Automatic and managed version control

You can configure configuration items (CIs) to have a version number that identifies a particular instance of an item's state. Each time a change is made to an item – for example, each time memory is added to a server or the operating system on a laptop is upgraded – the version number increments to indicate that the item has changed. You can configure which attributes of a CI are version controlled.

You can choose from two types of version control:

• Automatic version control – the version number automatically increments when you update attributes on a CI that are version controlled. This is particularly useful if you import your CIs from an external source regularly, such as from a desktop management system. A new version is created only if changes have been made to a CI.
• Managed version control – you cannot directly modify version-controlled attributes on CIs that have managed version control enabled. Instead, you create a future version of the CI and when the change is approved, you make the future version into the current version. These changes in version can either be made directly from the CI window, or as part of a Change process.