Merge branch 'stable-3.0' into stable-3.1

* stable-3.0:
  Add method to push changes directly to given replica

The commit "Add method to push changes directly to given replica" is
omitted in this merge due to conflicts with refactoring that has been
done in stable-3.1. If this feature is needed later it will be redone
in a new commit.

Change-Id: Iab801b94f029bffe393a30fb33eea50fc755affe