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Concepts

What is OpenShift Security as Code

Andrios Robert

• 1 min read

In OpenShift, every weak point hides in plain sight until code exposes it across clusters, namespaces, and pipelines. Security as Code turns those weak points into tracked, versioned, and enforced rules. It shifts protection out of wikis and meetings into automated checks that run with every deploy.

What is OpenShift Security as Code

OpenShift Security as Code is the practice of defining security policies, compliance controls, and configuration guardrails in code repositories. These policies are applied declaratively, tested like application code, and stored in version control. This removes guesswork, ensures consistency across environments, and makes rollbacks and audits fast.

Why it matters

Manual checklists fail at scale. OpenShift runs hundreds of containers, pods, and microservices across hybrid and multi-cloud. Without automation, misconfigurations spread. Security as Code enforces rules at build and deploy time. Kubernetes-native policy engines, container scanning tools, and role-based access controls become part of the CI/CD flow, not afterthoughts in production.

Core practices

  • Store OpenShift security configurations in Git alongside application code.
  • Use Open Policy Agent, Kyverno, or Gatekeeper to enforce Kubernetes and OpenShift compliance policies as part of deployments.
  • Automate vulnerability scanning for container images before they hit the cluster.
  • Define NetworkPolicies and RoleBindings as versioned YAML to restrict access and flow.
  • Embed policy validation in the build pipeline with fail-fast conditions.

Benefits of Security as Code in OpenShift

  • Predictable deployments with consistent security posture across all clusters.
  • Fast remediation by reverting a commit or updating a single configuration file.
  • Clear audit trails for compliance without manual review.
  • Reduced attack surface from automated enforcement of the principle of least privilege.

Cloud-native security is only effective when it’s part of the same workflow that ships code. OpenShift Security as Code makes infrastructure and security a single, merged artifact delivered by the pipeline. The result is fewer incidents, faster fixes, and confidence that every deploy meets the same standard.

See how to make OpenShift Security as Code real in minutes—try it live at hoop.dev.