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CIS-DF Cheat Sheet

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Governance

  • 35% of exam
  • CMDB Health Data Manager Attestation Duplicates

Insight

  • 20% of exam
  • Query Builder Unified Map Impact Analysis Service Mapping

Ingestion

  • 19% of exam
  • IRE Service Graph Connector Multisource CMDB Reconciliation

Configuration

  • 15% of exam
  • CI Class Manager Table Inheritance Identifier Rules Relationships

CSDM Fundamentals

  • 11% of exam
  • Five Domains Business App Application Service Service Offering

Quick Facts

  • Exam Code CIS-DF
  • Credential Data Foundations (CMDB/CSDM)
  • Questions ~75 (sources vary 60-75)
  • Time 90 minutes
  • Pass Score ~70% (unpublished)
  • Format MCQ + multi-select + drag-drop
  • Level Implementation Specialist
  • Delivery Online proctored

CMDB Health Three Cs GO

  • Complete, Compliant, Correct in that priority order
  • Completeness: attributes filled Compliance: standard match Correctness: dupes orphans stale

Retire vs Archive GO

Retire

  • Status change only
  • Stays in cmdb_ci
  • Reversible action

Archive

  • Moves to archive tables
  • Read-only after move
  • Removed from active
  • Status change vs relocation

Lifecycle Action Picker GO

  • CI no longer active → Retire ( Status change only )
  • Need audit trail kept → Archive ( Read-only, out of active )
  • Permanent removal needed → Delete ( No recovery possible )
  • Require owner sign-off first → Attestation ( Runs before the action )

CMDB Health KPIs GO

  • Completeness Required and recommended attributes filled
  • Compliance Passes Desired State audit
  • Correctness No duplicates, orphans, or staleness
  • Health Score Failure ratio across submetrics
  • Staleness Rule 60-day no-update default
  • Required Attribute Mandatory in System Dictionary
  • Recommended Attribute Flagged in CI Class Manager
  • Orphan CI No configured relationship rules
  • Duplicate CI Matches existing identification rule
  • Desired State Audit Checks configuration standard match

Data Manager Lifecycle Actions GO

  • Retire, then Archive, then Attest, then Delete last
  • Retire: soft status stop Archive: read-only relocation Delete: permanent removal

Completeness vs Compliance GO

Completeness

  • Attributes are populated
  • Required plus recommended

Compliance

  • Passes Desired State audit
  • Matches config standard
  • Filled in vs correct

CMDB Health Triage GO

  • Attribute value is missing → Fix completeness ( Populate the field )
  • Fails configuration standard → Fix compliance ( Run Desired State )
  • Two records clearly match → Fix correctness: duplicate ( Merge the CIs )
  • No relationships found → Fix correctness: orphan ( Add rule first )

CMDB Data Manager GO

  • Retire Changes CI status only
  • Archive Moves record to read-only
  • Delete Permanently removes the record
  • Attestation Owner verifies before action
  • Data Manager Replaces legacy Data Certification
  • Policy Scheduled lifecycle governance rule
  • lifecycle_stage CSDM governance tracking field
  • Governance Goal Long-term CMDB trustworthiness

Duplicate Remediation GO

  • Detection Method Reuses identification rule matching
  • Remediation Merge or delete duplicate
  • Serial Number Preferred duplicate matching key
  • Manual Setup Orphan rules need configuration

Query Builder Views IN

  • Query Builder Multi-class relationship-aware queries
  • Unified Map Combines Dependency and Service Mapping
  • Dependency Views Top-down dependency visualization
  • Service Mapping Discovers app-to-infra dependencies
  • Impact Analysis Relationship-driven change risk
  • Business Service Map Rolls up service health
  • Relationship Direction Parent-child traversal path
  • Reporting Built on accurate CMDB

IRE Processing Order IN

  • Identify the CI, then reconcile the data source
  • Identify: match or create Reconcile: precedence decides winner

Identification vs Reconciliation Rules IN

Identification Rule

  • Matches or creates CI
  • Runs first in IRE

Reconciliation Rule

  • Sets source precedence
  • Runs after identification
  • Match first, write second

Ingestion Method Picker IN

  • Standard app integration exists → Service Graph Connector ( Preferred, certified method )
  • No connector is available → Custom Import Set ( Higher maintenance option )
  • Need infrastructure CI discovery → Discovery ( Agentless automated scan )
  • Sources conflict on values → Reconciliation rule ( Sets source precedence )
  • Multiple valid sources write → Multisource CMDB ( Tracks field-level source )

IRE Rules IN

  • IRE Identification and Reconciliation Engine
  • Identification Rule Matches or creates the CI
  • Reconciliation Rule Sets data source precedence
  • Match Order Identify runs before reconcile
  • Ambiguous Match Raises error, not merge
  • Data Source Only authoritative source writes
  • Partial Payload Updates only sent fields
  • Precedence Conflict Reconciliation rule decides winner

Import Set vs Service Graph Connector IN

Custom Import Set

  • Manual transform maps
  • Higher maintenance cost

Service Graph Connector

  • Prebuilt certified integration
  • IRE-aware ingestion
  • Custom build vs prebuilt

Ingestion Methods IN

  • Service Graph Connector Preferred certified ingestion method
  • Import Set Custom staging table load
  • Discovery Populates infrastructure CIs automatically
  • MID Server On-premises data collector agent
  • Multisource CMDB CMDB 360 field tracking
  • Field-Level Tracking Per-attribute source history kept
  • Reversion Restores a prior source value
  • Best Practice Connector over custom Import Set

Identifier Selection CO

  • Choosing the match attribute → Serial number ( Stable identifier choice )
  • Attribute changes frequently → Avoid IP address ( Volatile identifier risk )
  • Multiple identifiers are needed → Prioritized entries ( Ordered match list )
  • Child needs parent match → Dependent entry ( Requires parent identifier )

CI Class Manager CO

  • CI Class Manager Graphical class configuration tool
  • Table Inheritance Extends the cmdb_ci base
  • Attribute Design Adds fields to a class
  • Identifier Entry Prioritized attribute match order
  • Dependent Entry Requires a parent identifier
  • Stable Identifier Serial number, preferred choice
  • Volatile Identifier IP address, avoid using
  • Extend Class Preferred over creating new

Relationships And Schema CO

  • Relationship Type Directional link between CIs
  • Containment Pair Contains and contained by
  • Hosting Pair Runs on and runs
  • Dependency Pair Depends on, used by
  • Class Hierarchy Rooted at cmdb_ci table
  • Schema Map Visualizes class relationships graphically

CSDM Five Domains Order CS

  • Foundation, Design, Build, Manage, then Sell or Consume
  • Foundation: base data Design: planned architecture Build: services exist Sell/Consume: offered and used

Business App vs Application Service CS

Business Application

  • Owned software product
  • Design-time entity

Application Service

  • Operational technical service
  • Runtime instance
  • Product vs running instance

CSDM Five Domains CS

  • Foundation Locations, users, and groups
  • Design Planned service architecture stage
  • Build Application and infrastructure services
  • Manage Technical Services Operate live technical services
  • Sell/Consume Offerings sold and consumed
  • Business Application Owned software product entity
  • Application Service Operational technical service instance
  • Business Service Customer-facing service capability
  • Service Offering Sellable service tier variant

Business Service vs Service Offering CS

Business Service

  • Customer-facing capability
  • One per service

Service Offering

  • Sellable variant or tier
  • Many per service
  • Service vs its packaging

CSDM Alignment CS

  • CI Alignment Correct class-to-CI mapping
  • Service Modeling Maps CIs to services
  • App vs Service Application owns service instances
  • Consumer/Provider Relationship role pairing
  • Business Capability What the organization delivers
  • Common Model Goal One shared platform language

Common Traps

Archive ≠ Delete

  • Archive keeps the record ≠ Delete removes it permanently

Identification ≠ Reconciliation

  • Identification finds the CI ≠ Reconciliation sets write precedence

Business App ≠ Application Service

  • App is owned product ≠ Service is running instance

Orphan ≠ Duplicate

  • Orphan lacks relationships entirely ≠ Duplicate matches an existing CI

Completeness ≠ Compliance

  • Completeness checks fields filled ≠ Compliance checks standard match

Import Set ≠ Service Graph Connector

  • Import Set is custom ≠ Connector is certified prebuilt

Discovery ≠ IRE

  • Discovery finds infrastructure CIs ≠ IRE identifies then reconciles data

Last Minute

  • 1. Governance weighs 35%, largest domain
  • 2. Three Cs: Complete, Compliant, Correct
  • 3. Staleness default is 60 days
  • 4. Orphan rules ship unconfigured, build manually
  • 5. Identification matches, reconciliation sets precedence
  • 6. Prefer Connector over custom Import Sets
  • 7. Serial number beats IP as identifier
  • 8. CSDM has five ordered domains
  • 9. Business App differs from Application Service
  • 10. Archive is read-only, Delete is permanent

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