diff --git a/config/hiera.yaml b/config/hiera.yaml
index ed97d53..2cac61b 100644
--- a/config/hiera.yaml
+++ b/config/hiera.yaml
@@ -1 +1,24 @@
 ---
+# This file configures the hiera "database" for Boxen. As with most files in
+# this repo, it's just an example, and you should feel free to make any
+# changes suited to your organisation.
+
+# The defaults here should give you a solid start; put global defaults in
+# a file named hiera/common.yaml, and individuals can supplement and/or override
+# them in hiera/{github_login}.yaml
+
+:backends:
+  - yaml
+:yaml:
+  :datadir: "%{::boxen_home}/repo/hiera"
+:hierarchy:
+  - "users/%{github_login}"
+  - common
+
+# Many modules make their own hiera data available through the use of
+# puppet-module-data. Some depend on the 'deeper' merge_behavior setting, so
+# remove it at your own risk!
+# ...
+# besides the modules that use it, you might want to override deeply nested hash
+# values, too!
+:merge_behavior: deeper
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hiera/common.yaml.example b/hiera/common.yaml.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..56a5bc1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hiera/common.yaml.example
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+---
+# This is an example of the kinds of things that you can configure via hiera.
+# If you've left the defaults in `/hiera.yml`, you might want to copy this file
+# to `hiera/common.yaml`, or feel free to start with a blank slate!
+
+# Have a gander at some of these examples to get an idea of some of the things
+# that you can affect 'out of the box', and then customise to your
+# heart's content.
+
+# See https://github.com/boxen/puppet-ruby for docs
+ruby::global::version: "2.1.0"
+ruby::rbenv_plugins:
+  rbenv-vars:
+    ensure: v1.0.0
+    source: sstephenson/rbenv-vars
+  ruby-build:
+    ensure: v20131225.1
+    source: sstephenson/ruby-build
+ruby::version::alias:
+  2.0.0: 2.0.0-p353
+
+# See https://github.com/boxen/puppet-java for docs
+java::update_version: 51