diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/util/ECPolicyLoader.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/util/ECPolicyLoader.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e75f091785
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/util/ECPolicyLoader.java
@@ -0,0 +1,328 @@
+/**
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ * <p>
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * <p>
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.util;
+
+import org.apache.hadoop.io.erasurecode.ECSchema;
+import org.apache.hadoop.classification.InterfaceAudience;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.ErasureCodingPolicy;
+import org.w3c.dom.Node;
+import org.w3c.dom.Text;
+import org.w3c.dom.Element;
+import org.w3c.dom.Document;
+import org.w3c.dom.NodeList;
+import org.xml.sax.SAXException;
+
+import javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilder;
+import javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilderFactory;
+import javax.xml.parsers.ParserConfigurationException;
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.URL;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Collections;
+
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
+/**
+ * A EC policy loading tool that loads user defined EC policies from XML file.
+ */
+@InterfaceAudience.Private
+public class ECPolicyLoader {
+
+  private static final Logger LOG
+      = LoggerFactory.getLogger(ECPolicyLoader.class);
+
+  private static final int LAYOUT_VERSION = 1;
+
+  /**
+   * Load user defined EC policies from a XML configuration file.
+   * @param policyFilePath path of EC policy file
+   * @return all valid EC policies in EC policy file
+   */
+  public List<ErasureCodingPolicy> loadPolicy(String policyFilePath) {
+    File policyFile = getPolicyFile(policyFilePath);
+    if (policyFile == null) {
+      LOG.warn("Not found any EC policy file");
+      return Collections.emptyList();
+    }
+
+    try {
+      return loadECPolicies(policyFile);
+    } catch (ParserConfigurationException | IOException | SAXException e) {
+      throw new RuntimeException("Failed to load EC policy file: "
+          + policyFile);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Load EC policies from a XML configuration file.
+   * @param policyFile EC policy file
+   * @return list of EC policies
+   * @throws ParserConfigurationException if ParserConfigurationException happen
+   * @throws IOException if no such EC policy file
+   * @throws SAXException if the xml file has some invalid elements
+   */
+  private List<ErasureCodingPolicy> loadECPolicies(File policyFile)
+      throws ParserConfigurationException, IOException, SAXException {
+
+    LOG.info("Loading EC policy file " + policyFile);
+
+    // Read and parse the EC policy file.
+    DocumentBuilderFactory dbf = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance();
+    dbf.setIgnoringComments(true);
+    DocumentBuilder builder = dbf.newDocumentBuilder();
+    Document doc = builder.parse(policyFile);
+    Element root = doc.getDocumentElement();
+
+    if (!"configuration".equals(root.getTagName())) {
+      throw new RuntimeException("Bad EC policy configuration file: "
+          + "top-level element not <configuration>");
+    }
+
+    List<ErasureCodingPolicy> policies;
+    if (root.getElementsByTagName("layoutversion").getLength() > 0) {
+      if (loadLayoutVersion(root) == LAYOUT_VERSION) {
+        if (root.getElementsByTagName("schemas").getLength() > 0) {
+          Map<String, ECSchema> schemas = loadSchemas(root);
+          if (root.getElementsByTagName("policies").getLength() > 0) {
+            policies = loadPolicies(root, schemas);
+          } else {
+            throw new RuntimeException("Bad EC policy configuration file: "
+                + "no <policies> element");
+          }
+        } else {
+          throw new RuntimeException("Bad EC policy configuration file: "
+              + "no <schemas> element");
+        }
+      } else {
+        throw new RuntimeException("The parse failed because of "
+            + "bad layoutversion value");
+      }
+    } else {
+      throw new RuntimeException("Bad EC policy configuration file: "
+          + "no <layoutVersion> element");
+    }
+
+    return policies;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Load layoutVersion from root element in the XML configuration file.
+   * @param root root element
+   * @return layout version
+   */
+  private int loadLayoutVersion(Element root) {
+    int layoutVersion;
+    Text text = (Text) root.getElementsByTagName("layoutversion")
+        .item(0).getFirstChild();
+    if (text != null) {
+      String value = text.getData().trim();
+      try {
+        layoutVersion = Integer.parseInt(value);
+      } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
+        throw new IllegalArgumentException("Bad layoutVersion value "
+            + value + " is found. It should be an integer");
+      }
+    } else {
+      throw new IllegalArgumentException("Value of <layoutVersion> is null");
+    }
+
+    return layoutVersion;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Load schemas from root element in the XML configuration file.
+   * @param root root element
+   * @return EC schema map
+   */
+  private Map<String, ECSchema> loadSchemas(Element root) {
+    NodeList elements = root.getElementsByTagName("schemas")
+        .item(0).getChildNodes();
+    Map<String, ECSchema> schemas = new HashMap<String, ECSchema>();
+    for (int i = 0; i < elements.getLength(); i++) {
+      Node node = elements.item(i);
+      if (node instanceof Element) {
+        Element element = (Element) node;
+        if ("schema".equals(element.getTagName())) {
+          String schemaId = element.getAttribute("id");
+          ECSchema schema = loadSchema(element);
+          if (!schemas.containsValue(schema)) {
+            schemas.put(schemaId, schema);
+          } else {
+            throw new RuntimeException("Repetitive schemas in EC policy"
+                + " configuration file: " + schemaId);
+          }
+        } else {
+          throw new RuntimeException("Bad element in EC policy"
+              + " configuration file: " + element.getTagName());
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
+    return schemas;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Load EC policies from root element in the XML configuration file.
+   * @param root root element
+   * @param schemas schema map
+   * @return EC policy list
+   */
+  private List<ErasureCodingPolicy> loadPolicies(
+      Element root, Map<String, ECSchema> schemas) {
+    NodeList elements = root.getElementsByTagName("policies")
+        .item(0).getChildNodes();
+    List<ErasureCodingPolicy> policies = new ArrayList<ErasureCodingPolicy>();
+    for (int i = 0; i < elements.getLength(); i++) {
+      Node node = elements.item(i);
+      if (node instanceof Element) {
+        Element element = (Element) node;
+        if ("policy".equals(element.getTagName())) {
+          ErasureCodingPolicy policy = loadPolicy(element, schemas);
+          if (!policies.contains(policy)) {
+            policies.add(policy);
+          } else {
+            LOG.warn("Repetitive policies in EC policy configuration file: "
+                + policy.toString());
+          }
+        } else {
+          throw new RuntimeException("Bad element in EC policy configuration"
+              + " file: " + element.getTagName());
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
+    return policies;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Path to the XML file containing user defined EC policies. If the path is
+   * relative, it is searched for in the classpath.
+   * @param policyFilePath path of EC policy file
+   * @return EC policy file
+   */
+  private File getPolicyFile(String policyFilePath) {
+    File policyFile = new File(policyFilePath);
+    if (!policyFile.isAbsolute()) {
+      URL url = Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader()
+          .getResource(policyFilePath);
+      if (url == null) {
+        LOG.warn(policyFilePath + " not found on the classpath.");
+        policyFile = null;
+      } else if (!url.getProtocol().equalsIgnoreCase("file")) {
+        throw new RuntimeException(
+            "EC policy file " + url
+                + " found on the classpath is not on the local filesystem.");
+      } else {
+        policyFile = new File(url.getPath());
+      }
+    }
+
+    return policyFile;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Load a schema from a schema element in the XML configuration file.
+   * @param element EC schema element
+   * @return ECSchema
+   */
+  private ECSchema loadSchema(Element element) {
+    Map<String, String> schemaOptions = new HashMap<String, String>();
+    NodeList fields = element.getChildNodes();
+
+    for (int i = 0; i < fields.getLength(); i++) {
+      Node fieldNode = fields.item(i);
+      if (fieldNode instanceof Element) {
+        Element field = (Element) fieldNode;
+        String tagName = field.getTagName();
+        if ("k".equals(tagName)) {
+          tagName = "numDataUnits";
+        } else if ("m".equals(tagName)) {
+          tagName = "numParityUnits";
+        }
+
+        // Get the nonnull text value.
+        Text text = (Text) field.getFirstChild();
+        if (text != null) {
+          String value = text.getData().trim();
+          schemaOptions.put(tagName, value);
+        } else {
+          throw new IllegalArgumentException("Value of <" + tagName
+              + "> is null");
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
+    return new ECSchema(schemaOptions);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Load a EC policy from a policy element in the XML configuration file.
+   * @param element EC policy element
+   * @param schemas all valid schemas of the EC policy file
+   * @return EC policy
+   */
+  private ErasureCodingPolicy loadPolicy(Element element,
+                                         Map<String, ECSchema> schemas) {
+    NodeList fields = element.getChildNodes();
+    ECSchema schema = null;
+    int cellSize = 0;
+
+    for (int i = 0; i < fields.getLength(); i++) {
+      Node fieldNode = fields.item(i);
+      if (fieldNode instanceof Element) {
+        Element field = (Element) fieldNode;
+        String tagName = field.getTagName();
+
+        // Get the nonnull text value.
+        Text text = (Text) field.getFirstChild();
+        if (text != null) {
+          if (!text.isElementContentWhitespace()) {
+            String value = text.getData().trim();
+            if ("schema".equals(tagName)) {
+              schema = schemas.get(value);
+            } else if ("cellsize".equals(tagName)) {
+              try {
+                cellSize = Integer.parseInt(value);
+              } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException("Bad EC policy cellsize"
+                    + " value " + value + " is found. It should be an integer");
+              }
+            } else {
+              LOG.warn("Invalid tagName: " + tagName);
+            }
+          }
+        } else {
+          throw new IllegalArgumentException("Value of <" + tagName
+              + "> is null");
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
+    if (schema != null && cellSize > 0) {
+      return new ErasureCodingPolicy(schema, cellSize, (byte) -1);
+    } else {
+      throw new RuntimeException("Bad policy is found in"
+          + " EC policy configuration file");
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/util/TestECPolicyLoader.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/util/TestECPolicyLoader.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a6adb97dac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-client/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/util/TestECPolicyLoader.java
@@ -0,0 +1,313 @@
+/**
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ * <p>
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * <p>
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.util;
+
+import org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.ErasureCodingPolicy;
+import org.apache.hadoop.io.erasurecode.ECSchema;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.FileWriter;
+import java.io.PrintWriter;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.apache.hadoop.test.GenericTestUtils.assertExceptionContains;
+
+/**
+ * Test load EC policy file.
+ */
+public class TestECPolicyLoader {
+
+  private final static String TEST_DIR = new File(System.getProperty(
+      "test.build.data", "/tmp")).getAbsolutePath();
+
+  private final static String POLICY_FILE = new File(TEST_DIR, "test-ecpolicy")
+      .getAbsolutePath();
+
+  /**
+   * Test load EC policy.
+   */
+  @Test
+  public void testLoadECPolicy() throws Exception {
+    PrintWriter out = new PrintWriter(new FileWriter(POLICY_FILE));
+    out.println("<?xml version=\"1.0\"?>");
+    out.println("<configuration>");
+    out.println("<layoutversion>1</layoutversion>");
+    out.println("<schemas>");
+    out.println("  <schema id=\"RSk12m4\">");
+    out.println("    <codec>RS</codec>");
+    out.println("    <k>12</k>");
+    out.println("    <m>4</m>");
+    out.println("  </schema>");
+    out.println("  <schema id=\"RS-legacyk12m4\">");
+    out.println("    <codec>RS-legacy</codec>");
+    out.println("    <k>12</k>");
+    out.println("    <m>4</m>");
+    out.println("  </schema>");
+    out.println("</schemas>");
+    out.println("<policies>");
+    out.println("  <policy>");
+    out.println("    <schema>RSk12m4</schema>");
+    out.println("    <cellsize>131072</cellsize>");
+    out.println("  </policy>");
+    out.println("  <policy>");
+    out.println("    <schema>RS-legacyk12m4</schema>");
+    out.println("    <cellsize>262144</cellsize>");
+    out.println("  </policy>");
+    out.println("</policies>");
+    out.println("</configuration>");
+    out.close();
+
+    ECPolicyLoader ecPolicyLoader = new ECPolicyLoader();
+    List<ErasureCodingPolicy> policies
+        = ecPolicyLoader.loadPolicy(POLICY_FILE);
+
+    assertEquals(2, policies.size());
+
+    ErasureCodingPolicy policy1 = policies.get(0);
+    ECSchema schema1 = policy1.getSchema();
+    assertEquals(131072, policy1.getCellSize());
+    assertEquals(0, schema1.getExtraOptions().size());
+    assertEquals(12, schema1.getNumDataUnits());
+    assertEquals(4, schema1.getNumParityUnits());
+    assertEquals("RS", schema1.getCodecName());
+
+    ErasureCodingPolicy policy2 = policies.get(1);
+    ECSchema schema2 = policy2.getSchema();
+    assertEquals(262144, policy2.getCellSize());
+    assertEquals(0, schema2.getExtraOptions().size());
+    assertEquals(12, schema2.getNumDataUnits());
+    assertEquals(4, schema2.getNumParityUnits());
+    assertEquals("RS-legacy", schema2.getCodecName());
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Test load null EC schema option.
+   */
+  @Test
+  public void testNullECSchemaOptionValue() throws Exception {
+    PrintWriter out = new PrintWriter(new FileWriter(POLICY_FILE));
+    out.println("<?xml version=\"1.0\"?>");
+    out.println("<configuration>");
+    out.println("<layoutversion>1</layoutversion>");
+    out.println("<schemas>");
+    out.println("  <schema id=\"RSk12m4\">");
+    out.println("    <codec>RS</codec>");
+    out.println("    <k>12</k>");
+    out.println("    <m>4</m>");
+    out.println("  </schema>");
+    out.println("  <schema id=\"RS-legacyk12m4\">");
+    out.println("    <codec>RS-legacy</codec>");
+    out.println("    <k>12</k>");
+    out.println("    <m>4</m>");
+    out.println("    <option></option>");
+    out.println("  </schema>");
+    out.println("</schemas>");
+    out.println("<policies>");
+    out.println("  <policy>");
+    out.println("    <schema>RS-legacyk12m4</schema>");
+    out.println("    <cellsize>1024</cellsize>");
+    out.println("  </policy>");
+    out.println("  <policy>");
+    out.println("    <schema>RSk12m4</schema>");
+    out.println("    <cellsize>20480</cellsize>");
+    out.println("  </policy>");
+    out.println("</policies>");
+    out.println("</configuration>");
+    out.close();
+
+    ECPolicyLoader ecPolicyLoader = new ECPolicyLoader();
+
+    try {
+      ecPolicyLoader.loadPolicy(POLICY_FILE);
+      fail("IllegalArgumentException should be thrown for null value");
+    } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+      assertExceptionContains("Value of <option> is null", e);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Test load repetitive EC schema.
+   */
+  @Test
+  public void testRepeatECSchema() throws Exception {
+    PrintWriter out = new PrintWriter(new FileWriter(POLICY_FILE));
+    out.println("<?xml version=\"1.0\"?>");
+    out.println("<configuration>");
+    out.println("<layoutversion>1</layoutversion>");
+    out.println("<schemas>");
+    out.println("  <schema id=\"RSk12m4\">");
+    out.println("    <codec>RS-legacy</codec>");
+    out.println("    <k>12</k>");
+    out.println("    <m>4</m>");
+    out.println("  </schema>");
+    out.println("  <schema id=\"RS-legacyk12m4\">");
+    out.println("    <codec>RS-legacy</codec>");
+    out.println("    <k>12</k>");
+    out.println("    <m>4</m>");
+    out.println("  </schema>");
+    out.println("</schemas>");
+    out.println("<policies>");
+    out.println("  <policy>");
+    out.println("    <schema>RS-legacyk12m4</schema>");
+    out.println("    <cellsize>1024</cellsize>");
+    out.println("  </policy>");
+    out.println("  <policy>");
+    out.println("    <schema>RSk12m4</schema>");
+    out.println("    <cellsize>20480</cellsize>");
+    out.println("  </policy>");
+    out.println("</policies>");
+    out.println("</configuration>");
+    out.close();
+
+    ECPolicyLoader ecPolicyLoader = new ECPolicyLoader();
+
+    try {
+      ecPolicyLoader.loadPolicy(POLICY_FILE);
+      fail("RuntimeException should be thrown for repetitive elements");
+    } catch (RuntimeException e) {
+      assertExceptionContains("Repetitive schemas in EC policy"
+          + " configuration file: RS-legacyk12m4", e);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Test load bad EC policy layoutversion.
+   */
+  @Test
+  public void testBadECLayoutVersion() throws Exception {
+    PrintWriter out = new PrintWriter(new FileWriter(POLICY_FILE));
+    out.println("<?xml version=\"1.0\"?>");
+    out.println("<configuration>");
+    out.println("<layoutversion>3</layoutversion>");
+    out.println("<schemas>");
+    out.println("  <schema id=\"RSk12m4\">");
+    out.println("    <codec>RS</codec>");
+    out.println("    <k>12</k>");
+    out.println("    <m>4</m>");
+    out.println("  </schema>");
+    out.println("  <schema id=\"RS-legacyk12m4\">");
+    out.println("    <codec>RS-legacy</codec>");
+    out.println("    <k>12</k>");
+    out.println("    <m>4</m>");
+    out.println("  </schema>");
+    out.println("</schemas>");
+    out.println("<policies>");
+    out.println("  <policy>");
+    out.println("    <schema>RSk12m4</schema>");
+    out.println("    <cellsize>1024</cellsize>");
+    out.println("  </policy>");
+    out.println("</policies>");
+    out.println("</configuration>");
+    out.close();
+
+    ECPolicyLoader ecPolicyLoader = new ECPolicyLoader();
+
+    try {
+      ecPolicyLoader.loadPolicy(POLICY_FILE);
+      fail("RuntimeException should be thrown for bad layoutversion");
+    } catch (RuntimeException e) {
+      assertExceptionContains("The parse failed because of "
+          + "bad layoutversion value", e);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Test load bad EC policy cellsize.
+   */
+  @Test
+  public void testBadECCellsize() throws Exception {
+    PrintWriter out = new PrintWriter(new FileWriter(POLICY_FILE));
+    out.println("<?xml version=\"1.0\"?>");
+    out.println("<configuration>");
+    out.println("<layoutversion>1</layoutversion>");
+    out.println("<schemas>");
+    out.println("  <schema id=\"RSk12m4\">");
+    out.println("    <codec>RS</codec>");
+    out.println("    <k>12</k>");
+    out.println("    <m>4</m>");
+    out.println("  </schema>");
+    out.println("  <schema id=\"RS-legacyk12m4\">");
+    out.println("    <codec>RS-legacy</codec>");
+    out.println("    <k>12</k>");
+    out.println("    <m>4</m>");
+    out.println("  </schema>");
+    out.println("</schemas>");
+    out.println("<policies>");
+    out.println("  <policy>");
+    out.println("    <schema>RSk12m4</schema>");
+    out.println("    <cellsize>free</cellsize>");
+    out.println("  </policy>");
+    out.println("</policies>");
+    out.println("</configuration>");
+    out.close();
+
+    ECPolicyLoader ecPolicyLoader = new ECPolicyLoader();
+
+    try {
+      ecPolicyLoader.loadPolicy(POLICY_FILE);
+      fail("IllegalArgumentException should be thrown for bad policy");
+    } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+      assertExceptionContains("Bad EC policy cellsize value free is found."
+          + " It should be an integer", e);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Test load bad EC policy.
+   */
+  @Test
+  public void testBadECPolicy() throws Exception {
+    PrintWriter out = new PrintWriter(new FileWriter(POLICY_FILE));
+    out.println("<?xml version=\"1.0\"?>");
+    out.println("<configuration>");
+    out.println("<layoutversion>1</layoutversion>");
+    out.println("<schemas>");
+    out.println("  <schema id=\"RSk12m4\">");
+    out.println("    <codec>RS</codec>");
+    out.println("    <k>12</k>");
+    out.println("    <m>4</m>");
+    out.println("  </schema>");
+    out.println("  <schema id=\"RS-legacyk12m4\">");
+    out.println("    <codec>RS-legacy</codec>");
+    out.println("    <k>12</k>");
+    out.println("    <m>4</m>");
+    out.println("  </schema>");
+    out.println("</schemas>");
+    out.println("<policies>");
+    out.println("  <policy>");
+    out.println("    <schema>RSk12m4</schema>");
+    out.println("    <cellsize>-1025</cellsize>");
+    out.println("  </policy>");
+    out.println("</policies>");
+    out.println("</configuration>");
+    out.close();
+
+    ECPolicyLoader ecPolicyLoader = new ECPolicyLoader();
+
+    try {
+      ecPolicyLoader.loadPolicy(POLICY_FILE);
+      fail("RuntimeException should be thrown for bad policy");
+    } catch (RuntimeException e) {
+      assertExceptionContains("Bad policy is found in EC policy"
+          + " configuration file", e);
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/conf/user_ec_policies.xml.template b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/conf/user_ec_policies.xml.template
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..66546bbb61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/conf/user_ec_policies.xml.template
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+<?xml version="1.0"?>
+
+<!--
+ Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ distributed with this work for additional information
+ regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+ Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ limitations under the License.
+-->
+
+<!--
+    This is the template for user-defined EC policies configuration.
+    All policies and schemas are defined within the 'configuration' tag
+    which is the top level element for this XML document. The 'layoutversion'
+    tag contains the version of EC policy XML file format, and user-defined EC
+    schemas are included within the 'schemas' tag. The 'policies' tag
+    contains all the user defined EC policies, and each policy consists of
+    schema id and cellsize.
+-->
+<configuration>
+<!-- The version of EC policy XML file format, it must be an integer -->
+<layoutversion>1</layoutversion>
+<schemas>
+  <!-- schema id is only used to reference internally in this document -->
+  <schema id="XORk2m1">
+    <!-- The combination of codec, k, m and options as the schema ID, defines
+     a unique schema, for example 'xor-2-1'. schema ID is case insensitive -->
+    <!-- codec with this specific name should exist already in this system -->
+    <codec>xor</codec>
+    <k>2</k>
+    <m>1</m>
+    <options> </options>
+  </schema>
+  <schema id="RSk12m4">
+    <codec>RS</codec>
+    <k>12</k>
+    <m>4</m>
+    <options> </options>
+  </schema>
+  <schema id="RS-legacyk12m4">
+    <codec>RS-legacy</codec>
+    <k>12</k>
+    <m>4</m>
+    <options> </options>
+  </schema>
+</schemas>
+<policies>
+  <policy>
+    <!-- the combination of schema ID and cellsize(in unit k) defines a unique
+     policy, for example 'xor-2-1-256k', case insensitive -->
+    <!-- schema is referred by its id -->
+    <schema>XORk2m1</schema>
+    <!-- cellsize must be an positive integer multiple of 1024(1k) -->
+    <cellsize>131072</cellsize>
+  </policy>
+  <policy>
+    <schema>RS-legacyk12m4</schema>
+    <cellsize>262144</cellsize>
+  </policy>
+</policies>
+</configuration>
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/site/markdown/HDFSErasureCoding.md b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/site/markdown/HDFSErasureCoding.md
index f0c487df3d..543b5ceb94 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/site/markdown/HDFSErasureCoding.md
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/site/markdown/HDFSErasureCoding.md
@@ -73,6 +73,16 @@ Architecture
 
     Directory-level EC policies only affect new files created within the directory. Once a file has been created, its erasure coding policy can be queried but not changed. If an erasure coded file is renamed to a directory with a different EC policy, the file retains its existing EC policy. Converting a file to a different EC policy requires rewriting its data; do this by copying the file (e.g. via distcp) rather than renaming it.
 
+    We allow users to define their own EC policies via an XML file, which must have the following three parts:
+
+       1. _layoutversion:_ This indicates the version of EC policy XML file format.
+
+       2. _schemas:_ This includes all the user defined EC schemas.
+
+       3. _policies:_ This includes all the user defined EC policies, and each policy consists of schema id and the size of a striping cell (cellsize).
+
+    A sample EC policy XML file named user_ec_policies.xml.template is in the Hadoop conf directory, which user can reference.
+
  *  **Intel ISA-L**
     Intel ISA-L stands for Intel Intelligent Storage Acceleration Library. ISA-L is an open-source collection of optimized low-level functions designed for storage applications. It includes fast block Reed-Solomon type erasure codes optimized for Intel AVX and AVX2 instruction sets.
     HDFS erasure coding can leverage ISA-L to accelerate encoding and decoding calculation. ISA-L supports most major operating systems, including Linux and Windows.