The Best Configuration Management Static Analysis Tools (Linters/Formatters)

We rank 22 Configuration Management linters, code analyzers, formatters, and more. Find and compare tools like Mega-Linter, Semgrep, DeepSource, and more. Please rate and review tools that you've used. This helps others find the best tools for their projects.

11 Configuration Management Tools

checkov

Static analysis tool for Terraform files (tf>=v0.12), preventing cloud misconfigs at build time.

  • MaintainedMaintained
  • MaintainedMulti-Language
  • Maintainedcli
  • Maintainedlinter
  • 100% upvoted

ansible-lint

Checks playbooks for practices and behaviour that could potentially be improved.

  • MaintainedMaintained
  • MaintainedMulti-Language
  • Maintainedcli
  • Maintainedlinter
  • 0% upvoted

AWS CloudFormation Guard

Check local CloudFormation templates against policy-as-code rules and generate rules from existing templates.

  • MaintainedMaintained
  • MaintainedMulti-Language
  • Maintainedcli
  • Maintainedlinter
  • 0% upvoted

cfn-lint

AWS Labs CloudFormation linter.

  • MaintainedMaintained
  • MaintainedMulti-Language
  • Maintainedcli
  • Maintainedlinter
  • 0% upvoted

cfn_nag

A linter for AWS CloudFormation templates.

  • MaintainedMaintained
  • MaintainedMulti-Language
  • Maintainedcli
  • Maintainedlinter
  • 0% upvoted

cookstyle

Cookstyle is a linting tool based on the RuboCop Ruby linting tool for Chef cookbooks.

  • MaintainedMaintained
  • MaintainedMulti-Language
  • Maintainedcli
  • Maintainedlinter
  • 0% upvoted

foodcritic

A lint tool that checks Chef cookbooks for common problems.

  • MaintainedMaintained
  • MaintainedMulti-Language
  • Maintainedcli
  • Maintainedlinter
  • 0% upvoted

Puppet Lint

Check that your Puppet manifests conform to the style guide.

  • DeprecatedDeprecated
  • DeprecatedMulti-Language
  • Deprecatedcli
  • Deprecatedlinter
  • 0% upvoted

terraform-compliance

A lightweight, compliance- and security focused, BDD test framework against Terraform.

  • MaintainedMaintained
  • MaintainedMulti-Language
  • Maintainedcli
  • Maintainedlinter
  • 0% upvoted

terrascan

Collection of security and best practice tests for static code analysis of Terraform templates.

  • MaintainedMaintained
  • MaintainedMulti-Language
  • Maintainedcli
  • Maintainedlinter
  • 0% upvoted

tflint

A Terraform linter for detecting errors that can not be detected by terraform plan.

  • MaintainedMaintained
  • MaintainedMulti-Language
  • Maintainedcli
  • Maintainedlinter
  • 0% upvoted

11 Multi-Language Tools

Mega-Linter

Mega-Linter can handle any type of project thanks to its 70+ embedded Linters, its advanced reporting, runnable on any CI system or locally, with assisted installation and configuration, able to apply formatting and fixes

  • MaintainedMaintained
  • MaintainedMulti-Language
  • Maintainedcli
  • Maintainedlinter
  • 68% upvoted

Semgrep

Sponsor

A fast, open-source, static analysis tool for finding bugs and enforcing code standards at editor, commit, and CI time. Its rules look like the code you already write; no abstract syntax trees or regex wrestling. Supports 17+ languages.

  • MaintainedMaintained
  • MaintainedMulti-Language
  • MaintainedcliMaintainedservice
  • Maintainedlinter
  • 82% upvoted

DeepSource

In-depth static analysis to find issues in verticals of bug risks, security, anti-patterns, performance, documentation and style. Native integrations with GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket. Less than 5% false positives.

  • MaintainedMaintained
  • MaintainedMulti-Language
  • Maintainedservice
  • Maintainedlinter
  • 76% upvoted

Steampunk Spotter

Ansible Playbook Scanning Tool that analyzes and offers recommendations for your playbooks.

  • MaintainedMaintained
  • MaintainedMulti-Language
  • MaintainedcliMaintainedguiMaintainedserviceMaintainedide-plugin
  • MaintainedlinterMaintainedformatter
  • 83% upvoted

kics

Find security vulnerabilities, compliance issues, and infrastructure misconfigurations in your infrastructure-as-code. Supports Terraform, Kubernetes, Docker, AWS CloudFormation and Ansible

  • MaintainedMaintained
  • MaintainedMulti-Language
  • Maintainedcli
  • Maintainedlinter
  • 100% upvoted

AzSK

Secure DevOps kit for Azure (AzSK) provides security IntelliSense, Security Verification Tests (SVTs), CICD scan vulnerabilities, compliance issues, and infrastructure misconfiguration in your infrastructure-as-code. Supports Azure via ARM.

  • MaintainedMaintained
  • MaintainedMulti-Language
  • Maintainedcli
  • Maintainedlinter
  • 0% upvoted

metadata-json-lint

Tool to check the validity of Puppet metadata.json files.

  • MaintainedMaintained
  • MaintainedMulti-Language
  • Maintainedcli
  • Maintainedlinter
  • 0% upvoted

Qwiet AI

Identify vulnerabilities that are unique to your code base before they reach production. Leverages the Code Property Graph (CPG) to run its analyses concurrently in a single graph of graphs. Automatically finds business logic flaws in dev like hardcoded secrets and logic bombs

  • MaintainedMaintained
  • MaintainedMulti-Language
  • Maintainedservice
  • Maintainedlinter
  • 0% upvoted

Super-Linter

Combination of multiple linters to install as a GitHub Action.

  • MaintainedMaintained
  • MaintainedMulti-Language
  • Maintainedcli
  • Maintainedlinter
  • 50% upvoted

tfsec

Terraform static analysis tool that prevents potential security issues by checking cloud misconfigurations at build time and directly integrates with the HCL parser for better results. Checks for violations of AWS, Azure and GCP security best practice recommendations.

  • MaintainedMaintained
  • MaintainedMulti-Language
  • Maintainedcli
  • Maintainedlinter
  • 0% upvoted

ShiftLeft Scan

Scan is a free open-source DevSecOps platform for detecting security issues in source code and dependencies. It supports a broad range of languages and CI/CD pipelines.

  • MaintainedMaintained
  • MaintainedMulti-Language
  • MaintainedcliMaintainedservice
  • Maintainedlinter
  • 40% upvoted

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Configuration Management tools?

Configuration management (CM) is the process of systematically handling changes to a system in a way that it maintains integrity over time. It is a core practice in systems and software engineering that enables efficient and reliable delivery of products and services. It is also a key practice in IT service management (ITSM) that enables efficient and reliable delivery of IT services.

What are the best Configuration Management static analysis tools and linters?

The most popular Configuration Management tools ranked by user votes are: Mega-Linter, Semgrep, DeepSource, Steampunk Spotter, kics.

Which Configuration Management tools are free to use?

Tools with a free plan include DeepSource, Steampunk Spotter. On top of that, there are also a number of open source like Mega-Linter, Semgrep, Steampunk Spotter, kics, checkov, ansible-lint, AWS CloudFormation Guard, AzSK, cfn-lint, cfn_nag.

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