5.4. Configuration Management
In testing, configuration management (CM) provides a discipline for identifying, controlling, and tracking work products such as test plans, test strategies, test conditions, test cases, test scripts, test results, test logs, and test reports as configuration items.
For a complex configuration item (e.g., a test environment), CM records the items it consists of, their relationships, and versions. If the configuration item is approved for testing, it becomes a baseline and can only be changed through a formal change control process.
Configuration management keeps a record of changed configuration items when a new baseline is created. It is possible to revert to a previous baseline to reproduce previous test results.
To properly support testing, CM ensures the following:
- All configuration items, including test items (individual parts of the test object), are uniquely identified, version controlled, tracked for changes, and related to other configuration items so that traceability can be maintained throughout the test process
- All identified documentation and software items are referenced unambiguously in testware
Continuous integration, continuous delivery, continuous deployment and the associated testing are typically implemented as part of an automated DevOps pipeline (see section 2.1.4), in which automated CM is normally included.
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