diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 37f937fe489..606842b2455 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -3,6 +3,11 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8.7)
 # ---[ Caffe project
 project(Caffe C CXX)
 
+# ---[ Caffe version
+set(CAFFE_TARGET_VERSION "0.14.0-alpha")
+set(CAFFE_TARGET_SOVERSION "0.14")
+add_definitions(-DCAFFE_VERSION=${CAFFE_TARGET_VERSION})
+
 # ---[ Using cmake scripts and modules
 list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/Modules)
 
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 5fb6394e947..9d72bff7828 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -29,9 +29,17 @@ SRC_DIRS := $(shell find * -type d -exec bash -c "find {} -maxdepth 1 \
 	\( -name '*.cpp' -o -name '*.proto' \) | grep -q ." \; -print)
 
 # The target shared library name
+LIBRARY_NAME := $(PROJECT)$(LIBRARY_NAME_SUFFIX)
 LIB_BUILD_DIR := $(BUILD_DIR)/lib
-STATIC_NAME := $(LIB_BUILD_DIR)/lib$(PROJECT).a
-DYNAMIC_NAME := $(LIB_BUILD_DIR)/lib$(PROJECT).so
+STATIC_NAME := $(LIB_BUILD_DIR)/lib$(LIBRARY_NAME).a
+DYNAMIC_VERSION_MAJOR 		:= 0
+DYNAMIC_VERSION_MINOR 		:= 14
+DYNAMIC_VERSION_REVISION 	:= 0-alpha
+DYNAMIC_NAME_SHORT := lib$(LIBRARY_NAME).so
+DYNAMIC_SONAME_SHORT := $(DYNAMIC_NAME_SHORT).$(DYNAMIC_VERSION_MAJOR).$(DYNAMIC_VERSION_MINOR)
+DYNAMIC_VERSIONED_NAME_SHORT := $(DYNAMIC_SONAME_SHORT).$(DYNAMIC_VERSION_REVISION)
+DYNAMIC_NAME := $(LIB_BUILD_DIR)/$(DYNAMIC_VERSIONED_NAME_SHORT)
+COMMON_FLAGS += -DCAFFE_VERSION=$(DYNAMIC_VERSION_MAJOR).$(DYNAMIC_VERSION_MINOR).$(DYNAMIC_VERSION_REVISION)
 
 ##############################
 # Get all source files
@@ -248,6 +256,7 @@ ifeq ($(LINUX), 1)
 	# boost::thread is reasonably called boost_thread (compare OS X)
 	# We will also explicitly add stdc++ to the link target.
 	LIBRARIES += boost_thread stdc++
+	VERSIONFLAGS += -Wl,-soname,$(DYNAMIC_SONAME_SHORT) -Wl,-rpath,$(ORIGIN)/../lib
 endif
 
 # OS X:
@@ -271,6 +280,7 @@ ifeq ($(OSX), 1)
 	# we need to explicitly ask for the rpath to be obeyed
 	DYNAMIC_FLAGS := -install_name @rpath/libcaffe.so
 	ORIGIN := @loader_path
+	VERSIONFLAGS += -Wl,-install_name,$(DYNAMIC_SONAME_SHORT) -Wl,-rpath,$(ORIGIN)/../../build/lib
 else
 	ORIGIN := \$$ORIGIN
 endif
@@ -470,7 +480,7 @@ py: $(PY$(PROJECT)_SO) $(PROTO_GEN_PY)
 $(PY$(PROJECT)_SO): $(PY$(PROJECT)_SRC) $(PY$(PROJECT)_HXX) | $(DYNAMIC_NAME)
 	@ echo CXX/LD -o $@ $<
 	$(Q)$(CXX) -shared -o $@ $(PY$(PROJECT)_SRC) \
-		-o $@ $(LINKFLAGS) -l$(PROJECT) $(PYTHON_LDFLAGS) \
+		-o $@ $(LINKFLAGS) -l$(LIBRARY_NAME) $(PYTHON_LDFLAGS) \
 		-Wl,-rpath,$(ORIGIN)/../../build/lib
 
 mat$(PROJECT): mat
@@ -534,7 +544,9 @@ $(ALL_BUILD_DIRS): | $(BUILD_DIR_LINK)
 
 $(DYNAMIC_NAME): $(OBJS) | $(LIB_BUILD_DIR)
 	@ echo LD -o $@
-	$(Q)$(CXX) -shared -o $@ $(OBJS) $(LINKFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) $(DYNAMIC_FLAGS)
+	$(Q)$(CXX) -shared -o $@ $(OBJS) $(VERSIONFLAGS) $(LINKFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) $(DYNAMIC_FLAGS)
+	@ cd $(BUILD_DIR)/lib; rm -f $(DYNAMIC_SONAME_SHORT); ln -s $(DYNAMIC_VERSIONED_NAME_SHORT) $(DYNAMIC_SONAME_SHORT)
+	@ cd $(BUILD_DIR)/lib; rm -f $(DYNAMIC_NAME_SHORT);   ln -s $(DYNAMIC_SONAME_SHORT) $(DYNAMIC_NAME_SHORT)
 
 $(STATIC_NAME): $(OBJS) | $(LIB_BUILD_DIR)
 	@ echo AR -o $@
@@ -565,19 +577,19 @@ $(TEST_ALL_BIN): $(TEST_MAIN_SRC) $(TEST_OBJS) $(GTEST_OBJ) \
 		| $(DYNAMIC_NAME) $(TEST_BIN_DIR)
 	@ echo CXX/LD -o $@ $<
 	$(Q)$(CXX) $(TEST_MAIN_SRC) $(TEST_OBJS) $(GTEST_OBJ) \
-		-o $@ $(LINKFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -l$(PROJECT) -Wl,-rpath,$(ORIGIN)/../lib
+		-o $@ $(LINKFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -l$(LIBRARY_NAME) -Wl,-rpath,$(ORIGIN)/../lib
 
 $(TEST_CU_BINS): $(TEST_BIN_DIR)/%.testbin: $(TEST_CU_BUILD_DIR)/%.o \
 	$(GTEST_OBJ) | $(DYNAMIC_NAME) $(TEST_BIN_DIR)
 	@ echo LD $<
 	$(Q)$(CXX) $(TEST_MAIN_SRC) $< $(GTEST_OBJ) \
-		-o $@ $(LINKFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -l$(PROJECT) -Wl,-rpath,$(ORIGIN)/../lib
+		-o $@ $(LINKFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -l$(LIBRARY_NAME) -Wl,-rpath,$(ORIGIN)/../lib
 
 $(TEST_CXX_BINS): $(TEST_BIN_DIR)/%.testbin: $(TEST_CXX_BUILD_DIR)/%.o \
 	$(GTEST_OBJ) | $(DYNAMIC_NAME) $(TEST_BIN_DIR)
 	@ echo LD $<
 	$(Q)$(CXX) $(TEST_MAIN_SRC) $< $(GTEST_OBJ) \
-		-o $@ $(LINKFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -l$(PROJECT) -Wl,-rpath,$(ORIGIN)/../lib
+		-o $@ $(LINKFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -l$(LIBRARY_NAME) -Wl,-rpath,$(ORIGIN)/../lib
 
 # Target for extension-less symlinks to tool binaries with extension '*.bin'.
 $(TOOL_BUILD_DIR)/%: $(TOOL_BUILD_DIR)/%.bin | $(TOOL_BUILD_DIR)
@@ -586,12 +598,12 @@ $(TOOL_BUILD_DIR)/%: $(TOOL_BUILD_DIR)/%.bin | $(TOOL_BUILD_DIR)
 
 $(TOOL_BINS): %.bin : %.o | $(DYNAMIC_NAME)
 	@ echo CXX/LD -o $@
-	$(Q)$(CXX) $< -o $@ $(LINKFLAGS) -l$(PROJECT) $(LDFLAGS) \
+	$(Q)$(CXX) $< -o $@ $(LINKFLAGS) -l$(LIBRARY_NAME) $(LDFLAGS) \
 		-Wl,-rpath,$(ORIGIN)/../lib
 
 $(EXAMPLE_BINS): %.bin : %.o | $(DYNAMIC_NAME)
 	@ echo CXX/LD -o $@
-	$(Q)$(CXX) $< -o $@ $(LINKFLAGS) -l$(PROJECT) $(LDFLAGS) \
+	$(Q)$(CXX) $< -o $@ $(LINKFLAGS) -l$(LIBRARY_NAME) $(LDFLAGS) \
 		-Wl,-rpath,$(ORIGIN)/../../lib
 
 proto: $(PROTO_GEN_CC) $(PROTO_GEN_HEADER)
@@ -653,6 +665,8 @@ $(DISTRIBUTE_DIR): all py | $(DISTRIBUTE_SUBDIRS)
 	# add libraries
 	cp $(STATIC_NAME) $(DISTRIBUTE_DIR)/lib
 	cp $(DYNAMIC_NAME) $(DISTRIBUTE_DIR)/lib
+	cd $(DISTRIBUTE_DIR)/lib; rm -f $(DYNAMIC_SONAME_SHORT); ln -s $(DYNAMIC_VERSIONED_NAME_SHORT) $(DYNAMIC_SONAME_SHORT)
+	cd $(DISTRIBUTE_DIR)/lib; rm -f $(DYNAMIC_NAME_SHORT);   ln -s $(DYNAMIC_SONAME_SHORT) $(DYNAMIC_NAME_SHORT)
 	# add python - it's not the standard way, indeed...
 	cp -r python $(DISTRIBUTE_DIR)/python
 
diff --git a/Makefile.config.example b/Makefile.config.example
index a20bad2f5ce..29f7e35e7ae 100644
--- a/Makefile.config.example
+++ b/Makefile.config.example
@@ -96,3 +96,6 @@ TEST_GPUID := 0
 
 # enable pretty build (comment to see full commands)
 Q ?= @
+
+# shared object suffix name to differentiate branches
+LIBRARY_NAME_SUFFIX := -nv
diff --git a/cmake/Summary.cmake b/cmake/Summary.cmake
index 3d12e81a130..966f5ef40e8 100644
--- a/cmake/Summary.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Summary.cmake
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ function(caffe_print_configuration_summary)
   caffe_status("")
   caffe_status("******************* Caffe Configuration Summary *******************")
   caffe_status("General:")
-  caffe_status("  Version           :   ${Caffe_VERSION}")
+  caffe_status("  Version           :   ${CAFFE_TARGET_VERSION}")
   caffe_status("  Git               :   ${Caffe_GIT_VERSION}")
   caffe_status("  System            :   ${CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME}")
   caffe_status("  C++ compiler      :   ${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER}")
diff --git a/cmake/Targets.cmake b/cmake/Targets.cmake
index 2401f252e93..8e649291020 100644
--- a/cmake/Targets.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Targets.cmake
@@ -109,7 +109,11 @@ function(caffe_default_properties target)
     DEBUG_POSTFIX ${Caffe_DEBUG_POSTFIX}
     ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/lib"
     LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/lib"
-    RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/bin")
+    RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/bin"
+    VERSION   ${CAFFE_TARGET_VERSION}
+    SOVERSION ${CAFFE_TARGET_SOVERSION}
+  )
+
   # make sure we build all external depepdencies first
   if (DEFINED external_project_dependencies)
     add_dependencies(${target} ${external_project_dependencies})
diff --git a/python/caffe/__init__.py b/python/caffe/__init__.py
index ccda1bcae4f..b2a9d27f764 100644
--- a/python/caffe/__init__.py
+++ b/python/caffe/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 from .pycaffe import Net, SGDSolver, NesterovSolver, AdaGradSolver, RMSPropSolver, AdaDeltaSolver, AdamSolver
 from ._caffe import set_mode_cpu, set_mode_gpu, set_device, Layer, get_solver, layer_type_list
+from ._caffe import CAFFE_VERSION as __version__
 from .proto.caffe_pb2 import TRAIN, TEST
 from .classifier import Classifier
 from .detector import Detector
diff --git a/python/caffe/_caffe.cpp b/python/caffe/_caffe.cpp
index ccd5776ac40..d932e2f9f93 100644
--- a/python/caffe/_caffe.cpp
+++ b/python/caffe/_caffe.cpp
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@
 #define PyArray_SetBaseObject(arr, x) (PyArray_BASE(arr) = (x))
 #endif
 
+// Hack to convert macro to string
+#define STRINGIZE(m) #m
+#define STRINGIZE2(m) STRINGIZE(m)
+
 namespace bp = boost::python;
 
 namespace caffe {
@@ -210,6 +214,9 @@ BOOST_PYTHON_MEMBER_FUNCTION_OVERLOADS(SolveOverloads, Solve, 0, 1);
 BOOST_PYTHON_MODULE(_caffe) {
   // below, we prepend an underscore to methods that will be replaced
   // in Python
+
+  bp::scope().attr("CAFFE_VERSION") = STRINGIZE2(CAFFE_VERSION);
+
   // Caffe utility functions
   bp::def("set_mode_cpu", &set_mode_cpu);
   bp::def("set_mode_gpu", &set_mode_gpu);
diff --git a/src/caffe/CMakeLists.txt b/src/caffe/CMakeLists.txt
index 40e6c11f5b0..73ecd4496b1 100644
--- a/src/caffe/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/caffe/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ endif()
 add_library(caffe ${srcs})
 target_link_libraries(caffe proto ${Caffe_LINKER_LIBS})
 caffe_default_properties(caffe)
+set_target_properties(caffe PROPERTIES OUTPUT_NAME "caffe-nv")
 
 # ---[ Tests
  add_subdirectory(test)
diff --git a/tools/caffe.cpp b/tools/caffe.cpp
index e3f684b5ab3..2fd9b8043d2 100644
--- a/tools/caffe.cpp
+++ b/tools/caffe.cpp
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 namespace bp = boost::python;
 #endif
 
+#include <gflags/gflags.h>
 #include <glog/logging.h>
 
 #include <cstring>
@@ -63,6 +64,10 @@ class __Registerer_##func { \
 __Registerer_##func g_registerer_##func; \
 }
 
+// Hack to convert macro to string
+#define STRINGIZE(m) #m
+#define STRINGIZE2(m) STRINGIZE(m)
+
 static BrewFunction GetBrewFunction(const caffe::string& name) {
   if (g_brew_map.count(name)) {
     return g_brew_map[name];
@@ -378,6 +383,8 @@ RegisterBrewFunction(time);
 int main(int argc, char** argv) {
   // Print output to stderr (while still logging).
   FLAGS_alsologtostderr = 1;
+  // Set version
+  gflags::SetVersionString(STRINGIZE2(CAFFE_VERSION));
   // Usage message.
   gflags::SetUsageMessage("command line brew\n"
       "usage: caffe <command> <args>\n\n"