Introduction

The Configuration Management Workshop discusses how to track and control VI3 configuration items.

The outcome of this workshop is a Configuration Item Map and CMDB selection and configuration process design decisions.

Intended Audience

VMware Certified Professionals (VCP) and Server/Infrastructure admins and Configuration Managers during the design stage of VI3.

Outline

• Reference VI3 Requirements Specifications

• Organizational Configuration Management Standards

• VI3 Configuration Item Map

• VI3 CMDB

• VI3 CM Processes

Reference the established requirements for VI3 configuration management.

• See VI3.Blueprint Requirements Specification

• All VI3 CIs must be mapped and stored in a CMDB, not necessarily the "corporate" CMDB, which is possibly insufficient.

• Establish the difference between CIs and Managed Objects (MOs)

• If the current CMDB is insufficient, what are the requirements/options for a suitable CMDB for VI3?

• What are the discrete processes for CMDB that relate to VI3?

The first part of the workshop is to establish the current CM standards:

• What charter/policy/standard/team exists for configuration management?

• How is configuration management performed on mainframe and distributed systems?

• What are the configuration management processes?

The second part of the workshop is to define the VI3 CIs and map them to each other.

• See Proven Practice: Virtualization Configuration Management

Gotchas:

• VM's are mapped to Resource Pools, not hosts

• vMotion's are a managed object event, not a CI event, so there is no requirement to track vMotions in the CMDB, but there is in the operational view.

• Virtual Devices are NOT the same as physical devices - think WHY you record a CI, is it worth it? What is the benefit of tracking low-level CIs? Is it for change control/audit, for example.

• How do you uniquely identify a VM (UUID? vMAC?)

The third part of the workshop is to rule in/out and sketch the requirements for a VI3 CMDB:

• Ability to capture VI3 CIs and map their dependencies.

• In-house system or remote outsourced like service-now.com.

• Will vCenter be "ok" as a CMDB?

• During ESX Host lifecycle (deploy, maintain, retire)

• During VM Guest lifecycle (deploy, maintain, archive, retire)