---
title: Image pull policy of the container is not set to always
description: Datadog, the leading service for cloud-scale monitoring.
breadcrumbs: >-
  Docs > Datadog Security > Code Security > Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
  Security > IaC Security Rules > Image pull policy of the container is not set
  to always
---

# Image pull policy of the container is not set to always

{% callout %}
# Important note for users on the following Datadog sites: app.ddog-gov.com, us2.ddog-gov.com

{% alert level="danger" %}
This product is not supported for your selected [Datadog site](https://docs.datadoghq.com/getting_started/site.md). ({% placeholder "user-datadog-site-name" /%}).
{% /alert %}

{% /callout %}

## Metadata{% #metadata %}

**Id:** `terraform-kubernetes-image-pull-policy-of-container-is-not-always` 

**Provider:** Kubernetes

**Platform:** Terraform

**Severity:** Low

**Category:** Insecure Configurations

#### Learn More{% #learn-more %}

- [Provider Reference](https://registry.terraform.io/providers/hashicorp/kubernetes/latest/docs/resources/pod#image_pull_policy)

### Description{% #description %}

The container's `image_pull_policy` must be defined and set to `Always`. The container image must not use the `:latest` tag. This rule checks container paths in `kubernetes_pod` (`spec.container`) and `kubernetes_deployment` (`spec.template.spec.container`) resources.

## Compliant Code Examples{% #compliant-code-examples %}

```terraform
resource "kubernetes_pod" "busybox" {
  metadata {
    name = "busybox-tf"
  }

  spec {
    container {
      image   = "busybox"
      command = ["sleep", "3600"]
      name    = "busybox"

      image_pull_policy = "Always"
    }

    restart_policy = "Always"
  }
}
```

## Non-Compliant Code Examples{% #non-compliant-code-examples %}

```terraform
resource "kubernetes_pod" "busybox" {
  metadata {
    name = "busybox-tf"
  }

  spec {
    container {
      image   = "busybox"
      command = ["sleep", "3600"]
      name    = "busybox"

      image_pull_policy = "IfNotPresent"
    }

    restart_policy = "Always"
  }
}
```

```terraform

resource "kubernetes_deployment" "example" {
  metadata {
    name = "terraform-example"
    labels = {
      test = "MyExampleApp"
    }
  }

  spec {
    replicas = 3

    selector {
      match_labels = {
        test = "MyExampleApp"
      }
    }

    template {
      metadata {
        labels = {
          test = "MyExampleApp"
        }
      }

      spec {
        container {
          image             = "nginx:1.7.8"
          name              = "example"
          image_pull_policy = "IfNotPresent"

          resources {
            limits = {
              cpu    = "0.5"
              memory = "512Mi"
            }
            requests = {
              cpu    = "250m"
              memory = "50Mi"
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
```