# Managing Policies

## Contents
Overview Policy Containers Adding a Composite Policy Removing a Sub-Policy Editing a Policy Deleting a Policy or Container

## Overview
A policy is a sequence of modular, reusable message filters, each of which processes a message in a particular way. For example, a typical policy might contain an authentication filter (WS-Security UserNameToken), followed by several content-based filters (Schema Validation, Threatening Content, and Message Size). If all configured filters run successfully, the message is routed on to the configured destination. A policy can be seen as a network of message filters. A message can traverse different paths through the network depending on which filters succeed or fail. For example, you can configure policies that route messages that pass a Schema Validation filter to a back-end system, and route messages that pass a different Schema Validation filter to a different system. You can use the Policies screen in Service Manager to perform tasks such as adding a policy composed of other policies, and editing policy details.
Note | You can use Service Manager to add composite policies only. You must use Policy Studio to create new policies. For more details, see the Policy Configuration topic.
## Policy Containers
A policy container is used to group together similar policies (for example, all authentication policies), or policies that relate to a particular service (for example, all policies for a `StockQuote` Web Service). A number of useful policies are provided in the Policy Library container (for example, policies that return faults to the client, and policies that block threatening content). You can add your own policies to this container, and add your own policy containers to suit your requirements. To add a new policy container, right-click an existing container, and select Add Policy Container. You can also select Add Root Policy Container to add a top-level container.
## Adding a Composite Policy
To add a policy composed of existing policies, perform the following steps: Select a policy container in the Policies screen, right-click, and select Add Policy. Alternatively, to add a new root policy, select Add Root Policy. In the Edit Policy section, on the Settings tab, enter the following: Name: the name of the policy. Category: the category of the policy from the drop-down list. Description: the description of the policy. Click the Sub-Policies tab. Drag and drop a policy (for example, Health Check) from the Policies tree into the table on the Sub-Policies tab. Repeat the previous step to add more policies. If wish to deploy the newly added policy to the Enterprise Gateway, click Deploy.
Adding a New Policy
Adding a composite policy in Service Manager is equivalent to creating a policy shortcut chain in Policy Studio. A policy shortcut chain is a series of configured policies that run in sequence. For more details, see the Policy Shortcut Chain topic.
## Removing a Sub-Policy
You can remove a sub-policy as follows: In the Sub-Policies tab, select a policy in the table. Right-click, and select Remove Subpolicy.
## Editing a Policy
You can edit policy details as follows: In the Policies tree, select the policy to be edited. Right-click, and select Edit Policy. In the Edit Policy section, make your updates on the appropriate tab. Alternatively, you can edit a policy name or category by double-clicking the policy name in the policy tree.
## Deleting a Policy or Container
You can delete a policy as follows: In the Policies tree, select the policy or container to be deleted. Right-click, and select Delete Policy or Delete Policy Container.