How to Automate Security Scan of Terraform Files using Checkov with Jenkins Pipeline? | How to Perform Security scan for Terraform Files using Checkov?

 

Checkov is a static code analysis tool designed to scan Infrastructure as Code (IaC) files and identify potential security and compliance misconfigurations. 

Pre-requisites:

• Jenkins is Setup
• Terraform is installed in Jenkins
• Checkov is installed in Jenkins
• https://github.com/akannan1087/myInfra2021Repo

Jenkins pipeline code:

Below Jenkins Pipeline code scan Terraform files and write the output to a file which can be viewed in Jenkins.

pipeline {

    agent any
    stages {
        stage('Checkout') {
            steps {
                git 'https://github.com/akannan1087/myInfra2021Repo'
            }
        }

        stage('Run Checkov Scan') {
            steps {
                sh 'checkov -d . -o junitxml > checkov-report.xml || true'
            }
        }

        stage('Publish Report') {
            steps {
                junit 'checkov-report.xml'
            }
        }
    }
    
    post {
        always {
            archiveArtifacts artifacts: 'checkov-report.xml', fingerprint: true
        }
    }
}

Watch steps in YouTube channel:

How to install Checkov | How to Scan Terraform Code for finding security issues using Checkov | How to Perform Security scan for Terraform Files?

 

Checkov is a static code analysis tool designed to scan Infrastructure as Code (IaC) files and identify potential security and compliance misconfigurations. 

How to install Checkov on Linux Ubuntu?

There are several ways to install Checkov on Ubuntu 22.04, but we will be using PIP.

1. Using pip (Recommended):

This is the most common and generally recommended method as it installs the latest stable version and manages dependencies easily.

• Prerequisites: Ensure you have Python and pip installed. If not, open your terminal and run:

  sudo apt update
  sudo apt install python3-pip -y
  

• Install Checkov: Once pip is installed, run the following command to install Checkov: 

          sudo pip3 install checkov 

• Verify Installation: After the installation is complete, you can verify it by checking the Checkov version:

  checkov --version

  This should print the installed Checkov version.

How to Scan Terraform files using Checkov?

Make sure Terraform is installed in your machine where you will be performing scanning.

Navigate to Terraform directory where you created Terraform files and execute the below command:

For e.g., if you have created terraform files under project-terraform directory, navigate to that dir.

cd project-terraform

Run the below command to scan terraform files:

checkov -d .

Now you will see the issues(if there are any) with TF files like below:

Based on the errors, you can resolve the issues one by one.

Watch Steps on YouTube channel:

What is Checkov? | How to install Checkov on Linux Ubuntu to scan Terraform Code for finding security issues?

Checkov is an open source, static code analysis tool designed to scan Infrastructure as Code (IaC) files and identify potential security and compliance misconfigurations. 

Supported IaC types:

Checkov scans following IaC file types:

• Terraform (for AWS, GCP, Azure and OCI)
• CloudFormation (including AWS SAM)
• Azure Resource Manager (ARM)
• Serverless framework
• Helm charts
• Kubernetes
• Docker

Here's a breakdown of Checkov tutorials

Getting Started and Basic Usage:

• Installation: Checkov can be installed using pip, brew, or Docker. For example, using pip:

          sudo apt install python3-pip -y

          sudo pip3 install checkov

• Basic Scanning: To scan a single file or a directory, use the -f (file) or -d (directory) flags:
  checkov -f main.tf

  checkov -d /path/to/your/iac/code

• Output: Checkov provides a detailed output of passed and failed checks, including the check ID, description, the resource and file location, and a link to more information about the policy
• Specifying Frameworks: You can specify the IaC framework to scan using the --framework flag:

         checkov -d /path/to/kubernetes/manifests --framework kubernetes

         checkov -f eks-deploy-k8s.yaml

• Output Formats: Checkov supports various output formats using the --output flag, such as cli (default), json, junitxml, and sarif. For e.g, for JSON output format, use below command:

          checkov -d . --output json