Configuration Management (CMDB) Module

The Configuration Management module is mandatory module of iTop. It contains the definition of all the basic building blocks of the CMDB: Organizations, Contacts (Persons and Teams) as well as the usual physical devices (Servers, Network Devices…), software elements (DB Server, Database Schemas, Licences, Patches…) and the relations between all these objects.

The class Person is used to describe physical persons as contacts in the CMDB. Persons can be grouped into Teams. Persons can be linked to other configuration items (for example to describe who to contact in case of problem with an application). In iTop the caller of a User request is a Person as well as the agent assigned to resolve it.

Click on the “New contact” menu:

Then select “Person” in the form below:

And click “Apply” to display the Person creation form:

A team represents a group of persons. In iTop, Teams can be used to: associate a set of persons to a given configuration item, create a “workgroup” for assigning tickets or group persons for receiving notifications.

Click on the “New contact” menu:

Then select “Team” in the form below:

And click “Apply” to display the Team creation form:

To add members to the Team, click on the tab “Members” and use the buttons to Add/Remove Persons from the list.

You can also specify a “Role” for each member of the Team.

There are several types of documents in iTop. All of them can be managed from the “Documents” menu in the “Configuration Management” section:

A File Document is used to upload documentation that can be shared accross multiple objects in the CMDB. Once a document (in any format: Word, PDF, Spreadsheet, etc.) has been uploaded into iTop, it can be “attached” to many different configuration items that share the same documentation. This is useful for processing instructions, technical documentation, etc. that need to be referenced from several places in the CMDB.

A Note is used to store a short text document. HTML formatting of Notes is supported using the WYSIWYG editor.

Web documents are used to store hyperlinks to external applications or documents. Think to them as “pointers” to external documents.

Application Solutions describe complex applications that are made of (or depend on) several basic components. They are a specialized type of “Group” for documenting large applications. The main information conveyed by an Application Solution is its list of relationships.

Click on the “New CI” menu:

Then select “Application Solution” in the form below:

And click “Apply” to display the Application Solution creation form:

To link other configuration items to the new Application Solution, click on the tab “CIs” and use the buttons to Add/Remove CIs from the list. The tab “Contacts” is for managing the relationships with Contacts, etc.

• Impacts: an Application Solution is considered as impacting all its related Business Processes (listed in the tab “Business Processes”).
• Depends on: an Application Solution is considered as depending on all its related CIs (listed in the tab “CIs”).

A Business Process is used to document a high-level process or an important application for the operations. It is quite similar to an Application Solution but for describing higher level applications or whole processes in the organization. The main information conveyed by a Business Process is its list of relationships with Application Solutions and Contacts.

The creation of a Business Process object is similar to the creation of an Application Solution, except that its components are Application Solutions instead of any CIs.

• Impacts: no additional CIs are impacted by a Business Process.
• Depends on: a Business Process is considered as depending on all its related Application Solutions (listed in the tab “Application Solutions”).

An instance of a database server software (like MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server, DB2…) running on a particular system (PC, Server or Virtual Machine).

Click on the “New CI” menu:

Then select “DB Server” in the form below:

And click “Apply” to display the DB Server creation form:

• Impacts: a DB Server impacts all its Database Schemas, as well as the Application Solutions it belong to. A DB Server also impacts the contacts (Persons or Teams) linked to it.
• Depends on: a DB Server is considered as depending on the system (PC, Server or Virtual Machine) on which it runs.

An instance of dabatase running of a specific DB server.

Click on the “New CI” menu:

Then select “Database Schema” in the form below:

And click “Apply” to display the Database Schema creation form:

• Impacts: a Database Schema impacts all the Application Solutions it belongs to.
• Depends on: a Database Schema is considered as depending on its DB Server.

An instance of a middleware software (software offering services to other software, or enterprise integration software) installed on a particular system (PC, Server or Virtual Machine). For example: Tomcat, JBoss, Talend, Microsoft BizTalk, IBM Websphere or Lotus Domino can be put under this category.

Click on the “New CI” menu:

Then select “Middleware” in the form below:

And click “Apply” to display the Middleware creation form:

• Impacts: a Middleware impacts all its Middleware Instances, as well as the Application Solutions it belong to. A Middleware also impacts the contacts (Persons or Teams) linked to it.
• Depends on: a Middleware is considered as depending on the system (PC, Server or Virtual Machine) on which it runs.

A particular application instance (or service) provided by an installed middleware software. For example a web application deployed with Tomcat can be documented as a Middleware Instance.

Click on the “New CI” menu:

Then select “Middleware Instance” in the form below:

And click “Apply” to display the Middleware Instance creation form:

• Impacts: a Middleware Instance impacts all the Application Solutions it belong to. A Middleware Instance also impacts the contacts (Persons or Teams) linked to it.
• Depends on: a Middleware Instance is considered as depending on its Middleware.

Any type of network device: router, switch, hub, load balancer, firewall…

Click on the “New CI” menu:

Then select “Network Device” in the form below:

And click “Apply” to display the Network Device creation form:

• Impacts: a Network Device impacts all the devices connected to it (Servers, PCs, SAN Switches, NAS, Storage Systems, other Network Devices, etc.), the Application Solutions it belongs to and all the contacts (Persons or Teams) directly linked to it.
• Depends on: a Network Device is considered as depending on the other Network Devices and SAN Switches it is connected to. If the Network Devices is located in an Enclosure, it depends on it.

Any type of software that do not fit in the other categories: PC Software, Middleware, DB server or Web Server.

Click on the “New CI” menu:

Then select “Other Software” in the form below:

And click “Apply” to display the Other Software creation form:

• Impacts: an Other Software impacts all its instances, the Application Solutions it belongs to and all the contacts (Persons or Teams) directly linked to it.
• Depends on: an Other Software is considered as depending on the system (PC, Server or Virtual Machine) on which it runs.

An instance of a software application installed on a PC. (For example: an instance of MS Office, Corel Draw, Adobe Photoshop or Filezilla).

Click on the “New CI” menu:

Then select “PC Software” in the form below:

And click “Apply” to display the PC Software creation form:

• Impacts: a PC Software impacts all its instances, the Application Solutions it belongs to and all the contacts (Persons or Teams) directly linked to it.
• Depends on: a PC Software is considered as depending on the PC on which it runs.

A Server is typically used in iTop to document a physical server machine. The Server object documents asset management information, physical characteristics and operational informations (contracts and services). A Server can be related to software components, contacts and documents. More relationships can be added to Servers by other modules like the module “Advanced Storage”.

Click on the “New contact” menu:

Then select “Server” in the form below:

And click “Apply” to display the Server creation form:

• Impacts: a Server impacts all the software instances running on it, as well as hypervisors. A Server is also considered as impacting any Application Solution it belongs to.
• Depends on: a Server is considered as depending on the Logical Volumes, SAN Switches and the Network Devices it is connected to. If the Server is located in an Enclosure, it is considered as depending on it.

An instance of an application accessible using a web browser and that runs on a given Web Server instance.

Click on the “New CI” menu:

Then select “Web Application” in the form below:

And click “Apply” to display the Web Application creation form:

• Impacts: a Web Application impacts the Application Solutions it belongs to and all the contacts (Persons or Teams) directly linked to the Web Application.
• Depends on: a Web Application is considered as depending on the Web Server on which it runs.

An instance of a web server software running on a specific system (PC, Server or Virtual Machine).

Click on the “New CI” menu:

Then select “Web server” in the form below:

And click “Apply” to display the Web server creation form:

• Impacts: a Web Server impacts all the Web Applications running on it, the Application Solutions it belongs to and all the contacts (Persons or Teams) directly linked to the Web Server.
• Depends on: a Web Server is considered as depending on the system (Server, PC or Virtual machine) on which it runs.

Any arbitrary group of CIs. Groups can be used to define explicit sets of configurations items for any documentation purpose. For example when doing an OS migration, it can be convenient to create a group “Servers to be migrated” and to remove the servers from the group as the migration progresses.

A Location object in iTop is used to document the physical location of other configuration items. A Location basically has an address and therefore is most often used to describe a physical site. It is a good practice to ensure that for a given Organization, Location names are unique.

A licence contract for a particular operating system. The licence is related to one operating system (for example Windows 2008 R2) and can be associated with severall servers or virtual machines.

Click on the “Overview” menu:

And click on “Create a new License” in the dashboard:

Then select “OSLicence” in the form below:

And click “Apply” to display the OS Licence creation form:

A patch, hotfix, security fix or service pack for a given operating system.

Click on the “Overview” menu:

And click on “Create a new Patch” in the dashboard:

Then select “OSPatch” in the form below:

And click “Apply” to display the OS Patch creation form:

The Organization is the base entity for the ownership of configuration items in iTop. Organizations are also used in iTop to document customers, providers, and organizational units within the same company. To describe complex structures, Organizations can be arranged into a hierarchy (by use of the optional “Parent” field).

A physical network interface on a physical server, as opposed to virtual interfaces that are defined at the sofware level either in operating systems or virtual machines.

A generic item of a software in the software catalog. Software instances installed on a particular system always refer to a given Software. iTop splits the softwares in 5 categories: DB Servers, Middlewares, PC Softwares, Web Servers and Other Softwares.

A licence contract for a particular software. The licence is related to one software (for example MS Office 2010) and can be associated with several instances of this software.

Click on the “Overview” menu:

And click on “Create a new License” in the dashboard:

Then select “SoftwareLicence” in the form below:

And click “Apply” to display the Software Licence creation form:

A patch, hotfix, security fix or service pack for a given software.

Click on the “Overview” menu:

And click on “Create a new Patch” in the dashboard:

Then select “SoftwarePatch” in the form below:

And click “Apply” to display the Software Patch creation form:

A Virtual LAN is used to group together in a logical way networks Subnets and Physical Interfaces that participate in the same VLAN.

Click on the “Overview” menu:

And click on “Create a new VLAN” in the dashboard:

To display the following form: