Understanding DeployHub Pro Objects

Understanding Core Objects and Concepts.

Introduction

DeployHub Pro’s core Objects are Domains, Applications, Components, Environments and Endpoints. These Objects organize, aggregate, and version independently released artifacts with their DevSecOps metadata such as deployment location, Software Bill of Materials, OpenSSF Scorecard, and known vulnerabilities. This data is the basis for analyzing your software system’s security posture and tracking vulnerabilities to where they are running in your environment.

Objects related to gathering Security Intelligence include:

  • Domains - Organizes data into “solution” spaces
  • Components - An independently deployed artifact such as files, APIs, Microservices, Containers
  • Applications - A collection of independently deployed artifacts (Components) that serves as a complete software solution.
  • Environments - The location where the Application is running.
  • Endpoints - The clusters, servers, or Virtual Machines within the Environment where a Component is running.

DeployHub Pro includes an agentless deployment engine for organizations who are looking to standardize on a deployment process. Objects related to DeployHub Pro’s Internal Deployment engine includes:

  • Release
  • Credentials
  • DropZone
  • DropZone File
  • Notifiers

Following is a description of each Object and their attributes.

Domain Object

The Domain Object represents the highest order of organization for managing Applications, Components and Environments. Domains are hierarchical and can have Subdomains. Subdomains inherit the parents properties, and access.

Example of Domains, Applications, Components and Environments

Your Components, are organized based on Domains and Subdomains which you define. Domains categorize Components that solve the same ‘problem sets.’ In a similar way, Applications are assigned to Domains. In addition, Environments and Endpoints are associated to Domains that are running Applications.

The highest level Domain is your Global Domain. With the SaaS version, your Global Domain name is defined based on your Company. With the on-premise installation, you will see a Domain called Global.

The following properties can be accessed on the Domain object:

Property Description
ID Domain id, as used in the database.
Name Domain name.
fqdomain Fully qualified Domain name.
Summary Summary text.
Domain Higher level organization to which it belongs.
Subdomains Lower level organization to which it belongs
Applications The Application objects which are contained within it.
Environments The Environment objects which are contained within it.
Creator The User or Group Object representing the user who created it.
Modifier The User or Group Object representing the user who last modified it.
ctime Date Object representing the date/time it was created.
mtime Date Object representing the date/time it was last modified.
Owner User or Group Objects that owns it.

Component Object

DeployHub Pro manages artifacts and other reusable objects as Components. Components are consumed by Applications. By assigning Components to Applications you track a ’logical’ view of your software solution as a whole. In cloud-native architecture, Components are loosely coupled and communicate at run-time. Defining Components to Applications supports the aggregation of security data to the Application level to produce Application security reports such as Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) reports in a decoupled architecture where hundreds of SBOMs are needed for one Application SBOM.

Components change over time. To expose changes, DeployHub Pro takes a snapshot of the initial Component Base Version and tracks subsequent changes recorded as Component Versions. Components are associated to a Domain for organization and quick searches.

  • Component Base Version : The initial Component object that represent the artifacts being managed

  • Component Version : A child of the Component Base Version that represents changes.

A Component object has the following properties:

Property Description
ID A unique identifier for the Component as used in the database.
Name The name of the Component.
fqdomain Fully qualified Domain name.
Summary Description of the Component.
Domain Organization in which the Component is contained.
Owner User or UserGroup that owns the Component.
Parent The Base Component.
Predecessor The version on which this is based.
Items The items that make up this Component.
Endpoint The compute node to which this Component has been deployed.
Requests The change requests associated with this Component .
Lastbuild The last build number for this Component, 0 if never built.
Creator The User who created this Component.
Modifier The User who last modified this Component.
ctime The date/time the Component was created.
mtime The date/time the Component was last modified.
Key Value Configurations Key Value Pairs for managing associative arrays.

Application Object

Applications are a collection of Components that are released as a single software solution. You define an Application by associating the Components it will consume. When you initially define an Application it is referenced as the Application Base Version. When an underlying Component changes, it impacts the Application creating a new Application Version. Applications are organized by a Domain.

  • Application Base Version : Defines the software product in terms of Components, Attributes, and assigned Environments.

  • Application Version : This represents any changes made in to the Base Versions.

An Application has the following properties:

Property Description
ID A unique identifier for the Application in the database.
Name Application name.
fqdomain Fully qualified Domain name.
Summary Summary of the Domain.
Owner User or Group that owns it.
Parent The Base Application.
predecessor Predecessor Application Version.
Release Defines the Application Object with more than one Application.
Applications Multiple Applications used to create a Release.
Components The objects that the Application consumes.
Approvals Allows a control point for progressing a change within the pipeline process.
Requests The Change Request objects associated with this Application.
creator The User or Group who created it.
Modifier The User or Group who last modified it.
ctime The date/time it was created.
mtime The date/time it was last modified.
Key Value Configurations Key Value Pairs for managing associative arrays.

Component and Application Relationships

There is a many-to-many relationship between Applications and Components. An Application can contain many different Components, and a Component can be used across many different Applications. Components can be easily shared between Applications. DeployHub Pro tracks and versions the Component relationships including which Applications they impact. This is necessary for tracking vulnerabilities found at the Component level to the Application that consumes it.

Component and Application Versioning

A backend versioning datastore tracks all software configuration updates. This is done within an Application. An Application consists of one or more Components. Versioning tracks all changes in both your Application and Component attributes.

When you first define your Application, you create an Application Base Version. Over time, as you update your code and deliver new features, each change to the Application creates a new Application Version. Application Versions are a collection of all your Components in the software solution delivered to end users. Like Component Versions, there is an initial Application Base Version and subsequent Application Versions, which represent the updates over time. An Application Base Version or Component Base Version is always the first one created, and it acts as the base-line for subsequent Application or Component Versions. Otherwise they are identical types of objects.

DeployHub Pro uses a simple versioning number schema starting at 1 and incrementing over time, for example Myapp;1, Myapp;2.

You can use your CI/CD process to include variance in your versioning number (base name, variant, version.) See CI/CD and DeployHub Pro.

Environment Object

The Environment Object represents where an Application is published or deployed.

The following properties can be accessed for an Environment object:

Property Description
ID Unique identifier as used in the database.
Name Environment name.
fqdomain Fully qualified Domain name.
Summary Description of the Environment.
Domain Domain in which it is contained.
Owner User or Group Objects that owns it.
basedir Base directory for deployments.
Endpoints The compute node assigned to it.
Applications The Applications associated to it.
Creator The User or Group who created it.
Modifier The User or Group who last modified it.
ctime The date/time it was created.
mtime The date/time it was last modified.
Parent Parent Domain.

Endpoint Object

The Endpoint object is a compute node that (Local Helm Host, container, VM/Cloud Image) represents where an Application is running. Endpoints are assigned to an Environment.

Endpoints are the containers, virtual machines, or servers where the Application has been deployed. Endpoints allow DeployHub Pro to expose where vulnerabilities are running across your development, testing and production Environments.

Endpoints are mapped to Components and Environments. Endpoints are used to track where a Component is installed for vulnerability exposure, and referenced by the DeployHub Pro internal deployment engine for executing deployments.

The Endpoint object has the following properties:

Property Description
ID A unique identifier as used in the database.
Name The Endpoint name.
fqdomain Fully qualified Domain name.
Summary Description of the Endpoint.
Domain Domain in which it is contained.
Owner User or Group that owns it.
Hostname Hostname (if set) or name otherwise.
basedir Base Directory for where the Application is running.
Credential The logon and password used to access this Endpoint.
Components The Components currently installed on it.
Creator The User or Group who created it.
Modifier The User or Group who last modified it.
ctime The date/time it was created.
mtime The date/time it was last modified.
Key Value Configurations Key Value Pairs for managing associative arrays.

Date Object

Dates track the date/time of the creation, deletion, or update of an Object.

The Date has the following properties:

Property Description
to_int(secs) Returns an integer representing the date as the number of seconds since midnight on January 1st 1970 (epoch). The secs parameter is optional. If needed, the specified number of seconds is added to the date/time before the new value is returned.
to_char(fmt) Formats the date into a string given by the passed fmt string. The fmt string should contain characters as specified below.

Change Request Object

The Change Request Object represents a change request record associated with either a Component or an Application.

Data Source Objects

The Data Source object communicates with various sources of information such as databases, HTTP servers, FTP servers, etc., and can be used to connect to other DevOps tools as needed.

Group Object

The Group Object represents a collection of Users with the same Domain and security access.

The Group Object has the following properties:

Property Description
ID A unique identifier as used in the database.
Name Group Name.
Kind Identifies whether this is a User or a Group.
fqdomain Fully qualified Domain name.
Email The Group’s email address.
Creator User or Group Object representing who created this Group.
Modifier User or Group Object representing who last modified this Group.
ctime Date Object representing the date/time it was created.
mtime Date Object representing the date/time it was last modified.
Owner User or Group that owns the object.

User Object

The User Object represents a User in DeployHub Pro. It has the following properties:

Property Return Type Description
ID Integer User id, as used in the database.
Name String User Name.
kind String Returns “user”. Used to differentiate between users and groups when retrieving an owner object.
fqdomain String Fully qualified Domain name.
Realname String The User’s full name.
Email String The User’s email address.
Phone String The User’s telephone number.
groups Array Array of Group Objects to which this User belongs.
lastlogin Date The date/time last logged into DeployHub Pro.
Creator User User or Group Object representing who created this User.
Modifier User User or Group Object representing who last modified this User.
ctime Date Date Object representing the date/time the User was created.
mtime Date Date Object representing the date/time the User was last modified.
Owner Object User or Group that owns the User

Objects Used by the Internal Deployment Engine

If your organization requires a standardized method of doing deployments, the DeployHub Pro internal deployment engine can be configured for this use. The internal deployment engine is agentless and requires a reverse proxy. For more information on the internal deployment engine read the deployment chapter.

Release Object

A Release is only available in DeployHub Pro. A Release is a collection of Applications that must be deployed together, sometimes referred to as a ‘Release Train.’ Releases are used as part of DeployHub Pro’s internal deployment engine and are not required for managing Security Intelligence.

Credential Object

The Credential Object contains the logon and password needed to access EndPoints and external repositories like Git or Quay. Credentials are used by the internal deployment engine, but not required for Security Intelligence gathering.

The Credential Object has the following properties:

Property Description
ID A unique identifier for the Credential as used in the database.
Name The name of the Credential.
Summary Description.
fqdomain Fully qualified Domain name that the Credential is associated with.
Domain Organization in which the Credential is associated.
Owner User or Group that owns the Credential.
Username Decrypted username.
Password Decrypted password.
b64auth A string representing the decrypted username and password together, with a : separator and then base64 encoded. Used for Basic Authorization for web-based APIs.
creator The User or Group who created this Credential.
Modifier The User or Group who last modified this Credential.
ctime The date/time the Credential was created.
mtime The date/time the Credential was last modified.

Dropzone Object

The DropZone Object is used by the DeployHub Pro internal deployment engine. It represents a local area where deployment artifacts are manipulated before sent to the target Endpoints. A DropZone Object is also present on the stack during Pre and Post Action processing for a Component. For example, the content of the DropZone are the files checked out from the repository for the associated Component.

A DropZone Object has the following properties:

Property Description
Name DropZone name.
Path The full path of where the DropZone is located. Useful for passing to external scripts that may need to manipulate files in the DropZone.
files An Array of DropZone Objects, each one of which represents a file in the DropZone. The array is keyed by the full path name of the file.

DropZone File Object

The DropZone File Object represents a file in the DropZone.

The DropZone File Object has the following properties:

Property Description
dzpath The relative path of the file in the DropZone.
repopath The relative path of the file as located in the repository (this path is relative to the base directory of the repository).
size The size of the file in bytes.
ctime The creation time of the file.
mtime The modified time of the file.

Notifier Objects

A Notifier is sent after a successful or failed deployment attempt. If these features are activated, they are also sent when deployed files have been changed, a Request Task has been used, or when an Endpoint is down, DeployHub Pro can use SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), Slack and HipChat for this purpose.