diff --git a/chef/cookbooks/crowbar-pacemaker/recipes/haproxy.rb b/chef/cookbooks/crowbar-pacemaker/recipes/haproxy.rb
index 6b498062..bf0a9895 100644
--- a/chef/cookbooks/crowbar-pacemaker/recipes/haproxy.rb
+++ b/chef/cookbooks/crowbar-pacemaker/recipes/haproxy.rb
@@ -20,11 +20,6 @@
 #FIXME: delete group when it's not needed anymore
 #FIXME: need to find/write OCF for haproxy
 
-# Recommendation from the OpenStack HA guide is to use "source" as balance
-# algorithm. This obviously is less useful for load balancing, but we care more
-# about HA and things working than about load balancing.
-node.default["haproxy"]["defaults"]["balance"] = "source"
-
 # With the default bufsize, getting a keystone PKI token from its ID doesn't
 # work, because the URI path is too long for haproxy
 node.default["haproxy"]["global"]["bufsize"] = 32768
diff --git a/chef/cookbooks/haproxy/providers/loadbalancer.rb b/chef/cookbooks/haproxy/providers/loadbalancer.rb
index ada975dd..e25d108f 100644
--- a/chef/cookbooks/haproxy/providers/loadbalancer.rb
+++ b/chef/cookbooks/haproxy/providers/loadbalancer.rb
@@ -47,6 +47,13 @@
   else
     section["mode"] = new_resource.mode
   end
+  unless new_resource.balance.empty?
+    section["balance"] = new_resource.balance
+  end
+
+  section["stick"] = new_resource.stick
+  section["stick"]["expire"] ||= "30m"
+
   section["options"] = new_resource.options || []
   if section["options"].empty? || section["options"].include?("defaults")
     section["options"].delete("defaults")
diff --git a/chef/cookbooks/haproxy/resources/loadbalancer.rb b/chef/cookbooks/haproxy/resources/loadbalancer.rb
index 64e498fc..1ee82346 100644
--- a/chef/cookbooks/haproxy/resources/loadbalancer.rb
+++ b/chef/cookbooks/haproxy/resources/loadbalancer.rb
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@
 attribute :address, kind_of: String,  default: "0.0.0.0"
 attribute :port,    kind_of: Integer, default: 0
 attribute :mode,    kind_of: String,  default: "http", equal_to: ["http", "tcp", "health"]
+attribute :balance, kind_of: String,  default: "", equal_to: ["", "roundrobin", "static-rr", "leastconn", "first", "source"]
 attribute :use_ssl, kind_of: [TrueClass, FalseClass], default: false
+attribute :stick,   kind_of: Hash,    default: {}
 attribute :options, kind_of: Array,   default: []
 attribute :servers, kind_of: Array,   default: []
diff --git a/chef/cookbooks/haproxy/templates/default/haproxy.cfg.erb b/chef/cookbooks/haproxy/templates/default/haproxy.cfg.erb
index c2559031..3bfd33d6 100644
--- a/chef/cookbooks/haproxy/templates/default/haproxy.cfg.erb
+++ b/chef/cookbooks/haproxy/templates/default/haproxy.cfg.erb
@@ -39,11 +39,47 @@ listen  admin-stats <%= node[:haproxy][:stats][:enabled] ? node[:haproxy][:stats
     <% content = node[:haproxy][:sections][type][name] -%>
 <%= type %> <%= name %>
     bind <%= content[:address] %>:<%= content[:port] %>
-    <% if content[:use_ssl] -%>
-       mode tcp
-       balance source
-    <% else -%>
 	mode <%= content[:mode] %>
+    <% unless content[:balance].nil? -%>
+	balance <%= content[:balance] %>
+    <% end -%>
+
+    <% if content[:use_ssl] # http://blog.exceliance.fr/2011/07/04/maintain-affinity-based-on-ssl-session-id/ -%>
+	# maximum SSL session ID length is 32 bytes.
+	stick-table type binary len 32 size 30k expire <%= content[:stick][:expire] %>
+
+	acl clienthello req_ssl_hello_type 1
+	acl serverhello rep_ssl_hello_type 2
+
+	# use tcp content accepts to detects ssl client and server hello.
+	tcp-request inspect-delay 5s
+	tcp-request content accept if clienthello
+
+	# no timeout on response inspect delay by default.
+	tcp-response content accept if serverhello
+
+	# SSL session ID (SSLID) may be present on a client or server hello.
+	# Its length is coded on 1 byte at offset 43 and its value starts
+	# at offset 44.
+	# Match and learn on request if client hello.
+	stick on payload_lv(43,1) if clienthello
+
+	# Learn on response if server hello.
+	stick store-response payload_lv(43,1) if serverhello
+    <% elsif content[:mode] == "http" && content[:stick] &&
+         content[:stick][:cookies] && !content[:stick][:cookies].empty?
+       # There are various options here, described in:
+       # http://stackoverflow.com/questions/27094501/haproxy-1-5-8-how-do-i-configure-cookie-based-stickiness
+       # We go with the stick-table to avoid no-cache and exposing backends
+       # through cookies.
+       # Note that appsession is easier, but deprecated:
+       # http://serverfault.com/questions/550910/haproxy-appsession-vs-cookie-precedence
+        -%>
+	stick-table type string len 64 size 100k expire <%= content[:stick][:expire] %>
+      <% content[:stick][:cookies].each do |cookie| -%>
+	stick store-response res.cook(<%= cookie %>)
+	stick match req.cook(<%= cookie %>)
+      <% end -%>
     <% end -%>
 
     <% content[:options].each do |option| -%>