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# Compliance plans overview

> Understand how compliance plans work and how they relate to Golden Configurations

**Add-on product**: This feature is part of Configuration Manager Enterprise, a separately licensed add-on to Configuration Manager. [Learn more](../overview#configuration-manager-enterprise).

A compliance plan defines the scope, schedule, and device targets for running configuration compliance checks across your infrastructure. Compliance plans use Golden Configuration trees as their source of truth and generate consolidated reports for audit and analysis.

## How compliance plans relate to Golden Configuration

Golden Configuration trees define *what* a compliant device configuration looks like. A compliance plan defines *which devices* to check, *how often* to check them, and *how to report* the results.

The two constructs work together:

* A Golden Configuration tree contains nodes, each with a baseline configuration, evaluation rules, and optional variables.
* A compliance plan references one or more Golden Configuration trees and specific nodes within them, associates them with a set of devices, and runs compliance checks on a defined schedule.
* A single Golden Configuration tree can be referenced by multiple compliance plans. For example, the same security baseline tree can be applied to different device groups on different schedules.

## Run compliance against a node vs. use a compliance plan

You can run compliance checks directly from a Golden Configuration node, or you can run them through a compliance plan. The method you choose determines what reporting is available to you.

|                             | Direct node compliance                | Compliance plan                              |
| --------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| **How to trigger**          | Node menu → **Run Compliance**        | Scheduled or manual run from compliance plan |
| **Best for**                | Ad-hoc checks during tree development | Scheduled, reportable compliance programs    |
| **Compliance dashboard**    | Not available                         | Available after first execution              |
| **Trend reporting**         | Not available                         | Available                                    |
| **Device-level drill-down** | Not available                         | Available                                    |
| **Audit trail**             | Not available                         | Available                                    |

The compliance plan dashboard, trend reporting, device-level drill-down, and audit trail are available in Platform 6.4 and later. In earlier versions, compliance plans generate reports but don't provide dashboard visibility.

## What compliance plans check

Compliance plans execute checks against device configurations and generate reports based on how each plan is configured. Device selection supports individual devices, device groups, and—in Platform 6.4 and later—regex-based filtering and improved pagination for large inventories.

## Compliance Plan Reporting

Platform 6.4.0+

Platform 6.4 introduced a dedicated Compliance Plan Reporting page that provides visibility into compliance status across your infrastructure. It organizes information across four tabs — Dashboard, Compliance Plans, Reports, and Devices — and supports drill-down into individual plan, report, and device detail pages.

For a full description of all available metrics and views, see [Compliance Plan Reporting](../compliance-plans/reporting).

## Compliance plan scope and RBAC

Your role-based access control (RBAC) permissions in Inventory Manager determine which devices you can include in a compliance plan. You can only create compliance plans against inventory you have access to.

## Next steps

#### [Create a compliance plan](../compliance-plans/create)

Set up a new compliance plan

#### [Compliance Plan Reporting](../compliance-plans/reporting)

Understand dashboard metrics and drill-down views

#### [Golden Configuration overview](./overview)

Learn how Golden Configuration trees work

> Understand how compliance plans work and how they relate to Golden Configurations