Steampipe mods are packaged sets of resources -- named queries, controls, benchmarks, or dashboards -- that work with the database tables provided by a plugin. Users of Steampipe CLI install mods by cloning the mods' GitHub repos and invoking steampipe check or steampipe dashboard.
In Steampipe Cloud the process is much simpler.
Get started
If you haven't already installed the Net plugin, click Settings -> Connections -> Add Connection and choose Net.
Click Create a new connection -> Create.
Then click Add to workspace and link the connection to your workspace.
The Settings -> Connections tab in this Steampipe Cloud workspace shows that one plugin is installed.
The Settings -> Mods tab shows that no mods are installed.
Click Install Mods to view a scrollable list of official mods that work with the connections you've defined. Net Insights is recommended.
Click Install Mods to install the latest version of Net Insights.
Run a Net Insights benchmark
Click Dashboards to view the benchmarks and dashboards provide by the mods you've installed.
They're initially grouped by mod name. Search for Net Insights, and click DNS Best Practices to run that benchmark. Steampipe Cloud reports progress for each group of controls. Expand a group to see progress for the individual controls in the group, and to view results.
Note that the default domains checked by the benchmark are microsoft.com and github.com. To check different domains, click Settings -> Mods -> net_insights to open an editor that knows about the variables you can set for this mod. Enter some other domains, for example whitehouse.gov and gov.uk, to see how they fare on the benchmark!
Run an AWS Insights dashboard
If you haven't already installed the AWS plugin, click Settings -> Connections -> Add Connection, choose AWS, and authenticate using one of the available methods: Cross-Account Role or Access Key.
As before, click Settings -> Mods to select from the list of mods that work with the AWS plugin. Select AWS Insights and click Install Mods.
Some of the dashboards provided by AWS Insights focus on S3 resources. To find them, search for aws s3.
Click AWS S3 Bucket Dashboard to view that dashboard.
That's it! It's easy to install mods that work with the connections in your workspace, then use them to check your cloud resources for compliance with security standards or visualize them on dashboards.
Want to try this for yourself? Steampipe Cloud is available in preview, you can sign up at cloud.steampipe.io. We're always eager for feedback; you can tell us about your experience in our Slack community's #cloud channel.