Lesson 1Config Management Database (CMDB) concepts and mapping to inventory fieldsThis part introduces CMDB ideas and shows how inventory fields connect to configuration items, relationships, and service models, helping steady data flow between operational inventory and wider IT service management for better control.
Configuration items and CI classesMapping inventory hosts to CIsModelling relationships and dependenciesSynchronising CMDB and inventory dataGovernance and data quality controlsLesson 2Integration patterns: linking inventory to ticketing, monitoring, and backup systemsThis part demonstrates how to link inventory data with ticketing, monitoring, and backup systems, making sure consistent identifiers, automatic updates, and reliable context for incidents, alerts, and recovery operations across the environment.
Linking inventory records to ticketsSharing inventory with monitoring toolsAligning backup jobs with inventory dataUsing inventory IDs across all systemsAPIs and webhooks for data synchronisationLesson 3Concise summary of the on-premises and cloud infrastructureThis part explains how to summarise on-premises and cloud infrastructure, creating high-level views of capacity, platforms, and critical services that stay rooted in detailed inventory data but are easy for stakeholders to understand and use.
Building environment overview dashboardsAggregating by site, platform, and tierHighlighting critical and shared servicesReporting capacity and utilisation trendsPresenting summaries to stakeholdersLesson 4Inventory attributes: hostname, FQDN, IP addresses, MAC, OS/version, kernel, roles, services, installed packages, virtualization hostThis part defines core technical attributes every system record must have, explaining how identifiers, networking data, OS details, and workload roles come together to make a uniquely traceable and supportable inventory entry for our systems.
Hostnames and FQDN naming standardsIP and MAC address tracking practicesRecording OS, kernel, and build versionsDocumenting system roles and key servicesTracking installed packages and softwareFlagging virtualization hosts and clustersLesson 5Routine inventory updates: automated schedules, change hooks from config management, and audit checksThis part describes how to keep inventory up to date using scheduled scans, change hooks from configuration management, and regular audits, stressing reconciliation, exception handling, and reporting on data freshness to avoid issues.
Scheduled discovery and refresh cyclesHooks from deployment and config toolsDetecting drift and orphaned recordsAudit procedures and sampling methodsData freshness and completeness metricsLesson 6Methods to build inventory: automated discovery using SSH/WMI/agents and example queriesThis part covers automated discovery methods using SSH, WMI, and agents, including credential strategies, security considerations, and example queries that gather accurate, repeatable inventory data with little manual work, suitable for Ghanaian networks.
Agentless discovery with SSH and WMIUsing configuration management factsDesigning lightweight inventory agentsExample queries for OS and hardwareCredential management and securityLesson 7Inventory attributes: physical location, rack, datacenter, cloud region, subnet, VLANThis part focuses on location and network context, explaining how to record datacenter, rack, cloud region, subnet, and VLAN details so teams can troubleshoot connectivity, plan capacity, and understand physical and logical placement in our setups.
Datacenter, room, and rack identifiersCloud regions, zones, and placementsSubnets, VLANs, and segment mappingDocumenting cross-site dependenciesUsing location data for incident impactLesson 8Inventory attributes: dependencies, upstream/downstream services, backup policy, monitoring groups, last patch dateThis part focuses on dependency and lifecycle attributes, like upstream and downstream services, backup policies, monitoring groups, and patch dates, enabling impact analysis, compliance checks, and risk assessments for secure operations.
Documenting upstream and downstream flowsAssigning backup tiers and retentionGrouping systems into monitoring setsTracking last patch and update datesUsing data for risk and impact analysisLesson 9Inventory attributes: ownership, business owner, application owner, SLAs, contact info, maintenance windowThis part details business and ownership attributes, including service owners, SLAs, contacts, and maintenance windows, showing how they guide approvals, incident escalation, and scheduling of disruptive operational work in our teams.
Identifying business and application ownersCapturing SLAs and service tiersPrimary and on-call contact detailsDefining maintenance windows and freezesOwnership changes and review cadenceLesson 10List of system types to track: Linux distributions, Windows Server, hypervisor VMs, cloud VMs, network devicesThis part categorises the main system types to track, highlighting differences in metadata, lifecycle, and tooling for Linux, Windows, hypervisors, cloud workloads, and network devices within a unified inventory model for Ghanaian IT.
Linux distribution families and variantsWindows Server editions and rolesHypervisor hosts and guest VM recordsCloud VM instances and managed servicesNetwork devices, firewalls, and appliancesLesson 11Methods to build inventory: manual spreadsheet templates and recommended column schemasThis part covers manual inventory creation using spreadsheet templates, recommending column schemas, validation rules, and workflows that reduce errors and ease later migration into automated or CMDB-backed systems for small teams.
Designing standard spreadsheet layoutsRecommended identification columnsCapturing technical and business fieldsData validation and dropdown controlsPreparing data for CMDB import
