Tutorial: Export dependency list in SBOM format

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Dependency Scanning output can be exported to the CycloneDX JSON format.

This tutorial shows you how to generate a CycloneDX JSON SBOM for a pipeline, and then to upload it as a CI job artifact.

Before you begin

Set up Dependency Scanning. For detailed instructions, follow the Dependency Scanning tutorial.

Create configuration files

1. Create a private access token with api scope and the Developer role.

2. Add the token value as a CI/CD variable named PRIVATE_TOKEN.

3. Create a snippet with the following code.

   Filename: export.sh

   #! /bin/sh
   
   function create_export {
     curl --silent \
     --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: $PRIVATE_TOKEN" \
     -X 'POST' --data "export_type=sbom" \
     "https://gitlab.com/api/v4/pipelines/$CI_PIPELINE_ID/dependency_list_exports" \
     | jq '.id'
   }
   
   function check_status {
     curl --silent \
       --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: $PRIVATE_TOKEN" \
       --write-out "%{http_code}" --output /dev/null \
       https://gitlab.com/api/v4/dependency_list_exports/$1
   }
   
   function download {
     curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: $PRIVATE_TOKEN" \
       --output "gl-sbom-merged-$CI_PIPELINE_ID.cdx.json" \
       "https://gitlab.com/api/v4/dependency_list_exports/$1/download"
   }
   
   function export_sbom {
     local ID=$(create_export)
   
     for run in $(seq 0 3); do
       local STATUS=$(check_status $ID)
       # Status is 200 when JSON is generated.
       # Status is 202 when generate JSON job is running.
       if [ $STATUS -eq "200" ]; then
         download $ID
   
         exit 0
       elif [ $STATUS -ne "202" ]; then
         exit 1
       fi
   
       echo "Waiting for JSON to be generated"
       sleep 5
     done
   
     exit 1
   }
   
   export_sbom

   The above script works in the following steps:

   1. Create a CycloneDX SBOM export for the current pipeline.
   2. Check the status of that export, and stop when it's ready.
   3. Download the CycloneDX SBOM file.

4. Update .gitlab-ci.yml with the following code.

   export-merged-sbom:
     image: alpine
     before_script:
       - apk add --update jq curl
     stage: .post
     script:
       - | 
         curl --header "Authorization: Bearer $PRIVATE_TOKEN" --output export.sh --url "https://gitlab.com/api/v4/snippets/<SNIPPET_ID>/raw"
       - /bin/sh export.sh
     artifacts:
       paths:
         - "gl-sbom-merged-*.cdx.json"
   

5. Go to Build > Pipelines and confirm that the latest pipeline completed successfully.

In the job artifacts, gl-sbom-merged-<pipeline_id>.cdx.json file should be present.