Automate analysis of source code by using GitHub code scanning, GitHub secrets scanning, pipeline-based scans, and SonarQube

GitHub Code Scanning is a powerful feature that allows developers to identify and fix security vulnerabilities in their code seamlessly. It leverages the CodeQL semantic code analysis engine, which is capable of detecting a wide range of security vulnerabilities, including those caused by code changes or third-party dependencies.

To enable code scanning, developers need to add a CodeQL workflow to their repository. This workflow specifies the scanning process and determines when and how the code analysis should be triggered. GitHub Actions, a powerful CI/CD platform, is employed to automate the code scanning process.

CodeQL Workflow Example:

yaml
name: CodeQL

- name: Build and analyze
uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@v1


With this workflow, every push to the main branch and every pull request targeting the main branch will trigger CodeQL analysis. The workflow checks out the code, initializes CodeQL, builds the code, and runs the analysis.

GitHub Secrets Scanning

Securing sensitive information, such as API keys and credentials, is a top priority for developers. GitHub Secrets Scanning helps identify secrets accidentally committed to a repository, reducing the risk of exposure.

When enabled, GitHub scans all public and private repositories to detect potential secrets. It uses customizable regular expression pattern matching to identify secret formats, such as API keys or passwords, in files committed to the repository. If a match is found, an alert is generated, allowing developers to take necessary actions.

Pipeline-based Scans

In addition to code scanning, GitHub also enables pipeline-based scans, where developers can integrate external tools and services into their CI/CD pipelines to perform code analysis.

For example, developers can use SonarQube, an open-source platform for continuous inspection of code quality, to conduct in-depth analysis of their source code. SonarQube provides a wide range of code quality rules, covering aspects like security vulnerabilities, code smells, and coding standards. By including SonarQube in the CI/CD pipeline, developers can automatically analyze their code with each build and receive detailed reports with actionable insights.

SonarQube Integration Example:

yaml
name: CI

- name: SonarQube analysis
uses: SonarSource/sonarqube-scan-action@v1
env:
SONAR_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SONAR_TOKEN }}


In this example, the CI workflow runs on every push to the main branch. It checks out the code, builds it, executes tests, and then triggers the SonarQube analysis. The SONAR_TOKEN is retrieved from GitHub Secrets, allowing the SonarQube action to authenticate with the SonarQube server.

Conclusion

Automated analysis of source code is essential for maintaining code quality, security, and compliance in software development. GitHub provides powerful tools like Code Scanning and Secrets Scanning, along with the flexibility of integrating external services like SonarQube through pipeline-based scans. By leveraging these features, developers can achieve a robust automated analysis workflow, ensuring that their code meets the highest standards.