Creating a single SCAP data stream from an original DS and a tailoring file

After you customize a security profile in the SCAP data stream format, the SCAP Workbench tool preserves the content of the original data-stream file and saves your customization to a tailoring file.

However, some applications can work with only one data-stream file. For such cases, merge the original data-stream file with your customized data-stream file with the attached combine-tailoring.py script before a usage, for example:

$ combine-tailoring.py ssg-rhel8-ds.xml ssg-rhel8-ds-tailoring.xml > ssg-rhel8-ds-tailored.xml

In the previous example, the script merged the original ssg-rhel8-ds.xml data-stream file and the ssg-rhel8-ds-tailoring.xml tailoring file. You can use the output stored in the ssg-rhel8-ds-tailored.xml file for scanners that can process only a single input data-stream file.

NOTE: For security reasons, the script attached to this article has been renamed to combine-tailoring.py.txt. Use the following command in the directory where you save it:

$ mv combine-tailoring.py.txt combine-tailoring.py

Additional resources

Customizing a security profile with SCAP Workbench