Golden Standard Comparison: User Guide

[ Applies to ] StorageGuard 9.2.7 and later / Storage and backup assets / Comparison tab

Golden image comparison lets you benchmark each asset's configuration against a reference asset that you designate as the golden image. StorageGuard compares the output of the same commands on both assets and highlights the differences that matter. Use it to spot and fix configuration drift, and to keep configurations and security posture consistent across your environment.

In this article

How golden image comparison works
Create a comparison group
Edit or delete a comparison group
Review comparison results
Manage text normalizers
Text normalizer settings reference
Troubleshooting

How golden image comparison works

Comparison is built from three pieces:

Term	Meaning
Golden image	The reference asset whose configuration represents your approved baseline.
Comparison group	A golden image plus the assets you compare against it, all of the same system type.
Text normalizer	A set of rules that cleans and standardizes command output before comparison, so that expected differences such as system names, IP addresses, serial numbers, and timestamps are not reported as drift.

You work with all three on the Comparison tab.

Create a comparison group

In the StorageGuard web UI, click the Comparison tab at the top of the page.
Click Add new (+) to create a comparison group.

Figure 2. The new comparison group window
Enter a Name and a Group Description.
Select a Default Text Normalizer. Leave it empty to let StorageGuard select one automatically. For details, see Manage text normalizers.
Select the System Type.
Under the golden image, click Select, choose the reference asset, and then click Apply.

Figure 3. Selecting the golden image asset
Choose the assets to compare: click Select, choose the assets, and then click Apply.

Figure 4. Selecting the assets to compare

Alternatively, select a predefined asset group, if one exists.

Figure 5. Selecting a predefined asset group
Click Apply to create the group, or click X to cancel.

Edit or delete a comparison group

Edit a group

In the Groups table, double-click the group.

Figure 6. Editing a comparison group
Make your changes, and then click Apply to save them, or click X to close without saving.

Delete a group

In the Groups table, select the group, and then click the Delete icon.

Figure 7. Deleting a comparison group
Click Delete to confirm, or click Cancel.

Review comparison results

To open a group's results, click … next to the group, and then select Summary View or Detailed View.

Figure 8. The group menu with Summary View and Detailed View

Summary view

The summary view shows, for every asset in the group, whether each command's output matches the golden image. Use it to see at a glance which assets have drifted.

Figure 9. Summary view

Element	What it shows
Rows	One command or configuration item each.
Columns	One asset in the group each.
✓	The output matches the golden image.
✗	The output differs from the golden image.
N/A	No data is available for this command on this asset.
Asset list (top right)	All assets in the group. Remove assets to focus on specific ones, and add them back when needed.
Navigation arrows	Scroll horizontally between assets.
Filters (top)	Limit the view by result type, or search for a specific command.

Detailed view

The detailed view shows the configuration differences between an asset and the golden image side by side. You can browse it By Commands or By Systems.

Figure 10. Detailed view, by commands

Figure 11. Detailed view, by systems

Element	What it does
Left panel	Lists the systems and commands in the comparison. Select a command to show its comparison in the main area.
Comparison panes	The left pane shows the golden image output, and the right pane shows the compared asset.
Highlighting	Red marks removed or mismatched values. Green marks added or differing values.
View toggles	Switch between Normalized and Original output, and between Split and Unified layouts.
Show Differences Only	Hides identical lines so you can focus on deviations.
Show Ignored Commands	Includes commands that text normalizer rules exclude from comparison.

Icons next to commands

Icon	Meaning
≠	The command output for this asset differs from the golden image.
A	The Automatic (default) text normalizer was applied.
T	The Text normalizer was applied.
Y	The YAML/JSON normalizer was applied.
X	The XML normalizer was applied.

Command options menu

In the detailed view, click … next to a command to control how its output is compared.

Figure 12. The command options menu

Option	What it does
Edit Normalizer	Opens the text normalizer for this command so you can adjust its rules.
Switch Normalizer	Applies a different built-in or custom normalizer, for example one for Unity, NetBackup, or ONTAP systems.
Ignore in current group	Excludes the command from results in this comparison group only.
Ignore globally	Excludes the command from results in all comparison groups.

Ignore a difference by creating a normalization rule

If a highlighted difference is expected noise, you can create a rule that hides it from future comparisons. In the detailed view, right-click the difference, and then select an option:

Figure 13. The right-click menu in the detailed view

Option	What it does
Copy	Copies the selected text.
Add to ignored fields by name	Hides differences in fields with this exact name.
Add to ignored fields by name regex	Hides differences in fields whose names match a regex pattern.
Add to ignored values by regex	Hides values that match a regex pattern, regardless of field name.
Add to ignored paths	Hides differences at this full JSON path.

Note: These options create or update the text normalizer for the selected command. To review or remove the rules later, open the normalizer from Text Normalizers.

Manage text normalizers

Text normalizers clean and standardize command output before comparison, so only meaningful differences are shown. Default normalizers are applied automatically: they hide unique identifiers, align formats, and filter noisy patterns. You can customize them or add your own to match your environment.

Add a text normalizer

Click the Comparison tab.
On the left, click Text Normalizers, and then click +.
Enter a Name for the normalizer.
Select the data format in Type (JSON, Text, YAML, or XML), or keep Auto Detect.
Configure the system identity settings, which apply to all data formats.
Configure the settings on the tab for your data format. See Text normalizer settings reference.
Click Apply to save the normalizer.

Customize a text normalizer

In the Text Normalizers table, double-click the normalizer.

Figure 14. Editing a text normalizer
Make your changes, and then click Apply to save them, or click X to close without saving.

Delete a text normalizer

In the Text Normalizers table, select the normalizer, and then click the Delete icon.

Figure 15. Deleting a text normalizer
Click Delete to confirm, or click Cancel.

Text normalizer settings reference

Settings for all data formats

Setting	What it does
[ General ]
Name	A clear name for the normalizer.
Type	The data format: JSON, Text, YAML, or XML. Auto Detect lets StorageGuard determine the format.
[ System identity ]
Replace System Name	Replaces real system names with the system name placeholder.
System Name Placeholder	The token that replaces system names, for example `[SYSTEM_NAME]`.
Replace System IP Address	Replaces IP addresses with the IP address placeholder.
IP Address Placeholder	The token that replaces IP addresses, for example `[SYSTEM_IP_ADDRESS]`.
Replace System Serial	Replaces system serial numbers with the serial placeholder.
Serial Placeholder	The token that replaces serial numbers, for example `[SYSTEM_SERIAL_NUM]`.

JSON and YAML tab

Figure 16. The JSON and YAML tab

Setting	What it does
[ General ]
Ignore Whitespace and Formatting	Ignores differences in spacing and line breaks.
Sort Object Keys Alphabetically	Orders object keys consistently.
Remove Empty Strings	Removes fields with empty string values.
Remove Null Values	Removes fields with null values.
[ Coerce data types ]
Numbers to Strings	Converts numbers to strings.
Strings to Numbers	Converts numeric strings to numbers.
Booleans to Strings	Converts `true` and `false` to strings.
[ Field exclusions ]
Ignore Paths	Full JSON paths to exclude from comparison.
Ignore Fields By Name	Field names to exclude, matched exactly.
Ignore Fields By Name Regexp	Regex patterns for field names to exclude, for example `(?i)(date\|time)`.
Ignore Values Regexp	Regex patterns for dynamic values to exclude, such as timestamps. For example, `\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}[T ]\d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}(?:\.\d+)?(?:Z\|[+-]\d{2}:\d{2})?` matches ISO 8601 timestamps.
[ Array comparison ]
Ignore Array Order	Treats arrays with the same elements in a different order as identical.
Sort Array Elements by Key	The key used to sort array elements before comparison.
Ignore Extra Array Items	Ignores array items that don't exist in the golden image.
Require All Array Items Present	Requires every item in the golden image to be present in the compared output.
Strict Equality	Compares array items exactly, including data type and value.
Fuzzy Match	Allows minor variations between array items.
Unique Key	A key that uniquely identifies array elements, for more accurate matching.
[ Numerical comparison ]
Floating Point Tolerance	The acceptable difference between two floating-point numbers. For example, `0.01` ignores minor rounding differences.
[ String comparison ]
Ignore Case	Treats uppercase and lowercase letters as equal.
Normalize Unicode	Handles special and accented characters consistently.
Trim Whitespace	Removes leading and trailing spaces.

Text tab

Figure 17. The Text tab

Setting	What it does
[ General ]
Normalize Line Endings To	Converts all line endings to one format, for example LF.
Ignore Empty Lines	Skips blank lines.
Ignore Trailing Whitespace	Ignores spaces and tabs at the end of lines.
Ignore Leading Whitespace	Ignores spaces and tabs at the start of lines.
Normalize Unicode	Handles special and accented characters consistently.
Ignore Text Case	Treats uppercase and lowercase text as equal.
Sort Lines	Compares lines in alphabetical order instead of their original order.
[ Exclusions ]
Exclude Lines Matching Regex	Removes lines that match a regex pattern. For example, `^\s*$` removes empty lines.
Redaction Patterns Regex	Regex patterns for sensitive or dynamic values, such as timestamps, IDs, or serial numbers.
Redaction Placeholder	The token that replaces redacted content, for example `[REDACTED]`.
[ Line content ]
Trim Line Whitespace	Removes leading and trailing whitespace on each line.
Normalize Internal Whitespace	Replaces multiple spaces or tabs within a line with a single space.
Convert Tabs to Spaces	Converts tabs to spaces, using the tab width.
Tab Width	The number of spaces that replace each tab. The default is 4.
[ Comments ]
Ignore Full Line Comments	Skips lines that contain only a comment.
Full Line Comment Prefixes	The characters that start a full-line comment, for example `#`, `;`, or `//`.
Ignore Inline Comments	Removes comments at the end of a line.
Inline Comment Delimiters	The characters that start an inline comment, for example `#` or `//`.
[ Key-value pairs ]
Enable Key Value Pair Parsing	Parses output with a key-value structure, for example `key=value`.
Key Value Separators	The characters that separate keys and values, for example `=` or `:`.
Trim Keys	Removes extra spaces around keys.
Trim Values	Removes extra spaces around values.
Ignore Case for Keys	Treats keys as equal regardless of letter case.
Ignore Case for Values	Treats values as equal regardless of letter case.

XML tab

Figure 18. The XML tab

Setting	What it does
[ General ]
Ignore Comments	Skips XML comment nodes.
Ignore Processing Instructions	Excludes processing instructions such as `<?xml ...?>`.
Ignore Doctype Declaration	Ignores `<!DOCTYPE>` declarations.
Normalize Empty Elements	Treats `<tag/>` and `<tag></tag>` as identical.
Normalize CDATA Sections	Handles CDATA content consistently.
Remove Default Attributes	Removes attributes that XML parsers add automatically.
[ Exclusions ]
Ignore Elements by XPath	Excludes elements that match XPath expressions.
Ignore Element Values Regex	Excludes element text values that match regex patterns.
Ignore Attributes by XPath	Excludes attributes identified by XPath.
Ignore Attribute Values Regex	Excludes attribute values that match regex patterns, such as timestamps or dynamic IDs.
[ Element comparison ]
Ignore Child Element Order	Treats elements as equal even if their children are in a different order.
Sort Child Elements by XPath	Defines how to reorder child elements before comparison.
Ignore Extra Child Elements	Ignores child elements that appear on only one side.
Require All Child Elements Present	Requires all expected child elements to exist in the compared XML.
[ Attribute comparison ]
Sort Attributes by Name	Orders attributes alphabetically.
Trim Attribute Values	Removes leading and trailing spaces from attribute values.
Ignore Case for Attribute Values	Treats attribute values as equal regardless of letter case.
Normalize Unicode for Attribute Values	Handles special and accented characters in attribute values consistently.
[ Text content ]
Trim Text Content	Removes leading and trailing whitespace in text nodes.
Normalize Whitespace in Text Content	Replaces multiple spaces or tabs with a single space.
Ignore Case for Text Content	Treats text content as equal regardless of letter case.
Normalize Unicode for Text Content	Handles special and accented characters consistently.
Normalize Character Entities	Compares entities such as `&` and `<` consistently.
[ Namespaces ]
Ignore Namespace Prefixes	Ignores differences in namespace prefixes, for example `ns1:` and `ns2:`.
Ignore Namespace URIs	Ignores differences in namespace URIs.
Canonicalize Namespace Declarations	Standardizes how namespace declarations are represented.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	What to do
Many differences that aren't real drift	Output includes system-specific or dynamic values such as names, IPs, serials, or timestamps.	Enable the system identity settings in the normalizer, or right-click the difference and create a normalization rule.
N/A appears for an asset	No data was collected for that command on that asset.	Confirm that the asset has been scanned successfully, and then review the results again.
A command is missing from the results	The command is ignored in this group or globally.	In the detailed view, select Show Ignored Commands. To include it again, remove the ignore rule.
The wrong normalizer is applied to a command	Automatic detection picked a different data format.	Click … next to the command, and then select Switch Normalizer.

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