diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 5b1df61..6543938 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -59,5 +59,7 @@
 ib_actions.yml
 ib_graph.dot
 
-# kubespray
+# kubespray and helm charts
 kubespray
+helm-charts
+
diff --git a/docs/Makefile b/docs/Makefile
index e222f47..73819d5 100644
--- a/docs/Makefile
+++ b/docs/Makefile
@@ -41,7 +41,6 @@
 
 lint:
 	@echo "markdownlint(mdl) version: `mdl --version`"
-	@echo "rule descriptions: https://github.com/markdownlint/markdownlint/blob/master/docs/RULES.md"
 	@echo "style config:"
 	@echo "---"
 	@cat mdlstyle.rb
diff --git a/docs/mdlstyle.rb b/docs/mdlstyle.rb
index f738818..ab3dc59 100644
--- a/docs/mdlstyle.rb
+++ b/docs/mdlstyle.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,21 @@
+# markdownlint(mdl) style rules
+# Rule descriptions:
+#  https://github.com/markdownlint/markdownlint/blob/master/docs/RULES.md
+
+# Copyright 2017-present Open Networking Foundation
+#
+# Licensed 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.
+
 # use all rules
 all
 
diff --git a/scripts/licensecheck.sh b/scripts/licensecheck.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..42b6b87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/licensecheck.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env sh
+
+# licensecheck.sh
+# checks for copyright/license headers on files
+# excludes filename extensions where this check isn't pertinent
+
+# this could be rewritten with better form. Currently is a cut/paste from the
+# Jenkins job with minimal changes (BSD/OS X xargs params compat, sort of
+# excluded file extensions).
+
+find . -name ".git" -prune -o -type f \
+  -name "*.*" \
+  ! -name "*.PNG" \
+  ! -name "*.asc" \
+  ! -name "*.bat" \
+  ! -name "*.cfg" \
+  ! -name "*.cnf" \
+  ! -name "*.conf" \
+  ! -name "*.cql" \
+  ! -name "*.crt" \
+  ! -name "*.csr" \
+  ! -name "*.csv" \
+  ! -name "*.ctmpl" \
+  ! -name "*.curl" \
+  ! -name "*.db" \
+  ! -name "*.der" \
+  ! -name "*.diff" \
+  ! -name "*.dnsmasq" \
+  ! -name "*.do" \
+  ! -name "*.docx" \
+  ! -name "*.eot" \
+  ! -name "*.gif" \
+  ! -name "*.gpg" \
+  ! -name "*.graffle" \
+  ! -name "*.iml" \
+  ! -name "*.in" \
+  ! -name "*.inc" \
+  ! -name "*.j2" \
+  ! -name "*.jar" \
+  ! -name "*.jks" \
+  ! -name "*.jpg" \
+  ! -name "*.json" \
+  ! -name "*.key" \
+  ! -name "*.list" \
+  ! -name "*.local" \
+  ! -name "*.log" \
+  ! -name "*.mak" \
+  ! -name "*.md" \
+  ! -name "*.mk" \
+  ! -name "*.oar" \
+  ! -name "*.p12" \
+  ! -name "*.patch" \
+  ! -name "*.pcap" \
+  ! -name "*.pem" \
+  ! -name "*.png" \
+  ! -name "*.properties" \
+  ! -name "*.proto" \
+  ! -name "*.pyc" \
+  ! -name "*.repo" \
+  ! -name "*.robot" \
+  ! -name "*.rst" \
+  ! -name "*.rules" \
+  ! -name "*.service" \
+  ! -name "*.svg" \
+  ! -name "*.swp" \
+  ! -name "*.tar" \
+  ! -name "*.tar.gz" \
+  ! -name "*.toml" \
+  ! -name "*.ttf" \
+  ! -name "*.txt" \
+  ! -name "*.woff" \
+  ! -name "*.xproto" \
+  ! -name "*.xtarget" \
+  ! -name "*ignore" \
+  ! -name "*rc" \
+  ! -name "Dockerfile" \
+  ! -name "Dockerfile.*" \
+  ! -name "Makefile" \
+  ! -name "Makefile.*" \
+  ! -name "README" \
+  ! -path "*/vendor/*.go" \
+  ! -path "*conf*" \
+  ! -path "*git*" \
+  ! -path "*swagger*" \
+  -print0 |   \
+  xargs -0 -n1 sh -c 'if ! grep -q "Copyright\|Apache License" $0; then echo "ERROR: $0 does not contain Copyright header"; exit 1; fi;'
+