How to use docker scout config command to manage configuration

Introduction

In this lab, you will learn how to manage the configuration of Docker Scout using the docker scout config command. Docker Scout is a valuable tool for assessing the security of your container images.

Through hands-on steps, you will discover how to list the current configuration settings, print the value of a specific configuration key, and set a new value for a configuration key, allowing you to customize Docker Scout's behavior.

Skills Graph

List existing Docker Scout configuration

In this step, we will learn how to list the existing configuration settings for Docker Scout. Docker Scout is a tool that helps you understand the security posture of your container images. It integrates with Docker Desktop and the Docker CLI.

To list the current Docker Scout configuration, you can use the docker scout config command. This command will display all the configuration keys and their current values.

Open your terminal in the ~/project directory and execute the following command:

docker scout config

You should see output similar to this, showing the default configuration settings:

NAME                                    VALUE
allow-experimental                      false
allow-nondistributable-artifacts        false
allow-unauthenticated                   false
config-dir                              /home/labex/.docker/scout
debug                                   false
disable-telemetry                       false
exclude-base-image                      false
exclude-dependencies                    false
exclude-dev-dependencies                false
exclude-filesystem                      false
exclude-sbom                            false
format                                  table
ignore-policies                         []
ignore-vulnerabilities                  []
output                                  stdout
policy-dir                              /home/labex/.docker/scout/policies
provider                                default
sbom-dir                                /home/labex/.docker/scout/sboms
sbom-repo
sbom-tag
sbom-url
sbom-version
source
timeout                                 5m0s

This output lists various configuration options for Docker Scout, such as allow-experimental, config-dir, debug, and others, along with their current values. Understanding these settings is the first step in customizing Docker Scout's behavior.

Print the value of a specific configuration key

In the previous step, we listed all the Docker Scout configuration settings. Now, let's learn how to print the value of a specific configuration key. This is useful when you only need to check the value of a particular setting without listing everything.

To print the value of a specific configuration key, you can use the docker scout config get command followed by the name of the key. For example, to get the value of the config-dir key, you would use docker scout config get config-dir.

Let's try printing the value of the config-dir key. This key tells us where Docker Scout stores its configuration files.

Open your terminal in the ~/project directory and execute the following command:

docker scout config get config-dir

You should see the output showing the path to the configuration directory:

/home/labex/.docker/scout

This confirms the location of the Docker Scout configuration files on your system.

Now, let's try getting the value of another key, for example, debug. This key controls whether debug logging is enabled for Docker Scout.

Execute the following command:

docker scout config get debug

The output should show the current value of the debug key, which is likely false by default:

false

You can use this command to retrieve the value of any configuration key listed in the output of docker scout config.

Set the value of a specific configuration key

In the previous steps, we learned how to list all Docker Scout configuration settings and how to print the value of a specific key. Now, let's learn how to change the value of a configuration key. This allows you to customize Docker Scout's behavior according to your needs.

To set the value of a specific configuration key, you can use the docker scout config set command followed by the key name and the desired value. For example, to enable debug logging, you would set the debug key to true.

Let's try setting the debug key to true. This will enable more verbose output from Docker Scout, which can be helpful for troubleshooting.

Open your terminal in the ~/project directory and execute the following command:

docker scout config set debug true

You should see output confirming that the configuration has been updated:

Configuration updated.

Now, let's verify that the debug key has been successfully set to true by printing its value using the docker scout config get command we learned in the previous step.

Execute the following command:

docker scout config get debug

The output should now show true, indicating that the configuration change was successful:

true

You can use the docker scout config set command to modify other configuration keys as needed. Remember that changing configuration settings can affect how Docker Scout operates.

Summary

In this lab, we learned how to manage Docker Scout configuration using the docker scout config command. We started by listing the existing configuration settings to understand the default values for various options like allow-experimental, config-dir, and debug.

We then explored how to print the value of a specific configuration key and how to set a new value for a key, demonstrating the basic operations for customizing Docker Scout's behavior.