Customized software documentation based on actual configuration values

A method for customizing end-user or administrative software documentation such as installation instructions is provided. A software provider first collects computer system information for multiple computer sub-systems used by a customer. The collected computer system information comprises sub-system descriptions of each of the multiple computer sub-systems, software descriptions of all software that is currently residing in each of the multiple computer sub-systems, and hardware descriptions of all hardware that are allocated to each of the multiple computer sub-systems. The software provider then receives, from the customer, the name of new software that is to be installed in a user-selected computer sub-system. Based on the collected computer system information, the software provider determines which specific device in the user-selected computer sub-system should have the new software installed. At run time, variables in the installation instructions are replaced with a device's name.