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Ingest Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) data into SCS

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A Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) is a list of all the components, libraries, and other dependencies used in a software application. While Harness SCS enables you to generate SBOMs, it also supports the ingestion of SBOMs in JSON, SPDX or CycloneDX formats, generated by any third-party tool.

Configure the SBOM Orchestration step in SCS to seamlessly ingest SBOM. In this example, we will generate an SBOM using the Trivy CLI in a CI Run step, and then ingest it using the SBOM Orchestration step.

You can ingest SBOM for both container and non-container images.

note

In the SBOM, dependency names may differ from their original source names, as SBOM tools sometimes list dependencies under a product or bundle name rather than the actual dependency name.

Configure your pipeline to ingest SBOM​

  1. In your Harness pipeline, Navigate to the stage where you want to ingest the SBOM, and select the Overview tab.

  2. In Shared Paths, enter a path to a location where your SBOM can be stored on the build machine, such as /shared/customer_artifacts.

  3. Add a step to your stage that generates an SBOM, such as a Run, Plugin, or GitHub Action step.

    For example, this Run step uses Aqua Trivy to generate an SBOM.

     trivy image \
      --format spdx-json \
      --output /shared/customer_artifacts/result.spdx.json \
      ubuntu:22.04

  4. If your SBOM tool can't output directly to your Shared Path, then add commands or a Run step to copy the SBOM into the directory specified in Shared Paths.

info

SBOM Orchestration step in deploy stage can only be used in the Containerized Step Groups

Container Images​

Follow the instructions below to ingest the SBOM for container images:

  • Step Mode: Set the step mode to Ingestion.
  • SBOM File Path: enter the path to the SBOM file generated by your SBOM tool.
  • Source: Set the source, which can be Third party (Docker Registry, ECR, ACR, GAR) or Harness Artifact Registry. Depending on your selection, a unique set of fields will appear, each specific to the source you've chosen. Address these fields as required, this is similar to configuring the source in SBOM Orchestration step. For more details of what each field entails, please refer to the documentation on SBOM Orchestration. If you are using Docker Registry, you can follow along.
  • Image: Enter the name of your image with tag or digest, such as my-docker-org/repo-name:tag or my-docker-org/repo-name@sha256:digest .

Attest the Ingested SBOM​

SBOM signing is the process of cryptographically signing an ingested SBOM to ensure its authenticity and integrity. It ensures that externally sourced SBOMs have not been tampered with and can be trusted by downstream systems for analysis and compliance. To understand the signing and verification process, see attestation and verification concepts.

You can perform attestation using Cosign with the following signing methods:

  • Keyless - Uses short-lived, automatically generated keys based on identity to sign ingested SBOMs without storing private keys.
  • Key-based - Uses a user-managed private and public key pair to sign ingested SBOMs, requiring secure key storage and handling.
  • Secret Manager - A secure service used to store, manage, and access sensitive data such as cryptographic keys without exposing them directly in pipelines.

Based on the attestation type you select, click the tab below and specify the configurations for the SBOM Orchestration step to perform the attestation.

Keyless signing using Cosign lets you sign ingested SBOMs without managing long-lived signing keys. Instead, Cosign uses your workload identity (via OIDC) to obtain a short-lived signing certificate during pipeline execution, which is then used to sign the SBOM. The signing key is generated and used only in memory and is not persisted. This reduces the risk of key compromise while ensuring externally sourced SBOMs remain verifiable and trusted.

To configure SBOM attestation for ingested SBOMs with Keyless signing using cosign, complete the following steps:

  1. Click the checkbox beside Attest SBOM to enable SBOM attestation. The radio button beside Keyless will be selected by default.
  2. Select your preferred OIDC Provider from the dropdown under OIDC Provider. The available options are:

Harness OIDC​

Harness OIDC allows you to use the pipeline’s built-in identity for keyless signing of ingested SBOMs. In this approach, Harness acts as the OIDC provider and automatically supplies the identity required during pipeline execution, eliminating the need for external identity configuration.

Non-Harness OIDC​

Non-Harness OIDC allows you to use an external identity provider for keyless signing of ingested SBOMs. In this approach, the OIDC token is retrieved from a configured connector (such as AWS, Azure, or GCP) during pipeline execution and used to obtain a signing certificate. This option is useful when you want to integrate with your organization’s existing identity and access management system instead of using Harness as the OIDC provider.

To use a Non-Harness OIDC provider, you need to configure the Connector for Keyless Signing. To configure the Connector:

  1. Navigate to the Configurations page under the Manage section from the sidebar navigation of your SCS account. The General tab opens by default.
  2. Click Select Connector next to Connector for Keyless Signing to open the Create or Select an Existing Connector dialog.
  3. Select your required connector from the list of existing connectors. You can search for your created connector or filter connectors by Project, Organization, and Account.
  4. Alternatively, click + New Connector to create a new OIDC connector for your preferred cloud provider. For more information, see Connectors for Cloud Providers.
  5. Click Apply Selected. Once selected, you can view the Configuration Saved Successfully toaster message at the top, indicating that the connector has been selected or created successfully.

Once the connector configuration is done successfully, you can perform attestation using keyless signing with a Non-Harness OIDC provider.

Non-Container Images​

Artifacts are not limited to container images. With the SBOM Orchestration step, you can also ingest SBOMs for non-container artifacts. When the artifact file path is provided, the artifact is uniquely identified using its digest (SHA). If the file path is not provided, the artifact is identified using its version.

The following are the non-container artifact types are supported:

  • Helm (.tgz)
  • YAML manifest (.yaml, .yml)
  • Jar (.jar)
  • War (.war)
  • Artifacts that are not listed above will be considered as Unknown type.

Follow the instructions below to ingest the SBOM for non-container images:

  • Name: Provide a name for the SBOM step.
  • SBOM File Path: Enter the path to the SBOM file generated by the SBOM tool.
  • Artifact Source: Select the Harness Local Stage as the source of the artifact.
  • Workspace Artifact Path: Provide the exact path to the artifact within the workspace. Ensure that you run a custom step to pull the artifact into the workspace directory.
  • Artifact Name: Specify the name of the artifact.
  • Version: Provide the artifact version.
note

SBOM ingestion for non-container artifacts does not currently support attestation, and the SBOM policy enforcement step.

Configure SBOM Drift for Artifacts​

This feature allows you to track changes in SBOMs by comparing against the last generated SBOM. It provides a detailed analysis of addition or removal of components and licenses, helping you manage and oversee software artifacts more effectively. However, this is optional and not required for SBOM generation. If you prefer not to detect changes in SBOMs, leave this option unchecked.

Repository:​

Follow the instructions below to ingest the SBOM for repository:

  • Name: Provide a name for the SBOM step.
  • Step Mode: Set the step mode to Ingestion.
  • SBOM File Path: Enter the path to the SBOM file generated by your SBOM tool.
  • Source: Select the Repository as the source.
  • Repository URL: Enter the URL of the repository.
  • Source Path: Specify the folder inside your repository where the SBOM file is located.
  • Git Branch: Enter the branch of the repository for which you want to generate the SBOM.
  • Workspace: Provide the exact path to the repo file within the workspace. Ensure that you run a custom Run step to pull the repository into the workspace directory.

Configure SBOM Drift for Repository​

This feature allows you to track changes in SBOMs by comparing them against a Git branch. It provides a detailed analysis of addition or removal of components and licenses, helps you manage and oversee repositories more effectively. You can configure the comparison to be between any two branches. For example, comparing a feature branch against the main branch to identify SBOM drift before merging. However, this is optional and not required for SBOM generation. If you prefer not to detect changes in SBOMs, simply leave this option unchecked.

Run the pipeline​

​ When the pipeline runs, the SBOM Orchestration step performs the following actions:

  • Ingests the SBOM to SCS module.
  • Specifically for Containers:
    • Generates and signs an attestation using the provided private key and password.
    • Stores the SBOM in Harness and uploads the .att file to your container registry.

SBOMs for both Containers and Code Repositories are accessible in the Artifacts view. Additionally, you can locate the SBOM for any artifact on the Supply Chain tab within the Execution Details page in Harness. For detailed insights, please refer to the view pipeline execution results documentation.