diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 7c39c0b..2b7c170 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -15,6 +15,26 @@ buildscript {
   }
 }
 
+ext {
+    
+    lib_antlr = "org.antlr:antlr4:4.7.1"
+    
+    lib_commons_collections4 = 'org.apache.commons:commons-collections4:4.2'
+    lib_commons_lang3 = 'org.apache.commons:commons-lang3:3.8.1'
+    lib_guava = 'com.google.guava:guava:27.0.1-jre'
+    lib_jackson_databind = 'com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind:2.9.7'
+    
+    lib_log4j2_api = 'org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-api:2.11.1'
+    lib_log4j2_core = 'org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core:2.11.1'
+    lib_log4j2_slf4j_impl = 'org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-slf4j-impl:2.11.1'
+    
+    lib_primitive_collections='org.lucares:primitiveCollections:0.1.20180908084945'
+    
+    lib_spring_boot_log4j2='org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-log4j2:2.1.0.RELEASE'
+    lib_spring_boot_mustache='org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-mustache:2.1.0.RELEASE'
+    lib_spring_boot_test='org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-test:2.1.0.RELEASE'
+    lib_spring_boot_web='org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web:2.1.0.RELEASE'
+}
 
 /*
  * The shared configuration for all sub-projects:
diff --git a/data-store/build.gradle b/data-store/build.gradle
index 88a59ac..12afc00 100644
--- a/data-store/build.gradle
+++ b/data-store/build.gradle
@@ -5,14 +5,14 @@ dependencies {
 	compile project(':file-utils')
 	compile project(':pdb-utils')
 	compile project(':block-storage')
-	antlr "org.antlr:antlr4:4.7.1"
+	antlr lib_antlr
 	
-	compile 'org.lucares:primitiveCollections:0.1.20180908084945'
-	compile 'org.apache.commons:commons-lang3:3.8.1'
-	compile 'com.google.guava:guava:26.0-jre'
+	compile lib_primitive_collections
+	compile lib_commons_lang3
+    compile lib_guava
 
-	compile 'org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core:2.10.0'
-	compile 'org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-slf4j-impl:2.10.0'
+    compile lib_log4j2_core
+    compile lib_log4j2_slf4j_impl
 }
 
 
diff --git a/file-utils/build.gradle b/file-utils/build.gradle
index 921bb14..05e4369 100644
--- a/file-utils/build.gradle
+++ b/file-utils/build.gradle
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 dependencies {
 	
 
-	compile 'org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core:2.10.0'
-	compile 'org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-slf4j-impl:2.10.0'
+	compile lib_log4j2_core
+	compile lib_log4j2_slf4j_impl
 }
diff --git a/pdb-plotting/build.gradle b/pdb-plotting/build.gradle
index 20ec9fb..8b3a3db 100644
--- a/pdb-plotting/build.gradle
+++ b/pdb-plotting/build.gradle
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 
 dependencies {
 	compile project(':performanceDb')
-	compile 'org.lucares:primitiveCollections:0.1.20180908084945'
-	compile 'com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind:2.9.7'
-	compile 'com.google.guava:guava:26.0-jre'
+	compile lib_primitive_collections
+	compile lib_jackson_databind
+	compile lib_guava
 }
 
diff --git a/pdb-ui/build.gradle b/pdb-ui/build.gradle
index 61381be..9890141 100644
--- a/pdb-ui/build.gradle
+++ b/pdb-ui/build.gradle
@@ -13,15 +13,15 @@ dependencies {
 	compile project(':performanceDb')
 	compile project(':pdb-plotting')
 	
-	compile('org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-mustache:2.0.5.RELEASE') {
+	compile(lib_spring_boot_mustache) {
 		exclude module: 'spring-boot-starter-logging'
 	}
-	compile("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web:2.0.5.RELEASE"){
+	compile(lib_spring_boot_web){
 		exclude module: 'spring-boot-starter-logging'
 	}
-	compile("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-log4j2:2.0.5.RELEASE")
+	compile(lib_spring_boot_log4j2)
 	
-	testCompile("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-test:2.0.5.RELEASE"){
+	testCompile(lib_spring_boot_test){
 		exclude module: 'spring-boot-starter-logging'
 	}
 }
diff --git a/pdb-ui/src/main/resources/.gitignore b/pdb-ui/src/main/resources/.gitignore
index 6a5251c..1cec0d9 100644
--- a/pdb-ui/src/main/resources/.gitignore
+++ b/pdb-ui/src/main/resources/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
-/application-dev.properties
\ No newline at end of file
+/application-dev.properties
+/application-perf.properties
diff --git a/performanceDb/build.gradle b/performanceDb/build.gradle
index bea202f..f04bbb5 100644
--- a/performanceDb/build.gradle
+++ b/performanceDb/build.gradle
@@ -3,10 +3,10 @@ dependencies {
 	compile project(':pdb-api')
 	compile project(':data-store')
 	compile project(':file-utils')
-	compile 'com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind:2.9.7'
-	compile 'org.apache.commons:commons-collections4:4.2'
+	compile lib_jackson_databind
+	compile lib_commons_collections4
 	
-	compile 'org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-api:2.10.0'
-	compile 'org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core:2.10.0'
-	compile 'org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-slf4j-impl:2.10.0'
+	compile lib_log4j2_api
+	compile lib_log4j2_core
+	compile lib_log4j2_slf4j_impl
 }