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This page explains how to enable Policy Controller bundles.
For more detailed information about applying and using policy bundles, read the
instructions for the bundle that you want to apply using the left
navigation menu. For more information about policy bundles, see the
Policy Controller bundles overview.
If you installed Policy Controller using the Google Cloud console, the
policy essentials bundle
is installed by default, but you can enable more bundles.
Under the Settings tab, in the cluster table, select Editedit in the Edit configuration column.
In the Add/Edit policy bundles menu, ensure the template library is
toggled on.
To enable all policy bundles, toggle Add all policy bundles on
check_circle.
To enable individual policy bundles, toggle on each policy bundle that you
want to enable.
Optional: To exempt a namespace from enforcement, expand the Show
advanced settings menu. In the Exempt namespaces field, provide a list
of valid namespaces.
Best practice:
Exempt system namespaces to avoid errors in your environment. You can find the instructions to exempt namespaces
and a list of common namespaces created by Google Cloud services on the
Exclude namespaces page.
Select Save changes.
You can view additional information about your policy coverage and violations
using the Policy Controller dashboard.
gcloud
To apply a policy bundle, complete the following steps:
If any of the bundles that you're applying use referential constraints,
you must enable support for referential constraints:
Replace BUNDLE_NAME with the name of the bundle
that you want to install. The name is the bundle prefix, for example
cis-k8s-v1.5.1. You can find a list of names on the
Policy bundles overview.
Optional: To exempt a namespace from enforcement, run the following
command:
You can't modify policy bundles that are installed directly by using the instructions
on this page. If you're having issues with a policy bundle and need to make edits,
install the bundle by using one of the methods on the individual policy bundle's page.
These methods pull the policy bundle from a Git repository, which lets you make changes.
For example, if you want to edit the
CIS Kubernetes Benchmark 1.5, follow the instructions on
Use CIS Kubernetes Benchmark v1.5.1 policy constraints
instead of this page.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-25 UTC."],[],[],null,["# Apply multiple Policy Controller bundles\n\nThis page explains how to enable Policy Controller bundles.\n\nFor more detailed information about applying and using policy bundles, read the\ninstructions for the bundle that you want to apply using the left\nnavigation menu. For more information about policy bundles, see the\n[Policy Controller bundles](/kubernetes-engine/enterprise/policy-controller/docs/concepts/policy-controller-bundles) overview.\n\nIf you installed Policy Controller using the Google Cloud console, the\n[policy essentials bundle](/kubernetes-engine/enterprise/policy-controller/docs/how-to/using-policy-essentials-v2022)\nis installed by default, but you can enable more bundles.\n\nBefore you begin\n----------------\n\n- [Install Policy Controller](/kubernetes-engine/enterprise/policy-controller/docs/how-to/installing-policy-controller).\n\nApply policy bundles\n--------------------\n\n**Warning:** After you choose a method to apply policy bundles (manual, gcloud CLI, or Google Cloud console), using a different method to install policy bundles can cause errors in your environment. \n\n### Console\n\nTo apply one or more policy bundles on a cluster using the Google Cloud console,\ncomplete the following steps:\n\n1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the GKE Enterprise **Policy** page under the **Posture Management** section.\n\n \u003cbr /\u003e\n\n [Go to Policy](https://console.cloud.google.com/kubernetes/policy_controller)\n2. Under the **Settings** tab, in the cluster table, select **Edit**\n *edit* in the **Edit configuration** column.\n\n3. In the **Add/Edit policy bundles** menu, ensure the template library is\n toggled on.\n\n4. To enable all policy bundles, toggle **Add all policy bundles** on\n *check_circle*.\n\n5. To enable individual policy bundles, toggle on each policy bundle that you\n want to enable.\n\n6. Optional: To exempt a namespace from enforcement, expand the **Show\n advanced settings** menu. In the **Exempt namespaces** field, provide a list\n of valid namespaces.\n\n **Best practice** :\n\n Exempt system namespaces to avoid errors in your environment. You can find the instructions to exempt namespaces\n and a list of common namespaces created by Google Cloud services on the\n [Exclude namespaces page](/kubernetes-engine/enterprise/policy-controller/docs/how-to/policy-controller-exclude-namespaces).\n7. Select **Save changes**.\n\nYou can view additional information about your policy coverage and violations\nusing the [Policy Controller dashboard](/kubernetes-engine/enterprise/policy-controller/docs/how-to/policy-controller-status).\n\n### gcloud\n\nTo apply a policy bundle, complete the following steps:\n\n1. If any of the bundles that you're applying use referential constraints,\n you must enable support for referential constraints:\n\n gcloud container fleet policycontroller update --referential-rules\n\n You can check whether a bundle requires support for referential constraints\n on the\n [Policy bundles overview](/kubernetes-engine/enterprise/policy-controller/docs/concepts/policy-controller-bundles).\n2. For each bundle that you want to install, run the following command:\n\n gcloud container fleet policycontroller content bundles set \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eBUNDLE_NAME\u003c/var\u003e\n\n Replace \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eBUNDLE_NAME\u003c/var\u003e with the name of the bundle\n that you want to install. The name is the bundle prefix, for example\n `cis-k8s-v1.5.1`. You can find a list of names on the\n [Policy bundles overview](/kubernetes-engine/enterprise/policy-controller/docs/concepts/policy-controller-bundles).\n3. Optional: To exempt a namespace from enforcement, run the following\n command:\n\n gcloud container fleet policycontroller content bundles set \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eBUNDLE_NAME\u003c/var\u003e \\\n --exempted-namespaces=\u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eNAMESPACES\u003c/var\u003e\n\n Replace \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eNAMESPACES\u003c/var\u003e with a comma-separated list of\n namespaces that you don't want enforced, for example `kube-system,gatekeeper-system`.\n\n For more information about how to add exemptable namespaces, see\n [Exclude namespaces from Policy Controller](/kubernetes-engine/enterprise/policy-controller/docs/how-to/policy-controller-exclude-namespaces).\n4. To remove a bundle, run the following command:\n\n gcloud container fleet policycontroller content bundles remove \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eBUNDLE_NAME\u003c/var\u003e\n\nTroubleshooting\n---------------\n\nYou can't modify policy bundles that are installed directly by using the instructions\non this page. If you're having issues with a policy bundle and need to make edits,\ninstall the bundle by using one of the methods on the individual policy bundle's page.\nThese methods pull the policy bundle from a Git repository, which lets you make changes.\nFor example, if you want to edit the\nCIS Kubernetes Benchmark 1.5, follow the instructions on\n[Use CIS Kubernetes Benchmark v1.5.1 policy constraints](/kubernetes-engine/enterprise/policy-controller/docs/how-to/using-cis-k8s-benchmark)\ninstead of this page.\n| **Caution:** If you're switching from applying policy bundles directly to using a manual install method, ensure that you first remove the policy bundle with either the Google Cloud console or Google Cloud CLI steps on this page before you manually install the bundle.\n\nWhat's next\n-----------\n\n- Learn more about [applying individual constraints](/kubernetes-engine/enterprise/policy-controller/docs/how-to/creating-policy-controller-constraints).\n- Take a tutorial on [using policy bundles in your CI/CD pipeline to shift left](/kubernetes-engine/enterprise/policy-controller/docs/tutorials/app-policy-validation-ci-pipeline)."]]