diff --git a/HLTrigger/Configuration/python/Tools/confdb.py b/HLTrigger/Configuration/python/Tools/confdb.py
index efb5e31651f84..62bc7aa87ac60 100755
--- a/HLTrigger/Configuration/python/Tools/confdb.py
+++ b/HLTrigger/Configuration/python/Tools/confdb.py
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ def __init__(self, configuration):
 
     # get the configuration from ConfdB
     from confdbOfflineConverter import OfflineConverter
-    self.converter = OfflineConverter(database = self.config.menu.db)
+    self.converter = OfflineConverter(version = self.config.menu.version, database = self.config.menu.database)
     self.buildPathList()
     self.buildOptions()
     self.getRawConfigurationFromDB()
@@ -74,10 +74,8 @@ def getRawConfigurationFromDB(self):
 
     data, err = self.converter.query( *args )
     if 'ERROR' in err or 'Exhausted Resultset' in err or 'CONFIG_NOT_FOUND' in err:
-        print "%s: error while retriving the HLT menu" % os.path.basename(sys.argv[0])
-        print
-        print err
-        print
+        sys.stderr.write("%s: error while retrieving the HLT menu\n\n" % os.path.basename(sys.argv[0]))
+        sys.stderr.write(err + "\n\n")
         sys.exit(1)
     self.data = data
 
@@ -98,10 +96,8 @@ def getPathList(self):
 
     data, err = self.converter.query( *args )
     if 'ERROR' in err or 'Exhausted Resultset' in err or 'CONFIG_NOT_FOUND' in err:
-        print "%s: error while retriving the list of paths from the HLT menu" % os.path.basename(sys.argv[0])
-        print
-        print err
-        print
+        sys.stderr.write("%s: error while retrieving the list of paths from the HLT menu\n\n" % os.path.basename(sys.argv[0]))
+        sys.stderr.write(err + "\n\n")
         sys.exit(1)
     filter = re.compile(r' *= *cms.(End)?Path.*')
     paths  = [ filter.sub('', line) for line in data.splitlines() if filter.search(line) ]
diff --git a/HLTrigger/Configuration/python/Tools/options.py b/HLTrigger/Configuration/python/Tools/options.py
index 000aa57c90975..e7fa96aa68f12 100644
--- a/HLTrigger/Configuration/python/Tools/options.py
+++ b/HLTrigger/Configuration/python/Tools/options.py
@@ -50,28 +50,64 @@ def __init__(self, value):
 
 # type used to store a reference to an HLT configuration
 class ConnectionHLTMenu(object):
+  valid_versions  = 'v1', 'v2'
+  valid_databases = 'online', 'offline', 'adg'
+  compatibility   = { 'hltdev': ('v1', 'offline'), 'orcoff': ('v2', 'adg') }
+
   def __init__(self, value):
-    self.value = value
-    self.db    = None
-    self.name  = None
-    self.run   = None
+    self.version    = None
+    self.database   = None
+    self.name       = None
+    self.run        = None
 
-    # extract the database and configuration name
-    if value:
-      if ':' in self.value:
-        (db, name) = self.value.split(':')
-        if db == 'run':
-          self.db   = 'orcoff'
-          self.run  = name
-        elif db in ('hltdev', 'orcoff'):
-          self.db   = db
-          self.name = name
-        else:
-          raise Exception('Unknown ConfDB database "%s", valid values are "hltdev" (default) and "orcoff")' % db)
-      else:
-        self.db   = 'hltdev'
-        self.name = self.value
+    if not value:
+      return
 
+    if not ':' in value:
+      # default to 'v1/offline'
+      self.version    = 'v1'
+      self.database   = 'offline'
+      self.name       = value
+      return
+
+    # extract the version, database and configuration name
+    tokens = value.split(':')
+    if len(tokens) != 2:
+      raise Exception('Invalid HLT menu specification "%s"' % value)
+    (db, name) = tokens
+    # check if the menu should be automatically determined based on the run number
+    if db == 'run':
+      self.version  = 'v1'
+      self.database = 'adg'
+      self.run      = name
+    # check for backward compatibility names
+    elif db in self.compatibility:
+      self.version, self.database = self.compatibility[db]
+      self.name = name
+    else:
+      if '/' in db:
+        # extract the version and database
+        tokens = db.split('/')
+        if len(tokens) != 2:
+          raise Exception('Invalid HLT menu specification "%s"' % value)
+        (v, db) = tokens
+        if v not in self.valid_versions:
+          raise Exception('Invalid HLT database version "%s", valid values are "%s"' % (v, '", "'.join(self.valid_versions)))
+        if db not in self.valid_databases:
+          raise Exception('Invalid HLT database "%s", valid values are "%s"' % (db, '", "'.join(self.valid_databases)))
+        self.version  = v
+        self.database = db
+        self.name     = name
+      else:
+        # use the default version for the given database
+        if db not in self.valid_databases:
+          raise Exception('Invalid HLT database "%s", valid values are "%s"' % (db, '", "'.join(self.valid_databases)))
+        self.database = db
+        if db == 'offline' :
+          self.version  = 'v1'
+        else:
+          self.version  = 'v2'
+        self.name     = name
 
 # options marked with a (*) only apply when creating a whole process configuration
 class HLTProcessOptions(object):