--- /dev/null
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2016 Canonical, Ltd.
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation; version 3.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ *
+ * Authored by: Thomas Voß <thomas.voss@canonical.com>
+ *
+ */
+
+#ifndef ANBOX_OPTIONAL_H_
+#define ANBOX_OPTIONAL_H_
+
+#include <boost/optional.hpp>
+#include <boost/optional/optional_io.hpp>
+
+namespace anbox {
+template <typename T>
+using Optional = boost::optional<T>;
+}
+
+#endif