Configuration baseline

Overview

A configuration baseline is a snapshot of a product or platform that has been formally agreed and released. It lists exactly which version of each item belongs to it. Later work builds from the baseline, and any change to it is made as a controlled change that produces a new baseline, so everyone can tell what they are working with.

How it works

At a chosen milestone, the team selects the items that make up the product or platform at that point: source code, design databases, specifications, test environments, documents and parts lists. Each item is identified by name and version, and the set is reviewed and approved. The baseline is then recorded in the configuration management system and given its own identifier.

Projects usually keep several baselines over time, for example a requirements baseline, a design baseline and a product baseline. Each is a reference point: audits compare what was built against it, and change requests are assessed against it.

For a platform, each platform release is a baseline. Derivatives state which baseline they started from, so that fixes and updates in later baselines can be traced to the products that need them.

Examples

• A platform release made up of named versions of its processor subsystem, interconnect, security block and software base.
• A derivative chip recording that it started from a given platform baseline.
• A design baseline audited before tape-out to confirm the released files match the reviewed ones.
• A change request assessed against the current baseline to see which products it affects.

Why it matters

Without baselines, teams cannot be sure which versions belong together, and fixes go missing or are applied to the wrong products. A baseline gives every team, supplier and auditor the same reference. Configuration managers, platform architects, release managers and quality engineers rely on it.

In the platform lifecycle, baselines are released at each platform version, used by every derivative, and kept for as long as products built on them are supported.

It matters most to: Configuration Management Engineer, Platform Architect, Quality Systems Engineer, Release Manager (Silicon Deliverables)

Common confusions

Not the same as a release

A release is what is handed over to users. A baseline is the recorded, agreed set of versions behind it. Every release should match a baseline, but a project may also baseline work that is not released.

Not the same as a backup or a tag in a version control system

A tag marks versions in one repository. A baseline is a reviewed and approved set that can span many repositories, documents and parts lists, and it changes only through change control.

Related standards

• ISO 10007 (quality management, guidelines for configuration management)

Sources

1. 6.5 Configuration Management (NASA Systems Engineering Handbook) (opens in a new tab), NASA, 2026-11-10
2. EIA649C Configuration Management Standard (opens in a new tab), SAE International, 2026-11-10
3. IEEE 828-2012 Standard for Configuration Management in Systems and Software Engineering (opens in a new tab), IEEE Standards Association, 2026-11-10

Related terms

• Configuration management
• IP release
• Platform

Where it appears on the Hub

Used on 5 pages of the Hub. In each group, the pages that mention it most come first.