Software Lifecycle - General

The software lifecycle with DSM modules is characterized by a standard concept. This concept is based on differentiation between "objects" which participate in the software lifecycle. These objects are administered in the DSMC and for this purpose they are held in a relational database, the DSM Database (DSMDB).
In addition to the objects themselves, the relationships between objects and the current status of each object are also held in this database.

The objects administered include:

• Installation targets, such as computers and users
  The installation targets can be either imported from an external system (e.g. Active Directory) or manually created. Customized administration in static and dynamic groups is also possible.
• Packages of various types, which contain both software and configuration settings or other "actions", which can be installed or executed on an installation target.
• Software sets, in which packages are grouped together into larger units
  As a result, on the one hand technical dependencies are mapped while on the other hand groups of packages are defined as logical units (e.g. all the packages for a bookkeeping workstation).

The following relationships, properties and status of objects are also held in the DSMDB.

• Policies in which the assignment of packages to installation targets is defined
• Properties of packages and installation targets
• Status data for packages, installation targets and policies

Tasks in the area of the software lifecycle can be delegated to the helpdesk, to software managers or to local system support staff, using a standard role concept. For further information on this point, see: Ranges and Roles
For tasks in the software lifecycle, Ivanti DSM provides two user interfaces designed for staff with different task profiles:
DSM Console (DSMC)
DSM Web
Note that a separate license is required for the DSM Web, whereas the DSMC is included in the standard scope of Ivanti DSM.