Create or modify a policy

Last published : Sep 24, 2026
All policies have some common elements. Creating a policy consists, at minimum, of naming the policy and configuring a rule. The policy configuration tools for the various features have areas of overlap, but also differences. For the details of configuring a policy for a particular feature, including associating an action with the policy, see the documentation for the feature.
To create a policy, begin by determining the purpose of the policy. For example, you may want to define a policy that identifies HTTP requests for image files, or client requests that contain an SSL certificate. In addition to knowing the type of information that you want the policy to work with, you need to know the format of the data that the policy is analyzing.
Next, determine whether the policy is globally applicable, or if it pertains to a particular virtual server. Also consider the effect that the order in which your policies are evaluated (which will be determined by how you bind the policies) will have on the policy that you are about to configure.

Create a policy by using the CLI

At the command prompt, type the following commands to create a policy and verify the configuration:
-  add responder|dns|cs|rewrite|cache policy <policyName> -rule <expression> [<feature-specific information>]  

-  show rewrite policy <name>  
Example 1:
add rewrite policy "pol_remove-ae" true "act_remove-ae"
Done
> show rewrite policy pol_remove-ae
            Name: pol_remove-ae
            Rule: true
            RewriteAction: act_remove-ae
            UndefAction: Use Global
            Hits: 0
            Undef Hits: 0
            Bound to: GLOBAL RES_OVERRIDE
            Priority: 90
            GotoPriorityExpression: END
Done
Example 2:
add cache policy BranchReportsCachePolicy -rule q{http.req.url.query.value("actionoverride").contains("branchReport s")} -action cache
Done
show cache policy BranchReportsCachePolicy
            Name: BranchReportsCachePolicy
            Rule: http.req.url.query.value("actionoverride").contains("branchReports")
            CacheAction: CACHE
            Stored in group: DEFAULT
            UndefAction: Use Global
            Hits: 0
            Undef Hits: 0
Done
Note: At the command line, quote marks within a policy rule (the expression) must be escaped or delimited with the q delimiter.

Create or modify a policy by using the GUI

  1. In the navigation pane, expand the name of the feature for which you want to configure a policy, and then click Policies. For example, you can select Content Switching, Integrated Caching, DNS, Rewrite, or Responder.
  2. In the details pane, click Add, or select an existing policy and click Open. A policy configuration dialog box appears.
  3. Specify values for the following parameters. (An asterisk indicates a required parameter. For a term in parentheses, see the corresponding parameter in "Parameters for creating or modifying a policy.")
  4. Click Create, and then click Close.
  5. Click Save. A policy is added. Note: After you create a policy, you can view the policy’s details by clicking the policy entry in the configuration pane. Details that are highlighted and underlined are links to the corresponding entity (for example, a named expression).