Novell LINUX ENTERPRISE SERVER 10 SP2 - INSTALLATION AND ADMINISTRATION Installation Manual page 260

nications that provide for distributed system management. There are two parts to
CIM: the CIM Specification and the CIM Schema.
The CIM Specification describes the language, naming, and meta schema. The
meta schema is a formal definition of the model. It defines the terms used to express
the model and their usage and semantics. The elements of the meta schema are
Classes, Properties, and Methods. The meta schema also supports Indications and
Associations as types of Classes, and References as types of Properties.
The CIM Schema provides the actual model descriptions. The CIM Schema supplies
a set of classes with properties and associations that provide a well understood
conceptual framework within which it is possible to organize the available informa-
tion about the managed environment.
• The Common Information Model Object Manager (CIMOM) is a CIM object
manager or, more specifically, an application that manages objects according to
the CIM standard.
• CIMOM providers are software that performs specific tasks within the CIMOM
that are requested by client applications. Each provider instruments one or more
aspects of the CIMOM's schema.
SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server contains the open source CIMOM from the Open-
WBEM project [http://openwbem.org].
The Web-Based Enterprise Management software selection includes a set of packages
that contain basic Novell providers, including some sample providers, and a base set
of accompanying Novell schemas.
As Novell moves forward with OpenWBEM and development of specific providers, it
will provide tools that offer the following important features:
• Efficient monitoring of network systems
• Recording of alterations within existing management configurations
• Hardware inventory and asset management
Understanding how the OpenWBEM CIMOM is set up and how to configure it can
help you monitor and manage disparate systems in your network with more confidence
and ease.
242 Installation and Administration