Gold AMI Pipeline

Active

Automated hardened AMI creation pipeline with DISA STIG compliance and continuous security scanning.

Overview

Our Gold AMI Pipeline automates the creation, hardening, testing, and distribution of secure Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) that meet DISA STIG requirements and organizational security standards. The pipeline ensures consistent, repeatable, and auditable image builds with integrated security scanning and compliance validation.

Pipeline Stages

1️⃣ Base Image Selection

Start with approved base AMIs from AWS Marketplace or custom sources with version control.

2️⃣ Hardening & Configuration

Apply DISA STIGs, CIS benchmarks, and custom security configurations using Ansible/Packer.

3️⃣ Security Scanning

Automated vulnerability scanning with Inspector, Qualys, or Tenable for CVE detection.

4️⃣ Compliance Validation

STIG compliance testing with OpenSCAP and custom validation scripts.

5️⃣ Testing & Validation

Automated functional testing, performance benchmarking, and integration tests.

6️⃣ Distribution & Tagging

Multi-region AMI distribution with metadata tagging and access control.

DISA STIG Compliance

Automated application of Security Technical Implementation Guides:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) STIG - CAT I, II, and III findings
Windows Server STIG - Domain and standalone configurations
Application STIGs - Apache, NGINX, Docker, Kubernetes
Database STIGs - PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, MS SQL
Cloud STIGs - AWS and Azure specific security configurations

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    CodePipeline (Orchestration)             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
         │
         ▼
┌──────────────────┐         ┌──────────────────┐
│   CodeCommit     │────────▶│   CodeBuild      │
│  (IaC Configs)   │         │  (Packer Build)  │
└──────────────────┘         └──────────────────┘
                                      │
                                      ▼
                            ┌──────────────────┐
                            │  EC2 Instance    │
                            │  (Build Server)  │
                            └──────────────────┘
                                      │
                                      ▼
                            ┌──────────────────┐
                            │  Ansible         │
                            │  (Hardening)     │
                            └──────────────────┘
                                      │
                                      ▼
                            ┌──────────────────┐
                            │  Inspector       │
                            │  (Scanning)      │
                            └──────────────────┘
                                      │
                                      ▼
                            ┌──────────────────┐
                            │  Lambda          │
                            │  (Validation)    │
                            └──────────────────┘
                                      │
                                      ▼
                            ┌──────────────────┐
                            │  AMI Registry    │
                            │  (Distribution)  │
                            └──────────────────┘

Key Features

Automated Builds: Scheduled or event-triggered AMI builds with zero manual intervention
Version Control: Git-based configuration management with change tracking
Multi-OS Support: RHEL, CentOS, Ubuntu, Amazon Linux, Windows Server
Compliance as Code: STIG configurations stored as Ansible playbooks
Vulnerability Management: Automated patching and CVE remediation
Immutable Infrastructure: Promote immutable deployment patterns
Audit Trail: Complete build history with compliance reports
Self-Service: Teams can request custom AMIs through automated workflows

Hardening Standards

DISA STIGs

Security Technical Implementation Guides for all supported operating systems

CIS Benchmarks

Center for Internet Security hardening guidelines

NIST 800-53

Security controls for federal information systems

PCI-DSS

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard

HIPAA

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

Custom Policies

Organization-specific security requirements

Benefits

Consistency: Eliminate configuration drift with standardized images
Speed: Reduce deployment time from hours to minutes
Security: Ensure all instances start from hardened, compliant baseline
Compliance: Maintain continuous STIG compliance across fleet
Auditability: Complete audit trail of all image builds and changes
Cost Savings: Reduce manual hardening effort by 80-90%
Scalability: Support thousands of instances with consistent configuration

Integration Points

CI/CD Pipelines

Integrate with GitLab CI, Jenkins, or GitHub Actions

Configuration Management

Works with Ansible, Chef, Puppet, or Salt

Security Tools

Integrates with Qualys, Tenable, Rapid7, and others

Service Catalog

Publish AMIs to AWS Service Catalog for self-service

Ready to Automate Your AMI Pipeline?

Contact us to discuss implementing a Gold AMI pipeline in your environment.

Schedule Demo View All Solutions