The Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) has published 'final status' versions of three WBEM Specifications. Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) is a set of management and Internet standard technologies developed to unify the management of enterprise computing environments. The Common Information Model (CIM) is an object-oriented information model defined by the DMTF which provides a conceptual framework for describing management data. Specification for the Representation of CIM in XML, Specification for CIM Operations over HTTP, and CIM XML Document Type Definition represent the core set of standards defining the WBEM infrastructure. "These standards describe the encoding of the Common Information Model (CIM) using XML (xmlCIM), and define operations and the transport mechanism for the encoded data (CIM Operations over HTTP). CIM is defined by a Specification, which describes its basic modeling concepts and meta-schema design, as well as the Managed Object Format (MOF) language in which it is rendered; and a Schema, which defines the semantics for a wide range of managed objects and relationships between them. CIM serves as the data model for the WBEM Specifications, and enables applications to manage a networked environment end-to-end."

Overview: Representation of CIM in XML

"This document defines an XML grammar, written in DTD (Document Type Definition), which can be used both to represent CIM declarations (Classes, Instances and Qualifiers) and CIM Messages for use by the CIM mapping onto HTTP. For convenience the complete unannotated DTD is available as a separate document."

"There are potentially many different ways in which CIM information could be represented within XML. In the interests of interoperability between different implementations of CIM there is an obvious requirement for standardization of this representation. The following criteria have been applied in the design of the representation presented here:

• "Fully standardized technologies are used wherever possible, in preference to Working Drafts. Where use is made of a Working Draft, the intention is to track the changes to the Working Draft in this specification.
• Completeness is favored over conciseness -- all aspects of CIM should be modeled."

"Whilst this document makes no restrictions on the use of this mapping, it is recognized that a number of possible usage scenarios exist for which the mapping should cater: (1) XML documents conforming to this mapping that express CIM declarations should be capable of being rendered or transformed using standard techniques into other formats. In particular the mapping should contain sufficient information to be rendered into MOF (Managed Object Format) syntax; (2) The mapping should be applicable to the wire-level representation of CIM Messages defined by the CIM mapping onto HTTP."

"The subset of the DTD for CIM presented in this specification concerned with object declarations (identified by the element DECLARATION ) is intended to allow expression of CIM objects in XML sufficient for rendering into a number of formats, of which MOF is one. The semantic content of a MOF file is fully captured by the DTD presented herein, so that it is possible to express any MOF conformant to CIM v2.0 in an equivalent XML representation using this DTD. This includes the ability to express any of the standard MOF pragmas defined in CIM v2.0, with the exception of the locale and instancelocale pragmas (which is a subject for further study in the context of localization support within CIM)."

Overview: CIM Operations over HTTP

"This document defines a mapping of CIM Messages onto HTTP that allows implementations of CIM to operate in an open, standardized manner. It also defines the notion of conformance in the context of this mapping, and describes what behavior an implementation of CIM must exhibit in order to be described as a conforming CIM implementation. It utilizes the CIM XML DTD that defines the XML Schema for CIM objects and messages."

"There are potentially many different ways in which CIM messages could be represented within XML, and those messages encapsulated within HTTP messages. In the interests of interoperability between different implementations of CIM there is an obvious requirement for standardization of both the XML representation and the HTTP encapsulation. This document utilizes [the XML representation] to define the HTTP encapsulation."

About WEBM

"Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) is a set of management and Internet standard technologies developed to unify the management of enterprise computing environments. WBEM provides the ability for the industry to deliver a well-integrated set of standard-based management tools leveraging the emerging Web technologies. The DMTF has developed a core set of standards that make up WBEM, which includes a data model, the Common Information Model (CIM) standard; an encoding specification, xmlCIM Encoding Specification; and a transport mechanism, CIM Operations over HTTP."

"The CIM specification is the language and methodology for describing management data. The CIM schema includes models for Systems, Applications, Networks (LAN) and Devices. The CIM schema will enable applications from different developers on different platforms to describe management data in a standard format so that it can be shared among a variety of management applications. The xmlCIM Encoding Specification defines XML elements, written in Document Type Definition (DTD), which can be used to represent CIM classes and instances. The CIM Operations over HTTP specification defines a mapping of CIM operations onto HTTP that allows implementations of CIM to interoperate in an open, standardized manner and completes the technologies that support WBEM." [from the WEBM home page]

From the Announcement

Distributed Management Task Force, Inc. (DMTF) today announced the final release of three Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) Specifications. The status, "final release," indicates that the Specifications are stable and have been successfully used in multiple, independent implementations. Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) is a set of management and Internet standard technologies developed to unify the management of enterprise and Internet computing environments. This release provides the ability for the industry to deliver a well-integrated set of standard-based management tools leveraging Web technologies.

WBEM relies on HTTP and XML to offer a Web-based approach for exchanging Common Information Model (CIM) data across otherwise disparate technologies and platforms. In this way, WBEM is a forefather of today's Web services, as it anticipated the use of Internet standards and protocols to facilitate a more consistent approach to sharing information.

"WBEM is now a mature standard that enables the IT community to better provision and manage computing and networking environments. Both open-source and vendor implementations have validated the specifications and demonstrate the interest in using web technologies for management," said Andrea Westerinen, DMTF vice president of technology. "In addition, the finalization of the WBEM Specifications enables other industry organizations to build on this progress in areas such as storage, applications, security and grid computing."

"The Storage Networking Industry Association is critically dependent on this release of WBEM along with CIM. WBEM and CIM are the technological foundation on which the Storage Management Initiative (SMI) is creating management interoperability across multi-vendor storage networks. Through CIM and WBEM, the SMI will streamline vendors' engineering efforts and fundamentally expand the storage market," said Roger Reich, chairman of the SNIA-SMI.

Distributed Management Task Force, Inc. (DMTF) is the industry organization leading the development, adoption, and interoperability of management standards and initiatives for desktop, enterprise, and Internet environments. DMTF is chartered to adopt, create, and maintain the specifications and technologies that provide management tools with the ability to discover, deploy, and control management data in a standard way. Working with key technology vendors and affiliated standards groups, DMTF is enabling a more integrated, cost-effective, and less crisis-driven approach to management.