Scanning Multiple Branches
You can streamline your security management across multiple branches while maintaining comprehensive visibility into potential vulnerabilities. Multi-Branch Scanning allows OX to scan multiple branches within a repository, extending your security coverage beyond the default branch.
This capability enables you to scan branches that represent:
Various versions of your software
Various stages of development, such as development, staging, and production
How Multi-Branch Scanning Works
When you enable Multi-Branch Scanning, you can scan up to five branches in a repository. If the default branch scanning option is enabled, the default branch counts toward this limit.
Each scanned branch is treated as a separate application, with its own findings, trends, and scan history.
Enabling the capability can change how the system operates, and it may affect existing data or issue handling. You can expect potential delays or changes in the data and issue resolution process, as the scan process becomes more complex.
You can define which branches to scan in the following ways:
The following table summarizes how the branch scanning settings work together.
Disabled
Enabled
Only the default branch is scanned.
Enabled
Enabled
OX scans the default branch and up to four additional selected branches.
Enabled
Disabled
OX scans only the selected non-default branches, up to five branches in total.
Enabling the capability and securing branches in all repos
Initially, the capability is disabled, and only the branch that is defined as the default is scanned.
Note: To enable the Multi-Branch capability, contact OX Security Technical Support at support@ox.security, or contact your regional customer success manager.
To define branches for scanning:
Go to Settings > Applications and scroll down to the Branch Scanning section.
Enable Multi-branch scan.
To set specific branch names for scanning in all repos, add branch name(s) in the Branches for scanning box.
Note:
If you request a branch that does not exist, the system creates an irrelevant application for this branch. For example, you request to scan the branch named
version-1-3-front-end. OX platform searches all the repos for this branch name and creates irrelevant apps each time it is not found.OX Security supports wildcards for branch scanning. You can use this to automatically capture any branch that follows a specific naming convention without having to add them manually. For example, if you type
test, any branch with this word will be included.
Select UPDATE.
Securing branches of an individual repo
When Multiple-branch scan is enabled, you can specify which branches to scan in each repo. You can scan up to 4 branches in each repo, the default branch and 3 other branches that you select.
When multiple branches are selected for scanning from a specific repo, OX designates one branch as the primary application. It’s marked with a unique icon and you can filter the Applications table using the Primary Application tag.
The primary application performs several roles, including receiving issues from third-party integrations, artifact scanners, Git posture, and cloud checks and so on.
To set branches for scanning in a specific repo:
In the Connectors page, select the source control system that you use to integrate with the OX platform.
In the Configure [source control name] Credentials dialog, select the gear icon next to DELETE.
In the Configure your [source control name] Connector dialog, select the repos that you want to scan.
To specify which branches to scan in the selected repo, click the gear icon next to the repo and select up to 4 branches, including the default one, in the Select Branches to Scan dialog.
Click SELECT.
The Select Branches to Scan dialog closes.
Note: Selecting specific branches for scanning overrides the global branch-scanning settings.
In the Configure your [source control name] Connector dialog, select SAVE.
Changes take effect after the next scan.
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