A system, which implemented as programming on a suitable computing device, manages the configuration of a software system. The system includes a create properties configuration module that identifies and stores a collection of properties related to the configuration of the software system; a create file configuration that identifies and stores binary data related to the configuration of the software system; a create configuration set module that creates a draft configuration set including the collection of properties and the binary data; and an activate module that activates the draft configuration set and deactivates and persistently stores a prior configuration set as a historic configuration set. The activated configuration set and the historic configuration sets are immutable.