How to Prevent the Use of Deprecated or Outdated Packages in Development

Use Case:

A DevOps team wants to ensure developers use actively maintained and secure package versions, and prevent reliance on outdated or unsupported dependencies.

Workflow Steps:

1. Create a Package Age Policy
   • Go to Application > Curation > Policies and create a new policy: Enforce Up-to-Date Dependencies.
   • Under Policy Scope, apply the policy to all curated repositories.
2. Define an Operational Condition
   • Select a condition that prevents outdated package usage:
     • Package Version is Aged (No Newer Version Identified): Blocks package versions older than 2 years when no newer version exists (likely unmaintained).
     • Package Version is Aged (New Version Available): Blocks package versions more than 180 days older than the latest available version.
     • Package Version is Immature: Blocks newly released versions until they reach a defined minimum age (to avoid unstable releases).
3. Select an Action & Notifications
   • Choose Block to enforce the restriction.
   • Enable Email notifications to alert the requester and DevOps team when a package is blocked.
4. Validate Package Version Control
   • Attempt to install an outdated or restricted package version.
   • Confirm the request is blocked and an explanatory alert is shown.
   • Review package metadata and enforcement details in Audit Events.