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InSpec CLI

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Use the InSpec Command Line Interface (CLI) to run tests and audits against targets using local, SSH, WinRM, or Docker connections.

archive

Archive a profile to a tar file (default) or zip file.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

inspec archive PATH

Options

This subcommand has the following additional options:

  • --airgap, --no-airgap Fallback to using local archives if fetching fails.
  • --ignore-errors, --no-ignore-errors Ignore profile warnings.
  • -o, --output=OUTPUT Save the archive to a path.
  • --overwrite, --no-overwrite Overwrite existing archive.
  • --profiles-path=PROFILES_PATH Folder which contains referenced profiles.
  • --tar, --no-tar Generates a tar.gz archive.
  • --vendor-cache=VENDOR_CACHE Use the given path for caching dependencies, (default: ~/.inspec/cache).
  • --zip, --no-zip Generates a zip archive.

automate

Communicates with Chef Automate.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

inspec automate SUBCOMMAND

check

Verify the metadata in the inspec.yml file, verify that control blocks have the correct fields (title, description, impact) defined that all controls have visible tests, and the controls are not using deprecated InSpec DSL code.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

inspec check PATH

Options

This subcommand has the following additional options:

  • --format=FORMAT The output format to use. Valid values: json and doc. Default value: doc.
  • --profiles-path=PROFILES_PATH Folder which contains referenced profiles.
  • --vendor-cache=VENDOR_CACHE Use the given path for caching dependencies, (default: ~/.inspec/cache).
  • --with-cookstyle, --no-with-cookstyle Enable or disable cookstyle checks.

detect

Detects the target OS.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

inspec detect

Options

This subcommand has the following additional options:

  • -b, --backend=BACKEND Choose a backend: local, ssh, winrm, docker.

  • --bastion-host=BASTION_HOST Specifies the bastion host if applicable.

  • --bastion-port=BASTION_PORT Specifies the bastion port if applicable.

  • --bastion-user=BASTION_USER Specifies the bastion user if applicable.

  • --ca-trust-file=PATH_TO_CA_TRUST_FILE Specify CA certificate required for SSL authentication (WinRM).

  • --client-cert=PATH_TO_CLIENT_CERTIFICATE Specify client certificate required for SSL authentication (WinRM).

  • --client-key=PATH_TO_CLIENT_KEY Specify client key required with client certificate for SSL authentication (WinRM).

  • --client-key-pass=CLIENT_CERT_PASSWORD Specify client certificate password, if required for SSL authentication (WinRM).

  • --config=CONFIG Read configuration from JSON file (- reads from stdin).

  • --docker-url Provides path to Docker API endpoint (Docker).

  • --enable-password=ENABLE_PASSWORD Password for enable mode on Cisco IOS devices.

  • --format=FORMAT

  • --host=HOST Specify a remote host which is tested.

  • --insecure, --no-insecure Disable SSL verification on select targets.

  • -i, --key-files=one two three Login key or certificate file for a remote scan.

  • --password=PASSWORD Login password for a remote scan, if required.

  • --path=PATH Login path to use when connecting to the target (WinRM).

  • -p, --port=N Specify the login port for a remote scan.

  • --podman-url Provides the path to the Podman API endpoint. Defaults to unix:///run/user/$UID/podman/podman.sock for rootless container, unix:///run/podman/podman.sock for rootful container (for this you need to execute inspec as root user).

  • --proxy-command=PROXY_COMMAND Specifies the command to use to connect to the server.

  • --self-signed, --no-self-signed Allow remote scans with self-signed certificates (WinRM).

  • --shell, --no-shell Run scans in a subshell. Only activates on Unix.

  • --shell-command=SHELL_COMMAND Specify a particular shell to use.

  • --shell-options=SHELL_OPTIONS Additional shell options.

  • --ssl, --no-ssl Use SSL for transport layer encryption (WinRM).

  • --ssl-peer-fingerprint Specify ssl peer fingerprint in lieu of certificates, for SSL authentication (WinRM).

  • --sudo, --no-sudo Run scans with sudo. Only activates on Unix and non-root user.

  • --sudo-command=SUDO_COMMAND Alternate command for sudo.

  • --sudo-options=SUDO_OPTIONS Additional sudo options for a remote scan.

  • --sudo-password=SUDO_PASSWORD Specify a sudo password, if it is required.

  • -t, --target=TARGET Simple targeting option using URIs, e.g. ssh://user:pass@host:port.

  • --target-id=TARGET_ID Provide a ID which will be included on reports.

  • --user=USER The login user for a remote scan.

  • --winrm-basic-auth-only, --no-winrm-basic-auth-only Whether to use basic authentication, defaults to false (WinRM).

  • --winrm-disable-sspi, --no-winrm-disable-sspi Whether to use disable sspi authentication, defaults to false (WinRM).

  • --winrm-transport=WINRM_TRANSPORT Specify which transport to use, defaults to negotiate (WinRM).

  • --winrm-shell-type=WINRM_SHELL_TYPE Specify which shell type to use (powershell,elevated or cmd), defaults to powershell (WinRM).

env

Outputs shell-appropriate completion configuration.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

inspec env

exec

Run all test files at the specified locations.

The subcommand loads the given profiles, fetches their dependencies if needed, then connects to the target and executes any controls contained in the profiles. One or more reporters are used to generate the output.

exit codes:
    0  normal exit, all tests passed
    1  usage or general error
    2  error in plugin system
    3  fatal deprecation encountered
  100  normal exit, at least one test failed
  101  normal exit, at least one test skipped but none failed
  172  chef license not accepted

Below are some examples of using exec with different test locations:

Chef Automate:

inspec automate login
inspec exec compliance://username/linux-baseline

inspec compliance is a backwards compatible alias for inspec automate and works the same way:

inspec compliance login

Chef Supermarket:

inspec exec supermarket://username/linux-baseline
inspec exec supermarket://username/linux-baseline --supermarket_url="https://privatesupermarket.example.com"

Local profile (executes all tests in controls/):

inspec exec /path/to/profile

Local single test (doesn’t allow inputs or custom resources):

inspec exec /path/to/a_test.rb

Git via SSH:

inspec exec git@github.com:dev-sec/linux-baseline.git

Git via HTTPS (.git suffix is required):

inspec exec https://github.com/dev-sec/linux-baseline.git

Private Git via HTTPS (.git suffix is required):

inspec exec https://api_token@github.com/dev-sec/linux-baseline.git

Private Git via HTTPS and cached credentials (.git suffix is required):

git config credential.helper cache
git ls-remote https://github.com/dev-sec/linux-baseline.git
inspec exec https://github.com/dev-sec/linux-baseline.git

Web-hosted file (also supports .zip):

inspec exec https://webserver/linux-baseline.tar.gz

Web-hosted file with basic authentication (supports .zip):

inspec exec https://username:password@webserver/linux-baseline.tar.gz

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

inspec exec LOCATIONS

Options

This subcommand has the following additional options:

  • --attrs=one two three Legacy name for –input-file - deprecated.
  • --auto-install-gems Auto installs gem dependencies of the profile or resource pack.
  • -b, --backend=BACKEND Choose a backend: local, ssh, winrm, docker.
  • --backend-cache, --no-backend-cache Allow caching for backend command output. (default: true).
  • --bastion-host=BASTION_HOST Specifies the bastion host if applicable.
  • --bastion-port=BASTION_PORT Specifies the bastion port if applicable.
  • --bastion-user=BASTION_USER Specifies the bastion user if applicable.
  • --ca-trust-file=PATH_TO_CA_TRUST_FILE Specify CA certificate required for SSL authentication (WinRM).
  • --client-cert=PATH_TO_CLIENT_CERTIFICATE Specify client certificate required for SSL authentication (WinRM).
  • --client-key=PATH_TO_CLIENT_KEY Specify client key required with client certificate for SSL authentication (WinRM).
  • --client-key-pass=CLIENT_CERT_PASSWORD Specify client certificate password, if required for SSL authentication (WinRM).
  • --command-timeout=SECONDS Maximum seconds to allow a command to run.
  • --config=CONFIG Read configuration from JSON file (- reads from stdin).
  • --controls=one two three A list of control names to run, or a list of /regexes/ to match against control names. Ignore all other tests.
  • --create-lockfile, --no-create-lockfile Write out a lockfile based on this execution (unless one already exists).
  • --distinct-exit, --no-distinct-exit Exit with code 101 if any tests fail, and 100 if any are skipped (default). If disabled, exit 0 on skips and 1 for failures.
  • --docker-url Provides path to Docker API endpoint (Docker). Defaults to unix:///var/run/docker.sock on Unix systems and tcp://localhost:2375 on Windows.
  • --enable-password=ENABLE_PASSWORD Password for enable mode on Cisco IOS devices.
  • --filter-empty-profiles, --no-filter-empty-profiles Filter empty profiles (profiles without controls) from the report.
  • --filter-waived-controls Do not execute waived controls in InSpec at all. Must use with –waiver-file. Ignores run setting of waiver file.
  • --host=HOST Specify a remote host which is tested.
  • --input=name1=value1 name2=value2 Specify one or more inputs directly on the command line, as –input NAME=VALUE. Accepts single-quoted YAML and JSON structures.
  • --input-file=one two three Load one or more input files, a YAML file with values for the profile to use.
  • --insecure, --no-insecure Disable SSL verification on select targets.
  • -i, --key-files=one two three Login key or certificate file for a remote scan.
  • --password=PASSWORD Login password for a remote scan, if required.
  • --path=PATH Login path to use when connecting to the target (WinRM).
  • -p, --port=N Specify the login port for a remote scan.
  • --podman-url Provides the path to the Podman API endpoint. Defaults to unix:///run/user/$UID/podman/podman.sock for rootless container, unix:///run/podman/podman.sock for rootful container (for this you need to execute inspec as root user).
  • --profiles-path=PROFILES_PATH Folder which contains referenced profiles.
  • --proxy-command=PROXY_COMMAND Specifies the command to use to connect to the server.
  • --reporter=one two:/output/file/path Enable one or more output reporters: cli, documentation, html, progress, progress-bar, json, json-min, json-rspec, junit, yaml.
  • --reporter-backtrace-inclusion, --no-reporter-backtrace-inclusion Include a code backtrace in report data (default: true).
  • --reporter-include-source Include full source code of controls in the CLI report.
  • --reporter-message-truncation=REPORTER_MESSAGE_TRUNCATION Number of characters to truncate failure messages in report data to (default: no truncation).
  • --self-signed, --no-self-signed Allow remote scans with self-signed certificates (WinRM).
  • --shell, --no-shell Run scans in a subshell. Only activates on Unix.
  • --shell-command=SHELL_COMMAND Specify a particular shell to use.
  • --shell-options=SHELL_OPTIONS Additional shell options.
  • --show-progress, --no-show-progress Show progress while executing tests.
  • --silence-deprecations=all|GROUP GROUP... Suppress deprecation warnings. See install_dir/etc/deprecations.json for list of GROUPs or use ‘all’.
  • --ssh-config-file=one two three A list of paths to the SSH configuration file, for example: ~/.ssh/config or /etc/ssh/ssh_config.
  • --ssl, --no-ssl Use SSL for transport layer encryption (WinRM).
  • --ssl-peer-fingerprint Specify ssl peer fingerprint in lieu of certificates, for SSL authentication (WinRM).
  • --sudo, --no-sudo Run scans with sudo. Only activates on Unix and non-root user.
  • --sudo-command=SUDO_COMMAND Alternate command for sudo.
  • --sudo-options=SUDO_OPTIONS Additional sudo options for a remote scan.
  • --sudo-password=SUDO_PASSWORD Specify a sudo password, if it is required.
  • -t, --target=TARGET Simple targeting option using URIs, e.g. ssh://user:pass@host:port.
  • --target-id=TARGET_ID Provide a ID which will be included on reports - deprecated.
  • --tags=one two three A list of tags or a list of regular expressions that match tags. exec will run controls referenced by the listed or matching tags.
  • --user=USER The login user for a remote scan.
  • --vendor-cache=VENDOR_CACHE Use the given path for caching dependencies. (default: ~/.inspec/cache).
  • --waiver-file=one two three Load one or more waiver files.
  • --winrm-basic-auth-only, --no-winrm-basic-auth-only Whether to use basic authentication, defaults to false (WinRM).
  • --winrm-disable-sspi, --no-winrm-disable-sspi Whether to use disable sspi authentication, defaults to false (WinRM).
  • --winrm-transport=WINRM_TRANSPORT Specify which transport to use, defaults to negotiate (WinRM).

habitat

Create a Chef Habitat package.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

inspec habitat SUBCOMMAND

help

Describe available commands or one specific command.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

inspec help [COMMAND]

init

Scaffold a new project.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

inspec init TEMPLATE

json

Read all tests in path and generate a json summary.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

inspec json PATH

Options

This subcommand has the following additional options:

  • --controls=one two three A list of controls to include. Ignore all other tests.
  • -o, --output=OUTPUT Save the created profile to a path.
  • --profiles-path=PROFILES_PATH Folder which contains referenced profiles.
  • --tags=one two three A list of tags that reference certain controls. Other controls are ignored.
  • --vendor-cache=VENDOR_CACHE Use the given path for caching dependencies. (default: ~/.inspec/cache).

nothing

Does nothing.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

inspec nothing

plugin

Install and manage Chef InSpec plugins.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

inspec plugin SUBCOMMAND

schema

Print the json schema.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

inspec schema NAME

shell

Open an interactive debugging shell.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

inspec shell

Options

This subcommand has the following additional options:

  • -b, --backend=BACKEND Choose a backend: local, ssh, winrm, docker.
  • --bastion-host=BASTION_HOST Specifies the bastion host if applicable.
  • --bastion-port=BASTION_PORT Specifies the bastion port if applicable.
  • --bastion-user=BASTION_USER Specifies the bastion user if applicable.
  • -c, --command=COMMAND A single command string to run instead of launching the shell.
  • --command-timeout=SECONDS Maximum seconds to allow a command to run.
  • --ca-trust-file=PATH_TO_CA_TRUST_FILE Specify CA certificate required for SSL authentication (WinRM).
  • --client-cert=PATH_TO_CLIENT_CERTIFICATE Specify client certificate required for SSL authentication (WinRM).
  • --client-key=PATH_TO_CLIENT_KEY Specify client key required with client certificate for SSL authentication (WinRM).
  • --client-key-pass=CLIENT_CERT_PASSWORD Specify client certificate password, if required for SSL authentication (WinRM).
  • --config=CONFIG Read configuration from JSON file (- reads from stdin).
  • --depends=one two three A space-delimited list of local folders containing profiles whose libraries and resources will be loaded into the new shell.
  • --distinct-exit, --no-distinct-exit Exit with code 100 if any tests fail, and 101 if any are skipped but none failed (default). If disabled, exit 0 on skips and 1 for failures.
  • --docker-url Provides path to Docker API endpoint (Docker). Defaults to unix:///var/run/docker.sock on Unix systems and tcp://localhost:2375 on Windows.
  • --enable-password=ENABLE_PASSWORD Password for enable mode on Cisco IOS devices.
  • --host=HOST Specify a remote host which is tested.
  • --insecure, --no-insecure Disable SSL verification on select targets.
  • --inspect, --no-inspect Use verbose/debugging output for resources.
  • -i, --key-files=one two three Login key or certificate file for a remote scan.
  • --password=PASSWORD Login password for a remote scan, if required.
  • --path=PATH Login path to use when connecting to the target (WinRM).
  • -p, --port=N Specify the login port for a remote scan.
  • --podman-url Provides the path to the Podman API endpoint. Defaults to unix:///run/user/$UID/podman/podman.sock for rootless container, unix:///run/podman/podman.sock for rootful container (for this you need to execute inspec as root user).
  • --proxy-command=PROXY_COMMAND Specifies the command to use to connect to the server.
  • --reporter=one two:/output/file/path Enable one or more output reporters: cli, documentation, html, progress, json, json-min, json-rspec, junit.
  • --self-signed, --no-self-signed Allow remote scans with self-signed certificates (WinRM).
  • --shell, --no-shell Run scans in a subshell. Only activates on Unix.
  • --shell-command=SHELL_COMMAND Specify a particular shell to use.
  • --shell-options=SHELL_OPTIONS Additional shell options.
  • --ssh-config-file=one two three A list of paths to the SSH configuration file, for example: ~/.ssh/config or /etc/ssh/ssh_config.
  • --ssl, --no-ssl Use SSL for transport layer encryption (WinRM).
  • --ssl-peer-fingerprint=SSL_PEER_FINGERPRINT Specify ssl peer fingerprint in lieu of certificates, for SSL authentication (WinRM).
  • --sudo, --no-sudo Run scans with sudo. Only activates on Unix and non-root user.
  • --sudo-command=SUDO_COMMAND Alternate command for sudo.
  • --sudo-options=SUDO_OPTIONS Additional sudo options for a remote scan.
  • --sudo-password=SUDO_PASSWORD Specify a sudo password, if it is required.
  • -t, --target=TARGET Simple targeting option using URIs, e.g. ssh://user:pass@host:port.
  • --target-id=TARGET_ID Provide a ID which will be included on reports.
  • --user=USER The login user for a remote scan.
  • --winrm-basic-auth-only, --no-winrm-basic-auth-only Whether to use basic authentication, defaults to false (WinRM).
  • --winrm-disable-sspi, --no-winrm-disable-sspi Whether to use disable sspi authentication, defaults to false (WinRM).
  • --winrm-transport=WINRM_TRANSPORT Specify which transport to use, defaults to negotiate (WinRM).

supermarket

Supermarket commands.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

inspec supermarket SUBCOMMAND ...

Options

This subcommand has additional options:

  • --supermarket_url Specify the URL of a private Chef Supermarket.

vendor

Download all dependencies and generate a lockfile in a vendor directory.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

inspec vendor PATH

Options

This subcommand has additional options:

  • --overwrite, --no-overwrite Overwrite existing vendored dependencies and lockfile.

version

Prints the version of this tool.

Syntax

This subcommand has the following syntax:

inspec version

Options

This subcommand has the following additional options:

  • --format=FORMAT

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