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Data Control - Actual and Authorized States

Configuration Manager enables you to control the data in your configuration management system by managing different states of the views.

The actual state is the service topology and configuration as it is currently being reported by the data sources of the configuration management system (for example, the Discovery module).

The authorized state is a controlled state of the service which indicates the correct configuration of the service according to its configuration manager.

Different products, processes and people are interested in different information regarding the CI, according to their needs. For example, when responding to an application error, there is a need to see the actual state of the servers running this application. This involves identifying the servers and the software installed on them. In addition, when signing a Service Level Agreement, it is important to define the authorized configuration of the servers. The actual configuration is not necessarily the same as the authorized one (perhaps an unauthorized change has occurred), and the configuration will not necessarily be the same a month from now (perhaps additional changes will be made by then). The authorized state provides a protected environment for the consumption of the portfolio with data that is less current but more stable and reliable.

Configuration Manager displays changes in the actual state of the service and enables you to authorize them. When you authorize changes in the actual state of a view, the state becomes the new authorized state of the view.

You can review the changes to composite CIs manually, and choose to authorize them on an individual basis. Alternatively, you can set conditions for automatic state transition for the entire view. All the changes in the view can then be authorized when the automatic state transition is executed, if all the conditions are satisfied.

For details on managing the different states, see Review/Authorize. For details on automatic state transition, see Views.