# Kubernetes Policy Lifecycle Management

Type of document: Concept
Product: F5 WAF for NGINX
> Use Policy Lifecycle Management (PLM) to automate F5 WAF policy compilation and signature updates in Kubernetes.

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Policy Lifecycle Management (PLM) provides a declarative way to manage F5 WAF for NGINX security policies in Kubernetes.

## How Policy Lifecycle Management works

PLM uses the Kubernetes operator pattern to automate the lifecycle of F5 WAF security artifacts. You do not need to compile policies manually with the [F5 WAF compiler tool](/waf/configure/compiler.md). Instead, you define policies as Kubernetes custom resources (`APPolicy`, `APLogConf`, and `APUserSig`).

The PLM Policy Controller compiles the custom resources automatically and publishes the compiled bundles to an in-cluster storage service. The data plane then downloads the bundles from storage and enforces them at request time. PLM also delivers automated attack signature updates.

**Note:** 
PLM supersedes the early access preview previously known as Kubernetes operations improvements. If you deployed the early access preview, migrate your configuration using the [Deployment options](#deployment-options).

## Deployment options

To use PLM in your cluster, deploy it with your chosen Kubernetes traffic management solution:

- **F5 NGINX Ingress Controller**: For environments that use standard Kubernetes Ingress or NGINX `VirtualServer` resources, see [Install NGINX Ingress Controller with F5 WAF for NGINX using PLM](/nic/install/plm-installation.md).
- **F5 NGINX Gateway Fabric**: For environments that use the Kubernetes Gateway API (`Gateway` and `HTTPRoute` resources), see [Get started with F5 WAF for NGINX (PLM)](/ngf/waf-integration/get-started-plm.md).