# Before you begin

Type of document: Concept
Product: NGINX Ingress Controller

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Use a Policy resource to configure features like access control and rate limiting. Add this configuration to your [VirtualServer, VirtualServerRoute resources](/nic/lts/configuration/virtualserver-and-virtualserverroute-resources.md) and [Ingress resources](/nic/lts/configuration/ingress-resources).

A Policy resource is a [Custom Resource](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/extend-kubernetes/api-extension/custom-resources/).

This section is reference documentation for the Policy resource. For an example Policy for access control, see the [GitHub repository](https://github.com/nginx/kubernetes-ingress/blob/v/examples/custom-resources/access-control).

A Policy resource works together with [VirtualServer, VirtualServerRoute resources](/nic/lts/configuration/virtualserver-and-virtualserverroute-resources.md) and [Ingress resources](/nic/lts/configuration/ingress-resources). Create these resources separately.

## What's next

Learn about the [policy specification](/nic/lts/configuration/policy-resource/policy-specification.md).