It may aim to automate part of a task for someone to support the business processes of an organization, to correct shortcomings of existing software, or to control a deviceto name just a few of the many problems for which software solutions are possible. Documentation can include requirements specifications and interface documents. Use of the definitive media library for all of the software asset releases. All configuration items cis are uniquely identified by ci registration codes and version numbers. Identify all items to define the software configuration. Which of these are valid software configuration items. Models for implementation of software configuration management.
Understanding configuration manager data using data. Software configuration item how is software configuration item abbreviated. Specific components of configmgr clients use state messages to report details of a specific event, such as software updates, client health, and configuration items. The configuration management system oversees the life of the cis through a combination of process and tools by implementing and enabling the fundamental elements of. Definition an aggregation of hardware, software, or both, that is designated for configuration management and treated as a single entity in the. A ci is a software model that contains the attributes of the represented entity. This document provides a practical guide for integrating software configuration management disciplines into the management of software engineering projects. In large organizations a configuration manager may be appointed to oversee and. Jul 16, 1997 configuration identification is the process of defining each baseline to be established during the software life cycle and describing the software configuration items and their documentation that make up each baseline. Required same as default but the software reference cannot be unselected. On a typical project, software is organized into large subsystems called computer software configuration items. Understanding configuration manager data using data classes. Simple useful rules for defining configuration items the. Csci an aggregation of software that satisfies an end use function and is designated for separate.
What are hardware configuration items and how are they. The configuration and security analytics csa application collects configuration items and support different views on them. All agents have the ability to link configuration items to incidents, problems, changes, releases and knowledge articles, regardless of their configuration permissions. Validation checks the configuration items against a defined policy, e. Understanding of computer configuration is important as for certain hardware or software applications, a minimum configuration are required. Jan 05, 2017 common configuration types include software, hardware, communications, location and documentation. Software configuration management planning software configuration management planning starts during the early phases of a project. Their definition is intentionally broad so that a wide number of industries can model things they change with the same set of tools. Physical layout, interconnections, and functional characteristics of a computer system usually called configuration item, set forth in its. Configuration item configuration management systems. Defining asset extension fields for software configuration. First, the software must be grouped into configuration items.
The term configuration item ci refers to the fundamental structural unit of a configuration management system. Add a new field to the vcmmxa software configuration items console view, then define the population. Configuration items have specific attributes as well as relationships that are often unique for configuration items underneath them in the particular system. Selected items of system hardware or software or combinations of hardware and software, in which the government or acquiring activity has configuration management concern, are designated as configuration items cis. The configuration management system oversees the life of the cis through a combination of processes and tools by implementing and enabling the fundamental elements of identification, change. Within this view, you can add values to the inventory and manage other aspects of software, such as license counts, license expiration dates, or even custom fields that. It can have many child cis, such as an operating system, application software, and hardware components. Connecting the concepts from configuration item to release policy. At its most basic, a software requirement is a property that must be exhibited by something in order to solve some problem in the real world. Define configuration items continued selecting the right configuration items is a skill that takes practice very similar to object modeling use techniques similar to object modeling for finding configuration items. Software configuration item how is software configuration. Defining asset extension fields for software configuration items. Use configuration items and configuration management. Software configuration management in software engineering.
In itil terminology, configuration items ci are components of an infrastructure that currently is, or soon will be under configuration management. Console asset extensions software configuration items use the software configuration items node to build a list of software assets. Software configuration management is the process of identifying and defining the software configuration items in a system, controlling the release and change of these items throughout the system lifecycle, recording and reporting the status of configuration items and change requests, and verifying the completeness and correctness of. Hierarchy of configuration items in order to support the service lifecycle, it is important to properly structure your ci. Use the software configuration items node to build a list of software assets. It encompasses any type of resource whose state may be recorded by a configuration that is, a type of resource that may be in a configuration. Defines which software should be installed on a particular piece of hardware d. Within this view, you can add values to the inventory and manage other aspects of software, such as license counts, license expiration dates, or even custom fields that support your business processes. Configuration items can overlap and exist at many levels of granularity. Connecting the concepts from configuration item to release policy itil. Software configuration management is the process of identifying and defining the software configuration items in a system, controlling the release and change of these items throughout. Definition of the roles and responsibilities required for the management of the release throughout all its stages c.
Department of energy quality managers software quality. The term configuration item or ci refers to the fundamental structural unit of a configuration management system. Complete listing of all changes since the last baseline. Configuration items cis are the focal point of a cmdb. What is configuration management and how does it work. More clear definition is in milstd498 which superseded dodstd2167a. The state categories used by the backlogs, boards and widgets are proposed, in progress, and complete. Definition an aggregation of hardware, software, or both, that is designated for configuration management and treated as a single entity in the configuration management process. The entity must be uniquely identified so that it can be distinguished from all other configuration items.
So, what better way to look at configuration items than by defining. The outcome of the scm planning phase is the software configuration management plan scmp which might be extended or revised during the rest of the project. Connecting the concepts from configuration item to release. State categories, on the other hand, determine how agile planning tools and select dashboard widgets treat each workflow state. Sml definition of the configuration item if it is an item that is not interpreted or partially. They are used in service management, change management, configuration management, incident management and a variety of other processes related to directing and controlling change. Labeling revisions to configuration items and baselines. Find out information about computer software configuration item. Googling the words configuration items or the acronym ci will result in approximately 26,300,000 results.
Labeling software and hardware configuration items with unique identifiers. Configuration identification establishes the composition of the software item what other items it is made from and the documents and files which define it. Sometimes, people specifically point to hardware arrangement as hardware configuration and to software components as software configuration. The representations of these entities in the cmdb are configuration items cis. Common configuration types include software, hardware, communications, location and documentation. Configuration items help in identifying the components of a system. State messages are broken into topic types, which identify the client component, and the stateid, which identifies a specific status for the component. It may also be referred to as software quality control. You can also change the column order of the display and refresh dynamic field values. As far as i can tell, csci was defined in the same logic as hwci hardware configuration item in dodstd2167a which simply defined csci as a configuration item.
Oct 28, 2009 every dcm digest must contain exactly one configuration item. A configuration item, or ci, is anything uniquely identifiable that can be changed independently. Examples of cis include individual requirements documents, software. Though configuration management may sound tedious, it is essential to. Apr 06, 2020 configuration items may be anything identified in the it service as needing management tracking, including computer hardware, software, protocols and processes. Console asset extensions software configuration items. These input field types are used to generate the edit form for creating new or editing already existing configuration items. In itil terminology, configuration management refers to the process of defining configuration items ci within a system and recording and reporting on the status of the cis and any requests for change, then verifying the correctness of a ci. Definition of the configuration management database naming convention d. Due to inadequate configuration management procedures, the latest hardware and software revisions were uploaded and installed into a system with. A configuration may be but is not required to be a configuration item. The thing that a change control request is requesting to be changed explanation of computer software configuration item. A toplevel configuration item is a ci used as the starting point for organizing and promoting a set of related configuration items.
Configuration items can include hardware, equipment, and tangible assets as well as software and documentation. Account administrators can also choose to grant configuration management access on a peruser basis at configure users select user. There has been much discussion regarding configuration management and the use of configuration items in online forums and other online articles recently. Configuration management cm is an information technology infrastructure library version 2 and an it service management process that tracks all of the individual configuration items ci in an it system which may be as simple as a single server, or as complex as the entire it department. It is normally the responsibility of software testers as part of. Identifying the documentation that describes a configuration item.
Software configuration management scm a practical guide. Simple useful rules for defining configuration items the it. Administrators, technicians, and software developers can use configuration management tools to verify the effect a change to one configuration item has on other systems. Customer satisfaction and continuous improvement charles industries, ltd. Find the configuration items find relationships between configuration items. Configuration management plan checklist page 2 idamscmpcl issue 1 sect no section title activities 4 configuration control information needed about storage, retrieval and reuse control processes.
Computer software configuration item article about. Connecting the concepts from configuration item to. A toplevel configuration item is a ci used as the starting point for organizing and promoting a set of related configuration items an example of a toplevel ci is a computer system. Simply put, a ci is an instance of an entity that is part of your environment and has configurable attributes specific to that instance. Without a clear definition of what qualifies as a ci, you will constantly struggle with deciding whether to put certain kinds of data into the cmdb. It may aim to automate part of a task for someone to support the business processes of an organization, to correct shortcomings of existing software, or to control a deviceto name just a few of the many problems for which software. Computer software configuration item how is computer. What is the difference between an asset and a configuration. This digest defines an application configuration item. Tip before defining fields for software configuration items, you should assign roles for each field. The configuration management system oversees the life of the cis through a combination of processes and tools by implementing and enabling the. Upon being identified and entered into a cmdb, the configuration item becomes a configuration record. Grouping related configuration items into baselines. Describes how the configuration items cis work together to deliver the services c.
The record details the parameters of the ci, as well as its relationship with other. Administration settings asset extensions settings software configuration items use the software configuration items node to add, edit, or delete fields that appear as columns within the vcmmxa console view. Configuration control also governs the implementation of approved. The unique identify of the configuration item is the combination of the attributes authoringscopeid, logicalname and version. Defines how version numbers should be used in a release. Every dcm digest must contain exactly one configuration item. Cis may be a single module such as a monitor or tape drive, or more complex items, such as a complete system. Configuration items may be anything identified in the it service as needing management tracking, including computer hardware, software, protocols and processes. Each element in the it environment is an individual entity requiring accurate capture of its attributes. Configuration identification configuration management.
For more information, see getting started with vcm management extensions for assets. Configuration management terminology configuration. The process of planning for, identifying, controlling and verifying the configurations items cis within a service, recording their status and, in support of change management, assessing the potential it impact of changing those items. Computer software configuration item article about computer. Default automatically selects this software reference when the apptree action dialog is created. Dec 27, 2016 configuration items can overlap and exist at many levels of granularity. For all but the most simple software products, the product design activity will include breaking the product down into simpler components. Other documents that serve to identify the configuration of the product or service, such as test results, may also be included. Configuration identification is the process of defining each baseline to be established during the software life cycle and describing the software configuration items and their documentation that make up each baseline. Configuration item configuration management systems engineering. The following are illustrative examples of configuration items. Configuration consists of both hardware and software components. Heres how the default, inherited states map to the state categories for all three system processes plus test case.
It is normally the responsibility of software testers as part of the software development lifecycle. Examples of configuration items include software and applications, locations and offices, employees and customers, documentation, hardware and companies. The term configuration item can be applied to anything designated for the application of the elements of configuration management and treated as a single entity in the configuration management system. The id of the software item previously defined in the configuration xml file. Indication of acceptance of the microsoft software license terms for the configuration item. The configuration management process seeks to identify and track individual configuration items cis, documenting functional capabilities, and interdependencies. Due to inadequate configuration management procedures, the latest hardware and software revisions were uploaded and installed into a system with an outdated configuration, rendering the test a. Examples of cis include individual requirements documents, software, models, and plans. They can be physical things, information technology elements or concepts. Configuration identification an overview sciencedirect.
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