diff --git a/Puppetfile b/Puppetfile
index bc5115a..cb189d8 100644
--- a/Puppetfile
+++ b/Puppetfile
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 forge 'https://forgeapi.puppetlabs.com'
 
-mod 'puppetlabs-stdlib', '>= 2.3.3 < 5.0.0'
\ No newline at end of file
+mod 'puppetlabs-stdlib', '>= 2.3.3 < 5.0.0'
+mod 'puppet/archive', '>= 0.5.0'
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5e041c9..9c6b9e3 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 #puppet-zookeeper
 
-[![Puppet
-Forge](http://img.shields.io/puppetforge/v/deric/zookeeper.svg)](https://forge.puppetlabs.com/deric/zookeeper) [![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/deric/puppet-zookeeper.png?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/deric/puppet-zookeeper)
+[![Puppet Forge](http://img.shields.io/puppetforge/v/deric/zookeeper.svg)](https://forge.puppetlabs.com/deric/zookeeper) [![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/deric/puppet-zookeeper.png?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/deric/puppet-zookeeper)
 
 A puppet receipt for [Apache Zookeeper](http://zookeeper.apache.org/). ZooKeeper is a high-performance coordination service for maintaining configuration information, naming, providing distributed synchronization, and providing group services.
 
@@ -141,16 +140,19 @@ After=network-online.target
 ##  Parameters
 
    - `id` - cluster-unique zookeeper's instance id (1-255)
-   - `datastore`
-   - `datalogstore` - specifying this configures the `dataLogDir` ZooKeeper config values and allows for transaction logs to be stored in a different location, improving IO performance
-   - `log_dir`
+   - `datastore` - configures the zookeeper `dataDir` config parameter
+   - `datalogstore` - configures the `dataLogDir` ZooKeeper config values and allows for transaction logs to be stored in a different location, improving IO performance
+   - `log_dir` - Sets java property `zookeeper.log.dir`. Passed to java  with `-Dzookeeper.log.dir`
    - `purge_interval` - automatically will delete ZooKeeper logs (available since ZooKeeper 3.4.0)
    - `snap_retain_count` - number of snapshots that will be kept after purging (since ZooKeeper 3.4.0)
    - `min_session_timeout` - the minimum session timeout in milliseconds that the server will allow the client to negotiate. Defaults to 2 times the **tickTime** (since ZooKeeper 3.3.0)
    - `max_session_timeout` - the maximum session timeout in milliseconds that the server will allow the client to negotiate. Defaults to 20 times the **tickTime** (since ZooKeeper 3.3.0)
-   - `manage_service` (default: `true`) whether Puppet should ensure running service
-   - `manage_service_file` when enabled on RHEL 7.0 a systemd config will be managed
-   - `ensure_account` controls whether `zookeeper` user and group will be ensured (set to `false` to disable this feature)
+   - `manage_service` (default: `true`) - whether Puppet should ensure running service
+   - `manage_service_file` - when enabled on RHEL 7.0 a systemd config will be managed
+   - `ensure_account` - controls whether `zookeeper` user and group will be ensured (set to `false` to disable this feature)
+   - `install_method` (default: `package`) - installation method (either `package` or `archive`). `package` will use the available package manager. `archive` will install from an archive file.
+   - `mirror_url` - Base URL of Apache mirror to use if `install_method` is not `package`
+   - `archive_checksum` - optional hash to use when verifying installation archive. ex: `{ type => 'sha1', hash => 'abcdef123456' }`
 
 and many others, see the `init.pp` file for more details.
 
@@ -252,7 +254,7 @@ If you are versioning your puppet conf with git just add it as submodule, from y
 ## Dependencies
 
   * stdlib `> 2.3.3` - function `ensure_resources` is required
-  * datacat - experimental (might be removed in future releases)
+  * archive `>= 0.5.0` - used for tarball installation
 
 ## Supported platforms
 
diff --git a/files/znode_exists.sh b/files/znode_exists.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..a8e7b97
--- /dev/null
+++ b/files/znode_exists.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+function usage () {
+  echo "usage: $0 znode_path" >&2
+  exit 1
+}
+
+_znode="$1"
+
+[ -z $_znode ] && usage
+
+[[ $(echo "stat $_znode" | zkCli.sh 2>&1 >/dev/null) != \
+   *'Node does not exist:'* ]]
diff --git a/manifests/config.pp b/manifests/config.pp
index 9b3f206..8dc658b 100644
--- a/manifests/config.pp
+++ b/manifests/config.pp
@@ -106,7 +106,8 @@
     }
   }
 
-  if $exhibitor_manaaged == 'false' {
+  if $exhibitor_managed == false {
+
     file { "${cfg_dir}/zoo.cfg":
       owner   => $user,
       group   => $group,
diff --git a/manifests/init.pp b/manifests/init.pp
index 22a77d5..6180686 100644
--- a/manifests/init.pp
+++ b/manifests/init.pp
@@ -51,9 +51,10 @@
   $peer_type               = 'UNSET',
   $start_with              = undef,
   $ensure_cron             = true,
-  $install_method          = package,
+  $install_method          = 'package',
   $install_dir             = '/opt/zookeeper',
-  $download_url            = 'http://mirror.cogentco.com/pub/apache/zookeeper',
+  $mirror_url              = 'http://mirror.cogentco.com/pub/apache',
+  $archive_checksum        = {},
   $service_package         = undef,
   $service_name            = $::zookeeper::params::service_name,
   $service_provider        = $::zookeeper::params::service_provider,
@@ -103,7 +104,8 @@
   class { 'zookeeper::install':
     ensure            => $ensure,
     install_method    => $install_method,
-    download_url      => $download_url,
+    mirror_url        => $mirror_url,
+    archive_checksum  => $archive_checksum,
     install_dir       => $install_dir,
     snap_retain_count => $snap_retain_count,
     datastore         => $datastore,
@@ -155,7 +157,7 @@
     systemd_unit_after      => $systemd_unit_after,
   }
 
-  if ($manage_service) {
+  if ($manage_service and !$exhibitor_managed) {
     class { 'zookeeper::service':
       cfg_dir             => $cfg_dir,
       zoo_dir             => $zoo_dir,
diff --git a/manifests/install.pp b/manifests/install.pp
index 172fe4d..4236818 100644
--- a/manifests/install.pp
+++ b/manifests/install.pp
@@ -10,9 +10,11 @@
 # Should not be included directly
 #
 class zookeeper::install(
-  $install_method    = $zookeeper::install_method,
-  $download_url      = 'http://mirror.cogentco.com/pub/apache/zookeeper',
+  $install_method    = 'package',
+  $mirror_url        = 'http://mirror.cogentco.com/pub/apache',
+  $archive_checksum  = {},
   $install_dir       = '/opt/zookeeper',
+  $package_dir       = '/var/tmp/zookeeper',
   $ensure            = present,
   $snap_retain_count = 3,
   $cleanup_sh        = '/usr/lib/zookeeper/bin/zkCleanup.sh',
@@ -34,6 +36,11 @@
   anchor { 'zookeeper::install::end': }
 
   if ($install_method == 'package') {
+    $clean = $manual_clean
+    $repo_source = is_hash($repo) ? {
+          true  => 'custom',
+          false =>  $repo,
+    }
     case $::osfamily {
       'Debian': {
         class { 'zookeeper::os::debian':
@@ -67,37 +74,82 @@
         fail("Module '${module_name}' is not supported on OS: '${::operatingsystem}', family: '${::osfamily}'")
       }
     }
-  } else {
+  } elsif ($install_method == 'archive') {
+    include '::archive'
+
+    $basefilename = "zookeeper-${ensure}.tar.gz"
+    $package_url = "${mirror_url}/zookeeper/zookeeper-${ensure}/${basefilename}"
+    $extract_path = "${install_dir}-${ensure}"
+
+    if ($manual_clean == undef) {
+      $clean = versioncmp($ensure, '3.4') ? {
+        '-1'    => true,
+        default => false,
+      }
+    } else {
+      $clean = $manual_clean
+    }
+
     package { ['zookeeper','zookeeperd']:
       ensure => absent
     }
 
     file { $install_dir:
       ensure => link,
-      target => "${install_dir}-${ensure}"
-    }
-
-    exec { 'download-zk-package':
-      command => "/usr/bin/wget -O /tmp/zookeeper-${ensure}.tar.gz ${package_mirror}/zookeeper-${ensure}/zookeeper-${ensure}.tar.gz",
-      creates => "/tmp/zookeeper-${ensure}.tar.gz"
+      target => $extract_path
     }
 
-    exec { 'install-zk-package':
-      command => "/bin/tar -xvzf /tmp/zookeeper-${ensure}.tar.gz -C /opt",
-      creates => "${install_dir}-${ensure}/zookeeper-${ensure}.jar",
+    file { $package_dir:
+      ensure  => directory,
+      owner   => 'zookeeper',
+      group   => 'zookeeper',
       require => [
-        Exec['download-zk-package']
-      ]
+        Group['zookeeper'],
+        User['zookeeper'],
+      ],
     }
-    
-    file { "${install_dir}-${ensure}":
+
+    file { $extract_path:
       ensure  => directory,
-      recurse => true,
       owner   => 'zookeeper',
-      group   => 'zookeeper'
+      group   => 'zookeeper',
+      require => [
+        Group['zookeeper'],
+        User['zookeeper'],
+      ],
     }
+
+    archive { "${package_dir}/${basefilename}":
+      ensure          => present,
+      extract         => true,
+      extract_command => 'tar xfz %s --strip-components=1',
+      extract_path    => $extract_path,
+      source          => $package_url,
+      checksum        => $archive_checksum['hash'],
+      checksum_type   => $archive_checksum['type'],
+      creates         => "${extract_path}/conf",
+      cleanup         => true,
+      user            => 'zookeeper',
+      group           => 'zookeeper',
+      require         => [
+        File[$package_dir],
+        File[$install_dir],
+        Group['zookeeper'],
+        User['zookeeper'],
+      ],
+    }
+  } else {
+    fail("You must specify a valid install method for zookeeper")
   }
 
+  file { '/usr/local/bin/znode_exists.sh':
+    ensure  => file,
+    owner   => 'root',
+    group   => 'root',
+    mode    => '0755',
+    source  => 'puppet:///modules/zookeeper/znode_exists.sh',
+    require => File['/usr/local/bin'],
+  }
 
   class { 'zookeeper::post_install':
     ensure            => $ensure,
@@ -108,7 +160,7 @@
     datastore         => $datastore,
     snap_retain_count => $snap_retain_count,
     cleanup_sh        => $cleanup_sh,
-    manual_clean      => $manual_clean,
+    manual_clean      => $clean,
     require           => Anchor['zookeeper::install::end'],
   }
 
diff --git a/manifests/service.pp b/manifests/service.pp
index f06b6df..68b990a 100644
--- a/manifests/service.pp
+++ b/manifests/service.pp
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
   $cfg_dir             = '/etc/zookeeper/conf',
   $service_name        = 'zookeeper',
   $service_ensure      = 'running',
-  $manage_service      = true,
   $manage_service_file = true,
   $user                = 'zookeeper',
   $group               = 'zookeeper',
@@ -20,27 +19,26 @@
   require ::zookeeper::install
 
 
-  if $manage_service == true {
-    if $manage_service_file == true {
-      if $service_provider == 'systemd'  {
-        file { '/usr/lib/systemd/system/zookeeper.service':
-          ensure  => 'present',
-          content => template('zookeeper/zookeeper.service.erb'),
-          } ~>
-          exec { 'systemctl daemon-reload # for zookeeper':
-            refreshonly => true,
-            path        => $::path,
-            notify      => Service[$service_name]
-          }
-        } elsif ( $service_provider == 'init' or $service_provider == 'redhat')  {
-          file {"/etc/init.d/${service_name}":
-            ensure  => present,
-            content => template('zookeeper/zookeeper.init.erb'),
-            mode    => '0755',
-            notify  => Service[$service_name]
-          }
+  if $manage_service_file == true {
+    if $service_provider == 'systemd'  {
+      file { '/usr/lib/systemd/system/zookeeper.service':
+        ensure  => 'present',
+        content => template('zookeeper/zookeeper.service.erb'),
+        } ~>
+        exec { 'systemctl daemon-reload # for zookeeper':
+          refreshonly => true,
+          path        => $::path,
+          notify      => Service[$service_name]
         }
-    }
+      } elsif ( $service_provider == 'init' or $service_provider == 'redhat')  {
+        file {"/etc/init.d/${service_name}":
+          ensure  => present,
+          content => template('zookeeper/zookeeper.init.erb'),
+          mode    => '0755',
+          notify  => Service[$service_name]
+        }
+      }
+  }
 
   service { $service_name:
     ensure     => $service_ensure,
@@ -57,4 +55,5 @@
       File["${cfg_dir}/environment"], File["${cfg_dir}/log4j.properties"],
     ]
   }
+
 }
diff --git a/manifests/znode.pp b/manifests/znode.pp
index 75bf53b..ead4dbd 100644
--- a/manifests/znode.pp
+++ b/manifests/znode.pp
@@ -1,17 +1,39 @@
 define zookeeper::znode(
   $ensure = '',
-  $assosiation = ''
+  $association = ''
 ) {
-  
+
+  validate_re($name, '^\/', "znode path must start with a '/'")
+  if $name =~ /\/\.{1,2}(\/.*)?$/ {
+    fail("znode name cannot be '.' or '..'")
+  }
+
+  $create_cmd = shellquote(
+    '/bin/echo',
+    "create ${name}",
+    "\'${association}\'"
+  )
+
+  $rm_cmd = shellquote(
+    '/bin/echo',
+    "rmr ${name}"
+  )
+
   if $ensure == 'present' {
     exec { "create znode ${name}":
-      command => "/bin/echo \"create /${name} '${assosiation}'\" | ${zookeeper::install_dir}/bin/zkCli.sh",
-      unless  => "/bin/bash -c \"if [[ \\\"`echo 'ls /' | /opt/zookeeper/bin/zkCli.sh | tail -n2 | head -n1`\\\" == *${name}* ]]; then exit 0; else exit 1; fi\""
+      command => "${create_cmd} | zkCli.sh",
+      unless  => shellquote('znode_exists.sh', $name),
+      path    => "/usr/share/zookeeper/bin:${zookeeper::install_dir}/bin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin",
+      require => Class['::zookeeper::install'],
+                
     }
   } else {
     exec { "delete znode ${name}":
-      command => "/bin/echo \"rmr /${name}\" | ${zookeeper::install_dir}/bin/zkCli.sh",
-      unless  => "/bin/bash -c \"if [[ \\\"`echo 'ls /' | /opt/zookeeper/bin/zkCli.sh | tail -n2 | head -n1`\\\" == *${name}* ]]; then exit 0; else exit 1; fi\""
+      command => "${rm_cmd} | zkCli.sh",
+      onlyif  => shellquote('znode_exists.sh', $name),
+      path    => "/usr/share/zookeeper/bin:${zookeeper::install_dir}/bin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin",
+      require => Class['::zookeeper::install'],
     }
   }
+
 }
diff --git a/metadata.json b/metadata.json
index bfe27f5..586b1bc 100644
--- a/metadata.json
+++ b/metadata.json
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@
   "issues_url": "https://github.com/deric/puppet-zookeeper/issues",
   "description": "ZooKeeper is a centralized service for maintaining configuration information, naming, providing distributed synchronization, and providing group services.",
   "dependencies": [
+    {
+      "name": "puppet/archive",
+      "version_requirement": ">= 0.5.0"
+    },
     {
       "name": "puppetlabs-stdlib",
       "version_requirement": ">= 2.3.3 < 5.0.0"
diff --git a/spec/classes/config_spec.rb b/spec/classes/config_spec.rb
index 22a68b5..6b8a24e 100644
--- a/spec/classes/config_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/classes/config_spec.rb
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
       } }
 
       it {
-        should contain_file('/etc/zookeeper/conf/environment').with_content(/ERROR/)
+        should contain_file("#{cfg_dir}/zookeeper-env.sh").with_content(/ZOOCFGDIR/)
       }
 
       it {
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@
     let(:user)    { 'zookeeper' }
     let(:group)   { 'zookeeper' }
     let(:cfg_dir) { '/etc/zookeeper/conf' }
-    let(:log_dir) { '/var/lib/zookeeper' }
+    let(:log_dir) { '/var/log/zookeeper' }
     let(:id_file) { '/etc/zookeeper/conf/myid' }
     let(:myid)    { /1/ }
 
@@ -153,17 +153,17 @@
     # set custom params
     let(:params) { {
       :id      => '2',
-      :user    => 'zoo',
-      :group   => 'zoo',
-      :cfg_dir => '/var/lib/zookeeper/conf',
-      :log_dir => '/var/lib/zookeeper/log',
+      :user    => 'zookeeper',
+      :group   => 'zookeeper',
+      :cfg_dir => '/etc/zookeeper/conf',
+      :log_dir => '/var/log/zookeeper',
     } }
 
-    let(:user)    { 'zoo' }
-    let(:group)   { 'zoo' }
-    let(:cfg_dir) { '/var/lib/zookeeper/conf' }
-    let(:log_dir) { '/var/lib/zookeeper/log' }
-    let(:id_file) { '/var/lib/zookeeper/conf/myid' }
+    let(:user)    { 'zookeeper' }
+    let(:group)   { 'zookeeper' }
+    let(:cfg_dir) { '/etc/zookeeper/conf' }
+    let(:log_dir) { '/var/log/zookeeper' }
+    let(:id_file) { '/etc/zookeeper/conf/myid' }
     let(:myid)    { /2/ }
 
     it_behaves_like 'common', 'Debian', 'wheezy'
diff --git a/spec/classes/install_spec.rb b/spec/classes/install_spec.rb
index f811e90..ea69b93 100644
--- a/spec/classes/install_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/classes/install_spec.rb
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
       let(:group) { 'zookeeper' }
 
       let(:params) { {
+        :install_method => 'package',
         :snap_retain_count => 0,
       } }
 
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@
       let(:group) { 'zookeeper' }
 
       let(:params) { {
+        :install_method => 'package',
         :service_package => 'zookeeper-server',
       } }
 
@@ -57,6 +59,7 @@
       let(:group) { 'zookeeper' }
 
       let(:params) { {
+        :install_method => 'package',
         :packages => [ 'zookeeper', 'zookeeper-bin' ],
       } }
 
@@ -69,6 +72,7 @@
       let(:group) { 'zookeeper' }
 
       let(:params) { {
+        :install_method => 'package',
         :ensure => 'absent',
       } }
 
@@ -92,6 +96,7 @@
     let(:group) { 'zookeeper' }
 
     let(:params) {{
+      :install_method => 'package',
       :snap_retain_count => 1,
     }}
     # ENV variable might contain characters which are not supported
@@ -166,7 +171,7 @@
           'command'   => '/usr/lib/zookeeper/bin/zkCleanup.sh /var/lib/zookeeper 5',
           'user'      => 'zookeeper',
           'hour'      => '2',
-          'minute'      => '42',
+          'minute'    => '42',
         })
       end
     end
@@ -176,6 +181,7 @@
       let(:group) { 'zookeeper' }
 
       let(:params) { {
+        :install_method => 'package',
         :packages => [ 'zookeeper', 'zookeeper-devel' ],
       } }
 
@@ -188,6 +194,7 @@
       let(:group) { 'zookeeper' }
 
       let(:params) { {
+        :install_method => 'package',
         :ensure => 'absent',
       } }
 
@@ -209,6 +216,7 @@
       let(:group) { 'zookeeper' }
 
       let(:params) { {
+        :install_method => 'package',
         :install_java => true,
         :java_package => 'java-1.7.0-openjdk',
       } }
@@ -275,4 +283,61 @@
     end
   end
 
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+  context 'installing from tar archive' do
+    let(:user) { 'zookeeper' }
+    let(:group) { 'zookeeper' }
+    let(:package_dir) { '/tmp/zookeeper' }
+    let(:install_dir) { '/opt/zookeeper' }
+    let(:vers) { '3.4.5' }
+    let(:mirror_url) { 'http://mirror.cogentco.com/pub/apache' }
+    let(:basefilename) { "zookeeper-#{vers}.tar.gz" }
+    let(:package_url) { "#{mirror_url}/zookeeper/zookeeper-#{vers}/zookeeper-#{vers}.tar.gz" }
+    let(:extract_path) { "#{install_dir}-#{vers}" }
+
+    let(:facts) {{
+      :operatingsystem => 'Ubuntu',
+      :osfamily => 'Debian',
+      :lsbdistcodename => 'trusty',
+    }}
+
+    let(:params) { {
+      :install_method => 'archive',
+      :package_dir    => package_dir,
+      :install_dir    => install_dir,
+      :ensure         => vers,
+      :mirror_url     => mirror_url,
+    } }
+
+    it do
+      should contain_file(package_dir).with({
+        :ensure => 'directory',
+        :owner  => user,
+        :group  => group,
+      })
+    end
+    it do
+      should contain_file(extract_path).with({
+        :ensure => 'directory',
+        :owner  => user,
+        :group  => group,
+      })
+    end
+    it do
+      should contain_file(install_dir).with({
+        :ensure => 'link',
+        :target => extract_path,
+      })
+    end
+    it do
+      should contain_archive("#{package_dir}/#{basefilename}").with({
+        :extract_path => extract_path,
+        :source       => package_url,
+        :creates      => "#{extract_path}/conf",
+        :user         => user,
+        :group        => group,
+      })
+    end
+  end
+
+
+end
diff --git a/spec/classes/service_spec.rb b/spec/classes/service_spec.rb
index 09c2b1c..ee08e65 100644
--- a/spec/classes/service_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/classes/service_spec.rb
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@
     :log_dir => '/var/log/zookeeper',
   }}
 
-  it { should contain_package('zookeeperd') }
   it { should contain_service('zookeeper').with(
     :ensure => 'running',
     :enable => true
@@ -38,8 +37,6 @@
       :service_provider => 'systemd',
     }}
 
-    it { should contain_package('zookeeper') }
-
     it { should contain_file(
       '/usr/lib/systemd/system/zookeeper.service'
       ).with({
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper_acceptance.rb b/spec/spec_helper_acceptance.rb
index 95ada8b..d4349b7 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper_acceptance.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper_acceptance.rb
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
     puppet_module_install(:source => proj_root, :module_name => 'homes')
     hosts.each do |host|
       on host, puppet('module','install','puppetlabs-stdlib'), { :acceptable_exit_codes => [0,1] }
-      on host, puppet('module', 'install', 'richardc-datacat'), { :acceptable_exit_codes => [0,1] }
+      on host, puppet('module', 'install', 'puppet/archive'), { :acceptable_exit_codes => [0,1] }
     end
   end
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+end