, root_resource):
     # extra resources to existing nodes. See self._resource_id for the key.
     resource_mappings = {}
     for full_path, res in desired_tree.items():
+        # twisted requires all resources to be bytes
+        full_path = full_path.encode("utf-8")
+
         logger.info("Attaching %s to path %s", res, full_path)
         last_resource = root_resource
-        for path_seg in full_path.split('/')[1:-1]:
+        for path_seg in full_path.split(b'/')[1:-1]:
             if path_seg not in last_resource.listNames():
                 # resource doesn't exist, so make a "dummy resource"
-                child_resource = Resource()
+                child_resource = NoResource()
                 last_resource.putChild(path_seg, child_resource)
                 res_id = _resource_id(last_resource, path_seg)
                 resource_mappings[res_id] = child_resource
@@ -57,7 +60,7 @@ def create_resource_tree(desired_tree, root_resource):
 
         # ===========================
         # now attach the actual desired resource
-        last_path_seg = full_path.split('/')[-1]
+        last_path_seg = full_path.split(b'/')[-1]
 
         # if there is already a resource here, thieve its children and
         # replace it
diff --git a/synapse/util/logcontext.py b/synapse/util/logcontext.py
index d660ec785b..a58c723403 100644
--- a/synapse/util/logcontext.py
+++ b/synapse/util/logcontext.py
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ class LoggingContext(object):
 
     __slots__ = [
         "previous_context", "name", "ru_stime", "ru_utime",
-        "db_txn_count", "db_txn_duration_ms", "db_sched_duration_ms",
-        "usage_start", "usage_end",
+        "db_txn_count", "db_txn_duration_sec", "db_sched_duration_sec",
+        "usage_start",
         "main_thread", "alive",
         "request", "tag",
     ]
@@ -84,14 +84,15 @@ class LoggingContext(object):
         def stop(self):
             pass
 
-        def add_database_transaction(self, duration_ms):
+        def add_database_transaction(self, duration_sec):
             pass
 
-        def add_database_scheduled(self, sched_ms):
+        def add_database_scheduled(self, sched_sec):
             pass
 
         def __nonzero__(self):
             return False
+        __bool__ = __nonzero__  # python3
 
     sentinel = Sentinel()
 
@@ -102,14 +103,16 @@ class LoggingContext(object):
         self.ru_utime = 0.
         self.db_txn_count = 0
 
-        # ms spent waiting for db txns, excluding scheduling time
-        self.db_txn_duration_ms = 0
+        # sec spent waiting for db txns, excluding scheduling time
+        self.db_txn_duration_sec = 0
 
-        # ms spent waiting for db txns to be scheduled
-        self.db_sched_duration_ms = 0
+        # sec spent waiting for db txns to be scheduled
+        self.db_sched_duration_sec = 0
 
+        # If alive has the thread resource usage when the logcontext last
+        # became active.
         self.usage_start = None
-        self.usage_end = None
+
         self.main_thread = threading.current_thread()
         self.request = None
         self.tag = ""
@@ -158,12 +161,12 @@ class LoggingContext(object):
         """Restore the logging context in thread local storage to the state it
         was before this context was entered.
         Returns:
-            None to avoid suppressing any exeptions that were thrown.
+            None to avoid suppressing any exceptions that were thrown.
         """
         current = self.set_current_context(self.previous_context)
         if current is not self:
             if current is self.sentinel:
-                logger.debug("Expected logging context %s has been lost", self)
+                logger.warn("Expected logging context %s has been lost", self)
             else:
                 logger.warn(
                     "Current logging context %s is not expected context %s",
@@ -184,47 +187,61 @@ class LoggingContext(object):
 
     def start(self):
         if threading.current_thread() is not self.main_thread:
+            logger.warning("Started logcontext %s on different thread", self)
             return
 
-        if self.usage_start and self.usage_end:
-            self.ru_utime += self.usage_end.ru_utime - self.usage_start.ru_utime
-            self.ru_stime += self.usage_end.ru_stime - self.usage_start.ru_stime
-            self.usage_start = None
-            self.usage_end = None
-
+        # If we haven't already started record the thread resource usage so
+        # far
         if not self.usage_start:
             self.usage_start = get_thread_resource_usage()
 
     def stop(self):
         if threading.current_thread() is not self.main_thread:
+            logger.warning("Stopped logcontext %s on different thread", self)
             return
 
+        # When we stop, let's record the resource used since we started
         if self.usage_start:
-            self.usage_end = get_thread_resource_usage()
+            usage_end = get_thread_resource_usage()
+
+            self.ru_utime += usage_end.ru_utime - self.usage_start.ru_utime
+            self.ru_stime += usage_end.ru_stime - self.usage_start.ru_stime
+
+            self.usage_start = None
+        else:
+            logger.warning("Called stop on logcontext %s without calling start", self)
 
     def get_resource_usage(self):
+        """Get CPU time used by this logcontext so far.
+
+        Returns:
+            tuple[float, float]: The user and system CPU usage in seconds
+        """
         ru_utime = self.ru_utime
         ru_stime = self.ru_stime
 
-        if self.usage_start and threading.current_thread() is self.main_thread:
+        # If we are on the correct thread and we're currently running then we
+        # can include resource usage so far.
+        is_main_thread = threading.current_thread() is self.main_thread
+        if self.alive and self.usage_start and is_main_thread:
             current = get_thread_resource_usage()
             ru_utime += current.ru_utime - self.usage_start.ru_utime
             ru_stime += current.ru_stime - self.usage_start.ru_stime
 
         return ru_utime, ru_stime
 
-    def add_database_transaction(self, duration_ms):
+    def add_database_transaction(self, duration_sec):
         self.db_txn_count += 1
-        self.db_txn_duration_ms += duration_ms
+        self.db_txn_duration_sec += duration_sec
 
-    def add_database_scheduled(self, sched_ms):
+    def add_database_scheduled(self, sched_sec):
         """Record a use of the database pool
 
         Args:
-            sched_ms (int): number of milliseconds it took us to get a
+            sched_sec (float): number of seconds it took us to get a
                 connection
         """
-        self.db_sched_duration_ms += sched_ms
+        self.db_sched_duration_sec += sched_sec
 
 
 class LoggingContextFilter(logging.Filter):
@@ -278,7 +295,7 @@ class PreserveLoggingContext(object):
         context = LoggingContext.set_current_context(self.current_context)
 
         if context != self.new_context:
-            logger.debug(
+            logger.warn(
                 "Unexpected logging context: %s is not %s",
                 context, self.new_context,
             )
@@ -301,31 +318,49 @@ def preserve_fn(f):
 def run_in_background(f, *args, **kwargs):
     """Calls a function, ensuring that the current context is restored after
     return from the function, and that the sentinel context is set once the
-    deferred returned by the funtion completes.
+    deferred returned by the function completes.
 
     Useful for wrapping functions that return a deferred which you don't yield
-    on.
+    on (for instance because you want to pass it to deferred.gatherResults()).
+
+    Note that if you completely discard the result, you should make sure that
+    `f` doesn't raise any deferred exceptions, otherwise a scary-looking
+    CRITICAL error about an unhandled error will be logged without much
+    indication about where it came from.
     """
     current = LoggingContext.current_context()
-    res = f(*args, **kwargs)
-    if isinstance(res, defer.Deferred) and not res.called:
-        # The function will have reset the context before returning, so
-        # we need to restore it now.
-        LoggingContext.set_current_context(current)
-
-        # The original context will be restored when the deferred
-        # completes, but there is nothing waiting for it, so it will
-        # get leaked into the reactor or some other function which
-        # wasn't expecting it. We therefore need to reset the context
-        # here.
-        #
-        # (If this feels asymmetric, consider it this way: we are
-        # effectively forking a new thread of execution. We are
-        # probably currently within a ``with LoggingContext()`` block,
-        # which is supposed to have a single entry and exit point. But
-        # by spawning off another deferred, we are effectively
-        # adding a new exit point.)
-        res.addBoth(_set_context_cb, LoggingContext.sentinel)
+    try:
+        res = f(*args, **kwargs)
+    except:   # noqa: E722
+        # the assumption here is that the caller doesn't want to be disturbed
+        # by synchronous exceptions, so let's turn them into Failures.
+        return defer.fail()
+
+    if not isinstance(res, defer.Deferred):
+        return res
+
+    if res.called and not res.paused:
+        # The function should have maintained the logcontext, so we can
+        # optimise out the messing about
+        return res
+
+    # The function may have reset the context before returning, so
+    # we need to restore it now.
+    ctx = LoggingContext.set_current_context(current)
+
+    # The original context will be restored when the deferred
+    # completes, but there is nothing waiting for it, so it will
+    # get leaked into the reactor or some other function which
+    # wasn't expecting it. We therefore need to reset the context
+    # here.
+    #
+    # (If this feels asymmetric, consider it this way: we are
+    # effectively forking a new thread of execution. We are
+    # probably currently within a ``with LoggingContext()`` block,
+    # which is supposed to have a single entry and exit point. But
+    # by spawning off another deferred, we are effectively
+    # adding a new exit point.)
+    res.addBoth(_set_context_cb, ctx)
     return res
 
 
@@ -340,11 +375,20 @@ def make_deferred_yieldable(deferred):
     returning a deferred. Then, when the deferred completes, restores the
     current logcontext before running callbacks/errbacks.
 
-    (This is more-or-less the opposite operation to preserve_fn.)
+    (This is more-or-less the opposite operation to run_in_background.)
     """
-    if isinstance(deferred, defer.Deferred) and not deferred.called:
-        prev_context = LoggingContext.set_current_context(LoggingContext.sentinel)
-        deferred.addBoth(_set_context_cb, prev_context)
+    if not isinstance(deferred, defer.Deferred):
+        return deferred
+
+    if deferred.called and not deferred.paused:
+        # it looks like this deferred is ready to run any callbacks we give it
+        # immediately. We may as well optimise out the logcontext faffery.
+        return deferred
+
+    # ok, we can't be sure that a yield won't block, so let's reset the
+    # logcontext, and add a callback to the deferred to restore it.
+    prev_context = LoggingContext.set_current_context(LoggingContext.sentinel)
+    deferred.addBoth(_set_context_cb, prev_context)
     return deferred
 
 
diff --git a/synapse/util/logformatter.py b/synapse/util/logformatter.py
index cdbc4bffd7..3e42868ea9 100644
--- a/synapse/util/logformatter.py
+++ b/synapse/util/logformatter.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 
-import StringIO
+from six import StringIO
 import logging
 import traceback
 
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ class LogFormatter(logging.Formatter):
         super(LogFormatter, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
 
     def formatException(self, ei):
-        sio = StringIO.StringIO()
+        sio = StringIO()
         (typ, val, tb) = ei
 
         # log the stack above the exception capture point if possible, but
diff --git a/synapse/util/logutils.py b/synapse/util/logutils.py
index 3a83828d25..03249c5dc8 100644
--- a/synapse/util/logutils.py
+++ b/synapse/util/logutils.py
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ def time_function(f):
         id = _TIME_FUNC_ID
         _TIME_FUNC_ID += 1
 
-        start = time.clock() * 1000
+        start = time.clock()
 
         try:
             _log_debug_as_f(
@@ -107,10 +107,10 @@ def time_function(f):
 
             r = f(*args, **kwargs)
         finally:
-            end = time.clock() * 1000
+            end = time.clock()
             _log_debug_as_f(
                 f,
-                "[FUNC END] {%s-%d} %f",
+                "[FUNC END] {%s-%d} %.3f sec",
                 (func_name, id, end - start,),
             )
 
diff --git a/synapse/util/metrics.py b/synapse/util/metrics.py
index e4b5687a4b..1ba7d65c7c 100644
--- a/synapse/util/metrics.py
+++ b/synapse/util/metrics.py
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@
 
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
+from prometheus_client import Counter
 from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext
-import synapse.metrics
 
 from functools import wraps
 import logging
@@ -24,66 +24,26 @@ import logging
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
+block_counter = Counter("synapse_util_metrics_block_count", "", ["block_name"])
 
-metrics = synapse.metrics.get_metrics_for(__name__)
-
-# total number of times we have hit this block
-block_counter = metrics.register_counter(
-    "block_count",
-    labels=["block_name"],
-    alternative_names=(
-        # the following are all deprecated aliases for the same metric
-        metrics.name_prefix + x for x in (
-            "_block_timer:count",
-            "_block_ru_utime:count",
-            "_block_ru_stime:count",
-            "_block_db_txn_count:count",
-            "_block_db_txn_duration:count",
-        )
-    )
-)
-
-block_timer = metrics.register_counter(
-    "block_time_seconds",
-    labels=["block_name"],
-    alternative_names=(
-        metrics.name_prefix + "_block_timer:total",
-    ),
-)
-
-block_ru_utime = metrics.register_counter(
-    "block_ru_utime_seconds", labels=["block_name"],
-    alternative_names=(
-        metrics.name_prefix + "_block_ru_utime:total",
-    ),
-)
-
-block_ru_stime = metrics.register_counter(
-    "block_ru_stime_seconds", labels=["block_name"],
-    alternative_names=(
-        metrics.name_prefix + "_block_ru_stime:total",
-    ),
-)
-
-block_db_txn_count = metrics.register_counter(
-    "block_db_txn_count", labels=["block_name"],
-    alternative_names=(
-        metrics.name_prefix + "_block_db_txn_count:total",
-    ),
-)
+block_timer = Counter("synapse_util_metrics_block_time_seconds", "", ["block_name"])
+
+block_ru_utime = Counter(
+    "synapse_util_metrics_block_ru_utime_seconds", "", ["block_name"])
+
+block_ru_stime = Counter(
+    "synapse_util_metrics_block_ru_stime_seconds", "", ["block_name"])
+
+block_db_txn_count = Counter(
+    "synapse_util_metrics_block_db_txn_count", "", ["block_name"])
 
 # seconds spent waiting for db txns, excluding scheduling time, in this block
-block_db_txn_duration = metrics.register_counter(
-    "block_db_txn_duration_seconds", labels=["block_name"],
-    alternative_names=(
-        metrics.name_prefix + "_block_db_txn_duration:total",
-    ),
-)
+block_db_txn_duration = Counter(
+    "synapse_util_metrics_block_db_txn_duration_seconds", "", ["block_name"])
 
 # seconds spent waiting for a db connection, in this block
-block_db_sched_duration = metrics.register_counter(
-    "block_db_sched_duration_seconds", labels=["block_name"],
-)
+block_db_sched_duration = Counter(
+    "synapse_util_metrics_block_db_sched_duration_seconds", "", ["block_name"])
 
 
 def measure_func(name):
@@ -102,7 +62,7 @@ class Measure(object):
     __slots__ = [
         "clock", "name", "start_context", "start", "new_context", "ru_utime",
         "ru_stime",
-        "db_txn_count", "db_txn_duration_ms", "db_sched_duration_ms",
+        "db_txn_count", "db_txn_duration_sec", "db_sched_duration_sec",
         "created_context",
     ]
 
@@ -114,7 +74,7 @@ class Measure(object):
         self.created_context = False
 
     def __enter__(self):
-        self.start = self.clock.time_msec()
+        self.start = self.clock.time()
         self.start_context = LoggingContext.current_context()
         if not self.start_context:
             self.start_context = LoggingContext("Measure")
@@ -123,17 +83,17 @@ class Measure(object):
 
         self.ru_utime, self.ru_stime = self.start_context.get_resource_usage()
         self.db_txn_count = self.start_context.db_txn_count
-        self.db_txn_duration_ms = self.start_context.db_txn_duration_ms
-        self.db_sched_duration_ms = self.start_context.db_sched_duration_ms
+        self.db_txn_duration_sec = self.start_context.db_txn_duration_sec
+        self.db_sched_duration_sec = self.start_context.db_sched_duration_sec
 
     def __exit__(self, exc_type, exc_val, exc_tb):
         if isinstance(exc_type, Exception) or not self.start_context:
             return
 
-        duration = self.clock.time_msec() - self.start
+        duration = self.clock.time() - self.start
 
-        block_counter.inc(self.name)
-        block_timer.inc_by(duration, self.name)
+        block_counter.labels(self.name).inc()
+        block_timer.labels(self.name).inc(duration)
 
         context = LoggingContext.current_context()
 
@@ -150,19 +110,13 @@ class Measure(object):
 
         ru_utime, ru_stime = context.get_resource_usage()
 
-        block_ru_utime.inc_by(ru_utime - self.ru_utime, self.name)
-        block_ru_stime.inc_by(ru_stime - self.ru_stime, self.name)
-        block_db_txn_count.inc_by(
-            context.db_txn_count - self.db_txn_count, self.name
-        )
-        block_db_txn_duration.inc_by(
-            (context.db_txn_duration_ms - self.db_txn_duration_ms) / 1000.,
-            self.name
-        )
-        block_db_sched_duration.inc_by(
-            (context.db_sched_duration_ms - self.db_sched_duration_ms) / 1000.,
-            self.name
-        )
+        block_ru_utime.labels(self.name).inc(ru_utime - self.ru_utime)
+        block_ru_stime.labels(self.name).inc(ru_stime - self.ru_stime)
+        block_db_txn_count.labels(self.name).inc(context.db_txn_count - self.db_txn_count)
+        block_db_txn_duration.labels(self.name).inc(
+            context.db_txn_duration_sec - self.db_txn_duration_sec)
+        block_db_sched_duration.labels(self.name).inc(
+            context.db_sched_duration_sec - self.db_sched_duration_sec)
 
         if self.created_context:
             self.start_context.__exit__(exc_type, exc_val, exc_tb)
diff --git a/synapse/util/ratelimitutils.py b/synapse/util/ratelimitutils.py
index 1101881a2d..0ab63c3d7d 100644
--- a/synapse/util/ratelimitutils.py
+++ b/synapse/util/ratelimitutils.py
@@ -18,7 +18,10 @@ from twisted.internet import defer
 from synapse.api.errors import LimitExceededError
 
 from synapse.util.async import sleep
-from synapse.util.logcontext import preserve_fn
+from synapse.util.logcontext import (
+    run_in_background, make_deferred_yieldable,
+    PreserveLoggingContext,
+)
 
 import collections
 import contextlib
@@ -150,7 +153,7 @@ class _PerHostRatelimiter(object):
                 "Ratelimit [%s]: sleeping req",
                 id(request_id),
             )
-            ret_defer = preserve_fn(sleep)(self.sleep_msec / 1000.0)
+            ret_defer = run_in_background(sleep, self.sleep_msec / 1000.0)
 
             self.sleeping_requests.add(request_id)
 
@@ -176,6 +179,9 @@ class _PerHostRatelimiter(object):
             return r
 
         def on_err(r):
+            # XXX: why is this necessary? this is called before we start
+            # processing the request so why would the request be in
+            # current_processing?
             self.current_processing.discard(request_id)
             return r
 
@@ -187,7 +193,7 @@ class _PerHostRatelimiter(object):
 
         ret_defer.addCallbacks(on_start, on_err)
         ret_defer.addBoth(on_both)
-        return ret_defer
+        return make_deferred_yieldable(ret_defer)
 
     def _on_exit(self, request_id):
         logger.debug(
@@ -197,7 +203,12 @@ class _PerHostRatelimiter(object):
         self.current_processing.discard(request_id)
         try:
             request_id, deferred = self.ready_request_queue.popitem()
+
+            # XXX: why do we do the following? the on_start callback above will
+            # do it for us.
             self.current_processing.add(request_id)
-            deferred.callback(None)
+
+            with PreserveLoggingContext():
+                deferred.callback(None)
         except KeyError:
             pass
diff --git a/synapse/util/retryutils.py b/synapse/util/retryutils.py
index 47b0bb5eb3..4e93f69d3a 100644
--- a/synapse/util/retryutils.py
+++ b/synapse/util/retryutils.py
@@ -203,8 +203,8 @@ class RetryDestinationLimiter(object):
                 )
             except Exception:
                 logger.exception(
-                    "Failed to store set_destination_retry_timings",
+                    "Failed to store destination_retry_timings",
                 )
 
         # we deliberately do this in the background.
-        synapse.util.logcontext.preserve_fn(store_retry_timings)()
+        synapse.util.logcontext.run_in_background(store_retry_timings)
diff --git a/synapse/util/stringutils.py b/synapse/util/stringutils.py
index 95a6168e16..b98b9dc6e4 100644
--- a/synapse/util/stringutils.py
+++ b/synapse/util/stringutils.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 
 import random
 import string
+from six.moves import range
 
 _string_with_symbols = (
     string.digits + string.ascii_letters + ".,;:^&*-_+=#~@"
@@ -22,12 +23,12 @@ _string_with_symbols = (
 
 
 def random_string(length):
-    return ''.join(random.choice(string.ascii_letters) for _ in xrange(length))
+    return ''.join(random.choice(string.ascii_letters) for _ in range(length))
 
 
 def random_string_with_symbols(length):
     return ''.join(
-        random.choice(_string_with_symbols) for _ in xrange(length)
+        random.choice(_string_with_symbols) for _ in range(length)
     )
 
 
diff --git a/synapse/util/wheel_timer.py b/synapse/util/wheel_timer.py
index b70f9a6b0a..7a9e45aca9 100644
--- a/synapse/util/wheel_timer.py
+++ b/synapse/util/wheel_timer.py
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
+from six.moves import range
+
 
 class _Entry(object):
     __slots__ = ["end_key", "queue"]
@@ -68,7 +70,7 @@ class WheelTimer(object):
         # Add empty entries between the end of the current list and when we want
         # to insert. This ensures there are no gaps.
         self.entries.extend(
-            _Entry(key) for key in xrange(last_key, then_key + 1)
+            _Entry(key) for key in range(last_key, then_key + 1)
         )
 
         self.entries[-1].queue.append(obj)
diff --git a/tests/__init__.py b/tests/__init__.py
index bfebb0f644..aab20e8e02 100644
--- a/tests/__init__.py
+++ b/tests/__init__.py
@@ -12,3 +12,6 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
+
+from twisted.trial import util
+util.DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_DURATION = 10
diff --git a/tests/appservice/test_scheduler.py b/tests/appservice/test_scheduler.py
index e5a902f734..9181692771 100644
--- a/tests/appservice/test_scheduler.py
+++ b/tests/appservice/test_scheduler.py
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ from synapse.appservice.scheduler import (
     _ServiceQueuer, _TransactionController, _Recoverer
 )
 from twisted.internet import defer
+
+from synapse.util.logcontext import make_deferred_yieldable
 from ..utils import MockClock
 from mock import Mock
 from tests import unittest
@@ -204,7 +206,9 @@ class ApplicationServiceSchedulerQueuerTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def test_send_single_event_with_queue(self):
         d = defer.Deferred()
-        self.txn_ctrl.send = Mock(return_value=d)
+        self.txn_ctrl.send = Mock(
+            side_effect=lambda x, y: make_deferred_yieldable(d),
+        )
         service = Mock(id=4)
         event = Mock(event_id="first")
         event2 = Mock(event_id="second")
@@ -235,7 +239,10 @@ class ApplicationServiceSchedulerQueuerTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         srv_2_event2 = Mock(event_id="srv2b")
 
         send_return_list = [srv_1_defer, srv_2_defer]
-        self.txn_ctrl.send = Mock(side_effect=lambda x, y: send_return_list.pop(0))
+
+        def do_send(x, y):
+            return make_deferred_yieldable(send_return_list.pop(0))
+        self.txn_ctrl.send = Mock(side_effect=do_send)
 
         # send events for different ASes and make sure they are sent
         self.queuer.enqueue(srv1, srv_1_event)
diff --git a/tests/config/test_load.py b/tests/config/test_load.py
index 161a87d7e3..772afd2cf9 100644
--- a/tests/config/test_load.py
+++ b/tests/config/test_load.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ class ConfigLoadingTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
         self.dir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
-        print self.dir
+        print(self.dir)
         self.file = os.path.join(self.dir, "homeserver.yaml")
 
     def tearDown(self):
diff --git a/tests/crypto/test_keyring.py b/tests/crypto/test_keyring.py
index d4ec02ffc2..149e443022 100644
--- a/tests/crypto/test_keyring.py
+++ b/tests/crypto/test_keyring.py
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ class KeyringTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
                 res_deferreds_2 = kr.verify_json_objects_for_server(
                     [("server10", json1)],
                 )
-                yield async.sleep(01)
+                yield async.sleep(1)
                 self.http_client.post_json.assert_not_called()
                 res_deferreds_2[0].addBoth(self.check_context, None)
 
diff --git a/tests/handlers/test_appservice.py b/tests/handlers/test_appservice.py
index a667fb6f0e..b753455943 100644
--- a/tests/handlers/test_appservice.py
+++ b/tests/handlers/test_appservice.py
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ class AppServiceHandlerTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         self.mock_scheduler = Mock()
         hs = Mock()
         hs.get_datastore = Mock(return_value=self.mock_store)
+        self.mock_store.get_received_ts.return_value = 0
         hs.get_application_service_api = Mock(return_value=self.mock_as_api)
         hs.get_application_service_scheduler = Mock(return_value=self.mock_scheduler)
         hs.get_clock.return_value = MockClock()
diff --git a/tests/metrics/test_metric.py b/tests/metrics/test_metric.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 39bde6e3f8..0000000000
--- a/tests/metrics/test_metric.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,173 +0,0 @@
-# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-# Copyright 2015, 2016 OpenMarket Ltd
-#
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-from tests import unittest
-
-from synapse.metrics.metric import (
-    CounterMetric, CallbackMetric, DistributionMetric, CacheMetric
-)
-
-
-class CounterMetricTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
-
-    def test_scalar(self):
-        counter = CounterMetric("scalar")
-
-        self.assertEquals(counter.render(), [
-            'scalar 0',
-        ])
-
-        counter.inc()
-
-        self.assertEquals(counter.render(), [
-            'scalar 1',
-        ])
-
-        counter.inc_by(2)
-
-        self.assertEquals(counter.render(), [
-            'scalar 3'
-        ])
-
-    def test_vector(self):
-        counter = CounterMetric("vector", labels=["method"])
-
-        # Empty counter doesn't yet know what values it has
-        self.assertEquals(counter.render(), [])
-
-        counter.inc("GET")
-
-        self.assertEquals(counter.render(), [
-            'vector{method="GET"} 1',
-        ])
-
-        counter.inc("GET")
-        counter.inc("PUT")
-
-        self.assertEquals(counter.render(), [
-            'vector{method="GET"} 2',
-            'vector{method="PUT"} 1',
-        ])
-
-
-class CallbackMetricTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
-
-    def test_scalar(self):
-        d = dict()
-
-        metric = CallbackMetric("size", lambda: len(d))
-
-        self.assertEquals(metric.render(), [
-            'size 0',
-        ])
-
-        d["key"] = "value"
-
-        self.assertEquals(metric.render(), [
-            'size 1',
-        ])
-
-    def test_vector(self):
-        vals = dict()
-
-        metric = CallbackMetric("values", lambda: vals, labels=["type"])
-
-        self.assertEquals(metric.render(), [])
-
-        # Keys have to be tuples, even if they're 1-element
-        vals[("foo",)] = 1
-        vals[("bar",)] = 2
-
-        self.assertEquals(metric.render(), [
-            'values{type="bar"} 2',
-            'values{type="foo"} 1',
-        ])
-
-
-class DistributionMetricTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
-
-    def test_scalar(self):
-        metric = DistributionMetric("thing")
-
-        self.assertEquals(metric.render(), [
-            'thing:count 0',
-            'thing:total 0',
-        ])
-
-        metric.inc_by(500)
-
-        self.assertEquals(metric.render(), [
-            'thing:count 1',
-            'thing:total 500',
-        ])
-
-    def test_vector(self):
-        metric = DistributionMetric("queries", labels=["verb"])
-
-        self.assertEquals(metric.render(), [])
-
-        metric.inc_by(300, "SELECT")
-        metric.inc_by(200, "SELECT")
-        metric.inc_by(800, "INSERT")
-
-        self.assertEquals(metric.render(), [
-            'queries:count{verb="INSERT"} 1',
-            'queries:count{verb="SELECT"} 2',
-            'queries:total{verb="INSERT"} 800',
-            'queries:total{verb="SELECT"} 500',
-        ])
-
-
-class CacheMetricTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
-
-    def test_cache(self):
-        d = dict()
-
-        metric = CacheMetric("cache", lambda: len(d), "cache_name")
-
-        self.assertEquals(metric.render(), [
-            'cache:hits{name="cache_name"} 0',
-            'cache:total{name="cache_name"} 0',
-            'cache:size{name="cache_name"} 0',
-            'cache:evicted_size{name="cache_name"} 0',
-        ])
-
-        metric.inc_misses()
-        d["key"] = "value"
-
-        self.assertEquals(metric.render(), [
-            'cache:hits{name="cache_name"} 0',
-            'cache:total{name="cache_name"} 1',
-            'cache:size{name="cache_name"} 1',
-            'cache:evicted_size{name="cache_name"} 0',
-        ])
-
-        metric.inc_hits()
-
-        self.assertEquals(metric.render(), [
-            'cache:hits{name="cache_name"} 1',
-            'cache:total{name="cache_name"} 2',
-            'cache:size{name="cache_name"} 1',
-            'cache:evicted_size{name="cache_name"} 0',
-        ])
-
-        metric.inc_evictions(2)
-
-        self.assertEquals(metric.render(), [
-            'cache:hits{name="cache_name"} 1',
-            'cache:total{name="cache_name"} 2',
-            'cache:size{name="cache_name"} 1',
-            'cache:evicted_size{name="cache_name"} 2',
-        ])
diff --git a/tests/rest/client/test_transactions.py b/tests/rest/client/test_transactions.py
index d7cea30260..b5bc2fa255 100644
--- a/tests/rest/client/test_transactions.py
+++ b/tests/rest/client/test_transactions.py
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ from synapse.rest.client.transactions import HttpTransactionCache
 from synapse.rest.client.transactions import CLEANUP_PERIOD_MS
 from twisted.internet import defer
 from mock import Mock, call
+
+from synapse.util import async
+from synapse.util.logcontext import LoggingContext
 from tests import unittest
 from tests.utils import MockClock
 
@@ -40,6 +43,78 @@ class HttpTransactionCacheTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         cb.assert_called_once_with("some_arg", keyword="arg", changing_args=0)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def test_logcontexts_with_async_result(self):
+        @defer.inlineCallbacks
+        def cb():
+            yield async.sleep(0)
+            defer.returnValue("yay")
+
+        @defer.inlineCallbacks
+        def test():
+            with LoggingContext("c") as c1:
+                res = yield self.cache.fetch_or_execute(self.mock_key, cb)
+                self.assertIs(LoggingContext.current_context(), c1)
+                self.assertEqual(res, "yay")
+
+        # run the test twice in parallel
+        d = defer.gatherResults([test(), test()])
+        self.assertIs(LoggingContext.current_context(), LoggingContext.sentinel)
+        yield d
+        self.assertIs(LoggingContext.current_context(), LoggingContext.sentinel)
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def test_does_not_cache_exceptions(self):
+        """Checks that, if the callback throws an exception, it is called again
+        for the next request.
+        """
+        called = [False]
+
+        def cb():
+            if called[0]:
+                # return a valid result the second time
+                return defer.succeed(self.mock_http_response)
+
+            called[0] = True
+            raise Exception("boo")
+
+        with LoggingContext("test") as test_context:
+            try:
+                yield self.cache.fetch_or_execute(self.mock_key, cb)
+            except Exception as e:
+                self.assertEqual(e.message, "boo")
+            self.assertIs(LoggingContext.current_context(), test_context)
+
+            res = yield self.cache.fetch_or_execute(self.mock_key, cb)
+            self.assertEqual(res, self.mock_http_response)
+            self.assertIs(LoggingContext.current_context(), test_context)
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def test_does_not_cache_failures(self):
+        """Checks that, if the callback returns a failure, it is called again
+        for the next request.
+        """
+        called = [False]
+
+        def cb():
+            if called[0]:
+                # return a valid result the second time
+                return defer.succeed(self.mock_http_response)
+
+            called[0] = True
+            return defer.fail(Exception("boo"))
+
+        with LoggingContext("test") as test_context:
+            try:
+                yield self.cache.fetch_or_execute(self.mock_key, cb)
+            except Exception as e:
+                self.assertEqual(e.message, "boo")
+            self.assertIs(LoggingContext.current_context(), test_context)
+
+            res = yield self.cache.fetch_or_execute(self.mock_key, cb)
+            self.assertEqual(res, self.mock_http_response)
+            self.assertIs(LoggingContext.current_context(), test_context)
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_cleans_up(self):
         cb = Mock(
             return_value=defer.succeed(self.mock_http_response)
diff --git a/tests/rest/client/v1/test_events.py b/tests/rest/client/v1/test_events.py
index 2b89c0a3c7..f5a7258e68 100644
--- a/tests/rest/client/v1/test_events.py
+++ b/tests/rest/client/v1/test_events.py
@@ -123,6 +123,7 @@ class EventStreamPermissionsTestCase(RestTestCase):
         self.ratelimiter.send_message.return_value = (True, 0)
         hs.config.enable_registration_captcha = False
         hs.config.enable_registration = True
+        hs.config.auto_join_rooms = []
 
         hs.get_handlers().federation_handler = Mock()
 
@@ -147,11 +148,16 @@ class EventStreamPermissionsTestCase(RestTestCase):
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_stream_basic_permissions(self):
-        # invalid token, expect 403
+        # invalid token, expect 401
+        # note: this is in violation of the original v1 spec, which expected
+        # 403. However, since the v1 spec no longer exists and the v1
+        # implementation is now part of the r0 implementation, the newer
+        # behaviour is used instead to be consistent with the r0 spec.
+        # see issue #2602
         (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(
             "/events?access_token=%s" % ("invalid" + self.token, )
         )
-        self.assertEquals(403, code, msg=str(response))
+        self.assertEquals(401, code, msg=str(response))
 
         # valid token, expect content
         (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger_get(
diff --git a/tests/rest/client/v1/test_profile.py b/tests/rest/client/v1/test_profile.py
index deac7f100c..dc94b8bd19 100644
--- a/tests/rest/client/v1/test_profile.py
+++ b/tests/rest/client/v1/test_profile.py
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ class ProfileTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         def _get_user_by_req(request=None, allow_guest=False):
             return synapse.types.create_requester(myid)
 
-        hs.get_v1auth().get_user_by_req = _get_user_by_req
+        hs.get_auth().get_user_by_req = _get_user_by_req
 
         profile.register_servlets(hs, self.mock_resource)
 
diff --git a/tests/rest/client/v1/test_rooms.py b/tests/rest/client/v1/test_rooms.py
index 7e8966a1a8..61d737725b 100644
--- a/tests/rest/client/v1/test_rooms.py
+++ b/tests/rest/client/v1/test_rooms.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ from synapse.api.constants import Membership
 from synapse.types import UserID
 
 import json
-import urllib
+from six.moves.urllib import parse as urlparse
 
 from ....utils import MockHttpResource, setup_test_homeserver
 from .utils import RestTestCase
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ class RoomPermissionsTestCase(RestTestCase):
                 "token_id": 1,
                 "is_guest": False,
             }
-        hs.get_v1auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
+        hs.get_auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
 
         def _insert_client_ip(*args, **kwargs):
             return defer.succeed(None)
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ class RoomPermissionsTestCase(RestTestCase):
 
         synapse.rest.client.v1.room.register_servlets(hs, self.mock_resource)
 
-        self.auth = hs.get_v1auth()
+        self.auth = hs.get_auth()
 
         # create some rooms under the name rmcreator_id
         self.uncreated_rmid = "!aa:test"
@@ -425,7 +425,7 @@ class RoomsMemberListTestCase(RestTestCase):
                 "token_id": 1,
                 "is_guest": False,
             }
-        hs.get_v1auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
+        hs.get_auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
 
         def _insert_client_ip(*args, **kwargs):
             return defer.succeed(None)
@@ -507,7 +507,7 @@ class RoomsCreateTestCase(RestTestCase):
                 "token_id": 1,
                 "is_guest": False,
             }
-        hs.get_v1auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
+        hs.get_auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
 
         def _insert_client_ip(*args, **kwargs):
             return defer.succeed(None)
@@ -597,7 +597,7 @@ class RoomTopicTestCase(RestTestCase):
                 "is_guest": False,
             }
 
-        hs.get_v1auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
+        hs.get_auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
 
         def _insert_client_ip(*args, **kwargs):
             return defer.succeed(None)
@@ -711,7 +711,7 @@ class RoomMemberStateTestCase(RestTestCase):
                 "token_id": 1,
                 "is_guest": False,
             }
-        hs.get_v1auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
+        hs.get_auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
 
         def _insert_client_ip(*args, **kwargs):
             return defer.succeed(None)
@@ -766,7 +766,7 @@ class RoomMemberStateTestCase(RestTestCase):
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_rooms_members_self(self):
         path = "/rooms/%s/state/m.room.member/%s" % (
-            urllib.quote(self.room_id), self.user_id
+            urlparse.quote(self.room_id), self.user_id
         )
 
         # valid join message (NOOP since we made the room)
@@ -786,7 +786,7 @@ class RoomMemberStateTestCase(RestTestCase):
     def test_rooms_members_other(self):
         self.other_id = "@zzsid1:red"
         path = "/rooms/%s/state/m.room.member/%s" % (
-            urllib.quote(self.room_id), self.other_id
+            urlparse.quote(self.room_id), self.other_id
         )
 
         # valid invite message
@@ -802,7 +802,7 @@ class RoomMemberStateTestCase(RestTestCase):
     def test_rooms_members_other_custom_keys(self):
         self.other_id = "@zzsid1:red"
         path = "/rooms/%s/state/m.room.member/%s" % (
-            urllib.quote(self.room_id), self.other_id
+            urlparse.quote(self.room_id), self.other_id
         )
 
         # valid invite message with custom key
@@ -843,7 +843,7 @@ class RoomMessagesTestCase(RestTestCase):
                 "token_id": 1,
                 "is_guest": False,
             }
-        hs.get_v1auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
+        hs.get_auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
 
         def _insert_client_ip(*args, **kwargs):
             return defer.succeed(None)
@@ -859,7 +859,7 @@ class RoomMessagesTestCase(RestTestCase):
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_invalid_puts(self):
         path = "/rooms/%s/send/m.room.message/mid1" % (
-            urllib.quote(self.room_id))
+            urlparse.quote(self.room_id))
         # missing keys or invalid json
         (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger(
             "PUT", path, '{}'
@@ -894,7 +894,7 @@ class RoomMessagesTestCase(RestTestCase):
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_rooms_messages_sent(self):
         path = "/rooms/%s/send/m.room.message/mid1" % (
-            urllib.quote(self.room_id))
+            urlparse.quote(self.room_id))
 
         content = '{"body":"test","msgtype":{"type":"a"}}'
         (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger("PUT", path, content)
@@ -911,7 +911,7 @@ class RoomMessagesTestCase(RestTestCase):
 
         # m.text message type
         path = "/rooms/%s/send/m.room.message/mid2" % (
-            urllib.quote(self.room_id))
+            urlparse.quote(self.room_id))
         content = '{"body":"test2","msgtype":"m.text"}'
         (code, response) = yield self.mock_resource.trigger("PUT", path, content)
         self.assertEquals(200, code, msg=str(response))
@@ -945,7 +945,7 @@ class RoomInitialSyncTestCase(RestTestCase):
                 "token_id": 1,
                 "is_guest": False,
             }
-        hs.get_v1auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
+        hs.get_auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
 
         def _insert_client_ip(*args, **kwargs):
             return defer.succeed(None)
@@ -1017,7 +1017,7 @@ class RoomMessageListTestCase(RestTestCase):
                 "token_id": 1,
                 "is_guest": False,
             }
-        hs.get_v1auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
+        hs.get_auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
 
         def _insert_client_ip(*args, **kwargs):
             return defer.succeed(None)
diff --git a/tests/rest/client/v1/test_typing.py b/tests/rest/client/v1/test_typing.py
index 2ec4ecab5b..fe161ee5cb 100644
--- a/tests/rest/client/v1/test_typing.py
+++ b/tests/rest/client/v1/test_typing.py
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ class RoomTypingTestCase(RestTestCase):
                 "is_guest": False,
             }
 
-        hs.get_v1auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
+        hs.get_auth().get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
 
         def _insert_client_ip(*args, **kwargs):
             return defer.succeed(None)
diff --git a/tests/storage/test_appservice.py b/tests/storage/test_appservice.py
index c2e39a7288..00825498b1 100644
--- a/tests/storage/test_appservice.py
+++ b/tests/storage/test_appservice.py
@@ -480,9 +480,9 @@ class ApplicationServiceStoreConfigTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             ApplicationServiceStore(None, hs)
 
         e = cm.exception
-        self.assertIn(f1, e.message)
-        self.assertIn(f2, e.message)
-        self.assertIn("id", e.message)
+        self.assertIn(f1, str(e))
+        self.assertIn(f2, str(e))
+        self.assertIn("id", str(e))
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_duplicate_as_tokens(self):
@@ -504,6 +504,6 @@ class ApplicationServiceStoreConfigTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             ApplicationServiceStore(None, hs)
 
         e = cm.exception
-        self.assertIn(f1, e.message)
-        self.assertIn(f2, e.message)
-        self.assertIn("as_token", e.message)
+        self.assertIn(f1, str(e))
+        self.assertIn(f2, str(e))
+        self.assertIn("as_token", str(e))
diff --git a/tests/storage/test_event_federation.py b/tests/storage/test_event_federation.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..30683e7888
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/storage/test_event_federation.py
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the 'License');
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an 'AS IS' BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+from twisted.internet import defer
+
+import tests.unittest
+import tests.utils
+
+
+class EventFederationWorkerStoreTestCase(tests.unittest.TestCase):
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def setUp(self):
+        hs = yield tests.utils.setup_test_homeserver()
+        self.store = hs.get_datastore()
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def test_get_prev_events_for_room(self):
+        room_id = '@ROOM:local'
+
+        # add a bunch of events and hashes to act as forward extremities
+        def insert_event(txn, i):
+            event_id = '$event_%i:local' % i
+
+            txn.execute((
+                "INSERT INTO events ("
+                "   room_id, event_id, type, depth, topological_ordering,"
+                "   content, processed, outlier) "
+                "VALUES (?, ?, 'm.test', ?, ?, 'test', ?, ?)"
+            ), (room_id, event_id, i, i, True, False))
+
+            txn.execute((
+                'INSERT INTO event_forward_extremities (room_id, event_id) '
+                'VALUES (?, ?)'
+            ), (room_id, event_id))
+
+            txn.execute((
+                'INSERT INTO event_reference_hashes '
+                '(event_id, algorithm, hash) '
+                "VALUES (?, 'sha256', ?)"
+            ), (event_id, 'ffff'))
+
+        for i in range(0, 11):
+            yield self.store.runInteraction("insert", insert_event, i)
+
+        # this should get the last five and five others
+        r = yield self.store.get_prev_events_for_room(room_id)
+        self.assertEqual(10, len(r))
+        for i in range(0, 5):
+            el = r[i]
+            depth = el[2]
+            self.assertEqual(10 - i, depth)
+
+        for i in range(5, 5):
+            el = r[i]
+            depth = el[2]
+            self.assertLessEqual(5, depth)
diff --git a/tests/storage/test_event_push_actions.py b/tests/storage/test_event_push_actions.py
index 575374c6a6..3cbf9a78b1 100644
--- a/tests/storage/test_event_push_actions.py
+++ b/tests/storage/test_event_push_actions.py
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ class EventPushActionsStoreTestCase(tests.unittest.TestCase):
         def _assert_counts(noitf_count, highlight_count):
             counts = yield self.store.runInteraction(
                 "", self.store._get_unread_counts_by_pos_txn,
-                room_id, user_id, 0, 0
+                room_id, user_id, 0
             )
             self.assertEquals(
                 counts,
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ class EventPushActionsStoreTestCase(tests.unittest.TestCase):
         def _mark_read(stream, depth):
             return self.store.runInteraction(
                 "", self.store._remove_old_push_actions_before_txn,
-                room_id, user_id, depth, stream
+                room_id, user_id, stream
             )
 
         yield _assert_counts(0, 0)
@@ -128,7 +128,6 @@ class EventPushActionsStoreTestCase(tests.unittest.TestCase):
         yield _rotate(10)
         yield _assert_counts(1, 1)
 
-    @tests.unittest.DEBUG
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_find_first_stream_ordering_after_ts(self):
         def add_event(so, ts):
diff --git a/tests/storage/test_registration.py b/tests/storage/test_registration.py
index 7c7b164ee6..cc637dda1c 100644
--- a/tests/storage/test_registration.py
+++ b/tests/storage/test_registration.py
@@ -42,9 +42,14 @@ class RegistrationStoreTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         yield self.store.register(self.user_id, self.tokens[0], self.pwhash)
 
         self.assertEquals(
-            # TODO(paul): Surely this field should be 'user_id', not 'name'
-            #  Additionally surely it shouldn't come in a 1-element list
-            {"name": self.user_id, "password_hash": self.pwhash, "is_guest": 0},
+            {
+                # TODO(paul): Surely this field should be 'user_id', not 'name'
+                "name": self.user_id,
+                "password_hash": self.pwhash,
+                "is_guest": 0,
+                "consent_version": None,
+                "consent_server_notice_sent": None,
+            },
             (yield self.store.get_user_by_id(self.user_id))
         )
 
diff --git a/tests/test_distributor.py b/tests/test_distributor.py
index acebcf4a86..010aeaee7e 100644
--- a/tests/test_distributor.py
+++ b/tests/test_distributor.py
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ class DistributorTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_signal_catch(self):
         self.dist.declare("alarm")
 
-        observers = [Mock() for i in 1, 2]
+        observers = [Mock() for i in (1, 2)]
         for o in observers:
             self.dist.observe("alarm", o)
 
diff --git a/tests/test_dns.py b/tests/test_dns.py
index d08b0f4333..af607d626f 100644
--- a/tests/test_dns.py
+++ b/tests/test_dns.py
@@ -33,8 +33,6 @@ class DnsTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
 
         service_name = "test_service.example.com"
         host_name = "example.com"
-        ip_address = "127.0.0.1"
-        ip6_address = "::1"
 
         answer_srv = dns.RRHeader(
             type=dns.SRV,
@@ -43,29 +41,9 @@ class DnsTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             )
         )
 
-        answer_a = dns.RRHeader(
-            type=dns.A,
-            payload=dns.Record_A(
-                address=ip_address,
-            )
-        )
-
-        answer_aaaa = dns.RRHeader(
-            type=dns.AAAA,
-            payload=dns.Record_AAAA(
-                address=ip6_address,
-            )
-        )
-
         dns_client_mock.lookupService.return_value = defer.succeed(
             ([answer_srv], None, None),
         )
-        dns_client_mock.lookupAddress.return_value = defer.succeed(
-            ([answer_a], None, None),
-        )
-        dns_client_mock.lookupIPV6Address.return_value = defer.succeed(
-            ([answer_aaaa], None, None),
-        )
 
         cache = {}
 
@@ -74,13 +52,10 @@ class DnsTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         )
 
         dns_client_mock.lookupService.assert_called_once_with(service_name)
-        dns_client_mock.lookupAddress.assert_called_once_with(host_name)
-        dns_client_mock.lookupIPV6Address.assert_called_once_with(host_name)
 
-        self.assertEquals(len(servers), 2)
+        self.assertEquals(len(servers), 1)
         self.assertEquals(servers, cache[service_name])
-        self.assertEquals(servers[0].host, ip_address)
-        self.assertEquals(servers[1].host, ip6_address)
+        self.assertEquals(servers[0].host, host_name)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_from_cache_expired_and_dns_fail(self):
diff --git a/tests/util/caches/test_descriptors.py b/tests/util/caches/test_descriptors.py
index 3f14ab503f..2516fe40f4 100644
--- a/tests/util/caches/test_descriptors.py
+++ b/tests/util/caches/test_descriptors.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # Copyright 2016 OpenMarket Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -12,6 +13,7 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
+from functools import partial
 import logging
 
 import mock
@@ -25,6 +27,50 @@ from tests import unittest
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
+class CacheTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_invalidate_all(self):
+        cache = descriptors.Cache("testcache")
+
+        callback_record = [False, False]
+
+        def record_callback(idx):
+            callback_record[idx] = True
+
+        # add a couple of pending entries
+        d1 = defer.Deferred()
+        cache.set("key1", d1, partial(record_callback, 0))
+
+        d2 = defer.Deferred()
+        cache.set("key2", d2, partial(record_callback, 1))
+
+        # lookup should return the deferreds
+        self.assertIs(cache.get("key1"), d1)
+        self.assertIs(cache.get("key2"), d2)
+
+        # let one of the lookups complete
+        d2.callback("result2")
+        self.assertEqual(cache.get("key2"), "result2")
+
+        # now do the invalidation
+        cache.invalidate_all()
+
+        # lookup should return none
+        self.assertIsNone(cache.get("key1", None))
+        self.assertIsNone(cache.get("key2", None))
+
+        # both callbacks should have been callbacked
+        self.assertTrue(
+            callback_record[0], "Invalidation callback for key1 not called",
+        )
+        self.assertTrue(
+            callback_record[1], "Invalidation callback for key2 not called",
+        )
+
+        # letting the other lookup complete should do nothing
+        d1.callback("result1")
+        self.assertIsNone(cache.get("key1", None))
+
+
 class DescriptorTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_cache(self):
diff --git a/tests/util/test_file_consumer.py b/tests/util/test_file_consumer.py
index 76e2234255..d6e1082779 100644
--- a/tests/util/test_file_consumer.py
+++ b/tests/util/test_file_consumer.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ from mock import NonCallableMock
 from synapse.util.file_consumer import BackgroundFileConsumer
 
 from tests import unittest
-from StringIO import StringIO
+from six import StringIO
 
 import threading
 
diff --git a/tests/util/test_linearizer.py b/tests/util/test_linearizer.py
index 793a88e462..4865eb4bc6 100644
--- a/tests/util/test_linearizer.py
+++ b/tests/util/test_linearizer.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ from tests import unittest
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
 from synapse.util.async import Linearizer
+from six.moves import range
 
 
 class LinearizerTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
@@ -58,7 +59,7 @@ class LinearizerTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
                     logcontext.LoggingContext.current_context(), lc)
 
         func(0, sleep=True)
-        for i in xrange(1, 100):
+        for i in range(1, 100):
             func(i)
 
         return func(1000)
diff --git a/tests/util/test_logcontext.py b/tests/util/test_logcontext.py
index 4850722bc5..ad78d884e0 100644
--- a/tests/util/test_logcontext.py
+++ b/tests/util/test_logcontext.py
@@ -36,24 +36,28 @@ class LoggingContextTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             yield sleep(0)
             self._check_test_key("one")
 
-    def _test_preserve_fn(self, function):
+    def _test_run_in_background(self, function):
         sentinel_context = LoggingContext.current_context()
 
         callback_completed = [False]
 
-        @defer.inlineCallbacks
-        def cb():
+        def test():
             context_one.request = "one"
-            yield function()
-            self._check_test_key("one")
+            d = function()
 
-            callback_completed[0] = True
+            def cb(res):
+                self._check_test_key("one")
+                callback_completed[0] = True
+                return res
+            d.addCallback(cb)
+
+            return d
 
         with LoggingContext() as context_one:
             context_one.request = "one"
 
             # fire off function, but don't wait on it.
-            logcontext.preserve_fn(cb)()
+            logcontext.run_in_background(test)
 
             self._check_test_key("one")
 
@@ -80,20 +84,30 @@ class LoggingContextTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         # test is done once d2 finishes
         return d2
 
-    def test_preserve_fn_with_blocking_fn(self):
+    def test_run_in_background_with_blocking_fn(self):
         @defer.inlineCallbacks
         def blocking_function():
             yield sleep(0)
 
-        return self._test_preserve_fn(blocking_function)
+        return self._test_run_in_background(blocking_function)
 
-    def test_preserve_fn_with_non_blocking_fn(self):
+    def test_run_in_background_with_non_blocking_fn(self):
         @defer.inlineCallbacks
         def nonblocking_function():
             with logcontext.PreserveLoggingContext():
                 yield defer.succeed(None)
 
-        return self._test_preserve_fn(nonblocking_function)
+        return self._test_run_in_background(nonblocking_function)
+
+    def test_run_in_background_with_chained_deferred(self):
+        # a function which returns a deferred which looks like it has been
+        # called, but is actually paused
+        def testfunc():
+            return logcontext.make_deferred_yieldable(
+                _chained_deferred_function()
+            )
+
+        return self._test_run_in_background(testfunc)
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_make_deferred_yieldable(self):
@@ -119,6 +133,22 @@ class LoggingContextTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             self._check_test_key("one")
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def test_make_deferred_yieldable_with_chained_deferreds(self):
+        sentinel_context = LoggingContext.current_context()
+
+        with LoggingContext() as context_one:
+            context_one.request = "one"
+
+            d1 = logcontext.make_deferred_yieldable(_chained_deferred_function())
+            # make sure that the context was reset by make_deferred_yieldable
+            self.assertIs(LoggingContext.current_context(), sentinel_context)
+
+            yield d1
+
+            # now it should be restored
+            self._check_test_key("one")
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def test_make_deferred_yieldable_on_non_deferred(self):
         """Check that make_deferred_yieldable does the right thing when its
         argument isn't actually a deferred"""
@@ -132,3 +162,17 @@ class LoggingContextTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             r = yield d1
             self.assertEqual(r, "bum")
             self._check_test_key("one")
+
+
+# a function which returns a deferred which has been "called", but
+# which had a function which returned another incomplete deferred on
+# its callback list, so won't yet call any other new callbacks.
+def _chained_deferred_function():
+    d = defer.succeed(None)
+
+    def cb(res):
+        d2 = defer.Deferred()
+        reactor.callLater(0, d2.callback, res)
+        return d2
+    d.addCallback(cb)
+    return d
diff --git a/tests/util/test_clock.py b/tests/util/test_logformatter.py
index 9672603579..1a1a8412f2 100644
--- a/tests/util/test_clock.py
+++ b/tests/util/test_logformatter.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-# Copyright 2017 Vector Creations Ltd
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -12,22 +12,27 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
-from synapse import util
-from twisted.internet import defer
+import sys
+
+from synapse.util.logformatter import LogFormatter
 from tests import unittest
 
 
-class ClockTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
-    @defer.inlineCallbacks
-    def test_time_bound_deferred(self):
-        # just a deferred which never resolves
-        slow_deferred = defer.Deferred()
+class TestException(Exception):
+    pass
+
 
-        clock = util.Clock()
-        time_bound = clock.time_bound_deferred(slow_deferred, 0.001)
+class LogFormatterTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_formatter(self):
+        formatter = LogFormatter()
 
         try:
-            yield time_bound
-            self.fail("Expected timedout error, but got nothing")
-        except util.DeferredTimedOutError:
-            pass
+            raise TestException("testytest")
+        except TestException:
+            ei = sys.exc_info()
+
+        output = formatter.formatException(ei)
+
+        # check the output looks vaguely sane
+        self.assertIn("testytest", output)
+        self.assertIn("Capture point", output)
diff --git a/tests/utils.py b/tests/utils.py
index 8efd3a3475..262c4a5714 100644
--- a/tests/utils.py
+++ b/tests/utils.py
@@ -15,8 +15,7 @@
 
 import hashlib
 from inspect import getcallargs
-import urllib
-import urlparse
+from six.moves.urllib import parse as urlparse
 
 from mock import Mock, patch
 from twisted.internet import defer, reactor
@@ -59,7 +58,13 @@ def setup_test_homeserver(name="test", datastore=None, config=None, **kargs):
         config.email_enable_notifs = False
         config.block_non_admin_invites = False
         config.federation_domain_whitelist = None
+        config.federation_rc_reject_limit = 10
+        config.federation_rc_sleep_limit = 10
+        config.federation_rc_concurrent = 10
+        config.filter_timeline_limit = 5000
         config.user_directory_search_all_users = False
+        config.user_consent_server_notice_content = None
+        config.block_events_without_consent_error = None
 
         # disable user directory updates, because they get done in the
         # background, which upsets the test runner.
@@ -212,7 +217,7 @@ class MockHttpResource(HttpServer):
 
         headers = {}
         if federation_auth:
-            headers["Authorization"] = ["X-Matrix origin=test,key=,sig="]
+            headers[b"Authorization"] = ["X-Matrix origin=test,key=,sig="]
         mock_request.requestHeaders.getRawHeaders = mock_getRawHeaders(headers)
 
         # return the right path if the event requires it
@@ -234,7 +239,7 @@ class MockHttpResource(HttpServer):
             if matcher:
                 try:
                     args = [
-                        urllib.unquote(u).decode("UTF-8")
+                        urlparse.unquote(u).decode("UTF-8")
                         for u in matcher.groups()
                     ]
 
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index f408defc8f..3e114e382c 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [tox]
-envlist = packaging, py27, pep8
+envlist = packaging, py27, py36, pep8
 
 [testenv]
 deps =
@@ -46,6 +46,15 @@ commands =
 # )
 usedevelop=true
 
+[testenv:py36]
+usedevelop=true
+commands =
+    /usr/bin/find "{toxinidir}" -name '*.pyc' -delete
+    coverage run {env:COVERAGE_OPTS:} --source="{toxinidir}/synapse" \
+        "{envbindir}/trial" {env:TRIAL_FLAGS:} {posargs:tests/config} \
+        {env:TOXSUFFIX:}
+    {env:DUMP_COVERAGE_COMMAND:coverage report -m}
+
 [testenv:packaging]
 deps =
     check-manifest
author	Matthew Hodgson <matthew@matrix.org>	2018-05-29 00:25:22 +0100
committer	Matthew Hodgson <matthew@matrix.org>	2018-05-29 00:25:22 +0100
commit	7a6df013cc8a128278d2ce7e5eb569e0b424f9b0 (patch)
tree	5de624a65953eb96ab67274462d850a88c0cce3c
parent	make lazy_load_members configurable in filters (diff)
parent	Merge pull request #3256 from matrix-org/3218-official-prom (diff)
download	synapse-7a6df013cc8a128278d2ce7e5eb569e0b424f9b0.tar.xz