Configuration Management

Use this page to record the many descriptions for Configuration Management and CM Terms^?

Table of Contents - (Generated automatically from sections below)

The detailed recording and updating of information that describes an enterprise's computer systems and networks, including all hardware and software components. Such information typically includes the versions and updates that have been applied to installed software packages and the locations and network addresses of hardware devices. Special configuration management software is available. When a system needs a hardware or software upgrade, a computer technician can access the configuration management program and database to see what is currently installed. The technician can then make a more informed decision about the upgrade needed.

An advantage of a configuration management application is that the entire collection of systems can be reviewed to make sure any changes made to one system do not adversely affect any of the other systems

Configuration management is sometimes (disputed) called Software Configuration Management (SCM). Using SCM, software developers can keep track of the source code, documentation, problems, change requests, and changes made.

Configuration Management Overview

Originally from UCM Central

The fundamental purpose of Configuration Management is to establish and maintain the integrity and control of software and hardware products (e.g. servers, source code, patches, documents, CPU’s etc) throughout a project’s life cycle.

Effective configuration management can be defined as stabilising the products artifacts^? and process (activities) at key points in the life cycle.

The key integrated aspects of CM are:

Identification: Required to ensure you have identified (understood) the current state of your products and systems. This can be done in various ways including use of formal configuration documentation, use of version control tools, use of baselining (snapshot) tools etc.

Management: To ensure project (product) evolves appropriately, various Management mechanisms, e.g. procedures and quality gates should be employed within the organisation's life cycles. This area is usually supported with workflow, deployment and version control^? tools. Areas of attention include:

- Development Practices^?
- Engineering Practices^?
- Defect Tracking^?
- Change Requests
- Deployment Management^?
- System Management^?

Status Accounting: Needed to ensure we have necessary information to enhance our decision-making capability. Through status accounting^? we are able to produce reports based on previously captured data (assuming we have established mature identification and management procedures). The information provided should support all levels of the organisation e.g. engineers, developers, project managers, business managers etc.

Audit: Review and audit are required to ensure that the organisation’s CM process^? is adhered to and that our configurations are accurate. Primary forms of audit include:

- Physical Audit i.e. where we ensure the identified configuration is the same as the actual configuration.
- Functional Audit i.e. where we ensure the functional description e.g. use-case, maps to the actual functions (primarily done via testing).
- Process Audit i.e. where we ensure the defined process^? (as documented in the CMP) is consistently followed.

IEEE Std-729-1983

Configuration Management is the process of identifying and defining the items in the system, controlling the change of these items throughout their lifecycle, recording and reporting the status of items and change requests, and verifying the completeness and correctness of items.

Identification

Describes the system structure, the nature of its elements, and their identity and gives access to each item version.

Control

Organizes versions and changes^? to system items while keeping coherency and consistency on the complete system.

http://www.wildpackets.com/resources/glossary

One of five categories of network management of OSI networks. Configuration management subsysems are responsible for detecting and determining the state of a network. See also account management, fault management^?, performance management^?, and security management^?.

http://www.eurocontrol.int/eatmp/glossary/terms/terms-03.htm

The process of

Identifying and defining the Configuration Items of a programme / project / service
Controlling the release and change of theses items throughout the system / project life cycle
Recording and reporting the status of Configuration Items and change requests
Verifying the completeness and correctness of Configuration Items
Maintaining integrity and trace-ability throughout the programme.

http://www.itil.co.uk/online_ordering/itil_glossary.htm

The process of identifying and defining Configuration Items in a system, recording and reporting the status of Configuration Items and Requests for Change, and verifying the completeness and correctness of Configuration Items.

http://www.welcom.com/content.cfm?node=136

The process of defining the configuration items in a system, controlling the release and change of those items throughout the project, recording and reporting the status of configuration items, and verifying the completeness of configuration items.

http://wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk/pub/STING-940309.html

The process of identifying, defining, recording and reporting the configuration items in a system and the change requests. Controlling the releases and change of the items throughout the life cycle See also Code Management^? .

http://www.all.net/books/standards/remnants/glo.html

The management of security features and assurances through control of changes made to a system's hardware, software, firmware, documentation, test, test fixtures and test documentation throughout the development and operational life of the system. Compare configuration control.

http://www.apl.jhu.edu/Classes/Notes/Hausler/web/glossary.html

IEEE

A discipline applying technical and administrative direction and surveillance to identify and document the functional and physical characteristics of a configuration item, control changes to those characteristics, record and report change processing and implementation status, and verifying compliance with specified requirements. See: configuration control, change control, software engineering.

http://www.cadreinc.com/Medical/Reference-Guide/20-Organizations/21-FDA/A-Glossary/GLOSSARY-OF-COMPUTERIZED-SYSTEM-AND-SOFTWARE.html

ITIL (BS15000 Standard UK)

According to the ITIL Book

Configuration Management covers the identification, recording, and reporting of IT components, including their versions, constituent components and relationships. Items that should be under the control of Configuration Management include hardware, software and associated documentation.

Further CM specific ITIL details here.

Samaras and Zerwinski

Configuration Management - the art of providing systematic and uniform configuration identification, control, and accounting of an equipment and its parts.

Configuration identification - the technical data describing the approved configuration of the product OR the process for identifying these data, the product, and the changes made to them.

Configuration control - the evaluation, coordination, and approval of all changes to the equipment configuration defined by the baseline.

Configuration accounting - the reporting and recording of all changes made to the baseline.

Baseline - an approved reference point for control of future changes to a product's performance, construction and design.

NeilSteeman - 15 Feb 2003

http://www.cmcrossroads.com/cmwiki/pub/Main/NeilSteeman/10007explanation.doc

ISO 10007 was written back in 1995 and has not been revised since then. I'm not sure if the authorities just gave up after that or if they really thought they had a document that could not be improved upon. I do know that after I went through it I thought it needed some explanation and wrote a seminar which takes about 3 hours to do just that. Since then I thought it might be worthwhile to combine my explanations into a document which can be referred to by someone who has ISO 10007 in hand, has attempted to read it and has wondered what language it was written in.

NeilSteeman^? - 20 Feb 2003

Software Configuration Management includes the creation, installation, deletion and establishment of relationships of the software systems built from the configuration items that compose it. This "movement" of configuration items is documented by SCM and may be considered a configuration meta-item. The goal of SCM is the recreation of software systems, under its direct control, from their human-readable components. SCM also chronicals use of and changes to external software products, not under its direct control, as black boxes supporting or interacting with the software systems it does control.

-- PasqualeArgenio^? - 31 Jan 2007

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