The development of a vaccine for the prevention of primary cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is a major public health priority. Live attenuated virus, recombinant viral vector, recombinant protein and peptide vaccines have been studied as potential vaccine candidates. In recent years, DNA vaccination strategies have been developed for many pathogens, including CMV. This review aims to bring together many aspects of this relatively new vaccine technology as applied to current research into the development of vaccines against CMV.