diff --git a/core/plugin/zplugin.go b/core/plugin/zplugin.go
index 104a3e68a..e761f8586 100644
--- a/core/plugin/zplugin.go
+++ b/core/plugin/zplugin.go
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ import (
 	_ "github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin/erratic"
 	_ "github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin/errors"
 	_ "github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin/etcd"
-	_ "github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin/federation"
 	_ "github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin/file"
 	_ "github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin/forward"
 	_ "github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin/grpc"
@@ -45,4 +44,5 @@ import (
 	_ "github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin/tls"
 	_ "github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin/trace"
 	_ "github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin/whoami"
+	_ "github.com/coredns/federation"
 )
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 99828467b..2632ccd07 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/Shopify/sarama v1.21.0 // indirect
 	github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go v1.22.3
 	github.com/caddyserver/caddy v1.0.1
+	github.com/coredns/federation v0.0.0-20190818181423-e032b096babe
 	github.com/coreos/bbolt v1.3.2 // indirect
 	github.com/coreos/etcd v3.3.13+incompatible
 	github.com/coreos/go-semver v0.2.0 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 860fb298f..aad90f981 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -78,6 +78,8 @@ github.com/census-instrumentation/opencensus-proto v0.2.0 h1:LzQXZOgg4CQfE6bFvXG
 github.com/census-instrumentation/opencensus-proto v0.2.0/go.mod h1:f6KPmirojxKA12rnyqOA5BBL4O983OfeGPqjHWSTneU=
 github.com/cheekybits/genny v0.0.0-20170328200008-9127e812e1e9/go.mod h1:+tQajlRqAUrPI7DOSpB0XAqZYtQakVtB7wXkRAgjxjQ=
 github.com/client9/misspell v0.3.4/go.mod h1:qj6jICC3Q7zFZvVWo7KLAzC3yx5G7kyvSDkc90ppPyw=
+github.com/coredns/federation v0.0.0-20190818181423-e032b096babe h1:ND08lR/TclI9W4dScCwdRESOacCCdF3FkuB5pBIOv1U=
+github.com/coredns/federation v0.0.0-20190818181423-e032b096babe/go.mod h1:MoqTEFX8GlnKkyq8eBCF94VzkNAOgjdlCJ+Pz/oCLPk=
 github.com/coreos/bbolt v1.3.2 h1:wZwiHHUieZCquLkDL0B8UhzreNWsPHooDAG3q34zk0s=
 github.com/coreos/bbolt v1.3.2/go.mod h1:iRUV2dpdMOn7Bo10OQBFzIJO9kkE559Wcmn+qkEiiKk=
 github.com/coreos/etcd v3.3.13+incompatible h1:8F3hqu9fGYLBifCmRCJsicFqDx/D68Rt3q1JMazcgBQ=
diff --git a/plugin.cfg b/plugin.cfg
index be9447534..2bd07c557 100644
--- a/plugin.cfg
+++ b/plugin.cfg
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ hosts:hosts
 route53:route53
 azure:azure
 clouddns:clouddns
-federation:federation
+federation:github.com/coredns/federation
 k8s_external:k8s_external
 kubernetes:kubernetes
 file:file
diff --git a/plugin/federation/OWNERS b/plugin/federation/OWNERS
deleted file mode 100644
index 187c629c9..000000000
--- a/plugin/federation/OWNERS
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-reviewers:
-  - chrisohaver
-  - miekg
-approvers:
-  - chrisohaver
-  - miekg
diff --git a/plugin/federation/README.md b/plugin/federation/README.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 96ba213ed..000000000
--- a/plugin/federation/README.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
-# federation
-
-## Name
-
-*federation* - enables federated queries to be resolved via the kubernetes plugin.
-
-## Description
-
-Enabling this plugin allows
-[Federated](https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/federation/federation-service-discovery/) queries to be
-resolved via the kubernetes plugin.
-
-Enabling *federation* without also having *kubernetes* is a noop.
-
-## Syntax
-
-~~~
-federation [ZONES...] {
-    NAME DOMAIN
-}
-~~~
-
-* Each **NAME** and **DOMAIN** defines federation membership. One entry for each. A duplicate
-  **NAME** will silently overwrite any previous value.
-
-## Examples
-
-Here we handle all service requests in the `prod` and `stage` federations.
-
-~~~
-. {
-    kubernetes cluster.local
-    federation cluster.local {
-        prod prod.feddomain.com
-        staging staging.feddomain.com
-    }
-    forward . 192.168.1.12
-}
-~~~
diff --git a/plugin/federation/federation.go b/plugin/federation/federation.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 7fe2a6f62..000000000
--- a/plugin/federation/federation.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,147 +0,0 @@
-/*
-Package federation implements kubernetes federation. It checks if the qname matches
-a possible federation. If this is the case and the captured answer is an NXDOMAIN,
-federation is performed. If this is not the case the original answer is returned.
-
-The federation label is always the 2nd to last once the zone is chopped of. For
-instance "nginx.mynamespace.myfederation.svc.example.com" has "myfederation" as
-the federation label. For federation to work we do a normal k8s lookup
-*without* that label, if that comes back with NXDOMAIN or NODATA(??) we create
-a federation record and return that.
-
-Federation is only useful in conjunction with the kubernetes plugin, without it is a noop.
-*/
-package federation
-
-import (
-	"context"
-
-	"github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin"
-	"github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin/etcd/msg"
-	"github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin/pkg/dnsutil"
-	"github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin/pkg/nonwriter"
-	"github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin/pkg/upstream"
-	"github.com/coredns/coredns/request"
-
-	"github.com/miekg/dns"
-)
-
-// Federation contains the name to zone mapping used for federation in kubernetes.
-type Federation struct {
-	f        map[string]string
-	zones    []string
-	Upstream *upstream.Upstream
-
-	Next        plugin.Handler
-	Federations Func
-}
-
-// Func needs to be implemented by any plugin that implements
-// federation. Right now this is only the kubernetes plugin.
-type Func func(state request.Request, fname, fzone string) (msg.Service, error)
-
-// New returns a new federation.
-func New() *Federation {
-	return &Federation{f: make(map[string]string)}
-}
-
-// ServeDNS implements the plugin.Handle interface.
-func (f *Federation) ServeDNS(ctx context.Context, w dns.ResponseWriter, r *dns.Msg) (int, error) {
-	if f.Federations == nil {
-		return plugin.NextOrFailure(f.Name(), f.Next, ctx, w, r)
-	}
-
-	state := request.Request{W: w, Req: r}
-
-	zone := plugin.Zones(f.zones).Matches(state.Name())
-	if zone == "" {
-		return plugin.NextOrFailure(f.Name(), f.Next, ctx, w, r)
-	}
-
-	state.Zone = zone
-
-	// Remove the federation label from the qname to see if something exists.
-	without, label := f.isNameFederation(state.Name(), state.Zone)
-	if without == "" {
-		return plugin.NextOrFailure(f.Name(), f.Next, ctx, w, r)
-	}
-
-	qname := r.Question[0].Name
-	r.Question[0].Name = without
-	state.Clear()
-
-	// Start the next plugin, but with a nowriter, capture the result, if NXDOMAIN
-	// perform federation, otherwise just write the result.
-	nw := nonwriter.New(w)
-	ret, err := plugin.NextOrFailure(f.Name(), f.Next, ctx, nw, r)
-
-	if !plugin.ClientWrite(ret) {
-		// something went wrong
-		r.Question[0].Name = qname
-		return ret, err
-	}
-
-	if m := nw.Msg; m.Rcode != dns.RcodeNameError {
-		// If positive answer we need to substitute the original qname in the answer.
-		m.Question[0].Name = qname
-		for _, a := range m.Answer {
-			a.Header().Name = qname
-		}
-
-		w.WriteMsg(m)
-
-		return dns.RcodeSuccess, nil
-	}
-
-	// Still here, we've seen NXDOMAIN and need to perform federation.
-	service, err := f.Federations(state, label, f.f[label]) // state references Req which has updated qname
-	if err != nil {
-		r.Question[0].Name = qname
-		return dns.RcodeServerFailure, err
-	}
-
-	r.Question[0].Name = qname
-
-	m := new(dns.Msg)
-	m.SetReply(r)
-	m.Authoritative = true
-
-	m.Answer = []dns.RR{service.NewCNAME(state.QName(), service.Host)}
-
-	if f.Upstream != nil {
-		aRecord, err := f.Upstream.Lookup(ctx, state, service.Host, state.QType())
-		if err == nil && aRecord != nil && len(aRecord.Answer) > 0 {
-			m.Answer = append(m.Answer, aRecord.Answer...)
-		}
-	}
-
-	w.WriteMsg(m)
-	return dns.RcodeSuccess, nil
-}
-
-// Name implements the plugin.Handle interface.
-func (f *Federation) Name() string { return "federation" }
-
-// IsNameFederation checks the qname to see if it is a potential federation. The federation
-// label is always the 2nd to last once the zone is chopped of. For instance
-// "nginx.mynamespace.myfederation.svc.example.com" has "myfederation" as the federation label.
-// IsNameFederation returns a new qname with the federation label and the label itself or two
-// empty strings if there wasn't a hit.
-func (f *Federation) isNameFederation(name, zone string) (string, string) {
-	base, _ := dnsutil.TrimZone(name, zone)
-
-	// TODO(miek): dns.PrevLabel is better for memory, or dns.Split.
-	labels := dns.SplitDomainName(base)
-	ll := len(labels)
-	if ll < 2 {
-		return "", ""
-	}
-
-	fed := labels[ll-2]
-
-	if _, ok := f.f[fed]; ok {
-		without := dnsutil.Join(labels[:ll-2]...) + labels[ll-1] + "." + zone
-		return without, fed
-	}
-	return "", ""
-}
diff --git a/plugin/federation/federation_test.go b/plugin/federation/federation_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 64d6272b7..000000000
--- a/plugin/federation/federation_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,119 +0,0 @@
-package federation
-
-import (
-	"context"
-	"testing"
-
-	"github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin/kubernetes"
-	"github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin/pkg/dnstest"
-	"github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin/test"
-
-	"github.com/miekg/dns"
-)
-
-func TestIsNameFederation(t *testing.T) {
-	tests := []struct {
-		fed          string
-		qname        string
-		expectedZone string
-	}{
-		{"prod", "nginx.mynamespace.prod.svc.example.com.", "nginx.mynamespace.svc.example.com."},
-		{"prod", "nginx.mynamespace.staging.svc.example.com.", ""},
-		{"prod", "nginx.mynamespace.example.com.", ""},
-		{"prod", "example.com.", ""},
-		{"prod", "com.", ""},
-	}
-
-	fed := New()
-	for i, tc := range tests {
-		fed.f[tc.fed] = "test-name"
-		if x, _ := fed.isNameFederation(tc.qname, "example.com."); x != tc.expectedZone {
-			t.Errorf("Test %d, failed to get zone, expected %s, got %s", i, tc.expectedZone, x)
-		}
-	}
-}
-
-func TestFederationKubernetes(t *testing.T) {
-	tests := []test.Case{
-		{
-			// service exists so we return the IP address associated with it.
-			Qname: "svc1.testns.prod.svc.cluster.local.", Qtype: dns.TypeA,
-			Rcode: dns.RcodeSuccess,
-			Answer: []dns.RR{
-				test.A("svc1.testns.prod.svc.cluster.local.      303       IN      A       10.0.0.1"),
-			},
-		},
-		{
-			// service does not exist, do the federation dance.
-			Qname: "svc0.testns.prod.svc.cluster.local.", Qtype: dns.TypeA,
-			Rcode: dns.RcodeSuccess,
-			Answer: []dns.RR{
-				test.CNAME("svc0.testns.prod.svc.cluster.local.  303       IN      CNAME   svc0.testns.prod.svc.fd-az.fd-r.federal.example."),
-			},
-		},
-	}
-
-	k := kubernetes.New([]string{"cluster.local."})
-	k.APIConn = &APIConnFederationTest{zone: "fd-az", region: "fd-r"}
-
-	fed := New()
-	fed.zones = []string{"cluster.local."}
-	fed.Federations = k.Federations
-	fed.Next = k
-	fed.f = map[string]string{
-		"prod": "federal.example.",
-	}
-
-	ctx := context.TODO()
-	for i, tc := range tests {
-		m := tc.Msg()
-
-		rec := dnstest.NewRecorder(&test.ResponseWriter{})
-		_, err := fed.ServeDNS(ctx, rec, m)
-		if err != nil {
-			t.Errorf("Test %d, expected no error, got %v", i, err)
-			return
-		}
-
-		resp := rec.Msg
-		if err := test.SortAndCheck(resp, tc); err != nil {
-			t.Error(err)
-		}
-	}
-}
-
-func TestFederationKubernetesMissingLabels(t *testing.T) {
-	tests := []test.Case{
-		{
-			// service does not exist, do the federation dance.
-			Qname: "svc0.testns.prod.svc.cluster.local.", Qtype: dns.TypeA,
-			Rcode: dns.RcodeSuccess,
-			Answer: []dns.RR{
-				test.CNAME("svc0.testns.prod.svc.cluster.local.  303       IN      CNAME   svc0.testns.prod.svc.fd-az.fd-r.federal.example."),
-			},
-		},
-	}
-
-	k := kubernetes.New([]string{"cluster.local."})
-	k.APIConn = &APIConnFederationTest{zone: "", region: ""}
-
-	fed := New()
-	fed.zones = []string{"cluster.local."}
-	fed.Federations = k.Federations
-	fed.Next = k
-	fed.f = map[string]string{
-		"prod": "federal.example.",
-	}
-
-	ctx := context.TODO()
-	for _, tc := range tests {
-		m := tc.Msg()
-
-		rec := dnstest.NewRecorder(&test.ResponseWriter{})
-		_, err := fed.ServeDNS(ctx, rec, m)
-		if err == nil {
-			t.Errorf("Expected an error")
-			return
-		}
-	}
-}
diff --git a/plugin/federation/kubernetes_api_test.go b/plugin/federation/kubernetes_api_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 35b058b07..000000000
--- a/plugin/federation/kubernetes_api_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,140 +0,0 @@
-package federation
-
-import (
-	"github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin/kubernetes"
-	"github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin/kubernetes/object"
-
-	api "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
-	meta "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
-)
-
-type APIConnFederationTest struct {
-	zone, region string
-}
-
-func (APIConnFederationTest) HasSynced() bool                           { return true }
-func (APIConnFederationTest) Run()                                      { return }
-func (APIConnFederationTest) Stop() error                               { return nil }
-func (APIConnFederationTest) SvcIndexReverse(string) []*object.Service  { return nil }
-func (APIConnFederationTest) EpIndexReverse(string) []*object.Endpoints { return nil }
-func (APIConnFederationTest) Modified() int64                           { return 0 }
-
-func (APIConnFederationTest) PodIndex(string) []*object.Pod {
-	return []*object.Pod{
-		{Namespace: "podns", PodIP: "10.240.0.1"}, // Remote IP set in test.ResponseWriter
-	}
-}
-
-func (APIConnFederationTest) SvcIndex(string) []*object.Service {
-	svcs := []*object.Service{
-		{
-			Name:      "svc1",
-			Namespace: "testns",
-			ClusterIP: "10.0.0.1",
-			Ports: []api.ServicePort{
-				{Name: "http", Protocol: "tcp", Port: 80},
-			},
-		},
-		{
-			Name:      "hdls1",
-			Namespace: "testns",
-			ClusterIP: api.ClusterIPNone,
-		},
-		{
-			Name:         "external",
-			Namespace:    "testns",
-			ExternalName: "ext.interwebs.test",
-			Ports: []api.ServicePort{
-				{Name: "http", Protocol: "tcp", Port: 80},
-			},
-		},
-	}
-	return svcs
-}
-
-func (APIConnFederationTest) ServiceList() []*object.Service {
-	svcs := []*object.Service{
-		{
-			Name:      "svc1",
-			Namespace: "testns",
-			ClusterIP: "10.0.0.1",
-			Ports: []api.ServicePort{
-				{Name: "http", Protocol: "tcp", Port: 80},
-			},
-		},
-		{
-			Name:      "hdls1",
-			Namespace: "testns",
-			ClusterIP: api.ClusterIPNone,
-		},
-		{
-			Name:         "external",
-			Namespace:    "testns",
-			ExternalName: "ext.interwebs.test",
-			Ports: []api.ServicePort{
-				{Name: "http", Protocol: "tcp", Port: 80},
-			},
-		},
-	}
-	return svcs
-}
-
-func (APIConnFederationTest) EpIndex(string) []*object.Endpoints {
-	eps := []*object.Endpoints{
-		{
-			Subsets: []object.EndpointSubset{
-				{
-					Addresses: []object.EndpointAddress{
-						{IP: "172.0.0.1", Hostname: "ep1a"},
-					},
-					Ports: []object.EndpointPort{
-						{Port: 80, Protocol: "tcp", Name: "http"},
-					},
-				},
-			},
-			Name:      "svc1",
-			Namespace: "testns",
-		},
-	}
-	return eps
-}
-
-func (APIConnFederationTest) EndpointsList() []*object.Endpoints {
-	eps := []*object.Endpoints{
-		{
-			Subsets: []object.EndpointSubset{
-				{
-					Addresses: []object.EndpointAddress{
-						{IP: "172.0.0.1", Hostname: "ep1a"},
-					},
-					Ports: []object.EndpointPort{
-						{Port: 80, Protocol: "tcp", Name: "http"},
-					},
-				},
-			},
-			Name:      "svc1",
-			Namespace: "testns",
-		},
-	}
-	return eps
-}
-
-func (a APIConnFederationTest) GetNodeByName(name string) (*api.Node, error) {
-	return &api.Node{
-		ObjectMeta: meta.ObjectMeta{
-			Name: "test.node.foo.bar",
-			Labels: map[string]string{
-				kubernetes.LabelRegion: a.region,
-				kubernetes.LabelZone:   a.zone,
-			},
-		},
-	}, nil
-}
-
-func (APIConnFederationTest) GetNamespaceByName(name string) (*api.Namespace, error) {
-	return &api.Namespace{
-		ObjectMeta: meta.ObjectMeta{
-			Name: name,
-		},
-	}, nil
-}
diff --git a/plugin/federation/log_test.go b/plugin/federation/log_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index fa9481726..000000000
--- a/plugin/federation/log_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-package federation
-
-import clog "github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin/pkg/log"
-
-func init() { clog.Discard() }
diff --git a/plugin/federation/setup.go b/plugin/federation/setup.go
deleted file mode 100644
index fde50853d..000000000
--- a/plugin/federation/setup.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,94 +0,0 @@
-package federation
-
-import (
-	"fmt"
-
-	"github.com/coredns/coredns/core/dnsserver"
-	"github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin"
-	"github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin/kubernetes"
-	"github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin/pkg/upstream"
-	"github.com/miekg/dns"
-
-	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy"
-)
-
-func init() {
-	caddy.RegisterPlugin("federation", caddy.Plugin{
-		ServerType: "dns",
-		Action:     setup,
-	})
-}
-
-func setup(c *caddy.Controller) error {
-	fed, err := federationParse(c)
-	if err != nil {
-		return plugin.Error("federation", err)
-	}
-
-	// Do this in OnStartup, so all plugin has been initialized.
-	c.OnStartup(func() error {
-		m := dnsserver.GetConfig(c).Handler("kubernetes")
-		if m == nil {
-			return nil
-		}
-		if x, ok := m.(*kubernetes.Kubernetes); ok {
-			fed.Federations = x.Federations
-		}
-		return nil
-	})
-
-	dnsserver.GetConfig(c).AddPlugin(func(next plugin.Handler) plugin.Handler {
-		fed.Next = next
-		return fed
-	})
-
-	return nil
-}
-
-func federationParse(c *caddy.Controller) (*Federation, error) {
-	fed := New()
-	fed.Upstream = upstream.New()
-
-	for c.Next() {
-		// federation [zones..]
-		zones := c.RemainingArgs()
-		var origins []string
-		if len(zones) > 0 {
-			origins = make([]string, len(zones))
-			copy(origins, zones)
-		} else {
-			origins = make([]string, len(c.ServerBlockKeys))
-			copy(origins, c.ServerBlockKeys)
-		}
-
-		for c.NextBlock() {
-			x := c.Val()
-			switch x {
-			case "upstream":
-				// remove soon
-				c.RemainingArgs()
-			default:
-				args := c.RemainingArgs()
-				if x := len(args); x != 1 {
-					return fed, fmt.Errorf("need two arguments for federation, got %d", x)
-				}
-
-				fed.f[x] = dns.Fqdn(args[0])
-			}
-		}
-
-		for i := range origins {
-			origins[i] = plugin.Host(origins[i]).Normalize()
-		}
-
-		fed.zones = origins
-
-		if len(fed.f) == 0 {
-			return fed, fmt.Errorf("at least one name to zone federation expected")
-		}
-
-		return fed, nil
-	}
-
-	return fed, nil
-}
diff --git a/plugin/federation/setup_test.go b/plugin/federation/setup_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 6aed5cce7..000000000
--- a/plugin/federation/setup_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,65 +0,0 @@
-package federation
-
-import (
-	"testing"
-
-	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy"
-)
-
-func TestSetup(t *testing.T) {
-	tests := []struct {
-		input            string
-		shouldErr        bool
-		expectedLen      int
-		expectedNameZone []string // contains only entry for now
-	}{
-		// ok
-		{`federation {
-			prod prod.example.org
-		}`, false, 1, []string{"prod", "prod.example.org."}},
-
-		{`federation {
-			staging staging.example.org
-			prod prod.example.org
-		}`, false, 2, []string{"prod", "prod.example.org."}},
-		{`federation {
-			staging staging.example.org
-			prod prod.example.org
-		}`, false, 2, []string{"staging", "staging.example.org."}},
-		{`federation example.com {
-			staging staging.example.org
-			prod prod.example.org
-		}`, false, 2, []string{"staging", "staging.example.org."}},
-		// errors
-		{`federation {
-		}`, true, 0, []string{}},
-		{`federation {
-			staging
-		}`, true, 0, []string{}},
-	}
-	for i, test := range tests {
-		c := caddy.NewTestController("dns", test.input)
-		fed, err := federationParse(c)
-		if test.shouldErr && err == nil {
-			t.Errorf("Test %v: Expected error but found nil", i)
-			continue
-		} else if !test.shouldErr && err != nil {
-			t.Errorf("Test %v: Expected no error but found error: %v", i, err)
-			continue
-		}
-		if test.shouldErr && err != nil {
-			continue
-		}
-
-		if x := len(fed.f); x != test.expectedLen {
-			t.Errorf("Test %v: Expected map length of %d, got: %d", i, test.expectedLen, x)
-		}
-		if x, ok := fed.f[test.expectedNameZone[0]]; !ok {
-			t.Errorf("Test %v: Expected name for %s, got nothing", i, test.expectedNameZone[0])
-		} else {
-			if x != test.expectedNameZone[1] {
-				t.Errorf("Test %v: Expected zone: %s, got %s", i, test.expectedNameZone[1], x)
-			}
-		}
-	}
-}
diff --git a/plugin/kubernetes/federation.go b/plugin/kubernetes/federation.go
deleted file mode 100644
index bf169b911..000000000
--- a/plugin/kubernetes/federation.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,51 +0,0 @@
-package kubernetes
-
-import (
-	"errors"
-
-	"github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin/etcd/msg"
-	"github.com/coredns/coredns/plugin/pkg/dnsutil"
-	"github.com/coredns/coredns/request"
-)
-
-// The federation node.Labels keys used.
-const (
-	// TODO: Do not hardcode these labels. Pull them out of the API instead.
-	//
-	// We can get them via ....
-	//   import metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
-	//     metav1.LabelZoneFailureDomain
-	//     metav1.LabelZoneRegion
-	//
-	// But importing above breaks coredns with flag collision of 'log_dir'
-
-	LabelZone   = "failure-domain.beta.kubernetes.io/zone"
-	LabelRegion = "failure-domain.beta.kubernetes.io/region"
-)
-
-// Federations is used from the federations plugin to return the service that should be
-// returned as a CNAME for federation(s) to work.
-func (k *Kubernetes) Federations(state request.Request, fname, fzone string) (msg.Service, error) {
-	nodeName := k.localNodeName()
-	node, err := k.APIConn.GetNodeByName(nodeName)
-	if err != nil {
-		return msg.Service{}, err
-	}
-	r, err := parseRequest(state)
-	if err != nil {
-		return msg.Service{}, err
-	}
-
-	lz := node.Labels[LabelZone]
-	lr := node.Labels[LabelRegion]
-
-	if lz == "" || lr == "" {
-		return msg.Service{}, errors.New("local node missing zone/region labels")
-	}
-
-	if r.endpoint == "" {
-		return msg.Service{Host: dnsutil.Join(r.service, r.namespace, fname, r.podOrSvc, lz, lr, fzone)}, nil
-	}
-
-	return msg.Service{Host: dnsutil.Join(r.endpoint, r.service, r.namespace, fname, r.podOrSvc, lz, lr, fzone)}, nil
-}
diff --git a/plugin/kubernetes/local.go b/plugin/kubernetes/local.go
index e15fec497..c5918a306 100644
--- a/plugin/kubernetes/local.go
+++ b/plugin/kubernetes/local.go
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@ func localPodIP() net.IP {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (k *Kubernetes) localNodeName() string {
+// LocalNodeName is exclusively used in federation plugin, will be deprecated later.
+func (k *Kubernetes) LocalNodeName() string {
 	localIP := k.interfaceAddrsFunc()
 	if localIP == nil {
 		return ""