Configuration Items — modeling and attributes

Definitive questions

• +What's the difference between install_status and operational_status?
• +What is correlation_id used for?
• +What is discovery_source?
• +Can two CIs share the same name?

Scenario drills

1. Retiring a CI without breaking history

   “A physical server is decommissioned. How do you retire the CI while preserving incident/change history?”

   Approach

   • Set install_status = 'Retired' and operational_status = 'Non-Operational'. Do NOT delete the record.
   • CMDB Data Manager can run this as a scheduled policy (e.g. retire after 90 days of no discovery).
   • History (audits, related tickets, relationships) is preserved for compliance and RCA.

   ci.install_status = 7; // Retired
   ci.operational_status = 2;

   Alternate approach

   Alternate: soft-delete via 'end-of-life' relationship to a replacement CI so dependencies visually redirect on service maps.

   Pitfall

   Deleting CIs breaks incident/change relationships and audit trails. Retire, don't delete.