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Configuration Management Database (CMDB)

The CMDB tracks the things in your IT environment that aren't simple "assets you hand to a person" — servers, applications, services, databases — and how they relate to each other.

If you're new to CMDBs: think of it as a graph. Each node is a configuration item (CI), and the edges describe how CIs depend on each other.

What goes in the CMDB​

Anything you'd want to map relationships for:

  • Servers (physical or virtual)
  • Applications and microservices
  • Databases
  • Network devices
  • Cloud services
  • Business services

If you only want to track who has which laptop, you don't need the CMDB — use Assets instead.

Configuration Items list with columns Name, Class, Status, Environment, Criticality, Related Assets, Source, Owner, Updated and filters across the top

CI properties​

Each CI has:

  • Name and a CI class (defines what kind of thing it is)
  • Status — Planned, Active, Degraded, or Retired
  • Environment — Production, Staging, Test, Dev, or Other
  • Criticality — Low, Medium, High, Critical
  • Optional: hostname, IP address, location, tags, and a JSON metadata blob for whatever else you need

Setting up CI classes​

Before you add CIs, define the classes you'll use. Open CMDB → Settings → Classes and add classes like Server, Application, Database, Service.

CI classes are flexible. You decide how granular to be — one class per server type, or just one Server class for everything.

Relationships​

Relationships describe how CIs connect:

  • App-A depends on Database-X
  • Service-Y runs on Server-Z
  • Server-Z is connected to Switch-2

Relationships have types you define (depends on, connects to, hosted on, etc.) under CMDB → Settings → Relationship Types.

To link two CIs, open one and click Add Relationship. Pick the relationship type and the other CI.

CI detail page for Analytics Platform showing Description, Owner & Asset, Technical Details, Metadata, and a Relationships panel listing dependencies on other CIs

Linking CIs to assets​

A CI can point to a real asset. For example, Server-Z (a CI) can be linked to the physical server with asset tag AST-1234. This way, when someone asks "which physical box runs the production database?", you can trace it.

Use the asset picker on the CI form to make the link.

Discovery​

You can connect external discovery sources (e.g. cloud APIs, network scanners) that push CIs into a pending queue. An admin reviews the pending items and approves, merges, or rejects them before they enter the live CMDB.

This keeps the CMDB clean — nothing appears without human review.

Configure sources under CMDB → Discovery Sources. Review the queue under CMDB → Pending Discovery.

CMDB analytics​

The CMDB dashboard gives you:

  • Total CIs by class
  • CIs by status and environment
  • Critical CIs that are degraded or retired (the "should I be worried?" view)