Compare OS policy versions

This document compares the OS policy feature of VM Manager with the legacy guest policy feature.

Comparison table

Both the OS policy and guest policy (legacy) features are part of the VM Manager suite, and can be enabled by setting up VM Manager. For more information, see Setting up VM Manager.

However, there are a few differences between the two options. These differences are summarized in the following table.

Guest policy (legacy) OS policy
OS Config agent version Any Version dated 20210427 or later 1
Resource type2 Global Zonal
Policy enforcement and compliance supported Enforcement only
Rollout supported 3
Compliance reports available
Single policy can be defined for multiple operating systems
Exclusion filters available when selecting target VMs
Supported resources
  • Packages
  • Package repository
  • Software recipes4
    • File
    • Executable
  • Packages
  • Package repository
  • Executable
  • File

1To view agent version, see View OS Config agent version.

2For information about resource types, see Global, regional, and zonal resources.

3For information about rollouts, see Understanding rollouts.

4A software recipe only runs when a guest policy is first created. To rerun a software recipe, you would need to delete and recreate the guest policy. For this reason, OS policy uses an executable that can be continuously checked and enforced.

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