diff --git a/api/tasks.go b/api/tasks.go
index 79ddbe685..dfed4e6e6 100644
--- a/api/tasks.go
+++ b/api/tasks.go
@@ -506,6 +506,7 @@ const (
 	TaskRestartSignal          = "Restart Signaled"
 	TaskLeaderDead             = "Leader Task Dead"
 	TaskBuildingTaskDir        = "Building Task Directory"
+	TaskGenericMessage         = "Generic"
 )
 
 // TaskEvent is an event that effects the state of a task and contains meta-data
@@ -533,4 +534,5 @@ type TaskEvent struct {
 	VaultError       string
 	TaskSignalReason string
 	TaskSignal       string
+	GenericSource    string
 }
diff --git a/client/alloc_runner.go b/client/alloc_runner.go
index 3171b9f20..6fc8b4076 100644
--- a/client/alloc_runner.go
+++ b/client/alloc_runner.go
@@ -622,7 +622,7 @@ func (r *AllocRunner) setStatus(status, desc string) {
 
 // setTaskState is used to set the status of a task. If state is empty then the
 // event is appended but not synced with the server. The event may be omitted
-func (r *AllocRunner) setTaskState(taskName, state string, event *structs.TaskEvent) {
+func (r *AllocRunner) setTaskState(taskName, state string, event *structs.TaskEvent, lazySync bool) {
 	r.taskStatusLock.Lock()
 	defer r.taskStatusLock.Unlock()
 	taskState, ok := r.taskStates[taskName]
@@ -643,10 +643,18 @@ func (r *AllocRunner) setTaskState(taskName, state string, event *structs.TaskEv
 		r.appendTaskEvent(taskState, event)
 	}
 
-	if state == "" {
+	if lazySync {
 		return
 	}
 
+	// If the state hasn't been set use the existing state.
+	if state == "" {
+		state = taskState.State
+		if taskState.State == "" {
+			state = structs.TaskStatePending
+		}
+	}
+
 	switch state {
 	case structs.TaskStateRunning:
 		// Capture the start time if it is just starting
diff --git a/client/consul_template.go b/client/consul_template.go
index 2a887c877..751b308fd 100644
--- a/client/consul_template.go
+++ b/client/consul_template.go
@@ -48,6 +48,9 @@ type TaskHooks interface {
 	// Kill is used to kill the task because of the passed error. If fail is set
 	// to true, the task is marked as failed
 	Kill(source, reason string, fail bool)
+
+	// EmitEvent is used to emit an event to be stored in the tasks events.
+	EmitEvent(source, message string)
 }
 
 // TaskTemplateManager is used to run a set of templates for a given task
diff --git a/client/consul_template_test.go b/client/consul_template_test.go
index d3ef17b73..d89385802 100644
--- a/client/consul_template_test.go
+++ b/client/consul_template_test.go
@@ -43,14 +43,18 @@ type MockTaskHooks struct {
 
 	KillReason string
 	KillCh     chan struct{}
+
+	Events      []string
+	EmitEventCh chan struct{}
 }
 
 func NewMockTaskHooks() *MockTaskHooks {
 	return &MockTaskHooks{
-		UnblockCh: make(chan struct{}, 1),
-		RestartCh: make(chan struct{}, 1),
-		SignalCh:  make(chan struct{}, 1),
-		KillCh:    make(chan struct{}, 1),
+		UnblockCh:   make(chan struct{}, 1),
+		RestartCh:   make(chan struct{}, 1),
+		SignalCh:    make(chan struct{}, 1),
+		KillCh:      make(chan struct{}, 1),
+		EmitEventCh: make(chan struct{}, 1),
 	}
 }
 func (m *MockTaskHooks) Restart(source, reason string) {
@@ -87,6 +91,14 @@ func (m *MockTaskHooks) UnblockStart(source string) {
 	m.Unblocked = true
 }
 
+func (m *MockTaskHooks) EmitEvent(source, message string) {
+	m.Events = append(m.Events, message)
+	select {
+	case m.EmitEventCh <- struct{}{}:
+	default:
+	}
+}
+
 // testHarness is used to test the TaskTemplateManager by spinning up
 // Consul/Vault as needed
 type testHarness struct {
diff --git a/client/task_runner.go b/client/task_runner.go
index 4e0ca6abd..97367e543 100644
--- a/client/task_runner.go
+++ b/client/task_runner.go
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ func (s *taskRunnerState) Hash() []byte {
 }
 
 // TaskStateUpdater is used to signal that tasks state has changed.
-type TaskStateUpdater func(taskName, state string, event *structs.TaskEvent)
+type TaskStateUpdater func(taskName, state string, event *structs.TaskEvent, lazySync bool)
 
 // SignalEvent is a tuple of the signal and the event generating it
 type SignalEvent struct {
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ func NewTaskRunner(logger *log.Logger, config *config.Config,
 
 // MarkReceived marks the task as received.
 func (r *TaskRunner) MarkReceived() {
-	r.updater(r.task.Name, structs.TaskStatePending, structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskReceived))
+	r.updater(r.task.Name, structs.TaskStatePending, structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskReceived), false)
 }
 
 // WaitCh returns a channel to wait for termination
@@ -498,14 +498,14 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) DestroyState() error {
 }
 
 // setState is used to update the state of the task runner
-func (r *TaskRunner) setState(state string, event *structs.TaskEvent) {
+func (r *TaskRunner) setState(state string, event *structs.TaskEvent, lazySync bool) {
 	// Persist our state to disk.
 	if err := r.SaveState(); err != nil {
 		r.logger.Printf("[ERR] client: failed to save state of Task Runner for task %q: %v", r.task.Name, err)
 	}
 
 	// Indicate the task has been updated.
-	r.updater(r.task.Name, state, event)
+	r.updater(r.task.Name, state, event, lazySync)
 }
 
 // createDriver makes a driver for the task
@@ -515,7 +515,7 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) createDriver() (driver.Driver, error) {
 	eventEmitter := func(m string, args ...interface{}) {
 		msg := fmt.Sprintf(m, args...)
 		r.logger.Printf("[DEBUG] client: driver event for alloc %q: %s", r.alloc.ID, msg)
-		r.setState(structs.TaskStatePending, structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskDriverMessage).SetDriverMessage(msg))
+		r.setState(structs.TaskStatePending, structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskDriverMessage).SetDriverMessage(msg), false)
 	}
 
 	driverCtx := driver.NewDriverContext(r.task.Name, r.alloc.ID, r.config, r.config.Node, r.logger, eventEmitter)
@@ -537,7 +537,8 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) Run() {
 	if err := r.validateTask(); err != nil {
 		r.setState(
 			structs.TaskStateDead,
-			structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskFailedValidation).SetValidationError(err).SetFailsTask())
+			structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskFailedValidation).SetValidationError(err).SetFailsTask(),
+			false)
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -549,7 +550,8 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) Run() {
 		e := fmt.Errorf("failed to create driver of task %q for alloc %q: %v", r.task.Name, r.alloc.ID, err)
 		r.setState(
 			structs.TaskStateDead,
-			structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskSetupFailure).SetSetupError(e).SetFailsTask())
+			structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskSetupFailure).SetSetupError(e).SetFailsTask(),
+			false)
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -560,7 +562,8 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) Run() {
 		e := fmt.Errorf("failed to build task directory for %q: %v", r.task.Name, err)
 		r.setState(
 			structs.TaskStateDead,
-			structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskSetupFailure).SetSetupError(e).SetFailsTask())
+			structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskSetupFailure).SetSetupError(e).SetFailsTask(),
+			false)
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -858,7 +861,9 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) updatedTokenHandler() {
 			r.config, r.vaultFuture.Get(), r.taskDir.Dir, r.envBuilder)
 		if err != nil {
 			err := fmt.Errorf("failed to build task's template manager: %v", err)
-			r.setState(structs.TaskStateDead, structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskSetupFailure).SetSetupError(err).SetFailsTask())
+			r.setState(structs.TaskStateDead,
+				structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskSetupFailure).SetSetupError(err).SetFailsTask(),
+				false)
 			r.logger.Printf("[ERR] client: alloc %q, task %q %v", r.alloc.ID, r.task.Name, err)
 			r.Kill("vault", err.Error(), true)
 			return
@@ -893,7 +898,8 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) prestart(alloc *structs.Allocation, task *structs.Task, res
 		if err != nil {
 			r.setState(
 				structs.TaskStateDead,
-				structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskSetupFailure).SetSetupError(err).SetFailsTask())
+				structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskSetupFailure).SetSetupError(err).SetFailsTask(),
+				false)
 			resultCh <- false
 			return
 		}
@@ -901,7 +907,8 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) prestart(alloc *structs.Allocation, task *structs.Task, res
 		if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(renderTo), 07777); err != nil {
 			r.setState(
 				structs.TaskStateDead,
-				structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskSetupFailure).SetSetupError(err).SetFailsTask())
+				structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskSetupFailure).SetSetupError(err).SetFailsTask(),
+				false)
 			resultCh <- false
 			return
 		}
@@ -909,7 +916,8 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) prestart(alloc *structs.Allocation, task *structs.Task, res
 		if err := ioutil.WriteFile(renderTo, decoded, 0777); err != nil {
 			r.setState(
 				structs.TaskStateDead,
-				structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskSetupFailure).SetSetupError(err).SetFailsTask())
+				structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskSetupFailure).SetSetupError(err).SetFailsTask(),
+				false)
 			resultCh <- false
 			return
 		}
@@ -924,14 +932,14 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) prestart(alloc *structs.Allocation, task *structs.Task, res
 
 		// Download the task's artifacts
 		if !downloaded && len(task.Artifacts) > 0 {
-			r.setState(structs.TaskStatePending, structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskDownloadingArtifacts))
+			r.setState(structs.TaskStatePending, structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskDownloadingArtifacts), false)
 			taskEnv := r.envBuilder.Build()
 			for _, artifact := range task.Artifacts {
 				if err := getter.GetArtifact(taskEnv, artifact, r.taskDir.Dir); err != nil {
 					wrapped := fmt.Errorf("failed to download artifact %q: %v", artifact.GetterSource, err)
 					r.logger.Printf("[DEBUG] client: %v", wrapped)
 					r.setState(structs.TaskStatePending,
-						structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskArtifactDownloadFailed).SetDownloadError(wrapped))
+						structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskArtifactDownloadFailed).SetDownloadError(wrapped), false)
 					r.restartTracker.SetStartError(structs.WrapRecoverable(wrapped.Error(), err))
 					goto RESTART
 				}
@@ -961,7 +969,7 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) prestart(alloc *structs.Allocation, task *structs.Task, res
 				r.config, r.vaultFuture.Get(), r.taskDir.Dir, r.envBuilder)
 			if err != nil {
 				err := fmt.Errorf("failed to build task's template manager: %v", err)
-				r.setState(structs.TaskStateDead, structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskSetupFailure).SetSetupError(err).SetFailsTask())
+				r.setState(structs.TaskStateDead, structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskSetupFailure).SetSetupError(err).SetFailsTask(), false)
 				r.logger.Printf("[ERR] client: alloc %q, task %q %v", alloc.ID, task.Name, err)
 				resultCh <- false
 				return
@@ -1032,7 +1040,7 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) run() {
 			case success := <-prestartResultCh:
 				if !success {
 					r.cleanup()
-					r.setState(structs.TaskStateDead, nil)
+					r.setState(structs.TaskStateDead, nil, false)
 					return
 				}
 			case <-r.startCh:
@@ -1044,12 +1052,12 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) run() {
 					startErr := r.startTask()
 					r.restartTracker.SetStartError(startErr)
 					if startErr != nil {
-						r.setState("", structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskDriverFailure).SetDriverError(startErr))
+						r.setState("", structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskDriverFailure).SetDriverError(startErr), true)
 						goto RESTART
 					}
 
 					// Mark the task as started
-					r.setState(structs.TaskStateRunning, structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskStarted))
+					r.setState(structs.TaskStateRunning, structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskStarted), false)
 					r.runningLock.Lock()
 					r.running = true
 					r.runningLock.Unlock()
@@ -1076,7 +1084,7 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) run() {
 
 				// Log whether the task was successful or not.
 				r.restartTracker.SetWaitResult(waitRes)
-				r.setState("", r.waitErrorToEvent(waitRes))
+				r.setState("", r.waitErrorToEvent(waitRes), true)
 				if !waitRes.Successful() {
 					r.logger.Printf("[INFO] client: task %q for alloc %q failed: %v", r.task.Name, r.alloc.ID, waitRes)
 				} else {
@@ -1102,7 +1110,7 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) run() {
 				}
 
 				r.logger.Printf("[DEBUG] client: sending %s", common)
-				r.setState(structs.TaskStateRunning, se.e)
+				r.setState(structs.TaskStateRunning, se.e, false)
 
 				res := r.handle.Signal(se.s)
 				se.result <- res
@@ -1118,7 +1126,7 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) run() {
 				}
 
 				r.logger.Printf("[DEBUG] client: restarting %s: %v", common, event.RestartReason)
-				r.setState(structs.TaskStateRunning, event)
+				r.setState(structs.TaskStateRunning, event, false)
 				r.killTask(nil)
 
 				close(stopCollection)
@@ -1138,7 +1146,7 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) run() {
 				r.runningLock.Unlock()
 				if !running {
 					r.cleanup()
-					r.setState(structs.TaskStateDead, r.destroyEvent)
+					r.setState(structs.TaskStateDead, r.destroyEvent, false)
 					return
 				}
 
@@ -1155,7 +1163,7 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) run() {
 					if r.destroyEvent.Type == structs.TaskKilling {
 						killEvent = r.destroyEvent
 					} else {
-						r.setState(structs.TaskStateRunning, r.destroyEvent)
+						r.setState(structs.TaskStateRunning, r.destroyEvent, false)
 					}
 				}
 
@@ -1166,7 +1174,7 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) run() {
 				<-handleWaitCh
 				r.cleanup()
 
-				r.setState(structs.TaskStateDead, nil)
+				r.setState(structs.TaskStateDead, nil, false)
 				return
 			}
 		}
@@ -1176,7 +1184,7 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) run() {
 		restart := r.shouldRestart()
 		if !restart {
 			r.cleanup()
-			r.setState(structs.TaskStateDead, nil)
+			r.setState(structs.TaskStateDead, nil, false)
 			return
 		}
 
@@ -1240,7 +1248,8 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) shouldRestart() bool {
 		if state == structs.TaskNotRestarting {
 			r.setState(structs.TaskStateDead,
 				structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskNotRestarting).
-					SetRestartReason(reason).SetFailsTask())
+					SetRestartReason(reason).SetFailsTask(),
+				false)
 		}
 		return false
 	case structs.TaskRestarting:
@@ -1248,7 +1257,8 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) shouldRestart() bool {
 		r.setState(structs.TaskStatePending,
 			structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskRestarting).
 				SetRestartDelay(when).
-				SetRestartReason(reason))
+				SetRestartReason(reason),
+			false)
 	default:
 		r.logger.Printf("[ERR] client: restart tracker returned unknown state: %q", state)
 		return false
@@ -1270,7 +1280,7 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) shouldRestart() bool {
 	r.destroyLock.Unlock()
 	if destroyed {
 		r.logger.Printf("[DEBUG] client: Not restarting task: %v because it has been destroyed", r.task.Name)
-		r.setState(structs.TaskStateDead, r.destroyEvent)
+		r.setState(structs.TaskStateDead, r.destroyEvent, false)
 		return false
 	}
 
@@ -1302,7 +1312,7 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) killTask(killingEvent *structs.TaskEvent) {
 	event.SetKillTimeout(timeout)
 
 	// Mark that we received the kill event
-	r.setState(structs.TaskStateRunning, event)
+	r.setState(structs.TaskStateRunning, event, false)
 
 	handle := r.getHandle()
 
@@ -1318,7 +1328,7 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) killTask(killingEvent *structs.TaskEvent) {
 	r.runningLock.Unlock()
 
 	// Store that the task has been destroyed and any associated error.
-	r.setState("", structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskKilled).SetKillError(err))
+	r.setState("", structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskKilled).SetKillError(err), true)
 }
 
 // startTask creates the driver, task dir, and starts the task.
@@ -1436,8 +1446,9 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) buildTaskDir(fsi cstructs.FSIsolation) error {
 	// and the task dir is already built. The reason we call Build again is to
 	// ensure that the task dir invariants are still held.
 	if !built {
-		r.setState(structs.TaskStatePending, structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskSetup).
-			SetMessage(structs.TaskBuildingTaskDir))
+		r.setState(structs.TaskStatePending,
+			structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskSetup).SetMessage(structs.TaskBuildingTaskDir),
+			false)
 	}
 
 	chroot := config.DefaultChrootEnv
@@ -1662,6 +1673,14 @@ func (r *TaskRunner) Kill(source, reason string, fail bool) {
 	r.Destroy(event)
 }
 
+func (r *TaskRunner) EmitEvent(source, message string) {
+	event := structs.NewTaskEvent(structs.TaskGenericMessage).
+		SetGenericSource(source).SetMessage(message)
+	r.setState("", event, false)
+	r.logger.Printf("[DEBUG] client: event from %q for task %q in alloc %q: %v",
+		source, r.task.Name, r.alloc.ID, message)
+}
+
 // UnblockStart unblocks the starting of the task. It currently assumes only
 // consul-template will unblock
 func (r *TaskRunner) UnblockStart(source string) {
diff --git a/client/task_runner_test.go b/client/task_runner_test.go
index 7e5f1151d..788556c81 100644
--- a/client/task_runner_test.go
+++ b/client/task_runner_test.go
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ type MockTaskStateUpdater struct {
 	events []*structs.TaskEvent
 }
 
-func (m *MockTaskStateUpdater) Update(name, state string, event *structs.TaskEvent) {
+func (m *MockTaskStateUpdater) Update(name, state string, event *structs.TaskEvent, _ bool) {
 	if state != "" {
 		m.state = state
 	}
diff --git a/command/alloc_status.go b/command/alloc_status.go
index 9094ee002..723029698 100644
--- a/command/alloc_status.go
+++ b/command/alloc_status.go
@@ -398,6 +398,9 @@ func (c *AllocStatusCommand) outputTaskStatus(state *api.TaskState) {
 			desc = event.DriverMessage
 		case api.TaskLeaderDead:
 			desc = "Leader Task in Group dead"
+		case api.TaskGenericMessage:
+			event.Type = event.GenericSource
+			desc = event.Message
 		}
 
 		// Reverse order so we are sorted by time
diff --git a/nomad/structs/structs.go b/nomad/structs/structs.go
index 134a81a4c..fdbcc2b1d 100644
--- a/nomad/structs/structs.go
+++ b/nomad/structs/structs.go
@@ -3539,6 +3539,9 @@ const (
 
 	// TaskLeaderDead indicates that the leader task within the has finished.
 	TaskLeaderDead = "Leader Task Dead"
+
+	// TaskGenericMessage is used by various subsystems to emit a message.
+	TaskGenericMessage = "Generic"
 )
 
 // TaskEvent is an event that effects the state of a task and contains meta-data
@@ -3600,6 +3603,9 @@ type TaskEvent struct {
 
 	// DriverMessage indicates a driver action being taken.
 	DriverMessage string
+
+	// GenericSource is the source of a message.
+	GenericSource string
 }
 
 func (te *TaskEvent) GoString() string {
@@ -3739,6 +3745,11 @@ func (e *TaskEvent) SetDriverMessage(m string) *TaskEvent {
 	return e
 }
 
+func (e *TaskEvent) SetGenericSource(s string) *TaskEvent {
+	e.GenericSource = s
+	return e
+}
+
 // TaskArtifact is an artifact to download before running the task.
 type TaskArtifact struct {
 	// GetterSource is the source to download an artifact using go-getter