diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 6d419b24d4..36751a713d 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ install:
   - ./gradlew assemble generateTestProto install
   - pushd examples && ./gradlew build && popd
   - pushd examples && mvn verify && popd
+  - pushd examples/example-alts && ./gradlew build && popd
   - pushd examples/example-kotlin && ./gradlew build && popd
 
 before_script:
diff --git a/examples/build.gradle b/examples/build.gradle
index 71716901d3..5dc5912c8b 100644
--- a/examples/build.gradle
+++ b/examples/build.gradle
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ def protocVersion = '3.5.1-1'
 
 dependencies {
     implementation "com.google.api.grpc:proto-google-common-protos:1.0.0"
-    implementation "io.grpc:grpc-alts:${grpcVersion}"
     implementation "io.grpc:grpc-netty-shaded:${grpcVersion}"
     implementation "io.grpc:grpc-protobuf:${grpcVersion}"
     implementation "io.grpc:grpc-stub:${grpcVersion}"
@@ -96,20 +95,6 @@ task helloWorldClient(type: CreateStartScripts) {
     classpath = startScripts.classpath
 }
 
-task helloWorldAltsServer(type: CreateStartScripts) {
-    mainClassName = 'io.grpc.examples.alts.HelloWorldAltsServer'
-    applicationName = 'hello-world-alts-server'
-    outputDir = new File(project.buildDir, 'tmp')
-    classpath = startScripts.classpath
-}
-
-task helloWorldAltsClient(type: CreateStartScripts) {
-    mainClassName = 'io.grpc.examples.alts.HelloWorldAltsClient'
-    applicationName = 'hello-world-alts-client'
-    outputDir = new File(project.buildDir, 'tmp')
-    classpath = startScripts.classpath
-}
-
 task helloWorldTlsServer(type: CreateStartScripts) {
     mainClassName = 'io.grpc.examples.helloworldtls.HelloWorldServerTls'
     applicationName = 'hello-world-tls-server'
@@ -136,8 +121,6 @@ applicationDistribution.into('bin') {
     from(routeGuideClient)
     from(helloWorldServer)
     from(helloWorldClient)
-    from(helloWorldAltsServer)
-    from(helloWorldAltsClient)
     from(helloWorldTlsServer)
     from(helloWorldTlsClient)
     from(compressingHelloWorldClient)
diff --git a/examples/example-alts/build.gradle b/examples/example-alts/build.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..625f4568ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/example-alts/build.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+plugins {
+    // Provide convenience executables for trying out the examples.
+    id 'application'
+    // ASSUMES GRADLE 2.12 OR HIGHER. Use plugin version 0.7.5 with earlier gradle versions
+    id 'com.google.protobuf' version '0.8.5'
+    // Generate IntelliJ IDEA's .idea & .iml project files
+    id 'idea'
+}
+
+repositories {
+    maven { // The google mirror is less flaky than mavenCentral()
+        url "https://maven-central.storage-download.googleapis.com/repos/central/data/"
+    }
+    mavenLocal()
+}
+
+sourceCompatibility = 1.7
+targetCompatibility = 1.7
+
+// IMPORTANT: You probably want the non-SNAPSHOT version of gRPC. Make sure you
+// are looking at a tagged version of the example and not "master"!
+
+// Feel free to delete the comment at the next line. It is just for safely
+// updating the version in our release process.
+def grpcVersion = '1.18.0-SNAPSHOT' // CURRENT_GRPC_VERSION
+def protocVersion = '3.5.1-1'
+
+dependencies {
+    implementation "io.grpc:grpc-alts:${grpcVersion}"
+    implementation "io.grpc:grpc-netty-shaded:${grpcVersion}"
+    implementation "io.grpc:grpc-protobuf:${grpcVersion}"
+    implementation "io.grpc:grpc-stub:${grpcVersion}"
+    compileOnly "javax.annotation:javax.annotation-api:1.2"
+}
+
+protobuf {
+    protoc { artifact = "com.google.protobuf:protoc:${protocVersion}" }
+    plugins {
+        grpc { artifact = "io.grpc:protoc-gen-grpc-java:${grpcVersion}" }
+    }
+    generateProtoTasks {
+        all()*.plugins { grpc {} }
+    }
+}
+
+// Inform IDEs like IntelliJ IDEA, Eclipse or NetBeans about the generated code.
+sourceSets {
+    main {
+        java {
+            srcDirs 'build/generated/source/proto/main/grpc'
+            srcDirs 'build/generated/source/proto/main/java'
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+startScripts.enabled = false
+
+
+task helloWorldAltsServer(type: CreateStartScripts) {
+    mainClassName = 'io.grpc.examples.alts.HelloWorldAltsServer'
+    applicationName = 'hello-world-alts-server'
+    outputDir = new File(project.buildDir, 'tmp')
+    classpath = startScripts.classpath
+}
+
+task helloWorldAltsClient(type: CreateStartScripts) {
+    mainClassName = 'io.grpc.examples.alts.HelloWorldAltsClient'
+    applicationName = 'hello-world-alts-client'
+    outputDir = new File(project.buildDir, 'tmp')
+    classpath = startScripts.classpath
+}
+
+applicationDistribution.into('bin') {
+    from(helloWorldAltsServer)
+    from(helloWorldAltsClient)
+    fileMode = 0755
+}
diff --git a/examples/example-alts/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar b/examples/example-alts/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0d4a951687
Binary files /dev/null and b/examples/example-alts/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar differ
diff --git a/examples/example-alts/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties b/examples/example-alts/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a95009c3b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/example-alts/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+distributionBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
+distributionPath=wrapper/dists
+distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-4.9-bin.zip
+zipStoreBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
+zipStorePath=wrapper/dists
diff --git a/examples/example-alts/gradlew b/examples/example-alts/gradlew
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..cccdd3d517
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/example-alts/gradlew
@@ -0,0 +1,172 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env sh
+
+##############################################################################
+##
+##  Gradle start up script for UN*X
+##
+##############################################################################
+
+# Attempt to set APP_HOME
+# Resolve links: $0 may be a link
+PRG="$0"
+# Need this for relative symlinks.
+while [ -h "$PRG" ] ; do
+    ls=`ls -ld "$PRG"`
+    link=`expr "$ls" : '.*-> \(.*\)$'`
+    if expr "$link" : '/.*' > /dev/null; then
+        PRG="$link"
+    else
+        PRG=`dirname "$PRG"`"/$link"
+    fi
+done
+SAVED="`pwd`"
+cd "`dirname \"$PRG\"`/" >/dev/null
+APP_HOME="`pwd -P`"
+cd "$SAVED" >/dev/null
+
+APP_NAME="Gradle"
+APP_BASE_NAME=`basename "$0"`
+
+# Add default JVM options here. You can also use JAVA_OPTS and GRADLE_OPTS to pass JVM options to this script.
+DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS=""
+
+# Use the maximum available, or set MAX_FD != -1 to use that value.
+MAX_FD="maximum"
+
+warn () {
+    echo "$*"
+}
+
+die () {
+    echo
+    echo "$*"
+    echo
+    exit 1
+}
+
+# OS specific support (must be 'true' or 'false').
+cygwin=false
+msys=false
+darwin=false
+nonstop=false
+case "`uname`" in
+  CYGWIN* )
+    cygwin=true
+    ;;
+  Darwin* )
+    darwin=true
+    ;;
+  MINGW* )
+    msys=true
+    ;;
+  NONSTOP* )
+    nonstop=true
+    ;;
+esac
+
+CLASSPATH=$APP_HOME/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar
+
+# Determine the Java command to use to start the JVM.
+if [ -n "$JAVA_HOME" ] ; then
+    if [ -x "$JAVA_HOME/jre/sh/java" ] ; then
+        # IBM's JDK on AIX uses strange locations for the executables
+        JAVACMD="$JAVA_HOME/jre/sh/java"
+    else
+        JAVACMD="$JAVA_HOME/bin/java"
+    fi
+    if [ ! -x "$JAVACMD" ] ; then
+        die "ERROR: JAVA_HOME is set to an invalid directory: $JAVA_HOME
+
+Please set the JAVA_HOME variable in your environment to match the
+location of your Java installation."
+    fi
+else
+    JAVACMD="java"
+    which java >/dev/null 2>&1 || die "ERROR: JAVA_HOME is not set and no 'java' command could be found in your PATH.
+
+Please set the JAVA_HOME variable in your environment to match the
+location of your Java installation."
+fi
+
+# Increase the maximum file descriptors if we can.
+if [ "$cygwin" = "false" -a "$darwin" = "false" -a "$nonstop" = "false" ] ; then
+    MAX_FD_LIMIT=`ulimit -H -n`
+    if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then
+        if [ "$MAX_FD" = "maximum" -o "$MAX_FD" = "max" ] ; then
+            MAX_FD="$MAX_FD_LIMIT"
+        fi
+        ulimit -n $MAX_FD
+        if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
+            warn "Could not set maximum file descriptor limit: $MAX_FD"
+        fi
+    else
+        warn "Could not query maximum file descriptor limit: $MAX_FD_LIMIT"
+    fi
+fi
+
+# For Darwin, add options to specify how the application appears in the dock
+if $darwin; then
+    GRADLE_OPTS="$GRADLE_OPTS \"-Xdock:name=$APP_NAME\" \"-Xdock:icon=$APP_HOME/media/gradle.icns\""
+fi
+
+# For Cygwin, switch paths to Windows format before running java
+if $cygwin ; then
+    APP_HOME=`cygpath --path --mixed "$APP_HOME"`
+    CLASSPATH=`cygpath --path --mixed "$CLASSPATH"`
+    JAVACMD=`cygpath --unix "$JAVACMD"`
+
+    # We build the pattern for arguments to be converted via cygpath
+    ROOTDIRSRAW=`find -L / -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -type d 2>/dev/null`
+    SEP=""
+    for dir in $ROOTDIRSRAW ; do
+        ROOTDIRS="$ROOTDIRS$SEP$dir"
+        SEP="|"
+    done
+    OURCYGPATTERN="(^($ROOTDIRS))"
+    # Add a user-defined pattern to the cygpath arguments
+    if [ "$GRADLE_CYGPATTERN" != "" ] ; then
+        OURCYGPATTERN="$OURCYGPATTERN|($GRADLE_CYGPATTERN)"
+    fi
+    # Now convert the arguments - kludge to limit ourselves to /bin/sh
+    i=0
+    for arg in "$@" ; do
+        CHECK=`echo "$arg"|egrep -c "$OURCYGPATTERN" -`
+        CHECK2=`echo "$arg"|egrep -c "^-"`                                 ### Determine if an option
+
+        if [ $CHECK -ne 0 ] && [ $CHECK2 -eq 0 ] ; then                    ### Added a condition
+            eval `echo args$i`=`cygpath --path --ignore --mixed "$arg"`
+        else
+            eval `echo args$i`="\"$arg\""
+        fi
+        i=$((i+1))
+    done
+    case $i in
+        (0) set -- ;;
+        (1) set -- "$args0" ;;
+        (2) set -- "$args0" "$args1" ;;
+        (3) set -- "$args0" "$args1" "$args2" ;;
+        (4) set -- "$args0" "$args1" "$args2" "$args3" ;;
+        (5) set -- "$args0" "$args1" "$args2" "$args3" "$args4" ;;
+        (6) set -- "$args0" "$args1" "$args2" "$args3" "$args4" "$args5" ;;
+        (7) set -- "$args0" "$args1" "$args2" "$args3" "$args4" "$args5" "$args6" ;;
+        (8) set -- "$args0" "$args1" "$args2" "$args3" "$args4" "$args5" "$args6" "$args7" ;;
+        (9) set -- "$args0" "$args1" "$args2" "$args3" "$args4" "$args5" "$args6" "$args7" "$args8" ;;
+    esac
+fi
+
+# Escape application args
+save () {
+    for i do printf %s\\n "$i" | sed "s/'/'\\\\''/g;1s/^/'/;\$s/\$/' \\\\/" ; done
+    echo " "
+}
+APP_ARGS=$(save "$@")
+
+# Collect all arguments for the java command, following the shell quoting and substitution rules
+eval set -- $DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS $JAVA_OPTS $GRADLE_OPTS "\"-Dorg.gradle.appname=$APP_BASE_NAME\"" -classpath "\"$CLASSPATH\"" org.gradle.wrapper.GradleWrapperMain "$APP_ARGS"
+
+# by default we should be in the correct project dir, but when run from Finder on Mac, the cwd is wrong
+if [ "$(uname)" = "Darwin" ] && [ "$HOME" = "$PWD" ]; then
+  cd "$(dirname "$0")"
+fi
+
+exec "$JAVACMD" "$@"
diff --git a/examples/example-alts/gradlew.bat b/examples/example-alts/gradlew.bat
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e95643d6a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/example-alts/gradlew.bat
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+@if "%DEBUG%" == "" @echo off
+@rem ##########################################################################
+@rem
+@rem  Gradle startup script for Windows
+@rem
+@rem ##########################################################################
+
+@rem Set local scope for the variables with windows NT shell
+if "%OS%"=="Windows_NT" setlocal
+
+set DIRNAME=%~dp0
+if "%DIRNAME%" == "" set DIRNAME=.
+set APP_BASE_NAME=%~n0
+set APP_HOME=%DIRNAME%
+
+@rem Add default JVM options here. You can also use JAVA_OPTS and GRADLE_OPTS to pass JVM options to this script.
+set DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS=
+
+@rem Find java.exe
+if defined JAVA_HOME goto findJavaFromJavaHome
+
+set JAVA_EXE=java.exe
+%JAVA_EXE% -version >NUL 2>&1
+if "%ERRORLEVEL%" == "0" goto init
+
+echo.
+echo ERROR: JAVA_HOME is not set and no 'java' command could be found in your PATH.
+echo.
+echo Please set the JAVA_HOME variable in your environment to match the
+echo location of your Java installation.
+
+goto fail
+
+:findJavaFromJavaHome
+set JAVA_HOME=%JAVA_HOME:"=%
+set JAVA_EXE=%JAVA_HOME%/bin/java.exe
+
+if exist "%JAVA_EXE%" goto init
+
+echo.
+echo ERROR: JAVA_HOME is set to an invalid directory: %JAVA_HOME%
+echo.
+echo Please set the JAVA_HOME variable in your environment to match the
+echo location of your Java installation.
+
+goto fail
+
+:init
+@rem Get command-line arguments, handling Windows variants
+
+if not "%OS%" == "Windows_NT" goto win9xME_args
+
+:win9xME_args
+@rem Slurp the command line arguments.
+set CMD_LINE_ARGS=
+set _SKIP=2
+
+:win9xME_args_slurp
+if "x%~1" == "x" goto execute
+
+set CMD_LINE_ARGS=%*
+
+:execute
+@rem Setup the command line
+
+set CLASSPATH=%APP_HOME%\gradle\wrapper\gradle-wrapper.jar
+
+@rem Execute Gradle
+"%JAVA_EXE%" %DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS% %JAVA_OPTS% %GRADLE_OPTS% "-Dorg.gradle.appname=%APP_BASE_NAME%" -classpath "%CLASSPATH%" org.gradle.wrapper.GradleWrapperMain %CMD_LINE_ARGS%
+
+:end
+@rem End local scope for the variables with windows NT shell
+if "%ERRORLEVEL%"=="0" goto mainEnd
+
+:fail
+rem Set variable GRADLE_EXIT_CONSOLE if you need the _script_ return code instead of
+rem the _cmd.exe /c_ return code!
+if  not "" == "%GRADLE_EXIT_CONSOLE%" exit 1
+exit /b 1
+
+:mainEnd
+if "%OS%"=="Windows_NT" endlocal
+
+:omega
diff --git a/examples/example-alts/settings.gradle b/examples/example-alts/settings.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..59ef05d47d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/example-alts/settings.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+pluginManagement {
+    repositories {
+        maven { // The google mirror is less flaky than mavenCentral()
+            url "https://maven-central.storage-download.googleapis.com/repos/central/data/"
+        }
+        gradlePluginPortal()
+    }
+}
diff --git a/examples/src/main/java/io/grpc/examples/alts/HelloWorldAltsClient.java b/examples/example-alts/src/main/java/io/grpc/examples/alts/HelloWorldAltsClient.java
similarity index 100%
rename from examples/src/main/java/io/grpc/examples/alts/HelloWorldAltsClient.java
rename to examples/example-alts/src/main/java/io/grpc/examples/alts/HelloWorldAltsClient.java
diff --git a/examples/src/main/java/io/grpc/examples/alts/HelloWorldAltsServer.java b/examples/example-alts/src/main/java/io/grpc/examples/alts/HelloWorldAltsServer.java
similarity index 100%
rename from examples/src/main/java/io/grpc/examples/alts/HelloWorldAltsServer.java
rename to examples/example-alts/src/main/java/io/grpc/examples/alts/HelloWorldAltsServer.java
diff --git a/examples/example-alts/src/main/proto/helloworld/helloworld.proto b/examples/example-alts/src/main/proto/helloworld/helloworld.proto
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c60d9416f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/example-alts/src/main/proto/helloworld/helloworld.proto
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+// Copyright 2015 The gRPC Authors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+syntax = "proto3";
+
+option java_multiple_files = true;
+option java_package = "io.grpc.examples.helloworld";
+option java_outer_classname = "HelloWorldProto";
+option objc_class_prefix = "HLW";
+
+package helloworld;
+
+// The greeting service definition.
+service Greeter {
+  // Sends a greeting
+  rpc SayHello (HelloRequest) returns (HelloReply) {}
+}
+
+// The request message containing the user's name.
+message HelloRequest {
+  string name = 1;
+}
+
+// The response message containing the greetings
+message HelloReply {
+  string message = 1;
+}