CycloneDX BOM Repository Server

A BOM repository server for distributing CycloneDX BOMs.

You can test it out locally using Docker by running:

docker run --env REPO__DIRECTORY=/repo --env ALLOWEDMETHODS__GET="true" --env ALLOWEDMETHODS__POST="true" --env ALLOWEDMETHODS__DELETE="true" --tty --interactive -p 8000:80 cyclonedx/cyclonedx-bom-repo-server

Or, if you would like to persist BOM repository storage between runs:

mkdir repo
docker run --volume "$(pwd)/repo":/repo --env REPO__DIRECTORY=/repo --env ALLOWEDMETHODS__GET="true" --env ALLOWEDMETHODS__POST="true" --env ALLOWEDMETHODS__DELETE="true" --tty --interactive -p 8000:80 cyclonedx/cyclonedx-bom-repo-server

API Endpoints

The server supports Swagger/Open API Specification.

The JSON endpoint is /swagger/v1/swagger.json. The UI can be accessed at /swagger/index.html.

A summary of the available endpoints and methods are below:

NOTE: BOM serial numbers should be unique for a particular device/software version. When updating an existing BOM for the same software version, the BOM serial number should remain the same, and the version number should be incremented. For this reason, updating an existing BOM version is not supported. There is, of course, nothing to prevent deleting an existing BOM version and re-publishing it with the same serial number and version. But this is not recommended.

Example cURL Usage

Retrieving a BOM from the repository

curl -X GET "https://www.example.com/bom?serialNumber=urn%3Auuid%3A3e671687-395b-41f5-a30f-a58921a69b79" -H  "accept: application/vnd.cyclonedx+json; version=1.3"

Adding a new BOM to the repository

curl -X POST "https://www.example.com/bom" -H  "accept: */*" -H  "Content-Type: application/vnd.cyclonedx+json; version=1.3" -d "{\"bomFormat\":\"CycloneDX\",\"specVersion\":\"1.3\",\"serialNumber\":\"urn:uuid:3e671687-395b-41f5-a30f-a58921a69b79\",\"version\":1,\"components\":[{\"type\":\"library\",\"name\":\"acme-library\",\"version\":\"1.0.0\"}]}"```

Deleting a BOM from the repository

curl -X DELETE "https://www.example.com/bom?serialNumber=urn%3Auuid%3A3e671687-395b-41f5-a30f-a58921a69b79" -H  "accept: */*"

Configuration

The server can be configured by changing the appsettings.json file or setting the following environment variables

Authentication and Authorization

Authentication and authorization are expected to be configured at the web server or API gateway level.

For simplicity of deployment the allowed methods can be configured, and default to safe options (everything is forbidden by default).

It is recommended to deploy two instances of the BOM repository server.

One, requiring authentication and additional security controls, with GET and POST methods permitted to support publishing BOMs.

And a second instance, public facing, with only the GET method enabled. And authentication configured if required.

More advanced authentication and authorization use cases should be handled with a solution like an API gateway. And are considered out of scope of this project.

NOTE: It is recommended, subject to your operational environment and risk profile, to not require authentication for public facing instances. This enables downstream consumers, who might not have a direct commercial arrangement with your organization, to retrieve BOMs.

System Requirements

The CycloneDX BOM Repository Server has been designed as a lightweight, high performance, BOM repository server. Any production web server should be capable of running it.

However, there is an in memory cache of BOM metadata. Memory requirements will differ based on the amount of BOM metadata that requires caching.

All BOMs are converted to Protocol Buffer format before storage for efficiency.

As an alternative to the Docker image, the server can be hosted using Nginx, Apache, IIS, or Kestrel. More information can be found in the Web server implementations in ASP.NET Core⁠ documentation.

High Availability Deployments

The server supports sharing repository storage between multiple frontend instances. Which can be used for full active/active high availability clustering.

When deploying to multiple data centres it is recommended to have one master instance that supports publishing BOMs. And use data replication to any other target data centres used for distributing BOMs.