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OPA Gatekeeper

by Open Policy Agent

Kubernetes admission controller for OPA policy enforcement — blocks non-compliant resource creation at the API server with constraint templates and audit mode.

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AIMenta verdict
Recommended
5/5

"Kubernetes-native OPA policy enforcement — APAC platform teams use Gatekeeper to enforce admission control policies across APAC clusters, blocking non-compliant resource creation at the API server level with constraint templates, dry-run auditing, and policy library reuse."

Features
6
Use cases
1
Watch outs
3
What it does

Key features

  • Kubernetes admission webhook: blocks non-compliant resources at API server
  • ConstraintTemplate CRD: parameterized OPA Rego policies as reusable templates
  • Audit mode: identifies existing violations in running APAC clusters
  • Dry-run mode: test policy impact without enforcing (APAC migration path)
  • OPA Policy Library integration for community APAC constraint templates
  • Namespace-scoped constraints for multi-tenant APAC cluster governance
When to reach for it

Best for

  • APAC platform teams managing multi-tenant Kubernetes clusters who need runtime policy enforcement at the API server level to prevent non-compliant workloads from being deployed.
Don't get burned

Limitations to know

  • ! Admission webhook adds latency to every APAC resource creation/update
  • ! Misconfigured policies can break cluster operations — test in dry-run first
  • ! Rego learning curve; ConstraintTemplate CRDs add complexity for small APAC teams
Context

About OPA Gatekeeper

OPA Gatekeeper is a Kubernetes admission controller that enforces Open Policy Agent policies at the Kubernetes API server level. When an APAC developer or CI/CD pipeline submits a Kubernetes resource (Pod, Deployment, Service), Gatekeeper intercepts the request before it is persisted to etcd, evaluates it against configured policies, and either allows or denies the operation — providing runtime enforcement that complements Conftest's pre-deployment checks.

Gatekeeper uses a Kubernetes-native constraint model: APAC platform teams define ConstraintTemplates (Rego policy logic parameterized as a CRD) and Constraints (instances of the template with specific parameters for specific namespaces or clusters). This allows APAC teams to write a general 'container must have resource limits' policy once and apply it with different parameters to different APAC teams or environments.

The audit feature runs continuously against existing APAC cluster resources, identifying violations in resources that pre-date policy installation or that bypassed admission webhooks. Gatekeeper integrates with the OPA Policy Library — a collection of community-maintained constraint templates for common APAC Kubernetes security and best-practice policies — providing APAC teams a head start on coverage without writing all Rego from scratch.

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Where this category meets practice depth.

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