Patent ID: 8302088

Claim:
In association with a configuration management database (CMDB) containing information that relates to configuration items (CIs) included in one or more managed configurable systems, a computer implemented method comprising the steps of: generating a manifest that defines a target system, and contains a description of a software maintenance patch disposed to update one or more specified software components of the target system; using information contained in the manifest to search the CMDB, in order to detect each configurable system in the CMDB that corresponds to said target system, and contains at least one CI that includes at least one of said specified software components; said manifest includes a set of descriptors that respectively describe elements of said target system, and said descriptors comprise one or more system prerequisites, wherein said prerequisites are used to search said CMDB to identify a first system, that includes one of said specified software components, and for a given CI that includes at least one of said specified software components, identifying every other CI in the CMDB that would be affected by the software maintenance patch if the software maintenance patch was used to update each specified software component of the given CI.