org.cispec.commonname

recommended: any CI with a human-recognizable name distinct from its inventory identifier

org.cispec.commonname records what people call a Change Item — the name that appears on a whiteboard, in an incident report, or in conversation. This is distinct from the inventory control number (asset-tag), the service identity (application), and the accountable party (owner).

A server called PDX-CORE-SW-01, a facility called groom.lake, a ward device called Ward 3B Infusion Pump 4, a spacecraft called Apollo 11 — these are common names. The same asset will have a barcode (asset-tag), an IP address (ip-address), and an accountability record (owner); commonname is what the people who work with it every day call it.

Common names apply to any tracked thing: physical assets, facilities, programmes, vessels, spacecraft, credentials, documents. In DNS and certificate contexts, this is the same field as the X.509 Subject CN — the human-readable identifier rather than the cryptographic one.

Value format

A free-form human-readable name. Spaces, mixed case, and special characters are permitted.

org.cispec.commonname=groom.lake
org.cispec.commonname=PDX-CORE-SW-01
org.cispec.commonname=Ward 3B Infusion Pump 4
org.cispec.commonname=Apollo 11

Conformance

org.cispec.commonname is RECOMMENDED for any CI where a human-recognizable name exists and is distinct from the asset tag or service identity. Not REQUIRED for Declared conformance.

Attestation

commonname is not independently attestable — it is a human-assigned label with no external registry. In X.509 contexts the CN is verified by the issuing CA; outside certificate contexts it is self-asserted.

Resolution and relation

commonname values are not globally unique — two organisations may use the same name for different assets. Interpret commonname alongside organization to disambiguate across organisations.

Document identifier

OID: 1.3.6.1.4.1.42387.2.9.1
GUID: 4b7c32ea-11f0-5afa-bac9-08ee71694c37