diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 1c605319aa51ed8b8ad0b92219d143cf2a5a7570..2f498c083f481788a222ab1a1c579c2e21f32535 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8)
 
 set(PACKAGE_NAME      "grpc")
-set(PACKAGE_VERSION   "1.0.0-pre1")
+set(PACKAGE_VERSION   "1.0.0-pre2")
 set(PACKAGE_STRING    "${PACKAGE_NAME} ${PACKAGE_VERSION}")
 set(PACKAGE_TARNAME   "${PACKAGE_NAME}-${PACKAGE_VERSION}")
 set(PACKAGE_BUGREPORT "https://github.com/grpc/grpc/issues/")
diff --git a/INSTALL.md b/INSTALL.md
index 6718aad120d79dc1c8383fa7bb4bdab75879d0f2..7bdb9b273fdcc0f4054d693db08fe67615285ad7 100644
--- a/INSTALL.md
+++ b/INSTALL.md
@@ -55,3 +55,55 @@ gRPC C Core library.
  $ make
  $ [sudo] make install
 ```
+
+##Windows
+
+There are several ways to build under Windows, of varying complexity depending
+on experience with the tools involved.
+
+<!--
+###Visual Studio
+
+Versions 2013 and 2015 are both supported. You can use [their respective
+community
+editions](https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/downloads/download-visual-studio-vs.aspx).
+
+Building the C Core:
+- Open [grpc.sln](https://github.com/grpc/grpc/blob/master/vsprojects/grpc.sln).
+- Select your build target.
+- Build the `grpc` project.
+
+Building the C++ runtime:
+- You need [CMake](https://cmake.org/) on your path to build protobuf (see below
+  for building using solely CMake).
+- Run `vsprojects/build_protos.bat` (needs `cmake.exe` in your path).
+- Open [buildtests_cxx.sln]()
+- Select your build target.
+- build the `grpc++` project.
+-->
+
+###msys2
+
+This approach requires having [msys2](https://msys2.github.io/) installed.
+
+- The Makefile (and source code) should support msys2's mingw32 and mingw64
+  compilers. Building with msys2's native compiler is also possible, but
+  difficult.
+- The Makefile is expecting the Windows versions of OpenSSL (see
+  https://slproweb.com/products/Win32OpenSSL.html). It's also possible to build
+  the Windows version of OpenSSL from scratch. The output should be `libeay32`
+  and `ssleay32`.
+- If you are not installing the above files under msys2's path, you may specify
+  it, for instance, in the following way:
+  ```CPPFLAGS=”-I/c/OpenSSL-Win32/include” LDFLAGS=”-L/c/OpenSSL-Win32/lib” make static_c```
+- [protobuf3](https://github.com/google/protobuf/blob/master/src/README.md#c-installation---windows)
+  must be installed on the msys2 path.
+
+###Cmake (experimental)
+
+- Install [CMake](https://cmake.org/download/).
+- Run it over [grpc's
+  CMakeLists.txt](https://github.com/grpc/grpc/blob/master/CMakeLists.txt) to
+  generate "projects" for your compiler.
+- Build with your compiler of choice. The generated build files should have the
+  protobuf3 dependency baked in.
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index ed362f9752b47ebae7f2d27c71ef969006265ef2..ad2ff32d4198decf65def948bc2e42b99810f384 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -415,7 +415,7 @@ E = @echo
 Q = @
 endif
 
-VERSION = 1.0.0-pre1
+VERSION = 1.0.0-pre2
 
 CPPFLAGS_NO_ARCH += $(addprefix -I, $(INCLUDES)) $(addprefix -D, $(DEFINES))
 CPPFLAGS += $(CPPFLAGS_NO_ARCH) $(ARCH_FLAGS)
diff --git a/build.yaml b/build.yaml
index 42ea3cb810b0a06fa5d9ac8e1312aef8c8d3258f..c474f66cb2c71dc14ac72535599fdc48908b30ab 100644
--- a/build.yaml
+++ b/build.yaml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ settings:
   '#3': Use "-preN" suffixes to identify pre-release versions
   '#4': Per-language overrides are possible with (eg) ruby_version tag here
   '#5': See the expand_version.py for all the quirks here
-  version: 1.0.0-pre1
+  version: 1.0.0-pre2
 filegroups:
 - name: census
   public_headers:
diff --git a/examples/csharp/helloworld/.nuget/packages.config b/examples/csharp/helloworld/.nuget/packages.config
deleted file mode 100644
index aa060800c19d52a86e1ab820058cb56073772e23..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/examples/csharp/helloworld/.nuget/packages.config
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<packages>
-  <package id="Grpc.Tools" version="0.15.0" />
-</packages>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/examples/csharp/helloworld/Greeter.sln b/examples/csharp/helloworld/Greeter.sln
index 9430e94de999d5bfb6ee55dcaf15240401cb9838..49e364d91c0d0f2f4e28ec67f738dfd96be16014 100644
--- a/examples/csharp/helloworld/Greeter.sln
+++ b/examples/csharp/helloworld/Greeter.sln
@@ -9,11 +9,6 @@ Project("{FAE04EC0-301F-11D3-BF4B-00C04F79EFBC}") = "GreeterServer", "GreeterSer
 EndProject
 Project("{FAE04EC0-301F-11D3-BF4B-00C04F79EFBC}") = "GreeterClient", "GreeterClient\GreeterClient.csproj", "{ACCF4597-3748-4117-8633-1CB767F8CCC3}"
 EndProject
-Project("{2150E333-8FDC-42A3-9474-1A3956D46DE8}") = ".nuget", ".nuget", "{FF1EBE95-F20D-4C27-8A61-D0125F3C8152}"
-	ProjectSection(SolutionItems) = preProject
-		.nuget\packages.config = .nuget\packages.config
-	EndProjectSection
-EndProject
 Global
 	GlobalSection(SolutionConfigurationPlatforms) = preSolution
 		Debug|Any CPU = Debug|Any CPU
diff --git a/examples/csharp/helloworld/Greeter/packages.config b/examples/csharp/helloworld/Greeter/packages.config
index ff9d6bbf73f4dd8dd8f5be0e8fd722dbf2ea8e06..c94bb873073d010f9a17760283fb7ec0437865da 100644
--- a/examples/csharp/helloworld/Greeter/packages.config
+++ b/examples/csharp/helloworld/Greeter/packages.config
@@ -4,4 +4,5 @@
   <package id="Grpc" version="0.15.0" targetFramework="net45" />
   <package id="Grpc.Core" version="0.15.0" targetFramework="net45" />
   <package id="Ix-Async" version="1.2.5" targetFramework="net45" />
+  <package id="Grpc.Tools" version="0.15.0" targetFramework="net45" />
 </packages>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/examples/csharp/route_guide/.nuget/packages.config b/examples/csharp/route_guide/.nuget/packages.config
deleted file mode 100644
index aa060800c19d52a86e1ab820058cb56073772e23..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/examples/csharp/route_guide/.nuget/packages.config
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<packages>
-  <package id="Grpc.Tools" version="0.15.0" />
-</packages>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/examples/csharp/route_guide/RouteGuide.sln b/examples/csharp/route_guide/RouteGuide.sln
index 0b79fdc5ca78636be320510fcb54c5a772012eeb..00065b0ba9d3f258cd69813c8921ee4600e2504f 100644
--- a/examples/csharp/route_guide/RouteGuide.sln
+++ b/examples/csharp/route_guide/RouteGuide.sln
@@ -9,11 +9,6 @@ Project("{FAE04EC0-301F-11D3-BF4B-00C04F79EFBC}") = "RouteGuideClient", "RouteGu
 EndProject
 Project("{FAE04EC0-301F-11D3-BF4B-00C04F79EFBC}") = "RouteGuideServer", "RouteGuideServer\RouteGuideServer.csproj", "{4B7C7794-BE24-4477-ACE7-18259EB73D27}"
 EndProject
-Project("{2150E333-8FDC-42A3-9474-1A3956D46DE8}") = ".nuget", ".nuget", "{2F6B184B-A576-4F21-AF2E-27E73D1FC96E}"
-	ProjectSection(SolutionItems) = preProject
-		.nuget\packages.config = .nuget\packages.config
-	EndProjectSection
-EndProject
 Global
 	GlobalSection(SolutionConfigurationPlatforms) = preSolution
 		Debug|Any CPU = Debug|Any CPU
diff --git a/examples/csharp/route_guide/RouteGuide/RouteGuide.csproj b/examples/csharp/route_guide/RouteGuide/RouteGuide.csproj
index 601d16ba24d8214252b0884a5069d102183f8f3f..942d94f66c7c00033684a891cafd0db2e3e2459b 100644
--- a/examples/csharp/route_guide/RouteGuide/RouteGuide.csproj
+++ b/examples/csharp/route_guide/RouteGuide/RouteGuide.csproj
@@ -45,15 +45,15 @@
     </Reference>
     <Reference Include="System" />
     <Reference Include="System.Core" />
-    <Reference Include="System.Interactive.Async, Version=1.2.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
-      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
-      <HintPath>..\packages\Ix-Async.1.2.5\lib\net45\System.Interactive.Async.dll</HintPath>
-    </Reference>
     <Reference Include="System.Xml.Linq" />
     <Reference Include="System.Data.DataSetExtensions" />
     <Reference Include="Microsoft.CSharp" />
     <Reference Include="System.Data" />
     <Reference Include="System.Xml" />
+    <Reference Include="System.Interactive.Async, Version=1.2.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
+      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
+      <HintPath>..\packages\Ix-Async.1.2.5\lib\net45\System.Interactive.Async.dll</HintPath>
+    </Reference>
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <Compile Include="Properties\AssemblyInfo.cs" />
diff --git a/examples/csharp/route_guide/RouteGuideServer/RouteGuideServer.csproj b/examples/csharp/route_guide/RouteGuideServer/RouteGuideServer.csproj
index 5bf46b05b89f94976f5e86053b67d759055a8883..4ffc5ccca9855fef05cfe68acd6ba77b7b9ceb58 100644
--- a/examples/csharp/route_guide/RouteGuideServer/RouteGuideServer.csproj
+++ b/examples/csharp/route_guide/RouteGuideServer/RouteGuideServer.csproj
@@ -47,15 +47,15 @@
     </Reference>
     <Reference Include="System" />
     <Reference Include="System.Core" />
-    <Reference Include="System.Interactive.Async, Version=1.2.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
-      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
-      <HintPath>..\packages\Ix-Async.1.2.5\lib\net45\System.Interactive.Async.dll</HintPath>
-    </Reference>
     <Reference Include="System.Xml.Linq" />
     <Reference Include="System.Data.DataSetExtensions" />
     <Reference Include="Microsoft.CSharp" />
     <Reference Include="System.Data" />
     <Reference Include="System.Xml" />
+    <Reference Include="System.Interactive.Async, Version=1.2.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
+      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
+      <HintPath>..\packages\Ix-Async.1.2.5\lib\net45\System.Interactive.Async.dll</HintPath>
+    </Reference>
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <Compile Include="Program.cs" />
diff --git a/examples/csharp/route_guide/RouteGuideServer/packages.config b/examples/csharp/route_guide/RouteGuideServer/packages.config
index b962a7232a93c4283d675b79631d2b234b07565c..916fe4c01db1f67b01cc67da31ba5fee156735f4 100644
--- a/examples/csharp/route_guide/RouteGuideServer/packages.config
+++ b/examples/csharp/route_guide/RouteGuideServer/packages.config
@@ -5,4 +5,5 @@
   <package id="Grpc.Core" version="0.15.0" targetFramework="net45" />
   <package id="Ix-Async" version="1.2.5" targetFramework="net45" />
   <package id="Newtonsoft.Json" version="7.0.1" targetFramework="net45" />
+  <package id="Grpc.Tools" version="0.15.0" targetFramework="net45" />
 </packages>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 35410642c787fbfcc2720e66bcc5cd0ccd7e6bee..0a6a45f6b9505501a8c59767f9fd21b74f2b7eb5 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "grpc",
-  "version": "1.0.0-pre1",
+  "version": "1.0.0-pre2",
   "author": "Google Inc.",
   "description": "gRPC Library for Node",
   "homepage": "http://www.grpc.io/",
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 0ec0e75b762de9d07bb3256492f40a6d569a9cef..bf87de07f894084ce57e7bd5d785a794bb4ff130 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -3,6 +3,6 @@ coverage>=4.0
 cython>=0.23
 enum34>=1.0.4
 futures>=2.2.0
-protobuf>=3.0.0a3
+protobuf>=3.0.0
 six>=1.10
-wheel>=0.29
\ No newline at end of file
+wheel>=0.29
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index b43ec9ae3d4757eef4103e8c52dea6b62684a92b..1dddf55e5e8c5e731d851a388185c51f57cf2cfd 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ INSTALL_REQUIRES = (
     'futures>=2.2.0',
     # TODO(atash): eventually split the grpcio package into a metapackage
     # depending on protobuf and the runtime component (independent of protobuf)
-    'protobuf>=3.0.0a3',
+    'protobuf>=3.0.0',
 )
 
 SETUP_REQUIRES = INSTALL_REQUIRES + (
diff --git a/src/core/lib/surface/version.c b/src/core/lib/surface/version.c
index f0005363d56262f7ecce98339ba297eded5f7e07..dab7f542ee62e586e71a4d00348e530c714397b9 100644
--- a/src/core/lib/surface/version.c
+++ b/src/core/lib/surface/version.c
@@ -36,4 +36,4 @@
 
 #include <grpc/grpc.h>
 
-const char *grpc_version_string(void) { return "1.0.0-pre1"; }
+const char *grpc_version_string(void) { return "1.0.0-pre2"; }
diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.Auth/project.json b/src/csharp/Grpc.Auth/project.json
index 34a4e2f1b69f26aace7552016a62e452fd443e07..6a1c9fc99005a35e8ed813244192835e83fd8df1 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.Auth/project.json
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.Auth/project.json
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
-  "version": "1.0.0-pre1",
+  "version": "1.0.0-pre2",
   "title": "gRPC C# Auth",
   "authors": [ "Google Inc." ],
   "copyright": "Copyright 2015, Google Inc.",
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
     }
   },
   "dependencies": {
-    "Grpc.Core": "1.0.0-pre1",
+    "Grpc.Core": "1.0.0-pre2",
     "Google.Apis.Auth": "1.11.1"
   },
   "frameworks": {
@@ -32,9 +32,9 @@
         "net45"
       ],
       "dependencies": {
-        "Microsoft.NETCore.Portable.Compatibility": "1.0.1-rc2-24027",
-        "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027",
-        "System.Threading.Tasks": "4.0.11-rc2-24027"
+        "Microsoft.NETCore.Portable.Compatibility": "1.0.1",
+        "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0",
+        "System.Threading.Tasks": "4.0.11"
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.Core.Tests/AppDomainUnloadTest.cs b/src/csharp/Grpc.Core.Tests/AppDomainUnloadTest.cs
index 064bc13cabb4ee7033137cf13c67b7562cc16f6c..d7ebdb4201e7303e00fb829d5dc53cc716fed5ec 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.Core.Tests/AppDomainUnloadTest.cs
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.Core.Tests/AppDomainUnloadTest.cs
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ namespace Grpc.Core.Tests
 {
     public class AppDomainUnloadTest
     {
-#if NETSTANDARD1_5
+#if NETCOREAPP1_0
         [Test]
         [Ignore("Not supported for CoreCLR")]
         public void AppDomainUnloadHookCanCleanupAbandonedCall()
diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.Core.Tests/NUnitMain.cs b/src/csharp/Grpc.Core.Tests/NUnitMain.cs
index 24a9f846d10891e18273afbd110c71c3b35daf0d..870c726ac0e720f9e210c2d6c2ca82721b97ec01 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.Core.Tests/NUnitMain.cs
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.Core.Tests/NUnitMain.cs
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ namespace Grpc.Core.Tests
         {
             // Make logger immune to NUnit capturing stdout and stderr to workaround https://github.com/nunit/nunit/issues/1406.
             GrpcEnvironment.SetLogger(new TextWriterLogger(Console.Error));
-#if NETSTANDARD1_5
+#if NETCOREAPP1_0
             return new AutoRun(typeof(NUnitMain).GetTypeInfo().Assembly).Execute(args, new ExtendedTextWrapper(Console.Out), Console.In);
 #else
             return new AutoRun().Execute(args);
diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.Core.Tests/SanityTest.cs b/src/csharp/Grpc.Core.Tests/SanityTest.cs
index 501992c56959372f22cd0a05f5cf9e4af99706a3..19c7a0b4401be56ea77af2a0e4a5afae3269b57f 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.Core.Tests/SanityTest.cs
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.Core.Tests/SanityTest.cs
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ namespace Grpc.Core.Tests
     public class SanityTest
     {
         // TODO: make sanity test work for CoreCLR as well
-#if !NETSTANDARD1_5
+#if !NETCOREAPP1_0
         /// <summary>
         /// Because we depend on a native library, sometimes when things go wrong, the
         /// entire NUnit test process crashes. To be able to track down problems better,
diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.Core.Tests/project.json b/src/csharp/Grpc.Core.Tests/project.json
index 4a682d927e46340cc21633ebf09dcbadb05f71e6..014e2262e9faf661cf67c02b05282ed26e162288 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.Core.Tests/project.json
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.Core.Tests/project.json
@@ -61,12 +61,13 @@
   },
   "frameworks": {
     "net45": { },
-    "netstandard1.5": {
+    "netcoreapp1.0": {
       "imports": [
         "portable-net45"
       ],
       "dependencies": {
-        "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027"
+        "Microsoft.NETCore.App": "1.0.0",
+        "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0"
       }
     }
   },
diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.Core/VersionInfo.cs b/src/csharp/Grpc.Core/VersionInfo.cs
index e9f5c63372f7e8dc39af10519ada17d4658836b7..37df7ff4891af6be0adf41c5984ed36d2d6f9d04 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.Core/VersionInfo.cs
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.Core/VersionInfo.cs
@@ -53,6 +53,6 @@ namespace Grpc.Core
         /// <summary>
         /// Current version of gRPC C#
         /// </summary>
-        public const string CurrentVersion = "1.0.0-pre1";
+        public const string CurrentVersion = "1.0.0-pre2";
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.Core/project.json b/src/csharp/Grpc.Core/project.json
index 7a676f59a64df705fda5ca4191c09c63c0e43939..17191849e6c7baa1c246daba08d9d272e70af826 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.Core/project.json
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.Core/project.json
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
-  "version": "1.0.0-pre1",
+  "version": "1.0.0-pre2",
   "title": "gRPC C# Core",
   "authors": [ "Google Inc." ],
   "copyright": "Copyright 2015, Google Inc.",
@@ -40,8 +40,8 @@
         "portable-net45"
       ],
       "dependencies": {
-        "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027",
-        "System.Threading.Thread": "4.0.0-rc2-24027"
+        "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0",
+        "System.Threading.Thread": "4.0.0"
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.MathClient/project.json b/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.MathClient/project.json
index 206d6c598244c1f9e00c32d05444907531109b17..ad319478ab07112f9b268d491e6d3734d5da96e8 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.MathClient/project.json
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.MathClient/project.json
@@ -55,12 +55,13 @@
   },
   "frameworks": {
     "net45": { },
-    "netstandard1.5": {
+    "netcoreapp1.0": {
       "imports": [
         "portable-net45"
       ],
       "dependencies": {
-        "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027"
+        "Microsoft.NETCore.App": "1.0.0",
+        "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0"
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.MathServer/project.json b/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.MathServer/project.json
index 206d6c598244c1f9e00c32d05444907531109b17..ad319478ab07112f9b268d491e6d3734d5da96e8 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.MathServer/project.json
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.MathServer/project.json
@@ -55,12 +55,13 @@
   },
   "frameworks": {
     "net45": { },
-    "netstandard1.5": {
+    "netcoreapp1.0": {
       "imports": [
         "portable-net45"
       ],
       "dependencies": {
-        "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027"
+        "Microsoft.NETCore.App": "1.0.0",
+        "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0"
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.Tests/NUnitMain.cs b/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.Tests/NUnitMain.cs
index 1a522cab932f20502c0e93806cda42b8836d79e7..7ba1074d441ad0a01cf69439c450acf792d8836a 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.Tests/NUnitMain.cs
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.Tests/NUnitMain.cs
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ namespace Grpc.Examples.Tests
         {
             // Make logger immune to NUnit capturing stdout and stderr to workaround https://github.com/nunit/nunit/issues/1406.
             GrpcEnvironment.SetLogger(new TextWriterLogger(Console.Error));
-#if NETSTANDARD1_5
+#if NETCOREAPP1_0
             return new AutoRun(typeof(NUnitMain).GetTypeInfo().Assembly).Execute(args, new ExtendedTextWrapper(Console.Out), Console.In);
 #else
             return new AutoRun().Execute(args);
diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.Tests/project.json b/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.Tests/project.json
index b4c4c5f69104688408e266a97bb12461809bc9a6..1cd1848e99fb342f4f8294c7d8dd6b0f09d7ddff 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.Tests/project.json
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.Tests/project.json
@@ -57,12 +57,13 @@
   },
   "frameworks": {
     "net45": { },
-    "netstandard1.5": {
+    "netcoreapp1.0": {
       "imports": [
         "portable-net45"
       ],
       "dependencies": {
-        "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027"
+        "Microsoft.NETCore.App": "1.0.0",
+        "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0"
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples/project.json b/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples/project.json
index 7d3f4dcbb1e4af55c7617e042e28207573103d1b..48ec530abb145c6bb099d700d4c2293d347b7f9a 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples/project.json
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples/project.json
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
         "portable-net45"
       ],
       "dependencies": {
-        "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027"
+        "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0"
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.HealthCheck.Tests/NUnitMain.cs b/src/csharp/Grpc.HealthCheck.Tests/NUnitMain.cs
index 44634671ce5764eb562f0b78601113d06cb35d72..dca61e3f966114fb9a1b7c9157583d6f71cd39ce 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.HealthCheck.Tests/NUnitMain.cs
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.HealthCheck.Tests/NUnitMain.cs
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ namespace Grpc.HealthCheck.Tests
         {
             // Make logger immune to NUnit capturing stdout and stderr to workaround https://github.com/nunit/nunit/issues/1406.
             GrpcEnvironment.SetLogger(new TextWriterLogger(Console.Error));
-#if NETSTANDARD1_5
+#if NETCOREAPP1_0
             return new AutoRun(typeof(NUnitMain).GetTypeInfo().Assembly).Execute(args, new ExtendedTextWrapper(Console.Out), Console.In);
 #else
             return new AutoRun().Execute(args);
diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.HealthCheck.Tests/project.json b/src/csharp/Grpc.HealthCheck.Tests/project.json
index f44a3225ae65072c4c29bedbfb29aa1a4b3d3a25..faa44003044bdf434e087ad95b8bd3ad4f661308 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.HealthCheck.Tests/project.json
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.HealthCheck.Tests/project.json
@@ -57,12 +57,13 @@
   },
   "frameworks": {
     "net45": { },
-    "netstandard1.5": {
+    "netcoreapp1.0": {
       "imports": [
         "portable-net45"
       ],
       "dependencies": {
-        "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027"
+        "Microsoft.NETCore.App": "1.0.0",
+        "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0"
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.HealthCheck/project.json b/src/csharp/Grpc.HealthCheck/project.json
index 906dda36247aae23228998e159d2a574da7eeba9..aa7a6b69cafc3bd05b7794ca29ccbaa2eb41061b 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.HealthCheck/project.json
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.HealthCheck/project.json
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
-  "version": "1.0.0-pre1",
+  "version": "1.0.0-pre2",
   "title": "gRPC C# Healthchecking",
   "authors": [ "Google Inc." ],
   "copyright": "Copyright 2015, Google Inc.",
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
     }
   },
   "dependencies": {
-    "Grpc.Core": "1.0.0-pre1",
+    "Grpc.Core": "1.0.0-pre2",
     "Google.Protobuf": "3.0.0-beta3"
   },
   "frameworks": {
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
         "portable-net45"
       ],
       "dependencies": {
-        "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027"
+        "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0"
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.Client/project.json b/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.Client/project.json
index 6b61a4b76e8019104577f1886e0450de97797870..287950720fe6a6cc0e4c3360bc61beb1f5e1e5f9 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.Client/project.json
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.Client/project.json
@@ -57,13 +57,14 @@
   },
   "frameworks": {
     "net45": { },
-    "netstandard1.5": {
+    "netcoreapp1.0": {
       "imports": [
         "portable-net45",
         "net45"
       ],
       "dependencies": {
-        "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027"
+        "Microsoft.NETCore.App": "1.0.0",
+        "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0"
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.QpsWorker/project.json b/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.QpsWorker/project.json
index 6b61a4b76e8019104577f1886e0450de97797870..287950720fe6a6cc0e4c3360bc61beb1f5e1e5f9 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.QpsWorker/project.json
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.QpsWorker/project.json
@@ -57,13 +57,14 @@
   },
   "frameworks": {
     "net45": { },
-    "netstandard1.5": {
+    "netcoreapp1.0": {
       "imports": [
         "portable-net45",
         "net45"
       ],
       "dependencies": {
-        "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027"
+        "Microsoft.NETCore.App": "1.0.0",
+        "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0"
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.Server/project.json b/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.Server/project.json
index 6b61a4b76e8019104577f1886e0450de97797870..287950720fe6a6cc0e4c3360bc61beb1f5e1e5f9 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.Server/project.json
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.Server/project.json
@@ -57,13 +57,14 @@
   },
   "frameworks": {
     "net45": { },
-    "netstandard1.5": {
+    "netcoreapp1.0": {
       "imports": [
         "portable-net45",
         "net45"
       ],
       "dependencies": {
-        "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027"
+        "Microsoft.NETCore.App": "1.0.0",
+        "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0"
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.StressClient/project.json b/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.StressClient/project.json
index 6b61a4b76e8019104577f1886e0450de97797870..287950720fe6a6cc0e4c3360bc61beb1f5e1e5f9 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.StressClient/project.json
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.StressClient/project.json
@@ -57,13 +57,14 @@
   },
   "frameworks": {
     "net45": { },
-    "netstandard1.5": {
+    "netcoreapp1.0": {
       "imports": [
         "portable-net45",
         "net45"
       ],
       "dependencies": {
-        "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027"
+        "Microsoft.NETCore.App": "1.0.0",
+        "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0"
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting/GeneratedClientTest.cs b/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting/GeneratedClientTest.cs
index eb7b55a28631743d72458356cb53bf327d75ef27..c17ede75610a60ef7fb54a4494b3419a530ff5c7 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting/GeneratedClientTest.cs
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting/GeneratedClientTest.cs
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ namespace Grpc.IntegrationTesting
         TestService.TestServiceClient unimplementedClient = new UnimplementedTestServiceClient();
 
         // TODO: replace Moq by some mocking library with CoreCLR support.
-#if !NETSTANDARD1_5
+#if !NETCOREAPP1_0
         [Test]
         public void ExpandedParamOverloadCanBeMocked()
         {
diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting/InteropClient.cs b/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting/InteropClient.cs
index e27fe5b3d80e5abd5046ce0b5e5c005f51685f88..ec407d3fcf49a5a89e0ca567e86031efce71705d 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting/InteropClient.cs
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting/InteropClient.cs
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ namespace Grpc.IntegrationTesting
 
             if (options.TestCase == "jwt_token_creds")
             {
-#if !NETSTANDARD1_5
+#if !NETCOREAPP1_0
                 var googleCredential = await GoogleCredential.GetApplicationDefaultAsync();
                 Assert.IsTrue(googleCredential.IsCreateScopedRequired);
                 credentials = ChannelCredentials.Create(credentials, googleCredential.ToCallCredentials());
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ namespace Grpc.IntegrationTesting
 
             if (options.TestCase == "compute_engine_creds")
             {
-#if !NETSTANDARD1_5
+#if !NETCOREAPP1_0
                 var googleCredential = await GoogleCredential.GetApplicationDefaultAsync();
                 Assert.IsFalse(googleCredential.IsCreateScopedRequired);
                 credentials = ChannelCredentials.Create(credentials, googleCredential.ToCallCredentials());
@@ -395,7 +395,7 @@ namespace Grpc.IntegrationTesting
 
         public static async Task RunOAuth2AuthTokenAsync(TestService.TestServiceClient client, string oauthScope)
         {
-#if !NETSTANDARD1_5
+#if !NETCOREAPP1_0
             Console.WriteLine("running oauth2_auth_token");
             ITokenAccess credential = (await GoogleCredential.GetApplicationDefaultAsync()).CreateScoped(new[] { oauthScope });
             string oauth2Token = await credential.GetAccessTokenForRequestAsync();
@@ -421,7 +421,7 @@ namespace Grpc.IntegrationTesting
 
         public static async Task RunPerRpcCredsAsync(TestService.TestServiceClient client, string oauthScope)
         {
-#if !NETSTANDARD1_5
+#if !NETCOREAPP1_0
             Console.WriteLine("running per_rpc_creds");
             ITokenAccess googleCredential = await GoogleCredential.GetApplicationDefaultAsync();
 
@@ -731,7 +731,7 @@ namespace Grpc.IntegrationTesting
         // extracts the client_email field from service account file used for auth test cases
         private static string GetEmailFromServiceAccountFile()
         {
-#if !NETSTANDARD1_5
+#if !NETCOREAPP1_0
             string keyFile = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS");
             Assert.IsNotNull(keyFile);
             var jobject = JObject.Parse(File.ReadAllText(keyFile));
diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting/NUnitMain.cs b/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting/NUnitMain.cs
index 100ff0b5de9c3d7529e7cfd0613afe56eb447b77..21c8adb45c72b6ff62eeb9966afca784a3b59fa1 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting/NUnitMain.cs
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting/NUnitMain.cs
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ namespace Grpc.IntegrationTesting
         {
             // Make logger immune to NUnit capturing stdout and stderr to workaround https://github.com/nunit/nunit/issues/1406.
             GrpcEnvironment.SetLogger(new TextWriterLogger(Console.Error));
-#if NETSTANDARD1_5
+#if NETCOREAPP1_0
             return new AutoRun(typeof(NUnitMain).GetTypeInfo().Assembly).Execute(args, new ExtendedTextWrapper(Console.Out), Console.In);
 #else
             return new AutoRun().Execute(args);
diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting/project.json b/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting/project.json
index dcd9ccabd295c436f51543a64c9f6b9f89aab5d3..bb61a679c1fc6848ceb38012792755d33dbe5ab5 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting/project.json
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting/project.json
@@ -72,14 +72,15 @@
         "System.IO": ""
       }
     },
-    "netstandard1.5": {
+    "netcoreapp1.0": {
       "imports": [
         "portable-net45",
         "net45"
       ],
       "dependencies": {
-        "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027",
-        "System.Linq.Expressions": "4.0.11-rc2-24027"
+        "Microsoft.NETCore.App": "1.0.0",
+        "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0",
+        "System.Linq.Expressions": "4.1.0"
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/csharp/build_packages.bat b/src/csharp/build_packages.bat
index ffb70addad59273dd911b6c8710f9b9a321026f3..1d40ef9eb2d242a603389a7b209caa0c7e68c0af 100644
--- a/src/csharp/build_packages.bat
+++ b/src/csharp/build_packages.bat
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
 @rem Builds gRPC NuGet packages
 
 @rem Current package versions
-set VERSION=1.0.0-pre1
+set VERSION=1.0.0-pre2
 set PROTOBUF_VERSION=3.0.0-beta3
 
 @rem Packages that depend on prerelease packages (like Google.Protobuf) need to have prerelease suffix as well.
diff --git a/src/node/health_check/package.json b/src/node/health_check/package.json
index 582d560101666610aa5a779c8ab9bb1be9cd50fe..1bb946adbdf0c9accf319b913236fec026f6c122 100644
--- a/src/node/health_check/package.json
+++ b/src/node/health_check/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "grpc-health-check",
-  "version": "1.0.0-pre1",
+  "version": "1.0.0-pre2",
   "author": "Google Inc.",
   "description": "Health check service for use with gRPC",
   "repository": {
diff --git a/src/node/src/credentials.js b/src/node/src/credentials.js
index 043df06a669a1a66ef518af4ea55cda576dabe5c..51ff1da01ece7d27d57d8e4fd111276cfe1b5a4c 100644
--- a/src/node/src/credentials.js
+++ b/src/node/src/credentials.js
@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ var Metadata = require('./metadata.js');
 
 var common = require('./common.js');
 
+var _ = require('lodash');
+
 /**
  * Create an SSL Credentials object. If using a client-side certificate, both
  * the second and third arguments must be passed.
@@ -99,7 +101,7 @@ exports.createFromMetadataGenerator = function(metadata_generator) {
       var message = '';
       if (error) {
         message = error.message;
-        if (error.hasOwnProperty('code')) {
+        if (error.hasOwnProperty('code') && _.isFinite(error.code)) {
           code = error.code;
         } else {
           code = grpc.status.UNAUTHENTICATED;
diff --git a/src/node/test/credentials_test.js b/src/node/test/credentials_test.js
index 0a21572582e2e62c76d21d18bed3b16f84e0345d..305843f665ed0418e8198cac7b6b9ef9300f307d 100644
--- a/src/node/test/credentials_test.js
+++ b/src/node/test/credentials_test.js
@@ -71,7 +71,10 @@ var fakeSuccessfulGoogleCredentials = {
 var fakeFailingGoogleCredentials = {
   getRequestMetadata: function(service_url, callback) {
     setTimeout(function() {
-      callback(new Error('Authentication failure'));
+      // Google credentials currently adds string error codes to auth errors
+      var error = new Error('Authentication failure');
+      error.code = 'ENOENT';
+      callback(error);
     }, 0);
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/node/tools/package.json b/src/node/tools/package.json
index 7efa0d3f402daa011d63a859eb7aabca7fe066fd..8ae51741785a176cb97f95fa2dfbd73ff854209b 100644
--- a/src/node/tools/package.json
+++ b/src/node/tools/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "grpc-tools",
-  "version": "1.0.0-pre1",
+  "version": "1.0.0-pre2",
   "author": "Google Inc.",
   "description": "Tools for developing with gRPC on Node.js",
   "homepage": "http://www.grpc.io/",
diff --git a/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/GRPCCall+ChannelArg.h b/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/GRPCCall+ChannelArg.h
index 646bf43b5474a65265bea567b68f2f899fabfac6..4a3f3fa4a1aac8239590ad3d38d79a73fe1894ff 100644
--- a/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/GRPCCall+ChannelArg.h
+++ b/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/GRPCCall+ChannelArg.h
@@ -43,7 +43,10 @@
  * Use the provided @c userAgentPrefix at the beginning of the HTTP User Agent string for all calls
  * to the specified @c host.
  */
-+ (void)setUserAgentPrefix:(NSString *)userAgentPrefix forHost:(NSString *)host;
++ (void)setUserAgentPrefix:(nonnull NSString *)userAgentPrefix forHost:(nonnull NSString *)host;
+
+/** The default response size limit is 4MB. Set this to override that default. */
++ (void)setResponseSizeLimit:(NSUInteger)limit forHost:(nonnull NSString *)host;
 
 + (void)closeOpenConnections DEPRECATED_MSG_ATTRIBUTE("The API for this feature is experimental, "
                                                       "and might be removed or modified at any "
diff --git a/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/GRPCCall+ChannelArg.m b/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/GRPCCall+ChannelArg.m
index bcc3b9150754a1beb779c31cdf0bd8e0bd7ad675..7fab357e932ef5dcc5576ede6f166c3664f78243 100644
--- a/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/GRPCCall+ChannelArg.m
+++ b/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/GRPCCall+ChannelArg.m
@@ -37,15 +37,16 @@
 
 @implementation GRPCCall (ChannelArg)
 
-+ (void)setUserAgentPrefix:(NSString *)userAgentPrefix forHost:(NSString *)host {
-  if (!host) {
-    [NSException raise:NSInvalidArgumentException
-                format:@"host and userAgentPrefix must be provided."];
-  }
++ (void)setUserAgentPrefix:(nonnull NSString *)userAgentPrefix forHost:(nonnull NSString *)host {
   GRPCHost *hostConfig = [GRPCHost hostWithAddress:host];
   hostConfig.userAgentPrefix = userAgentPrefix;
 }
 
++ (void)setResponseSizeLimit:(NSUInteger)limit forHost:(nonnull NSString *)host {
+  GRPCHost *hostConfig = [GRPCHost hostWithAddress:host];
+  hostConfig.responseSizeLimitOverride = @(limit);
+}
+
 + (void)closeOpenConnections {
   [GRPCHost flushChannelCache];
 }
diff --git a/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/GRPCCall+Tests.h b/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/GRPCCall+Tests.h
index ccc5723ec702e9333aba8201fec04412d3678f85..184ad09c5c87ce445fb52f9f4856700025d05189 100644
--- a/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/GRPCCall+Tests.h
+++ b/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/GRPCCall+Tests.h
@@ -57,4 +57,10 @@
  * more than one invocation of the methods of this category.
  */
 + (void)useInsecureConnectionsForHost:(NSString *)host;
+
+/**
+ * Resets all host configurations to their default values, and flushes all connections from the
+ * cache.
+ */
++ (void)resetHostSettings;
 @end
diff --git a/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/GRPCCall+Tests.m b/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/GRPCCall+Tests.m
index b9456691bd8422b2392ee10933d27c5b3806909a..656cba8fec64c8f99cb0512f7f57fd3810195d37 100644
--- a/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/GRPCCall+Tests.m
+++ b/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/GRPCCall+Tests.m
@@ -61,4 +61,7 @@
   hostConfig.secure = NO;
 }
 
++ (void)resetHostSettings {
+  [GRPCHost resetAllHostSettings];
+}
 @end
diff --git a/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/private/GRPCChannel.m b/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/private/GRPCChannel.m
index 7b7b79e1c6250a837de60f92d3a60e2d8f3c7d6a..e49aceefe18aed7f791398939b47a4671879f204 100644
--- a/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/private/GRPCChannel.m
+++ b/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/private/GRPCChannel.m
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@
 #endif
 #import "GRPCCompletionQueue.h"
 
-void freeChannelArgs(grpc_channel_args *channel_args) {
+static void FreeChannelArgs(grpc_channel_args *channel_args) {
   for (size_t i = 0; i < channel_args->num_args; ++i) {
     grpc_arg *arg = &channel_args->args[i];
     gpr_free(arg->key);
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ void freeChannelArgs(grpc_channel_args *channel_args) {
  * value responds to @c @selector(intValue). Otherwise, an exception will be raised. The caller of
  * this function is responsible for calling @c freeChannelArgs on a non-NULL returned value.
  */
-grpc_channel_args * buildChannelArgs(NSDictionary *dictionary) {
+static grpc_channel_args *BuildChannelArgs(NSDictionary *dictionary) {
   if (!dictionary) {
     return NULL;
   }
@@ -115,10 +115,12 @@ grpc_channel_args * buildChannelArgs(NSDictionary *dictionary) {
   }
 
   if (self = [super init]) {
-    _channelArgs = buildChannelArgs(channelArgs);
+    _channelArgs = BuildChannelArgs(channelArgs);
     _host = [host copy];
-    _unmanagedChannel = grpc_cronet_secure_channel_create(cronetEngine, _host.UTF8String, _channelArgs,
-                                                     NULL);
+    _unmanagedChannel = grpc_cronet_secure_channel_create(cronetEngine,
+                                                          _host.UTF8String,
+                                                          _channelArgs,
+                                                          NULL);
   }
 
   return self;
@@ -138,7 +140,7 @@ grpc_channel_args * buildChannelArgs(NSDictionary *dictionary) {
   }
 
   if (self = [super init]) {
-    _channelArgs = buildChannelArgs(channelArgs);
+    _channelArgs = BuildChannelArgs(channelArgs);
     _host = [host copy];
     if (secure) {
       _unmanagedChannel = grpc_secure_channel_create(credentials, _host.UTF8String, _channelArgs,
@@ -155,7 +157,7 @@ grpc_channel_args * buildChannelArgs(NSDictionary *dictionary) {
   // TODO(jcanizales): Be sure to add a test with a server that closes the connection prematurely,
   // as in the past that made this call to crash.
   grpc_channel_destroy(_unmanagedChannel);
-  freeChannelArgs(_channelArgs);
+  FreeChannelArgs(_channelArgs);
 }
 
 #ifdef GRPC_COMPILE_WITH_CRONET
diff --git a/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/private/GRPCHost.h b/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/private/GRPCHost.h
index 350c69bf8e858050dd411888727f5af1dfbba544..c8b5dd315b0b331fa5055a06d50e75c13e064a61 100644
--- a/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/private/GRPCHost.h
+++ b/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/private/GRPCHost.h
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ struct grpc_channel_credentials;
 @interface GRPCHost : NSObject
 
 + (void)flushChannelCache;
++ (void)resetAllHostSettings;
 
 @property(nonatomic, readonly) NSString *address;
 @property(nonatomic, copy, nullable) NSString *userAgentPrefix;
@@ -53,6 +54,10 @@ struct grpc_channel_credentials;
 
 @property(nonatomic, copy, nullable) NSString *hostNameOverride;
 
+/** The default response size limit is 4MB. Set this to override that default. */
+@property(nonatomic, strong, nullable) NSNumber *responseSizeLimitOverride;
+
+
 - (nullable instancetype)init NS_UNAVAILABLE;
 /** Host objects initialized with the same address are the same. */
 + (nullable instancetype)hostWithAddress:(NSString *)address;
diff --git a/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/private/GRPCHost.m b/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/private/GRPCHost.m
index 08c699f99e25430e8fd3ab40d711a453a899ffa3..477ddf51d9704a452b1727f3ae420974fd759a61 100644
--- a/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/private/GRPCHost.m
+++ b/src/objective-c/GRPCClient/private/GRPCHost.m
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ NS_ASSUME_NONNULL_BEGIN
 
 // TODO(jcanizales): Generate the version in a standalone header, from templates. Like
 // templates/src/core/surface/version.c.template .
-#define GRPC_OBJC_VERSION_STRING @"0.13.0"
+#define GRPC_OBJC_VERSION_STRING @"1.0.0-pre1"
 
 static NSMutableDictionary *kHostCache;
 
@@ -113,6 +113,12 @@ static NSMutableDictionary *kHostCache;
   }
 }
 
++ (void)resetAllHostSettings {
+  @synchronized (kHostCache) {
+    kHostCache = [NSMutableDictionary dictionary];
+  }
+}
+
 - (nullable grpc_call *)unmanagedCallWithPath:(NSString *)path
                               completionQueue:(GRPCCompletionQueue *)queue {
   GRPCChannel *channel;
@@ -209,6 +215,10 @@ static NSMutableDictionary *kHostCache;
   if (_secure && _hostNameOverride) {
     args[@GRPC_SSL_TARGET_NAME_OVERRIDE_ARG] = _hostNameOverride;
   }
+
+  if (_responseSizeLimitOverride) {
+    args[@GRPC_ARG_MAX_MESSAGE_LENGTH] = _responseSizeLimitOverride;
+  }
   return args;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/objective-c/tests/GRPCClientTests.m b/src/objective-c/tests/GRPCClientTests.m
index 1167a715bb9c06158499428462f5902e17c4ac35..916a335802afa323a011978e093bed8a6da6504f 100644
--- a/src/objective-c/tests/GRPCClientTests.m
+++ b/src/objective-c/tests/GRPCClientTests.m
@@ -292,15 +292,6 @@ static GRPCProtoMethod *kUnaryCallMethod;
 
 // TODO(makarandd): Move to a different file that contains only unit tests
 - (void)testExceptions {
-  // Try to set userAgentPrefix for host that is nil. This should cause
-  // an exception.
-  @try {
-    [GRPCCall setUserAgentPrefix:@"Foo" forHost:nil];
-    XCTFail(@"Did not receive an exception when host is nil");
-  } @catch(NSException *theException) {
-    NSLog(@"Received exception as expected: %@", theException.name);
-  }
-
   // Try to set parameters to nil for GRPCCall. This should cause an exception
   @try {
     (void)[[GRPCCall alloc] initWithHost:nil
diff --git a/src/objective-c/tests/InteropTests.h b/src/objective-c/tests/InteropTests.h
index 6d54343b1355c6b19faac5fad18287c59aa921f1..ecab606a78b1dd7c328f5b0f0fa5f70ba1a57292 100644
--- a/src/objective-c/tests/InteropTests.h
+++ b/src/objective-c/tests/InteropTests.h
@@ -46,4 +46,11 @@
  * Override in a subclass to perform these tests against a specific address.
  */
 + (NSString *)host;
+
+/**
+ * Bytes of overhead of test proto responses due to encoding. This is used to excercise the behavior
+ * when responses are just above or below the max response size. For some reason, the local and
+ * remote servers enconde responses with different overhead (?), so this is defined per-subclass.
+ */
+- (int32_t)encodingOverhead;
 @end
diff --git a/src/objective-c/tests/InteropTests.m b/src/objective-c/tests/InteropTests.m
index 494743d6041ed690a7420cb9a9d672810826ff26..f04a7e6441f86f4f8ae85b82dbac78477e66ba96 100644
--- a/src/objective-c/tests/InteropTests.m
+++ b/src/objective-c/tests/InteropTests.m
@@ -80,10 +80,6 @@
 
 #pragma mark Tests
 
-#ifdef GRPC_COMPILE_WITH_CRONET
-static cronet_engine *cronetEngine = NULL;
-#endif
-
 @implementation InteropTests {
   RMTTestService *_service;
 }
@@ -92,15 +88,22 @@ static cronet_engine *cronetEngine = NULL;
   return nil;
 }
 
+- (int32_t)encodingOverhead {
+  return 0;
+}
+
 - (void)setUp {
+  self.continueAfterFailure = NO;
+
+  [GRPCCall resetHostSettings];
+
   _service = self.class.host ? [RMTTestService serviceWithHost:self.class.host] : nil;
 #ifdef GRPC_COMPILE_WITH_CRONET
   if (cronetEngine == NULL) {
     // Cronet setup
     [Cronet setHttp2Enabled:YES];
     [Cronet start];
-    cronetEngine = [Cronet getGlobalEngine];
-    [GRPCCall useCronetWithEngine:cronetEngine];
+    [GRPCCall useCronetWithEngine:[Cronet getGlobalEngine]];
   }
 #endif
 }
@@ -146,6 +149,64 @@ static cronet_engine *cronetEngine = NULL;
   [self waitForExpectationsWithTimeout:16 handler:nil];
 }
 
+- (void)test4MBResponsesAreAccepted {
+  XCTAssertNotNil(self.class.host);
+  __weak XCTestExpectation *expectation = [self expectationWithDescription:@"MaxResponseSize"];
+
+  RMTSimpleRequest *request = [RMTSimpleRequest message];
+  const int32_t kPayloadSize = 4 * 1024 * 1024 - self.encodingOverhead; // 4MB - encoding overhead
+  request.responseSize = kPayloadSize;
+
+  [_service unaryCallWithRequest:request handler:^(RMTSimpleResponse *response, NSError *error) {
+    XCTAssertNil(error, @"Finished with unexpected error: %@", error);
+    XCTAssertEqual(response.payload.body.length, kPayloadSize);
+    [expectation fulfill];
+  }];
+
+  [self waitForExpectationsWithTimeout:16 handler:nil];
+}
+
+- (void)testResponsesOverMaxSizeFailWithActionableMessage {
+  XCTAssertNotNil(self.class.host);
+  __weak XCTestExpectation *expectation = [self expectationWithDescription:@"ResponseOverMaxSize"];
+
+  RMTSimpleRequest *request = [RMTSimpleRequest message];
+  const int32_t kPayloadSize = 4 * 1024 * 1024 - self.encodingOverhead + 1; // 1B over max size
+  request.responseSize = kPayloadSize;
+
+  [_service unaryCallWithRequest:request handler:^(RMTSimpleResponse *response, NSError *error) {
+    // TODO(jcanizales): Catch the error and rethrow it with an actionable message:
+    // - Use +[GRPCCall setResponseSizeLimit:forHost:] to set a higher limit.
+    // - If you're developing the server, consider using response streaming, or let clients filter
+    //   responses by setting a google.protobuf.FieldMask in the request:
+    //   https://github.com/google/protobuf/blob/master/src/google/protobuf/field_mask.proto
+    XCTAssertEqualObjects(error.localizedDescription, @"Max message size exceeded");
+    [expectation fulfill];
+  }];
+
+  [self waitForExpectationsWithTimeout:16 handler:nil];
+}
+
+- (void)testResponsesOver4MBAreAcceptedIfOptedIn {
+  XCTAssertNotNil(self.class.host);
+  __weak XCTestExpectation *expectation =
+      [self expectationWithDescription:@"HigherResponseSizeLimit"];
+
+  RMTSimpleRequest *request = [RMTSimpleRequest message];
+  const size_t kPayloadSize = 5 * 1024 * 1024; // 5MB
+  request.responseSize = kPayloadSize;
+
+  [GRPCCall setResponseSizeLimit:6 * 1024 * 1024 forHost:self.class.host];
+
+  [_service unaryCallWithRequest:request handler:^(RMTSimpleResponse *response, NSError *error) {
+    XCTAssertNil(error, @"Finished with unexpected error: %@", error);
+    XCTAssertEqual(response.payload.body.length, kPayloadSize);
+    [expectation fulfill];
+  }];
+
+  [self waitForExpectationsWithTimeout:16 handler:nil];
+}
+
 - (void)testClientStreamingRPC {
   XCTAssertNotNil(self.class.host);
   __weak XCTestExpectation *expectation = [self expectationWithDescription:@"ClientStreaming"];
diff --git a/src/objective-c/tests/InteropTestsLocalCleartext.m b/src/objective-c/tests/InteropTestsLocalCleartext.m
index 56927a8af6d1906c8865590486d58a38844a56e9..b41210f50f85aca5d6c36837a585c08bfaf45e13 100644
--- a/src/objective-c/tests/InteropTestsLocalCleartext.m
+++ b/src/objective-c/tests/InteropTestsLocalCleartext.m
@@ -47,11 +47,15 @@ static NSString * const kLocalCleartextHost = @"localhost:5050";
   return kLocalCleartextHost;
 }
 
+- (int32_t)encodingOverhead {
+  return 10; // bytes
+}
+
 - (void)setUp {
+  [super setUp];
+
   // Register test server as non-SSL.
   [GRPCCall useInsecureConnectionsForHost:kLocalCleartextHost];
-
-  [super setUp];
 }
 
 @end
diff --git a/src/objective-c/tests/InteropTestsLocalSSL.m b/src/objective-c/tests/InteropTestsLocalSSL.m
index f0f4b1d71f03d9dee8386c47a6213dcf70343ee6..1479c5896c39488960a88516ba332a60c058f26d 100644
--- a/src/objective-c/tests/InteropTestsLocalSSL.m
+++ b/src/objective-c/tests/InteropTestsLocalSSL.m
@@ -47,14 +47,18 @@ static NSString * const kLocalSSLHost = @"localhost:5051";
   return kLocalSSLHost;
 }
 
+- (int32_t)encodingOverhead {
+  return 10; // bytes
+}
+
 - (void)setUp {
+  [super setUp];
+
   // Register test server certificates and name.
   NSBundle *bundle = [NSBundle bundleForClass:self.class];
   NSString *certsPath = [bundle pathForResource:@"TestCertificates.bundle/test-certificates"
                                          ofType:@"pem"];
   [GRPCCall useTestCertsPath:certsPath testName:@"foo.test.google.fr" forHost:kLocalSSLHost];
-
-  [super setUp];
 }
 
 - (void)testExceptions {
diff --git a/src/objective-c/tests/InteropTestsRemote.m b/src/objective-c/tests/InteropTestsRemote.m
index 758cc9346adf2175b187974cacde874e84e4619d..70f84753bb6e3e140c3870bb98cdc1d0a974da06 100644
--- a/src/objective-c/tests/InteropTestsRemote.m
+++ b/src/objective-c/tests/InteropTestsRemote.m
@@ -47,4 +47,8 @@ static NSString * const kRemoteSSLHost = @"grpc-test.sandbox.googleapis.com";
   return kRemoteSSLHost;
 }
 
+- (int32_t)encodingOverhead {
+  return 12; // bytes
+}
+
 @end
diff --git a/src/objective-c/tests/Tests.xcodeproj/xcshareddata/xcschemes/AllTests.xcscheme b/src/objective-c/tests/Tests.xcodeproj/xcshareddata/xcschemes/AllTests.xcscheme
index e6a052a8ce19f3985b2b21dc583feb53951ade0b..d1d616c4cf2411c2caad658377820991791743ea 100644
--- a/src/objective-c/tests/Tests.xcodeproj/xcshareddata/xcschemes/AllTests.xcscheme
+++ b/src/objective-c/tests/Tests.xcodeproj/xcshareddata/xcschemes/AllTests.xcscheme
@@ -38,12 +38,6 @@
                ReferencedContainer = "container:Tests.xcodeproj">
             </BuildableReference>
             <SkippedTests>
-               <Test
-                  Identifier = "GRPCClientTests/testConnectionToRemoteServer">
-               </Test>
-               <Test
-                  Identifier = "GRPCClientTests/testMetadata">
-               </Test>
                <Test
                   Identifier = "InteropTests">
                </Test>
diff --git a/src/python/grpcio/grpc_version.py b/src/python/grpcio/grpc_version.py
index d1e2d418c32d8739d2520e7d3c68c575abed0132..c5c358cbb9dae34353d0c872bef8f3fc907e05f0 100644
--- a/src/python/grpcio/grpc_version.py
+++ b/src/python/grpcio/grpc_version.py
@@ -29,4 +29,4 @@
 
 # AUTO-GENERATED FROM `$REPO_ROOT/templates/src/python/grpcio/grpc_version.py.template`!!!
 
-VERSION='1.0.0rc1'
+VERSION='1.0.0rc2'
diff --git a/src/python/grpcio_health_checking/grpc_version.py b/src/python/grpcio_health_checking/grpc_version.py
index 2e48fde8931ee82ce5482ba179a835fb6d86dbf2..4bc1f3ffb1859b323a86368fa5120eece61f7401 100644
--- a/src/python/grpcio_health_checking/grpc_version.py
+++ b/src/python/grpcio_health_checking/grpc_version.py
@@ -29,4 +29,4 @@
 
 # AUTO-GENERATED FROM `$REPO_ROOT/templates/src/python/grpcio_health_checking/grpc_version.py.template`!!!
 
-VERSION='1.0.0rc1'
+VERSION='1.0.0rc2'
diff --git a/src/python/grpcio_health_checking/setup.py b/src/python/grpcio_health_checking/setup.py
index 727d6288853d110dd5385a0d8fd513a881a71623..6074175a449d2b38a911cdc4ae51ef8f88c869c0 100644
--- a/src/python/grpcio_health_checking/setup.py
+++ b/src/python/grpcio_health_checking/setup.py
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ SETUP_REQUIRES = (
 )
 
 INSTALL_REQUIRES = (
+    'protobuf>=3.0.0',
     'grpcio>=0.15.0',
 )
 
diff --git a/src/python/grpcio_tests/grpc_version.py b/src/python/grpcio_tests/grpc_version.py
index a2387857c6c2cea8bffe8a919fb2e72685553862..16e4eb8ba7330180ef3180c233cd22666799df03 100644
--- a/src/python/grpcio_tests/grpc_version.py
+++ b/src/python/grpcio_tests/grpc_version.py
@@ -29,4 +29,4 @@
 
 # AUTO-GENERATED FROM `$REPO_ROOT/templates/src/python/grpcio_tests/grpc_version.py.template`!!!
 
-VERSION='1.0.0rc1'
+VERSION='1.0.0rc2'
diff --git a/src/python/grpcio_tests/setup.py b/src/python/grpcio_tests/setup.py
index 0afaf7dfa21833432b6fd41c30d985468e1b02a4..5c60eaca3a3dd5c1e583ccfc8d4ede9b98f37c4a 100644
--- a/src/python/grpcio_tests/setup.py
+++ b/src/python/grpcio_tests/setup.py
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ INSTALL_REQUIRES = (
     'grpcio>=0.14.0',
     'grpcio-health-checking>=0.14.0',
     'oauth2client>=1.4.7',
-    'protobuf>=3.0.0a3',
+    'protobuf>=3.0.0',
     'six>=1.10',
 )
 
diff --git a/src/ruby/lib/grpc/version.rb b/src/ruby/lib/grpc/version.rb
index e57fb3c14f8c7b96904edbd1a216a2b38af44c26..9e53780e447c042aa13f05678e4a3fdb69ed99df 100644
--- a/src/ruby/lib/grpc/version.rb
+++ b/src/ruby/lib/grpc/version.rb
@@ -29,5 +29,5 @@
 
 # GRPC contains the General RPC module.
 module GRPC
-  VERSION = '1.0.0.pre1'
+  VERSION = '1.0.0.pre2'
 end
diff --git a/src/ruby/tools/version.rb b/src/ruby/tools/version.rb
index 2e318b82ad53bf221f07f55cbc564d1faeae2686..84c03b255d531436df60539ecd0b373c56acec0c 100644
--- a/src/ruby/tools/version.rb
+++ b/src/ruby/tools/version.rb
@@ -29,6 +29,6 @@
 
 module GRPC
   module Tools
-    VERSION = '1.0.0.pre1'
+    VERSION = '1.0.0.pre2'
   end
 end
diff --git a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Auth/project.json.template b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Auth/project.json.template
index d91bd8ce1df5d254a34a20255443a4b07b40b7b9..b3244e4d3c94e80be862ba9934180572c12f50d7 100644
--- a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Auth/project.json.template
+++ b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Auth/project.json.template
@@ -34,9 +34,9 @@
           "net45"
         ],
         "dependencies": {
-          "Microsoft.NETCore.Portable.Compatibility": "1.0.1-rc2-24027",
-          "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027",
-          "System.Threading.Tasks": "4.0.11-rc2-24027"
+          "Microsoft.NETCore.Portable.Compatibility": "1.0.1",
+          "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0",
+          "System.Threading.Tasks": "4.0.11"
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Core.Tests/project.json.template b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Core.Tests/project.json.template
index d1ab9316f61e92046165db79c66d9a3377a74500..3452d6b4b025b7694373abf9b52ea512c5c6333f 100644
--- a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Core.Tests/project.json.template
+++ b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Core.Tests/project.json.template
@@ -15,12 +15,13 @@
     },
     "frameworks": {
       "net45": { },
-      "netstandard1.5": {
+      "netcoreapp1.0": {
         "imports": [
           "portable-net45"
         ],
         "dependencies": {
-          "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027"
+          "Microsoft.NETCore.App": "1.0.0",
+          "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0"
         }
       }
     },
diff --git a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Core/project.json.template b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Core/project.json.template
index 6355db53892e2872e2b45558ae2d1bcb0f8db8ff..bd0e8b2c138670d73162e32219c09d517c61f453 100644
--- a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Core/project.json.template
+++ b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Core/project.json.template
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@
           "portable-net45"
         ],
         "dependencies": {
-          "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027",
-          "System.Threading.Thread": "4.0.0-rc2-24027"
+          "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0",
+          "System.Threading.Thread": "4.0.0"
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.MathClient/project.json.template b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.MathClient/project.json.template
index fba401c3a4725f4408a52c1ab492ff8f80d7da61..67151dbcfa8eea2511a5c860bf1630d632d84381 100644
--- a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.MathClient/project.json.template
+++ b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.MathClient/project.json.template
@@ -9,12 +9,13 @@
     },
     "frameworks": {
       "net45": { },
-      "netstandard1.5": {
+      "netcoreapp1.0": {
         "imports": [
           "portable-net45"
         ],
         "dependencies": {
-          "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027"
+          "Microsoft.NETCore.App": "1.0.0",
+          "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0"
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.MathServer/project.json.template b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.MathServer/project.json.template
index fba401c3a4725f4408a52c1ab492ff8f80d7da61..67151dbcfa8eea2511a5c860bf1630d632d84381 100644
--- a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.MathServer/project.json.template
+++ b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.MathServer/project.json.template
@@ -9,12 +9,13 @@
     },
     "frameworks": {
       "net45": { },
-      "netstandard1.5": {
+      "netcoreapp1.0": {
         "imports": [
           "portable-net45"
         ],
         "dependencies": {
-          "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027"
+          "Microsoft.NETCore.App": "1.0.0",
+          "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0"
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.Tests/project.json.template b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.Tests/project.json.template
index 21765f0565c9e2d99d02c01a28526f6d1d2c0327..af13cb58501812c0cb397c5bc5553329512a90cc 100644
--- a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.Tests/project.json.template
+++ b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples.Tests/project.json.template
@@ -11,12 +11,13 @@
     },
     "frameworks": {
       "net45": { },
-      "netstandard1.5": {
+      "netcoreapp1.0": {
         "imports": [
           "portable-net45"
         ],
         "dependencies": {
-          "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027"
+          "Microsoft.NETCore.App": "1.0.0",
+          "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0"
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples/project.json.template b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples/project.json.template
index 715fc08725615af4a84c7034e7a73e3dbc06933e..d5d63f658e499a446844937a9f8a5fcf07df369f 100644
--- a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples/project.json.template
+++ b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.Examples/project.json.template
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
           "portable-net45"
         ],
         "dependencies": {
-          "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027"
+          "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0"
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.HealthCheck.Tests/project.json.template b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.HealthCheck.Tests/project.json.template
index 79e67226cb4ae68953f7b3341deb6da373d01a5e..417b773a428982e15c4fb654506ff2d3c9572a7f 100644
--- a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.HealthCheck.Tests/project.json.template
+++ b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.HealthCheck.Tests/project.json.template
@@ -11,12 +11,13 @@
     },
     "frameworks": {
       "net45": { },
-      "netstandard1.5": {
+      "netcoreapp1.0": {
         "imports": [
           "portable-net45"
         ],
         "dependencies": {
-          "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027"
+          "Microsoft.NETCore.App": "1.0.0",
+          "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0"
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.HealthCheck/project.json.template b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.HealthCheck/project.json.template
index 264ed292050c768134416e7263992fec8af70187..cd2da0089bbf3e83b957638a23bd19e700cd8682 100644
--- a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.HealthCheck/project.json.template
+++ b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.HealthCheck/project.json.template
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
           "portable-net45"
         ],
         "dependencies": {
-          "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027"
+          "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0"
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.Client/project.json.template b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.Client/project.json.template
index 10ed5493477ad92978c8109266f402a27d9259f6..93151f2b89ebd9a814e5ecba59f9a1c8676bdef3 100644
--- a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.Client/project.json.template
+++ b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.Client/project.json.template
@@ -9,13 +9,14 @@
     },
     "frameworks": {
       "net45": { },
-      "netstandard1.5": {
+      "netcoreapp1.0": {
         "imports": [
           "portable-net45",
           "net45"
         ],
         "dependencies": {
-          "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027"
+          "Microsoft.NETCore.App": "1.0.0",
+          "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0"
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.QpsWorker/project.json.template b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.QpsWorker/project.json.template
index 10ed5493477ad92978c8109266f402a27d9259f6..93151f2b89ebd9a814e5ecba59f9a1c8676bdef3 100644
--- a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.QpsWorker/project.json.template
+++ b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.QpsWorker/project.json.template
@@ -9,13 +9,14 @@
     },
     "frameworks": {
       "net45": { },
-      "netstandard1.5": {
+      "netcoreapp1.0": {
         "imports": [
           "portable-net45",
           "net45"
         ],
         "dependencies": {
-          "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027"
+          "Microsoft.NETCore.App": "1.0.0",
+          "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0"
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.Server/project.json.template b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.Server/project.json.template
index 10ed5493477ad92978c8109266f402a27d9259f6..93151f2b89ebd9a814e5ecba59f9a1c8676bdef3 100644
--- a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.Server/project.json.template
+++ b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.Server/project.json.template
@@ -9,13 +9,14 @@
     },
     "frameworks": {
       "net45": { },
-      "netstandard1.5": {
+      "netcoreapp1.0": {
         "imports": [
           "portable-net45",
           "net45"
         ],
         "dependencies": {
-          "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027"
+          "Microsoft.NETCore.App": "1.0.0",
+          "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0"
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.StressClient/project.json.template b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.StressClient/project.json.template
index 10ed5493477ad92978c8109266f402a27d9259f6..93151f2b89ebd9a814e5ecba59f9a1c8676bdef3 100644
--- a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.StressClient/project.json.template
+++ b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting.StressClient/project.json.template
@@ -9,13 +9,14 @@
     },
     "frameworks": {
       "net45": { },
-      "netstandard1.5": {
+      "netcoreapp1.0": {
         "imports": [
           "portable-net45",
           "net45"
         ],
         "dependencies": {
-          "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027"
+          "Microsoft.NETCore.App": "1.0.0",
+          "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0"
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting/project.json.template b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting/project.json.template
index 3181511485703ef8ed14de737ccd8ea6d03b3a97..0a7d5e9af409f3b11f24beed4bce649711d32466 100644
--- a/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting/project.json.template
+++ b/templates/src/csharp/Grpc.IntegrationTesting/project.json.template
@@ -24,14 +24,15 @@
           "System.IO": ""
         }
       },
-      "netstandard1.5": {
+      "netcoreapp1.0": {
         "imports": [
           "portable-net45",
           "net45"
         ],
         "dependencies": {
-          "NETStandard.Library": "1.5.0-rc2-24027",
-          "System.Linq.Expressions": "4.0.11-rc2-24027"
+          "Microsoft.NETCore.App": "1.0.0",
+          "NETStandard.Library": "1.6.0",
+          "System.Linq.Expressions": "4.1.0"
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/tools/distrib/python/grpcio_tools/grpc_version.py b/tools/distrib/python/grpcio_tools/grpc_version.py
index 7938b3d029382a00d9634549b215f2956a79df34..91f6849e47619686c47be4faac50a1568981c5f5 100644
--- a/tools/distrib/python/grpcio_tools/grpc_version.py
+++ b/tools/distrib/python/grpcio_tools/grpc_version.py
@@ -29,4 +29,4 @@
 
 # AUTO-GENERATED FROM `$REPO_ROOT/templates/tools/distrib/python/grpcio_tools/grpc_version.py.template`!!!
 
-VERSION='1.0.0rc1'
+VERSION='1.0.0rc2'
diff --git a/tools/distrib/python/grpcio_tools/setup.py b/tools/distrib/python/grpcio_tools/setup.py
index 8082c7a665a37b322c1dda564798a9f7d317b820..43d0f5518a8b508a02683bc99ff860c54e1dc62a 100644
--- a/tools/distrib/python/grpcio_tools/setup.py
+++ b/tools/distrib/python/grpcio_tools/setup.py
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ setuptools.setup(
   packages=setuptools.find_packages('.'),
   namespace_packages=['grpc'],
   install_requires=[
-    'protobuf>=3.0.0a3',
+    'protobuf>=3.0.0',
     'grpcio>=0.15.0',
   ],
   package_data=package_data(),
diff --git a/tools/doxygen/Doxyfile.c++ b/tools/doxygen/Doxyfile.c++
index fa4b50f8f3c23cc9d06d1637741870bf0f037464..db3d27c5f6bef6a79707208dee20704612f18f18 100644
--- a/tools/doxygen/Doxyfile.c++
+++ b/tools/doxygen/Doxyfile.c++
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ PROJECT_NAME           = "GRPC C++"
 # could be handy for archiving the generated documentation or if some version
 # control system is used.
 
-PROJECT_NUMBER         = 1.0.0-pre1
+PROJECT_NUMBER         = 1.0.0-pre2
 
 # Using the PROJECT_BRIEF tag one can provide an optional one line description
 # for a project that appears at the top of each page and should give viewer a
diff --git a/tools/doxygen/Doxyfile.c++.internal b/tools/doxygen/Doxyfile.c++.internal
index 1473594dfc69bd1e98d4496756b6eeef4cbe5fcf..9ff396a7cf36edb76b4dce40cbd0e3f76a659597 100644
--- a/tools/doxygen/Doxyfile.c++.internal
+++ b/tools/doxygen/Doxyfile.c++.internal
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ PROJECT_NAME           = "GRPC C++"
 # could be handy for archiving the generated documentation or if some version
 # control system is used.
 
-PROJECT_NUMBER         = 1.0.0-pre1
+PROJECT_NUMBER         = 1.0.0-pre2
 
 # Using the PROJECT_BRIEF tag one can provide an optional one line description
 # for a project that appears at the top of each page and should give viewer a
diff --git a/tools/doxygen/Doxyfile.core b/tools/doxygen/Doxyfile.core
index 7619b95734307460ff4e5d911135f499762cde75..696bf4c7dc349c807c96b2658e51253c4ce16fb8 100644
--- a/tools/doxygen/Doxyfile.core
+++ b/tools/doxygen/Doxyfile.core
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ PROJECT_NAME           = "GRPC Core"
 # could be handy for archiving the generated documentation or if some version
 # control system is used.
 
-PROJECT_NUMBER         = 1.0.0-pre1
+PROJECT_NUMBER         = 1.0.0-pre2
 
 # Using the PROJECT_BRIEF tag one can provide an optional one line description
 # for a project that appears at the top of each page and should give viewer a
diff --git a/tools/doxygen/Doxyfile.core.internal b/tools/doxygen/Doxyfile.core.internal
index 66d615664f191aefe7522fe802d89ac56eaa3c60..44c17f36157868dbd8c60b8891774675146cd499 100644
--- a/tools/doxygen/Doxyfile.core.internal
+++ b/tools/doxygen/Doxyfile.core.internal
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ PROJECT_NAME           = "GRPC Core"
 # could be handy for archiving the generated documentation or if some version
 # control system is used.
 
-PROJECT_NUMBER         = 1.0.0-pre1
+PROJECT_NUMBER         = 1.0.0-pre2
 
 # Using the PROJECT_BRIEF tag one can provide an optional one line description
 # for a project that appears at the top of each page and should give viewer a
diff --git a/tools/run_tests/build_csharp_coreclr.sh b/tools/run_tests/build_csharp_coreclr.sh
index 733b1a2083cd438aa2d67a9eee0acacbb0cf1b2b..02cf0d39cb53835d85e051731ff66896bac3005a 100755
--- a/tools/run_tests/build_csharp_coreclr.sh
+++ b/tools/run_tests/build_csharp_coreclr.sh
@@ -35,4 +35,4 @@ cd $(dirname $0)/../../src/csharp
 # TODO(jtattermusch): introduce caching
 dotnet restore .
 
-dotnet build -f netstandard1.5 --configuration $MSBUILD_CONFIG '**/project.json'
+dotnet build --configuration $MSBUILD_CONFIG '**/project.json'
diff --git a/tools/run_tests/build_python.sh b/tools/run_tests/build_python.sh
index f0c15a3ee4910f3a4d473a6d8ade3886f5110581..d2ff1c6b53ce557d7ed039d451443a1fd0e4f1ad 100755
--- a/tools/run_tests/build_python.sh
+++ b/tools/run_tests/build_python.sh
@@ -169,7 +169,9 @@ pip_install_dir() {
   cd $PWD
 }
 
-$VENV_PYTHON -m pip install --upgrade pip setuptools
+$VENV_PYTHON -m pip install --upgrade pip
+# TODO(https://github.com/pypa/setuptools/issues/709) get the latest setuptools
+$VENV_PYTHON -m pip install setuptools==25.1.1
 $VENV_PYTHON -m pip install cython
 pip_install_dir $ROOT
 $VENV_PYTHON $ROOT/tools/distrib/python/make_grpcio_tools.py