Self-Hosted & Air-Gapped API Testing: Deployment and Audit Checklist
40 deployment and audit checks for self-hosted, on-premises and disconnected API testing, plus four industry test-case packs
What's inside:
For: Platform, security and QA teams in regulated industries
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Preview: Self-Hosted & Air-Gapped API Testing: Deployment and Audit Checklist
This page shows roughly the first 20% of the pack so you can judge it before you download. The full ZIP contains 7 files: deployment-audit-checklist.csv, banking-api-test-cases.csv, insurance-api-test-cases.csv, healthcare-api-test-cases.csv, public-sector-api-test-cases.csv, self-hosted-api-testing-deployment-checklist.pdf, self-hosted-api-testing-deployment-checklist.md.
Who this is for
Platform, security and QA teams in banking, insurance, healthcare and the public sector who need API testing to run inside their own boundary: self-hosted, on-premises, in a private cloud, or in a network with no internet access at all. The checklist is vendor-neutral; a short section at the end explains how Shift-Left API fits it.
Self-hosting moves responsibility, it does not remove it. The vendor no longer runs the platform, so the controls a SaaS provider would evidence (encryption, access, logging, backup, patching) become yours. The checklist is ordered so each phase produces evidence the next one needs.
Self-hosted, on-premises and air-gapped are different
| Model | What it means | Hard part |
|---|---|---|
| Self-hosted / private cloud | You run the vendor's software on infrastructure you control; outbound internet access is allowed but restricted. | Listing and approving each outbound flow. |
| On-premises | Same, in your own data centre, usually behind a corporate proxy. | Proxy and TLS inspection, patch logistics. |
| Air-gapped / disconnected | No route to the internet at all; software and updates arrive through a controlled transfer process. | Licence validation, updates and anything else that assumes it can call home. |
Deployment and audit checklist
deployment-audit-checklist.csv · showing 8 of 40 rows. Checks for self-hosted, on-premises and air-gapped API testing deployments, with evidence and owners.
DEP-01
Draw the deployment: test platform server, database, desktop clients, runners, model server (if any), and the APIs under test.
- Phase
- Architecture
- Why it matters
- Every later check refers to a box or an arrow on this diagram.
- Evidence
- Architecture diagram
- Typical owner
- Platform team
DEP-02
Place the platform in a network zone that can reach the APIs under test but not the internet, unless a specific outbound flow is approved.
- Phase
- Architecture
- Why it matters
- A test platform with broad reach is a high-value target.
- Evidence
- Network zoning record
- Typical owner
- Network team
DEP-03
List every outbound connection the product makes (licence, updates, telemetry, AI providers, webhooks, e-mail) and approve or block each.
- Phase
- Architecture
- Why it matters
- Air-gapped claims fail on the flows nobody listed.
- Evidence
- Outbound flow register
- Typical owner
- Security architecture
DEP-04
Decide availability requirements and how they are met (VM snapshots, database replication, standby server).
- Phase
- Architecture
- Why it matters
- Shared test platforms become release-critical.
- Evidence
- Availability decision
- Typical owner
- Platform team
DEP-05
Separate environments for the platform itself (evaluation, production use) so upgrades can be tested.
- Phase
- Architecture
- Why it matters
- Upgrading the only instance is a change without a test.
- Evidence
- Environment list
- Typical owner
- Platform team
DEP-06
Verify the installer's integrity (publisher signature or checksum from the vendor) before installing.
- Phase
- Installation
- Why it matters
- Supply-chain control for software entering a closed network.
- Evidence
- Checksum or signature verification record
- Typical owner
- Platform team
DEP-07
Transfer installers and updates through your approved media-transfer process for disconnected networks.
- Phase
- Installation
- Why it matters
- Air-gapped networks need a controlled import path.
- Evidence
- Transfer log
- Typical owner
- Security operations
DEP-08
Run the platform services under a dedicated, least-privilege service account.
- Phase
- Installation
- Why it matters
- Limits the impact of a compromise.
- Evidence
- Service account configuration
- Typical owner
- Platform team
The rest of the pack
166 rows across 5 CSV files, and all 7 sections of the guide as PDF and Markdown. Enter your work email above and we will send the download link.
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