[role="xpack"]
[testenv="basic"]
[[ilm-set-policy]]
=== Set Policy On Index API
++++
<titleabbrev>Set Policy On Index</titleabbrev>
++++

Assigns a policy to an index for management.

==== Request

`POST <index>/_ilm/<policy>`

==== Description

This action assigns a policy to an index. It is effectively the same as setting an index's
`index.lifecycle.name` setting.

==== Path Parameters

`index` (required)::
  (string) Identifier for the index.

`policy` (required)::
  (string) Identifier for the policy.

==== Request Parameters

`timeout`::
  (time units) Specifies the period of time to wait for the completion of the 
  operation. When this period of time elapses, the API fails and returns
  an error. The default value is `30s`. For more information about time units, 
  see <<time-units>>.

`master_timeout`::
  (time units) Specifies the period of time to wait for the connection with master.
  When this period of time elapses, the API fails and returns an error.
  The default value is `30s`. For more information about time units, see <<time-units>>.


==== Examples

The following example assigns a policy `my_policy` to an index `my_index`.

//////////////////////////

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
PUT _ilm/my_policy
{
  "policy": {
    "phases": {
      "warm": {
        "minimum_age": "10d",
        "actions": {
          "forcemerge": {
            "max_num_segments": 1
          }
        }
      },
      "delete": {
        "minimum_age": "30d",
        "actions": {
          "delete": {}
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

PUT my_index
--------------------------------------------------
// CONSOLE
// TEST

//////////////////////////

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
PUT my_index/_ilm/my_policy
--------------------------------------------------
// CONSOLE
// TEST[continued]

If the request does not encounter errors, you receive the following result:

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
{
  "has_failures" : false,
  "failed_indexes" : []
}
--------------------------------------------------
// CONSOLE
// TESTRESPONSE
