This Chef InSpec course goes beyond syntax. You'll learn how compliance-as-code fits into real DevSecOps workflows: writing reusable profiles, auditing AWS, Azure, and GCP resources, managing waivers for accepted risk, and generating audit-ready reports. We also cover the shift toward CINC Auditor, the free, license-free distribution of InSpec, so you know exactly which tool to use in commercial environments without running into Chef's licensing terms - a detail most training providers still skip.
There is no strict prerequisite for this course, but you'll get more out of it if you already have:
This course is built for professionals responsible for keeping infrastructure secure, audit-ready, and compliant at scale:
Compliance-as-code skills are in growing demand as organizations shift from point-in-time audits to continuous compliance. Learners from this course typically target roles such as:
Here's what sets this training apart:
igmGuru issues a course completion certificate that validates your hands-on experience in compliance-as-code and InSpec profile authoring. This training also prepares you for Chef's official "Auditing with InSpec" certification badge, which tests your ability to write custom profiles, read existing ones, and translate written compliance policy into executable code. If you're working toward the advanced Executive/Architect-level Chef certification track, InSpec proficiency - covered in depth in this course - is a required part of that path.
Chef InSpec is an open-source, agentless framework for writing executable compliance and security checks against infrastructure — servers, containers, and cloud resources — so audits become automated and repeatable instead of manual.
InSpec itself is free for non-commercial use, but Chef's commercial terms apply in some business contexts. Most teams now use CINC Auditor, a community-maintained, license-free rebuild of the same codebase, for unrestricted commercial use — this course covers both.
They share the same source code and profile format, so anything you write for one runs unchanged on the other. CINC Auditor simply removes Chef's trademark and licensing restrictions, making it the preferred choice for many commercial teams.
No. InSpec is used for auditing, not configuration, so you can learn it independently of Chef Infra, cookbooks, or recipes.
Yes. Compliance-as-code adoption is growing as organizations move toward continuous audit and cATO models, and InSpec/CINC Auditor remains one of the most widely used tools for that, especially in regulated and government-adjacent environments.
Chef's official credential is the "Auditing with InSpec" badge, offered through the Learn Chef Certify program. This course prepares you for the practical skills that exam covers.
Yes. Dedicated InSpec resource packs exist for AWS, Azure, and GCP, letting you validate cloud resource configuration against the same profile structure used for on-prem systems.
The course runs 30 hours of live instructor-led sessions plus hands-on labs, and most learners are comfortable writing production-ready profiles within a few weeks of finishing.
Common target roles include DevSecOps Engineer, Compliance Automation Engineer, Cloud Security Engineer, and IT Compliance/GRC Specialist.
Yes. Every module includes a hands-on lab on real Linux, Windows, or cloud environments, and the course ends with a capstone compliance project.
