diff --git a/extensions/guacamole-auth-mysql/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/guacamole/net/auth/mysql/ConnectionGroupDirectory.java b/extensions/guacamole-auth-mysql/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/guacamole/net/auth/mysql/ConnectionGroupDirectory.java
index 035c02bf8..2c3144142 100644
--- a/extensions/guacamole-auth-mysql/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/guacamole/net/auth/mysql/ConnectionGroupDirectory.java
+++ b/extensions/guacamole-auth-mysql/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/guacamole/net/auth/mysql/ConnectionGroupDirectory.java
@@ -42,11 +42,13 @@ import java.util.Set;
 import net.sourceforge.guacamole.GuacamoleClientException;
 import net.sourceforge.guacamole.GuacamoleException;
 import net.sourceforge.guacamole.net.auth.ConnectionGroup;
+import net.sourceforge.guacamole.net.auth.ConnectionGroup.Type;
 import net.sourceforge.guacamole.net.auth.Directory;
 import net.sourceforge.guacamole.net.auth.mysql.dao.ConnectionGroupPermissionMapper;
 import net.sourceforge.guacamole.net.auth.mysql.model.ConnectionGroupPermissionKey;
 import net.sourceforge.guacamole.net.auth.mysql.service.ConnectionGroupService;
 import net.sourceforge.guacamole.net.auth.mysql.service.PermissionCheckService;
+import net.sourceforge.guacamole.net.auth.permission.ObjectPermission;
 import org.mybatis.guice.transactional.Transactional;
 
 /**
@@ -142,6 +144,10 @@ public class ConnectionGroupDirectory implements Directory<String, ConnectionGro
         if(name.isEmpty())
             throw new GuacamoleClientException("The connection group name cannot be blank.");
         
+        Type type = object.getType();
+        
+        String mySQLType = MySQLConstants.getConnectionGroupTypeConstant(type);
+        
         // Verify permission to create
         permissionCheckService.verifySystemAccess(this.user_id,
                 MySQLConstants.SYSTEM_CONNECTION_GROUP_CREATE);
@@ -162,7 +168,7 @@ public class ConnectionGroupDirectory implements Directory<String, ConnectionGro
 
         // Create connection group
         MySQLConnectionGroup connectionGroup = connectionGroupService
-                .createConnectionGroup(name, user_id, parentID);
+                .createConnectionGroup(name, user_id, parentID, mySQLType);
 
         // Finally, give the current user full access to the newly created
         // connection group.
diff --git a/extensions/guacamole-auth-mysql/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/guacamole/net/auth/mysql/MySQLConstants.java b/extensions/guacamole-auth-mysql/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/guacamole/net/auth/mysql/MySQLConstants.java
index 87e013595..09aa8a7ef 100644
--- a/extensions/guacamole-auth-mysql/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/guacamole/net/auth/mysql/MySQLConstants.java
+++ b/extensions/guacamole-auth-mysql/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/guacamole/net/auth/mysql/MySQLConstants.java
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 
 package net.sourceforge.guacamole.net.auth.mysql;
 
+import net.sourceforge.guacamole.net.auth.ConnectionGroup;
 import net.sourceforge.guacamole.net.auth.permission.ObjectPermission;
 import net.sourceforge.guacamole.net.auth.permission.SystemPermission;
 
@@ -231,6 +232,27 @@ public final class MySQLConstants {
 
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Given the type of a connection group, returns the MySQL constant
+     * representing that type.
+     *
+     * @param type The connection group type to look up.
+     * @return The MySQL constant corresponding to the given type.
+     */
+    public static String getConnectionGroupTypeConstant(ConnectionGroup.Type type) {
+
+        // Convert permission type to MySQL constant
+        switch (type) {
+            case ORGANIZATIONAL: return CONNECTION_GROUP_ORGANIZATIONAL;
+            case BALANCING:      return CONNECTION_GROUP_BALANCING;
+        }
+
+        // If we get here, permission support was not properly implemented
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException(
+            "Unsupported connection group type: " + type);
+
+    }
+
     /**
      * Given the type of a permission affecting the system, returns the MySQL
      * constant representing that permission type.
diff --git a/extensions/guacamole-auth-mysql/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/guacamole/net/auth/mysql/service/ConnectionGroupService.java b/extensions/guacamole-auth-mysql/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/guacamole/net/auth/mysql/service/ConnectionGroupService.java
index 2c1848b9e..224a28d82 100644
--- a/extensions/guacamole-auth-mysql/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/guacamole/net/auth/mysql/service/ConnectionGroupService.java
+++ b/extensions/guacamole-auth-mysql/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/guacamole/net/auth/mysql/service/ConnectionGroupService.java
@@ -134,15 +134,19 @@ public class ConnectionGroupService {
      * @return The connection group having the given unique identifier, 
      *         or null if no such connection group was found.
      */
-    public MySQLConnectionGroup retrieveConnectionGroup(String uniqueIdentifier, int userID) {
+    public MySQLConnectionGroup retrieveConnectionGroup(String uniqueIdentifier, 
+            int userID) throws GuacamoleException {
 
         // The unique identifier for a MySQLConnectionGroup is the database ID
-        int connectionGroupID;
-        try {
-            connectionGroupID = Integer.parseInt(uniqueIdentifier);
-        } catch(NumberFormatException e) {
-            // Invalid number means it can't be a DB record; not found
-            return null;
+        Integer connectionGroupID = null;
+        
+        // Try to parse the connectionID if it's not the root group
+        if(!MySQLConstants.CONNECTION_GROUP_ROOT_IDENTIFIER.equals(uniqueIdentifier)) {
+            try {
+                connectionGroupID = Integer.parseInt(uniqueIdentifier);
+            } catch(NumberFormatException e) {
+                throw new GuacamoleException("Invalid connection group ID.");
+            }
         }
         
         return retrieveConnectionGroup(connectionGroupID, userID);
@@ -156,8 +160,20 @@ public class ConnectionGroupService {
      * @return The connection group having the given ID, or null if no such
      *         connection was found.
      */
-    public MySQLConnectionGroup retrieveConnectionGroup(int id, int userID) {
+    public MySQLConnectionGroup retrieveConnectionGroup(Integer id, int userID) {
 
+        // This is the root connection group, so just create it here
+        if(id == null) {
+            MySQLConnectionGroup connectionGroup = mysqlConnectionGroupProvider.get();
+            connectionGroup.init(null, null, 
+                    MySQLConstants.CONNECTION_GROUP_ROOT_IDENTIFIER, 
+                    MySQLConstants.CONNECTION_GROUP_ROOT_IDENTIFIER, 
+                    net.sourceforge.guacamole.net.auth.ConnectionGroup.Type.BALANCING, 
+                    userID);
+            
+            return connectionGroup;
+        }
+        
         // Query connection by ID
         ConnectionGroup connectionGroup = connectionGroupDAO.selectByPrimaryKey(id);
 
@@ -330,16 +346,18 @@ public class ConnectionGroupService {
      *
      * @param name The name to assign to the new connection group.
      * @param userID The ID of the user who created this connection group.
+     * @param Type The type of the new connection group.
      * @return A new MySQLConnectionGroup containing the data of the newly created
      *         connection group.
      */
     public MySQLConnectionGroup createConnectionGroup(String name, int userID, 
-            Integer parentID) {
+            Integer parentID, String type) {
 
         // Initialize database connection
         ConnectionGroup connectionGroup = new ConnectionGroup();
         connectionGroup.setConnection_group_name(name);
         connectionGroup.setParent_id(parentID);
+        connectionGroup.setType(type);
 
         // Create connection
         connectionGroupDAO.insert(connectionGroup);