| name | implementing-policy-as-code-with-open-policy-agent |
| description | 'This skill covers implementing Open Policy Agent (OPA) and Gatekeeper for policy-as-code enforcement in Kubernetes and CI/CD pipelines. It addresses writing Rego policies, deploying OPA Gatekeeper as a Kubernetes admission controller, testing policies in development, and integrating policy evaluation into deployment pipelines. ' |
| domain | cybersecurity |
| subdomain | devsecops |
| tags | - devsecops - cicd - opa - gatekeeper - policy-as-code - kubernetes - secure-sdlc |
| version | 1.0.0 |
| author | mahipal |
| license | Apache-2.0 |
| nist_ai_rmf | - GOVERN-1.1 - MEASURE-2.7 - MANAGE-3.1 |
| nist_csf | - PR.PS-01 - GV.SC-07 - ID.IM-04 - PR.PS-04 |
Implementing Policy as Code with Open Policy Agent
When to Use
- When enforcing organizational security policies across Kubernetes clusters programmatically
- When requiring admission control that blocks non-compliant resources from being created
- When implementing policy governance that can be version-controlled, tested, and audited
- When standardizing security rules across multiple clusters and environments
- When needing a flexible policy engine that extends beyond Kubernetes to APIs and CI/CD
Do not use for vulnerability scanning (use Trivy/Checkov), for runtime threat detection (use Falco), or for network policy enforcement (use Kubernetes NetworkPolicy or Calico).
Prerequisites
- Kubernetes cluster with admin access for Gatekeeper installation
- Helm for Gatekeeper deployment
- OPA CLI or conftest for local policy testing
- Rego knowledge for policy authoring
Workflow
Step 1: Install OPA Gatekeeper
helm repo add gatekeeper https://open-policy-agent.github.io/gatekeeper/charts
helm install gatekeeper gatekeeper/gatekeeper \
--namespace gatekeeper-system --create-namespace \
--set replicas=3 \
--set audit.replicas=1 \
--set audit.writeToRAMDisk=true
Step 2: Create Constraint Templates
apiVersion: templates.gatekeeper.sh/v1
kind: ConstraintTemplate
metadata:
name: k8srequiredlabels
spec:
crd:
spec:
names:
kind: K8sRequiredLabels
validation:
openAPIV3Schema:
type: object
properties:
labels:
type: array
items:
type: string
targets:
- target: admission.k8s.gatekeeper.sh
rego: |
package k8srequiredlabels
violation[{"msg": msg}] {
provided := {label | input.review.object.metadata.labels[label]}
required := {label | label := input.parameters.labels[_]}
missing := required - provided
count(missing) > 0
msg := sprintf("Missing required labels: %v", [missing])
}
---
apiVersion: templates.gatekeeper.sh/v1
kind: ConstraintTemplate
metadata:
name: k8scontainerlimits
spec:
crd:
spec:
names:
kind: K8sContainerLimits
validation:
openAPIV3Schema:
type: object
properties:
cpu:
type: string
memory:
type: string
targets:
- target: admission.k8s.gatekeeper.sh
rego: |
package k8scontainerlimits
violation[{"msg": msg}] {
container := input.review.object.spec.containers[_]
not container.resources.limits.cpu
msg := sprintf("Container %v has no CPU limit", [container.name])
}
violation[{"msg": msg}] {
container := input.review.object.spec.containers[_]
not container.resources.limits.memory
msg := sprintf("Container %v has no memory limit", [container.name])
}
---
apiVersion: templates.gatekeeper.sh/v1
kind: ConstraintTemplate
metadata:
name: k8sblockprivileged
spec:
crd:
spec:
names:
kind: K8sBlockPrivileged
targets:
- target: admission.k8s.gatekeeper.sh
rego: |
package k8sblockprivileged
violation[{"msg": msg}] {
container := input.review.object.spec.containers[_]
container.securityContext.privileged == true
msg := sprintf("Privileged container not allowed: %v", [container.name])
}
violation[{"msg": msg}] {
container := input.review.object.spec.initContainers[_]
container.securityContext.privileged == true
msg := sprintf("Privileged init container not allowed: %v", [container.name])
}
Step 3: Apply Constraints
apiVersion: constraints.gatekeeper.sh/v1beta1
kind: K8sRequiredLabels
metadata:
name: require-team-labels
spec:
enforcementAction: deny
match:
kinds:
- apiGroups: [""]
kinds: ["Namespace"]
- apiGroups: ["apps"]
kinds: ["Deployment", "StatefulSet"]
excludedNamespaces:
- kube-system
- gatekeeper-system
parameters:
labels:
- "team"
- "environment"
- "cost-center"
---
apiVersion: constraints.gatekeeper.sh/v1beta1
kind: K8sBlockPrivileged
metadata:
name: block-privileged-containers
spec:
enforcementAction: deny
match:
kinds:
- apiGroups: [""]
kinds: ["Pod"]
- apiGroups: ["apps"]
kinds: ["Deployment", "DaemonSet", "StatefulSet"]
excludedNamespaces:
- kube-system
Step 4: Test Policies with conftest
brew install conftest
conftest test deployment.yaml --policy policies/ --output json
conftest test terraform/main.tf --policy policies/terraform/ --parser hcl2
conftest test Dockerfile --policy policies/docker/
# policies/kubernetes/deny_latest_tag.rego
package kubernetes
deny[msg] {
input.kind == "Deployment"
container := input.spec.template.spec.containers[_]
endswith(container.image, ":latest")
msg := sprintf("Container %v uses :latest tag. Pin to specific version.", [container.name])
}
deny[msg] {
input.kind == "Deployment"
container := input.spec.template.spec.containers[_]
not contains(container.image, ":")
msg := sprintf("Container %v has no tag. Pin to specific version.", [container.name])
}
Step 5: Integrate Policy Testing in CI/CD
name: Policy Validation
on:
pull_request:
paths: ['k8s/**', 'terraform/**', 'policies/**']
jobs:
conftest:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Install conftest
run: |
wget -q https://github.com/open-policy-agent/conftest/releases/download/v0.50.0/conftest_0.50.0_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz
tar xzf conftest_0.50.0_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz
sudo mv conftest /usr/local/bin/
- name: Test K8s manifests
run: conftest test k8s/**/*.yaml --policy policies/kubernetes/ --output json
- name: Test Terraform
run: conftest test terraform/*.tf --policy policies/terraform/ --parser hcl2
Key Concepts
| Term | Definition |
|---|
| OPA | Open Policy Agent — general-purpose policy engine using Rego language for policy decisions |
| Rego | OPA's declarative query language for writing policy rules |
| Gatekeeper | Kubernetes-native OPA integration implementing admission control via ConstraintTemplates |
| ConstraintTemplate | CRD defining the Rego policy logic and parameters schema for a class of constraints |
| Constraint | Instance of a ConstraintTemplate with specific parameters and scope (which resources to check) |
| Admission Controller | Kubernetes component that intercepts API requests before persistence and can allow or deny them |
| conftest | CLI tool for testing structured data (YAML, JSON, HCL) against OPA policies |
Tools & Systems
- Open Policy Agent (OPA): General-purpose policy engine for unified policy enforcement
- Gatekeeper: Kubernetes admission controller built on OPA with CRD-based configuration
- conftest: Testing framework for OPA policies against configuration files
- Kyverno: Alternative Kubernetes policy engine using YAML-based policies (no Rego required)
- Styra DAS: Commercial OPA management platform with policy authoring, testing, and distribution
Common Scenarios
Scenario: Enforcing Container Security Standards Across Clusters
Context: Multiple development teams deploy to shared Kubernetes clusters. Some teams run privileged containers and images without resource limits, causing security and stability issues.
Approach:
- Deploy Gatekeeper on all clusters via GitOps (Helm chart in a FluxCD repository)
- Create ConstraintTemplates for: no privileged containers, required resource limits, required labels, no latest tag
- Start with
enforcementAction: warn to identify violations without blocking deployments
- Notify teams of violations and provide a 2-week remediation window
- Switch to
enforcementAction: deny after the remediation period
- Add
excludedNamespaces for kube-system and monitoring namespaces
Pitfalls: Deploying Gatekeeper with deny mode immediately can break existing workloads. Always start with warn mode. Overly restrictive policies without exemptions for system namespaces can prevent cluster components from functioning.
Output Format
OPA Policy Evaluation Report
==============================
Cluster: production-east
Date: 2026-02-23
Gatekeeper Version: 3.16.0
CONSTRAINT SUMMARY:
K8sRequiredLabels: 12 violations (warn)
K8sBlockPrivileged: 0 violations (deny)
K8sContainerLimits: 8 violations (deny)
K8sBlockLatestTag: 3 violations (deny)
BLOCKED DEPLOYMENTS (deny):
[K8sContainerLimits] deployment/api-server in ns/payments
- Container 'api' has no memory limit
[K8sBlockLatestTag] deployment/frontend in ns/web
- Container 'nginx' uses :latest tag
AUDIT VIOLATIONS (warn):
[K8sRequiredLabels] namespace/staging
- Missing labels: {cost-center}
