Revolutionizing Policy-as-Code: An In-Depth Look at Sentinel’s Latest Enhancements

April 12, 2023

Revolutionizing Policy-as-Code: An In-Depth Look at Sentinel’s Latest Enhancements

Keeping up with compliance and regulatory requirements while developing and deploying infrastructure can be a daunting task. Enterprises have found it challenging to maintain consistency and adhere to best practices while ensuring that their systems remain secure and compliant. This is where policy-as-code frameworks, such as Sentinel, come in to make the process easier.

Overview of Sentinel, a policy-as-code framework by HashiCorp

Sentinel is a policy-as-code framework by HashiCorp that is designed to help enterprises enforce policies across their cloud infrastructure. It is integrated into many HashiCorp products, including Terraform, Vault, and Consul. Sentinel uses a simple but powerful language to enable policy enforcement across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

New features have been released in Sentinel by HashiCorp

HashiCorp has released a number of improvements to Sentinel, making it more powerful and easier to use. Some of these new features are discussed in detail below:

Improved import configuration syntax was introduced in version 0.19

The 0.19 release of Sentinel introduced an improved import configuration system which provides a standardized naming convention and a more consistent import configuration. The new syntax makes it easier to import modules and policies without worrying about naming conventions and configuration issues.

A new static import feature has also been added in version 0.19

Version 0.19 also introduced a new static import feature that enables developers to import policies and modules that are not hosted on the Sentinel server. This feature saves time by allowing developers to store frequently used policies and modules locally, rather than fetching them from the server every time they are needed.

Named functions were introduced in version 0.20

Named functions were introduced in version 0.20 of Sentinel. This feature makes it easier to write policies and enforce them across the infrastructure. Developers can now define and call functions within their policies, making the policies more reusable and easier to maintain.

Two helper functions were added in version 0.21 to determine if a value is defined

Version 0.21 of Sentinel added two helper functions to determine if a value is defined. These functions enable developers to easily check if a value exists, making it easier to enforce policies across a wide range of infrastructure.

Per-policy parameter values were added in version 0.21

The 0.21 release also added per-policy parameter values, which enable developers to pass in parameters to policies when they are executed. This means policies can be customized at runtime, making them more flexible and easier to use.

An alternative policy-as-code framework, Open Policy Agent (OPA), is supported by recent versions of Terraform Cloud

In addition to Sentinel, recent versions of Terraform Cloud have also added support for Open Policy Agent (OPA) as an alternative policy-as-code framework. OPA is a popular open-source policy engine that is widely used in cloud-native environments. It enables developers to define, manage, and enforce policies at scale across their infrastructure.

In conclusion, Sentinel is a policy-as-code framework that enables enterprises to enforce policies seamlessly across their infrastructure. The new features added by HashiCorp make the framework more powerful, flexible, and easier to use. Sentinel is available for download from the HashiCorp site, allowing developers to get started with policy enforcement quickly and easily.

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