7.9 Tools specific to the Configuration Management process

7.9.1 Configuration Management system

Many organisations have some form of Configuration Management in operation, but it is often paper- based. For large and complex infrastructures, Configuration Management will operate more effectively when supported by a software tool that is capable of maintaining a CMDB. The CMDB contains details about the attributes and the history of each CI and details of the important relationships between CIs. Ideally, the CMDB should be linked to the DSL and other software libraries. Often, several tools need to be integrated to provide the fully automated solution across platforms.

The Configuration Management system should prevent Changes from being made to an IT infrastructure without valid authorisation via Change Management. The authorisation record should automatically 'drive' the Change. As far as possible, all Changes should be recorded on the CMDB at least by the time that the Change is implemented. The status (e.g. 'live', 'archive', etc) of each CI affected by a Change should be updated automatically if possible. Example ways in which this automatic recording of Changes could be implemented include automatic updating of the CMDB when software is moved between libraries (e.g. from 'acceptance test' to 'live', or from 'live' to an 'archive' library), when the service catalogue is changed, and when a Release is distributed.

The Configuration Management system should, in addition, provide:

• sufficient security controls to limit access on a need-to-know basis
• support for CIs of varying complexity e.g. entire systems, Releases, single hardware items, software modules, or hierarchic and networked relationships between CIs; by holding information on the relationships between CIs, Configuration Management tools facilitate the impact assessment of RFCs
• easy addition of new CIs and deletion of old CIs
• automatic validation of input data (e.g. are all CI names unique)
• automatic establishment of all relationships that can be automatically established, when new CIs are added
• support for CIs with different model numbers, version numbers, and copy numbers
• automatic identification of other affected CIs when any CI is the subject of an Incident report/record, Problem record, Known Error Record or RFC
• integration of Problem Management data within the CMDB, or at least an interface from the Configuration Management system to any separate Problem Management databases that may exist
• automatic updating and recording of the version number of a CI if the version number of any component CI is changed
• maintenance of a history of all CIs (both a historical record of the current version - such as installation date, records of Changes, previous locations, etc - and of previous versions)
• support for the management and use of configuration baselines (corresponding to definitive copies, versions etc), including support for reversion to trusted versions
• ease of interrogation of the CMDB and good reporting facilities, including trend analysis (e.g. the ability to identify the number of RFCs affecting particular CIs)
• ease of reporting of the CI inventory so as to facilitate configuration audits
• flexible reporting tools to facilitate impact analyses
• the ability to show graphically the configuration or network maps of interconnected CIs, and to input information about new CIs via such maps
• the ability to show the hierarchy of relationships between 'parent' CIs and 'child' CIs.

7.9.2 Software Configuration Management

Support tools should allow control to be maintained, for applications software, from the outset of systems analysis and design right through to live running. Ideally, organisations should use the same tool to control all stages of the life-cycle, although this may not be possible if all the platforms cannot be supported by one software tool. If this is not possible, then the IT infrastructure Configuration Management tool should at least allow Configuration Management information to be transferred from a software development Configuration Management system into the CMDB without the need for rekeying.

7.9.3 Change Management and Release Management support

To support Change Management and Release Management, the Configuration Management tools should provide automated support for the following:

• identification of related CIs affected by a proposed Change to assist with impact assessment
• recording of CIs that are affected by authorised Changes
• implementation of Changes including package Releases in accordance with authorisation records
• registering of CI status Changes when authorised Changes and Releases are implemented
• recording of baselines of CIs and CI packages, to which to revert with known consequences - for example, if an implemented Change fails.

7.9.4 Configuration auditing

Automating configuration audits significantly increases the efficiency and effectiveness of the audits. Audit tools can determine exactly what software is installed and identify most critical aspects of hardware configuration. This means a greater coverage of audited CIs with the resources available, and staff can focus on handling the exceptions rather than doing the audits.

If the DSL is not integrated with the CMDB it may be worth automating the comparison of the DSL contents with the CMDB.

7.9.5 Enterprise system and tools

The following systems will provide automated support for some elements of Change Management, Configuration Management and Release Management that are required to support the IT infrastructure:

• IT Service Management systems
• enterprise frameworks that provide integration capabilities to link in the CMDB or tools
• system, network and application management tools that provide software distribution, discovery and audit functions
• the Configuration Management system used by development, integration or test teams.

Existing or planned systems within the organisation should be analysed during the requirements definition and considered during architectural design. This may be to provide a core Configuration Management process or a solution for a specific aspect. These examples can be quoted:

• Service Management tools are good at linking CIs to a service and integrating Incident Management, Problem Management and Change Management with the CIs
• system and network management tools may provide discovery tools to help with the population of the CMDB and subsequent audits
• Configuration Management systems that currently control software may be used to control hardware and documentation.

7.9.6 Other tools

There are many support tools that can assist Change Management, Configuration Management and Release Management. These may come in a variety of combinations and include:

• document-management systems
• requirements analysis and design tools, systems architecture and CASE tools, which can facilitate impact analysis from a business perspective
• database management audit tools to track physical databases
• distribution and installation tools
• comparison tools (software files, directories, databases)
• build and Release tools (that provide listings of input and output CIs)
• installation and de-installation tools (that provide listings of CIs installed)
• compression tools (to save storage space)
• listing and configuration baseline tools (e.g. full directory listings with date-time stamps and check sums)
• audit tools (also called 'discovery' or 'inventory' tools)
• detection and recovery tools (where the build is returned to a known state)
• reporting tools.

These individual tools and solutions may be integrated with the main service or the Configuration Management system where the effort of integration is beneficial. Otherwise, the integration may be undertaken at the procedural or data level.