diff --git a/jmxtrans/templates/generate-genericjmx-file-from-template.py b/jmxtrans/templates/generate-genericjmx-file-from-template.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1596f44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jmxtrans/templates/generate-genericjmx-file-from-template.py
@@ -0,0 +1,158 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+import re
+import simplejson as json
+from collections import OrderedDict
+
+def camel_to_snake(camel_var):
+    """ Take a string in CamelCase and return it in snake_case 
+    """
+    step1 = re.sub('(.)([A-Z][a-z]+)', r'\1_\2', camel_var)
+    return re.sub('([a-z0-9])([A-Z])', r'\1_\2', step1).lower()
+
+
+def convert_tmpl_to_genericjmx(plugin_name, tmpl_content):
+  """ Walk the tmpl file structures and build out a string with the
+      content for the GenericJMX config file
+
+      :param plugin_name: used to alias the plugin in the chain statements, and prefix bean names
+      :param tmpl_content: dict (from JSON tmpl file) with the bean/attribute definitions
+  """
+  out_content = []
+
+  # header
+  out_content.append('\n'.join([ 
+  '# Look for JMX_HOST and JMX_PORT to adjust your configuration file.' ,
+  '',
+  'LoadPlugin java',
+  '<Plugin "java">',
+  '    JVMARG "-Djava.class.path=/opt/stackdriver/collectd/share/collectd/java/collectd-api.jar:/opt/stackdriver/collectd/share/collectd/java/generic-jmx.jar"',
+  '    LoadPlugin "org.collectd.java.GenericJMX"',
+  '',
+  '    <Plugin "GenericJMX">'
+  ]))
+
+  mbean_connections = []
+
+  for query in tmpl_content.get('queryInfos', []):
+      mbean_alias =  query['resultAlias'].lower().replace('.', '_')
+      mbean_alias_short = mbean_alias.rsplit('_', 1)[1]
+      mbean_connections.append('            Collect "%s"' % mbean_alias)
+
+      query_text = []
+      # bean info
+      query_text.append('\n'.join([
+      '        <MBean "%s">' % mbean_alias,
+      '            ObjectName "%s"' % query['obj']
+      ]))
+
+      # do each attribute as a value block
+      for attr in query['attr']:
+          attr_snake = camel_to_snake(attr) 
+          value_text = []
+          value_text.append('\n'.join([
+            '            <Value>',
+            '                Type "gauge"',
+            '                InstancePrefix "%s-%s"' % (mbean_alias_short, attr_snake,),
+            '                Table false',
+            '                Attribute "%s"' % attr,
+            '            </Value>'
+          ]))
+          
+          query_text.append('\n'.join(value_text))
+
+      # bean footer
+      query_text.append('        </MBean>')
+      out_content.append('\n'.join(query_text))
+
+  # connection block, all bean names
+  out_content.append('\n'.join([
+  '        <Connection>',
+  '            ServiceURL "service:jmx:rmi:///jndi/rmi://JMX_HOST:JMX_PORT/jmxrmi"',
+  '            InstancePrefix "%s"' % plugin_name,
+  ''
+  ]))
+  out_content.append('\n'.join(mbean_connections))
+  out_content.append('        </Connection>')
+
+  # file footer
+  out_content.append('\n'.join([
+  '    </Plugin>',
+  '</Plugin>',
+  '',
+  'LoadPlugin match_regex',
+  'LoadPlugin target_set',
+  'LoadPlugin target_replace',
+  '<Chain "GenericJMX_%s">' % plugin_name,
+  '    <Rule "rewrite_genericjmx_to_%s">' % plugin_name,
+  '        <Match regex>',
+  '            Plugin "^GenericJMX$"',
+  '            PluginInstance "%s.*"' % plugin_name,
+  '        </Match>',
+  '        <Target "set">',
+  '            Plugin "%s"' % plugin_name,
+  '        </Target>',
+  '        <Target "replace">',
+  '            PluginInstance "%s" ""' % plugin_name,
+  '        </Target>',
+  '        Target "return"',
+  '    </Rule>',
+  '</Chain>',
+  '',
+  '<Chain "PreCache">',
+  '    <Rule "jump_to_GenericJMX_%s">' % plugin_name,
+  '        <Target "jump">',
+  '            Chain "GenericJMX_%s"' % plugin_name,
+  '        </Target>',
+  '    </Rule>',
+  '</Chain>',
+  'PreCacheChain "PreCache"'
+  ]))
+
+  return '\n'.join(out_content)
+
+
+def main():
+  """ Convert a simple .tmpl file with JMX bean and attribute names, and output an initial
+      pass at a GenericJMX plugin config file to collect those beans.
+
+      ARGUMENTS:
+
+      plugin - plugin alias that this instance of GenericJMX will be renamed to using chain
+      source - the *.tmpl file with the mBean attribute definitions
+      output - the *.conf GenericJMX file that will be written.
+
+      NOTES ON OUTPUT FILES:
+
+      The output file will not account for InstanceFrom statements (with wildcards) such as
+      in JVM garbage collectors.
+
+      All variables will be marked as "gauge" but some may need to be set to "counter" where
+      appropriate.
+
+      This still does 90% of the work.
+  """
+  
+  import sys
+  import argparse
+ 
+  parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+  parser.add_argument('-p', '--plugin', help='The name of the service (jvm, cassandra, etc)')
+  parser.add_argument('-s', '--source', help='The source TMPL file path')
+  parser.add_argument('-o', '--output', help='The output GenericJMX conf file path')
+  opts = parser.parse_args()
+ 
+  print('--- generating GenericJMX conf from tmpl, input file: %s' % opts.source)
+  
+  with open(opts.source) as in_file:
+    tmpl_content = json.load(in_file, object_pairs_hook=OrderedDict)
+  
+  genericjmx_content = convert_tmpl_to_genericjmx(opts.plugin, tmpl_content)
+  
+  print('--- writing ./%s' % opts.output)
+  with open(opts.output, 'wb') as out_file:
+    out_file.write(genericjmx_content)
+ 
+ 
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+  main()
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