Lesson 1Config Management Database (CMDB) concepts and mapping to inventory fieldsThis section introduces CMDB ideas and shows how inventory fields connect to configuration items, relationships, and service models, making data flow steadily between daily operations inventory and wider IT service management.
Configuration items and CI classesMapping inventory hosts to CIsModeling relationships and dependenciesSynchronizing CMDB and inventory dataGovernance and data quality controlsLesson 2Integration patterns: linking inventory to ticketing, monitoring, and backup systemsThis section demonstrates how to connect inventory data with ticketing, monitoring, and backup systems, ensuring steady identifiers, automatic updates, and solid context for handling incidents, alerts, and recovery across your setup.
Linking inventory records to ticketsSharing inventory with monitoring toolsAligning backup jobs with inventory dataUsing inventory IDs across all systemsAPIs and webhooks for data synchronizationLesson 3Concise summary of the on-premises and cloud infrastructureThis section explains how to summarise on-premises and cloud infrastructure, creating straightforward overviews of capacity, platforms, and key services that stay rooted in detailed inventory but are easy for stakeholders to grasp.
Building environment overview dashboardsAggregating by site, platform, and tierHighlighting critical and shared servicesReporting capacity and utilization trendsPresenting summaries to stakeholdersLesson 4Inventory attributes: hostname, FQDN, IP addresses, MAC, OS/version, kernel, roles, services, installed packages, virtualization hostThis section outlines essential technical attributes every system record needs, explaining how identifiers, network info, OS details, and workload roles come together for a traceable and supportable inventory entry.
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 section covers keeping inventory up to date with scheduled scans, change triggers from config management, and regular audits, stressing reconciliation, handling exceptions, and reporting on data freshness.
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 section looks at automated discovery using SSH, WMI, and agents, including credential handling, security tips, and sample queries that gather accurate, repeatable inventory data with little manual work.
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 section highlights location and network context, showing how to log datacenter, rack, cloud region, subnet, and VLAN details so teams can sort connectivity issues, plan capacity, and grasp physical and logical layouts.
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 section covers dependency and lifecycle attributes like upstream/downstream services, backup policies, monitoring groups, and patch dates, supporting impact checks, compliance, and risk assessments.
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 section details business and ownership attributes, including service owners, SLAs, contacts, and maintenance windows, guiding approvals, incident escalation, and scheduling of key operational tasks.
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 section groups main system types to track, noting differences in metadata, lifecycle, and tools for Linux, Windows, hypervisors, cloud workloads, and network devices in a single inventory model.
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 section handles manual inventory building with spreadsheet templates, suggesting column setups, validation rules, and workflows that cut errors and smooth migration to automated or CMDB systems.
Designing standard spreadsheet layoutsRecommended identification columnsCapturing technical and business fieldsData validation and dropdown controlsPreparing data for CMDB import
