diff --git a/system_state.h b/system_state.h
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+++ b/system_state.h
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+// Copyright (c) 2012 The Chromium OS Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
+// found in the LICENSE file.
+
+#ifndef CHROMEOS_PLATFORM_UPDATE_ENGINE_SYSTEM_STATE_H_
+#define CHROMEOS_PLATFORM_UPDATE_ENGINE_SYSTEM_STATE_H_
+
+#include <policy/device_policy.h>
+#include <policy/libpolicy.h>
+
+#include <update_engine/connection_manager.h>
+
+namespace chromeos_update_engine {
+
+// An interface to global system context, including platform resources,
+// the current state of the system, high-level objects, system interfaces, etc.
+// Carved out separately so it can be mocked for unit tests.
+// Currently it has only one method, but we should start migrating other
+// methods to use this as and when needed to unit test them.
+// TODO (jaysri): Consider renaming this to something like GlobalContext.
+class SystemState {
+ public:
+  // Destructs this object.
+  virtual ~SystemState() {}
+
+  // Returns true if the OOBE process has been completed and EULA accepted.
+  // False otherwise.
+  virtual bool IsOOBEComplete() = 0;
+
+  // Sets or gets the latest device policy.
+  virtual void SetDevicePolicy(const policy::DevicePolicy* device_policy) = 0;
+  virtual const policy::DevicePolicy* GetDevicePolicy() const = 0;
+
+  // Gets the connection manager object.
+  virtual ConnectionManager* GetConnectionManager() = 0;
+};
+
+// A real implementation of the SystemStateInterface which is
+// used by the actual product code.
+class RealSystemState : public SystemState {
+public:
+  // Constructors and destructors.
+  RealSystemState();
+  virtual ~RealSystemState() {}
+
+  virtual bool IsOOBEComplete();
+
+  virtual void SetDevicePolicy(const policy::DevicePolicy* device_policy);
+  virtual const policy::DevicePolicy* GetDevicePolicy() const;
+
+  virtual ConnectionManager* GetConnectionManager();
+
+private:
+  // The latest device policy object from the policy provider.
+  const policy::DevicePolicy* device_policy_;
+
+  // The connection manager object that makes download
+  // decisions depending on the current type of connection.
+  ConnectionManager connection_manager_;
+};
+
+}  // namespace chromeos_update_engine
+
+#endif  // CHROMEOS_PLATFORM_UPDATE_ENGINE_UTILS_H_