# View dashboards and run benchmarks in Steampipe Cloud

> It's a few clicks to install mods that use connections in your workspace.

By Steampipe Team
Published: 2022-09-06


Steampipe [mods](https://hub.steampipe.io/mods) are packaged sets of resources -- named queries, controls, benchmarks, or dashboards -- that work with the database tables provided by a [plugin](https://hub.steampipe.io/plugins). 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](https://steampipe.io/docs/cloud/mods). 

## Get started

If you haven't already installed the [Net](https://hub.steampipe.io/plugins/turbot/net) plugin, click `Settings -> Connections -> Add Connection` and choose `Net`.

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Click `Create a new connection -> Create`.

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Then click `Add to workspace` and link the connection to your workspace.

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The `Settings -> Connections` tab in this Steampipe Cloud workspace shows that one plugin is installed. 

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The `Settings -> Mods` tab shows that no mods are installed.

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Click `Install Mods` to view a scrollable list of official mods that work with the connections you've defined. [Net Insights](https://hub.steampipe.io/mods/turbot/net_insights) is recommended.

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  <img src="/images/blog/2022-09-cloud-mods/recommended-installable-mods.jpg" />
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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.

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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.

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  <img src="/images/blog/2022-09-cloud-mods/running-dns-best-practices-benchmark.jpg" />
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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!

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## Run an AWS Insights dashboard

If you haven't already installed the [AWS](https://hub.steampipe.io/plugins/turbot/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`.

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Click `AWS S3 Bucket Dashboard` to view that dashboard.

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  <img src="/images/blog/2022-09-cloud-mods/aws-s3-bucket-dashboard.jpg" />
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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](https://cloud.steampipe.io). We're always eager for feedback; you can tell us about your experience in our [Slack community's](https://steampipe.io/community/join) `#cloud` channel.