Servicenow It Service Management 7-12-2017
Servicenow It Service Management 7-12-2017
Servicenow It Service Management 7-12-2017
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Contents
IT Service Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Asset Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Asset Management Overview module. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Asset Management process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Asset information management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Asset classes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Asset and CI management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Transfer orders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Stockrooms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Stock rules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Software Asset Management Template. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Organization Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Change Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Change types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Migrate Change Management from releases prior to Geneva. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Activate change management plugins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Configure change management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Create a change request. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Analyze risk of change and detect conflicts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Process a change request. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Configuration Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Configuration Management and the CMDB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
ITIL Configuration Management integration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
ITIL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Baseline CMDB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
CI relationships in the CMDB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
CMDB classifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
CMDB Identification and Reconciliation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Useful related lists in CI forms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
CMDB and Extended CMDB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
Enterprise Configuration Management Database (ECMDB) action icons. . . . . . . . . . 311
Options to populate the CMDB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
Help the Help Desk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
Enterprise CMDB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
Table form views. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
Contract Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
Use the Contract Management Overview module. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
Components installed with Contract Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
IT Service Management
Manage and track contracts with the Contract Management application in the ServiceNow
platform.
Expense Line
Expense lines enable you to track costs and represent a point-in-time expense incurred.
Expense lines can be created manually or generated by the scheduled processing of
recurring costs.
Incident Alert Management
The Password Reset application allows end users to use a self-service process to reset
their own passwords on the local ServiceNow instance. Alternatively, your organization
can implement a process that requires service-desk personnel to reset passwords for end
users.
Problem Management
Problem Management helps to identify the cause of an error in the IT infrastructure that is
usually reported as occurrences of related incidents.
Procurement
Procurement managers can use the Procurement application to create purchase orders
and to obtain items for fulfilling service catalog requests.
Product Catalog
The product catalog is a set of information about individual models. Models are specific
versions or various configurations of an asset. Asset managers use the product catalog as
a centralized repository for model information.
Service Catalog
The Service Catalog application helps you create service catalogs that provide your
customers with self-service opportunities. You can customize portals where your
customers can request catalog items, such as service and product offerings. You can also
define catalog items and standardize request fulfillment to ensure the accuracy and
availability of the items provided within the catalogs.
Service Desk
The ServiceNow platform includes a default homepage and a Service Desk application to
provide a basic set of service desk functions.
Service Level Management
Service Level Management (SLM) enables you to monitor and manage the quality of the
services offered by your organization.
Service Portfolio Management
Asset Management
Asset management integrates the physical, technological, contractual, and financial aspects
of information technology assets.
Most successful ITAM programs involve a variety of people and departments, including IT,
finance, services, and end users.
Asset Management and configuration management (CMDB) are related, but have different
goals. Asset management focuses on the financial tracking of company property.
Configuration management focuses on building and maintaining elements that create an
available network of services.
Asset Management Overview module
The Asset Management Overview module displays various asset management gauges
showing information such as configuration item by manufacturer, computers by
manufacturer, configuration item types, and asset information for a specific vendor. It also
includes a gauge showing pending asset retirements for the current week, month, and
year.
Asset Management process
The best method for managing assets depends on business needs and how your business
is organized.
Asset information management
Asset management starts with finding out information about the assets your organization
has.
Asset classes
The default asset classes are Hardware, Software License, and Consumable. These general
classes can be used to manage a variety of assets.
Asset and CI management
Asset and Configuration Item (CI) management refers to creating assets, setting states
and substates for assets and CIs, mapping assets and CIs so that they are in synch,
managing consumables, and retiring assets.
Transfer orders
Stockrooms
Stock rules are defined criteria stating that when inventory of a particular asset in a
particular stockroom reaches a specified threshold, a certain number should either be
transferred from another stockroom or ordered from a vendor.
Software Asset Management Template
ServiceNow Software Asset Management Template is a feature provided with the Asset
Management application.
Organization Management
The Organization Management application provides an easy way to perform such asset
management tasks as updating users and adding vendors.
The Asset Management Overview module displays various asset management gauges
showing information such as configuration item by manufacturer, computers by
manufacturer, configuration item types, and asset information for a specific vendor. It also
includes a gauge showing pending asset retirements for the current week, month, and year.
Roles
Only users with certain roles have access to the Overview module. These roles can view the
overview page and refresh, add, delete, and rearrange gauges.
admin
asset
sam
Use the Asset Management Overview module
The Asset Management Overview module displays various asset management gauges.
Installed with Asset Management
A number of tables, user roles, UI policies, script includes, client scripts, and business rules
are installed with Asset Management.
Installed with Model Management
The Asset Management Overview module displays various asset management gauges.
Procedure
A number of tables, user roles, UI policies, script includes, client scripts, and business rules
are installed with Asset Management.
Demo data is available with asset management. The demo data provides information such as
users, specific assets, and individual stockrooms.
Tables
Asset Management includes the following tables.
User roles
Asset Management includes the following user roles.
UI policies
Asset Management includes the following UI policies.
Script includes
Asset Management includes the following script includes.
Name Description
TransferOrderDateTimeAjax Date comparison utility for transfer orders.
TransferOrderFilters Reference qualifier code for reference field
filtering options on transfer orders.
TransferOrderFinder Finds an appropriate transfer order to put a
transfer order line into.
TransferOrderHelper Function that checks if a transfer order has
multiple transfer order lines.
TransferOrderLineFilters Reference qualifier code for reference field
filtering options on transfer order lines.
TransferOrderReceiver Code for receiving a transfer order line.
TransferOrderReturn Code for returning a transfer order line.
TransferOrderStageHandler Code for changing transfer order stages and
transfer order line stages.
TransferOrderStageHelper Helper method to get numeric stages for transfer
orders and transfer order lines.
Client scripts
Asset Management includes the following client scripts.
Business rules
Asset Management includes the following business rules.
Name Description
glide.cmdb_model.display_name.shorten When set to true, generates shorter display
names for models by eliminating duplication of
the manufacturer name. Consider the following
model, for which Manufacturer is set to Spotify
and Name is set to Spotify Premium.
Name Description
ModelAndCategoryFilters Refines reference qualifiers for models and model
categories based on class.
ModelCategoryCheck Ensures compatibility of classes between the
several categories referenced by the same model.
Table Description
Application Model Stores models used to describe software
[cmdb_application_product_model] application products.
Consumable Model Describes consumable product models.
[cmdb_consumable_product_model]
Contract Model [cmdb_contract_product_model] Stores all contract models.
Depreciation [cmdb_depreciation] Stores asset depreciation patterns.
Hardware Model Describes hardware product models.
[cmdb_hardware_product_model]
Table Description
Model Category [cmdb_model_category] Defines groups of assets, consumables, product
bundles, and configuration items.
Model Compatibility Stores many-to-many relationship between two
[cmdb_m2m_model_compatibility] models signifying their compatibility with one
another.
Model Component Stores many-to-many relationship between two
[cmdb_m2m_model_component] models signifying that they form a bundle.
Product model [cmdb_model] Describes all kinds of product models.
Software License Calculation Defines commonly used software licensing
[cmdb_sw_license_calculation] patterns.
Software Model Describes software product models.
[cmdb_software_product_model]
Software Suite [cmdb_m2m_suite_model Stores many-to-many relationship between two
models that defines elements of a software suite.
Software Upgrade and Downgrades Stores many-to-many relationship between two
[cmdb_m2m_downgrade_model] models signifying that being licensed for one
model grants rights to the other as well.
Protect model category Product Model [cmdb_model] Makes the Model categories field
mandatory and read-only if it
contains any of the following
values: Software License,
Contract, Work Order, Work
Task.
Show is an option if Oracle Software Model Shows the Is an option field if
[cmdb_software_product_model] the selected Manufacturer name
starts with Oracle.
The best method for managing assets depends on business needs and how your business is
organized.
These steps are one possible process for getting started with Asset Management.
Procedure
1. Identify assets in your system. A key component of asset management is the initial and
ongoing inventory or discovery of what you own. The ServiceNow platform provides the
following options for asset discovery.
The separate, robust Discovery tool.
A lightweight, native discovery tool, Help the Help Desk lets you scan your network
proactively to discover all Windows-based PCs and the software packages installed
on those PCs. This WMI-based discovery is included in the base self-service
application.
For organizations that want to use the discovery technologies they have deployed
already, such as SMS, Tally NetCensus, LanDesk, or others, ServiceNow can support
integration to those technologies via web services. Scanned data can be mapped
directly into the configuration management database (CMDB).
2. Clean up information in the configuration management database (CMDB). Remove
information that is obsolete or invalid. Ensure that all remaining information is accurate
and complete. Add any necessary information.
3. Create categories of asset models such as computers, servers, printers, and software.
4. Create asset models. Models are specific versions or various configurations of an asset,
such as a MacBook Pro 17".
5. Create individual assets, such as hardware, consumables, and software licenses. If you
used a discovery tool, you may already have many assets identified accurately.
6. Manage assets by counting software licenses, viewing assets that are in stock, setting
asset states and substates, and analyzing unallocated software.
Asset management starts with finding out information about the assets your organization
has.
In the ServiceNow platform, there are several methods for obtaining asset information. After
you use a discovery tool to identify assets, you can use tools in the Asset Management
application. For example, use the overview gauges, view a list of assets in stock, and view a
list of unallocated software licenses.
To view assets that are in stock, navigate to Inventory Management > Stock > In Stock.
Assets in stock
Managing software licenses includes knowing what licenses are owned by your
organization, but are not allocated.
Related Tasks
View a list of unallocated software licenses
Managing software licenses includes knowing what licenses are owned by your organization,
but are not allocated.
You can, for example, allocate the licenses to users or machines. If no one needs the
unallocated licenses, this can be noted so that fewer licenses are purchased in the future.
Procedure
3. Click a name in the Model column for detailed information about a specific license.
View the Software Model list in the Unallocated License view.
Asset classes
The default asset classes are Hardware, Software License, and Consumable. These general
classes can be used to manage a variety of assets.
If the general classes are not appropriate for a specific group of assets, consider creating a
new asset class. For example, a fleet of cars could be tracked in a custom asset class named
Vehicle. Before creating new asset classes, analyze business needs to see if the general
classes can be used. A large number of asset classes can be difficult to maintain.
Built-in functionality allows you to use asset classes for financial tracking, in a model bundle,
and as a pre-allocated asset.
Create an asset class
Creating a new asset class requires defining a new table and creating a corresponding
application and module, then adding the new asset class to new or existing model
categories.
Related Tasks
Create an asset class
Creating a new asset class requires defining a new table and creating a corresponding
application and module, then adding the new asset class to new or existing model
categories.
Ensure that the model categories contain models. Use the Table Creator to extend an
existing table.
Procedure
1. Navigate to System Definition > Tables & Columns and scroll to the bottom of the page.
2. Fill in the Table Creator fields with information about the new table.
For example, to extend the alm_asset table with a new table named u_vehicle and add a
new application named Vehicle, fill out the Table Creator fields with the following
information.
Field Value
Label Enter Vehicle.
Table name Check that u_vehicle has been added to the
field automatically.
Extends base table Select alm_asset.
Create new application Check that the Named check box is selected
and that Vehicle has been added to the text
box automatically.
Create new module Check that the In application check box is
selected and select Asset Management.
3. Click Do It!.
4. Navigate to the new application (for example, Asset Management > Vehicle) and click
New.
5. Configure the form to include Model, Model Category, and Quantity.
6. Create a model category and add the asset class you created to the Asset class field.
7. Create new models and add them to the model category.
What to do next
Now that the model category (associated with the new asset class) and the models are
created, manage the models as assets. For example, use the model in a bundle.
Asset and Configuration Item (CI) management refers to creating assets, setting states and
substates for assets and CIs, mapping assets and CIs so that they are in synch, managing
consumables, and retiring assets.
When an asset has a corresponding configuration item, the asset record and the
configuration item record are kept synchronized with two business rules.
Note: Assets and CIs can be synchronized only if they are logically mapped.
The following diagram illustrates the concept of Asset-CI mapping and synchronization.
Asset state and CI status are not mapped on one-to-one basis; rather they are mapped to
the most logical counterpart on the other table. For example, for a hardware asset set to
state In Stock - Pending disposal, the corresponding CI is set to In Disposition with no
substate.
This synchronization happens between the assets State field and the following CI fields:
Install Status field: Install Status does not have a sub status and must be used for non-
hardware CIs.
Hardware Status and Sub status field: Hardware Status is visible only for Hardware CI.
As a best practice, ServiceNow, Inc. recommends that you drive changes by updating the
state on the Asset form.
Asset to CI synchronization: Change to the assets status updates the logically mapped
CIs Install Status or Hardware Status and sub status.
CI to Asset: Change to the CIs Install Status or Hardware Status updates the logically
mapped assets states and sub states.
For a CMDB hardware CI, if both Hardware Status and Install Status is updated, the
Hardware Status change is considered for mapping the corresponding state of the asset.
CIs Install Status and Hardware Status work independently. There is no correlation
between them. CIs Hardware Status change does not change CIs Install Status and vice
versa. To avoid confusion, keeping both status for CMDB CI Hardware is not
recommended.
Asset tag
Assigned
Assigned to
Checked in
Checked out
Company
Cost (synchs in only one direction: asset to CI)
Cost center
Delivery date
Department
Due in
Due
GL account
Install date
Invoice number
Justification
Lease id
Location
Managed by
Model
Order date
Order received
Ordered
Owned by
PO number
Purchase date
Purchased
Serial number
Support group
Supported by
Vendor
Warranty expiration
Create assets
You can create hardware, software license, consumable, license, and facility assets.
Add depreciation to an asset
Fixed assets are containers that can hold multiple assets. Fixed assets are commonly
tracked at the corporate level by a finance or accounting department, but may contain IT
assets such as hardware and software.
Asset states and corresponding substates can be used to accurately track assets at a
detailed level.
Consumables life cycle
Consumables are assets that are not tracked individually, but as a group of the same
model.
Retire assets
Create assets
You can create hardware, software license, consumable, license, and facility assets.
Procedure
Field Description
It is a consumable. Quantity is unrestricted
because consumables are tracked in
groups.
It is pre-allocated. Quantity is unrestricted
when Model category and Model are
defined and Substate is set to Pre-
allocated.
It has no model and no model category.
Asset tag Alphanumeric information assigned by your
organization to help track the asset.
State Current state of the asset, such as On order or
In use.
Stockroom Current stockroom in which the asset is
physically located.
Reserved for Person for whom the asset has been ordered.
This field is visible when the asset state is On
Order.
Assigned to Person using or primarily responsible for this
item. This field is visible when the asset state is
In Use.
Managed by Person who maintains the asset. This can be
different from the person in the Owned by field.
Owned by Person who has financial ownership of the
asset. This can be different from the person in
the Managed by field.
Parent Parent asset of the asset. For example, a
monitor or peripheral can have a workstation as
their parent asset. When a parent link is
defined, the fields related to assignment and
state of the child assets is set to read-only and
are populated based on the parent assignment
and state fields. For more information, see
Creating Bundled Models.
Class Asset group, for example, base, hardware,
license, or consumable.
Serial number Serial number of this asset.
Substate Current substate of the asset. The available
substate settings depend on the state selected.
For example, the Retired state contains the
Substate options Disposed, Sold, Donated, and
Vendor credit.
Location Current physical location of the asset.
Department Department to which the asset belongs.
Company Company or organization to which this asset
belongs.
Assigned Date on which the asset was assigned to a user.
Installed Date on which the asset was installed.
Comments Information about the asset that would be
helpful for others to know.
Financial section (available for all asset types)
Field Description
PO number Purchase order under which the asset was
purchased.
Order received Date on which the asset was received.
Request line Requested item to which the asset is linked.
Purchase order line Purchase order line item to which the asset is
linked.
Receiving line Receiving slip line to which the asset is linked.
Invoice number Invoice under which the asset was billed.
Cost Price at which the asset was purchased.
Vendor Vendor from which the asset was purchased.
For assets automatically created from purchase
orders in Procurement, the default value of the
Vendor field is the vendor specified on the
purchase order.
Purchased Date on which the asset was purchased.
Ordered Date on which the asset was ordered.
Opened Date on which the requested item record was
opened. The system automatically populates
the field when a request line is specified.
GL account General ledger account number with which the
asset is associated.
Cost center Group financially responsible for the asset.
Acquisition method How the asset was acquired. Base system
choices are Purchase, Lease, Rental, and Loan.
For assets automatically created from purchase
orders in Procurement, the default value is
Purchase
Disposal
Disposal reason Text explaining why the asset is being retired.
Beneficiary Organization that receives the asset when it is
retired.
Resale price Value of the asset when it is retired. For
example, if the asset is donated, the value used
when reporting taxes.
Scheduled retirement Scheduled date on which the asset is retired.
Retired date Actual date on which the asset was retired.
Depreciation
Depreciation Depreciation method that is applied. Base
system choices are Declining Balance and
Straight Line. The depreciation value is
defaulted from the associated Model.
Depreciation effective date Date on which the specified depreciation
method begins.
Salvage value Estimated value of an asset at the end of its
useful life. This value must be less than or equal
to the Cost of the asset.
Field Description
Residual date [Read-only] Number of days that have passed
since the Depreciation effective date.
Residual value [Read-only] Value in the Cost field with the
depreciation method applied.
Covered by Fixed Asset List of all fixed assets that contain the asset. To
add the asset to another fixed asset, double-
click in the Fixed asset column, click the
reference lookup icon ( ), select an asset, and
click the green check mark.
Contracts section (available for all asset types)
Lease contract Name of the lease contract that applies to the
asset.
Warranty expiration Expiration date of the asset's warranty.
Support group Group managing the contract covering the
asset.
Supported by Person managing the contract covering the
asset.
Entitlements section (available for hardware assets)
Hardware Entitlements Software asset license entitlements associated
to the asset.
Device Entitlements section (available for software assets)
Allocated condition Condition that a configuration item should
satisfy to be granted entitlement for this license
(available for software entitlements).
Device Entitlements Software license entitlements associated to the
asset.
User Entitlements section (available for software assets)
Assigned condition Condition that a user item should satisfy to be
granted entitlement for this license (available
for software entitlements).
User Entitlements User license entitlements associated to the
asset.
4. Click Submit.
Related Concepts
Asset and CI management
The ServiceNow platform calculates the read-only Residual date and Residual value fields
based on the Cost, Depreciation, and Depreciation effective date fields. For example, if the
asset Cost is $1000.00, the Straight Line depreciation method is selected, and exactly two
years have passed, the Residual value would be $500.00.
For more information about fixed assets and depreciation, see Using Depreciation with
Fixed Assets.
Procedure
The Residual date, Residual value, and Depreciated amount fields are automatically
calculated.
Pre-allocated assets are often assets that the vendor still owns, but has agreed to store in a
customer stockroom for just-in-time procurement. For example, a pre-allocated asset could
be a pallet of 100 computers ready to be allocated. Allocating the asset generates a
configuration item (if required by the category) and enables you to assign the asset. Pre-
allocated assets can be components of another asset that is already in use. For example,
pre-installed, pre-allocated servers can be set up in server racks next to production servers,
but the pre-allocated servers only become a financial liability after they are turned on.
The pre-allocated option can only be used for assets, not consumables or licenses. Pre-
allocated assets cannot be comprised of bundles.
Note: Warranties are not usually active until an item is installed. Therefore, until an
asset is allocated and assigned, it is not under warranty.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Asset Management > Portfolio and select All Assets, Hardware Assets, or
Other Assets.
2. Click New.
3. Select a Model Category.
Category must have the Allow pre-allocated option selected.
4. Select a Model.
5. Set State to In Stock or In Transit.
6. Set Substate to Pre-allocated.
The pre-allocated substate can only be set when the asset is created.
7. Enter a Quantity.
The quantity can be set only when the substate is Pre-allocated.
8. If the State is In Stock, select a Stockroom.
Assets can be allocated from pre-allocated asset records, which creates new asset
records and reduces the Quantity in the original pre-allocated asset record.
Split a pre-allocated asset
You can split a pre-allocated asset to create a group that can be moved to a different
stockroom.
Related Concepts
Asset and CI management
Assets can be allocated from pre-allocated asset records, which creates new asset records
and reduces the Quantity in the original pre-allocated asset record.
Allocating an asset makes it a financial liability. After all pre-allocated assets have been
allocated, the pre-allocated asset record is removed from the asset list.
Procedure
Related Concepts
Asset and CI management
You can split a pre-allocated asset to create a group that can be moved to a different
stockroom.
For example, a group of 100 pre-allocated computers is in Stockroom A. Split the group into
two groups of 50 and move one group to Stockroom B. Allocate the computers from the
two different stockrooms.
Procedure
Related Concepts
Asset and CI management
Fixed assets are containers that can hold multiple assets. Fixed assets are commonly tracked
at the corporate level by a finance or accounting department, but may contain IT assets
such as hardware and software.
The Fixed Asset option in the Financial Management application shows the IT assets related
to a fixed asset record. This link can help IT stay coordinated with the corporate asset
system. Users with the financial_mgmt_admin and financial_mgmt_user roles can create
fixed assets. After creating a fixed asset and adding assets, the residual value can be
automatically calculated.
The ServiceNow platform calculates the Residual Value, Total cost, and Total
depreciation based on information in the Financial and Depreciation sections on the
individual asset records.
Use depreciation with fixed assets
You can calculate depreciation for a fixed asset using a choice of depreciation schedules.
Calculating depreciation for a fixed asset can help IT coordinate with the corporate fixed
asset system to report correct valuation and book value.
You can calculate depreciation for a fixed asset using a choice of depreciation schedules.
Calculating depreciation for a fixed asset can help IT coordinate with the corporate fixed
asset system to report correct valuation and book value.
When creating a new depreciation schedule, select the Declining Balance or Straight Line
depreciation Category. The two categories depreciate an asset by the same overall amount
during the asset life cycle, but do so on different schedules.
The following example shows depreciated value on a $10,000.00 asset over five years using
the two different methods.
Procedure
6. Click Submit.
The depreciation schedule is now available in the Depreciation field on the asset record.
Related Concepts
Asset and CI management
Examples include a license to use a single copy of a desktop software program and an
enterprise license to install a software program on multiple computers.
Procedure
Asset states and corresponding substates can be used to accurately track assets at a
detailed level.
Good asset information helps with reporting, controlling assets, and lowering costs. For
example, accurately recording missing items using the Missing state and the Lost and Stolen
substates enables you to run reports and analyze the information in order to lower costs.
Procedure
Consumables are assets that are not tracked individually, but as a group of the same model.
Same location
Same state
Consumed by the same asset, typically as accessories or parts
Some common consumable assets include computer mice, computer keyboards, and
pencils. The base ServiceNow system includes the Consumable model category. The first
step in working with models is to create a model within the model category for an individual
consumable asset. Items such as keyboards and computer mice are often tracked as
consumables. Consumables cannot be pre-allocated.
Stages of consumables
The consumable life cycle stages are as follows.
On order
In stock
In transit
Consumed
In maintenance
Retired
Missing
View consumable assets
Consumables are tracked as a group of the same model, but you can view individual
consumables in the consumable model record.
Create consumable assets
To consume consumable assets, they must have a state of In Stock and a substate of
Available.
Consumables are tracked as a group of the same model, but you can view individual
consumables in the consumable model record.
Procedure
Related Concepts
Asset and CI management
Consumables life cycle
Procedure
1. Navigate to Asset Management > Portfolio > Consumables and click New.
2. Fill in the fields, as appropriate.
Related Concepts
Asset and CI management
To consume consumable assets, they must have a state of In Stock and a substate of
Available.
Procedure
Related Concepts
Asset and CI management
Retire assets
After you change the state of an asset to Retired, the Substate field is active. When you
retire an asset, the status of related CIs also changes to Retired. Selecting a substate is not
required, but can be helpful for tracking and reporting.
Procedure
Delete assets
A confirmation must be accepted before the asset and components are permanently
deleted. If a CI and asset are linked, deleting one also deletes the other.
You should delete an asset only to clean up errors. For tracking purposes, the correct
method for managing an asset that is no longer in use is to change the state of the asset to
Retired.
Procedure
Transfer orders
The Asset Management application enables asset managers to create transfer orders for
moving assets between company stockrooms.
Transfer order lines allow the transfer of multiple assets on one transfer order. Actions such
as shipment preparation can take place at the order level or the line level. Pre-allocated
assets can be included in a transfer order line, but can only be transferred in their full
quantity. A business rule prevents asset managers from transferring the same asset at the
same time.
If an asset is consumable, it can be transferred and the quantity can be greater than one.
Consumable parts are tracked by the system qualitatively.
If an asset is non-consumable, it must be transferred as a single entity with a quantity of
one. Non-consumable parts correspond to assets defined in the system.
Transfer assets using transfer orders
The steps below explain how to create a transfer order and move it from Draft status to
Received.
Create a transfer order
Transfer order lines specify the exact items that comprise a transfer order.
Move an asset through the transfer process
The transfer order itself and each individual transfer order line have a separate stage. The
overall stage of the transfer order is calculated cumulatively based on the stages of the
individual transfer order lines.
Summary of transfer order stages
As assets move through the transfer process, the stage of a transfer order is always based
on the stages of the individual transfer order lines.
Transfer order line asset tracking
As transfer order line actions are triggered, the stock information and states of any
affected assets are updated. Consumables and non-consumables are tracked differently.
Delete a transfer order
Users with the inventory_user role can delete transfer order lines.
Return items received in a transfer order
If a transfer order is received, but there is a problem with all or some of the items, do a
transfer order return.
Related Tasks
Transfer assets using transfer orders
Create a transfer order
Create a transfer order line
Move an asset through the transfer process
Delete a transfer order
Delete a transfer order line
Return items received in a transfer order
Related Reference
Summary of transfer order stages
Transfer order line asset tracking
Transfer order line asset tracking of non-consumables
Transfer order line asset tracking consumables
The steps below explain how to create a transfer order and move it from Draft status to
Received.
For a more detailed look at the process, see Move an asset through the transfer process.
Procedure
1. Create a transfer order by navigating to Inventory Management > Transfer Orders >
Create Transfer Order.
2. Enter a From Stockroom and To Stockroom.
Note: If you select the same stockroom for both fields, the transfer order
automatically moves from Draft to Received as soon as a transfer order
line is added.
Note: Alternatively, ship assets by selecting individual transfer order lines and
clicking Ship.
14. Select each individual transfer order line number and click Receive.
Note: Assets can only be received individually on the transfer order line level,
not at the transfer order level.
All transfer order lines and the transfer order are marked Received.
Related Tasks
Create a transfer order
Create a transfer order line
Move an asset through the transfer process
Delete a transfer order
Delete a transfer order line
Return items received in a transfer order
Related Concepts
Transfer orders
Related Reference
Summary of transfer order stages
Transfer order line asset tracking
Transfer order line asset tracking of non-consumables
Transfer order line asset tracking consumables
Field Description
Number [Read-only] Unique number for the transfer
order generated automatically by the system.
From stockroom [Required] Stockroom from which the items
will be shipped.
From location [Read-only] Location from which the items will
be shipped. Calculated automatically from the
From stockroom field.
Requested date [Read-only] Date on which the transfer order
was requested.
Drop Off [Read-only] Check box that indicates whether
the items are included in a drop off list. Used in
the work management feature only.
Stage [Read-only] Current stage of the transfer order,
such as Draft or Requested. Controls what
actions can be performed against the transfer
order.
To stockroom [Required] Stockroom to which the items will
be shipped.
To location [Read-only] Location to which the items will be
shipped. Calculated automatically from the To
stockroom field.
Field Description
Delivery by date Date by which items are expected to be
received.
Related Tasks
Transfer assets using transfer orders
Create a transfer order line
Move an asset through the transfer process
Delete a transfer order
Delete a transfer order line
Return items received in a transfer order
Related Concepts
Transfer orders
Related Reference
Summary of transfer order stages
Transfer order line asset tracking
Transfer order line asset tracking of non-consumables
Transfer order line asset tracking consumables
Transfer order lines specify the exact items that comprise a transfer order.
A transfer order can contain one or more transfer order lines. Under a single transfer order,
all transfer order lines will have the same From location and To location. Each line contains
an asset to transfer and the quantity to transfer. The item to transfer is identified by asset
name and model name. A transfer order line can involve one quantity of a non-consumable
asset or multiple quantities of a consumable asset. A bundled model can be transferred.
Procedure
After creating a transfer order, click New in the Transfer Order Lines related list and fill in the
fields as appropriate.
Field Description
Number [Read-only] Internal unique number identifying
the transfer order line.
Transfer Order [Read-only] The transfer order to which the
transfer order line belongs.
Field Description
Model [Required] Model of the items requested by the
transfer order line. For example, a printer. If the
Asset field is filled out first, the Model field is
automatically filled in with the model
corresponding to the asset.
Quantity requested [Read-only] Number of items requested by the
transfer order line. For example, 3 computers are
requested to be transferred.
Quantity received [Read-only] Number of items already received.
For example, 3 keyboards are transferred, 2 are
received.
Stage [Read-only] Current stage of the transfer order.
Transfer order lines can only be created when a
transfer order is in Draft stage.
Request line Requested item to associate with the transfer
order line.
Asset [Required] Asset requested by the transfer order
line. For example, a specific printer. The asset can
filter on stockrooms.
Quantity remaining [Read-only] Number of items yet to be received.
For example, 3 keyboards had been requested, 2
are received, 1 is remaining.
Quantity returned [Read-only] Number of items that already
needed to be returned.
Related Tasks
Transfer assets using transfer orders
Create a transfer order
Move an asset through the transfer process
Delete a transfer order
Delete a transfer order line
Return items received in a transfer order
Related Concepts
Transfer orders
Related Reference
Summary of transfer order stages
Transfer order line asset tracking
Transfer order line asset tracking of non-consumables
Transfer order line asset tracking consumables
The transfer order itself and each individual transfer order line have a separate stage. The
overall stage of the transfer order is calculated cumulatively based on the stages of the
individual transfer order lines.
For example, after all transfer order lines are changed to Received, the transfer order is
marked Received. The transfer order line stages are visible in the Transfer Order Lines
related list.
Procedure
After creating transfer order lines, the transfer order and all of the transfer order lines
are in Draft stage. Transfer orders and transfer order lines always start in Draft. While a
transfer order or a transfer order line is in Draft stage, it can be deleted. See Delete a
transfer order and Delete a transfer order line.
Note: When an asset is part of a transfer order set to Draft, the asset record
updates to show the asset as reserved. No one else can request or
transfer the asset while it is reserved.
2. After all information has been added to the transfer order and the transfer order lines,
click Ready for Fulfillment on the transfer order.
This moves the transfer order and all transfer order lines to the Requested stage. At this
point in the process, the transfer order can continue to move forward as a unit or the
transfer order lines can be moved forward separately.
3. To move the transfer order, ready all assets for shipment and click Prepare for shipment
on the transfer order.
The transfer order and all transfer order lines move to the Shipment Preparation stage.
You can also click Prepare for shipment on a transfer order line to move only that
transfer order line to the Shipment Preparation stage. The transfer order stage is set to
Shipment Preparation as soon as the first transfer order line is set to Shipment
preparation.
While an asset is in the Shipment Preparation (or earlier) stage, the transfer order line
can be cancelled by opening the transfer order line record and clicking Cancel. The
stage changes to Cancelled (Closed Complete).
When all transfer order lines reach the Shipment preparation stage, the Ship button is
available on the transfer order.
4. Click Ship on the transfer order to move all transfer order lines to the In Transit stage.
In the case that assets ship at different times, transfer order lines can move individually.
For example, assume a transfer order is comprised of three assets: a laptop, a printer,
and a keyboard. All three assets have been prepared for shipment and the laptop is
ready to ship.
5. Click the transfer order line Number next to the laptop. Now, on the transfer order line
record for the laptop, click Ship.
The laptop moves to the In Transit stage, but the printer and keyboard remain in the
Shipment Preparation stage. Because at least one of the transfer order lines is now in
transit, the overall transfer order is moved to the Partially Shipped stage. Once all
transfer order lines are shipped, the transfer order moves to the Fully Shipped stage.
After all transfer order lines are shipped, the next step is to receive the assets. Assets are
always received at the transfer order line level.
Once all transfer order lines are received, the transfer order moves to the Received
stage.
Attention: It may be necessary to return items, such as when they are defective.
To return items, receive the items, then follow the return process.
Related Tasks
Transfer assets using transfer orders
Create a transfer order
Create a transfer order line
Delete a transfer order
Delete a transfer order line
Return items received in a transfer order
Related Concepts
Transfer orders
Related Reference
Summary of transfer order stages
Transfer order line asset tracking
Transfer order line asset tracking of non-consumables
Transfer order line asset tracking consumables
As assets move through the transfer process, the stage of a transfer order is always based
on the stages of the individual transfer order lines.
Related Tasks
Transfer assets using transfer orders
Create a transfer order
Create a transfer order line
Move an asset through the transfer process
Delete a transfer order
Delete a transfer order line
Return items received in a transfer order
Related Concepts
Transfer orders
Related Reference
Transfer order line asset tracking
Transfer order line asset tracking of non-consumables
Transfer order line asset tracking consumables
As transfer order line actions are triggered, the stock information and states of any affected
assets are updated. Consumables and non-consumables are tracked differently.
When an asset is included in a transfer order line, the following takes place:
a substate field on the asset form changes to reflect the transfer order line states
the Active TO option on the asset form is automatically selected to show that the asset is
part of a transfer order and cannot be added to multiple transfer orders
the asset is removed from the pool of available assets and changed to a state of In Stock
Pending Transfer
Transfer order line asset tracking of non-consumables
This page provides the effect on asset substates when transfer order line stages change
for non-consumables.
Transfer order line asset tracking consumables
When a consumable is added to a transfer order line, the stock for the consumable is split
into two records and the transfer order links to the newly created stock line.
Related Tasks
Transfer assets using transfer orders
Create a transfer order
Create a transfer order line
Move an asset through the transfer process
Delete a transfer order
Delete a transfer order line
Return items received in a transfer order
Related Concepts
Transfer orders
Related Reference
Summary of transfer order stages
Transfer order line asset tracking
Transfer order line asset tracking of non-consumables
Transfer order line asset tracking consumables
This page provides the effect on asset substates when transfer order line stages change for
non-consumables.
Related Tasks
Transfer assets using transfer orders
Create a transfer order
Create a transfer order line
Move an asset through the transfer process
Delete a transfer order
Delete a transfer order line
Return items received in a transfer order
Related Concepts
Transfer orders
Related Reference
Summary of transfer order stages
Transfer order line asset tracking
Transfer order line asset tracking consumables
When a consumable is added to a transfer order line, the stock for the consumable is split
into two records and the transfer order links to the newly created stock line.
For example:
5. The seven remaining keyboards are split into another two lines: five In stock > Available
and two In stock > Pending Transfer.
Note: The three In Stock > Pending Transfer and the two In Stock > Pending
Transfer are not merged together because they are not part of the same
transfer order line and not necessarily from the same person.
6. As TOL2 for two keyboards moves from Draft to Requested to Shipment Preparation,
TOL1 for the three keyboards remains In Stock > Pending Transfer.
7. When TOL1 for the three keyboards moves to the In Transit stage, the three keyboards
are changed to the In Transit > Reserved stage. The same happens for TOL2 with two
keyboards.
8. When TOL1 is Received, the three keyboards move to In stock > Available in stockroom
B.
9. When TOL2 is received in stockroom B, the two keyboards move to In stock > Available
and are merged with the three keyboards that are also In Stock > Available in B.
10. At the end, stockroom B shows five keyboards are In Stock > Available.
Related Tasks
Transfer assets using transfer orders
Create a transfer order
Create a transfer order line
Move an asset through the transfer process
Delete a transfer order
Delete a transfer order line
Return items received in a transfer order
Related Concepts
Transfer orders
Related Reference
Summary of transfer order stages
Transfer order line asset tracking
Transfer order line asset tracking of non-consumables
The transfer order or transfer order line must be in the Draft stage.
Procedure
Alternatively, you can cancel a transfer order or a transfer order line while it is in
Requested or Shipment Preparation stage.
Related Tasks
Transfer assets using transfer orders
Create a transfer order
Create a transfer order line
Move an asset through the transfer process
Delete a transfer order line
Return items received in a transfer order
Related Concepts
Transfer orders
Related Reference
Summary of transfer order stages
Transfer order line asset tracking
Transfer order line asset tracking of non-consumables
Transfer order line asset tracking consumables
Users with the inventory_user role can delete transfer order lines.
The transfer order or transfer order line must be in the Draft stage.
Procedure
Alternatively, you can cancel a transfer order or a transfer order line while it is in
Requested or Shipment Preparation stage.
Related Tasks
Transfer assets using transfer orders
Related Concepts
Transfer orders
Related Reference
Summary of transfer order stages
Transfer order line asset tracking
Transfer order line asset tracking of non-consumables
Transfer order line asset tracking consumables
If a transfer order is received, but there is a problem with all or some of the items, do a
transfer order return.
Procedure
1. Check the item status to ensure it has been received by navigating to Inventory
Management > Transfer Orders > Transfer Order Returns.
2. Navigate to Inventory Management > Transfer Orders > Transfer Orders.
3. Select a transfer order that is in the Received stage.
Defective items are returned to the stockroom from which they were delivered, but are
not added to available stock. Instead, they are tracked in the separate category named
"Defective" so they cannot be requested or transferred again.
9. Click OK.
10. Click Update.
A new corresponding parent transfer order is also automatically created with the new
transfer order line on it.
11. If you are returning a consumable, navigate to the transfer order line record and click the
model name to open the model record.
The model record shows which stockrooms contain the model. The one defective model
is listed.
Note: The defective model is still at the stockroom to which it was delivered.
The defective model needs to be transferred back to the stockroom
where it originated.
12. Move the new transfer order through the regular transfer order process.
Items are automatically returned to the stockroom from which they were delivered. A
transfer order line item that has been returned cannot be delivered at a later time.
If you return another defective model from the same, original order, the two defective
returns are merged into one line item.
Related Tasks
Transfer assets using transfer orders
Create a transfer order
Create a transfer order line
Move an asset through the transfer process
Delete a transfer order
Delete a transfer order line
Related Concepts
Transfer orders
Related Reference
Summary of transfer order stages
Transfer order line asset tracking
Transfer order line asset tracking of non-consumables
Transfer order line asset tracking consumables
Stockrooms
When stock is low on a particular asset, stock rules can either notify an asset manager or
automatically transfer inventory from one stockroom to another.
You can delete a stockroom. If the stock room has assets, you must remove the assets
from the stockroom first.
Delete a stockroom with no assets
If you need stockroom types that are not included in the base system, you can create a
custom stockroom type.
Related Tasks
Create a stock rule
Procedure
Related Tasks
Create a stock rule
Related Concepts
Stock rules
Create a stockroom
Procedure
Fields Description
Name Display name and identifier of the stockroom.
Assignment group Group that primarily uses the stockroom.
External Whether this stockroom is managed internally
(check box is cleared) or is managed externally
by a third party (check box is selected).
Location Physical location of the stockroom.
Type Type of stockroom, such as Field Agent or On
site.
Manager Person in charge of the stockroom. Receives
restocking notifications and requests for the
stockroom's stock rules.
Related Tasks
Create a stock rule
Related Concepts
Stock rules
You can delete a stockroom. If the stock room has assets, you must remove the assets from
the stockroom first.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Create a stock rule
Related Concepts
Stock rules
Procedure
Related Tasks
Create a stock rule
Related Concepts
Stock rules
Stockroom types
Priority: indicates the order of stockrooms the parts should be sourced from. For example,
if a personal stockroom (priority 2) contains the required part, the personal stockroom
receives priority over the Central Stockroom (priority 7) because the part in the personal
stockroom does not require delivery.
Shipment Required: informs the system if a transfer order needs to be created when the
part is sourced from a stockroom of the given type. For example, a part in a personal
stockroom does not require shipment, so no transfer order is needed.
Related Concepts
Stock rules
If you need stockroom types that are not included in the base system, you can create a
custom stockroom type.
Check the priority level of the stockroom types provided in the base instance to ensure that
you assign the correct priority level to any new stockroom types you create. You can also
modify the stockroom types included in the base system.
Procedure
Field Description
Name Display name of the stockroom type.
Description General information about the stockroom type.
External stockroom Whether stockrooms of this type are managed
internally (check box cleared) or managed
externally by a third party (check box
selected).
Priority Level of precedence for this type of stockroom.
Shipment required Option that determines if stockrooms of this
type require shipment by default. Select this
option if you want a transfer order created
when the part is sourced from a stockroom of
the given type.
Value Internal identifier of the stockroom type.
Related Tasks
View a list of assets in stock
Create a stock rule
Stock rules
Stock rules are defined criteria stating that when inventory of a particular asset in a
particular stockroom reaches a specified threshold, a certain number should either be
transferred from another stockroom or ordered from a vendor.
An email can be sent to the stockroom manager (user identified in the Manager field on
the stockroom record) to place a vendor order. A task is also automatically created for the
stockroom manager.
A transfer order can be generated automatically to restock the item from another
stockroom.
Stock rules consider existing transfer orders and do not create additional transfer orders if
replenishment is already in progress.
A scheduled job named Stock Rule Runner runs once per day to create the restocking
transfer orders, send email messages to stockroom managers, and create tasks for
stockroom managers. You may need to activate the Procurement application to configure
and use this scheduled job.
Note: If restocking is in progress, the system does not create duplicate email
messages or duplicate transfer orders.
Create a stock rule
Users can create a stock rule to control what happens when inventory of a particular
asset in a particular stockroom reaches a specified threshold.
Users can create a stock rule to control what happens when inventory of a particular asset in
a particular stockroom reaches a specified threshold.
Procedure
Field Description
Model Product model to which the rule applies.
Threshold Quantity that the stock must reach to trigger
restocking. For example, enter a threshold of 10
for a laptop computer that should be restocked
when inventory drops below 10 in the specified
stockroom.
Restocking option Location where additional supplies should
come from. Select one of the following:
Stockroom: creates a transfer order to
obtain the asset from another stockroom.
Field Description
Vendor: sends an email to the stockroom
manager to order from a vendor. In
addition to the email notification, a task is
created for the stockroom manager.
Active Whether this stock rule active (check box is
selected). Clearing this check box prevents the
stock rule from restocking automatically.
Stockroom Current physical location of the asset.
Order size Minimum order quantity for stockroom
transfers or vendor purchases. ServiceNow
calculates the smallest multiple of the order
size needed to restock the item above the
threshold. For example, there are 3 laptops in
stock with a threshold of 10 and the Stockroom
option selected. If the order size is set to 4, the
system creates a transfer order for 8 laptops to
exceed the threshold and satisfy the rule (3 in
stock + 8 ordered = 11). When restocking from a
vendor, ServiceNow sends an email to the
stockroom manager showing the total number
of items to order, as multiples of the order size.
Related Concepts
Stockrooms
ServiceNow Software Asset Management Template is a feature provided with the Asset
Management application.
A strong software asset management (SAM) program can help an organization reduce
software costs, improve compliance, and simplify or develop processes for employee
software requests. SAM programs can also help control inventory through accurate
databases, which in turn helps identify organizational software needs, identify unused
software that can be deleted, as well as reduce or consolidate the number of software
vendors used.
Software Asset Management Template Overview module
The Software Asset Management Template Overview module is a homepage that displays
various software asset management reports that are used as gauges.
Software Asset Management Template setup process
When determining where software is installed, there are a few points to keep in mind.
Software licenses
Software license calculations count the number of licenses that exist in your network
environment.
Software discovery models
Software discovery models can be used to help normalize the software you own by
analyzing and classifying models to reduce duplication.
Software License Compliance Checker
The Software License Compliance Checker is a fast way to see if the software licenses
used in your organization are compliant based on number of rights purchased and
number of installations.
Use counters for software license reconciliation
A software contract is a binding agreement between the owner of a software product and
a buyer. The contract enables the buyer to use the software legally.
Oracle process pack
The Oracle process pack is an add-on to Software Asset Management Template that
provides the ability to manage software licensed under the Oracle licensing model.
Related Concepts
Software Asset Management Template setup process
The Software Asset Management Template Overview module is a homepage that displays
various software asset management reports that are used as gauges.
Use the Software Asset Management Template Overview module
The Overview module is a homepage that displays charts and graphs to help you manage
software assets in the organization.
Software Asset Management Template roles
A number of tables, properties, user roles, script includes, client scripts, UI policies, and
business rules are installed with Software Asset Management Template.
Related Tasks
Activate Software Asset Management Template
Manage software models
Related Concepts
Software Asset Management Template setup process
Determine where software is installed
Software licenses
License calculations
Software discovery models
Software License Compliance Checker
Use counters for software license reconciliation
IBM PVU Process Pack
Software contracts
Oracle process pack
The Overview module is a homepage that displays charts and graphs to help you manage
software assets in the organization.
To use the Software Asset Management Template Overview module, navigate to Software
Asset Management > Overview. You can click elements within the gauges to obtain more
information or add and move gauges as needed.
The graphs show important statistics about the software being tracked, including software
that has been entitled but is not being used and the total number of unallocated licenses.
Related Reference
Software Asset Management Template roles
Installed with Software Asset Management Template
Roles
Role Title Contains Role Names Description
sam inventory_user Can create, edit, change, and
category_manager manage software licenses.
contract_manager
financial_mgmt_user
Users with the sam or admin role can view the overview page and refresh, add, delete, and
rearrange gauges.
Related Concepts
Use the Software Asset Management Template Overview module
Software Asset Management Template
Related Reference
Installed with Software Asset Management Template
A number of tables, properties, user roles, script includes, client scripts, UI policies, and
business rules are installed with Software Asset Management Template.
Activating the Software Asset Management template plugin adds these components.
Tables
Software Asset Management Template adds the following tables.
Table Description
Software Counter Compliance Violations Stores records of software counter compliance
[sam_sw_counter_violation] issues that are due to violations other than installs
exceeding rights, such as:
Properties
Software Asset Management Template adds the following system properties.
Type: integer
Default value: 7
Name Description
Location: System Properties [sys_properties]
table
User roles
Software Asset Management Template adds the following user roles.
Script includes
Software Asset Management adds the following script includes.
Client scripts
Software Asset Management Template adds the following client scripts.
UI policies
Software Asset Management Template adds the following UI policies.
Business rules
Software Asset Management Template adds the following business rules.
Drop counter Cache Software Counter Clears the Cached check box for
[sam_sw_counter] the software counter if the
grouping, license type, contract,
or installs per license change in
a software counter. Added
enforce field changes to the
conditions
Flag counter to reprocess Software Upgrade and Clears the Cached check box for
Downgrades all related software counters if
[cmdb_m2m_downgrade_model] the upgrade parent or
downgrade child values are
changed or deleted.
Flag counter to reprocess Software Suite Clears the Cached check box for
[cmdb_m2m_suite_model] all related software counters if
the suite parent or suite child
values are changed or deleted.
invalidate sw install cache Computer [cmdb_ci_computer] Uncaches all install and usage
records referencing a computer
when the computer's processor
field is changed.
Limit license metric License [alm_license] Limits software licenses to a
single license metric value.
Limit license metric Hardware [cmdb_ci_hardware] Rejects license metric
combinations combinations of the same type,
such as CAL (user) and CAL
(devices).
Link to Model Software Discovery Model Finds and sets the model field to
[cmdb_sam_sw_discovery_model]the model that best corresponds
to the record when a software
discovery model is created.
References
Software Asset Management Template adds the following references.
Related Concepts
Use the Software Asset Management Template Overview module
Related Reference
Software Asset Management Template roles
Identify Software Owned. The following methods identify the software your organization
owns:
Use Discovery to identify currently owned software and begin working with Software
Asset Management Template.
Create software models for all of the software your organization wants to monitor.
Software models can also be imported from another source such as a Discovery
application, an existing data set of software licenses, or a third-party source.
Create software license records for all of the software your organization owns. This
information can also be based on information from a purchasing source or imported as a
spreadsheet.
Configure software counters to view your organization's software compliance levels for all
of your software.
Related Tasks
Activate Software Asset Management Template
Manage software models
Create new models
Related Concepts
Software Asset Management Template Overview module
Determine where software is installed
Software licenses
License calculations
Software discovery models
Software License Compliance Checker
Use counters for software license reconciliation
IBM PVU Process Pack
Software contracts
Oracle process pack
Software Asset Management Template
Software licenses
If the plugin depends on other plugins, these plugins are listed along with their
activation status.
Some plugins include demo datasample records that are designed to illustrate plugin
features for common use cases. Loading demo data is a good policy when you first
activate the plugin on a development or test instance. You can load demo data after the
plugin is activated by repeating this process and selecting the check box.
4. Click Activate.
Related Tasks
Manage software models
Related Concepts
Software Asset Management Template Overview module
Software Asset Management Template setup process
Determine where software is installed
Software licenses
License calculations
Software discovery models
Software License Compliance Checker
Use counters for software license reconciliation
IBM PVU Process Pack
Software contracts
Oracle process pack
Software Asset Management Template
When determining where software is installed, there are a few points to keep in mind.
Software installations link a computer with a software model (via a discovery model).
A discovery tool places the data it obtains into the Software Installation
[cmdb_sam_sw_install] table. All of the information can be seen in the Software Installations
list and the individual Software Installation forms. When a record is created, the system
analyzes the Discovery Model table and identifies five key points.
Publisher
Display name
Prod ID
Version
Revision
Find software on the network
After using a discovery tool, you can find a definitive list of all the software found on the
network.
Scan software installations with the system scheduler
Software Asset Management Template adds a scheduled job for scanning software
installations named SAM License Counters in System Scheduler > Scheduled Jobs.
Related Tasks
Activate Software Asset Management Template
Manage software models
Related Concepts
Software Asset Management Template Overview module
Software Asset Management Template setup process
Software licenses
License calculations
Software discovery models
Software License Compliance Checker
Use counters for software license reconciliation
IBM PVU Process Pack
Software contracts
Oracle process pack
After using a discovery tool, you can find a definitive list of all the software found on the
network.
Note: A user with the Asset role can delete software installations, but it is not
recommended. As an alternative, archive software installation information.
Procedure
A software administrator can, for example, look at the list and see that Adobe Acrobat
9.0, 9.2, 9.3, and 9.5 were found. Then, the administrator can edit software discovery
models so all the dot versions are considered version 9.0 when doing reconciliation.
Software Asset Management Template adds a scheduled job for scanning software
installations named SAM License Counters in System Scheduler > Scheduled Jobs.
The SAM License Counters job occurs at 2:00am (local time) every morning. The job queries
the Software Installation [cmdb_sam_sw_install] table and captures any installations that
have not been scanned in the past 7 days. The job runs a join query on hardware that has
been scanned within the last day and software installations that have not been scanned in
the last 7 days. These software installations are then removed.
Software licenses
You can create the models to organize software licenses in any way that makes sense for
your organization. Common methods of defining models and licenses include by
department or by region.
Licenses can be associated with a contract. For more information, see Software Contracts.
Licensing types
Different types of licenses are available in the ServiceNow Software Asset Management
Template feature as listed below.
By CPU
By CPU cores
By number of CPUs
By number of points
By user
By utilization
Usage (CPU)
Usage (User)
By workstation
Per workstation
The Software Asset Management Template feature allows asset managers to track and
organize the number of licenses available to the organization.
Add a new software license
Enterprise licenses are typically for large customers and provide some flexibility, an
agreed upon discount price, and a mechanism for easy administration.
Create and manage a subscription license
You can create subscription licenses, and manage the information as it changes.
Software license entitlements
Software entitlements enable you to define the people or machines to which a specific,
purchased software license is assigned.
License upgrade and downgrade
The concept of upgrading and downgrading licenses is built into the Software Asset
Management Template feature.
View a list of unallocated software licenses
Managing software licenses includes knowing what licenses are owned by your
organization, but are not allocated.
Merge a software license
If you have multiple software licenses that are linked to the same model, you can merge
these individual licenses into one new consolidated license.
Related Tasks
Activate Software Asset Management Template
Manage software models
Related Concepts
Software Asset Management Template Overview module
Software Asset Management Template setup process
The Software Asset Management Template feature allows asset managers to track and
organize the number of licenses available to the organization.
Software licenses are based on models that you create to organize software licenses in
meaningful ways. Different license calculation types determine how software is counted.
Software licenses can also be associated with a contract which enables a company to cover
software licenses for multiple assets or users. For more information, see Software Contracts.
Procedure
Field Description
Display name Read-only. Name of the software license.
Created automatically.
Model category Model category for the software license.
Software License is selected by default.
Model Software model of the license you are matching
to. For example, Microsoft Excel.
Rights Number of entitlements to be granted by this
license. If an enterprise contract is attached to
the license, the Rights field does not display.
General
Field Description
Asset tag Number from the asset tag. The tag contains
the serial number and bar code for tracking the
software license.
State Current status of the software license, such as
On order or In use.
Assigned to User currently assigned to this software license.
Managed by User or department that maintains the software
license. Can be different than the owner. For
example, a specified user can own a software
license, but the IT department manages it.
Owned by User or department with financial ownership of
the software license. Can be different than the
manager.
Parent Parent asset of the software license, if any. For
example, the parent asset of Microsoft Word
software is often the Microsoft Office suite.
Class [Read-only] Automatically created as Software
License.
License metric [Optional] A single metric which the software
license is counted against.
Serial number Unique number assigned for identification.
Substate More details about the software license stage.
The available substate settings depend on the
State selected. For example, if you select the
Retired state, the substate options available are
Disposed, Sold, Donated, and Vendor credit.
Location Where the license will be used. For example, a
specific site, country, or region.
Department Department of the person Assigned to this
software license.
Company Company that created the software.
Assigned Date on which the software license was
assigned.
Installed Date on which the software license was
installed.
Comments Information about the software license that
would be helpful for others to know.
For information about the fields in the Financial and Contracts sections of the form, see
Create assets.
4. Click Submit.
Related Tasks
Upgrade a license
Downgrade a license
Enterprise licenses are typically for large customers and provide some flexibility, an agreed
upon discount price, and a mechanism for easy administration.
Procedure
The licenses are listed under Software Counter Results. The licenses display as 0, but
you are not out of compliance because you have an enterprise license with an enterprise
contract. Once an enterprise contract is associated with software, all users are entitled
when the licenses are counted.
Note: In the Software Licenses list, enterprise licenses display 0 in the Rights
column. The concept of rights is not used with enterprise licenses.
Related Tasks
Create and manage a subscription license
Related Concepts
Software licenses
You can create subscription licenses, and manage the information as it changes.
Procedure
Software entitlements enable you to define the people or machines to which a specific,
purchased software license is assigned.
Asset managers allocate a license to entitle a user or machine to use the license. For
example, a company purchases a software license for 100 rights. The software entitlement
specifies the 100 employees or machines that are rightfully assigned a license. If the
ServiceNow Discovery tool is used and it finds the software installed on 200 machines, the
asset manager can identify the employees or computers that have the software installed
without a license. The asset manager can ask users to remove the software from their
computers.
Built-in rules prevent entitling more licenses than have been purchased. License entitlements
use specific software license asset tags. In addition to the mandatory asset tag, an individual
person and a specific configuration item can be assigned.
If the overall license allotment is exceeded, the asset manager can rapidly address the
problem and return to compliant status by either removing unauthorized software or
ordering more licenses.
If the license allotment is not being used completely, the asset manager can respond by
lowering the number of licenses purchased in the future.
Procedure
Field Description
Display name Read-only. Name used in record lists.
Allocated to The configuration item consuming the license
token.
Licensed by License granting this token.
Cached Read-only. Internal flag set and used by
software counters logic.
4. Click Submit.
Create an entitlement
You create software entitlements for both CIs and users from the same License
Entitlement form.
Create a software user license entitlement
You create software entitlements for both CIs and users from the same License Entitlement
form.
You can create these entitlements from Asset Management. Navigate to one of these
locations and click New:
Procedure
3. Click Add Entitlement and complete the License Entitlement form using the fields in the
table.
4. Click Submit.
The configuration items given this license must meet the specified conditions. For
example, you might set a condition that allocates this software license to CIs in a certain
department only.
6. Click Update.
License entitlement
Field Description
Display name [Read-only] Name used in record lists.
Assigned to User of the entitlement token.
Allocated to The configuration item consuming the license
token.
Licensed by License granting this token.
Cached [Read-only] Internal flag set and used by
software counters.
Procedure
Field Description
Display name Read-only. Name used in record lists.
Assigned to User of the entitlement token.
Licensed by License granting this token.
Cached Read-only. Internal flag set and used by
software counters logic.
4. Click Submit.
You can entitle a license to a configuration item, such as a computer or server, or a location,
such as a city of building.
Procedure
Related Concepts
Software licenses
Procedure
Related Concepts
Software licenses
The concept of upgrading and downgrading licenses is built into the Software Asset
Management Template feature.
This is helpful when reconciling licenses. Downgrading a license is the process of purchasing
a license, but using an earlier version. Upgrading a license occurs when a newer version of a
license is not purchased, but you are allowed to use the newer version. Downgrading is more
common than upgrading.
Any version defined as a downgrade child that does not have entitlements and a license can
be counted as an installation of the upgrade parent. Use this method to avoid having to
uninstall unlicensed versions of software running in your environment. When you define an
unlicensed version as a downgrade child of a licensed version, the system creates a software
model record for the unlicensed version with an upgrade path to the licensed version. If you
delete the downgrade child from the licensed version's record, it is automatically deleted
from the Software Model record for the unlicensed version.
Note: If the downgrade child has either a license or an entitlement, it must also
have a counter, which counts all installations of the downgrade child against
its own license.
For example, you have licenses for the software model Microsoft Word 2010, but no licenses
or entitlements for Word 2007. Discovery finds installations of Word 2007 being used in
your organization. Rather than force users to uninstall all instances of this unlicensed version,
you decide to count installations of Word 2007 against your Word 2010 license. To do this,
you configure Word 2007 as a downgrade child in the Word 2010 Software Model record. A
Software Model record is automatically created for Word 2007 which specifies Word 2010
as the upgrade parent.
If a software version has a downgrade child or an upgrade version that can be counted
against the parent, the number of installs counted is restricted to the number of available
rights of the parent. For example, Microsoft Word 2010 has a downgrade to Word 2007.
Both versions have an active counter. Microsoft Word 2010 finds all entitled copies of Word
2007, and also takes out of compliance any installs from that downgrade counter until the
available downgrade rights are used. However, if Microsoft Word 2010 only has 100 rights,
then the maximum number of rights to be taken from the downgrade counter is 100.
You can set the start and end dates for a software upgrade parent and downgrade child to
be valid. The software counter counts the upgrade and downgrade licenses within the
selected dates. If the software counter runs outside of the date range, the upgrade and
downgrade licenses are not counted.
You can upgrade a software license using one of two methods: from a software license
record or from a software model record.
Downgrade a license
You can downgrade a software license using one of two methods: from a software model
record or from a software license record
You can upgrade a software license using one of two methods: from a software license
record or from a software model record.
Procedure
1. Complete the following steps to identify an upgrade parent from a software license
record.
a. Navigate to Software Asset > Software Licenses.
b. Select a model.
c. In the Upgrade related list, double-click under the Upgrade Parent column heading.
d. Click the reference lookup icon ( ).
e. Select a software model from the list.
f. Click the green check mark.
2. Complete the following steps to identify an upgrade parent from a software model
record.
a. Navigate to Software Asset Management > Software Models.
b. Select a model.
c. In the Upgrade section, double-click under the Upgrade parent column heading.
d. Select a software model from the list.
e. Click the green check mark.
You can downgrade a software license using one of two methods: from a software model
record or from a software license record
Note: Downgrade children set on the software license applies specifically to that
license. If a downgrade child is set on the software model, it applies to all
licenses of that model.
Procedure
1. Complete the following steps to downgrade a license from a software model record.
a. Navigate to Software Asset > Software Models.
b. Select a model.
c. In the Downgrade section, double-click under the Downgrade child column heading.
d. Select a software model from the list.
e. Click the green check mark.
2. Complete the following steps to downgrade a license from a software license record.
a. Navigate to Software Asset > Software Licenses.
b. Select a license.
c. Click New in the Software Upgrade and Downgrades related list.
d. Select a software model from the list.
e. Select the Start and End dates.
f. Click Submit.
Identify a downgrade child from a software license record
Related Concepts
Software licenses
Managing software licenses includes knowing what licenses are owned by your organization,
but are not allocated.
You can, for example, allocate the licenses to users or machines. If no one needs the
unallocated licenses, this can be noted so that fewer licenses are purchased in the future.
Procedure
3. Click a name in the Model column for detailed information about a specific license.
View the Software Model list in the Unallocated License view.
If you have multiple software licenses that are linked to the same model, you can merge
these individual licenses into one new consolidated license.
State
The licenses must have the same set of software upgrades and downgrades and the same
set of assets covered. To verify this information, go to Software Asset Management >
Software Licenses and select a license.
For upgrades and downgrades, go to the Software Upgrade and Downgrades related
list.
For assets covered, go to the Assets Covered embedded list in the Contracts related list.
If a license can be merged, Merge with similar licenses appears under Related Links on the
Software License form.
To merge a license:
Procedure
1. Open a license.
2. Click the Merge with similar licenses link.
Displays a dialog box with a message stating that the merge process is irreversible and
that license keys are not merged.
3. Click OK.
All qualifying licenses, including the current license, are merged into a new consolidated
license. An informational message appears until the user is redirected to the newly
merged license.
All qualifying licenses are merged into a new consolidated license unless they can be
matched to an existing consolidated license. If they are merged into a new consolidated
license, the Asset tag field is cleared. After merging, the merged license is marked as Is
merged license (field = true) and the Merged into field is set to this license for the
consolidated licenses.
Create software models for all of the software your organization wants to monitor. Software
models can also be imported from another source such as the Discovery application.
Note: Software does not create configuration items. If the discovery tool you use
supports and finds ISO information, details such as ISO ID and ISO serial
number are added to the Software Model form for compliance purposes.
Procedure
Field Description
Depreciation The depreciation scheme for the model.
Model number The specific model number assigned to the
item by the manufacturer.
Barcode The barcode number assigned to the model.
Barcodes are usually assigned by the
manufacturer.
Owner The person responsible for the model.
Status The current status of the model. Options are In
Production, Retired, and Sold.
Certified The option that determines whether the model
is approved for use.
Comments Information about the model that would be
helpful for others to know.
License
Version The exact version of the software. For example,
Version 2.
Major The ISO major version number of the software.
Minor The ISO minor version number of the software.
Build The build number of the software.
Software category A category name for grouping software with
similar characteristics.
Single or multi license Defines whether this model uses a single
license or multiple licenses.
Maximum socket count Maximum number of CPU sockets that a
computer must have for the software to be
installed.
License type The tracking type for the license. For example,
by number of users, per workstation, per
installation with IBM PVU or per Oracle
processors. If you select the By number of
users option, you can create a software counter
and specify the number of installations per
license.
Activation status The activation state of the software model.
Options are None and Activated.
ISO id The unique ISO identification number of the
software product.
ISO serial number The serial number issued by ISO for the
software.
Application model Application associated with this software.
Rights Number of licenses granted to this software.
Minimum users Minimum number of user licenses required for
this software.
Maximum users Maximum number of user licenses required for
this software.
Suite Components
Field Description
Inference percent The percentage of suite components that need
to be present on a system to count as a suite.
Used for suite management. For example, Suite
A consists of 5 products. If the inference
percent is set to 60% and a discovery tool finds
three of the products on the system, the
software is flagged for possible purchase as a
suite.
Components The child product or products of the suite. For
example, Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel
are child products of Microsoft Office.
Suite Parents
Parents The parent suites to which the software is
assigned. For example, the parent suite for
several common Microsoft products is a version
of Microsoft Office.
Upgrade
Upgrades An alternative version license to which you
have rights. For example, if you purchase
version 4 of a software product shortly before
version 5 is released, your version 4 license may
include a free upgrade to version 5 when it is
released.
Downgrade
Downgrades An alternative version license to which you
have rights. For example, if you purchase
version 4 of a software product, your version 4
license may include downgrade rights to
version 3.
Licenses
Software Licenses The software licenses that should be created
automatically from this model.
Catalog Item
Product Catalog The information about the model as it appears
in the product catalog and service catalog.
Information only appears if the model has been
published to the product catalog.
Description Description of the software model as it appears
in the product catalog.
Picture An image of the software logo.
Any software licenses you create and assign to the new model are displayed in the
Licenses embedded list on the Software Model form.
Create and manage software suites
Related Tasks
Activate Software Asset Management Template
Related Concepts
Software Asset Management Template Overview module
Software Asset Management Template setup process
Determine where software is installed
Software licenses
License calculations
Software discovery models
Software License Compliance Checker
Use counters for software license reconciliation
IBM PVU Process Pack
Software contracts
Oracle process pack
A software suite is a group of related software offered as one unit. An example is the
Microsoft Office Professional suite of office productivity software tools that includes
Powerpoint, Word, Excel, Outlook, and Access. In software asset management, create suites
and add components to the suite so the licenses your organization owns are counted
accurately.
For any software model, you have the option to specify whether the model is a suite
(parent) or a component (child). A software model can be a component in multiple suites.
For example, Microsoft Word is a component in Microsoft Office Standard and Microsoft
Office Professional. Although you can set a single software model as both a suite and a
component, software is not typically sold as nested suites.
Use the Inference percent and Inference mandatory options for even greater control of
suites.
Inference percent: specifies what percentage of the components in the suite must be
installed for the software to be identified as a suite.
Inference mandatory: enforces that a specific component in a suite must be installed to
infer that the suite is installed.
For example, specify the Inference percent as 80% and set the Inference mandatory option
to true on Microsoft Access. These settings specify that Microsoft Access must be installed,
along with 3 out of 4 other products (Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft
PowerPoint, and Microsoft Outlook) to infer that Microsoft Office Professional is installed.
The interference percent and interference mandatory fields
Suite parent
Note: When a change is made to a suite, a scheduled job called Calculate suites
[Software Suite Model] is created. The job runs instantly, calculates any
suites, and then deletes itself. The calculations are stored in the
cmdb_sam_sw_install table under inferred suite.
License calculations
Software license calculations count the number of licenses that exist in your network
environment.
Users with the sam role can choose to count software licenses using a variety of license
calculation types, such as counting by the number of users, the number of workstations, the
number of CPUs, and others. For example, you can count the number of Adobe Acrobat 9.0
licenses based on the number of users that have the software installed in the organization.
Calculate software licenses
Software calculations use license calculation types to determine how software licenses are
counted in your organization.
License calculation types
Custom license types allow you to create a license type with special conditions.
Create the script
By default, the Script field in the Software License Calculation form contains information
about available variables and an example script.
Related Tasks
Activate Software Asset Management Template
Manage software models
Related Concepts
Software Asset Management Template Overview module
Software Asset Management Template setup process
Determine where software is installed
Software licenses
Software discovery models
Software License Compliance Checker
Use counters for software license reconciliation
IBM PVU Process Pack
Software contracts
Oracle process pack
Software calculations use license calculation types to determine how software licenses are
counted in your organization.
You can use the default license types provided in the base system or create new ones. To
view the default types, navigate to Software Asset > Reconciliation > License Calculations
and select a type. All fields in the default records are read-only.
By number of points
Per installation - IBM PVU: The counter adds up
the total license rights for all software license
records of this model. The installation count for
every hardware configuration item that has IBM
PVU software is a point calculation. The CPU
type determines the PVU per-core multiplier
based on the IBM PVU mapping table. The total
number of cores on the configuration item is
multiplied with this per-core multiplier to
determine how many rights are used by an
installation on this configuration item. For that
installation, the counter checks for a valid
entitlement record on any of the software
license records. Applies to software installation
data and hardware configuration items.
By user
Number of installs per user: The counter adds
up the total license rights for all software
license records of this model. It counts an
installation when one software installation
matches the discovery models that are mapped
to this software model for any hardware used
by a user. It counts up to the specified amount.
For that installation, the counter checks for a
valid entitlement record on any of the software
license records. Applies to software installation
data and hardware configuration items.
Per named user: The counter adds up the total
license rights for all software license records of
this model. It counts an installation when there
is at least one software installation that
matches the discovery models that are mapped
to this software model for any hardware used
by a unique user. For that installation, the
counter checks for a valid entitlement record on
any of the software license records. Applies to
software installation data and hardware
configuration items.
No license needed (User): The counter adds up
the total number of users of this model. It
counts an installation when there is at least one
software installation that matches the discovery
models that are mapped to this software model
for any hardware used by a unique user. It
applies to software installation data and
hardware configuration items. This license type
is used for software installations where no
license is required, such as open source
applications.
By utilization
Usage (CPU): The counter adds up the total
license rights for all software license records of
this model. The counter looks at all of the
software usage data mapped to any of the
discovery model records of the counter's
software model. It counts one installation for
every unique configuration item. For that
installation, the counter checks for a valid
By workstation
Per workstation: The counter adds up the total
number of license rights for all software license
records of this model. It counts an installation
when there is at least one software installation
on a hardware configuration item that matches
the discovery models that are mapped to this
software model. For each installation, the
counter checks for a valid entitlement record on
any of the software license records. Applies to
software installation data and hardware
configuration items.
No license needed (Workstation)This license
type is used for software installations where no
license is required, such as open source
applications.
By Oracle install
Oracle Named User: Oracle licensing scheme
that counts by the number of unique users.
Oracle Named User Plus: Oracle licensing
scheme that counts by the number of unique
users and accounts.
Oracle Processor: Oracle licensing scheme that
counts by the number of processors on a
server.
Custom license types allow you to create a license type with special conditions.
A custom script can provide detailed information about the number of rights a software
install or usage consumes.
Procedure
4. Click Submit.
By default, the Script field in the Software License Calculation form contains information
about available variables and an example script.
You can use the example as the basis of the custom script or replace the example entirely.
The following functions are available as part of the SAMUtil script include and can be used in
custom scripts.
Note: All of these functions utilize and depend on the variables mentioned above.
Example:
The following script uses the number of rights equal to the number of CPU sockets on the
machine the script is installed on. The workstation variable is used to identify any
workstation that is in the development environment. If such a workstation is found, the script
then assigns a valuation equal to the number of CPU sockets on the machine. Otherwise, if
the workstation is not in the development environment, then no rights are assigned.
Software discovery models can be used to help normalize the software you own by
analyzing and classifying models to reduce duplication.
Software discovery models cannot be created manually. The ServiceNow platform uses any
of the following field combinations to match the new software discovery model to an
existing software model.
When analyzing version numbers, the ServiceNow platform always searches for an exact
match first, but rounds down to a major version number if an exact match is not found. For
example, if no match is found for version number 8.0.4, but version 8.0 is found, then version
8.0 is used in the Software model field.
Edit a software discovery model
You can only edit the Software model field and Approved check box on the Software
Discovery Models form.
Automatically match to an existing model
The automatic matching feature allows you to match a software discovery model to an
existing software model.
Create new models
If the automatically generated software model is not correct or if the system cannot find a
match from existing models, you can create a new model.
Related Tasks
Activate Software Asset Management Template
Manage software models
Related Concepts
Software Asset Management Template Overview module
Software Asset Management Template setup process
Determine where software is installed
Software licenses
License calculations
Software License Compliance Checker
Use counters for software license reconciliation
IBM PVU Process Pack
Software contracts
Oracle process pack
You can only edit the Software model field and Approved check box on the Software
Discovery Models form.
If the information automatically added to the Software model field is incorrect, you can
change to an existing model or create a new one.
None of the software discovery model records are approved when they are created. You
must approve them manually after you have reviewed them for accuracy or normalized
them. If the automatically generated software model is correct, approve the model.
Procedure
The automatic matching feature allows you to match a software discovery model to an
existing software model.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Software Asset > Reconciliation > Discovery models and open a model.
2. Clear the Software model field.
3. Click an entry in the Publisher column.
4. Click Match model.
The system searches for the best match from existing models. If a match is found, the
system automatically adds the name to the Software model field and selects the
Automatically matched check box. If a match is not found, a No match found message is
displayed, and two related links appear, allowing you to create a new model. No change
occurs if the system has already made a match.
5. If no match is found, create a new model.
If a model is already matched, then the automatic matching feature does not run.
The automatic matching feature can also be used when you insert a new discovery
model record or if you modify and update an existing discovery model. If automatic
matching is run, all software installations and usages that reference the discovery model
will have their Inferred suite and Cached fields cleared.
For more information on software installation and usage records, see Determine where
software is installed.
If the automatically generated software model is not correct or if the system cannot find a
match from existing models, you can create a new model.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Software Asset > Reconciliation > Discovery models and open a model.
2. Clear the Software model field.
3. Save the record.
Two related links appear for creating software models.
4. Select one of these related links to create a new model, which are available only if no
Software model is specified.
Create Software Model: Creates a new software model for this record if a suitable
one does not already exist. You can create a new software model for multiple
records in the Discovery Models list view. Select one or more records and then click
the link in the Actions choice list.
Create Software Model and Counter: Creates a new software model and a new
software counter for this record. The system creates the software model
automatically using the value in the Display name field, and then opens a new
Software Counter form. In the Discovery Model list view, you can select multiple
records and choose this option from the Actions choice list.
5. Complete the form.
Model fields
Field Description
Display name [Read-only] Name of the discovery model as it
appears in record lists.
Publisher [Read-only] Publisher of the software.
Version [Read-only] Specific version of the software.
Revision [Read-only] Revision number of the software.
Field Description
Software model Software product model to which the discovery
model maps. Click the reference lookup icon
and use the lookup list to find the software
model to associate with this software discovery
model.
Prod id [Read-only] Product ID code for the software,
as reported through the discovery process.
Automatically matched [Read-only] Check box that indicates whether
the discovery tool used the Display Name,
Publisher, and Version fields to determine the
Software model.
Approved Check box that indicates whether the mapping
to software model has been reviewed and
approved.
Low confidence [Read-only] Check box that indicates whether
the automatically matched software model is
not a close match. If selected, and if after
reviewing the item it is determined that it's the
correct software model, click Confirm Mapping
to match the discovery model to the software
model.
6. Select Approved.
7. Click Submit.
The Software License Compliance Checker is a fast way to see if the software licenses used
in your organization are compliant based on number of rights purchased and number of
installations.
For example, if there are 100 licenses for a software program, the Software License
Compliance Checker can show if the software has been installed more than 100 times. The
Compliance Checker uses information found by a discovery tool such as Discovery, Help the
Help Desk, or third-party technologies, to analyze the software installed on your network.
Use the Software License Compliance Checker
Related Tasks
Activate Software Asset Management Template
Manage software models
Related Concepts
Software Asset Management Template Overview module
Software Asset Management Template setup process
Determine where software is installed
Software licenses
License calculations
Software discovery models
Use counters for software license reconciliation
IBM PVU Process Pack
Software contracts
Oracle process pack
Procedure
Software counters reconcile software rights with software installations to verify compliance.
For asset managers, software counters answer the question: Is my number of installations
equal to or lower than the number of rights purchased? Counters are useful for software
that must be tracked; some software may not need to be tracked closely. Groupingsuch as
location, company, department, cost center, entitlement workstation and entitlement user
or no grouping can be used with software counters.
In addition to software counters, software asset management offers usage counters that
track a license based on use by a workstation or user.
The software counter cache is used to increase the speed of counting software licenses. If
there is a large number of software license records, the first time software is counted takes
several minutes. After the first count, only changes are processed so the procedure is faster.
Get started with software counters
A good way to see how software counters work is to use the demo data provided with
Software Asset Management Template.
Schedule a software count
Use a software counter to count the licenses for a specific version of software and receive
summary or detailed results.
Create a software counter
Quick counter settings can help speed up the software counting process.
View a software counter result
Software counter summaries provide information about each software counter type.
View software counter detail
Software counter details provide information about a specific software counter summary.
View a usage counter result
A usage counter tracks a license based on how often the license is actually used either by
a workstation or a user.
Troubleshoot and tune Software Counter
Whenever you encounter issues with the Software Counter, there are a few workarounds
that can resolve such issues. Perform these workarounds before further investigation.
Related Tasks
Activate Software Asset Management Template
Manage software models
Schedule a software count
Create a software counter
View a software counter result
View a software counter summary
View software counter detail
View a usage counter result
Related Concepts
Software Asset Management Template Overview module
Software Asset Management Template setup process
Determine where software is installed
Software licenses
License calculations
Software discovery models
Software License Compliance Checker
IBM PVU Process Pack
Software contracts
Oracle process pack
Get started with software counters
Use the software counter
A good way to see how software counters work is to use the demo data provided with
Software Asset Management Template.
Using the demo data, try some of the procedures on this page, such as Use the Software
Counter and View a Usage Counter Result.
To use software counters with your own information, follow the steps in the Software Asset
Management Template setup process. ServiceNow Discovery does not populate the
Software Usage (cmdb_sam_sw_usage) table. Use a third party tool such as Microsoft's
System Center Configuration Manager to add information about software assets to the
Software Usage table.
Related Tasks
Schedule a software count
Create a software counter
View a software counter result
View a software counter summary
View software counter detail
View a usage counter result
Related Concepts
Use counters for software license reconciliation
Use the software counter
Set up quick counters
The SAM License Counters scheduled job scans your instance for software installations. The
SAM License Counters job occurs at 2:00am local time every morning. The job queries the
Software Installation [cmdb_sam_sw_install] table and captures any installations that have
not been scanned in the past 7 days. The job runs a join query on hardware that has been
scanned within the last day and software installations that have not been scanned in the last
7 days. These software installation records are then removed.
Note: You can change the deletion interval of software installations with the
sam.install_deletion_deadline property in the System Properties
[sys_properties] table. For more information, see the property description.
The SAM License Counters scheduled job runs all software counters at once.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Create a software counter
View a software counter result
View a software counter summary
View software counter detail
View a usage counter result
Related Concepts
Use counters for software license reconciliation
Get started with software counters
Use the software counter
Set up quick counters
Use a software counter to count the licenses for a specific version of software and receive
summary or detailed results.
When a software counter runs for the first time, it can take several minutes to process
records. The license counts are cached so that on subsequent runs, the counter processes
only changed records, both those fromDiscovery or altered entitlements, making it faster.
The Software Counter form contains check boxes to enable faster counting through the use
of quick counters. For more information on using quick counters, see Setting Up Quick
Counters.
Use a software counter to count the licenses for a specific version of software and receive
summary or detailed results. For example, an asset manager can look at summary
information to discover which departments are not in compliance. Then, department
managers can look at detailed information to determine the people or individual computers
that are not in compliance.
Entitled in use: Number of people who have been allocated a license and installed the
software.
Entitled not in use: Number of people who have been allocated a license but did not install
the software.
Not entitled: Number of people using an unauthorized copy of the software.
Not allocated: Number of licenses not assigned.
Note: For information about the scheduled job that runs all counters each day or
the steps to run all counters manually, see Scheduling Software Counts.
Green - in compliance
Orange - within 5% of being out of compliance
Red - not compliant
Depending on the license type you select for a counter, multiple installations can count as a
single license, such as when using the per user license type. This licensing concept is used
on occasion by companies like Microsoft and Adobe. It grants users the right to install
software on multiple machines if those users already have rights to install the software.
Note: You can create new counters from Discovery model records or from the list
view.
To manage multiple versions of software from a single licensing perspective for the parent
software model:
The downgrade child software models that are licensed under the parent software model
should all be related to a the single parent software model.
The downgrade child software models should not have any software counters associated
with them.
The software counter should be associated only with the licensed parent software model,
otherwise misleading results for the counter will be reported
Procedure
Field Description
Strict: counts the license and entitlement
as valid only if the license also matches the
grouping category. For example, a license
is assigned to a specific location, such as
Americas. With strict enforcement enabled,
the user and the machine on which the
license is installed must be in the Americas
group. If the person and their license
assigned to the Americas group moves to
the United Kingdom, the license is still
valid, but strict enforcement flags the user
as unauthorized to use that license. The
license will be counted as valid, but will
also show up as not entitled in the
summary.
Verify entitlements Select the check box to view the software
entitlement details for the software counter.
Results include the number of installations of all
types: not entitled, entitled in use, entitled not
in use, and not allocated. For more information,
see Setting Up Quick Counters.
Generate details Select the check box to generate the details of
the entitlement records. For more information,
see Setting Up Quick Counters.
License type [Required] Select the method for counting
licenses. For example, Per named user or Per
workstation.
Field Description
Software Counter Compliance Violations Displays all records of compliance violations for
this software counter.
Software Counter Histories Displays all software counter history records for
this software counter. Each time a count is
completed, the system automatically generates
a software counter history record, which is a
read-only copy of the software counter record.
Related Tasks
Schedule a software count
View a software counter result
View a software counter summary
View software counter detail
View a usage counter result
Related Concepts
Use counters for software license reconciliation
Get started with software counters
Use the software counter
Set up quick counters
Quick counter settings can help speed up the software counting process.
The following check boxes are available in the Parameters section of the Software Counter
form:
Verify entitlements: When this check box is selected, the software counter will generate
entitlement details in the software counter summaries, displaying the number of
entitlements in use and entitlements not in use. If the check box is cleared, the software
counter will display Entitlement not known with a count of total installs. The counter will
not check for entitlements.
Generate details: When this check box is selected, the software counter will generate
software counter details for each software counter result type. If the check box is cleared,
no details will be available.
Clearing these check boxes in addition to setting the Grouping parameter to None will
enable software counters to run more quickly.
Related Tasks
Schedule a software count
Create a software counter
View a software counter result
View a software counter summary
View software counter detail
View a usage counter result
Related Concepts
Use counters for software license reconciliation
Get started with software counters
Use the software counter
Procedure
1. On the Software Counter form, click a name in the Software Counter Results related list.
Related Tasks
Schedule a software count
Create a software counter
View a software counter summary
View software counter detail
View a usage counter result
Related Concepts
Use counters for software license reconciliation
Get started with software counters
Use the software counter
Set up quick counters
Software counter summaries provide information about each software counter type.
Procedure
1. On the Software Counter Result form, click a type in the Summary related list.
2. View the Software Counter Summary form (see table).
Field Description
Rights Number of rights that have been used.
Valuation How software is counted during the
reconciliation process.
Software counter Name of the software counter.
Summary Check box that indicates whether the form
displays summary information (selected) or
detailed information (cleared).
Type Type of license counted.
Usage Section
Foreground Total duration of foreground usage of the
software, based on all the installations for the
grouping.
Background Total duration of background usage of the
software, based on all the installations for the
grouping.
Times used Total number of times the software was used,
based on software usage records for the
grouping.
Duration Total duration of software usage, based on
software usage records for the group. (Not the
sum of Foreground and Background.)
Related List
Software Counter Details Shows every entitlement, software install, and
software usage for the software. The related list
also shows the Workstation and User, if
applicable, for each software counter detail. A
software asset manager can, for example,
identify people who are using the license but
are not entitled. The software can then be
uninstalled from machines that are not in
compliance or people can be entitled a license
to meet compliance rules.
Related Tasks
Schedule a software count
Create a software counter
View a software counter result
View software counter detail
View a usage counter result
Related Concepts
Use counters for software license reconciliation
Get started with software counters
Software counter details provide information about a specific software counter summary.
Procedure
1. On the Software Counter Summary form, click a type in the Software Counter Details
related list.
2. View the Software Counter Detail form (see table).
Field Description
Software license Name of the related software license, if
applicable. This field is blank if the type is Not
entitled.
Usage Section
Foreground Total duration of foreground usage of the
software, based on the related software install
record.
Background Total duration of background usage of the
software, based on the related software install
record.
Times used Total number of times the software was used,
based on the related software usage record.
Duration Total duration of foreground and background
software usage, based the related software
usage record.
A usage counter tracks a license based on how often the license is actually used either by a
workstation or a user.
A usage counter tracks a license based on how often the license is actually used either by a
workstation or a user. For example, an asset manager can use a usage counter to determine
who is actually using the software they have been entitled. If an individual is not using the
software at all or very infrequently, the software can be uninstalled and given to an
individual who will use it more often. If you have a way of capturing information, for example
a proxy server or gateway, you can capture the IP address and the name of the user
accessing the license. The captured data can be added directly into the Software Usages list.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Schedule a software count
Create a software counter
View a software counter result
View a software counter summary
View software counter detail
Related Concepts
Use counters for software license reconciliation
Get started with software counters
Use the software counter
Whenever you encounter issues with the Software Counter, there are a few workarounds
that can resolve such issues. Perform these workarounds before further investigation.
the delta for subsequent runs. This is a long operation and is executed using scheduled job.
You can choose not to generate details for counters to improve the performance.
If you have a big install base, you can disable the Generate Details option for counters. This
way the reconciliation will still happen but counter specific details are not dumped.
Processor Value Unit (PVU) is a unit of measurement defined by IBM to determine software
licensing costs based on processor or server model.
A processor is defined as each core on a socket. Each software package has a price defined
as number of points or PVUs per core. For a complete explanation of IBM PVU licensing for
distributed software, see Processor Value Unit [PVU] licensing for Distributed Software on
the IBM website.
In the ServiceNow platform, the concept of PVU is used in the Software Asset Management
Template IBM PVU Process Pack, which is an add-on to the Software Asset Management
Template feature. It provides the ability to manage software licensed under the IBM
Processor Value Units licensing model.
Note: Oracle and Microsoft also use the concept of PVU, but have slightly different
definitions.
Activate the IBM PVU Process Pack
You can activate the Software Asset Management template - IBM PVU Process Pack
plugin.
Requirements to associate a software installation to PVU mapping
Meeting recommended requirements ensures that you receive the highest quality results
with PVU mapping.
IBM PVU mapping preparation
Most IBM PVU mapping and license checking in the ServiceNow platform is managed
automatically.
Refresh processor definitions
After activating the Software Asset Management Template IBM PVU Process Pack, use
the Refresh Processor Definitions module in the Software Asset Management Template
feature to create process definitions for existing computers in the Computer
[cmdb_ci_computer] table.
Processor definitions
Processor definitions are automatically derived from the information in the configuration
item form for an item such as a computer or server.
View IBM PVU mappings
Every rule listed in the IBM PVU Table is represented by one PVU mapping record in the
ServiceNow Software Asset Management Template feature.
Use software counters to calculate IBM PVU licenses
To calculate IBM PVU licenses, you can create a software counter with the IBM PVU
license type. For a given PVU software package, you only need to create the counter once
and then it can be reused.
Installed with Software Asset Management Template IBM PVU Process Pack
The following tables, fields, script includes, and business rules are installed with Software
Asset Management Template IBM PVU process pack.
Related Tasks
Activate Software Asset Management Template
Manage software models
Related Concepts
Software Asset Management Template Overview module
Software Asset Management Template setup process
Determine where software is installed
Software licenses
License calculations
Software discovery models
Software License Compliance Checker
Use counters for software license reconciliation
Software contracts
Oracle process pack
You can activate the Software Asset Management template - IBM PVU Process Pack plugin.
Procedure
If the plugin depends on other plugins, these plugins are listed along with their
activation status.
Some plugins include demo datasample records that are designed to illustrate plugin
features for common use cases. Loading demo data is a good policy when you first
activate the plugin on a development or test instance. You can load demo data after the
plugin is activated by repeating this process and selecting the check box.
4. Click Activate.
Related Concepts
IBM PVU Process Pack
Meeting recommended requirements ensures that you receive the highest quality results
with PVU mapping.
1. Use a discovery tool, such as ServiceNow Discovery, to identify hardware and populate
the configuration management database (CMDB) with the configuration items you want
to manage with IBM PVU licensing.
2. Use a discovery tool, such as ServiceNow Discovery, to identify software installations.
Check that the added CPU information is correct.
3. Activate the Software Asset Management template - IBM PVU Process Pack plugin. This
also activates the Software Asset Management template plugin if it is not already active.
4. Refresh processor definitions.
5. Ensure that the software models you want to manage with IBM PVU licensing have the
correct license type: Per installation - IBM PVU.
6. Create software counters to calculate IBM PVU licenses.
7. Count licenses to determine compliance with IBM PVU guidelines.
Most IBM PVU mapping and license checking in the ServiceNow platform is managed
automatically.
The important fields describing the processor on the configuration item form are:
CPU type
CPU count
CPU core count
This CPU data is often added accurately when the CMDB is populated with information. If
the fields contain incorrect information, manually edit the fields on the configuration item
form.
The mapping between the configuration item form fields and processor definition fields is as
follows.
The key field on the Software Model form is License type. For any software licenses you
want to track with IBM PVU, open the corresponding software model form and select the
Per installation - IBM PVU license type.
After activating the Software Asset Management Template IBM PVU Process Pack, use the
Refresh Processor Definitions module in the Software Asset Management Template feature
to create process definitions for existing computers in the Computer [cmdb_ci_computer]
table.
After this step, software asset business rules update the Processor Definition
[CMDB_processor_definition] table automatically when changes are made to computers or
when new computers are added. You should not need to use the Refresh Processor
Definitions module a second time, but it is always available if you make significant changes
to the Computer [cmdb_ci_computer] table.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Software Asset Management > System > Refresh Processor Definitions.
2. Click Proceed.
Processor definitions
Processor definitions are automatically derived from the information in the configuration
item form for an item such as a computer or server.
To view a processor definition, navigate to Software Asset Management > Reconciliation >
Processor Definitions and click an item.
SAM processor definition
Processor definitions
Field Description
Display name Name of the processor as it should appear in the
processor list.
Manufacturer Company that built the processor.
Server model number Number assigned to the model by the server
manufacturer.
Number of sockets Number of dies on the computer motherboard.
The number of CPUs per die is specified by Cores
per socket.
IBM PVU Mapping The IBM PVU mapping to which this processor is
associated. The information in this field is
automatically calculated from the server model
number, number of sockets, processor name, and
processor model number, based on the rules
defined in the IBM PVU Table.
Processor name Name assigned to the processor by the
manufacturer.
Processor model number Number assigned to the model by the processor
manufacturer.
Cores per socket Number of cores (functional unit needed to
execute programs) on each physical connection
(socket) on the motherboard.
Match level Accuracy level of the association between
processor and PVU mapping. Automatically set
when association is inferred.
Every rule listed in the IBM PVU Table is represented by one PVU mapping record in the
ServiceNow Software Asset Management Template feature.
For example, in the IBM PVU Table there is one line with processor name POWER5 QCM and
in IBM PVU mappings there is a line representing POWER5 QCM.
PVU mappings list
Procedure
1. Navigate to Software Asset Management > Reconciliation > IBM PVU Mappings.
2. Click a Short Description for detailed information about the mapping.
To calculate IBM PVU licenses, you can create a software counter with the IBM PVU license
type. For a given PVU software package, you only need to create the counter once and then
it can be reused.
Processor definitions are searched as licenses are counted. If a processor definition is found,
but no PVU mapping link exists for the processor, the system automatically does the
following to obtain a PVU mapping link.
Procedure
10. In the Software Counter Results list, drill down to obtain summary and detailed
information.
Installed with Software Asset Management Template IBM PVU Process Pack
The following tables, fields, script includes, and business rules are installed with Software
Asset Management Template IBM PVU process pack.
Tables
Table Description
IBM PVU Mapping [sam_ibm_pvu_mapping] Each row in this table is a mapping between a set
of processors and the associated PVU cost (per
core). This table encodes the information
specified by the IBM Table of Processor Value
Units per core and is used in matching a
computer's processor definition to derive a PVU
cost for that computer.
Processor Definition [cmdb_processor_definition] Each row in this table describes a computer in
terms of the attributes IBM uses for its PVU
licensing model. A row can be associated with
one or more (if they are all identical in terms of
the attributes used for PVU licensing) discovered
computers.
Fields
Script includes
Name Description
ProcessorDefinitionsUtils Contains utilities for managing the Processor
Definition [cmdb_processor_definition] table.
ProcessorValueUnitsUtils Contains logic that determines the IBM PVU
pricing associated with a given processor.
Business Rules
Name Description
One and only one default mapping Ensures only one default mapping by resetting
[sam_ibm_pvu_mapping] the last resort flag for modified records and
setting it to false for new records.
Software contracts
A software contract is a binding agreement between the owner of a software product and a
buyer. The contract enables the buyer to use the software legally.
In the ServiceNow ITSA Suite, you can manage and track software contracts with the
Contract Management application. When you create a new software contract, you can
specify that the contract is an enterprise or subscription license.
View software contracts
You can create a binding agreement that enables the buyer to legally use the software.
Related Tasks
Activate Software Asset Management Template
Manage software models
Related Concepts
Software Asset Management Template Overview module
Software Asset Management Template setup process
Determine where software is installed
Software licenses
License calculations
Software discovery models
Software License Compliance Checker
Use counters for software license reconciliation
IBM PVU Process Pack
Oracle process pack
Procedure
You can create a binding agreement that enables the buyer to legally use the software.
Procedure
Related Concepts
Contract Management
The Oracle process pack is an add-on to Software Asset Management Template that
provides the ability to manage software licensed under the Oracle licensing model.
There are two distinct ways of counting Oracle software. Be sure that your Oracle models
are set up accurately.
Oracle software models
In order to count Oracle software licenses, you must create software models for your
Oracle software.
Activate the Software Asset Management Template Oracle Process Pack
You can activate the Software Asset Management template - Oracle Process Pack
(com.snc.sam.oracle.pp) plugin.
Installed with the Oracle Process Pack
To use the Oracle process pack, you must create an Oracle software license.
Meeting recommended requirements ensures that you receive the highest quality results
with Oracle mapping.
Run the Oracle software counter
Related Tasks
Activate Software Asset Management Template
Manage software models
Related Concepts
Software Asset Management Template Overview module
Software Asset Management Template setup process
Determine where software is installed
Software licenses
License calculations
Software discovery models
Software License Compliance Checker
Use counters for software license reconciliation
IBM PVU Process Pack
Software contracts
There are two distinct ways of counting Oracle software. Be sure that your Oracle models
are set up accurately.
Note: Oracle license calculation types are available in the Software Counter form
after you activate the Oracle process pack.
Oracle software that uses the Oracle Processor license calculation type counts by the
number of processors on a server. This license calculation type must exist in the Software
Installation [cmdb_sam_sw_install] table. A software installation record must be inserted
with a discovery model that matches the correct Oracle software. For an install to be
counted by an Oracle processor counter, the Installed on field on the Software Installation
form should reference a configuration item with a Metric type of Oracle Processor.
Oracle software that uses the Oracle Named User or Oracle Named User Plus license
calculation types count by number of unique users or number of unique users plus devices.
This license calculation type must exist in the Software Usage [cmdb_sam_sw_usage] table.
A software installation record must be inserted with a discovery model that matches the
correct Oracle software. For a usage to be counted by an Oracle New User or Oracle New
User Plus counter, the Target host field on the Software Usage [cmdb_sam_sw_usage] table
should reference a configuration item with a Metric type of Oracle NU or Oracle NUP.
In order to count Oracle software licenses, you must create software models for your Oracle
software.
You can activate the Software Asset Management template - Oracle Process Pack
(com.snc.sam.oracle.pp) plugin.
Procedure
If the plugin depends on other plugins, these plugins are listed along with their
activation status.
Some plugins include demo datasample records that are designed to illustrate plugin
features for common use cases. Loading demo data is a good policy when you first
activate the plugin on a development or test instance. You can load demo data after the
plugin is activated by repeating this process and selecting the check box.
4. Click Activate.
The information from this table appears in the Software Counter Compliance Violations
section of the Software Model form.
Table Description
Maximum or minimum rights rules not followed
(based on model limits)
Option installed on a server with a non-option-
supporting license (Oracle)
Fields
Field Table Description
Software counter [counter] Software Counter Compliance References the software counter
Violations that this violation belongs to.
[sam_sw_counter_violation] (Reference field to Software
Counter table
[sam_sw_counter].)
Cause [name] Software Counter Compliance An explanation of the violation.
Violations
[sam_sw_counter_violation]
Is an option (is_option) Software Model Indicates if the software model
[cmdb_software_product_model] is an option or pack for some
other software, such as Active
Data Guard or Data Mining
options for Oracle Enterprise
Edition. This field only appears if
the manufacturer is Oracle.
License metric (metric_type) Software License [alm_license] A glide list reference to the
License Calculation
[cmdb_sw_license_calculation]
table. This list contains all of the
license calculations that apply to
this license and identifies the
preferred metric types to use
when running software counters.
License metric (metric_type) Hardware [cmdb_ci_hardware] A glide list reference to the
License Calculation
[cmdb_sw_license_calculation]
table. This list contains all of the
license calculations that apply to
this license. and identifies the
preferred metric types to use
when running software counters.
This field does not appear on
the form by default.
The Oracle Process Pack adds the following license calculation types.
To use the Oracle process pack, you must create an Oracle software license.
Procedure
The Oracle models in this list are created by the user. For more information, see Manage
software models.
5. Ensure that the License metric field specifies the correct license calculation type.
6. Fill in the remaining fields, as appropriate.
7. Click Submit.
Related Tasks
Add a new software license
Meeting recommended requirements ensures that you receive the highest quality results
with Oracle mapping.
Procedure
Organization Management
The Organization Management application provides an easy way to perform such asset
management tasks as updating users and adding vendors.
You can create a new vendor, which is a company that sells assets or services that your
organization purchases. You can also create a new manufacturer, which is a company that
builds assets that your organization purchases.
Locations module
The Locations module is the Asset view of the Location table [cmn_location].
You can create a new vendor, which is a company that sells assets or services that your
organization purchases. You can also create a new manufacturer, which is a company that
builds assets that your organization purchases.
Procedure
Example
Locations module
The Locations module is the Asset view of the Location table [cmn_location].
In addition to the physical specifics for the location, the Asset view includes the Stock room
designation and a list of configuration items (CI) in stock at that location.
Asset location
Change Management
Change types
Change Management offers ITIL-aligned processes for normal, standard, and emergency
change types.
Normal change
Normal change follows the complete change lifecycle including peer or technical approval,
change management, and Change Advisory Board (CAB) authorization before being
implemented, reviewed, and closed.
Standard change
Standard changes are often considered routine. This is a change that is frequently
implemented, has repeatable implementation steps, is considered low risk, and has a proven
history of success. Standard changes are considered pre-approved and follow a shorter
lifecycle omitting the peer approval and CAB authorization steps. They proceed directly
into a scheduled change ready for implementation. Standard changes can be stored in a
catalog of templates approved by Change Management to make the process of raising
them more efficient. This also enables Change Management to control the changes they
have authorized as standard.
Emergency change
Emergency changes cover both fix on fail or retroactive situations where the impact to
service has already been experienced, and fail or fail situations where the impact to service
is imminent if action is not taken. These changes do not follow the complete lifecycle of a
normal change due to the speed with which they must be authorized. Therefore they
progress directly to Change Management and CAB authorization.
Conflict Detection
Best Practice Change Risk Calculator
Change Risk Assessment
Bulk CI changes
From Geneva onwards, new instances will have the Change Management core plugin
installed by default. This installs the following new plugins in addition to the Conflict
Detection, Best Practice Change Risk Calculator, and Change Risk Assessment plugins.
If you are upgrading from a release prior to Geneva, you can choose to activate Change
Management core, State Model, Standard change catalog, and Mass updates CI plugins. The
State Model, and Standard change catalog plugins are dependent on the Change
Management core plugin. Hence, activating either the State model or the Standard change
catalog plugins results in the activation of the Change Management core plugin.
You must also consider the following consequences of activating Change Management core
and the subsequent changes you might need to make to best suit your organization's
requirements:
The previous change types will be updated from routine, comprehensive, and emergency
to standard, normal, and emergency respectively. You must analyze customizations that
you may have performed that reference old change type values since those will be
affected and will require updating.
Note: When Change management core is activated, the change types will be
updated.
If you have already completed upgrading from a release prior to Geneva, you must perform
the following tasks after you activate Change management core to ensure that change types
and customizations are updated.
If you had created newer change types in addition to the default change types, then you
must customize them based on the new change types being introduced.
Modify the customizations that are affected to use the new change type values.
A new ACL, change_request.type, prevents users from updating the change type. If you
allow any roles to update the type of a change request, for example, from Normal to
Emergency, modify the ACL. Remove nobody from the Requires role list and add the roles
allowed to update the change type.
If you had the Bulk CI plugin installed, then install the Mass updates CI plugin for enhanced
user experience and alignment with the new plugins.
You can activate one or more of the Change Management plugins if you have the admin role.
The plugins include demo data and activate related plugins if they are not already active.
Procedure
You can activate one or more of the following Change Management plugins.
Activate change management core
You can activate the Conflict Detection plugin (com.snc.change.collision) if you have the
admin role. This plugin includes demo data and activates related plugins if they are not
already active.
Activate best practice change risk calculator
You can activate the Best Practice- Change Risk Calculator plugin
(com.snc.bestpractice.change_risk) if you have the admin role. This plugin includes demo
data and activates related plugins if they are not already active.
Activate change risk assessment
Procedure
If the plugin depends on other plugins, these plugins are listed along with their
activation status.
Some plugins include demo datasample records that are designed to illustrate plugin
features for common use cases. Loading demo data is a good policy when you first
activate the plugin on a development or test instance. You can load demo data after the
plugin is activated by repeating this process and selecting the check box.
4. Click Activate.
What to do next
State model
Change Management - Collision Detector
Best practice - change risk calculator
Change risk assessment
Standard change catalog
Best practice - bulk CI changes
Several types of components are installed with the Change management core.
Related Tasks
Activate the state model
Activate conflict detection
Activate best practice change risk calculator
Activate change risk assessment
Activate standard change catalog
Activate best practice - bulk CI changes
Several types of components are installed with the Change management core.
Tables installed with change management core
Table Description
Task CI Adds Manual Proposed Change
[task_ci] (manual_proposed_change) field if the proposed
change has been made manually rather than
through the Mass Update CI feature
Change Management - State Model activates the following related plugin if it is not already
active.
Procedure
If the plugin depends on other plugins, these plugins are listed along with their
activation status.
Some plugins include demo datasample records that are designed to illustrate plugin
features for common use cases. Loading demo data is a good policy when you first
activate the plugin on a development or test instance. You can load demo data after the
plugin is activated by repeating this process and selecting the check box.
4. Click Activate.
What to do next
If you upgraded from a release prior to Geneva, you must update old state labels to new
state labels after you activate the Change Management state model.
Installed with state model
Several types of components are installed with the Change Management state model.
Related Tasks
Activate change management core
Activate conflict detection
Activate best practice change risk calculator
Activate change risk assessment
Activate standard change catalog
Activate best practice - bulk CI changes
Related Reference
Change properties
If you upgraded from a release prior to Geneva, you must update old state labels to new
state labels after you activate the Change Management state model.
State values for current change records are not modified when you activate the Change
Management state model. However, your current change records will display the new state
labels in the state field.
For example, records with a state value of -5 have the Pending state label before the Change
Management state model is activated. After the state model is activated, these records
retain the state value of -5 but will have the New label. To use your organization's required
change management process with the state model, you must update state values to the new
labels in your existing change records as appropriate, either manually or by script.
You must also update any reports that run queries based on old state labels to reflect the
new state labels.
To automatically update the state field values from old state labels to new state labels,
customize and then run the following sample script:
updateStates();
function updateStates() {
function hasApprovers(changeGr) {
var approverGr = new GlideRecord("sysapproval_approver");
approverGr.addQuery('sysapproval', changeGr.getUniqueValue());
approverGr.query();
return approverGr.getRowCount() > 0;
}
function hasRunningWorkflows(changeGr) {
var workflow = new Workflow();
var workflowGr = workflow.getRunningFlows(changeGr);
var hasRunningFlows = workflowGr.getRowCount() > 0;
return hasRunningFlows;
}
Related Reference
Installed with state model
Several types of components are installed with the Change Management state model.
Properties installed with state model
Related Concepts
State model post-activation tasks
Property Description
glide.ui.change_request_activity.fields Change request activity formatter fields.
Type: string
Default value:
assigned_to,cmdb_ci,state,impact,priority,opened_by,work_notes,co
Location: System Property [sys_properties]
table
Related Reference
Business rules installed with state model
Client scripts installed with state model
Tables installed with state model
Script includes installed with state model
The Change Management state model adds the following business rules.
Related Reference
Properties installed with state model
Client scripts installed with state model
The Change Management state model adds the following client scripts.
Related Reference
Properties installed with state model
Business rules installed with state model
Tables installed with state model
Script includes installed with state model
Table Description
Change Request List of change requests.
[change_request]
Related Reference
Properties installed with state model
Business rules installed with state model
Client scripts installed with state model
Script includes installed with state model
The Change Management state model adds the following script includes.
Related Reference
Properties installed with state model
Business rules installed with state model
Client scripts installed with state model
Tables installed with state model
You can activate the Conflict Detection plugin (com.snc.change.collision) if you have the
admin role. This plugin includes demo data and activates related plugins if they are not
already active.
Procedure
If the plugin depends on other plugins, these plugins are listed along with their
activation status.
Some plugins include demo datasample records that are designed to illustrate plugin
features for common use cases. Loading demo data is a good policy when you first
activate the plugin on a development or test instance. You can load demo data after the
plugin is activated by repeating this process and selecting the check box.
4. Click Activate.
What to do next
Related Tasks
Activate change management core
Activate the state model
Activate best practice change risk calculator
Activate change risk assessment
Activate standard change catalog
Activate best practice - bulk CI changes
Related Reference
Change properties
Property Description
change.conflict.mode CI conflict check mode. :
Table Description
Change request [change_request] Represents a change request
Blackout Schedule [cmn_schedule_blackout] Represents a blackout schedule
Condition Schedule [cmn_schedule_condition] Represents a schedule condition
Maintenance Schedule Represents a maintenance schedule
[cmn_schedule_maintenance]
You can activate the Best Practice- Change Risk Calculator plugin
(com.snc.bestpractice.change_risk) if you have the admin role. This plugin includes demo
data and activates related plugins if they are not already active.
Procedure
If the plugin depends on other plugins, these plugins are listed along with their
activation status.
Some plugins include demo datasample records that are designed to illustrate plugin
features for common use cases. Loading demo data is a good policy when you first
activate the plugin on a development or test instance. You can load demo data after the
plugin is activated by repeating this process and selecting the check box.
4. Click Activate.
What to do next
You can define risk and impact conditions for your change records.
Installed with change risk calculator
Several types of components are installed with the Best Practice- Change Risk Calculator.
Related Tasks
Activate change management core
Activate the state model
Activate conflict detection
Activate change risk assessment
Activate standard change catalog
Activate best practice - bulk CI changes
Related Reference
Change properties
Several types of components are installed with the Best Practice- Change Risk Calculator.
Properties installed with change risk calculator
Property Usage
glide.ui.risk_calculate_rule Change risk calculation method.
Best Practice- Change Risk Calculator adds the following business rules.
Table Description
Change Request List of change requests.
[change_request]
Best Practice- Change Risk Calculator adds the following script includes.
Change Management - Risk Assessment activates these related plugins if they are not
already active.
Best Practice - Change Risk Calculator Provides simple risk and impact calculations for
[com.snc.bestpractice.change_risk] change management.
Best Practice - Task Survey Management Provides survey functionality including triggering
[com.snc.bestpractice.task_survey] survey requests based on task conditions and
linking survey responses to the task that
generated the survey.
Procedure
If the plugin depends on other plugins, these plugins are listed along with their
activation status.
Some plugins include demo datasample records that are designed to illustrate plugin
features for common use cases. Loading demo data is a good policy when you first
activate the plugin on a development or test instance. You can load demo data after the
plugin is activated by repeating this process and selecting the check box.
4. Click Activate.
What to do next
Related Tasks
Activate change management core
Activate the state model
Activate conflict detection
Activate best practice change risk calculator
Activate standard change catalog
Activate best practice - bulk CI changes
Related Reference
Change properties
Table Description
Risk Assessment Thresholds List of risk assessment thresholds.
[risk_assessment_threshold]
Standard Change Catalog activates the following related plugin if it is not already active.
Procedure
If the plugin depends on other plugins, these plugins are listed along with their
activation status.
Some plugins include demo datasample records that are designed to illustrate plugin
features for common use cases. Loading demo data is a good policy when you first
activate the plugin on a development or test instance. You can load demo data after the
plugin is activated by repeating this process and selecting the check box.
4. Click Activate.
What to do next
You can configure the standard change catalog or request a new standard change from the
standard change catalog.
Installed with standard change catalog
Several types of components are installed with the standard change catalog.
Related Tasks
Activate change management core
Activate the state model
Activate conflict detection
Activate best practice change risk calculator
Activate change risk assessment
Activate best practice - bulk CI changes
Related Reference
Change properties
Several types of components are installed with the standard change catalog.
Tables installed with standard change catalog
Table Description
Change request Change request table. Adds the standard change
[change_request] template version.
Type: String
Default value:
Other possible values:
Value 1: blank to use Approval Rules.
Value 2: process_guide to use Process
Guides.
Value 3:'off' to turn off the approval engines
for the table. Set to off when using Workflow
to manage approvals.
Location: System Property [sys_properties]
table
Warn on Close and Cancel Standard Change Proposal Displays a warning message if
Without Approval [std_change_proposal] the change is closed or
cancelled without an
outstanding approval associated
with it.
Set template value read only Standard Change Proposal The values that are set in the
[std_change_proposal] template are set to read-only so
they cannot be changed.
Mark standard change fields Change Request The values that are set in the
read only [change_request] template are set to read-only so
they cannot be changed.
Hide chart when it has no stats Standard Change Template If there are no statistics on the
[std_change_producer] template, then the chart is not
displayed.
Disable ref expansion in field_list Standard Change Properties Remove the ability to expand
[std_change_properties] reference fields and display the
reference fields in the field list of
change request values.
Check Template Values Standard Change Proposal Validates that the template
[std_change_proposal] fields are set with valid values
and that restricted fields have
not been selected.
Default Values For Modify Standard Change Proposal Populates the default values
[std_change_proposal] from the template to modify the
template base. These default
values can then be adjusted to
reflect correct values.
Fetch Mandatory & Restricted Standard Change Proposal Retrieves all default values for
Columns [std_change_proposal] fields as well as the mandatory
and unmodifiable fields for the
change request template.
Event Description
std_change_proposal.approval.rejected Event is raised when request for a standard
change proposal has been rejected.
std_change_proposal.approval.inserted Event is raised when an approval request is
inserted requesting an approval of a standard
change proposal.
Procedure
If the plugin depends on other plugins, these plugins are listed along with their
activation status.
Some plugins include demo datasample records that are designed to illustrate plugin
features for common use cases. Loading demo data is a good policy when you first
activate the plugin on a development or test instance. You can load demo data after the
plugin is activated by repeating this process and selecting the check box.
4. Click Activate.
What to do next
Several types of components are installed with the Best Practice- Bulk CI Changes.
Related Tasks
Activate change management core
Activate the state model
Activate conflict detection
Activate best practice change risk calculator
Activate change risk assessment
Activate standard change catalog
Related Reference
Change properties
Several types of components are installed with the Best Practice- Bulk CI Changes.
Tables installed with Best Practice - Bulk CI Changes
Table Description
[change_request] Change request table.
[task_ci] Adds a reference qualifier to filter the Affected CI
lookup to the CI Class defined in the change
request.
You can configure various aspects of Change Management based on the specific
requirements of your organization.
Procedure
You can configure the ability to copy a change request record and also configure the
specific details that can be copied.
Define change request assignment rules
You can define assignment rules to automate the process of assigning change requests to
the appropriate group or individual.
Add a new change type
Change Management offers a state model to move and track change requests through
several states.
Standard change catalog
Standard change catalog supports the standard change process by storing all the
changes that have been approved by Change Management as standard changes.
Detect change conflicts
To identify any other changes that are scheduled at the same time or impact the same
configuration items (CIs) and related CIs as a change request, you can run conflict
detection automatically or manually.
Risk assessment and risk calculation
There are two methods to calculate the risk of a change: Change Risk Calculator
(activated by default) and Change Management Risk Assessment (an optional plugin).
Associated CIs on a change request
You can associate CIs to change requests through related lists on the Change Request
form.
Bulk CI Changes
The Best Practice - Bulk CI Changes plugin enables you to record a single change
proposal that will be linked to all affected CIs.
Change properties
Navigate to Change > Administration > Change Properties to view and edit these properties.
Name Description
Default value: ui_action
Location: System Property [sys_properties]
table
Type: string
Default value:
category,cmdb_ci,priority,risk,impact,type,assignment_group,assigne
Location: System Property [sys_properties]
table
Type: string
Default value:
task_ci,task_cmdb_ci_service,change_task
Location: System Property [sys_properties]
table
The following properties are also available for further configuration, within the
sys_properties table:
Type: string
Default value:
cmdb_ci,priority,assignment_group,assigned_to,short_description,de
Location: System Property [sys_properties]
table
Type: string
Name Description
Default value: ci_item
Location: System Property [sys_properties]
table
com.snc.change_request.copy.rl.task_cmdb_ci_service.attributes
List of attributes (comma-separated) from
Impacted Services (task_cmdb_ci_service)
related list that will be copied from the
originating change
Type: string
Default value: cmdb_ci_service
Location: System Property [sys_properties]
table
com.snc.change_request.rl.change_task.attach.enable_copy
Enable copying of attachments from the
originating change's related change tasks
Related Tasks
Configure ability to copy a change request
Define change request assignment rules
Add a new change type
Related Concepts
State model and transitions
Standard change catalog
Detect change conflicts
Risk assessment and risk calculation
Associated CIs on a change request
Related Reference
Bulk CI Changes
You can configure the ability to copy a change request record and also configure the
specific details that can be copied.
You can configure the ability to copy a change. You can do the following:
Procedure
You can configure the ability to copy a change request in the following ways:
Option Description
Disable the ability to copy a change request The ability to copy a change request is enabled
by default.
Disable the ability to copy an attachment The ability to copy an attachment to the change
request is enabled by default.
Disable the ability to copy the attachments to a The ability to copy the attachments to a change
change task in the Change Tasks related list of a task in the Change Tasks related list of a change
change request request is enabled by default.
Option Description
(com.snc.change_request.copy.attributes)
system property to remove or add more
attributes. For example, to the Assigned to
attribute from being copied, remove the
assigned_to value from the List of attributes
(comma-separated) that will be copied from
the originating change property.
Affected CIs
Impacted Services/CIs
Change Tasks
Configure attributes of related lists to be copied You can configure the attributes of related lists to
be copied using appropriate system properties.
To configure the attributes of related lists to be
copied:
Option Description
Name of the Related System property
list
Impacted com.snc.change_request.copy.rl.task_cmdb
Services/CIs
Related Tasks
Define change request assignment rules
Add a new change type
Related Concepts
State model and transitions
Standard change catalog
Detect change conflicts
Risk assessment and risk calculation
Associated CIs on a change request
Related Reference
Change properties
Bulk CI Changes
You can define assignment rules to automate the process of assigning change requests to
the appropriate group or individual.
You can define an assignment rule either for the change request on a whole, or for individual
change tasks as they get generated by change requests.
Procedure
To test the assignment rule, navigate to Change > Create New and populate the form
with the following:
Configuration Item - bond trade ny (or any other Configuration Item with a class of
Database.)
Save the change and add the Assignment Group field to the form. The proper
assignment group should be added:
Related Tasks
Configure ability to copy a change request
Add a new change type
Related Concepts
State model and transitions
Standard change catalog
Detect change conflicts
Risk assessment and risk calculation
Related Reference
Change properties
Bulk CI Changes
In addition to the normal, standard, and emergency types of change available by default,
you can add new change types based on your organization's requirements. For example,
you can create an Expedited change type for changes that you require to be expedited.
Procedure
Field Description
Question Change Request
Name Enter a name for the new change type. For
example, Direct to Expedited Change.
User Prompt Enter a description that will be displayed to
the end user when they click Create New
under Change.
Target URL Set the appropriate target URL. For example,
change_request.do?
sys_id=-1&sysparm_query=type=expedited.
Order Set the appropriate order level for the
change type. For example, 400.
Note: An existing script include contains the implementation for all the
moving and canMove functions. The moving function is used to pre-
populate any fields that are required for the new state. The canMove
function is used to check for any additional requirements and validate
if a task can move to the next state.
4. Create the script include to define state transitions and control the transitioning
between states for the new change type.
a. Navigate to System Definition > Script Includes.
b. Search for change type script include on which to base the transitioning controls for
the new change type on. For example, to base it on Emergency change type, search
forChangeRequestStateModel_emergency and open the script include.
c. Update the name of the script include to match the value of the new type. For
example, ChangeRequestStateModel_expedited.
d. Update the reference to the base script include for the new change type. Change
the extended Object in line 2 to the base script include name. For example,
ChangeRequestStateModelCust_expedited, so the reference is similar to
ChangeRequestStateModel_expedited.prototype =
Object.extendsObject(ChangeRequestStateModelCust_expedited, {.
e. Click Insert and Stay to save the new script include.
5. Modify the script include that controls the transitioning between states using one of the
defined models for the new change type. The base method is overridden so that the
new state model for the new change type can be utilized.
a. Navigate to System Definition > Script Includes.
b. Search for and open the ChangeRequestStateHandler script include, which
controls the transitioning between states using one of the defined models.
c. Create a property to reference the new change request type value. For example,
EXPEDITED:"expedited".
d. Override the base method _resetModel in order to have the ability to include the
new model. For example, if the change request type is expedited, then the new
state model ChangeRequestStateModel_expedited is included. Example code with
changes highlighted in bold:
var ChangeRequestStateHandler = Class.create();
// All references to statehandler constants should be through this class Cha
ChangeRequestStateHandler.DRAFT = ChangeRequestStateHandlerSNC.DRAFT;
ChangeRequestStateHandler.ASSESS = ChangeRequestStateHandlerSNC.ASSESS;
ChangeRequestStateHandler.AUTHORIZE = ChangeRequestStateHandlerSNC.AUTHORIZE
ChangeRequestStateHandler.SCHEDULED = ChangeRequestStateHandlerSNC.SCHEDULED
ChangeRequestStateHandler.IMPLEMENT = ChangeRequestStateHandlerSNC.IMPLEMENT
ChangeRequestStateHandler.REVIEW = ChangeRequestStateHandlerSNC.REVIEW;
ChangeRequestStateHandler.CLOSED = ChangeRequestStateHandlerSNC.CLOSED;
ChangeRequestStateHandler.CANCELED = ChangeRequestStateHandlerSNC.CANCELED;
ChangeRequestStateHandler.prototype = Object.extendsObject(ChangeRequestStat
EXPEDITED:"expedited",
initialize: function(changeRequestGr) {
ChangeRequestStateHandlerSNC.prototype.initialize.call(this, changeRequ
},
_resetModel: function() {
this._model = null;
var type = this._gr.getValue('type') + "";
},
type:"ChangeRequestStateHandler"
});
e. Save the script include.
6. Create a workflow for the new change request type.
a. Navigate to Workflow > Workflow Editor.
b. Open an existing change request workflow. For example, Change Request
Emergency.
c. Select Copy from the Actions menu to copy the workflow and name the new
workflow. For example, Change Request Expedited.
d. Select Properties from the Actions menu to update the condition under which the
new workflow will execute. For example, Type is Expedited in the condition.
e. Open the matching change tasks workflow that is called by the main workflow. For
example, Change Request - Emergency change tasks.
f. Select Copy from the Actions menu to copy the workflow and name the new
workflow. For example, Change Request - Expedited change tasks.
g. Select Publish from the Actions menu to publish the new change tasks workflow and
make it available for use.
h. Go back to the first workflow you created and update the Workflow activity to
reference the new change tasks workflow. For example, Change Request - Expedited
change tasks.
i. Select Publish from the Actions menu to publish the new workflow and make it
available for use.
Related Tasks
Configure ability to copy a change request
Define change request assignment rules
Add a new state to the change state model
Related Concepts
State model and transitions
Standard change catalog
Detect change conflicts
Risk assessment and risk calculation
Associated CIs on a change request
Related Reference
Change properties
Bulk CI Changes
Change Management offers a state model to move and track change requests through
several states.
The following table provides a list of all the states that a change request can progress
through.
Change states
State Description
New Change request has not been submitted yet for
review and authorization. A change requester can
save a change request as many times as
necessary while building out the details of the
change prior to submission.
Assess Peer review and technical approval of the change
details are performed during this state.
Authorize Change Management and the CAB will schedule
the change and provide final authorization to
proceed.
Scheduled The change is fully scheduled and authorized. It is
now waiting for the planned start date.
Implement The planned start date has approached and the
actual work to implement the change is being
conducted.
Review The work has been completed. The change
requester now determines whether the change
was successful. A post-implementation review
can be conducted during this state.
Closed All review work is complete. The change is closed
with no further action required.
Canceled A change can be canceled at any point if it is no
longer required. However, a change cannot be
canceled from a Closed state.
Normal, standard, and emergency changes progress through states in different ways.
Standard changes are considered to be pre-authorized, so they bypass the Assess and
Authorize states that trigger approval records. Approving these changes will progress the
change to the next appropriate state. Rejecting these changes will send them back to New
state.
The interaction with the Change Request state model is handled by a combination of the
following:
UI actions that add the appropriate state transition buttons or menu actions to a form,
based on the current state of the change request.
Client script to restrict the State drop-down field on the change request form to the
current state and any valid transitions to other states.
Script includes that determine the states available for each change type and the valid
transitions from one state to another.
You must activate the State Model plugin to use this state model.
Normal change state model
You can add a new state to the existing state model for different change types based on
your organization's requirements.
Tutorial: add a new change management state
This tutorial provides an example of adding a new state to the existing state model.
Configure transitions for the state model
You can use script includes or UI policies to configure state models and the criteria for
moving change requests from one state to another.
Related Tasks
Configure ability to copy a change request
Define change request assignment rules
Add a new change type
Related Concepts
Standard change catalog
Detect change conflicts
Risk assessment and risk calculation
Associated CIs on a change request
Related Reference
Change properties
Bulk CI Changes
The primary route for a normal change progresses in the following order:
1. New
2. Assess
3. Authorize
4. Scheduled
5. Implement
6. Review
7. Closed
A normal change can be canceled from every state except the Closed state.
Related Tasks
Add a new state to the change state model
Tutorial: add a new change management state
Configure transitions for the state model
Related Concepts
Emergency change state model
The primary route for an emergency change progresses in the following order:
1. New
2. Authorize
3. Scheduled
4. Implement
5. Review
6. Closed
Authorize
Scheduled
Implement
Review
Related Tasks
Add a new state to the change state model
Tutorial: add a new change management state
Related Concepts
Normal change state model
Standard change state model
The primary route for a standard change progresses in the following order:
1. New
2. Scheduled
3. Implement
4. Review
5. Closed
New
Scheduled
Implement
Review
Related Tasks
Add a new state to the change state model
Tutorial: add a new change management state
Configure transitions for the state model
Related Concepts
Normal change state model
Emergency change state model
You can add a new state to the existing state model for different change types based on
your organization's requirements.
The interaction with the Change Request state model is handled by a combination of the
following:
UI actions that add the appropriate state transition buttons or menu actions to a form,
based on the current state of the change request.
Client script to restrict the State drop-down field on the change request form to the
current state and any valid transitions to other states.
Script includes that determine the states available for each change type and the valid
transitions from one state to another.
Procedure
1. Customize the choice list for the State field on a Change Request and add the new state.
Note: Ensure that the numeric value you use for the new state is not already
assigned to an existing choice.
The new state is added. Use the up and down arrows to ensure the new state is in the
correct order for the sequence of states.
2. Navigate to System definition > Script includes.
3. Edit the ChangeRequestStateHandler script to perform the following:
Update the constants section at the start of this script include to include values for
the newly added state. For example,
ChangeRequestStateHandler.MY_NEW_STATE = "mynewstate";
Update the STATE_NAMES map at the end of the initialize function to include the
numeric value for the newly added state. For example,
this.STATE_NAMES["-6"] = ChangeRequestStateHandler.MY_NEW_STATE;
Each state model script include defines objects that decide the following:
Which states are available.
The next state or states for each available state.
Functions for each state transition to decide if that transition is available (canMove)
along with a function to be executed as part of moving to that state (moving).
5. Create a new UI action on the Change Request table that will provide a button to
progress the new state to the appropriate point in the life cycle of the change.
a. Use Insert and Stay to make a copy of an existing UI action.
Note: The new UI action should be based on one of the existing default
ones, such as Implement.
b. Update the following fields on the form.
For example, a modified UI action where the new states memorable name is
mynewstate.
6. Update the process flow configuration to incorporate the new change state.
The process flow is displayed at the top of the Change Request form and is configured
in a number of process flow records.
a. Navigate to the Process Flow module and filter for existing records for the Change
Request table.
b. Open a record and use Insert and Stay to make a copy of an existing record.
c. Update the following fields on the form.
What to do next
Any modification to the state model may impact the default workflows for change
requests.
Related Tasks
Tutorial: add a new change management state
Configure transitions for the state model
Related Concepts
Normal change state model
Emergency change state model
Standard change state model
Any modification to the state model may impact the default workflows for change requests.
Each change type has a default workflow. To ensure that any change to the state model has
not adversely impacted workflows, you must review each of the default workflows.
Procedure
Review the workflow for each ChangeRequestStateModel_<type> script include that has
been modified.
Modifications to the default workflow for each change type will depend on where the new
state is added in the sequences of states.
This tutorial provides an example of adding a new state to the existing state model.
Based on your organization's requirements, you must add a new state Complete between
the existing Implement and Review states. You must also add the ability to decide if the
Review state is needed.
You must create a new choice for the change request state.
Add change state tutorial: create a custom field
You must create a new custom choice field to indicate if a change request needs to go
through the Review state.
Add change state tutorial: add a UI policy
Add a UI Policy to display the Needs review field for only change type Normal and for
certain states.
Add change state tutorial: create a new ACL
You must create a new ACL to prevent the Needs review field being modified after it has
been set.
Add change state tutorial: update state handler script include
You must update the ChangeRequestStateHandler script include with the new Complete
state.
Update state model script include
You must create a new UI action to display a button on a change request for the new
Complete state.
Add change state tutorial: create new process flow record
You must create and add a new process flow record for the new Complete state in order
to display the state on the process flow formatter at the top of the Change Request form.
Update change request workflow
You must update the change request workflow to reflect the addition of the new
Complete state.
Related Tasks
Add a new state to the change state model
Configure transitions for the state model
Related Concepts
Normal change state model
Emergency change state model
Standard change state model
You must create a new choice for the change request state.
To create a new choice for the State field in the change request:
Procedure
Field Description
New item text Enter Complete.
Numeric value Enter -6.
Apply to table Set to Change Request
5. Click Save to create the new choice and return to the Change Request form.
Next Topic
Add change state tutorial: create a custom field
You must create a new custom choice field to indicate if a change request needs to go
through the Review state.
Procedure
Field Values
Name Enter Needs Review.
Type Enter Choice.
The new field appears at the bottom of the Selected slush bucket.
5. Use the Up and Down arrows next to the slush bucket to move the new field next to the
Assigned to field.
6. Click Save to create the new field and return to the Change Request form.
The new Needs review field appears on the Change Request form.
7. Right click on the Needs review field label and select the Configure choices option.
8. The Configuring choices form appears with empty slush buckets for Available and
Selected.
9. Use the Enter new item field and Add button to create Yes and No choices that will
appear in the Selected slush bucket.
10. Click Save to create the new choices and return to the Change Request form.
The Needs review field displays theYes and No options.
11. Right click on the Needs review field label select Configure Dictionary.
12. Update the Choice drop down in the Choice List Specification section to Dropdown with
None .
13. Click Update to save the dictionary modification and return to the Change Request
form.
The Needs review field also displays the - None -- option.
Previous Topic
Add change state tutorial: create a new choice
Next Topic
Add change state tutorial: add a UI policy
Add a UI Policy to display the Needs review field for only change type Normal and for
certain states.
You must create a UI policy to ensure that the new custom field Needs review is only
available for change requests with change type Normal and only displayed on the form
when it reaches the new Complete state.
Procedure
Field Values
Table Enter Change Request.
Short description Enter Show Needs review field. Make it
mandatory.
Conditions Add the following two new conditions:
Type is Normal.
State is one of Review, Complete, Closed.
4. Right click on the form header and select Save to create the UI Policy record and stay on
the form.
5. Click New on the UI Policy Actions related list on the form.
6. Enter the following values on the UI Policy Action form.
Field Values
Field name Select Needs review.
Field Values
Mandatory Select True.
Visible Select True.
7. Click Submit to create the UI Policy action and return to the UI Policy form.
Previous Topic
Add change state tutorial: create a custom field
Next Topic
Add change state tutorial: create a new ACL
You must create a new ACL to prevent the Needs review field being modified after it has
been set.
The newly created UI Policy makes the Needs review field mandatory when a change
request reaches the new Complete state.
The subsequent configuration of the state model ensures that a user must enter a value in
the Needs review field before the change request can be saved in the Complete state. To
prevent the value being changed in the Needs review field once it has been set, a new
access control level record (ACL) is required to make the field read only.
To create an ACL:
Procedure
Field Values
Type Set to Record.
Operation Set to Write.
Name (first part) Select Change Request.
Name (second part) Select Needs review.
Condition Add the condition State is Implement.
Previous Topic
Add change state tutorial: add a UI policy
Next Topic
Add change state tutorial: update state handler script include
You must update the ChangeRequestStateHandler script include with the new Complete
state.
The ChangeRequestStateHandler script include defines the states available for the Change
Request state model.
Procedure
Previous Topic
Add change state tutorial: create a new ACL
Next Topic
Update state model script include
Add new canMove and moving functions for the new Complete state. These functions can
return a value of true since there are no special conditions for or extra actions to perform
when moving to the Complete state.
Modify the definition of the existing object for the Implement state to ensure that the next
state is Complete.
Add a new object for the Complete state, which will define Review and Closed as the next
two states.
Note: The canMove functions for the transition to these states from Complete will
check the new Needs review custom field to determine the correct next
state.
Procedure
toComplete_canMove: function() {
return true;
},
complete: {
moving: function() {
return this.toComplete_moving();
},
canMove: function() {
return this.toComplete_canMove();
}
},
canceled: {
moving: function() {
return this.toCanceled_moving();
},
canMove: function() {
return this.toCanceled_canMove();
}
}
},
3. Add the following new state object for complete.
complete: {
nextState : [ "review", "closed" ],
review : {
moving : function() {
return this.toReview_moving();
},
canMove : function() {
if (this._gr.getValue("u_needs_review") == "Yes")
return true;
return false;
}
},
closed : {
moving : function() {
return this.toClosed_moving();
},
canMove : function() {
if (this._gr.getValue("u_needs_review") == "No")
return true;
return false;
}
},
canceled : {
moving : function() {
return this.toCanceled_moving();
},
canMove : function() {
return this.toCanceled_canMove();
}
}
},
4. Click Update to save changes.
Previous Topic
Add change state tutorial: update state handler script include
Next Topic
Add change state tutorial: create new UI action
You must create a new UI action to display a button on a change request for the new
Complete state.
The new UI action must contain a condition that uses the state model script include to
decide when the Complete button is displayed on the Change Request for. In this case, the
Complete button will only be displayed when the change has reached the Implement state.
Procedure
Field Values
Name Enter Complete.
Action name Enter state_model_move_to_complete.
Hint Enter Progresses change to Complete state.
Onclick Enter moveToComplete();.
Condition Enter complete as shown:
gs.hasRole('itil') && new ChangeRequestStateHandler(curr
.
Script Update function, state name, and state value.
function moveToComplete(){
var ga = new GlideAjax("ChangeRequestS
ga.addParam("sysparm_name", "getStateV
ga.addParam("sysparm_state_name", "com
ga.getXMLAnswer(function(stateValue) {
g_form.setValue("state", stateValu
gsftSubmit(null, g_form.getFormEle
});
}
if (typeof window == 'undefined')
setRedirect();
function setRedirect() {
current.update();
action.setRedirectURL(current);
}
.
Previous Topic
Update state model script include
Next Topic
Add change state tutorial: create new process flow record
You must create and add a new process flow record for the new Complete state in order to
display the state on the process flow formatter at the top of the Change Request form.
To create and add a new process flow record for the new Complete state:
Procedure
Field Values
Name Enter Normal Change Complete State.
Label Enter Complete.
Order Enter 550.
Condition Enter State is Complete.
Previous Topic
Add change state tutorial: create new UI action
Next Topic
Update change request workflow
You must update the change request workflow to reflect the addition of the new Complete
state.
The default Change Request Normal workflow for type Normal change requests must be
modified to update the change request to the new state of Complete instead of Review.
Procedure
Previous Topic
Add change state tutorial: create new process flow record
You can use script includes or UI policies to configure state models and the criteria for
moving change requests from one state to another.
Add a new state change condition using a script include
To add new criteria for state transitions, you can edit the script includes for the state
transition models of each change type.
Add new state change conditions using UI Policy
You can use a UI policy to add new criteria for state transitions.
Related Tasks
Add a new state to the change state model
Tutorial: add a new change management state
Related Concepts
Normal change state model
Emergency change state model
Standard change state model
To add new criteria for state transitions, you can edit the script includes for the state
transition models of each change type.
You can add state change criteria to determine the UI actions that enable a particular state
to transition to the next state.
Procedure
Standard ChangeRequestStateModel_standard
Emergency ChangeRequestStateModel_emergency
For example, to add a condition for a normal change to transition from the New state to
the Authorized state, modify the draft.authorized.canMove() method in the
ChangeRequestStateModel_normal script include. In the script, the GlideRecord you are
acting on can be referenced using the this._gr variable.
The canMove method is part of a structure that defines the transitions available to the
change type. The canMove method is contained in the currentState.nextState.canMove()
structure.
Related Tasks
Add new state change conditions using UI Policy
You can use a UI policy to add new criteria for state transitions.
You can edit the default UI policies that are available or create a new policy. The type of
change and the state of the change request drives the default UI policies that determine
mandatory field requirements.
Procedure
UI Policy Description
Show CAB fields for normal and emergency changes
from the Authorize state and onwards
Mandatory Assignment Group field
Mandatory Close notes and Code fields when in the Closed
state
Note: In both the mandatory UI policies, the mandatory fields are determined
by the state of the change request. For Show - CAB fields, the type of
change is also taken into account because standard changes do not
require approval.
3. Complete the form, as appropriate.
4. Click Submit.
Related Tasks
Add a new state change condition using a script include
Standard change catalog supports the standard change process by storing all the changes
that have been approved by Change Management as standard changes.
Standard changes are pre-approved, low risk changes with a proven history of success. They
are logically grouped under specific categories.
Change Management controls which changes become available in the catalog through a
proposal process within the standard change catalog.
You must have the Service Catalog change requesters itil role to view the list of available
standard changes and raise the appropriate one from the same.
This video demonstrates how standard change catalog works and how it enables change
managers to manage change requests effectively.
Standard Change Catalog
These statistics enable you to make informed decisions regarding the effectiveness of the
standard change template and decide if they needs modification or retiring.
This history enables you to view how the template has evolved over time and the significant
changes that have been made.
You can configure the standard change catalog using standard change properties.
Create a standard change proposal
You can create standard change proposals that will be evaluated for approval before
being included in the standard change catalog.
Modify or retire a standard change template
You can modify and retire standard change templates based on your organization's
requirements.
Related Tasks
Configure ability to copy a change request
Define change request assignment rules
Add a new change type
Related Concepts
State model and transitions
Detect change conflicts
Risk assessment and risk calculation
Associated CIs on a change request
Related Reference
Change properties
Bulk CI Changes
You can configure the standard change catalog using standard change properties.
Procedure
Name of form
Field Description
Category Select the parent service catalog category
under which to add the generated standard
change template. You can also choose the
category or any children categories of the
selected catalog.
Default Change Request values Specify default values for common fields on the
Change Request form.
Restricted Change Request values Specify the list of fields on the Change Request
form for which end users will not be allowed to
provide any value when making a proposal.
Field Description
Note: Ensure that internal columns
such as Updates, Updated,
Updated by, Domain, Created,
Created by are specified as
restricted to prevent end users
from making changes to
internal fields.
What to do next
Users can now start requesting standard changes from the standard change catalog.
Related Tasks
Create a standard change proposal
Modify or retire a standard change template
You can create standard change proposals that will be evaluated for approval before being
included in the standard change catalog.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Configure the standard change catalog
Modify or retire a standard change template
You can modify and retire standard change templates based on your organization's
requirements.
Procedure
Option Description
Modify a standard change template a. Click Modify Template under Related
Links.
b. Enter your modifications in the Modify a
Standard Change Template form.
Retire a standard change template a. Click Retire Template under Related Links.
b. Enter your business justification to retire
the specific template in the Retire a
Standard Change Template form.
Related Tasks
Configure the standard change catalog
Create a standard change proposal
To identify any other changes that are scheduled at the same time or impact the same
configuration items (CIs) and related CIs as a change request, you can run conflict detection
automatically or manually.
You can review conflict information in the change request, such as when conflict detection
was last run, affected CIs, type of conflict, schedule, and conflicting changes.
Conflict detection also highlights when a change will occur outside of the maintenance
schedule or during a blackout schedule. You can then reschedule the change as necessary.
To schedule when changes are implemented to CIs, you can create blackout and
maintenance schedules.
Related Tasks
Configure ability to copy a change request
Define change request assignment rules
Add a new change type
Detect change conflicts automatically
Detect change conflicts manually
Related Concepts
State model and transitions
Standard change catalog
Risk assessment and risk calculation
Associated CIs on a change request
Related Reference
Change properties
Bulk CI Changes
To schedule when changes are implemented to CIs, you can create blackout and
maintenance schedules.
Blackout schedules are periods of time where changes cannot be implemented. For
example, create a blackout schedule for code freezes at the end of the year.
Procedure
Option Description
Create a blackout schedule a. Navigate to Change > Administration >
Blackout Schedules.
b. Click New.
Field Description
Note: Related fields used in conditions
are not evaluated for blackout
or maintenance schedules.
What to do next
Users can now start applying schedules to determine when changes are implemented to CIs.
Risk assessment and risk calculation
There are two methods to calculate the risk of a change: Change Risk Calculator (activated
by default) and Change Management Risk Assessment (an optional plugin).
Change Management Risk Assessment uses information provided by the end user to assess
a risk value.
Change Risk Calculation uses predefined properties and conditions to calculate a risk value.
The two methods can be used individually or together, depending on your requirements. If
both methods are used together, the highest risk value from both methods is always
selected.
Note: If both Risk Assessment and Risk Calculation are active but you want to use
only one method, then remove all conditions for the method that you do not
want to use.
Define risk assessment
The Change Management - Risk assessment plugin provides a flexible way to capture
information from the end user to calculate the risk of the associated change request. You
can define the risk assessment questions, thresholds, and conditions based on which the
risk for a particular change request is calculated.
Identify risk conditions
The Best Practice- Change Risk Calculator enables dynamic calculations of the risk and
impact of a change, which are displayed on the change record.
Related Tasks
Configure ability to copy a change request
Define change request assignment rules
Add a new change type
Related Concepts
State model and transitions
Standard change catalog
Detect change conflicts
Associated CIs on a change request
Related Reference
Change properties
Bulk CI Changes
The Change Management - Risk assessment plugin provides a flexible way to capture
information from the end user to calculate the risk of the associated change request. You
can define the risk assessment questions, thresholds, and conditions based on which the risk
for a particular change request is calculated.
You can use libraries of questions to derive the risk of a change based on criteria contained
within the change record. For example, a different set of questions are set for a hardware
change versus a software change.
The assessment uses a weighted score approach for each question. The composite weighted
score derived from the end user's answers is used to calculate risk. This is based on the
thresholds associated with the risk assessment.
Procedure
4. Click Submit to submit the details and create a new risk assessment record.
5. Open the newly created risk assessment record.
6. In the Assessment Questions related list, click New. The Assessment Questions related
list enables you to define the questions that the end user must answer as part of
assessing the risk involved in a change.
a. Fill in the fields, as appropriate.
b. Click Submit to submit the details and create a new risk assessment question set.
c. Open the newly created question set.
d. In the Assessment Question Choices related list, click New. The Assessment
Question Choices related list enables you to define the multiple choices that the end
user must answer.
e. Fill in the fields, as appropriate.
Note: Ensure that the thresholds are set based on the questions and answer
combinations.
a. Fill in the fields, as appropriate.
Note: Ensure that the conditions are simple and mutually exclusive so that the
assessment conditions are easier to understand and maintain.
a. Fill in the fields, as appropriate.
Note: In case of a default questionnaire, you can add a condition record with
no conditions and set the order to a suitably higher number to ensure
that other conditions are evaluated first.
b. Click Submit to submit and save the risk assessment conditions.
What to do next
Users can now enter risk assessment information that will calculate the risk associated with
a specific change request.
Identify risk conditions
The Best Practice- Change Risk Calculator enables dynamic calculations of the risk and
impact of a change, which are displayed on the change record.
The Best Practice- Change Risk Calculator also bundles some risk calculations using CI
attributes and time measures.
Specify risk and impact calculation method
You can specify how and when risk and impact rules are applied.
Define risk and impact conditions
You can define risk and impact conditions for your change records.
Edit risk and impact conditions
You can edit the risk and risk conditions from the Change Request form.
You can specify how and when risk and impact rules are applied.
Procedure
Option Description
UI Action Enables users to check condition rules on
demand using the Calculate Risk UI action.
Option Description
Note: The Execute Risk Calculation
button will replace the
Calculate Risk button if Change
Risk Assessment is activated.
Related Tasks
Define risk and impact conditions
Edit risk and impact conditions
You can define risk and impact conditions for your change records.
You can define the rules based on which the risk and impact of a change will be calculated.
If more than one rule matches the criteria specified on a change request, the Order field
determines the order in which rules are evaluated. Rules with lower numbers are evaluated
first. If there are two or more rules with differing orders, the rule with the lowest order is
evaluated and the others are ignored.
Procedure
What to do next
Users can now enter criteria based on which the risk and impact of a change request will be
calculated.
Use the condition filter to define risk and impact conditions
You can set either risk or impact or both based on variable conditions.
Related Tasks
Specify risk and impact calculation method
Edit risk and impact conditions
Related Tasks
Use advanced conditions to define risk and impact conditions
Use a script to define risk and impact conditions
Procedure
4. Enter a description.
5. Check the Use advanced condition box.
6. Write the script in the Advanced condition field that appears.
Rules are written using standard business rule syntax. The rule needs to set the global
variable answer to true or false.
Example
The figure looks at the currently selected configuration item to determine whether it is a
business service. If it is a Business Service then it checks a field named Business Criticality to
see if the value is 1 - most critical or 2 - somewhat critical. If the condition matches, it sets
'answer = true', which will set the risk for the change request to 'High' and the impact to '1 -
High'.
Another common scenario that requires scripting is determining the Business Services that
will be impacted as a result of a change to one or more configuration items. A sample rule
has been provided in the plugin.
In this example rule, the script uses the CIUtils() class to determine which Business Services
will be impacted by your change. The servicesAffectedByCI() method is invoked, and passed
the current change record. This method grabs the Configuration Item entered on the current
change request then locates all associated parent and child Business Services.
A list or array of Business Services is returned, and then evaluated in the script above to
determine if there are any '1 - most critical' services. If there are highly critical services then
the answer will be set to true.
Related Tasks
Use the condition filter to define risk and impact conditions
Use a script to define risk and impact conditions
You can set either risk or impact or both based on variable conditions.
Values from the current change request can be invoked to optionally set either risk or
impact or both. Below is an example using current field values:
if (current.assignment_group.getDisplayValue == "Network") {
current.risk = 2;
current.impact = 1;
} else {
current.risk = 3;
current.impact = 2;
}
Related Tasks
Use the condition filter to define risk and impact conditions
Use advanced conditions to define risk and impact conditions
You can edit the risk and risk conditions from the Change Request form.
Procedure
1. On the Change Request form, navigate to Context > Edit Risk Conditions.
2. Edit the rules based on your requirements.
3. Click Update to save the changes.
Related Tasks
Specify risk and impact calculation method
Define risk and impact conditions
You can associate CIs to change requests through related lists on the Change Request form.
The Affected CIs and Impacted Services/CIs related lists enable you to manage CI changes.
When you first access a change request and work with these related lists, you can identify
CIs across CI classes using configuration class. You can change the configuration class
manually to filter the list and narrow the selection of CIs. For example, to filter for Linux
servers only, select Linux Servers as the Configuration Class.
You can also create and save filters to provide quick access to common CI searches. The
next time you access the change request, the Configuration Class field displays the last
associated CI class. This automatic filter ensures that relevant CIs are displayed.
After identifying the CIs affected by a change request, you can add them to the Affected CIs
related list on the change request. After saving affected CIs, you can open the form context
menu and select the Refresh Impacted Services option. This option populates the Impacted
Services/CIs related list based on the affected CIs.
The Impacted Services/CIs related list represents a many-to-many relationship between the
Task [task] and CMDB [cmdb_ci] tables. The related list displays CIs, such as business
services or other CI classes, that are impacted. You can add this related list to any task form
such as an incident or problem form. You can also enter the details of the impacted services
manually, as required.
Note: The manually added CIs are not deleted each time the impacted services are
refreshed. However, business services related to the CIs are displayed on the
Impacted Services/CIs related list.
You can use the dependency views to identify dependent CIs affected by a change
request and then add them to the Affected CI(s) related list.
Associate multiple CIs to a change request
You can associate multiple impacted or affected CIs to a single change request.
Extend multiple CI association
You can extend multiple CI association to enable it for other types of tasks.
Disable multiple CI association
You can disable multiple CI association from the related lists on change request records.
Related Tasks
Configure ability to copy a change request
Define change request assignment rules
Add a new change type
Related Concepts
State model and transitions
Standard change catalog
Detect change conflicts
Risk assessment and risk calculation
Related Reference
Change properties
Bulk CI Changes
You can use the dependency views to identify dependent CIs affected by a change request
and then add them to the Affected CI(s) related list.
When a change request is associated to a configuration item, the change record becomes
accessible from dependency views. This makes the affected services easy to assess.
Note: Ensure that you configure the change request form to display the Affected
CI(s) related list.
Procedure
1. In the change request, click the dependency views icon next to the Configuration item
field.
Note: If there are critical change requests attached to the database, the map
includes the business services that rely on that database. The database
icon has a blinking glyph on the lower left edge that indicates any issues
with the node.
The configuration item in the map with all its dependent CIs are displayed.
2. Click the down arrow next to the CI to display a list of tasks and issues with the CI.
The list may contain one or more change requests, and follow-on audit tasks. You can
open each record from this list.
3. Click the task number to display the complete list of tasks attached to this server.
You can view the user assigned to the change and also open the record for more
information.
4. To change the map configuration, select a format from the Layout field or use the filter
panel to filter the map.
The dependency views highlights the affected CIs that are dependent on the database.
5. To add an affected CI to the change for the database, click the drop-down arrow next to
the highlighted node and select Add Affected CI(s).
You can view the Affected CI(s) related list on the change request.
Related Tasks
Associate multiple CIs to a change request
Extend multiple CI association
Disable multiple CI association
Related Topics
Dependency Views
You can associate multiple impacted or affected CIs to a single change request.
When you create a change request, you can add multiple CIs to that change request using
the Affected CIs or Impacted Services/CIs related lists in the change record.
Procedure
3. Select the appropriate CIs from the list of CIs displayed in the Configuration Class pop-
up window.
When you first access the change request, all CIs across all CI classes display.
When you access the change request from the second time onwards, the
configuration class of CIs displays the last added CI class. This ensures that relevant
CIs are displayed.
Note: You can change the configuration class manually, which filters the list of
CIs and therefore narrows the selection of CIs. For example, to filter for
servers only, select Server. You can also save any filters you create to
provide faster access to common CI searches.
4. You can perform one of the following actions to add selected CIs.
Click Add Selected to add the selected CIs to the change request.
Click Add All to add all of the CIs in the list to the change request.
The selected CIs are added to the change request.
Related Tasks
Add affected CIs to change requests using dependency views
Extend multiple CI association
Disable multiple CI association
Related Reference
Bulk CI Changes
You can extend multiple CI association to enable it for other types of tasks.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Add affected CIs to change requests using dependency views
Associate multiple CIs to a change request
Disable multiple CI association
You can disable multiple CI association from the related lists on change request records.
Procedure
Option Description
Associated CIs Open the entry with the task_ci.task related list
and remove the selection from the Omit edit
check box.
Related Tasks
Add affected CIs to change requests using dependency views
Associate multiple CIs to a change request
Extend multiple CI association
Bulk CI Changes
The Best Practice - Bulk CI Changes plugin enables you to record a single change proposal
that will be linked to all affected CIs.
You can use Best Practice - Bulk CI Changes for change processes that use the following:
If Best Practice - Bulk CI Changes is activated, then the following changes take place within
a change request:
For change requests with no CIs, Associate CIs displays the CI class on the change request
by default and the Reference field, to change the configuration class, displays all the
classes that are grouped under the CI class value on the change request. For example, if
the CI class on the change request is Server, then you can only select a class that is
grouped under Server.
For change request with CIs, Associate CIs displays the class of the last associated CI. For
example, if the last CI associated was Linux Server, then the configuration class displays
Linux Server by default.
Configure change request to perform bulk changes to CIs
You can configure the change request form to perform bulk changes to CIs.
Related Tasks
Configure ability to copy a change request
Define change request assignment rules
Add a new change type
Associate multiple CIs to a change request
Related Concepts
State model and transitions
Standard change catalog
Detect change conflicts
Risk assessment and risk calculation
Associated CIs on a change request
Related Reference
Change properties
You can configure the change request form to perform bulk changes to CIs.
Procedure
What to do next
Users can perform bulk changes to CIs on the change request form.
Procedure
Option Description
From the Change module You can create all three types of change from
the Change module.
a. Navigate to Change > Create New.
b. Select one of the following types of
change: Normal, Emergency, or Standard.
Name Definition
Priority Select the priority for the change, from 1
(Critical) to 4 (Low).
Risk The risk level for the change.
In addition to manually evaluating the risk
involved in a change, you can use the Change
Risk Calculator.
3. Click the Planning tab and enter information to plan the change.
4. Click the Schedule tab to enter a requested by date, a planned start and end date, and
work start and end dates. For normal or emergency changes, the planned start and end
dates are typically populated automatically during the Authorize state. Work start and
end dates are populated automatically as the change progresses in and out of
Implement state.
5. Click the Conflicts tab to detect change conflicts.
6. Right-click the form header and click Save.
7. Review entries in the related lists and modify the entries as appropriate.
8. Click Request Approval when the change request is ready to progress into the life cycle
for authorization. Click Schedule in case of standard changes.
The change request moves into the Assess state and approval records are automatically
generated based on the selected Assignment group. You can now conduct peer and
technical reviews of the proposed change.
What to do next
After a change request is created, it is sent for processing to the change manager. The
change manager then reviews, approves, implements, and closes the change request as
necessary.
In addition, you can associate CIs to the newly created change request.
Create a change request template
You can create a template that can be used to create change requests with pre-defined
supporting tasks.
Create a change request from a CI
You can create a change request from a list of CIs, or add selected CIs from a list to a
change record.
Request a standard change from the catalog
Standard change catalog can be used to request a new standard change from the
published standard change templates.
Copy a change request
You can copy details of an existing change record to a new change record.
Related Tasks
Request a standard change from the catalog
You can create a template that can be used to create change requests with pre-defined
supporting tasks.
Procedure
Field Description
Name Unique and descriptive name for this template.
Next related template Using this field creates a record at the same
hierarchical level (sibling) as the current
template.
Field Description
Next related child template This field creates a record at the hierarchical
level below (child) the current template.
Related Tasks
Create a change request from a CI
Request a standard change from the catalog
Copy a change request
You can create a change request from a list of CIs, or add selected CIs from a list to a
change record.
Procedure
1. Select a list of CIs. For example, navigate to Configuration > Application Servers >
Servers > Unix.
2. Select one or more CIs from the appropriate list.
3. Select one of the following options from the Actions list.
Option Description
Add to existing Change Request Select this option to associate the CIs with an
existing change request.
Add to new Change Request Select this option to associate the CIs with a
new change request.
Note: The CIs with a Business Service CI class are added to the change request
record's Impacted Services/CIs related list. The remaining CIs are added
to the change request record's Affected CIs related list.
Depending on your selection, either an existing change requested is updated with the
selected CIs or a new change request record is created with the selected CIs.
4. You can continue to create or modify the change record as required.
Related Tasks
Create a change request template
Request a standard change from the catalog
Copy a change request
Standard change catalog can be used to request a new standard change from the published
standard change templates.
Procedure
Option Description
Network Standard Changes Request a standard change relating to network
related changes.
3. Select a template from the Items section. For example, Add network switch to
datacenter cabinet in the Network Standard Changes > Items section.
When you select the catalog item, a standard change is created. The Standard Change
Request form is displayed with values from the standard change template.
Related Tasks
Create a change request template
Create a change request from a CI
Copy a change request
You can copy details of an existing change record to a new change record.
New change tasks may be created when a change is copied. If your change record has
associated workflows that create change tasks, then these change tasks may not be copied
because they are created by the workflows. Only manually created tasks are copied, if the
workflow when creating the task sets the created_from field on the change_task table to
workflow. The created_from field has a default value of manual.
Procedure
Note: If you click Cancel, the copied change request record is cancelled and no
new record is created.
What to do next
After an existing change request is copied and a new one created, it is sent for processing to
the change manager. The change manager then reviews, approves, implements, and closes
the change request as necessary.
In addition, you can associate CIs to the newly created change request.
Configure ability to copy a change request
You can configure the ability to copy a change request record and also configure the
specific details that can be copied.
Related Tasks
Create a change request template
Create a change request from a CI
Request a standard change from the catalog
You can configure the ability to copy a change request record and also configure the
specific details that can be copied.
You can configure the ability to copy a change. You can do the following:
Procedure
You can configure the ability to copy a change request in the following ways:
Option Description
Disable the ability to copy a change request The ability to copy a change request is enabled
by default.
Disable the ability to copy an attachment The ability to copy an attachment to the change
request is enabled by default.
Option Description
Disable the ability to copy the attachments to a The ability to copy the attachments to a change
change task in the Change Tasks related list of a task in the Change Tasks related list of a change
change request request is enabled by default.
Affected CIs
Impacted Services/CIs
Change Tasks
Option Description
Related lists (comma-separated) that will be
copied from the originating change property.
Configure attributes of related lists to be copied You can configure the attributes of related lists to
be copied using appropriate system properties.
To configure the attributes of related lists to be
copied:
After you create a change request, you can assess and analyze the risk and impact involved
in the change request and also review any conflicts that may be detected.
Procedure
Analyze risk of change and review detected conflicts in the following ways.
Perform risk assessment
You can perform risk assessment of your change records after the risk assessment
criterion are defined.
View a risk assessment response
You can view the risk assessment responses associated with a change request.
Review detected change conflicts
You can run review the details of conflicts detected after running either automated or
manual conflict detection.
Detect change conflicts automatically
You can automate conflict detection to run at specific intervals or when a change request
is updated.
Detect change conflicts manually
You can perform risk assessment of your change records after the risk assessment criterion
are defined.
Procedure
1. Open your submitted change request and click the Fill Out Risk Assessment related link.
The most appropriate risk assessment based on the definition is displayed.
2. Answer the questionnaire and click Submit.
3. After the risk assessment is complete, click the Execute Risk Calculation related link to
calculate the risk based on the assessment.
The results of the risk calculation are displayed.
Related Tasks
View a risk assessment response
Review detected change conflicts
Detect change conflicts automatically
Detect change conflicts manually
You can view the risk assessment responses associated with a change request.
Procedure
You can view the risk assessment response in one of the following ways:
Option Description
Change Management Users with admin role can add the Task
Assessment > Task related list to the change
request form.
The related list displays risk assessments
associated with the change request. Click the
reference icon for an assessment to view the
responses.
Related Tasks
Perform risk assessment
Review detected change conflicts
Detect change conflicts automatically
Detect change conflicts manually
You can run review the details of conflicts detected after running either automated or
manual conflict detection.
Before you can review the conflicts detected for a change request, you must detect conflicts
in one of the following ways:
After you run conflict detection, you can view the following information regarding conflicts
that have been detected.
Field Description
Change A reference to the scheduled change that has a
conflict.
Affected CI The affected CI associated with the change.
Conflicting change The change that is in conflict with the scheduled
change, if any.
Field Description
Related Configuration Item The parent CI or child CI of the current CI, if it has
caused a conflict.
Schedule The maintenance window or blackout window
that is causing the conflict, if any.
Type
The issue that caused the conflict. You can
change the issue to one of the following options:
CI Already Scheduled
Parent CI Already Scheduled
Child CI Already Scheduled
Not in Maintenance Window
Parent Not In Maintenance Window
Child Not In Maintenance Window
Blackout
Related Tasks
Perform risk assessment
View a risk assessment response
Detect change conflicts automatically
Detect change conflicts manually
You can automate conflict detection to run at specific intervals or when a change request is
updated.
Prior to running conflict detection, you must consider the following scenarios unique to your
organization.
If you are a large organization with a large CMDB, conflict detection might take longer to
complete.
Conflict detection does not evaluate inactive changes when determining conflicting
changes.
When you upgrade, advanced mode conflict checking is switched off by default. Hence,
affected CIs are not considered during conflict detection. In order to evaluate all the CIs, set
the mode to Advanced.
Procedure
Option Description
Run conflict detection automatically after Runs conflict detection automatically when a
changes to Configuration item, Planned start change to one or more of the following fields is
date, Planned end date or State when a saved.
change request is updated Configuration item
Planned start date
Planned end date
State
Enable the scheduled change conflict checker Runs conflict detection at these intervals:
Change Conflict Detection < 1 Week Away is
scheduled every day
3. Click Save.
You can view the conflicts in the Conflicts tab on the change request.
Related Tasks
Perform risk assessment
View a risk assessment response
Review detected change conflicts
Detect change conflicts manually
Before you can run conflict detection for a change, the following fields must be completed
for the change request:
Configuration item, except in advanced mode. In advanced mode, the Affected CIs field is
required instead.
Prior to running conflict detection, you must consider the following scenarios unique to your
organization.
If you are a large organization with a large CMDB, conflict detection might take longer to
complete.
Conflict detection does not evaluate inactive changes when determining conflicting
changes.
When you upgrade, advanced mode conflict checking is switched off by default. Hence,
affected CIs are not considered during conflict detection. In order to evaluate all the CIs, set
the mode to Advanced.
Procedure
What to do next
Related Tasks
Perform risk assessment
View a risk assessment response
Review detected change conflicts
Detect change conflicts automatically
Before you process a change request, ensure that you have detected any change conflicts
and performed risk assessment.
Procedure
You can perform the following actions on a change request based on your role.
Option Description
Approve or reject a change request Open the approval record and click Approve to
Role required: change management approve the change request or Reject to reject it.
The change request moves into the Scheduled
state if it is approved or to New state if it is
rejected.
Implement a change request Click Implement to put the change request into
Role required: change management action.
The change request moves into the Implement
state and the workflow creates two change tasks:
Implement and Post-implementation testing.
Review a change request Click Review after reviewing the details on the
Role required: change management change request.
The change request is moved to the Review
state. All active change tasks are set to Closed
Incomplete.
Close a change request Click Close after entering the change request
Role required: change management closure information in the Closure Information
section.
The change request is closed.
You can perform bulk changes to CIs from the change request form.
Place a change request on hold
You can put a change request on hold if it is not in the New, Canceled, or Closed state.
You can perform bulk changes to CIs from the change request form.
The Best Practice - Bulk CI Changes plugin is activated and the change request form is
configured to perform bulk changes to CIs.
Procedure
You can put a change request on hold if it is not in the New, Canceled, or Closed state.
When a change request is placed on hold, these conditions are applied to it:
If the change is waiting for any approvals, then the pending approvals are marked No
Longer Required. When the change request is no longer on hold, then the pending
approvals are reinstated and are Awaiting approval.
The change can progress to only the Canceled state while it is on hold.
If a change request is cancelled while it is on hold, then its on hold flag is set to false so the
change cannot be canceled and still be on hold.
Procedure
Related Concepts
State model and transitions
Configuration Management
Build and maintain the logical service configurations of the infrastructure and application
domains that support a service.
These logical service configurations are mapped with the physical configuration / inventory
data of the supporting infrastructure and application elements in the respective domains.
They track the physical and logical state of IT service elements and associate incidents to
the state of service elements, which helps in analyzing trends and reducing problems and
incidents.
In each case, there are attributes about the CI that you want to maintain, and there is control
you want to have over the CI. There are changes that may need to be made and tracked
against the CI. Also, a CI does not exist on its own. CIs have dependencies and relationship
with other CIs. For example, the loss of a bank of disk drives may take a database instance
down, which affects the requisition service that the HR department uses to order equipment
for new employees.
It is this relationship data that makes the CMDB a powerful decision support tool.
Understanding the dependencies and other relationships among your CIs can tell you, for
example, exactly who and what is affected by the loss of that bank of disk drives. When you
find out that a router has failed, you will be able to assess the effect of that outage. When
you decide to upgrade the processor in a server, you can tell who or what will be affected
during the outage.
Configuration items are a personal issue, because each customer has a unique environment.
Details about the exact physical attributes of a computer may be needed by one customer,
but may represent meaningless data to another. The ServiceNow platform provides a
mechanism to easily define new classes of configuration items and new relationships that
may exist between CIs. New classes can be defined that extend other classes. For example, a
laptop class exists that extends the computer class. The computer class itself extends the
base CI class. Customer class extensions are automatically part of the ServiceNow
environment and blend seamlessly into the integration points for other ITIL processes.
The CMDB has relationships with IT service management processes in the following areas:
ITIL incident management, ITIL problem management, ITIL change management, ITIL
service catalog management, and financial management.
Financial management
With Cost Management, costs can be associated with configuration items, so that the cost
associated with configuration management can be tracked and bundled into expense lines,
budgets, or cost centers.
Related Concepts
Configuration Management
ITIL
It provides guidance for creating and operating a Service Desk that provides efficient
communication between the user community and the IT provider. Originally initiated to
improve IT service management for the UK central government, it has become a standard
for many organizations; public or private sector, large or small, centralized or distributed.
ITIL provides processes for three service concepts: design, transition, and operation.
Transition
change management
knowledge management
asset management
configuration management
release management
Operation
request fulfillment management
event management
incident management
problem management
Service design
Availability management
The availability management process ensures that availability within a system is kept as
close to 100% as possible. By both reacting to past service failures, and planning to avoid
future service failures, availability management can greatly increase end-user satisfaction
with services.
Capacity management
The capacity management process is designed to ensure that business services are not
made unavailable by over-capacity. By analyzing past failures and planning for growth of
demand of services, capacity management can increase end-user satisfaction with services.
Supplier management
Supplier management is a process that defines and monitors agreements between an IT
department and an external supplier.
Related Reference
Service Catalog
Service transition
This guide provides a general overview of ITIL service transition concepts and how the
ServiceNow platform can enable these processes.
Change management
The change management process ensures that standardized methods and procedures are
used for efficient and prompt handling of all changes to minimize the impact of change
related incidents on service quality. Consequently, change management aims to improve the
day-to-day operation of the organization. IT-related changes that may affect one or many
customers are tracked with change management. Adding memory to one machine, getting a
new server, and installing the latest Windows OS on all PCs are all examples. To find out how
the ServiceNow platform implements change management, see Change Management.
Knowledge management
The knowledge management process ensures that important information flows freely
throughout the IT organization. Knowledge management keeps the CMDB and knowledge
base of an organization up-to-date, and uses a knowledge-centered support approach to
reduce repeat incidents and problems. For more information, see Knowledge Management.
Asset management
Asset management enables a process of monitoring processes, organizations, people,
information, applications, infrastructure, and financial capital within an organization. This
allows the organization to collect accurate records of these business components, making
them available for both internal and external auditing processes. To find out how out the
ServiceNow platform implements asset management, see Asset Management.
Configuration management
Configuration management provides a logical model of the infrastructure or a service by
identifying, controlling, maintaining and verifying the Configuration Items in existence. To
find out how the ServiceNow platform implements configuration management, see
Configuration Management.
Release management
This discipline of IT service management is the management of all software configuration
items within the organization. It is responsible for the management of software
development, installation and support of an organization's software products. Software
Control & Distribution procedures include the management of the software Configuration
Items and their distribution and implementation into a production environment. This involves
the definition of a release program suitable for the organization, the definition of how
version control is implemented, and the procedures surrounding how software is built,
released and audited. For more information, see Release Management.
Baseline CMDB
CMDB baselines provides capabilities that help you to understand and control the changes
that have been made to your configuration items.
You can create a baseline, which is a snapshot of your configuration items. You can review
the changes that have been made to that configuration item since a previous baseline.
Multiple baselines may be created and the system tracks the changes that have been
made per baseline.
Creating a baseline captures the attributes of the CI as well as all first level relationships for
the CI. Any changes to the base CI or to any related CIs are captured and displayed. Newly
created CIs are not automatically added to a baseline.
You can associate a configuration item with a task, generally a change or change task, and
to propose changes that are to be made to the CI after the change is complete. You can
record changes, and these changes are not applied to the CI immediately but are delayed
until the change is complete.
When the change is complete, you can choose to apply the proposed changes which
makes all changes previously proposed and associates the changes with the task.
You can create a baseline for a CI to track updates to the CI over time.
Procedure
You can see the changes that have been made to a CI or any first level related CIs by
configuring the CI form layout to display the CMDB Baseline diff field. This field is labeled
Baseline differences on the form.
1. Open a CI record.
2. Select the baseline you want to see for this CI from the choice list.
The field displays the details of any changes that were made to the current record for
the selected baseline, or indicates that no changes were made.
3. To add a relationship to the CI, click the green plus icon in the Related Items toolbar.
The new relationship appears below the toolbar. For more information about the Related
Items toolbar and how to control the display, see CI relations formatter.
4. Update a related CI and see the changes displayed as Basic attribute changes in the
current CI record.
Proposed changes
You can pre-configure changes to configuration items (CIs) and their associated
relationships by using proposed changes. These changes are prepared for implementation
and then applied at a later time.
When you view a CI, you can display any proposed changes to see what is planned for the
CI.
Proposed changes are useful when you want to make modifications while a change process
is in the approval stage, and only implement the changes after the approvals are complete. If
a change is never approved, there are no record changes to reverse. If the change is
approved, a quick command applies all the proposed changes.
You can view what is planned for a CI by displaying the proposed changes for it.
Configure the CI form layout to display the CMDB Scheduled Changes field. By default,
proposed changes are not displayed.
Procedure
Proposed changes to a CI can be made while viewing a change request or any task-related
record.
Procedure
When you apply proposed changes, all the proposed changes for that change request are
applied to the configuration item.
Before applying proposed changes, it is recommended that you verify the changes. You can
configure the rules that are used to verify changes.
Procedure
1. Navigate to the Change Request form with the proposed changes that you want to
apply.
2. Click Apply Proposed Changes.
You may have to right-click the form header and select Reload form to see the changes.
Result
When users view proposed changes for the CIs affected by the change request, the applied
changes are no longer displayed in the Scheduled changes section of the CI form.
Create or edit a proposed change verification rule
To ensure that proposed changes meet business requirements and do not introduce invalid
data to the CMDB, create a rule that includes a script to verify the proposed changes.
When you configure proposed change verification rules for a CI, you have an option to verify
that the proposed changes pass the verification test script in the rule. The verification test
results are logged as passed or failed, and you can view the results. Running the verification
test is not mandatory, and a failed verification test does not prevent you from applying
proposed changes.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Configuration > Change Verification > Proposed Change Verification Rules.
2. Click New or select an existing rule to edit.
3. Fill in the fields, as appropriate.
Field Description
Rule script A verification Java script that needs to return
true or false. For example:
validateRule()
{
var os = current.getValue("os");
var cpu = current.getValue("cpu_count");
Result
On the Change Request form, you can click Verify Proposed Changes to verify proposed
changes for the affected CIs.
Before applying proposed changes to affected CIs, use proposed change verification rules
to verify that the changes meet business requirements and do not add invalid data to the
CMDB.
Create or edit the rules used to verify proposed changes. For details, see Create or edit a
proposed change verification rule.
You can apply proposed changes even if they are unverified or fail a verification test.
Procedure
What to do next
To view the details of any verification tests that were performed for the change request in
the past two days, click the Proposed Change Verification Log related link.
Create or edit a planned change validation script
Create a custom script that checks if a change to a class was valid according to business
requirements, and whether the change was planned or not. A planned change validation
script is used whenever a CI change is viewed in the CI timeline or change history.
If a custom script exists for the CI or one of the CI parents, then the script is executed and
the results are used to flag the change as valid or invalid. Parent CIs are examined in the
hierarchical order.
If a custom script does not exist for the CI or any of its parents, then a predefined
validation script is used. The change is determined as a planned change if the change
occurred between the Work start and Work end dates of the change request associated
with the changed CI.
However, this check is not always reliable because a user might have manually modified
the CI within the work dates, which flags the change as valid even if it is invalid.
The script needs to return a boolean, true or false, which depends on meeting the test
criteria in the script. You can define a separate script for each CI class, and you can define
multiple planned change validation scripts for a single class. For example, to maintain
different versions of the script. Only one script can be active for a CI class at any given time.
To correctly determine the validity of a change, examine all of these parameters and apply
business logic to evaluate if the validation tests are met. A planned change validation script
can test any of these characteristics and determine if a change meets pre-established
criteria. For example, the custom script can check if the mode of the CI is operational or
maintenance, or who initiated the change.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Configuration > Change Verification > Planned Change Validation Script.
2. Click New or select a validation script to edit.
3. Complete the form.
The script has a template which displays the input variables of the script.
This sample script checks who initiated the record update. It returns true if admin
initiated the record update. Otherwise, the script returns false.
isValidChange();
function isUserAdmin(userName)
{
var grUser = new GlideRecord("sys_user");
grUser.addQuery('name', userName);
grUser.query();
if(grUser.next())
{
var roles = new GlideRecord ("sys_user_has_role");
roles.addActiveQuery();
roles.addQuery('user', grUser.sys_id);
roles.query();
while(roles.next())
{
if(roles.role.name == 'admin')
return true;
}
}
return false;
}
4. Click Submit.
The CMDB, in contrast to a static asset list, helps you track not only the configuration items
(CIs) within your system, but also the relationships between those items.
Parent CI
Child CI
Type of the relationship that links both CIs
For example, a web application might read data from a particular instance of Oracle, which
in turn might depend on a piece of underlying hardware. Most CIs in a CMDB have multiple
relationships to other CIs, users, and groups.
The relationships between CIs can be automatically discovered. If you use Discovery, many
relationships can be automatically loaded into the system through the discovery process. If
you import your data from another system, you may get some form of relationships.
You can add to automatically discovered relationships, create new relationships, or edit
relationships for a CI by launching the CI relationship editor from the CI form.
Related Tasks
Create a CI relation rollup
Suggested CI relationships
The system keeps a table of relationship types that are appropriate for a CI type, based on
its class. You can view these relationships by navigating to Configuration > Suggested
Relationships. You can also create additional suggested relationships.
Suggestion model
The relationship editor has a concept of a base CI, which designates the CI that a user was
on before launching the editor, as the base CI in the new relationship. If you launched the
relationship editor from the lnux100 CI, then lnux100 becomes the base CI. Also, every CI in
the system has a type (class). For example, bond lnux100 is of the Linux server type.
Many CI types are children of other types in the hierarchy. For example, the class hierarchy
for a Linux server is:
When looking at a Linux server, the suggestion model works by analyzing the suggested
relationship table for all relationships whose base class is the user's current base class or any
one of its parent classes. For example, when looking at a Linux server, the suggestion model
would retrieve any relationships whose base class was:
A user may reasonably want to define the following relationship between two items as
follows:
You can define suggested relationships which can then be selected when creating new CI
relationships.
Procedure
For example you can add suggested relationships such as the following:
Note: You can have the same parent class and relationship appear more than
once.
3. Click Submit.
What to do next
You can delete a suggested relationship to ensure that only appropriate relationships are
created. For example, to limit the list of available relationships in the CI relationship editor.
Removing a suggested relationship does not have any affect on relationships that are
created or updated by Discovery.
CI relations formatter
The default CI form includes a CI relations formatter from which you can examine a CI and
its relationships in various views. From the CI relations formatter, you can also launch the CI
relationship editor for the CI.
The CI relations formatter contains a list of related CIs and a toolbar with controls for
viewing the relationships between the current CI and related CIs. You can configure the
controls in this formatter to modify varying aspects of the view.
Note: On instances that do not meet the Internet browser requirements for the CI
relations formatter, the default CI form includes the legacy CI relations
formatter instead. For more information, see Legacy CI relations formatter.
Click the Settings ( ) icon to configure additional view settings that filter the data
displayed. Settings are preserved through logging out and logging back in.
Show Relations in Split/Merge Layout To view separate lists for upstream and
downstream relationships, click Split.
To view a single list that includes both upstream
and downstream relationships, click Merge.
Relationships are grouped by relationship type.
Filter Relations by Max Level Select the number of levels in the hierarchy to
include when displaying CIs in a flat view.
Filter Relations by Relationship Type Select the types of relationships to view.
Filter Relations by CMDB View Filter by tables specified in CMDB views, if any
relationship filters exist.
The relations formatter uses the following icons to provide additional information about
changes, problems, and outages related to CIs in the relationship:
Planned changes
Problems
Incidents
Planned outages
In large networks, a list of related CIs might be excessively long, which can slow
performance when a CI form is rendered. You can configure these properties to control the
amount of data that is displayed. To find a property, enter sys_properties.list in the left
navigation filter and search for the property.
Related Tasks
Create or edit a relationship filter
Create a custom relationship filter to display CI relationships from selected tables in the CI
relations formatter.
The CI relations formatter displays related CIs for the base CI, and the relationships between
the CIs. You can use relationship filters on the CI relations formatter to customize CI
relationship views.
Procedure
Result
On a CI form, in the relations formatter settings, you can select the newly defined
relationship filter from the Filter Relations by CMDB View list.
In the legacy CI relations formatter, you can click View and select the newly defined
relationship filter.
After you select a filter, the relations formatter displays only CIs from the tables specified in
the filter or from descending tables.
On instances that do not meet the internet browser requirements for the latest CI relations
formatter, the default CI form includes the legacy CI relations formatter instead.
This element contains the list of related CIs and a toolbar with controls for viewing the
relationships between the current CI and related CIs.
Note: The legacy BSM map provides a more complete view of CI relationships.
Configure the controls in this formatter with two properties that restrict varying aspects of
the view.
Click the flat layout icon ( ) to group the related CIs by relationship.
Click the tree layout icon ( ) to group the related CIs in a hierarchical tree.
CI relationship editor
When you use the relationship editor, the CI from which the editor was launched is
designated as the base CI. You can then select one or more CIs as a second CI for the
relationship. Depending on the selected relationship type, the base CI can become the
parent CI or the child CI in the new relationship.
The relationship editor operates differently, depending on whether or not you select the Use
suggested relationship check box.
With suggested relationships, the relationship editor lists all available relationship types for
the base CI. To define a new relationship, select a relationship type, and then select a
second CI for the relationship.
Suggested relationships are highlighted for you. These relationships are displayed in blue
with a prefix of [Suggested].
Without suggested relationships, you define a new relationship by first selecting a second
CI for the relationship and then selecting a parent or a child relationship type.
Suggested relationships
If you select the Use suggested relationship check box in the editor, the Suggested
relationship list appears. It displays all available CI, user and group relationship types for the
base CI. Relationship types have a suffix of (Parent) or (Child) to note the relationship
descriptor, and suggested relationship types are displayed in blue and have a "*" prefix.
When you select a relationship, you are also designating the base CI as being the parent or
the child CI in the new relationship. For example, if you select the 'Feeds' relationship type,
the base CI becomes the designated parent CI, and the second CI that you select becomes
the child CI in this relationship.
Downstream relationships
If you do not select the Use suggested relationship check box in the editor, the Downstream
relationships list appears. It displays all relationships in which the base CI is the parent CI.
The child CI of the relationship is displayed in the Child column.
Upstream relationships
If you do not select the Use suggested relationship check box in the editor, the Upstream
relationships list appears. It displays all relationships in which the base CI is the child CI. The
parent CI in each relationship is displayed in the Parent column.
Related Tasks
Create or edit a CI relationship
Related Concepts
Legacy CI relationship builder
You must use supported browser versions in order to use the latest CI relationship editor. If
you do not use a supported browser version, the instance provides the legacy CI relationship
builder.
Related Concepts
Legacy CI relationship builder
Related Topics
http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?title=Defining_CI_Relationships#gsc.tab=0
Use the relationship editor to view, create or modify CI relationships. You can open the
relationship editor from the CI Relations formatter.
The relationship editor operates differently, depending on whether you check the Use
suggested relationship option or not.
Procedure
The Configurations Items list displays all the CIs that are appropriate for the base CI
and the selected relationship type. The Relationships list at the bottom of the editor,
displays all existing relationships of the selected relationship type, in which the base
CI is a parent CI or a child CI.
c. From the Configuration Items list, select one or more CIs as a second CI for the
relationship.
You can filter the list of Configurations Items by adding conditions in the Filter
section and clicking Run filter.
If you selected a parent relationship type, these CIs becomes the child CI in the
relationship, and if you selected a child relationship type, then the selected CIs
become the parent CI in the relationship.
d. In the Relationships section, click the plus icon (+) to add the new relationships.
Alternatively, you can drag the selected CIs to the Relationships list. Each new
relationship will consist of the base CI, the selected relationship type, and a selected
second CI.
3. If you do not want to use suggested relationships, then you need to first select one or
more CIs to be the child CIs in the relationship, and then select the relationship type.
a. Uncheck Use suggested relationship.
b. In the Configuration Items list, select one or more CIs as a second CI for the
relationship. You can filter the list of Configurations Items by adding conditions in
the Filter area and clicking Run filter.
Depending on the relationship type that you will select, the selected CIs might
become a parent or a child CI in the relationship.
c. With at least one CI selected in the Configuration Items list, click the '+' sign in the
Downstream Relationships section or the Upstream Relationships section to create
the relationship.
Add the relationship to Downstream Relationships to create a relationship in
which the base CI is the parent CI and the selected CI is the child CI.
Related Concepts
CI relationships in the CMDB
CI relationship security
Related Reference
Suggested CI relationships
In the legacy CI relations formatter, click the CI relationship builder icon ( ) to display the
legacy Define Relationships page.
Used to define CI relationships manually, this page is a sophisticated version of the standard
slushbucket.
Related Concepts
CI relationships in the CMDB
The top half of the legacy relationship editor contains a large option box that allows you to
select which type of relationship you want to manipulate.
Click the particular type of relationship you are interested in working with.
If we want to say that Bond Trading is backed up by Fred Luddy, select [Bond Trading]
Backup done by
Related Tasks
Filter the list of CI relationships
Select CI relationship targets
Create a CI relation rollup
Related Concepts
CI relationships in the CMDB
CI relationship editor
CI relationship security
In the legacy relationship editor, the checkboxes along the right hand edge of the select box
provide a quick way to filter down the list of available relationships.
By default, the system displays a list of all suggested relationships for the type of CI you
selected. For example, if you selected a Database instance, a relationship of "Runs on" makes
sense, but a relationship of "Provides HVAC for" does not. The default filter is stored in the
user preferences
ci_manage_relationships_filter_hint.cmdb_cici_manage_relationships_filter_hint.sys_user,
and ci_manage_relationships_filter_hint.sys_user_group.
Procedure
Hide CI relationship -- Hides any relationships between this CI and another CI (e.g.
"Receives data from").
Hide user relationships -- Hides any relationships between this CI and a user (e.g. "Logs
reviewed by").
Hide group relationships -- Hides any relationships between this CI and a group (e.g.
"Backups done by").
Show all relationships -- If you have the appropriate role (out of box this is itil_admin) you
will have an additional checkbox labeled "Show all relationships." If you click that
checkbox, the system will let you choose any relationship defined in the system, regardless
of where it is on the "suggested" list for this type of CI.
Related Tasks
Create a CI relation rollup
Related Concepts
CI relationships in the CMDB
CI relationship security
In the legacy relationship editor, users can link or unlink CIs for a relationship type.
As soon as you pick a relationship type, the system will fill in the two select boxes at the
bottom of the screen with CI's that are appropriate for the relationship you suggested. The
left hand select box will contain a list of CI's that might reasonably be linked via this
relationship, while the right hand box contains a list of those CI's which are already linked.
Procedure
Option Description
Link new items Move that CI from the left hand box to the
right hand box.
Unlink existing items Move them from the right hand box to the left.
When you make either type of change, a message appears indicating that you have
pending changes.
2. Apply or cancel your changes.
Option Description
Click the Save button. This will save your set of changes, and go back
to the previous screen (either a CI or the BSM
map depending on how you got here).
Click the Cancel button. This causes you to exit without saving your
changes.
Related Tasks
Select a CI relationship type
Filter the list of CI relationships
Create a CI relation rollup
Related Concepts
CI relationships in the CMDB
CI relationship editor
CI relationship security
Relation qualifier
For example, for a relationship between a parent CI and a child CI, you can add a relation
qualifier to note that the relationship was discovered based on traffic (such as
cmdb_ci_qualifier_trafficbased). This results in having two records in the CI Relationship
[cmdb_rel_ci] table for the relationship.
For this relationship, there is a parent CI and a child CI, and a relation qualifier of type
cmdb_ci_qualifier_trafficbased.
For information about usage of relation qualifiers in the identification process, see
Identification rules.
CI relationship security
When applying security to CI relationships, it is important to apply the access controls both
to the cmdb_rel_ci table (which stores the relationships) as well as creating an
editCIRelations operation to the * table as well.
If the current instance has defined security for editCIRelations, it will be applied to
edit_ci_relations automatically in the process of upgrading, and the out-of-date security will
be removed.
Related Tasks
Create a CI relation rollup
Related Concepts
CI relationships in the CMDB
A CI relation rollup allows you to sum, count, max, min, or mean a relationship type. You can
create CI relation rollups.
CI relation rollup can be useful for tracking and for receiving notifications. For example:
In a sum rollup, add up fields from multiple CIs and display the result on another CI to
which they are related. So, if you have four configuration items in a rack that are all
consuming power, create a CI relation rollup to add all the power usage together and
display the result in one field on the rack CI form.
If a certain level of power consumption in a rack is exceeded, send a notification.
With a rack that has 10 slots, send a notification when 9 slots are filled.
CI relation rollups use the cmdb synch event business rule on the [cmdb_ci] table. Although
this business rule is active by default, you must modify the rule slightly before it will run.
Procedure
4. To run the cmdb synch event business rule, navigate to Business Rules.
5. Use the search box to find the [cmdb synch event] table.
6. Click the cmdb synch event business rule to go to the Business Rule page.
7. Select the Update, Delete, and Query check boxes.
Addtionally, if you wish CI relation rollups to recalculate when there is a change to a
relationship, use a similar procedure to select the Active check box on the cmdb_rel_ci
synch event business rule.
Related Concepts
CI relationships in the CMDB
CMDB classifications
CMDB classifications are groups of configuration items (CIs) that share the same attributes
and are stored in their own table. Classifications allow administrators to define the hierarchy
of CIs within the CMDB. A CI class refers to the actual table name in the instance database.
In that context, CI Type is a friendly name that a CI is known by, such as computer, router, or
printer.
The Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is a series of tables that contain all the
assets and business services controlled by a company and its configurations.
This includes computers and devices on the network, software contracts and licenses,
business services, and more. The IT desk can use the CDMB to understand better their
network users' equipment, and the relationships between them. The CMDB can also be
referenced by other processes within the system.
The CMDB can be populated using the Discovery product. Discovery searches the network
for all attached computers and devices, then populates the CMDB with information on each
computer/device's configuration, provisioning, and current status. Discovery also reports on
any software which is running, and the TCP connections between computer systems,
thereby establishing their relationships.
The Asset Portfolio, Asset Contracts, and Configuration applications contain modules which
display different tables within the CMDB. Each application is designed with a specific
purpose in mind.
The two asset applications have an asset management focus, providing a business
perspective on the CMDB. The Asset Portfolio application links to CMDB of all assets,
hardware, software, assets in stock, as well as records for manufacturers and vendors. The
Asset Contracts application contains information about contracts, including leases, service
contracts, purchase orders, warranties, and software licenses. The Configuration application
has a focus on operation.
CMDB tables
The Base Configuration Item [cmdb] table, which is the core CMDB table for non IT CIs.
The Configuration Item [cmdb_ci] core table, which stores the basic attributes of all the
CIs. The admin, itil, or asset user role is required to access this table.
The CI Relationship [cmdb_rel_ci] table, which defines all relationships between CIs.
You can use the schema map to view more details of tables and their relationships:
Schema Map
CI attributes
Attributes apply to all of the CIs in a classification. To change attributes for a CI, you must
extend the table and create a new classification for that CI.
For example, servers have different attributes from computers, which includes workstations
and laptops. Linux servers and UNIX servers have different attributes from the parent server
classification and from each other, so they occupy separate branches in the hierarchy.
Relationship rules
Any time you create a new classification (extend a table), you must create new relationship
rules.
The ServiceNow platform relationship rules use separate tables to define the relationships
between specific CI base classes and dependent classes. When you extend a table in the
CMDB, you must create a new relationship rule in Configuration > Suggested Relationships.
For example, in a default ServiceNow instance, the base class Computer has a Depends on
relationship with the dependent class of Computer Peripheral. If you decide to reclassify
laptops (classified as Computer by default) into their own base class (for example,
[cmdb_ci_laptop]), you must create new rules for the relationships between laptops and
other dependent classes, such as peripherals.
Related Lists in CI records display additional components contained by that CI, such as disk
drives on a server and the rules that control the behavior of a network router.
When Discovery runs, the Related List is populated with the components that Discovery
finds running on the CI. The CI record might show different lists from scan to scan,
depending on whether or not Discovery found the component.
By default, the Related Lists only display those components that are associated with that CI
in the CMDB that have been discovered by the last scan. CI components that are discovered
but cannot be matched to the CI in the CMDB are added to the CMDB and appear in the
Related List. Components that are recorded in the CMDB but are not discovered in a scan,
are deemed absent and do not appear in the list.
There are two types of components that appear in the Related List: those that are CIs
themselves (such as hard disks), and those that are not (serial numbers and rules). The
default filter condition in the breadcrumbs for components that are CIs is [Status] [!=]
[Absent]. The filter condition for components that are not CIs is [Absent] [=] [false].
In the following example, the snc-tc01 router has several Related Lists affected by these filter
conditions, including routing rules, disk drives, interfaces, and network adapters. Only those
components found during the last Discovery appear in these Related Lists.
CI Related Lists
Create CI class
Use the CI Definition form view when creating a new class (table).
The CI Definition form serves as a centralized location from which you can create a new
table that is derived from the CMDB table, and configure additional CMDB-related
configurations for CI identification and reconciliation.
Procedure
Related Concepts
Table form views
Reclassify a CI
You can upgrade, downgrade, or switch the class of a CI by modifying its Class attribute.
Each class is defined with a unique set of attributes. This set consists of attributes that were
inherited from the parent class, and additional attributes specifically defined for the class.
1. The set of attributes is adjusted to match the set of attributes of the newly assigned
class. Attributes are added or removed as needed.
2. If any attributes are unique to the current class and are not defined in the newly
reclassified class, they are lost.
3. A new record with the CI's sys_id is inserted to the table of the new class, with the
appropriate set of attributes for the class.
Downgrade
The CI class is updated to a class that is lower in class hierarchy, and the newly assigned
class is a parent of the current class and has less attributes than the current class. For
example, reclassifying a CI from the cmdb_ci_server class to the cmdb_ci_computer class.
The cmdb_ci_server class has attributes that the cmdb_ci_computer class does not have.
During the downgrade, these attributes and their respective values are not included in the
new CI record that is inserted into the cmdb_ci_computer class.
Upgrade
The CI class is updated to a class that is higher in class hierarchy, and the newly assigned
class is a derived child of the current class and has additional attributes. For example,
reclassifying a CI from the cmdb_ci_computer class to the cmdb_ci_server class.
Switch
The newly assigned class is in a different branch in the class hierarchy and has a different
set of attributes than the current class. For example, reclassifying a CI from the
cmdb_ci_linux_server class to the cmdb_ci_win_server class.
For more information about system properties for automatic CI reclassification, see CI
reclassification.
Procedure
1. Locate the CI that you want to reclassify and display it in a list view.
You can use the application navigator, or open the list for the CI type. For example, if the
CI is a server, then enter cmdb_ci_server.list in the navigation filter to find the CI in the
Servers list.
2. Ensure that the Class field is displayed in the list.
If you do not see this attribute, personalize the list to add the Class field.
3. Double-click the Class value for the CI, and select a new class.
4. Click the green check box to confirm your selection.
The use of multiple sources increases the risk of introducing inconsistencies through
duplicate records. To maintain the integrity of the database, it is important to correctly
identify CIs and services so that new records are created only for CIs that are truly new to
the CMDB. Identification and Reconciliation helps you prevent duplication of CI records,
reconcile CI attributes, reclassify CIs, and allow only authoritative data sources to update the
CMDB.
Related Concepts
Relation qualifier
Identification
Identification is the process of uniquely identifying CIs, to determine if the CI already exists
in the CMDB or if it is a newly discovered CI that must be added to the CMDB. The process
relies on identification rules.
Reconciliation
De-duplication tasks
If the instance encounters duplicate CIs during the identification and reconciliation process,
it groups each set of duplicate CIs into a de-duplication task. Review the information in
these tasks to see how it was determined that these CIs are duplicates.
Reclassification tasks
API
The Identification and Reconciliation API is a centralized API that can be used with different
sources of data such as Discovery, Monitoring, or Import Sets. You can use it to enforce
identification and reconciliation before data is stored in the CMDB. Data sources do not
directly write to the CMDB. Instead, they call the API first to ensure that the data being
written does not introduce inconsistencies.
Predefined identification and reconciliation rules are included for tables that are in the base
instance. You can customize these rules for your organization. When a new table is created
in the CMDB, it inherits any existing identification and reconciliation rules from its parent
table. To apply identification and reconciliation rules to a new table, create the rules either at
the child level or parent level.
Identification rules
The CMDB identification process relies on identification rules. Each identification rule
consists of one or more identification entries that specify the attributes that uniquely
identify the CI.
Identification rules apply to a CI class and comprises of one or more identifier entries that
have a different priority. Each identifier entry defines a unique attribute set with a specific
priority. Create strong identification rules that give the highest priority to the strongest
identifier entries. To continuously improve the efficiency of the identification process,
routinely review the identification rules. Try to improve weak rules or give them lower
priorities than stronger rules.
The identification process and identification rules use unique attributes and required
attributes:
Unique attributes
Designated sets of criterion attribute values of a CI, that can be used to uniquely identify
the CI. Unique attributes can be from the same table or from derived tables.
Required attributes
The steps for identifying dependent CIs can be different from the steps for identifying
independent CIs. This is reflected in the differences between identification rules for
dependent CIs and identification rules for independent CIs.
dependency. The relationship types between the CI and its dependent CIs are also included
in the identification process. To assist in the identification process of dependent CIs, add
Service rules metadata that define the dependency structure of CI types and the
relationship types.
The payload used for identification of a dependent CI, can include a relationship with a
qualifier chain. For such relationship, if there is a matching parent/child pair, the system
compares the qualifier chain in the payload, with the qualifier chain of the CIs in the
database. If there is a difference, the qualifier chain in the database is updated to match the
qualifier chain in the payload for that relationship.
Related Concepts
Relation qualifier
Identification rules are used to uniquely identify CIs in the CMDB, as part of the identification
and reconciliation process. Each table in the CMDB can be associated with a single
identification rule.
In a CI identification rule, create one or more identifier entries that specify the attributes that
uniquely identify the CI. You can configure an identifier entry to match a CI not only based
on the CI's own attributes (field based identification) but also based on the CI's related list
(lookup based identification) such as Serial Numbers or Network Adapters.
Note: Users with the itil role have read access to the CI identification rules.
Procedure
Identifier form
Field Description
Name Name of CI identifier.
Applies to Class that this CI identifier applies to.
Description Description of the CI identifier.
Independent Check box that specifies the CI identifier can
identify the CI independently of other CIs.
Optional condition Use the Add Filter Condition and the Add "OR"
Clause buttons to construct a filter to narrow
the set of records that will be searched for a
matching CI. Optional condition is applied only
to lookup based identification.
Identifier The CI identifier to which this identifier entry
belongs to. By default it is set to the identifier
you previously selected.
Priority Priority of the identifier entry. Identifier entries
are applied based on priority. Rules with lower
priority numbers are given higher priority.
Identifier entries of identical priorities are
applied randomly.
It is recommended that you keep gaps between
the priority numbers, so you can assign the
unused priority numbers to new entries without
modifying the existing priority order.
7. Click Submit.
Example
For example, the pre-defined Hardware Rule applies to the Hardware [cmdb_ci_hardware]
table. It has an identifier entry with the criterion attribute Serial Number, Serial Number Type
and its Search on table field is set to Serial Number.
The following payload snippet adds a CI to the cmdb_ci_linux_server class, that is a child of
the Hardware class:
{
"items": [
{
"className": "cmdb_ci_linux_server",
"lookup": [
{
"className": "cmdb_serial_number",
"values": {
"serial_number": "VMware-42 21 e3 da 44 14 5a a6-56 48 2b 0a 28 53
"serial_number_type": "system",
"valid": "true"
}
},
{
"className": "cmdb_serial_number",
"values": {
"serial_number": "4221E3DA-4414-5AA6-5648-2B0A2853424C",
"serial_number_type": "uuid",
"valid": "true"
}
}, }
],
"values": {
......
"name": "xpolog2.lab3",
"os_name": "Linux",
"output": "Linux xpolog2.lab3 2.6.32-431.el6.x86_64 #1 SMP Fri Nov 22 03:1
"serial_number": "VMware-42 21 e3 da 44 14 5a a6-56 48 2b 0a 28 53 42 4c",
"sys_class_name": "cmdb_ci_linux_server"
}
}
]
}
When the Hardware Rule is applied, the Serial Number [cmdb_serial_number] table is
searched for a match with the values specified within the lookup key. Unless Enforce exact
count match (Lookup) is checked, it is not necessary for every lookup key to return a match,
as long as there is at least one match. If all matches reference the same CI, then that CI is
considered to be the existing CI record. If no match is found, then the identification search
continues to the next rule entry. If after all the rules are exhausted without finding a match, a
new CI record is created in the database.
Reconciliation rules
Reconciliation rules specify which data sources can update a table or a set of table
attributes, and they can be defined at the parent and the child table level. Ensure that there
is a reconciliation rule for each data source that is authorized to update an attribute -
multiple reconciliation rules can exist for the same set of attributes.
As you create reconciliation rules, keep the following principles and guidelines in mind.
These principles are designed for flexibility and the refinement of rules at the attributes level.
Because reconciliation rules are inherited by child tables from parent tables, this rule
also authorizes Discovery to update the name attribute in any child tables for the
cmdb_ci_computer table.
For example, if only example rules #1 and #3 are created, then Discovery is authorized to
update the name attribute in the cmdb_ci_linux_server table. ServiceWatch is authorized to
update all other attributes in the table except for the name attribute.
To override the authorization of Discovery to update the name attribute, example rule #2 is
added to specifically authorize ServiceWatch to update the attribute.
Example rule #1 grants Discovery with exclusive authority to update the name attribute of
the cmdb_ci_computer table. All other data sources are prevented from updating the name
attribute of any CI in the cmdb_ci_computer table.
For example, rule #1 lets Discovery update the name attribute in the cmdb_ci_computer
table and all of its child tables. However, rule #2 for the cmdb_ci_linux_server child table,
which overrides rule #1 for the parent table, explicitly authorizes ServiceWatch to update this
attribute in the child table.
As a result:
Discovery cannot update the name attribute of the child cmdb_ci_linux_server table. Only
ServiceWatch is authorized to update this attribute.
Discovery is authorized to update the name attribute of CI records in all other child tables
of the cmdb_ci_computer table.
Overlapping rules
Rules that authorize different data sources for the same attributes of the same table can
coexist and do not exclude each other.
For example, assume the following rule is added. It is similar to example rule #1 but
authorizes a different data source:
Like example rule #1, this new rule applies to the name attribute in the cmdb_ci_computer
table so both Discovery and ServiceWatch can update the attribute. Any applicable data
source precedence rules are enforced to prevent the data sources from overwriting each
other's updates.
Domain separation
If Domain Separation is enabled, then you can scope reconciliation rules to specific domains.
Rules of the parent domain, if not overridden, apply to CIs of child domain. All rules that are
visible to a domain are applied, and a rule overriding the parent domain displays the child
domain version.
A reconciliation rule specifies the attributes that a data source is authorized to update for a
given table and prevents unauthorized data sources from overwriting the attributes' values.
If an attribute does not have any reconciliation rules created for it, data sources are allowed
to overwrite each other's updates to the attribute's value.
Note: Users with the itil role have read access to the CI identification rules.
Procedure
Update with null Attributes that the data source can update with
a null value. By default, authorized data sources
cannot overwrite a non-null value with a null
values. Attributes in this list, which are not in
the Attributes list, are not included with the
attributes that the data source can update with
a null value.
Domain Domain that the reconciliation rule is enforced
in, if the Domain Support domain separation
plugin is enabled.
Active Check box to activate this reconciliation rule.
3. Click Submit.
If multiple data sources are authorized to update the same table or the same table attributes
in the CMDB, assign a priority to each of these data sources to prevent them from
overwriting each other's updates.
After an attribute is updated by an authorized data source, any subsequent updates are
accepted only from the same data source or from a data source with a higher priority.
Updates from a data source with a lower priority are rejected. Without data source
precedence rules, data sources can overwrite each other's modifications.
Note: Users with the itil role have read access to the CI identification rules.
Procedure
4. Click Submit.
If the instance encounters duplicate CIs in the identification and reconciliation process, it
does not update or insert the CI. Instead, the instance groups each set of duplicate CIs into a
de-duplication task for review. Use de-duplication tasks to track the duplicate CIs until they
can be resolved.
De-duplication tasks provide details about the duplication, including a list of all the duplicate
CIs and the internal payload used during the identification process. Review the details of
each duplicate CI in the task and the data that was used to determine that the CI is a
duplicate. A large number of duplicate CIs might be due to weak identification rules.
If the duplicate CI is a dependent CI, then you can view the details of the dependent
relationship, the Depend on CI, and any relation qualifier chain. If the dependent CI has a
lookup table, then you can see the details of the respective lookup table.
Skip duplication
To modify these properties, you need to first add them to the System Properties
[sys_properties] table. For more information, see Properties installed with Identification and
Reconciliation.
Procedure
3. In the Duplicate Audit Results section, click a duplicate CI to view the details about how
it was identified as a duplicate.
Field Description
Depend on If the duplicate CI is a dependent CI, then this
field displays the depend on CI.
Qualifier chain If the duplicate CI is a dependent CI, then this
field shows a list of sys_ids of qualifier CIs, if it
exists.
Follow on task The associated de-duplication task that
captures the duplication.
Relationship For a duplicate CI that is a dependent CI, this
field shows the relationship between the
duplicate CI and depend on CI.
What to do next
Based on your analysis of de-duplication tasks, you can determine which CI should remain
active and which of the duplicate CIs in the Duplicate Audit Results records are stale or
incorrect. Determine if it is appropriate to delete or inactivate any of these CIs.
Related Concepts
Relation qualifier
CI reclassification
Alternatively, in the input payload of the createOrUpdateCI() API you can temporarily
override a false value of the glide.class.upgrade.enabled property for individual CIs. In the
payload, set these properties to true to enable automatic reclassification.
classUpgrade
classDowngrade
classSwitch
The following sample JSON payload enables automatic reclassification for the specified CI:
Related Reference
Properties installed with Identification and Reconciliation
When automatic CI reclassification is disabled, reclassification tasks are created for CIs that
could not be automatically reclassified during the identification process. Review these tasks
to locate the CIs and decide whether to reclassify them.
Procedure
What to do next
After examining the task details, you can locate the CI that is noted in the task Description
and manually reclassify it. For details, see Reclassify a CI.
Service rules metadata defines the dependency structure of the CI types and the
relationship types in service definitions. The metadata helps identify CIs and construct
business service maps. Configure and manage service rules metadata with the metadata
rules editor.
The dependencies defined by service rules metadata are used when identifying dependent
CIs. This information helps prioritize the order of CI identification and match CIs and
respective dependent CIs in a payload. Service rules metadata is also used by Service
Mapping and can be defined for custom CI types. After defining a new CI type, you can
define metadata rules that specify how the new CI type is related to existing types in the
CMDB.
Service rules metadata consists of hosting rules and containment rules that describe a
relationship type between two CI types. Each set of rules models the data from a different
perspective of the CI.
The same relationship type can be used in a hosting rule and in a containment rule. It is the
context in which the relationship is used that distinguishes between a containment and
hosting rule.
The plugins that have been activated on an instance determine which hosting and
containment rules are available by default.
Hosting rules
Hosting rules represent all valid combinations for pairs of hosting and hosted CIs in the
service definition. Hosting rules are a flat set of rules that can be only one level deep. You
create them for resources, typically physical or virtual hardware.
Each hosting rule is a standalone rule between two CI types. It specifies the relationship
between a CI type and another valid CI type that it can host or be hosted on in the service
definition.
A hosting rule consists of a parent CI type, a relationship type (such as Hosted On::Hosts)
and a child CI type. For example, a hosting rule can specify that the Application type Runs
On::Runs the Hardware type.
Hosting rules are stored in the CMDB Metadata Hosting Rules [cmdb_metadata_hosting]
table.
Containment rules
The collection of containment rules represent the containment hierarchy for a CI type. Each
rule specifies the relationship between a CI type and another valid CI type that it can contain
or be contained by in the service definition. The rules are chained to each other in a
containment rules group, with a CI type that is the top-level (root) parent of the group.
Containment rules are logical concepts and represent logical CIs. For example, to describe
software that runs on a server, or to specify that the Tomcat type Contains::Contained By
the WAR File type.
To designate that data flows into or from a CI type, add an endpoint to the rule for that CI
type. After an endpoint is added to a containment rule, you cannot add any child rules to
that rule.
Rules restrictions
The rules that you create are bound by the following restrictions and are enforced in the
metadata rules editor. Only valid options that adhere to these restrictions are available in the
editor.
The second metadata entry in this example satisfies the third rule restriction above (it is a
hosting rule, not a containment rule).
Create a containment rule to describe which CIs are contained by a given CI. Containment
rules help identify dependent CIs correctly during the business discovery process and
service mapping. Discovery calls the identification API that applies business metadata rules.
When you create a containment rule, the first CI type that you add becomes the top level CI
of a containment rules group which is a chain of containment rules. The entire set of
containment rules is organized as groups according to top-level CIs.
To create a containment rules group for a new CI type, first add the CI type as CI Type1 of
the relationship. To add a child containment rule for a CI type that exists, select that CI type
and define the second portion of the relationship rule. This portion is the relationship type
and CI Type2.
To each rule within a containment rules group, you can add inbound or outbound endpoints,
which are noted by blue up and down arrows. After you add an endpoint to a containment
rule, you cannot add child rules for that rule.
Procedure
Field Description
Configuration Item Type The CI for the rule.
Relationship Type The relationship type for the rule.
Reverse Relationship Direction A check box to use the reverse relationship in
the rule.
c. Click Create.
5. To add an endpoint to a child rule:
a. Point to the child rule and click the blue plus icon that appears.
b. In the Add Endpoint to dialog box, fill in the fields.
Field Description
Endpoint Type The type of endpoint.
Inbound or Outbound The direction of the endpoint.
c. Click Create.
Create a hosting rule to describe what a CI runs on. Hosting rules help identify dependent
CIs correctly during the business discovery process and service mapping. Discovery calls the
identification API that applies business metadata rules.
Add a CI type as CI Type1 in the relationship rule. Then define the second portion of the
relationship rule, which is the relationship type and CI Type2. The entire set of hosting rules
is organized as groups according to the top-level hosted CIs.
Procedure
Field Description
Configuration Item Type The CI for the rule.
Relationship Type The relationship type for the rule.
Reverse Relationship Direction A check box to use the reverse relationship in
the rule.
You can add multiple sets of child CI types and relationships to create multiple
hosting rules for the same parent CI type.
c. click Create.
CMDB Identification and Reconciliation adds tables, properties, and script includes.
Table Description
Identifier Identification rule sets defined for different
[cmdb_identifier] classes of CIs.
Table Description
Identifier Entry Rule entries with different priorities assigned to
[cmdb_identifier_entry] each identifier.
Property Description
glide.required.attribute.enabled Flag for enforcing required attributes during
identification and reconciliation so that attributes
cannot be null.
Property Description
Default value: true
Location: System Properties [sys_properties]
table.
Type: Integer
Default value: 5
Location: Add to the System Properties
[sys_properties] table.
By default, the forms that display manageable configuration items (CI) - computers, printers,
network gear, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), and power distribution units (PDU) -
provide a number of related lists for the form.
The following related lists are common to all forms for manageable CIs.
Computers (workstations, laptops using various Mac and Windows operating systems)
Windows servers
Linux servers
AIX servers
Solaris servers
Devices discovered through SNMP.
DNS Names for CIs - Displays all the DNS names on a CI.
The IP version information appears in all IP address related lists and forms.
Note: Since all paths here click into the IP Address to DNS Names list that
associates an IP address with a DNS name, this part of the common flow was
not added to the tree structure.
Discovery source
A table called Source [sys_object_source] stores information identifying the source of a
discovery (by ServiceNow Discovery or another product), the ID of that source, and the
date/time of the last scan. To view this information, configure a CI form and add the Sources
related list. This table is populated automatically when the Discovery plugin is enabled.
The Configuration Management (CMDB) application provides core functionality for the
configuration management database, including modules for hardware and configuration
items. The separate Extended CMDB plugin includes a collection of modules for specialized
configuration items, such as radio hardware, test equipment, and voice system hardware.
The Configuration Management (CMDB) plugin is automatically active for all instances. You
must activate the Extended CMDB plugin to see the modules for specialized configuration
items.
When you activate the Extended CMDB plugin, the Configuration by Category application is
added to the application navigator.
If the plugin depends on other plugins, these plugins and their activation status are
listed.
Some plugins include demo datasample records that are designed to illustrate plugin
features for common use cases. Loading demo data is a good policy when first
activating the plugin on a development or test instance. You can load demo data after
the plugin is activated by repeating this process and selecting the check box.
4. Click Activate.
Any of the following icons may appear in the ECMDB lists of related items.
The system looks 5 calendar days in the past and 7 calendar days in the future when looking
at recent outages and changes.
You can populate the CMDB by using Discovery, by importing information from another
source, or by integrating with an existing external CMDB.
When you populate the CMDB with information, you create a record for each configuration
item in the cmdb_ci table or on one of the tables that extend that table.
For further information and best practices for designing, constructing, and maintaining the
CMDB, see white papers CMDB Design & Configuration and CMDB Design.
Discovery overview
To import relationships between CIs, use import sets to populate the table [cmdb_rel_ci]
with information on the parent, the child, and the nature of the relationship. The
[cmdb_rel_ci] table displays a list of all CI relationships and is useful when importing CI data.
Help the Help Desk is a tool that allows users to populate the CMDB automatically with
information about their Windows computer.
Help the Help Desk is a small Web application that downloads and runs locally, using a WMI
login script to gather information such as serial number, computer name, disk configuration,
network configuration, installed software, memory, and much more. Users have the option of
using two types of SOAP authentication for running the Help the Help Desk script.
Cookie-based authentication
Basic access authentication
Users must have the soap_ecc role to use Help the Help Desk from within an instance.
For users without access to an instance, you can configure Help the Help Desk to allow users
to run the script without login credentials. Users with access to an instance can also use
Help the Help Desk configured in this way, but only if they have the soap_ecc role.
Any user name that contains the \n characters prevents the Assigned to field on a computer
from being populated.
Help the Help Desk uses a predefined series of queries to identify and update existing CIs in
the CMDB or to create a new CI if no match is found. These queries attempt to match
devices using three criteria in a certain order.
Updates to an existing CI require only a single match as the list is evaluated. For example, if a
device's name has changed, but the MAC address is the same, the CI with the matching MAC
address is updated.
Note: Discovery Identifiers are incompatible with Help the Help Desk queries.
Script include
The script include CIIdentifierForHelpDesk provides the logic for updating existing CIs or
creating a new CI if no matching device exists in the CMDB. Do not modify this script. Errors
introduced into this script can result in update failures or in new CIs being created for every
device found.
Help the Help Desk is a standard feature available through the self-service Help the Help
Desk application.
Windows workstations
Windows servers *
Linux systems
Automatic discovery of
computers and devices
Automatic discovery of
relationships between processes
running on servers
*Returns information about Windows server machines when Discovery is installed.
By default, the ServiceNow system requires SOAP authentication. This affects the way in
which your browser is configured for Help the Help Desk.
Procedure
Note: If you receive the error, There was a problem retrieving the XML data(0):
Unknown, an authentication issue is preventing the script from sending
information to your ServiceNow instance. Verify the user meets the
requirements for Cookie-based authentication or Basic access
authentication.
Cookie-based authentication
This type of authentication can be used to run the Help the Help Desk script at the time it is
downloaded or after it has been saved to the local drive. When the script is downloaded,
Internet Explorer generates a cookie using the user's login credentials, and then shares this
cookie with the script. When a user attempts to run the script, the instance checks first for
this cookie. If the cookie has been created, the script can authenticate on the instance
through SOAP.
Cookie-based authentication
The following setup requirements are imposed on .hta file downloads by Microsoft.
You must use Internet Explorer and choose to run the script while you're logged in to your
instance. If you choose to use a different browser and download the script file to run at a
later time, the script will not work properly unless you have an active session on your
instance with Internet Explorer.
Disable Protected Mode and User Account Control (UAC). Protected Mode is available in
Internet Explorer 7 or later in Windows Vista. UAC is a feature of Windows Vista and
Windows 7.
This feature requires that your logged in user session be persisted to the Help the Help
Desk script. For this to occur, the Remember me check box in the login screen must be
enabled and selected (the default behavior). This option enables the system to write back
an HTTP cookie to your browser to be persisted across sessions.
An alternative to cookie-based authentication for the Help the Help Desk script is basic
access authentication, which employs two properties to configure the script with
credentials.
When a user logs in with the proper credentials, that user accesses the instance in the
soap_ecc role, which grants access to the ECC queue but limits the user's access to other
features. The administrator then configures the system properties with the user name and
password for the soap_ecc user.
The values from these properties are automatically saved to the script file
helpthehelpdesk.js. When this user runs the Help the Help Desk script, the instance checks
for a cookie. If no cookie is found, the instance checks for the login credentials provided by
the system properties, and authenticates the script automatically.
Set up basic access authentication for the Help the Help Desk script
You can set up basic access authentication for the Help the Help Desk script.
Procedure
The login credentials from these properties are saved to the helpthehelpdesk.js script.
When the Help the Help Desk script is run by a user logged in with these credentials (in
the soap_ecc role), the script is able to authenticate automatically on the instance.
The Help the Help Desk script enables organizations to proactively scan their network to
discover all Windows based hardware and the software packages installed on those devices.
This WMI-based script is included in the core ServiceNow platform functionality. This script
also can be set up to run as a Windows login script and used to keep the CMDB up to date.
The script is named helpthehelpdesk.js and can be downloaded from each customer's local
instance.
The login script is installed on the instance and can be downloaded directly from a module.
The same script is used to perform the Help the Help Desk scan, which gathers information
about a user's Windows computer and updates the CMDB.
Procedure
7. Ensure that basic authorization for SOAP requests is enabled in your instance, and a
SOAP user is defined.
This allows the script to connect to your instance. The entry should look something like
this:
@echo off
cscript %0\..\helpthehelpdesk.js
EXIT
9. Add Logon.bat to the Logon script field on the Profile tab of the user properties dialog
in the Active Directory Users and Computers MMC corresponds to the scriptPath
attribute of the user object.
Logon scripts can also be configured in Group Policy. However, Group Policy only
applies to clients with Windows 2000 or above. The setting in Group Policy is User
Configuration, Windows Settings, Scripts (Logon/Logoff), Logon. Best practice is to
copy the file you want for the Logon script to the Windows clipboard.
10. Open the Logon setting in the Group Policy editor.
11. Click the Show Files button.
12. Paste the desired file in the dialog.
You can select the file and edit it in this dialog as well. This is easier than navigating in
Windows Explorer to the folder where Group Policy Logon scripts are saved. However, if
you do have to navigate to the folder, the path on the domain controller is:
Again, %SystemRoot% is usually c:\winnt and <domain DNS name> is the DNS name of
the domain, similar to MyDomain.com.
<policy GUID> is a hexadecimal string representing the GUID (unique identifier) of the
specific Group Policy Object (GPO). Group Policies are assigned to a domain, site, or
organizational unit in Active Directory.
The logon script setting applies to all users in the domain, site, or organizational unit to
which the GPO applies. You will notice that you assign a logon script to all users in the
container at once, rather than having to assign the scriptPath attribute for each user.
This makes it much easier to assign logon scripts to many users. However, since the
same Group Policy applies to all users in the domain, site, or organizational unit, you
must code the logon script to accommodate all users.
You can use the Help the Help Desk properties to encode the password with simple base64
encoding.
Configure the user name and encode the password in the properties before downloading
the script. This adds the encoded password directly to the script without any further
configuration.
Procedure
The script downloads with the encoded password in place. If you download the script
before encoding the password in the properties form, you must add the variable and
encoded password manually.
You can run the Help the Help Desk script manually.
You also can configure Help the Help Desk to run automatically when users log into their
computer. For more details, see Help the Help Desk login script.
Procedure
1. On your instance, navigate to Self Service > Help the Help Desk.
2. Click Start the Scan to Help the Help Desk.
You are prompted to run or save the discovery.hta script.
3. Run or save the discovery.hta script.
Help the Help Desk displays the status of all scans in daily records. Drill down into a record
for details on how the CMDB was updated within the last 24 hours from scans performed on
the instance.
Procedure
4. Select the ECC Queue tab to examine the data payload returned from each scan.
Result
If Discovery is active on the instance, the Help the Help Desk status appears in the Discovery
Status record list. These scan records are described as Help the help desk in the list to
differentiate them from regular discoveries run from a schedule or a UI action. Open the
status record to access the forms described in this page.
This page explains how to set properties to determine which value appears in the Assigned
to field when the script is run.
Any user name that contains the \n characters prevents the Assigned to field on a computer
from being populated.
Procedure
Option Description
glide.wmi.assigned_to_always_overwrite If the Help the Help Desk script is run on the
same computer by different users, the platform
overwrites the user name in the Assigned to field
each time the script is run.
To prevent this, set the For Help the Help Desk
script, if the property is "yes", the "assigned_to"
field of the CI is always overwritten; otherwise
the field is not overwritten unless it is empty
[glide.wmi.assigned_to_always_overwrite]
property to false (clear the check box).
You can view the results of Help the Help Desk scans on an instance.
These records provide access to logs, CI records, and the ECC queue for all scans conducted
each day. Help the Help Desk status reports are also accessible from the Discovery status
list.
Procedure
You can run the discovery.hta script with browsers other than Internet Explorer.
Browsers other than IE cannot handle files with the .hta extension. Browsers like Firefox,
Safari, and Opera prompt users to download the script file, which you can then double-click
to run.
However, in Windows XP (including Vista, Windows 2003 Server, and later), files
downloaded from the Internet are marked with a security restriction that interferes with
running the script. The typical error message introduced by this security restriction looks like
this:
To remove the security lock on the downloaded file, complete the following steps.
Procedure
A 64-bit browser can detect both 64-bit and 32-bit software, but a 32-bit browser cannot
detect 64-bit software.
Procedure
To detect all system software, run the Help the Help Desk script from a 64-bit browser.
You can configure the Help the Help Desk script to run for users without prompting for a
user name and password.
This setup enables users who do not have access privileges to a your instance to run the
script on their Windows machines without having to provide a user name and password. The
script can be configured to login in automatically as a SOAP user with the soap_ecc role.
Procedure
The name of the instance is added automatically. It should look something like this: var
server = "https://abctech.service-now.com/"
7. Ensure that basic authorization for SOAP requests is enabled in your instance and a
SOAP user is defined.
This allows the script to connect to your instance. The entry should look something like
this:
var httpUsername = "user_on_your_instance";
var httpPassword = "user's_password";
The error message Error: Unable to parse SOAP document means that the Help the Help
Desk script was unable to connect to the instance to relay the information that was
discovered.
Enterprise CMDB
For example, a bond trading service may have multiple application, and web servers, several
databases, Linux, UNIX, and Windows servers. There will be security products, network
storage, disaster recovery procedures and hardware, etc. that are necessary for the service
to operate properly.
The ECMDB makes it easy to either manually enter the relationships or have them populated
automatically by discovery tools. In addition to the hardware, software, network, database,
and storage areas, it is beneficial to know which individuals or groups are responsible for the
service from both a business perspective as well as an IT perspective. Who are the line of
business users and managers? Who starts and stops the application or its components?
Who monitors the log files? Who is in charge of backup and restore, business continuity, and
disaster recovery?
View a graphical display of the first few layers of the CMDB data model.
The Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is a series of tables that contain all the
assets and business services controlled by a company and their configurations.
Configuration items such as computers and other devices on the network, software
contracts and licenses, and business services are represented.
The following figure represents the first few levels of the CMDB tables. These tables
represent the class or type of the configuration items.
Note: Some parts of this model might not be up to date. For example, the Base
Configuration Item [cmdb] table which is the parent of Configuration Item
[cmdb_ci], isn't showing.
CMDB relationships
The ECMDB lets you easily track all relationships by relationship type.
The Enterprise CMDB extends the capabilities of the ServiceNow platform CMDB in the
following areas.
Extended relationships
Accurate description of relationships between items, and between items and people or
groups, is important to understand the fabric of a business service. ECMDB provides many
relationship types out of the box, but it is easy to extend the number of relationship types.
Example relationship types include the following.
Connects to
Depends on / Provides Service to
Powered by / Powers
Protected by / Protects
Disaster Recovery Provided by / Provides Disaster Recovery for
Visualization
The system can show relationships as a hierarchy using a standard treeview, flattened, or
graphically, all in a simple web interface.
Auditing
Auditing of changes to configuration items is turned on by default.
Federation
Federation of third party discovery and configuration data is supported through standard
synchronization offerings (SMS, LAN Desk, others) and through the CMDB Discovery
[cmdb_discovery] table.
In the CMDB, the Business Service table [cmdb_ci_service] stores information about
business services.
A business service is work or goods that are supported by an IT infrastructure. For example,
delivering email service to an employee can require services such as email servers, web
servers, and the work to configure the user's account. A business service management map
graphically displays the configuration items (CI) that support a business service and the
relationships between the configuration items.
The Business Service table [cmdb_ci_service] stores the business services in the CMDB.
1 - most critical
2 - somewhat critical
3 - less critical
4 - not critical
Business Service
Technical Service
Service Offering
Shared Service
Application Service
Billable Service
Production
Staging
QA
Test
Development
Demonstration
Training
Disaster Recovery
When you view a table definition form, you can open the context menu, and select a form
view in which to display the table. The default view for a table is the Default view. For any
class that is an extension of the CMDB table, you can select the CI Definition view which
provides additional access to related tables and information.
The CI Definition form view is a centralized location from which you can configure and view
a table. In addition to the information that the default view displays, the CI Definition form
view provides the following controls,
Control Description
Icon tab View and create new NG-BSM icons for CI types
CI Identifier tab View and create new CI identifiers
Reconciliation Definitions tab View and create new data source definitions
Inclusion related link Links to the Service Rules Metadata Editor
To access these additional controls on the CI Definition form view, you need to first create a
new table that is derived from the CMDB table, and then view it using the CI Definition form.
Related Tasks
Create CI class
Contract Management
Manage and track contracts with the Contract Management application in the ServiceNow
platform.
Contract number
Contract start and end dates
Active status
Terms and conditions statements
Documents
Renewal information
Financial terms
Contract Management is active by default. If the Cost Management plugin has been
activated, Contract Management integrates with Cost Management to associate contracts
with costs and determine the total cost of ownership. You can track recurring expenses with
rate cards and expense lines. An administrator can activate the Cost Management plugin.
To use terms and conditions in Contract Management, you must activate the Managed
Documents plugin.
To associate contracts with work orders, you must activate the Work Management plugin.
If you are using the Software Asset Management plugin, use the Software Licenses option.
Use the Contract Management Overview module
You can view information about your contract status in the Contract Management
Overview module. It displays various contract management gauges.
Components installed with Contract Management
Users with the contract_manager role can use the Contract Management application to
create various types of contracts, such as leases, warranties, maintenance, and service.
Condition check definitions
Condition check definitions enable you to define logical conditions that indicate when to
change a specific field value in a record.
Related Tasks
Create a new expense line
Related Concepts
Terms and conditions
You can view information about your contract status in the Contract Management Overview
module. It displays various contract management gauges.
Because the Contract Management Overview module is a type of homepage, you can add,
delete, and rearrange gauges on the page.
Procedure
Related Concepts
Contract Management use
Condition check definitions
Related Reference
Components installed with Contract Management
Related Tasks
Use the Contract Management Overview module
Related Concepts
Contract Management use
Condition check definitions
Table Description
Asset Covered [clm_m2m_contract_asset] Lists the assets covered by a contract. An asset
can be covered by multiple contracts and a
contract can have multiple assets.
Asset Covered [clm_m2m_rate_card_asset] Lists the rate cards that apply to an asset.
Condition [clm_condition_checker] Lists the conditions and values for each condition
checker.
Condition Checks [clm_condition_check] Stores conditions and values that modify
specified condition fields.
Contract [ast_contract] Stores contract information.
Contract History [clm_contract_history] Stores a copy of the contract when the start date,
end date, or terms and conditions change.
Table Description
Terms and Conditions Lists the terms and conditions used by contracts.
[clm_terms_and_conditions]
Terms and Conditions Lists all terms and conditions available for use
[clm_m2m_contract_and_terms] with contracts.
Users Covered [clm_m2m_contract_user] Lists the users covered by contracts.
Name Description
ConditionChecks Checks for matching conditions, such as for
contract expirations and license compliance,
defined in the Condition Checks
[clm_condition_check] table.
ContractManagementUtils Utilities that manage contract management
actions, such as state transitions.
Users with the contract_manager role can use the Contract Management application to
create various types of contracts, such as leases, warranties, maintenance, and service.
Track the various stages of a contract from draft to closure by viewing contract history and
running reports. Adjust, extend, and renew active contracts.
Contract life cycle
From creation until closure, contracts follow a life cycle that determines which fields can
be edited.
Contracts
Related Tasks
Use the Contract Management Overview module
Related Concepts
Condition check definitions
Related Reference
Components installed with Contract Management
From creation until closure, contracts follow a life cycle that determines which fields can be
edited.
When a contract is in Draft state, almost all fields on the contract record can be edited. After
a contract moves past the Draft state, certain date, renewal, extension, and financial fields
become read-only. The State field and Substate field are always read-only.
A scheduled job named Contract Compliance Checks runs on the Contract [ast_contract]
table automatically each night. For more information about the scheduled job, see Use
Condition Check Definitions. The scheduled job performs the following actions.
Changes the contract state to Active if the contract is approved and reaches the specified
start date.
Renews the contract if the contract is approved for renewal and reaches the specified start
date.
Changes the contract state to Expired if the contract state is Active and reaches the end
date.
Expense lines are only generated from contracts that are active or expired.
Contract states
State Description
Draft User adds information about the contract and
specifies an approver.
Active Contract was approved and has reached the
specified start date.
Expired Contract reached the specified end date. Expired
contracts with an active renewal workflow that
are waiting for approval have a substate of
Awaiting Review. Expired contracts with an active
renewal workflow where the renewal was
approved, but the renewal date has not yet
passed, have a substate of Renewal Approved.
Expired contracts with no active renewal or
extension pending workflow have an empty
substate.
Canceled Contract was discontinued and is no longer
active.
Contract substates
Substate Description
Awaiting Review Contract is being prepared for review.
Under Review Contract is sent to the approver and the approver
is reviewing the contract.
Approved Contract is reviewed and accepted by the
approver.
Rejected Contract is reviewed and declined by the
approver.
Renewal Approved Contract renewal is approved by the approver.
Renewal Rejected Contract renewal is rejected by the approver.
Extension Approved Contract extension is approved by the approver.
Extension Rejected Contract extension is rejected by the approver.
None No substate is specified.
Related Concepts
Contracts
Contracts
In the ServiceNow platform, contracts contain detailed information such as contract number,
start and end dates, active status, terms and conditions statements, documents, renewal
information, and financial terms.
You can create a variety of contract models for leases, maintenance, or warranties.
Adjust a contract
You can add terms and conditions to a contract to keep all documentation that is relevant
to a contract in one location.
Create a contract rate card
You can create rate cards to track contract expenses. Rate cards help to record and
allocate costs.
Monitor a contract
You can monitor contracts by viewing contract history and creating contract reports.
Related Concepts
Contract life cycle
Create a contract
You can create a variety of contract models for leases, maintenance, or warranties.
If a contract has one or more associated rate cards, the fields on the Contract form cannot
be edited.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Contract and select the type of contract, such as Insurance, Maintenance, or
Service, or select All.
2. Click New.
3. Complete the form.
Field Description
Renewal/Extension section
Automatically renew/extend Indicates whether or not the contract can be
renewed at the end of its term.
Options Duration of the contract renewal or extension.
For example, 1 year.
Renewal/Extension date Date on which the contract renewal or
extension takes effect.
Renewal/Extension end date Date on which the contract renewal or
extension ends.
Renewal/Extension contact Individual who works for the vendor and is
responsible for renewing the contract.
Cost adjustment type Type of cost adjustment applied to the
contract: Fixed, Manual, or CPI (consumer price
index).
Cost adjustment amount Numerical increase or decrease in price of
contract. To indicate a decrease in price, enter a
negative number. Either a Cost adjustment or
Cost adjustment percentage can be specified,
but not both.
Cost adjustment percentage Percentage increase or decrease in price of
contract. To indicate a decrease in price, enter a
negative percentage. Either a Cost adjustment
or Cost adjustment percentage can be
specified, but not both.
Financial section
Cost center Cost center that is financially responsible for
the asset.
Tax exempt Indicates whether or not the contract is exempt
from tax.
Sales tax Indicates whether or not sales tax is applied to
the total cost.
Effective tax rate Effective tax rate to apply to the total cost, if
applicable. Effective tax rate is usually the
average tax rate charged.
Has rate card Check box to indicate whether the contract has
an associated rate card.
Invoice payment terms Terms that explain how to pay the contract. For
example, Net Monthly Account or Net 30.
Payment schedule Schedule that defines when to make payments.
For example, Monthly or Annually.
Payment amount Amount which has been paid on the contract
to date.
Tax cost Total cost of the tax.
Total cost Final cost of the contract after adjustments
have been applied. If a contract has one or
more rate cards, this field shows the combined
value of all rate cards.
5. Continue entering information in the additional sections and related lists that appear.
Service Commitments for Contracts Lists all service commitments for this vendor's
offerings.
One common use case for the Contract Management application is creating a contract to
track maintenance payments for enterprise software. You can use this example to learn
how to create a software maintenance contract.
Add an asset to a contract
You can associate contracts with specific assets, including software licenses.
Add a user to a contract
A contract can cover specific users. For example, you may use a contract to hire a group
of temporary workers.
Add a configuration item to a contract
Contracts can be associated with specific configuration items. You can link a contract with
configuration items to clarify what the contract legally covers.
Add a document to a contract
Contracts can be associated with documents. Linking a contract with related documents
helps keep all relevant information about a contract together and easily accessible.
Related Tasks
Adjust a contract
Verify contract administrator assignment for notification
Send the contract for approval
Create a contract rate card
Monitor a contract
Service commitments
Related Concepts
Terms and conditions
Models
Service Portfolio Management
One common use case for the Contract Management application is creating a contract to
track maintenance payments for enterprise software. You can use this example to learn how
to create a software maintenance contract.
The goal of this example is to create a contract that shows the total amount of maintenance
that must be paid for the software application, independent of different license purchases
made over time. To use the steps below, the Software Asset Management plugin must be
activated.
Procedure
1. Create an application model, adding a Name and specifying Software License in Model
categories.
2. Create a software model, adding a Name and Model Number, and selecting the
application model created in step 1.
3. Follow the steps in Add a new software license to create a new software license,
selecting the software model created in step 2 and specifying an Asset Tag.
4. Navigate to Contract Management > Contract > Maintenance.
5. Click New and enter the following information.
Option Description
License Type Select Enterprise.
Option Description
Asset Select the software license created in step 3.
8. Click Submit.
9. Continue completing the form with the following information.
Option Description
Payment schedule Select Annually.
Related Tasks
Add an asset to a contract
Add a user to a contract
Add a configuration item to a contract
Add a document to a contract
Related Concepts
Software Asset Management Template
Related Reference
Model form fields
You can associate contracts with specific assets, including software licenses.
Linking a contract with assets clarifies what the contract legally covers.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Create a software maintenance contract example
Add a user to a contract
Add a configuration item to a contract
Add a document to a contract
A contract can cover specific users. For example, you may use a contract to hire a group of
temporary workers.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Create a software maintenance contract example
Add an asset to a contract
Add a configuration item to a contract
Add a document to a contract
Contracts can be associated with specific configuration items. You can link a contract with
configuration items to clarify what the contract legally covers.
Procedure
6. Click Save.
Related Tasks
Create a software maintenance contract example
Add an asset to a contract
Add a user to a contract
Add a document to a contract
Contracts can be associated with documents. Linking a contract with related documents
helps keep all relevant information about a contract together and easily accessible.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Create a software maintenance contract example
Add an asset to a contract
Add a user to a contract
Add a configuration item to a contract
Adjust a contract
For example, you may need to change the start date, end date, or payment amount for a
contract. If a contract has a rate card, the rate card start date, end date, and base cost can
also be adjusted. To adjust a contract, the State should be Active. If the end date of a
contract rate card changes, the end date of any associated assets changes to match.
Procedure
Extend a contract
After creating a contract, you can extend it, if necessary. Extending the end date retains
contract information and history.
Cancel a contract
Related Tasks
Create a contract
Verify contract administrator assignment for notification
Send the contract for approval
Create a contract rate card
Monitor a contract
Related Concepts
Terms and conditions
Contract information and history is retained when a contract is renewed. If the end date of
the contract changes, the end date of any associated assets changes to match. You can
renew a contract that meets the following conditions.
Procedure
Field Descriptions
Renewal Option Length of time for the renewal, in years.
Renewal End Date Date on which the renewed contract expires.
Cost Adjustment Type Type of cost adjustment applied to the
renewed contract: None, Fixed, Manual, or CPI.
Approver User who approves or rejects the contract.
Cost Adjustment Numerical increase or decrease in price of the
renewed contract. To indicate a decrease in
price, enter a negative number. A Cost
Adjustment or Cost Adjustment Percentage
can be specified, but not both.
Cost Adjustment Percentage Percentage increase or decrease in price of the
renewed contract. To indicate a decrease in
price, enter a negative percentage. A Cost
Adjustment or Cost Adjustment Percentage
can be specified, but not both.
What to do next
If you selected the Save But Do Not Submit option, ensure that you click Renew when you
are ready to submit the contract renewal for approval.
After creating a contract, you can extend it, if necessary. Extending the end date retains
contract information and history.
When you extend a contract, the end date of any associated assets changes to match the
new contract end date. All other contract dates, including notification dates, are recalculated
automatically based on the new end date. You can extend a contract that meets the
following conditions.
Procedure
Procedure
An event runs automatically each night to send reminders to contract administrators about
contract expiration dates so they can renew or renegotiate the contract. You can verify that
the right contract administrator is assigned to the contract.
When the contract.expiration event runs on the Contract [ast.contract] table each night, an
email message is sent to the person identified as the contract administrator. This occurs at
the following times.
A user with the admin role can edit the contract.expiration condition check that processes
contract notifications. Follow the procedure below to verify that the right contract
administrator is assigned to the contract.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Create a contract
Adjust a contract
Send the contract for approval
Create a contract rate card
Monitor a contract
Related Concepts
Terms and conditions
Condition check definitions
Procedure
You can approve or reject a contract if you are the contract manager.
Show approval history on contracts
You can set a workflow property to ensure that approval history is saved to the contract
approval history journal.
Related Tasks
Create a contract
Adjust a contract
Verify contract administrator assignment for notification
Create a contract rate card
Monitor a contract
Related Concepts
Terms and conditions
You can approve or reject a contract if you are the contract manager.
Procedure
Option Description
Approve the contract Click Approve. The contract Substate changes
to Approved.
Option Description
Reject the contract Click Reject and enter a rejection reason in the
Comments field. The contract Substate
changes to Rejected
4. Click Update.
A contract with a State of Draft and a Start Date set in the future is kept in Draft
until the start date is reached. If the contract has a Substate of Approved, the
system changes the State to Active and removes the Substate value.
When a contract with a State of Draft and a Start Date set to a date in the past is
approved, the contract State is automatically set to Active and Substate is left blank.
You can set a workflow property to ensure that approval history is saved to the contract
approval history journal.
After a contract is sent to an approver for review, the approver name cannot be changed. If
a contract is rejected by the approver, the same approver or a different approver can be
specified before the contract is sent for approval again. Set the following system property so
this activity is recorded in the approval history journal.
Procedure
You can add terms and conditions to a contract to keep all documentation that is relevant to
a contract in one location.
The terms and conditions can be searched and used in reports. If multiple terms and
conditions records are added to a single contract, set an order for the records so they
appear in a specific sequence. The terms and conditions fields become read-only after a
contract is sent for approval.
Users with the contract_manager role can read contract history and add terms and
conditions.
There are three procedures involved in adding terms and conditions to a contract, as follows.
After you create a terms and conditions record, add the record to a contract.
Create a terms and conditions record
After adding one or more terms and conditions records to a contract, you can build a
terms and conditions document within the contract.
Related Tasks
Create a contract
Adjust a contract
Verify contract administrator assignment for notification
Send the contract for approval
Create a contract rate card
Monitor a contract
After you create a terms and conditions record, add the record to a contract.
Procedure
Note: If you attempt to enter a duplicate terms and conditions record for a
contract and save the record, an error message appears and the new
duplicate record is not added.
Related Tasks
Create a terms and conditions record
Build a terms and conditions document within a contract
Procedure
Related Tasks
Add terms and conditions to a contract
Build a terms and conditions document within a contract
After adding one or more terms and conditions records to a contract, you can build a terms
and conditions document within the contract.
The terms and conditions records are added in the sequence specified in the Order field.
Procedure
5. Click Update.
Related Tasks
Add terms and conditions to a contract
Create a terms and conditions record
You can create rate cards to track contract expenses. Rate cards help to record and allocate
costs.
A contract rate card provides detailed price information for a contract and enables you to
generate expense lines for recurring expenses automatically. There can be multiple rate
cards for the same contract.
Consider the following case: an organization has a contract with a third-party company,
which oversees technical operations in the organization's datacenters. The contract costs to
use a specific server model in the New York datacenter are different from using the same
server model in the London datacenter. There are two rate cards to detail these costs
separately.
Procedure
Field Description
Number The contract rate card number.
Contract The internal contract number.
Summary type The contract rate card type. Categorizing rate
cards can be useful for reporting. Select Grow
Business, Run Business, or Transform Business.
Name A descriptive name for the contract rate card.
Active Check box that indicates whether the rate card
is available for use.
Short description A brief description of the contract rate card.
Start date The date on which the contract rate card
becomes active. Expense lines are generated
for costs incurred beginning on the date
specified. For financial calculations to work, the
date cannot be before the start date of the
contract.
End date The date on which the contract rate card
becomes inactive. No expense lines are
generated for costs incurred after the end date.
For financial calculations to work, the date
cannot be after the end date of the contract.
The date is automatically set to the end date of
the contract if no value is entered and the
contract has an end date.
Interval The amount of time between rate card charges.
For example, Monthly, Quarterly, or Annually.
Cost center The cost center financially responsible for the
rate card.
Last processed The most recent date on which the rate card
was charged.
Next process The next date on which the rate card will be
charged.
Description Detailed information about the rate card.
Sales tax Check box that indicates whether to apply
sales tax to the total cost.
Tax rate The effective tax rate to apply to the total cost.
Tax rate is usually the average tax rate charged.
Distribute cost The method for distributing the amount listed
in Base cost and generating expense lines.
Value Type of value to use when Allocate and
distribute cost based on value is selected in the
Distribute cost field.
Base cost The amount that must be paid before taxes.
Tax cost The total cost of the tax.
Field Description
Total cost The final cost of the rate card after
adjustments, such as taxes, have been applied.
5. Click Submit.
Create a new expense line
Typically, expense lines are automatically generated based on assets or users, but you can
create a new expense line manually if needed.
Generating expense lines based on assets or users
An expense line is an expense amount at a given point in time and the record that
incurred or generated the expense. You can generate expense lines based on assets or
users assigned to the contract.
View contract expense lines
You can view and audit all the expenses recorded for a given contract in the Expense
Lines related list on a contract record.
Related Tasks
Create a contract
Adjust a contract
Verify contract administrator assignment for notification
Send the contract for approval
Monitor a contract
Related Concepts
Terms and conditions
Typically, expense lines are automatically generated based on assets or users, but you can
create a new expense line manually if needed.
Procedure
Field Description
Date The date on which the expense line was
created.
Rate Card The identification number of the rate card to
which the expense line is associated.
Source ID The identification number of the item
associated with the expense line. If this field is
filled in, corresponding information is
automatically added to the Source fields on this
form.
Amount The monetary value of the item specified in the
Source ID field. Enter a negative value to
indicate a credit.
Process date The date the expense line is processed.
Inherited Check box that indicates whether the expense
line is located on another expense line.
State The current state of the expense line, either
Pending or Processed.
Summary type The expense line category: Grow Business, Run
Business, or Transform Business. Categorizing
expense lines can be useful for reporting.
Short description A brief description of the expense line.
Asset The identification number of the asset
associated with the expense line, if any.
Fixed asset Fixed asset that contains the asset in this
expense line. A fixed asset is a container that
holds one or more individual assets, including
hardware or software assets. The system auto-
populates this field with the appropriate fixed
asset if the named Asset is contained within
that fixed asset.
Contract The identification number (not the contract
number) of the contract associated with the
Asset, if any.
User The name of the user associated with the
Asset, if any.
Configuration Item The name of the configuration item associated
with the expense line, if any.
Task The identification number of the task
associated with the expense line, if any.
Cost center The cost center financially responsible for the
item identified in Source ID, if any.
5. Click Submit.
Related Tasks
Generating expense lines based on assets or users
View contract expense lines
An expense line is an expense amount at a given point in time and the record that incurred
or generated the expense. You can generate expense lines based on assets or users
assigned to the contract.
You can assign a user or asset when you create a rate card. You can only assign the user
or asset that is assigned to the contract.
Configure rate card expense generation
After assets or users are added to the rate card, you can use the Distribute cost field in
the Financial section of the contract to generate rate card expenses.
Related Tasks
Create a new expense line
View contract expense lines
Procedure
Next Topic
Create a rate card and assign a user or asset
You can assign a user or asset when you create a rate card. You can only assign the user or
asset that is assigned to the contract.
Procedure
Previous Topic
Add a user or asset to a contract
Next Topic
Configure rate card expense generation
After assets or users are added to the rate card, you can use the Distribute cost field in the
Financial section of the contract to generate rate card expenses.
Procedure
Option Description
Split expense lines evenly across assets Select Allocate and distribute cost per asset.
For example, with a $100 Base cost and two
assets, two expense lines for $50 are created.
Split expense lines across assets based on Select Allocate and distribute cost based on
asset value value:.
Option Description
The Value field displays with Cost and Residual
Cost options. The cost is derived from the Cost
or Residual Cost field on an asset record. If
there are multiple assets on the rate card, the
cost or residual cost is distributed based on
the value of the assets.
Split expense lines evenly across users Select Allocate and distribute cost per user.
For example, with a $100 Base cost and two
users on the contract, two expense lines for
$50 are created.
Allocate the cost to the contract instead of the Select Allocate cost to contract.
individual assets
5. Click Update.
Expense lines are automatically generated by a scheduled job for costs incurred
between the rate card Start date and End date. The scheduled job, Process FM Costs,
runs on the Contract [ast_contract] table once per day. Expense lines are only
generated from contracts with the Active or Expiredstate. You may want to generate
expense lines for expired contracts to track previous expenses.
Previous Topic
Create a rate card and assign a user or asset
Related Concepts
Contract life cycle
You can view and audit all the expenses recorded for a given contract in the Expense Lines
related list on a contract record.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Create a new expense line
Generating expense lines based on assets or users
Monitor a contract
You can monitor contracts by viewing contract history and creating contract reports.
If changes are made to a contract start date, end date, or terms and conditions, a copy of
the contract is automatically saved and placed in contract history. This is useful for tracking
changes to a contract and keeping an audit trail. Configure the Contract History related list
to include columns for creation and update so you can easily see who edited the contract.
Procedure
A variety of contract reports are available to help track and manage contracts.
Related Tasks
Create a contract
Adjust a contract
Verify contract administrator assignment for notification
Send the contract for approval
Create a contract rate card
Related Concepts
Terms and conditions
A variety of contract reports are available to help track and manage contracts.
Contract reports
Report Description
Active Contracts by Cost Per Unit All active contracts grouped in ascending order
by average cost per unit.
Active Contracts by Lifetime Cost All active contracts with an associated rate
card grouped in ascending order by total cost.
Total cost is measured from the beginning of
the contract to the report run date.
Active Contracts by Monthly Cost All active contracts grouped in ascending order
by cost per month.
Active Contracts by Vendor All active contracts alphabetically by vendor.
Active Contracts by Yearly Cost All active contracts grouped in ascending order
by cost per year.
All Contracts by State Contracts grouped by state, such as Draft,
Active, or Expired, in bar chart format
Asset Contracts by Type All active contracts for assets grouped by type,
in pie chart format.
Asset Contracts List All active contracts for assets by contract
number.
Contract Expenditure by Type Total contract expenses by type, such as lease,
maintenance, or warranty, in bar chart format.
Contract Expenditure by Vendor Total costs of all contracts associated with a
specific vendor, in bar chart format.
Contract Pipeline Report All contracts with a state of Draft, Active, or
Expired and a substate of Awaiting Review or
Under Review, in bar chart format.
Expiring Contracts All contracts expiring in the next 90 days.
Condition check definitions enable you to define logical conditions that indicate when to
change a specific field value in a record.
A scheduled job, called Contract Compliance Checks, evaluates these condition check
definitions nightly by running the condition checker. Use this condition checker to check
start dates and end dates and to set expiration levels for contracts.
For example, a contract has a start date of March 1st. When the condition checker runs on
March 1st, it verifies that the contract Substate is Approved and sets the contract State to
Active based on the Start Date field.
The nightly condition checker sets the appropriate expiration level for active contracts
based on the contract End Date. The expiration level can be viewed in the Contracts list.
Knowing the expiration level can help contract managers renew or extend a contract before
it expires.
You can define a condition check to change values in a contract when the Contract
Compliance Checks scheduled job runs each night.
Related Tasks
Use the Contract Management Overview module
Related Concepts
Contract Management use
Related Reference
Components installed with Contract Management
You can define a condition check to change values in a contract when the Contract
Compliance Checks scheduled job runs each night.
Role required:
Procedure
Conditions fields
Field Description
Name The value the field is set to, if the expiration
conditions are met.
Condition check The associated condition check.
Table The table associated with the condition check.
Event name The name of the event this condition triggers.
Expiration Condition The condition that must be true for the
Condition check field to be set to this value
(the Name).
Add as many conditions as are needed.
7. Click Submit.
The Condition Checks form reopens with the new condition listed in the related list.
8. (Optional) Continue adding conditions as needed, following the steps above.
Expense Line
Expense lines enable you to track costs and represent a point-in-time expense incurred.
Expense lines can be created manually or generated by the scheduled processing of
recurring costs.
The ServiceNow platform generates expense lines automatically when you create an asset,
and updates expense lines automatically when you revise the Cost or Quantity field on an
asset record.
Expense lines integrate closely with asset management, CMDB, cost management, and
contract management, but can be used with any application. The Source ID field on an
expense line record can be linked to any record in any table, so expenses can be associated
with a wide variety of items, such as a contract, an individual asset, a single configuration
item, a software installation, a lease, a service contract, a user, or a group.
Users with the financial_mgmt_admin and financial_mgmt_user roles can work with
expense lines.
Expense lines
To use the Expense Allocations and Expense Allocation Rules modules, activate the IT
Cost Management plugin.
View an expense
Expense lines can be used in a variety of ways. In this example, you see how to view
expenses that are associated with a given contract.
Installed with Expense Line
Various components, such as tables, script includes, and client scripts, are installed with
Expense Line.
Expense Lines and expense allocations
The Expense lines application tracks costs and record expenses that are incurred.
To use the Expense Allocations and Expense Allocation Rules modules, activate the IT Cost
Management plugin.
Related Tasks
View an expense
Related Concepts
Expense Lines and expense allocations
Related Reference
Installed with Expense Line
View an expense
Expense lines can be used in a variety of ways. In this example, you see how to view
expenses that are associated with a given contract.
Procedure
Related Concepts
Activating expense allocations
Related Reference
Installed with Expense Line
Various components, such as tables, script includes, and client scripts, are installed with
Expense Line.
Demo data is available with Expense Lines. The demo data provides expense lines with
associated source IDs, costs, processing dates, and states.
Tables
Script includes
Client scripts
UI policies
Business rules
User roles
Related Tasks
View an expense
Related Concepts
Activating expense allocations
Expense Lines and expense allocations
The Expense lines application tracks costs and record expenses that are incurred.
Create expense lines manually or view expense lines generated automatically when costs are
created by scheduled processing. Use expense allocation rules to associate expenses with
items such as users, groups, or departments.
Expense lines are a key component of IT cost management because they can be generated
from any application and are used to allocate expenses to business entities.
Expense allocation rules enable you to associate expenses with an item, such as a user,
group, or department.
Automatic expense line creation
Deleting an expense line also deletes all expense allocations generated from the expense
line.
Sample allocation rule
You can create a sample expense allocation rule that allocates the cost of an incident to
the department of the caller.
Use a scripted allocation
Scripted allocations define custom allocation amounts and targets by executing a script.
Related Tasks
View an expense
Related Concepts
Activating expense allocations
Related Reference
Installed with Expense Line
Expense allocation rules enable you to associate expenses with an item, such as a user,
group, or department.
Procedure
4. Click Submit.
Related Tasks
Create expense lines manually
Delete an expense line
Sample allocation rule
Use a scripted allocation
Related Concepts
Automatic expense line creation
Active CI rate cards are processed monthly to generate expense lines for each CI in the
rate card. If a CI relationship is changed, existing expense lines are not affected. Changes
are reflected in the next scheduled expense line.
Active distribution costs are processed monthly to generate expense lines based on
distribution rule targets.
Closed tasks on task rate cards are processed to generate expense lines.
Expense lines can also be imported from external systems or generated from scripts. To
generate an expense from a server-side script use the ExpenseLine API.
Related Tasks
Create an allocation rule
Create expense lines manually
Delete an expense line
Sample allocation rule
Use a scripted allocation
Create expense lines at a single level or multiple levels. Adding an expense line under
another expense line to create a hierarchy is just another way to organize information. Use a
hierarchy if it makes sense for your organization. In the example, the last two expense lines
are a level under expense line number EXP0010001.
Procedure
Field Description
State The current state of the expense line, either
Pending or Processed.
Summary type The expense line category: Grow Business, Run
Business, or Transform Business. Categorizing
expense lines can be useful for reporting.
Short description A brief description of the expense line.
Asset The identification number of the asset
associated with the expense line, if any.
Fixed asset Fixed asset that contains the asset in this
expense line. A fixed asset is a container that
holds one or more individual assets, including
hardware or software assets. The system auto-
populates this field with the appropriate fixed
asset if the named Asset is contained within
that fixed asset.
Contract The identification number (not the contract
number) of the contract associated with the
Asset, if any.
User The name of the user associated with the
Asset, if any.
Configuration Item The name of the configuration item associated
with the expense line, if any.
Task The identification number of the task
associated with the expense line, if any.
Cost center The cost center financially responsible for the
item identified in Source ID, if any.
Related Tasks
Create an allocation rule
Delete an expense line
Sample allocation rule
Use a scripted allocation
Related Concepts
Automatic expense line creation
Deleting an expense line also deletes all expense allocations generated from the expense
line.
Deleting expense lines and allocations should be limited to an emergency case only when
they were created incorrectly.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Create an allocation rule
Create expense lines manually
Sample allocation rule
Use a scripted allocation
Related Concepts
Automatic expense line creation
You can create a sample expense allocation rule that allocates the cost of an incident to the
department of the caller.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Create an allocation rule
Related Concepts
Automatic expense line creation
Scripted allocations define custom allocation amounts and targets by executing a script.
You can use scripted allocations to perform and of the following actions.
Allocate an expense to all cost centers based on the current head count in the cost center.
Query usage data to determine the allocation amount to assign to a target.
Track the business users that are consuming business services.
Procedure
Query for target records and data to use for calculating the allocation amount.
Create allocation records using the ExpenseAllocation API.
To create an allocation record, use the allocation object already instantiated in the script
scope:
allocation.createAllocation(targetGlideRecord, amount);
Related Tasks
Create an allocation rule
Create expense lines manually
Delete an expense line
Related Concepts
Automatic expense line creation
Expense Lines and expense allocations
Automatic expense line creation
This allows incident alert administrators to bring together all involved users during these
events and establish quick and easy communication within this group.
For example, a major issue occurs in an organization's server room, leading to a high-priority
incident being raised. The incident could potentially impact all users, so it is important to
bring together key representatives and communicate quickly and effectively. An incident
alert can facilitate this communication process and help resolve the source incident.
Incident Alert Management features
Incident alerts are created with a New state. They follow a process that finishes with the
Closed or Cancelled state.
Incident Alert contact
Contacts allow incident alerts to be associated with users and groups based on
conditions defining the association.
Create incident alerts
Incident alerts are typically created to help manage and track communications around a
high-priority incident or other issue.
Process incident alerts
After creating an incident alert, the incident alert administrator can process it through a
set of predefined states to ensure efficient and consistent handling.
Using Notify enables all users involved in the issue to quickly communicate with each
other and helps in the fast turnaround and resolution of the issue.
Incident Alert Management roles
Related Tasks
Activate Incident Alert Management
Related Concepts
Incident Alert contact
Create incident alerts
Process incident alerts
Notify with Incident Alert
Subscribe to incident alerts
Related Reference
Incident Alert life cycle
Incident Alert Management roles
Incident Alert Management example
If the plugin depends on other plugins, these plugins are listed along with their
activation status.
Some plugins include demo datasample records that are designed to illustrate plugin
features for common use cases. Loading demo data is a good policy when you first
activate the plugin on a development or test instance. You can load demo data after the
plugin is activated by repeating this process and selecting the check box.
4. Click Activate.
Installed with incident alert management
Related Concepts
Incident Alert contact
Create incident alerts
Process incident alerts
Notify with Incident Alert
Subscribe to incident alerts
Incident Alert Management
Related Reference
Incident Alert Management features
Incident Alert life cycle
Incident Alert Management roles
Incident Alert Management example
Activating the Incident Alert Management plugin adds or modifies tables, user roles, script
includes, and other components.
Tables
Incident alert management adds or modifies the following tables.
Plugins
The following additional plugins are activated with incident alert management.
Properties
Incident alert management adds the following system properties.
Type: String
Default value: info
Possible Values: debug,info,error
Location: System Properties [sys_properties]
table
Type: String
Name Description
Default value: opened_by, work_notes,
comments, severity, estd_distruption_time,
actual_disruption_time
Location: System Properties [sys_properties]
table
Type: String
Default value: 2 (primary and secondary on-
call)
Possible Values: 0, 1, 2, 3, etc. Set to -1 to
include everybody in the escalation plan.
Location: System Properties [sys_properties]
table
User roles
Incident alert management adds the following user roles.
Note: Typically, incident alert administrators may need to have both ia_admin and
itil roles, to have full access to incident alert functionality. For example, the itil
and ia_admin role are both needed to be able to create incident alerts from
within an incident form.
UI actions
Incident alert management adds the following UI actions.
UI policies
Incident alert management adds the following UI policies.
Script includes
Incident alert management adds the following script includes.
Client scripts
Incident alert management adds the following client scripts.
Business rules
Incident alert management adds the following business rules.
Incident alerts are created with a New state. They follow a process that finishes with the
Closed or Cancelled state.
A series of rules ensure that the alert progression is controlled and standardized.
Related Tasks
Activate Incident Alert Management
Related Concepts
Incident Alert contact
Create incident alerts
Related Reference
Incident Alert Management features
Incident Alert Management roles
Incident Alert Management example
Contacts allow incident alerts to be associated with users and groups based on conditions
defining the association.
Use contacts with incident alerts
Contact entries can be added to an incident alert manually, within an incident alert.
Contact administration
As an incident alert administrator, you can assign multiple users and groups as contacts.
Responsibilities for incident alerts
There are two types of responsibilities available for use with incident alerts:
Related Tasks
Activate Incident Alert Management
Related Concepts
Create incident alerts
Process incident alerts
Notify with Incident Alert
Subscribe to incident alerts
Related Reference
Incident Alert Management features
Incident Alert life cycle
Incident Alert Management roles
Incident alert management uses contacts for notification purposes. Administrators and
incident alert administrators can:
Set up contact definitions to identify individuals or groups that must be associated with
an incident alert when it is created.
Create a contact definition
Contact definitions specify the conditions for assigning the associated contact
responsibility record to incident alerts and the conditions for assigning specific users or
groups to those responsibilities.
Related Tasks
Add a contact manually
Related Reference
Contact administration
Responsibilities for incident alerts
Set up contact definitions to identify individuals or groups that must be associated with an
incident alert when it is created.
Contact responsibilities allow contacts to be used in specific alerts. They can be used:
Within a contract definition, as part of the rules for assigning users or groups as contacts
for incident alerts.
On an ad-hoc basis, to be added within specific incident alerts.
Procedure
2. Click New.
4. Click Submit.
Related Tasks
Create a contact definition
Contact definitions specify the conditions for assigning the associated contact responsibility
record to incident alerts and the conditions for assigning specific users or groups to those
responsibilities.
The conditions for assigning the associated contact responsibility record to incident alerts.
The conditions for assigning specific users or groups to those responsibilities.
For example, a contact definition may be Assign a Crisis Action Manager for Outages with an
additional condition of Business/Service impact is True.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Incident Alert Management > Contact Administration > Contact Definitions.
2. Click New.
Field Description
incident alert record. This field appears only
when None is selected as the value for Source.
Active A check box to indicate whether the definition
is active or not.
Condition The conditions that must be met to associate
this contact definition to a particular user or
group. For example, [Affected users] + [is]
+ [0-25]. If multiple conditions are defined,
each condition is evaluated in the order listed.
4. Click Submit.
Create a default override
Default overrides specify the user value for each contact the definition adds to an incident
alert.
Related Tasks
Create a contact responsibility
Default overrides specify the user value for each contact the definition adds to an incident
alert.
The Default overrides related list is available if the Source for the contact definition is set to
Default override.
For example, you could define two default overrides for a contact definition:
If Source CI's location is EMEA then user is Beth Anglin, with an evaluation order of 100.
If Source CI's location is APAC then user is Abel Tuter, with an evaluation order of 200.
If an incident alert is created that matches the conditions of the contact definition,
ServiceNow then compares the alert's source CI to these override conditions and assigns the
appropriate user as the contact.
Procedure
Field Description
If the definition type is set to Group, this field is
labelled Group value and defines the group to
assign as that contact.
3. Click Submit.
Contact entries can be added to an incident alert manually, within an incident alert.
4. Select a Responsibility and the User to have this responsibility for this incident alert. That
contact information is now listed in the incident alert's User Contacts related list.
Note: If you delete an incident alert, all contacts associated with that incident
alert are also deleted.
Related Concepts
Use contacts with incident alerts
Related Reference
Contact administration
Responsibilities for incident alerts
Contact administration
As an incident alert administrator, you can assign multiple users and groups as contacts.
You can assign users or groups to incident alerts automatically based on the information
provided in these records:
Contact responsibilities: these provide a name, such as Incident Duty Manager, for a set of
tasks related to incident alerts. The contact responsibility record also indicates whether
those tasks are performed by an individual user or a group of users. Contact
responsibilities can also be used to manually add contacts to an incident alert.
Contact definitions: identify a set of conditions to determine which specific user or group
is assigned to handle particular responsibilities for an incident alert. For example, All P1
Incidents must have an Incident manager, assigned to US Incident Management group.
Contact responsibilities and contact definitions allow you to define and modify data-driven
contact information for automatic notifications, rather than specifying individual users or
groups directly for each incident alert.
You can use group contacts. Group contacts are available when you use on-call scheduling,
notify and incident alert management. Group contacts include the people that are on-call.
The group contacts do not automatically get an SMS notification when an incident alert is
created. But they can be included when initiating a conference call that is the result of an
incident alert. By default, the primary and secondary on-call persons are available. To modify
this behavior, set the system property com.snc.iam.on_call_escalation_level.
Related Tasks
Add a contact manually
Related Concepts
Use contacts with incident alerts
Related Reference
Responsibilities for incident alerts
There are two types of responsibilities available for use with incident alerts:
Use contact definitions to view and modify the rules that determine the specific users
associated with contact responsibilities.
Default Responsibilities
By default, contacts with the following responsibilities are notified when an incident alert is
created:
Duty Manager
Incident Manager
Duty Director
These roles are involved with resolving the source incident or original event that the incident
alert relates to, and so are seen as key contacts for the incident alert.
The following sections describe typical operational roles for these responsibilities.
Other Responsibilities
Incident alert management provides the following additional responsibilities that can be
added to incident alerts. You can also create contact responsibilities, as needed. The
associated users receive notifications about the alert.
Title Description
Crisis Action Manager Overall responsibility and accountability for
managing incident alerts.
Crisis Action Team Member Nominated department heads who are involved
when an incident alert occurs.
Development Development personnel involved in the
troubleshooting and resolving an incident alert.
Operations Second or third level operations support involved
in troubleshooting and resolving an incident alert.
Service Owner Service owner or manager who is identified as a
potential contact in the event of an incident alert
that relates to one or more of their services.
Technical Support Second or third level technical support personnel
involved in troubleshooting and resolving an
incident alert.
Related Tasks
Add a contact manually
Related Concepts
Use contacts with incident alerts
Related Reference
Contact administration
Incident alerts are typically created to help manage and track communications around a
high-priority incident or other issue.
Create an incident alert directly if the original issue that caused the alert was not logged
as an incident. For example, a significant facilities problem may not be logged as an
incident in ServiceNow, but may still require an incident alert to be created.
Create an alert from an incident
Creating an incident alert from within an existing incident record populates the alert with
information from that incident.
Incident alert related lists
After you create an incident alert, several related lists are added to the form.
Related Tasks
Activate Incident Alert Management
Related Concepts
Incident Alert contact
Process incident alerts
Notify with Incident Alert
Subscribe to incident alerts
Related Reference
Incident Alert Management features
Incident Alert life cycle
Incident Alert Management roles
Incident Alert Management example
Create an incident alert directly if the original issue that caused the alert was not logged as
an incident. For example, a significant facilities problem may not be logged as an incident in
ServiceNow, but may still require an incident alert to be created.
Field Description
a number of Incident Managers, Duty Directors
and Duty Managers.
Event type The type of event. Values are: Outage,
Degradation, Capacity, SLA/Delay, or Fail-Over.
Assigned to The assigned user for the alert. This can be an
ITIL user or an incident alert administrator, and
defaults to the user who creates the alert.
Business/Service impact Yes or No to indicate whether the business or a
service is impacted.
Short description A brief summary of the alert.
Details section
Opened When the alert was created.
Opened by The creator of the alert. This defaults to the
user who creates the alert.
Estimated disruption time The estimated duration of the disruption.
Description More detailed information for the alert.
Background Background information about the alert.
Activity section
Actions taken The details of all actions taken while working
on the alert.
Work notes Any separate work notes relevant to the alert
that might help in communications.
3. Click Submit.
Related Tasks
Create an alert from an incident
Related Reference
Incident alert related lists
Creating an incident alert from within an existing incident record populates the alert with
information from that incident.
Other fields populated with data from the source incident are: Source CI, Short
description, Background.
Related Tasks
Create an alert directly
Related Reference
Incident alert related lists
After you create an incident alert, several related lists are added to the form.
Related lists
Name Description
Impacted CIs The Impacted CIs related list shows all the CIs
that the CMDB shows as related to the source CI
for this alert.
Duty Manager
Duty Director
Incident Manager
Name Description
Select the check box for the entry, then select
Actions on selected rows.. and click Delete, to
delete that entry from the user contacts list.
Related Incidents and Related Problems The Related Incidents and Related Problems
related lists show incidents and problems
affected, based on the source incident for the
alert.
Related Tasks
Create an alert directly
Create an alert from an incident
After creating an incident alert, the incident alert administrator can process it through a set
of predefined states to ensure efficient and consistent handling.
After creating an incident alert, the incident alert administrator can process it through a set
of predefined states to ensure efficient and consistent handling. The incident alert
administrator may also be assigned the contact responsibility of Duty Manager.
When an incident alert is resolved, the incident alert administrator can run a post incident
review, and can generate a report for that review from within the incident alert.
The incident alert administrator can also view the dashboard and run reports on incident
alerts.
Incident alert task
Incident alert tasks allow users to track the actions needed to resolve an incident alert.
Resolve an alert
Typically, when the event that initiated the incident alert is resolved, the incident alert can
also be marked as resolved.
Run a post incident review
After an incident alert has been marked as resolved, the Post Incident Review section
appears on the Incident Alert form.
Close an alert
Typically, when the post incident review is complete, the incident alert can be closed.
View the dashboard
The incident alert dashboard is a homepage that contains gauges and reports showing
open incident alerts with a status of New or Work in Progress.
Run an incident alert report
Administrators and incident alert administrators can run incident alert reports to view the
current status of alerts, track them and intervene where required, and improve overall
efficiency and effectiveness.
Related Tasks
Activate Incident Alert Management
Run an incident alert report
Related Concepts
Incident Alert contact
Create incident alerts
Notify with Incident Alert
Subscribe to incident alerts
View the dashboard
Related Reference
Incident Alert Management features
Incident Alert life cycle
Incident Alert Management roles
Incident Alert Management example
Resolve an alert
Run a post incident review
Close an alert
Incident alert tasks allow users to track the actions needed to resolve an incident alert.
As a user with the ia_admin role, you can add tasks to an incident alert.
Users without the ia_admin role that are assigned to a particular task can modify only that
task record.
Resolve an alert
Typically, when the event that initiated the incident alert is resolved, the incident alert can
also be marked as resolved.
When an alert is resolved, the following fields are added to the Incident Alert form:
Field Description
Post Incident Review section Information for discussion and review. For more
information, see Run a Post Incident Review.
Related Tasks
Run an incident alert report
Related Concepts
Process incident alerts
View the dashboard
Related Reference
Run a post incident review
Close an alert
After an incident alert has been marked as resolved, the Post Incident Review section
appears on the Incident Alert form.
After an incident alert has been marked as resolved, the Post Incident Review section
appears on the Incident Alert form, This allows the incident alert administrator to initiate a
post incident review (PIR) meeting to review and learn from the issues that arose from the
source event.
Fill in this section as appropriate, then use the View PIR Report related link to create the PIR
report. This report can be circulated or printed for the PIR meeting.
The Source Incident Details section contains read-only information, taken from the source
incident.
Use the View PIR Report related link to create a report that can be circulated or printed for
the post incident review meeting.
Related Tasks
Run an incident alert report
Related Concepts
Process incident alerts
View the dashboard
Related Reference
Resolve an alert
Close an alert
Close an alert
Typically, when the post incident review is complete, the incident alert can be closed.
The following values are then set in the Details section of the alert.
Related Tasks
Run an incident alert report
Related Concepts
Process incident alerts
View the dashboard
Related Reference
Resolve an alert
Run a post incident review
The incident alert dashboard is a homepage that contains gauges and reports showing open
incident alerts with a status of New or Work in Progress.
The incident alert dashboard is a homepage that contains gauges and reports showing open
incident alerts with a status of New or Work in Progress.
To open the dashboard, navigate to Incident Alert Management > Overview or point to the
homepage icon (
Related Tasks
Run an incident alert report
Related Concepts
Process incident alerts
Related Reference
Resolve an alert
Run a post incident review
Close an alert
Administrators and incident alert administrators can run incident alert reports to view the
current status of alerts, track them and intervene where required, and improve overall
efficiency and effectiveness.
Administrators and incident alert administrators can run incident alert reports to view the
current status of alerts, track them and intervene where required, and improve overall
efficiency and effectiveness.
To run a report:
Procedure
4. Alter parameters as required, and click Run Report to run the revised report.
Result table
Report name Description Contains
IAs opened in the last 72 hours All alerts, of any state, which Number, Created by, Event
have been opened in the last Type, Severity, Title, Open time,
72 hours. Estimated Disruption time,
Related Record, Assignee.
Open Alerts Displays all open alerts. Click Number, Severity, Short
an alert number to open the description, Source incident,
details for that alert. Displayed State, Business/Service impact,
on the dashboard by default. Assigned to.
Open Alerts By Severity Groups open alerts by severity Severity.
levels, as defined in the
Incident Alert form. Displayed
as a pie chart on the
dashboard by default.
Open Alerts by Type Groups open alerts by alert Event type.
type, as defined in the Incident
Alert form. Displayed as a bar
chart on the dashboard by
default.
Open IA's this week All open alerts which have Number, Created by, Event
been created in the current Type, Severity, Title, Time
week. Created, Estimated Disruption
time, Related Record number,
Incident Manager.
Resolved Alerts All alerts which have been Number, Resolved by, Event
resolved. This does not include Type, Severity, Title, Actual
closed alerts. Disruption time, Source
Incident number, Source
Incident status.
Resolved IA's this Week All alerts which have been Number, Resolved by, Event
resolved in the current week, Type, Severity, Title, Actual
including any alerts closed this Disruption time, Related
week. Record, Assignee.
Related Concepts
Process incident alerts
View the dashboard
Related Reference
Resolve an alert
Run a post incident review
Close an alert
Using Notify enables all users involved in the issue to quickly communicate with each other
and helps in the fast turnaround and resolution of the issue.
Note: This content applies to the Legacy Notify and the newer Notify plugin, where
there is a difference it will be noted.
Notify sends an SMS to the users associated to the alert when it is created.
Launch a conference call
As part of processing an incident alert, a conference call can be created between involved
users.
Add a participant
If the conference participants decide that the input of another user is required, that user
can be invited to join the current conference call.
View conference call information
Conference calls are listed as system activities in the Activity section of the Incident Alert
form and also are listed in the Conference Calls related list.
Related Tasks
Activate Incident Alert Management
Related Concepts
Incident Alert contact
Create incident alerts
Process incident alerts
Subscribe to incident alerts
Related Reference
Incident Alert Management features
Incident Alert life cycle
Incident Alert Management roles
Incident Alert Management example
Notify sends an SMS to the users associated to the alert when it is created.
When you create a new incident alert, Notify sends an SMS notification to the users defined
as default contact responsibilities for the alert.
This text message is sent to the mobile phone number on record of each user and takes this
form:
IA<number>: a <Severity> severity <Event Type> incident alert for <CI Name> has been
opened.
Administrators can modify the content of this message by editing the SMS on new Incident
Alert business rule.
Related Tasks
Launch a conference call
Add a participant
View conference call information
As part of processing an incident alert, a conference call can be created between involved
users.
Note: Only one conference call at a time can be active for each issue.
Procedure
The dialog box displays the recommended and selected participants for the conference.
All users from the User Contacts list in the incident alert are selected by default. If a
rotation schedule exists for the Group Contacts, the primary and secondary on-call
resources are shown in the Recommended list. This way, the current on-call persons can
quickly be invited to join the conference call. Calls are placed to the number in the
Mobile phone field on the user record. If that information is blank, the user cannot be
contacted through Notify. The mobile phone number has to be an E.164 compliant
phone number. If the phone number is a local number, without the + prefix, the number
will be retrieved based on the user's location and, if possible, converted into a valid E.164
number.
5. To select ad-hoc participants, do one of the following activities:
Option Description
Click the reference lookup icon, and select the Click Add to selected.
relevant user.
When the final participant leaves the conference, the conference call closes.
Note: VoIP phone systems, which do not use touch tone phones, may
encounter issues with recognizing key presses. To avoid problems, ensure
that conference call users use touch tone phones, or configure your VoIP
system settings to recognize key presses, as described in your VoIP
system documentation.
Related Tasks
Send an SMS notification
Add a participant
View conference call information
Add a participant
If the conference participants decide that the input of another user is required, that user can
be invited to join the current conference call.
Participants who may have involuntarily dropped out of the conference can also contact the
conference call initiator, who can add them to the conference call.
Note: The content applies to the Legacy Notify plugin and not to the Notify plugin.
Procedure
If you try to start a new call with a user that is already in a conference call, two
messages are shown, the first stating this is an invalid participant and the second that
this person is already in another call.
Related Tasks
Send an SMS notification
Launch a conference call
View conference call information
Conference calls are listed as system activities in the Activity section of the Incident Alert
form and also are listed in the Conference Calls related list.
In the related lists, click Conference Calls if you want to view the list of conference calls.
Conference Calls
Note: Conference call information can also be accessed by navigating to Notify >
Conference Calls starting with the Eureka release. In previous versions,
navigate to NotifyNow > Conference Calls.
Responses to conference call information
When a user is invited to join a conference call, Notify may receive on of several
responses. These responses can be viewed in the conference call details.
Related Tasks
Send an SMS notification
Launch a conference call
Add a participant
When a user is invited to join a conference call, Notify may receive on of several responses.
These responses can be viewed in the conference call details.
Note: Depending on the phone service provider of the contact, the information the
participant receives may vary. For example, contacts who have switched off
their phones may or may not receive a missed call message.
Incident alert administrator [ia_admin] Can create and edit incident alerts and contact
records.
Related Tasks
Activate Incident Alert Management
Related Concepts
Incident Alert contact
Create incident alerts
Process incident alerts
Notify with Incident Alert
Subscribe to incident alerts
Related Reference
Incident Alert Management features
Incident Alert life cycle
Incident Alert Management example
An example of how incident alerts can be used in an incident management process is:
1. An ITIL user creates a high-priority incident regarding a serious issue with the server
room.
2. The incident alert administrator creates a new incident alert for this source incident.
3. As a result of a conference call discussion, a problem is identified based on the incident.
This problem is assigned to the problem management team, which agrees to investigate
further and identify tasks to improve service and prevent similar incidents from
occurring.
4. The incident management team resolves the source incident. The source incident may
also be closed at this point.
5. The incident alert administrator resolves the incident alert.
6. The incident alert administrator convenes a post incident review meeting to ensure that
all identified tasks are logged and tracked to completion.
7. The incident alert administrator can now close the incident alert.
Related Tasks
Activate Incident Alert Management
Related Concepts
Incident Alert contact
Create incident alerts
Process incident alerts
Notify with Incident Alert
Subscribe to incident alerts
Related Reference
Incident Alert Management features
Incident Alert life cycle
Incident Alert Management roles
Notifications are sent by email. If Notify is active, notifications can also be sent by SMS
message or voicemail.
For example, a business manager does not log in to the system on daily basis, but needs to
know when a new incident alert is created. The business manager can subscribe to receive
notifications whenever a new incident alert is raised.
Filter a notification
When a relevant notification event happens, a notification message is generated and sent
to all subscribed users.
Subscribe to a notification
Related Tasks
Activate Incident Alert Management
Related Concepts
Incident Alert contact
Related Reference
Incident Alert Management features
Incident Alert life cycle
Incident Alert Management roles
Incident Alert Management example
Filter a notification
If no filtering is applied to a subscription, then a subscribed user receives all notifications for
that subscription.
For example, a user subscribed to New IA Raised, with no filtering, receives notifications
every time any incident alert is created.
Procedure
Example
For example, you can choose to be notified only when an incident alert is created for a
specific CI.
Related Tasks
Subscribe to a notification
Related Reference
Notification message content
When a relevant notification event happens, a notification message is generated and sent to
all subscribed users.
This message will give the notification type, the alert number, and details of the event.
Notification Message
Related Tasks
Filter a notification
Subscribe to a notification
Subscribe to a notification
7. Click Submit.
Related Tasks
Filter a notification
Related Reference
Notification message content
Incident Management
The ServiceNow platform supports the incident management process with the ability to log
incidents, classify according to impact and urgency, assign to appropriate groups, escalate,
and manage through to resolution and reporting. Any ESS user can log in to an instance to
record the incident and track it through the entire incident life cycle until service has been
restored and the issue has been completely resolved.
Within the platform, incidents are handled with the task record system. Each incident is
generated through a variety of methods as a task record, and populated with the pertinent
information in individual fields. These tasks can be assigned to appropriate service desk
members, who will deal with the task as appropriate. Once the incident has been properly
dealt with, it is closed.
Logging incidents
By default, any user can create an incident within the system.
Logging an incident
Location Process
Employee Self Service ITIL users or administrators can use the Create
New module in the Incident application, or select
New from the Incident list. The Watch list,
Incident state, and Impact fields are available on
the ESS view of the Incident form and the
variable formatter is not available. ESS users have
write access to the Watch list and Impact fields.
Record producers Use the Create a New Incident record producer in
the service catalog. (This record producer sets
the Contact Type field of the resulting incident to
Self-Service.)
Inbound email actions An email addressed to the instance mailbox can
create an incident according to inbound email
actions.
Note: If the Security Incident Response plugin is activated, you can click the Create
Security Incident button on the New Incident form to create a security
incident from the currently displayed incident.
Identifying incidents
In addition to having users log incidents, it is possible to automatically generate incidents
from pre-established conditions. Business rules use JavaScript to generate an incident after
a certain series of conditions has been met. It is also possible to generate incidents from
outside the platform with SOAP messaging.
The incident alert management application allows you to manage communications around
high-priority incidents. See Incident Alert Management.
Identify incidents
Incident forms have fields for category and subcategory, which allow for easy
classification of incidents.
Prioritization of incidents
ITIL uses three metrics for determining the order in which incidents are processed.
Log incidents
The first step in using the service catalog as a front end is to create a record producer.
Define an assignment rule for incidents
To ensure that incidents are promptly dealt with by the appropriate IT service members,
administrators can define assignment rules to automate the process.
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents is largely a human process, wherein the service desk looks at
the information within the incident and communicates with the user to diagnose the
problem in the incident.
Investigation and diagnosis of incidents
Like the initial diagnosis and investigation, investigation and diagnosis are largely human
processes.
Check related incidents
Incidents have three ways to discover related incidents from the Incident form.
Escalation of incidents
Closed incidents are filtered out of view but remain in the system for reference purposes.
Close multiple incidents
Service desk technicians with the list_updater role can close multiple incidents from an
incident list and attach the same close notes to all of them.
Close resolved incidents automatically
You can configure ServiceNowServiceNow to automatically close tickets that have been in
an Incident State of "Resolved" a specified number of days.
Track incident resolution information
You can track who resolved or closed an incident and when, and also update the business
rule to populate those fields.
Attach configuration items to an incident
To aid in the incident management process, attach as much information as possible to the
incident.
Incident promotion
When the incident management team has determined that the cause of an incident is an
error or widespread problem, the team should initiate the problem management process.
Incident resolution and recovery
After the incident is considered resolved, the incident state should be set to Resolved by
the service desk.
Perl API Incident
The Best Practice - New Call Wizard provides a wizard interface for the service desk to
track information from a new call.
Create a form view
You can create a view of the Incident form using specific guidelines.
Incident Management service improvements
The service desk can improve the incident management process using information
gathered within the platform.
Incident promotion UI actions
When a user searches for a knowledge base article from an incident, problem, or change
request, the displayed article includes an Attach to Task button at the top right.
Incident ticketing integrations
Identify incidents
Business rules use JavaScript to generate an incident after a certain series of conditions has
been met. It is also possible to generate incidents from outside the platform with SOAP
messaging.
Related Tasks
Create a record producer
Define an assignment rule for incidents
Copy attachment contents into a KB field
Related Concepts
Categorize incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Investigation and diagnosis of incidents
Incident closure
Close multiple incidents
Close resolved incidents automatically
Attach configuration items to an incident
Incident promotion
Incident resolution and recovery
Perl API Incident
Incident ticketing integrations
View assign incident SNX
Related Reference
Prioritization of incidents
Log incidents
Check related incidents
Escalation of incidents
Track incident resolution information
New Call Wizard
Create a form view
Incident Management service improvements
Incident promotion UI actions
Categorize incidents
Incident forms have fields for category and subcategory, which allow for easy classification
of incidents.
These categories can be used by the system to create automatic assignment rules or
notifications. For instance, with a certain assignment rule, an incident with a category of
Database could automatically be assigned to a Database group that always handles
database issues.
Another important category for incidents is the incident state. This allows the service desk
to track how much work has been done and what the next step in the process might be. For
more information, see Categorizing Incidents.
Add or remove incident categories or subcategories
Assigning incident tickets to categories and subcategories can greatly improve the clarity
and granularity of report data.
Related Tasks
Create a record producer
Define an assignment rule for incidents
Copy attachment contents into a KB field
Related Concepts
Identify incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Investigation and diagnosis of incidents
Incident closure
Close multiple incidents
Close resolved incidents automatically
Attach configuration items to an incident
Incident promotion
Incident resolution and recovery
Perl API Incident
Incident ticketing integrations
View assign incident SNX
Related Reference
Prioritization of incidents
Log incidents
Check related incidents
Escalation of incidents
Track incident resolution information
New Call Wizard
Create a form view
Incident Management service improvements
Incident promotion UI actions
Related Reference
Incident categories and subcategories
Assigning incident tickets to categories and subcategories can greatly improve the clarity
and granularity of report data.
For example, appropriate incident categories allow you to track how many network-related
versus telephone-related incidents you have from week to week.
The platform can also use an incident's category or subcategory to automatically assign the
incident to a specific fulfillment group to work on it. For example, Network tickets should
automatically go to the Network group based on the category.
Categorizing incidents
Category Subcategory
Request Password Reset
Password Expired
Account Locked
Inquiry / Help Anti-Virus
Email
Internal Application
Software Email
Operating System
Hardware CPU
Disk
Keyboard
Category Subcategory
Memory
Monitor
Mouse
Network DHCP
DNS
IP Address
VPN
Wireless
Database MS SQL Server
Oracle
Related Tasks
Add or remove incident categories or subcategories
Prioritization of incidents
ITIL uses three metrics for determining the order in which incidents are processed.
ITIL suggests that priority be made dependent on impact and urgency. In the base system,
this is true on Incident forms. Priority is generated from urgency and impact according to
the following data lookup rules.
By default, the Priority field is read-only and must be set by selecting Impact and Urgency
values. To change how priority is calculated, administrators can either alter the priority
lookup rules or disable the Priority is managed by Data Lookup - set as read-only UI policy
and create their own business logic.
Related Tasks
Create a record producer
Define an assignment rule for incidents
Copy attachment contents into a KB field
Related Concepts
Identify incidents
Categorize incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Investigation and diagnosis of incidents
Incident closure
Close multiple incidents
Close resolved incidents automatically
Attach configuration items to an incident
Incident promotion
Incident resolution and recovery
Perl API Incident
Incident ticketing integrations
View assign incident SNX
Related Reference
Log incidents
Check related incidents
Escalation of incidents
Track incident resolution information
New Call Wizard
Create a form view
Incident Management service improvements
Incident promotion UI actions
Log incidents
Log an incident
Location Process
Employee Self Service ITIL users or administrators can use the Create
New module in the Incident application, or select
New from the Incident list. The Watch list,
Incident state, and Impact fields are available on
the ESS view of the Incident form and the
variable formatter is not available. ESS users have
write access to the Watch list and Impact fields.
Record Producers Using the Create a New Incident record producer
in the service catalog. (Note that this record
producer sets the Contact Type field of the
resulting incident to Self-Service.)
Inbound Email Actions An email addressed to the instance mailbox can
create an incident according to inbound email
actions.
Related Tasks
Create a record producer
Define an assignment rule for incidents
Copy attachment contents into a KB field
Related Concepts
Identify incidents
Categorize incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Investigation and diagnosis of incidents
Incident closure
Close multiple incidents
Close resolved incidents automatically
Attach configuration items to an incident
Incident promotion
Incident resolution and recovery
Perl API Incident
Incident ticketing integrations
Related Reference
Prioritization of incidents
Check related incidents
Escalation of incidents
Track incident resolution information
New Call Wizard
Create a form view
Incident Management service improvements
Incident promotion UI actions
The first step in using the service catalog as a front end is to create a record producer.
Record producers appear in the service catalog like catalog items, however, instead of
creating a service request, they create a record on any record in the system, populating the
record as defined in the record producer.
The following example demonstrates how to create a record producer to request a wireless
router reset.
Procedure
4. Right click the form and select Save. The related lists Variables and Variable Sets will
now appear at the end of the form.
5. Scroll down to the Variables related list and click New.
6. Populate the New Variable form as follows:
7. Click Update.
To view how the new record producer appears to the end user, click the Preview Item
link:
Now, when a user would like to request that IT reset a router, they can navigate to the
Service Catalog and select the Request to Reset Router link:
In addition to providing a front-end for service requests, service catalog is also used as a
front-end for incident management.
Create a record producer with a template
If a pre-defined template for an incident exists, it can be used with the record producer to
fill in standard information for the record producer.
Related Tasks
Define an assignment rule for incidents
Copy attachment contents into a KB field
Related Concepts
Identify incidents
Categorize incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Investigation and diagnosis of incidents
Incident closure
Close multiple incidents
Close resolved incidents automatically
Attach configuration items to an incident
Incident promotion
Related Reference
Prioritization of incidents
Log incidents
Check related incidents
Escalation of incidents
Track incident resolution information
New Call Wizard
Create a form view
Incident Management service improvements
Incident promotion UI actions
In addition to providing a front-end for service requests, service catalog is also used as a
front-end for incident management.
An administrator can set up record producers that create records on the incident table,
allowing the end-user to log incidents directly from the Service Catalog. This can be useful in
giving end-users one front-end from which they can make all of their requests to their IT
Department.
For example, the default Can We Help You? category features record producers such as
Report an Incident to enable end-users to directly log incidents from the catalog homepage.
Related Tasks
Create a record producer with a template
If a pre-defined template for an incident exists, it can be used with the record producer to fill
in standard information for the record producer.
Procedure
4. Right click the form and select Save. The related lists Variables and Variable Sets will
now appear at the end of the form.
5. Scroll down to the Variables related list and click New.
6. Populate the New Variable form as follows:
7. Submit.
8. Click Update.
Once filled in and submitted, it will create the incident with the information from the
template, and with the comments supplied on the record producer form, if any.
Related Concepts
Create a record producer to log incidents
To ensure that incidents are promptly dealt with by the appropriate IT service members,
administrators can define assignment rules to automate the process.
Note: The sys_user_group read ACL calls the SNCRoleUtil function. The
function checks to see whether the group being reviewed contains
either the admin role or security_admin role. The function allows the
user to view the group only if the user has the same role. As a result,
an itil user cannot assign an incident to a group that has the admin
role or security_admin role (or whose parent has the role).
Conditions - "Location is New York" and "Category is Database".
To test the assignment rule, navigate to Incidents > Create New and populate the form
with the following:
When you save the incident, the proper assignment group is added:
Related Tasks
Create a record producer
Copy attachment contents into a KB field
Related Concepts
Identify incidents
Categorize incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Related Reference
Prioritization of incidents
Log incidents
Check related incidents
Escalation of incidents
Track incident resolution information
New Call Wizard
Create a form view
Incident Management service improvements
Incident promotion UI actions
Initial diagnosis of incidents is largely a human process, wherein the service desk looks at the
information within the incident and communicates with the user to diagnose the problem in
the incident.
To aid in the process, the service desk can consult the configuration management database,
which contains information on hardware and software within a network and the relationships
between them. CMDB can be populated in two ways: Discovery and Help the Help Desk.
Discovery is available as a separate product, but Help the Help Desk is available with the
base system.
Related Tasks
Create a record producer
Define an assignment rule for incidents
Copy attachment contents into a KB field
Related Concepts
Identify incidents
Categorize incidents
Investigation and diagnosis of incidents
Incident closure
Close multiple incidents
Close resolved incidents automatically
Attach configuration items to an incident
Incident promotion
Incident resolution and recovery
Perl API Incident
Incident ticketing integrations
View assign incident SNX
Related Reference
Prioritization of incidents
Log incidents
Check related incidents
Escalation of incidents
Track incident resolution information
New Call Wizard
Create a form view
Incident Management service improvements
Incident promotion UI actions
Like the initial diagnosis and investigation, investigation and diagnosis are largely human
processes.
The service desk can continue to use the information provided within by the Incident form
and the CMDB to solve the problem. Work notes can be appended to the incident as it is
being evaluated, which facilitates communication between all of the concerned parties.
These work notes and other updates can be communicated to the concerned parties
through email notifications. The administrator may need to add a notification for the work
notes list.
Related Tasks
Create a record producer
Define an assignment rule for incidents
Copy attachment contents into a KB field
Related Concepts
Identify incidents
Categorize incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Incident closure
Close multiple incidents
Close resolved incidents automatically
Attach configuration items to an incident
Incident promotion
Incident resolution and recovery
Perl API Incident
Incident ticketing integrations
View assign incident SNX
Related Reference
Prioritization of incidents
Log incidents
Check related incidents
Escalation of incidents
Track incident resolution information
New Call Wizard
Create a form view
Incident Management service improvements
Incident promotion UI actions
Incidents have three ways to discover related incidents from the Incident form.
The three ways to discover related incidents from the Incident form are:
Dependency views can help find related incidents based on configuration items (CI).
Use the related list
Other incidents by the same caller can also be found using the Incidents by Same Caller
related list.
Show related incidents
Incidents can show related incidents with the Show Related Incidents icon ( ).
Related Tasks
Create a record producer
Define an assignment rule for incidents
Copy attachment contents into a KB field
Related Concepts
Identify incidents
Categorize incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Investigation and diagnosis of incidents
Incident closure
Close multiple incidents
Close resolved incidents automatically
Attach configuration items to an incident
Incident promotion
Incident resolution and recovery
Perl API Incident
Incident ticketing integrations
View assign incident SNX
Related Reference
Prioritization of incidents
Log incidents
Escalation of incidents
Track incident resolution information
Dependency views can help find related incidents based on configuration items (CI).
If a configuration item is attached to an incident, clicking the map icon displays the
dependency views map.
To view any tasks attached to the CI, click on the down arrow next to the CI and select View
Related Tasks.
CI options
This enables the service desk can find related tasks using the information gathered by the
CMDB.
Related Reference
Use the related list
Show related incidents
Other incidents by the same caller can also be found using the Incidents by Same Caller
related list.
Related Reference
Find related incidents
Incidents can show related incidents with the Show Related Incidents icon ( ).
The Show Related Incidents icon is a reference icon that appears beside the Caller field on
the default incident form, when the field is populated. When clicked, it opens a browser
window displaying a list of other incidents for same caller.
The Show Related Incidents icon ( ) displays other incidents related to the referenced
record. Administrators can add this icon to any reference field by modifying the dictionary
and adding the ref_contributions=user_show_incidents dictionary attribute. The icon
appears only for users who have read or write access to this field.
Related Reference
Find related incidents
Use the related list
Escalation of incidents
The platform has a built-in system of escalation rules which can ensure that incidents are
handled speedily.
Escalator table
Escalator Description
Service Level Agreements SLAs monitor the progress of the incident
according to defined rules. As time passes, the
SLA will dial up the priority of the incident, and
leave a marker as to its progress. SLAs can also
be used as a performance indicator for the
service desk.
Set an inactivity monitor The inactivity monitors prevent incidents from
slipping through the cracks by generating an
event, which in turn can create an email
notification or trigger a script, when an incident
has gone a certain amount of time without being
updated.
Promote an incident
Related Tasks
Create a record producer
Define an assignment rule for incidents
Copy attachment contents into a KB field
Related Concepts
Identify incidents
Categorize incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Investigation and diagnosis of incidents
Incident closure
Close multiple incidents
Close resolved incidents automatically
Attach configuration items to an incident
Incident promotion
Incident resolution and recovery
Perl API Incident
Incident ticketing integrations
View assign incident SNX
Related Reference
Prioritization of incidents
Log incidents
Check related incidents
Track incident resolution information
New Call Wizard
Create a form view
Incident Management service improvements
Incident promotion UI actions
Promote an incident
Procedure
The form for the new record appears. At this point, the new record is created. You do
not need to manually save this record.
Incident closure
Closed incidents are filtered out of view but remain in the system for reference purposes.
Closed incidents can be reopened if the user or service desk believes that it needs to be
reopened.
Incidents that are on the Related Incidents list of a problem can be configured to close
automatically when the problem is closed through business rules.
If the knowledge check box is selected, a business rule is triggered by closing the incident,
and a knowledge article is generated with the information from the incident. This is useful
for knowledge management, and knowledge-centered support, reducing the number of
repeat incidents by distributing the information related to the incident.
It is also possible to generate customer satisfaction surveys upon closure of incidents. This
allows the service desk to gather information about their quality of service directly from the
user.
Related Tasks
Create a record producer
Define an assignment rule for incidents
Copy attachment contents into a KB field
Related Concepts
Identify incidents
Categorize incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Investigation and diagnosis of incidents
Close multiple incidents
Close resolved incidents automatically
Attach configuration items to an incident
Incident promotion
Incident resolution and recovery
Perl API Incident
Incident ticketing integrations
View assign incident SNX
Related Reference
Prioritization of incidents
Log incidents
Check related incidents
Escalation of incidents
Track incident resolution information
New Call Wizard
Service desk technicians with the list_updater role can close multiple incidents from an
incident list and attach the same close notes to all of them.
In addition to the default method for closing multiple incidents, an administrator can create
a UI action and make the feature available to users without the list_updater role.
Close incidents from a list
You can use the list view to close multiple incidents with the same close notes.
Create a UI action to close multiple incidents
You can create a UI action for closing multiple incidents with the same close notes.
Create a business rule to close multiple incidents
You can create a business rule for the UI action to close multiple incidents.
Use a UI action to close multiple incidents
You can use a UI action to close multiple incidents with the same close notes.
Related Tasks
Create a record producer
Define an assignment rule for incidents
Copy attachment contents into a KB field
Related Concepts
Identify incidents
Categorize incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Investigation and diagnosis of incidents
Incident closure
Close resolved incidents automatically
Attach configuration items to an incident
Incident promotion
Incident resolution and recovery
Perl API Incident
Related Reference
Prioritization of incidents
Log incidents
Check related incidents
Escalation of incidents
Track incident resolution information
New Call Wizard
Create a form view
Incident Management service improvements
Incident promotion UI actions
You can use the list view to close multiple incidents with the same close notes.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Create a UI action to close multiple incidents
Create a business rule to close multiple incidents
Use a UI action to close multiple incidents
You can create a UI action for closing multiple incidents with the same close notes.
Procedure
3. Click Submit.
The new UI action appears in the Action choice list at the bottom of lists associated with
the selected table.
Related Tasks
Close incidents from a list
Create a business rule to close multiple incidents
Use a UI action to close multiple incidents
You can create a business rule for the UI action to close multiple incidents.
Procedure
Example
Copy and paste the following code to create the new rule:
current.active = 'false';
current.short_description = "TEST CLOSE NOTES";
current.incident_state = '7';
gs.addInfoMessage("Closing");
current.update();
Related Tasks
Close incidents from a list
Create a UI action to close multiple incidents
Use a UI action to close multiple incidents
You can use a UI action to close multiple incidents with the same close notes.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Close incidents from a list
You can configure ServiceNowServiceNow to automatically close tickets that have been in
an Incident State of "Resolved" a specified number of days.
For example, if you set the property to 3 days, then 3 days after an incident is Resolved it
will be automatically closed. Any update to the incident, for example an added comment
from a Self Service user, would restart this 3-day clock.
If you set this property to zero days (the default), Incidents will not auto-close. To set the
property, navigate to System Properties > System, and then look for the following property:
Auto Close
Note: If you have an inactivity monitor firing on your incident, it will reset this auto-
close clock each time it fires, preventing your incident from being closed. To
prevent this, put a Reset Condition on your inactivity monitor of Incident
state is not Resolved.
Note: The Incident Autoclose rule (System Definition > Business Rules > Incident
autoclose) should be set on the Incident [incident] table, not the Global
[global] table, to avoid potential performance issues.
You can set a specific user name to show in the incident record as the Updated By user
when the incident is closed automatically. Go to System Scheduler > Scheduled Jobs >
Autoclose Incidents and add fcRunAs=<user_name> to the Scheduled Job record. The
following example places System Administrator into the Updated By field when an incident
is closed automatically:
fcRunAs=admin
fcScriptName =incident autoclose
Related Tasks
Create a record producer
Define an assignment rule for incidents
Copy attachment contents into a KB field
Related Concepts
Identify incidents
Categorize incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Investigation and diagnosis of incidents
Incident closure
Close multiple incidents
Attach configuration items to an incident
Incident promotion
Incident resolution and recovery
Perl API Incident
Incident ticketing integrations
View assign incident SNX
Related Reference
Prioritization of incidents
Log incidents
Check related incidents
Escalation of incidents
Track incident resolution information
New Call Wizard
Create a form view
Incident Management service improvements
Incident promotion UI actions
You can track who resolved or closed an incident and when, and also update the business
rule to populate those fields.
Fields
Incident Resolution Fields adds the following fields to the Incident table:
Note: The new fields are not visible on the form by default. Add them by
configuring the form.
Business rules
Incident Resolution Fields updates an existing business rule and adds a new one.
The existing mark_closed business rule runs when the incident state changes to Closed.
When Incident Resolution Fields is active, this rule automatically populates the Resolved By
and Resolved fields.
Note: If the mark_closed business rule was previously changed, the plugin does not
update it.
Incident Resolution Fields adds the mark_resolved business rule, which runs when the
incident state changes to Resolved. The business rule automatically populates the Resolved
By and Resolved fields.
Related Tasks
Create a record producer
Define an assignment rule for incidents
Copy attachment contents into a KB field
Related Concepts
Identify incidents
Categorize incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Investigation and diagnosis of incidents
Incident closure
Close multiple incidents
Close resolved incidents automatically
Attach configuration items to an incident
Incident promotion
Incident resolution and recovery
Perl API Incident
Related Reference
Prioritization of incidents
Log incidents
Check related incidents
Escalation of incidents
New Call Wizard
Create a form view
Incident Management service improvements
Incident promotion UI actions
To aid in the incident management process, attach as much information as possible to the
incident.
The service desk often deals with an incident related to one or more specific configuration
items (CIs). If the configuration management team has populated the CMDB, the CI records
may hold valuable information for the incident management team. You can associate
configuration items to an incident to see how the incident affects other CIs with dependent
relationships.
Use the Configuration Item field when there is a single, primary CI that is the cause of the
incident, and the Affected CI's related list when multiple CIs are affected by the incident. For
example, suppose a load-balancer in a data center is no longer operational. The
Configuration Item field might have the specific server which has run out of memory, while
the Affected CI related list contains the load-balancer, the data center, the servers which
depend on that load-balancer, and business services that are impacted by the missing
server.
These CIs can be associated manually using the fields, or can be attached using dependency
views.
Use dependency views to locate affected CIs
The incident management team can use dependency views to identify CIs that are
affected due to a configuration item that has caused an incident.
Related Tasks
Create a record producer
Define an assignment rule for incidents
Copy attachment contents into a KB field
Related Concepts
Identify incidents
Categorize incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Investigation and diagnosis of incidents
Incident closure
Close multiple incidents
Close resolved incidents automatically
Incident promotion
Incident resolution and recovery
Perl API Incident
Incident ticketing integrations
View assign incident SNX
Related Reference
Prioritization of incidents
Log incidents
Check related incidents
Escalation of incidents
Track incident resolution information
New Call Wizard
Create a form view
Incident Management service improvements
Incident promotion UI actions
The incident management team can use dependency views to identify CIs that are affected
due to a configuration item that has caused an incident.
Procedure
3. Click on the down arrow next to the CI and select View Affected CIs.
Incident promotion
When the incident management team has determined that the cause of an incident is an
error or widespread problem, the team should initiate the problem management process.
When the issue requires a change to be resolved, the team should initiate the change
management process.
You can use a menu item on the Incident form to create a problem or change record and
associate the incident with the new record. In this way, incidents can be used to easily create
problems or changes.
Related Tasks
Create a record producer
Define an assignment rule for incidents
Copy attachment contents into a KB field
Related Concepts
Identify incidents
Categorize incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Investigation and diagnosis of incidents
Incident closure
Close multiple incidents
Close resolved incidents automatically
Attach configuration items to an incident
Incident resolution and recovery
Perl API Incident
Incident ticketing integrations
View assign incident SNX
Related Reference
Prioritization of incidents
Log incidents
Check related incidents
Escalation of incidents
Track incident resolution information
New Call Wizard
Create a form view
Incident Management service improvements
Incident promotion UI actions
After the incident is considered resolved, the incident state should be set to Resolved by the
service desk.
The escalators will be stopped and the service desk may review the information within the
incident. After a sufficient period of time has passed, assuming that the user who opened
the incident is satisfied, the incident state may be set to closed.
If an incident's cause is understood but cannot be fixed, the service desk can easily generate
a problem from the incident, which will be evaluated through the problem management
process. If the incident creates the need for a change in IT services, the service desk can
easily generate a change from the incident, which will be evaluated through the change
management process.
In addition to the base system incident management workflow, a Best Practice - Incident
Resolution Workflow Plugin is available to bring the incident management workflow into
better alignment with ITIL v3.
Related Tasks
Create a record producer
Define an assignment rule for incidents
Copy attachment contents into a KB field
Related Concepts
Identify incidents
Categorize incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Investigation and diagnosis of incidents
Incident closure
Close multiple incidents
Close resolved incidents automatically
Attach configuration items to an incident
Incident promotion
Perl API Incident
Incident ticketing integrations
View assign incident SNX
Related Reference
Prioritization of incidents
Log incidents
Check related incidents
Escalation of incidents
Incident module
ServiceNow Perl API - Incident perl module
Creating an Incident
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use ServiceNow;
use ServiceNow::Configuration;
use ServiceNow::ITIL::Incident;
my $CONFIG = ServiceNow::Configuration->new();
$CONFIG->setSoapEndPoint("https://demoi1.service-now.com/");
$CONFIG->setUserName("admin");
$CONFIG->setUserPassword("admin");
use ServiceNow;
use ServiceNow::Configuration;
use ServiceNow::ITIL::Incident;
my $CONFIG = ServiceNow::Configuration->new();
$CONFIG->setSoapEndPoint("https://demoi1.service-now.com/");
$CONFIG->setUserName("admin");
$CONFIG->setUserPassword("admin");
my $incident = ServiceNow::ITIL::Incident->new($CONFIG);
$incident->addQuery("assignment_group", "Service Desk");
$incident->addQuery("category", "Hardware");
$incident->query();
while($incident->next()) {
print "number=" . $incident->getValue("number") . "\n";
print "sd=" . $incident->getValue("short_description") . "\n";
print "opened_by Display Value= " . $incident->getDisplayValue("opened_by") . "\n"
print "opened_by sys_id= " . $incident->getValue('opened_by');
}
use ServiceNow;
use ServiceNow::Configuration;
use ServiceNow::ITIL::Incident;
my $CONFIG = ServiceNow::Configuration->new();
$CONFIG->setSoapEndPoint("https://demoi1.service-now.com/");
$CONFIG->setUserName("admin");
$CONFIG->setUserPassword("admin");
my $incident = ServiceNow::ITIL::Incident->new($CONFIG);
$incident->setValue("short_description", "test incident for attachment 2");
$incident->insert();
$incident->attach("/Users/davidloo/Desktop/test_files/number_test.xls");
Constructor
new
new(Configuration);
Example:
$incident = ServiceNow::ITIL::Incident->new($CONFIG);
Subroutines
close
close(number, hashmap);
Example:
$incident->close($number)
Close an incident and update values described in the hash map passed in.
reopen
reopen(number, hashmap);
Example:
$incident->reopen($number);
Re-open a closed incident and update values described in the hash map passed in.
createProblem
createProblem();
Create a problem ticket from an incident and associate it. Returns the sys_id of the newly
created problem ticket
createChange
createChange();
Create a change request from an incident and associate it. Returns the sys_id of the newly
created change request
Related Tasks
Create a record producer
Define an assignment rule for incidents
Copy attachment contents into a KB field
Related Concepts
Identify incidents
Categorize incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Investigation and diagnosis of incidents
Incident closure
Close multiple incidents
Close resolved incidents automatically
Attach configuration items to an incident
Incident promotion
Incident resolution and recovery
Incident ticketing integrations
View assign incident SNX
Related Reference
Prioritization of incidents
Log incidents
Check related incidents
Escalation of incidents
Track incident resolution information
New Call Wizard
Create a form view
Incident Management service improvements
Incident promotion UI actions
The Best Practice - New Call Wizard provides a wizard interface for the service desk to track
information from a new call.
It allows a support technician to begin recording call information before making a decision
about whether the caller is raising an incident or making a catalog request, which improves
efficiency when opening tickets from calls.
Use the new call wizard
The new call wizard adds the New Call module to the Service Desk application.
Related Tasks
Create a record producer
Define an assignment rule for incidents
Related Concepts
Identify incidents
Categorize incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Investigation and diagnosis of incidents
Incident closure
Close multiple incidents
Close resolved incidents automatically
Attach configuration items to an incident
Incident promotion
Incident resolution and recovery
Perl API Incident
Incident ticketing integrations
View assign incident SNX
Related Reference
Prioritization of incidents
Log incidents
Check related incidents
Escalation of incidents
Track incident resolution information
Create a form view
Incident Management service improvements
Incident promotion UI actions
The new call wizard adds the New Call module to the Service Desk application.
Procedure
Request
3. Click Submit.
If the Call Type is Incident, clicking Submit opens the new incident record.
If the Call Type is Request, clicking Submit opens a new catalog item record for the
specified Item, ordered on behalf of the Caller.
You can create a view of the Incident form using specific guidelines.
Follow the steps in Create a view and include the following information:
Make the view Name match the first parameter to showQuickForm() in the UI action.
Ensure that the view contains the fields to be updated.
Related Tasks
Create a record producer
Define an assignment rule for incidents
Copy attachment contents into a KB field
Related Concepts
Identify incidents
Categorize incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Investigation and diagnosis of incidents
Incident closure
Close multiple incidents
Close resolved incidents automatically
Attach configuration items to an incident
Incident promotion
Incident resolution and recovery
Perl API Incident
Incident ticketing integrations
View assign incident SNX
Related Reference
Prioritization of incidents
Log incidents
Check related incidents
Escalation of incidents
Track incident resolution information
New Call Wizard
The service desk can improve the incident management process using information gathered
within the platform.
Much of the data is already stored within the incident record. More information can be
gathered by enabling auditing, which allows for an accurate review of the history of the
problem.
Using this information, it is possible to refine automatic rules such as the assignment rules,
service level agreements, or inactivity monitors to better suit the service desk's unique
environment.
Unnecessary incidents can be avoided by encouraging users to consult the knowledge base
before creating an incident.
Related Tasks
Create a record producer
Define an assignment rule for incidents
Copy attachment contents into a KB field
Related Concepts
Identify incidents
Categorize incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Investigation and diagnosis of incidents
Incident closure
Related Reference
Prioritization of incidents
Log incidents
Check related incidents
Escalation of incidents
Track incident resolution information
New Call Wizard
Create a form view
Incident promotion UI actions
Administrators can customize incident promotion behavior. The menu items Create Problem
and Create Change are UI actions with that name. You can edit the UI action to customize
the behavior of the menu item.
The Create Problem script carries over these fields from the the Incident form:
short_description
cmdb_ci
priority
The syntax for carrying a field from the Incident form to the Problem form is:
prob.<fieldname> = current.<fieldname>
The Create Change script carries over these fields from the Incident form:
short_description
description
cmdb_ci
priority
The syntax for carrying a field from the Incident form to the Change form is:
change.<fieldname> = current.<fieldname>
If there is another process that incidents may be promoted to, such as if an incident should
really be handled by Facilities Management, you can create a new UI action modeled after
the Create Change and Create Problem UI actions to promote the incident to that table.
Related Tasks
Create a record producer
Define an assignment rule for incidents
Copy attachment contents into a KB field
Related Concepts
Identify incidents
Categorize incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Investigation and diagnosis of incidents
Incident closure
Close multiple incidents
Close resolved incidents automatically
Attach configuration items to an incident
Incident promotion
Incident resolution and recovery
Perl API Incident
Incident ticketing integrations
View assign incident SNX
Related Reference
Prioritization of incidents
Log incidents
Check related incidents
Escalation of incidents
Track incident resolution information
New Call Wizard
Create a form view
Incident Management service improvements
When a user searches for a knowledge base article from an incident, problem, or change
request, the displayed article includes an Attach to Task button at the top right.
The word task is replaced by the name of the form where the search was initiated.
When you click this button, the article number and contents are copied into the Comments
or Description field of the incident or problem record by default. Administrators can control
the field where this information is placed.
Procedure
3. Specify a field into which to copy knowledge article content. This must be the Element
name for the field, which is found by right-clicking the field name and selecting
Configure Label.
By default, this property is set to comment, meaning that content will be copied into the
Additional comments field. If you change the value to work_notes, the article content
would be copied into the Work notes field.
The copy behavior is based on the data type of the destination field. If the destination
field is a reference field to kb_knowledge, ServiceNow creates a reference link to the
existing article rather than copying the article contents into the record.
Notes/Limitations
The target field must be on the form to receive the data.
You can (optionally) specify more than one target field, separated by commas. In
this case, ServiceNow looks for each field in order and copies the contents into the
first one it finds on the form. It does not copy the data into multiple fields.
If the selected field does not exist on the form, ServiceNow checks for Comments
and Description automatically.
Related Tasks
Create a record producer
Define an assignment rule for incidents
Related Concepts
Identify incidents
Categorize incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Investigation and diagnosis of incidents
Incident closure
Close multiple incidents
Close resolved incidents automatically
Attach configuration items to an incident
Incident promotion
Incident resolution and recovery
Perl API Incident
Incident ticketing integrations
View assign incident SNX
Related Reference
Prioritization of incidents
Log incidents
Check related incidents
Escalation of incidents
Track incident resolution information
New Call Wizard
Create a form view
Incident Management service improvements
Incident promotion UI actions
An incident ticketing integration exchanges ticket data between your ServiceNow instance
and a third party system.
The level of data and the direction of the data that is exchanged categorizes the integration
as uni-directional or bi-directional.
In a uni-directional integration, a third party system creates an incident ticket, passes data
to ServiceNow, and receives a ticket ID back as confirmation. In a bi-directional
integration, incident data is exchanged, synchronized, and updated while data is sent
between the systems.
Uni-directional incident ticketing integrations
Consider the requirements for an external, third party system to create tickets. Define
what data needs to be sent at the least to create a ticket and what validation is required.
Bi-directional incident ticketing integrations
Related Tasks
Create a record producer
Define an assignment rule for incidents
Copy attachment contents into a KB field
Related Concepts
Identify incidents
Categorize incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Investigation and diagnosis of incidents
Incident closure
Close multiple incidents
Close resolved incidents automatically
Attach configuration items to an incident
Incident promotion
Incident resolution and recovery
Perl API Incident
View assign incident SNX
Related Reference
Prioritization of incidents
Log incidents
Check related incidents
Escalation of incidents
Track incident resolution information
New Call Wizard
Create a form view
Incident Management service improvements
Incident promotion UI actions
In a uni-directional integration, a third party system creates an incident ticket, passes data to
ServiceNow, and receives a ticket ID back as confirmation. In a bi-directional integration,
incident data is exchanged, synchronized, and updated while data is sent between the
systems.
Before implementing your project, develop an Integration Plan in which all of the
implementation aspects and requirements are defined. Developing the Integration Plan will
help you review the current data, plan for future requirements, and identify and sequence
project tasks.
Related Concepts
Uni-directional incident ticketing integrations
Bi-directional incident ticketing integrations
Consider the requirements for an external, third party system to create tickets. Define what
data needs to be sent at the least to create a ticket and what validation is required.
This way, a standard web service interface can be created and published. This integration
responds with a ticket number on success, or with a structured error message for validation
failures and processing issues. An advantage of this implementation is that you can publish
once and reuse for multiple applications, provided the additional integrations follow the
integration specifications. ServiceNow recommends creating a dedicated account for each
interface to provide accountability and report user statistics, and using a simple connectivity
Point of Contact (POC).
Validation Rules
Related Concepts
Incident ticketing integration implementations
Bi-directional incident ticketing integrations
A bi-directional integration exchanges data between your ServiceNow instance and a third
party system so that incident ticket information is synchronized between the systems.
Incident Table uses a Third Party Information table as a reference, and messages are
generated based on Business Rules.
Bi-directional ticketing integration using import sets and the ECC queue
Related Concepts
Incident ticketing integration implementations
Uni-directional incident ticketing integrations
What you will see when you click one of these is a list view with several columns, the
most important being Number, Category, Priority, Incident state, and Assigned to.
2. You can add more columns by clicking the gear icon and selecting items from the
Available box. If you want to see who resolved the incident, you should add Resolved by,
for example.
Filter the List To narrow down the list, you can use a quick filter or create a more detailed
filter query. In this example, all incidents that are waiting for user information where the
priority is critical or high is shown.
Assign or Reassign the Incident: You can assign only one person to an Incident.
).
3. If you want to narrow down the list of possible assignees and you know the group to
which the assignee belongs, select the group in the Assignment group field first. Then
select the user in the Assigned to field.
In this example, Beth Anglin, a member of the Service Desk, has been assigned to the
incident:
Perform Other Important Updates Other updates you might need to make include:
Related Tasks
Create a record producer
Define an assignment rule for incidents
Copy attachment contents into a KB field
Related Concepts
Identify incidents
Categorize incidents
Initial diagnosis of incidents
Investigation and diagnosis of incidents
Incident closure
Related Reference
Prioritization of incidents
Log incidents
Check related incidents
Escalation of incidents
Track incident resolution information
New Call Wizard
Create a form view
Incident Management service improvements
Incident promotion UI actions
1. From the form of the record in question, right click the form header bar.
2. Select Create Change.
Note: This option is not available for incidents that already have a change
record.
Related Tasks
Incident problem SNX
1. From the form of the record in question, right click the form header bar.
Note: This option is not available for incidents that already have a problem
record.
The new Problem form displays. At this point, the problem record is created in the
system. Users do not have to save the Problem form to create the record.
Related Tasks
Incident change SNX
The Password Reset application allows end users to use a self-service process to reset their
own passwords on the local ServiceNow instance. Alternatively, your organization can
implement a process that requires service-desk personnel to reset passwords for end users.
A credential store where user credentials (like username/password) are securely stored
One or more verifications that the admin specifies. For example, answering a personal
question that only the user knows how to answer or responding to the system with a code
number that is sent to a pre-authorized SMS device like a cellular phone or tablet.
The Password Change application extends the Password Reset application by letting
admins define how users change their passwords. Only a self-service process is supported
and an admin must publish the URL to the password change form.
Activate and configure the Password Reset application
Password Reset is available as a separate subscription from the rest of the ServiceNow
platform and requires the Password Reset plugin. The plugin activates related plugins if
they are not already active and includes example verifications. For more information,
contact your ServiceNow account representative.
Plan your Password Reset strategy
To ensure security and efficiency, take the time to plan your Password Reset
implementation.
Design a Password Reset or Password Change process
The specific details of the password reset process vary depending on the verification type
and settings you have chosen. Also, depending on your organization's password reset
requirements, users can reset their passwords through a publicly accessible web page, or
service desk employees with the password_reset_service_desk role can perform
password resets on behalf of users.
Monitoring Password Reset and Password Change activity
The Password Reset application provides a number of tools for monitoring and
troubleshooting password reset activities.
Users: Reset your password on Windows systems
Some organizations auto-enroll users in a password reset program. Your organization may
offer you the option to enroll for one or more methods of verifying your identity while you
are resetting your password.
The Password Change application extends the Password Reset application by letting admins
define how users change their passwords. Only a self-service process is supported and an
admin must publish the URL to the password change form.
Related Tasks
Design a Password Reset or Password Change process
Password Reset is available as a separate subscription from the rest of the ServiceNow
platform and requires the Password Reset plugin. The plugin activates related plugins if they
are not already active and includes example verifications. For more information, contact
your ServiceNow account representative.
Procedure
If the plugin depends on other plugins, these plugins are listed along with their
activation status.
Some plugins include demo datasample records that are designed to illustrate plugin
features for common use cases. Loading demo data is a good policy when you first
activate the plugin on a development or test instance. You can load demo data after the
plugin is activated by repeating this process and selecting the check box.
4. Click Activate.
Activate Password Reset Orchestration Add-on
For additional functionality, including the ability to reset passwords on Active Directory,
you must use the Password Reset - Orchestration Add-on plugin, which provides two
credential store types that are not available in the basic Password Reset application. The
Orchestration Add-on is available as a separate subscription. For more information,
contact your ServiceNow account representative.
Installed with Password Reset
Several types of components are installed with the Password Reset plugin.
Integrate Password Reset with a CMS integration
You can configure a site in the ServiceNow content management (CMS) application to
define a single-site access point that includes the password reset service.
Credential stores
Credential stores, such as the User [sys_user] table or an Active Directory server, store
user information such as user names and passwords, that can be used as login
credentials.
Password Reset Windows Application
The Password Reset Windows Application enables a user who forgets their password or is
locked out of a Windows computer to reset the password directly from the Windows
login screen.
Related Tasks
Design a Password Reset or Password Change process
Related Concepts
Monitoring Password Reset and Password Change activity
Related Reference
Roles installed with Password Reset
For additional functionality, including the ability to reset passwords on Active Directory, you
must use the Password Reset - Orchestration Add-on plugin, which provides two credential
store types that are not available in the basic Password Reset application. The Orchestration
Add-on is available as a separate subscription. For more information, contact your
ServiceNow account representative.
If you do not have an account manager, decide to delay activation after purchase, or want to
evaluate the product on a sub-production instance without charge, follow these steps.
Procedure
3. Click Submit.
Related Tasks
Design a Password Reset or Password Change process
Related Reference
Roles installed with Password Reset
Several types of components are installed with the Password Reset plugin.
The Password Reset Orchestration Add-on provides additional options within the Password
Reset application. However, no additional components are installed.
Tables installed with Password Reset
Roles represent admins who configure Password Reset and users who support other
users with Password Reset.
Business rules installed with password reset
The business rules for the password reset process ensure security and proper operation.
UI macros and UI scripts installed with Password Reset
The ServiceNow platform installs these password reset workflows that you can use as
examples to create your own.
Script includes installed with password reset
Password Reset Credential Store Password reset credential stores that are
[pwd_cred_store] available.
Password Reset Credential Store Types Password reset credential store types that are
[pwd_cred_store_type] available.
Password Reset Device Enrollment Code Device enrollment codes that have been sent to
[pwd_dvc_enrollment_code] users during SMS code enrollment.
Password Reset Devices User SMS devices that are in a state of verified.
Password Reset Enrollment for Verification Information about user enrollment by verification.
[pwd_enrollment]
Password Reset Identification Type Password reset identification types that are
[pwd_identification_type] available.
Password Reset Process Credential Store Credential stores and the associated password
[pwd_map_proc_to_cred_store] reset processes that the application is using.
Password Reset Process User Group Groups and the associated password reset
[pwd_map_proc_to_group] processes that the application is using.
Password Reset Process Verification Verifications and the associated password reset
[pwd_map_proc_to_verification] processes that the application is using.
Password Reset Question Questions that the application uses for security
[pwd_question] question verifications.
Password Reset SMS Verification Code SMS verification codes that have been sent to
[pwd_sms_code] users for a password reset.
Password Reset User Lockout Users that are locked out of password reset.
[pwd_user_lockout]
Password Reset Verification Type Password reset verification types that are
[pwd_verification_type] available.
Roles represent admins who configure Password Reset and users who support other users
with Password Reset.
Role Description
password reset administrator Sets up password reset and password change.
[password_reset_admin]
The business rules for the password reset process ensure security and proper operation.
Single credential store per Password Reset Process Prevents having more than one
process Credential Store credential store per process.
[pwd_map_proc_to_cred_store]
Deactivate process with no Password Reset Process User Deactivates the process if it
group Group does not apply to all users or if
[pwd_map_proc_to_group] the groups associated with it are
removed.
Check unique verifications Password Reset Process Prevents a verification from
Verification being assigned multiple times to
[pwd_map_proc_to_verification] a specific password reset
process.
Deactivate process with no Password Reset Process Deactivates the process if the
verification Verification verifications associated with it
[pwd_map_proc_to_verification] are removed.
Validate Security Question Password Reset Question Validates rules for security
[pwd_question] questions such as no duplicates
or empty questions.
Password Reset Activity Monitor Password Reset User Lockout Creates an event when the
[pwd_user_lockout] number of users locked out of
password reset during a specific
interval exceeds the threshold
value.
Add default parameters QA Password Reset Verification Generates parameters for
verification [pwd_verification] Security Question verifications if
none are specified.
Add params personal confirm Password Reset Verification Generates parameters for
verification [pwd_verification] personal data confirmation
verifications if none are
specified.
Add params personal Password Reset Verification Generates parameters for
verification [pwd_verification] personal data verification if none
are specified.
Prevent against deletion Password Reset Verification Prevents a verification from
[pwd_verification] being deleted if it is part of an
active process.
Add default parameters SMS Password Reset Verification Generates parameters for SMS
verification [pwd_verification] code verifications if none are
specified.
Parameter Names Cannot Be Password Reset Verification Prevents parameter name
Updated Param changes.
[pwd_verification_param]
Personal Data Param Validation Password Reset Verification Checks that a column exists in
Param the sys_user table for the
[pwd_verification_param] parameter used in a personal
data verification.
Security Questions Param Password Reset Verification Checks for valid parameters in
Validation Param security question verifications.
[pwd_verification_param]
Personal Data Confirm Param Password Reset Verification Checks that a column exists in
Validation Param the sys_user table for the
Name Description
pwd_enrollment_form_title A Jelly macro function that prints the title for the
enrollment form. A verification ID is mandatory.
pwd_enroll_questions_ui A UI for question and answer security validation
enrollment.
pwd_enroll_questions_ui_js JavaScript code that requires server-side data for
security question and answer enrollment.
pwd_enroll_sample_ui A sample UI macro for enrollment for Mock
Verification Type.
pwd_enroll_sms_ui A UI for SMS verification enrollment.
pwd_verify_personal_data_confirmation_ui A UI for verifying personal data confirmation.
pwd_verify_personal_data_ui A UI for verifying personal data.
pwd_verify_questions_ui A UI for verifying questions.
pwd_verify_simple_ui An input section for a simple verification method.
This is a single input field.
pwd_verify_sms_ui A UI for SMS verification.
You can create a UI script and reference the script from a UI macro or UI page by using a
<g:include_script> Jelly tag. For example, the following shows how the
pwd_enroll_questions_ui script can be referenced by the pwd_enroll_questions_ui UI macro,
where [UI Script Name]+".jsdbx" is the name of the script:
By referencing an external script, you can maintain separation between client JavaScript
code and Jelly code, which simplifies maintenance. The following are installed scripts that
you can use with password reset UI macros.
Name Description
pwdWfManager A helper class to handle workflow activities and
post-processing.
pwd_csrf_common_ui_script A common UI script for handling a Cross-site
Request Forgery (CSRF).
pwd_enrollment_submit_event A UI script for an enrollment submit event.
pwd_enroll_questions_ui JavaScript code for the pwd_enroll_questions_ui
UI macro.
pwd_enroll_sample_ui Included sample client JavaScript for the
pwd_enroll_sample_ui UI macro.
pwd_enroll_sms_ui An SMS enrollment UI script.
The ServiceNow platform installs these password reset workflows that you can use as
examples to create your own.
Script includes
Password reset adds the following script includes.
You can configure a site in the ServiceNow content management (CMS) application to
define a single-site access point that includes the password reset service.
For example, you may want to create an employee self-service site that provides password
reset service. Each password reset process requires a separate CMS page.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Content Management > Specialty Content > iFrames and create a new
iFrame record.
2. Go to Content Management > Sites and create a site that has no login page.
4. Enter the site you created, for this example, Password Reset Self-Service, in the Content
site field.
5. Right-click the form header and click Save.
6. Click Edit Page under Related Links and then click Add content.
7. Under the Content Blocks section, select the iframe added in the previous steps. Add
any additional content.
8. Click Update.
Credential stores
Credential stores, such as the User [sys_user] table or an Active Directory server, store user
information such as user names and passwords, that can be used as login credentials.
Note: If you have subscribed to the Password Reset Orchestration Add-on and
need to connect to an Active Directory credential store or another directory-
like service that relies on the SOAP protocol, complete the procedures listed
in Remote credential stores before you create, test, or delete credential
stores.
Remote credential stores
Remote credential stores provide a tool for managing remote user names and passwords.
A remote credential store refers to any credential store other than the local ServiceNow
instance.
Configure the connection to a credential store
You specify a credential store to access during the password reset or password change
process and other settings that control the process.
Test the connection to a credential store
You test the connection to a credential store after you configure a new credential store or
when users experience problems that might involve the connection.
Delete the connection to a credential store
Before you delete the connection to a credential store, check all password reset processes
to ensure that the credential store is not in use. If the credential store is being used by a
process, update the process before deleting the credential store.
Credential store types
A credential store type is a set of workflows that specify how to connect to credential
stores that contain information such as user names and passwords.
Related Tasks
Activate Password Reset Orchestration Add-on
Remote credential stores provide a tool for managing remote user names and passwords. A
remote credential store refers to any credential store other than the local ServiceNow
instance.
Remote credential stores, such as Active Directory, manage user names and passwords
outside of the local ServiceNow instance. A remote credential store can also be a remote
ServiceNow instance, a UNIX or Linux server, or any other directory-like service. The
Password Reset Orchestration Add-on plugin is required to be able to connect to remote
credential stores.
Configure password reset for Active Directory
When the Orchestration Add-on plugin is activated, password reset can change
passwords on an Active Directory credential store by referencing an Active Directory user
role with the appropriate password change privileges.
Set up SOAP credentials for password reset
When the Orchestration Add-on plugin is activated, the ServiceNow platform can use the
SOAP protocol to interact with remote credential stores such as a remote ServiceNow
instance.
Related Tasks
Configure the connection to a credential store
Test the connection to a credential store
Delete the connection to a credential store
Related Concepts
Credential store types
When the Orchestration Add-on plugin is activated, password reset can change passwords
on an Active Directory credential store by referencing an Active Directory user role with the
appropriate password change privileges.
Active Directory must have a user role with the following privileges:
Reset password
Read/Write pwdlastset
Read/Write UserAccountcontrol
Write Account Restrictions
Read/Write lockouttime
Read MemberOf
Read Members
Read MemberOf
Procedure
1. Install MID Server on a Windows computer that can connect to Active Directory.
2. Configure the MID Server.
3. In the ServiceNow instance, navigate to Orchestration > Credentials.
4. Click New and then complete the form with the following values for the credential.
Type: Select Windows.
User name: Enter your Active Directory domain user. For example, domain\admin.
Password: Enter your Active Directory domain user password.
Applies to: Select the MID Server that is used to access the Active Directory server.
5. Click Submit.
6. Create a credential store for Active Directory.
Related Tasks
Set up SOAP credentials for password reset
When the Orchestration Add-on plugin is activated, the ServiceNow platform can use the
SOAP protocol to interact with remote credential stores such as a remote ServiceNow
instance.
Procedure
a. In Basic auth user ID, enter the user ID for the remote system user who has
privileges to update records on the User [sys_user] table.
b. In Basic auth user password, enter the password for the remote system user who has
privileges to update records on the User [sys_user] table.
c. Select Use basic auth.
d. Click Update.
You do not need to enter a value in the SOAP endpoint field. The field shows the name
of the ServiceNow instance used for password reset.
Related Tasks
Configure password reset for Active Directory
You specify a credential store to access during the password reset or password change
process and other settings that control the process.
Note: The Password Reset Windows Application supports only Active Directory
(AD) credential stores.
Procedure
Field Value
Type You can use credential store types (templates
that provide a desired set of capabilities).
Credential stores inherit the functionality of the
credential store type.
Field Value
Note: If you select the Enforce history
policy check box, then you must
specify a value for Auto-generate
password.
Password rule Client script that validates the password that the
user enters. The script is invoked when the user
enters a new password and clicks Password
Reset. You can use the script to enforce password
strength/complexity requirements.
3. Click Submit.
What to do next
If you selected the Enforce history policy check box, then follow these steps:
1. Open the associated password reset process definition: Password Reset > Processes.
2. On the Details tab of the Password Reset Process form, clear the Auto-generate
password check box and then save the process definition.
3. On the domain controller, set Password Aging (MIN_PASSWORD_AGE) to zero.
4. On the domain controller, set the history policy to twice the desired number of
passwords. For example, to enforce that the last three passwords are not repeated, set
the history policy to six.
Note: This is why you must set the history policy to twice the normal value: To
enforce the history policy that is configured for the credential store, the
system auto-generates a new temporary password for each reset cycle.
The system auto-generates the temporary password even though you
have cleared the Auto-generate password check box on the Password
Reset Process form. Because the user immediately replaces the
temporary password with a new password, two passwords are created for
each reset cycle.
Related Tasks
Test the connection to a credential store
Delete the connection to a credential store
Related Concepts
Remote credential stores
Credential store types
You test the connection to a credential store after you configure a new credential store or
when users experience problems that might involve the connection.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Password Reset > Credential Stores and then open a credential store.
2. In the header bar, click Save & Test Connection.
A progress page displays the result of the test.
Related Tasks
Configure the connection to a credential store
Related Concepts
Remote credential stores
Credential store types
Before you delete the connection to a credential store, check all password reset processes to
ensure that the credential store is not in use. If the credential store is being used by a
process, update the process before deleting the credential store.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Password Reset > Credential Stores and then select the check box for the
credential store.
2. In the Actions choice list, select Delete.
Related Tasks
Configure the connection to a credential store
Test the connection to a credential store
Related Concepts
Remote credential stores
Credential store types
A credential store type is a set of workflows that specify how to connect to credential stores
that contain information such as user names and passwords.
For information on how to use credential store types, see Remote credential stores.
A credential store type requires a subflow that defines how to connect to the store, and can
include an optional subflow that defines how to test the connection. The Pwd reset AD
and Pwd Reset - Local subflows are available as models for defining custom connection
workflows.
The Pwd Connection Test - Local SN subflow is available as a model for defining custom
workflows for testing connections.
The ServiceNow platform installs certain example credential store types that you can use
as models to create your own credential store types.
Workflows installed with Password Reset
The ServiceNow platform installs these password reset workflows that you can use as
examples to create your own.
Create a credential store type
Related Tasks
Configure the connection to a credential store
Test the connection to a credential store
Delete the connection to a credential store
Related Concepts
Remote credential stores
The ServiceNow platform installs certain example credential store types that you can use as
models to create your own credential store types.
Related Tasks
Create a credential store type
Related Reference
Workflows installed with Password Reset
The ServiceNow platform installs these password reset workflows that you can use as
examples to create your own.
Workflow Description
Pwd Reset - Mock Success An example workflow to use in password reset
testing to simulate a successful completion.
Related Tasks
Create a credential store type
Related Reference
Installed credential store types
Procedure
Note: You may need to configure the form to see the Get user lock state
workflow and the Unlock user workflow.
3. Click Submit.
Related Reference
Installed credential store types
Workflows installed with Password Reset
The Password Reset Windows Application enables a user who forgets their password or is
locked out of a Windows computer to reset the password directly from the Windows login
screen.
Review the guidelines to ensure that the Password Reset Windows Application will work
on your instance.
Download and install the Password Reset Windows Application
Download the installer and installation instructions from the Knowledge Base. The installer
uninstalls any earlier version of the Password Reset Windows Application.
For some verification types, you can use only one verification. Custom verifications are not
supported. See Installed verification types for details.
The Password Reset Windows Application supports newline characters in the Password
rule hint text. Other formatting is not supported (bold, underline, hyperlink, and so on).
See Configure the connection to a credential store.
Custom UI macros configured on the Process > Advanced page are not supported (for
example, entry, success, or failure macros). The system displays only the default success
and failure messages.
Related Tasks
Download and install the Password Reset Windows Application
Related Reference
Password Reset Windows Application installation requirements
Review the guidelines to ensure that the Password Reset Windows Application will work on
your instance.
Item Requirement
Required hardware
1 GHz or faster processor
512 MB of RAM
10 MB of available hard disk space (x86)
10 MB of available hard disk space (x64)
Required software
Microsoft .Net Framework v4.5.2 and up
Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package
for Visual Studio 2013
Related Tasks
Download and install the Password Reset Windows Application
Related Reference
Restrictions on the Password Reset Windows Application
Download the installer and installation instructions from the Knowledge Base. The installer
uninstalls any earlier version of the Password Reset Windows Application.
password_reset_admin, admin
Procedure
Related Reference
Restrictions on the Password Reset Windows Application
Password Reset Windows Application installation requirements
To ensure security and efficiency, take the time to plan your Password Reset
implementation.
Procedure
Analyze and assess how members of each group in your organization access the system.
For example, if members of the sales group primarily access the system remotely,
consider using a stronger method or multiple methods to verify each user's identity.
Identify user roles that have access to critical information and resources. For example,
stronger verifications may be required for roles that have access to employee data,
accounting information, or network configurations.
Based on your analysis of groups and roles, determine the number and variety of
verifications needed for the different password reset processes.
Related Tasks
Design a Password Reset or Password Change process
Note: For LDAP integrations: If the Active Directory settings require users to
reset the password when logging in, the results depend on the password
reset plugin that is installed.
The Password Reset plugin cannot change an AD password. End
users will not be able to log in to the instance.
The Self Service Password Reset plugin depends on the Password
Reset Basic plugin. Self Service is intended for password reset only on
the local ServiceNow instance and cannot change an AD password.
The Password Reset Orchestration Add-on plugin is built on top of
Orchestration AD activities. The plugin supports changing the AD
password.
3. Define the verifications that the process will use.
Procedure
You can specify properties that configure the Password Reset experience for end users.
Settings on the 'Password Reset Details' tab
The settings define the user experience when resetting or changing a password.
Settings on the Password Reset 'Advanced' tab
UI macros and script includes can extend the basic functionality of a password reset
process.
Password Reset verifications
Each verification specifies the method and process for verifying the identity of the user
that is attempting to reset their password. You can create a verification based on either a
verification type (a template) or one of the example verifications that is included with the
base system.
Customize the Password Reset process: Scripting
Password reset scripting enables you to customize password reset by creating your own
credential store, verification, and identification types, and extend them by defining
extension scripts.
Related Tasks
Plan your Password Reset strategy
You can specify properties that configure the Password Reset experience for end users.
While there are no range limits for the values you can enter for properties, consider using
only positive integer values starting at 1. When you determine the limit for the upper range
of a property, consider the task that the user is performing.
For example, you would not want to allow 100 attempts for users to verify their identity. A
more common value is 3 attempts. Similarly, you may not want to force users who are
completing the enrollment process to spend time selecting and answering 30 security
questions. The more commonly used number of security questions is between 5 and 7.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Design a Password Reset or Password Change process
Related Concepts
Password Reset verifications
Customize the Password Reset process: Scripting
Related Reference
Settings on the 'Password Reset Details' tab
Settings on the Password Reset 'Advanced' tab
Installed verification types
Installed verification types
The settings define the user experience when resetting or changing a password.
The Password Reset Details tab appears when you are configuring a process for resetting
passwords (Password Reset > Processes).
Public URL This field box is available only when Public access
is selected.
Field Description
password_reset.captcha.google.enabled system
property to false.
Enable account unlock This check box is available only when Password
reset is selected.
Unlock user account Select the check box to unlock users' accounts on
credential stores after a password reset.
Auto-generate password This check box is available only when Password
reset is selected.
User must reset password This check box is available only when Auto
generate password is selected.
Field Description
Note: Users whose credentials are held
in the local ServiceNow instance
credential store are prompted to
change their password the first
time that they log in. Users whose
credentials are held in an Active
Directory credential store are not
prompted to change their
passwords in the instance. Such
users must change their
passwords from a computer on
the domain.
Related lists
Verifications This related list is available only after the record
has been saved.
Related Tasks
Set Password Reset properties
Create a custom identification type
Related Concepts
Password Reset verifications
Related Reference
Settings on the Password Reset 'Advanced' tab
UI macros and script includes can extend the basic functionality of a password reset
process.
The Advanced tab appears when you are configuring a process for resetting passwords
(Password Reset > Processes).
Related Tasks
Set Password Reset properties
Related Concepts
Password Reset verifications
Customize the Password Reset process: Scripting
Related Reference
Settings on the 'Password Reset Details' tab
Each verification specifies the method and process for verifying the identity of the user that
is attempting to reset their password. You can create a verification based on either a
verification type (a template) or one of the example verifications that is included with the
base system.
The Password Reset application includes several example verifications that you can use as
they are or as the basis for a custom verification.
Create a verification based on a verification type
You can use the verification types in the base system as they are or as templates for your
custom verification types.
Delete a password reset verification
Before you delete a verification, make sure that the verification is not being used by a
password reset process.
Create a question for a 'Security Questions' verification
For the Security Questions Verification type, you can select from a default question set
and/or you can create custom questions.
Personal data and personal data confirmation type verifications
Personal data verifications allow users to verify their identity by providing answers to
questions that are generated from personal information stored in the User [sys_user]
table.
SMS code type verifications
Simple Message Service (SMS) code verifications allow users to verify their identity with
the help of an SMS enabled device, such as a cell phone that accepts text messages.
Related Tasks
Set Password Reset properties
Related Concepts
Customize the Password Reset process: Scripting
Related Reference
Settings on the 'Password Reset Details' tab
Settings on the Password Reset 'Advanced' tab
The Password Reset application includes several example verifications that you can use as
they are or as the basis for a custom verification.
Field Description
The available parameters are described
separately for each verification type.
3. Click Submit.
4. Each verification type has properties that control the user experience. Review the
property settings and make changes as needed.
You can use the verification types in the base system as they are or as templates for your
custom verification types.
Password Reset allows you to define and use multiple instances of any verification type. The
Password Reset Windows Application applies restrictions as noted in the table.
Name Description
Personal Data Confirmation Verification Type Verifies user identity using data from the User
[sys_user] table. The user data is displayed to a
service desk employee. The service desk
employee verifies the data.
Enrollment is not required for this type.
Personal Data Verification Type Verifies user identity using data from the User
[sys_user] table. The user is required to answer
questions.
Enrollment is not required for this type.
Name Description
See Create a question for a 'Security Questions'
verification
SMS Code Verification Type When a user requests password reset, the system
sends a code to an SMS-capable device that the
user has authorized. To verify identity, the user
then enters the code on the Password Reset web
page.
You can configure the Password Reset app to automatically enroll users in password reset,
or you can define an enrollment check.
Create a custom verification type
If the verification types in the base system do not meet your needs, you can create a
custom verification type.
You can configure the Password Reset app to automatically enroll users in password reset,
or you can define an enrollment check.
To define an enrollment check, you must define both an enrollment processor script, which
specifies how enrollment is processed, and a corresponding enrollment UI macro, which
specifies how the enrollment information is displayed to the user. For example, the following
verification type uses PwdEnrollSMSProcessor as the enrollment processor script and
pwd_enroll_sms_ui as the enrollment UI macro.
A verification type must also define a verification processor script and a corresponding
verification UI macro. The example uses PwdVerifySMSProcessor as the verification
processor script and pwd_verify_sms_ui as the verification UI macro. The following shows
the verification processor script:
If the verification types in the base system do not meet your needs, you can create a custom
verification type.
Review the verification types that are provided in the base system to determine whether you
need to create a custom verification type. Then review the verification type components that
you will need to develop.
Procedure
Field Value
Enrollment check Script to check whether a user is enrolled for
verification. Automatic enrollment requires an
enrollment check. If no script is specified when
Automatic Enrollment is selected, a default script
is provided.
Automatic enrollment Indicator for whether users are auto-enrolled. If
this is not selected, an enrollment UI macro and
enrollment processor script must be provided.
Enrollment UI Enrollment UI macro that provides the UI for the
enrollment.
Field Value
Enrollment processor Enrollment processor script that processes the
enrollment.
Verification UI Verification UI macro that provides the UI for the
verification.
Verification processor Verification processor script (extension scripts)
that processes the verification.
3. Click Submit.
Related Concepts
Extension scripts
Related Reference
UI macros and UI scripts installed with Password Reset
Before you delete a verification, make sure that the verification is not being used by a
password reset process.
If a verification is being used by a process, remove the verification from the process before
deleting the verification.
Procedure
For the Security Questions Verification type, you can select from a default question set
and/or you can create custom questions.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Password Reset > Security Questions and then click New.
2. The default language is English. Enter the English language question in the Security
question field.
3. To add the same question in another language, complete the following steps.
a. In the Translations embedded list, click Insert a new row in the Security question
field.
b. Enter the question in the Security question field and then select the language in the
Language field.
The user will see the verification question in the language that was used when the user
enrolled.
4. Click Submit or Update.
Configure the number of questions for a 'Security Questions' verification
When you design a Security Questions verification, you can specify both the number of
questions to display when users enroll and the number to display when a user requests
password reset.
When you design a Security Questions verification, you can specify both the number of
questions to display when users enroll and the number to display when a user requests
password reset.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Password Reset > Verifications and then open a verification that uses the
Security Questions Verification Type.
2. Configure the parameters in the Password Reset Verification Parameters related list.
Default Value: 5
Default Value: 3
3. Click Update.
Personal data verifications allow users to verify their identity by providing answers to
questions that are generated from personal information stored in the User [sys_user]
table.
Users are typically not required to enroll for password reset if they are associated with a
password reset process that uses a personal data verification.
Personal data confirmation verifications allow employees with the service-desk role to
access personal data from the sys_user table when assisting a user with a password reset
request.
For personal data and personal data confirmation verifications, you specify parameters as
name/value pairs that correspond to a particular piece of user information. For example, to
verify users by their email address, set the label parameter (the text that the end user should
see) toEmail (that is, label=Email) and set the column parameter (the column in the table
that holds the data) to email (that is, column=email). You can use only one set of name/
value pair parameters per verification. Additional parameters are ignored.
To use multiple pieces of personal information for user verification, create additional
personal data or personal data confirmation verifications and add those to the related
password reset process.
The Password Reset application provides the email and username identification types.
You can use either type as provided or as a model to create a custom identification type.
Create a custom identification type
A custom identification type enables the user to enter alternative verification information
such as an employee ID while resetting the password.
The Password Reset application provides the email and username identification types. You
can use either type as provided or as a model to create a custom identification type.
Identification types
Name Description
Email Identification Identifies users by their email addresses.
Username Identification Identifies users by their usernames.
A custom identification type enables the user to enter alternative verification information
such as an employee ID while resetting the password.
Procedure
Field Value
Identification field label Text to display as a label for the Identification
field.
Identification processor Identification processor script. Choose an existing
script, or create your own using the Identification
form processor category (extension script).
3. Click Submit.
Simple Message Service (SMS) code verifications allow users to verify their identity with the
help of an SMS enabled device, such as a cell phone that accepts text messages.
When a user requests a password reset, the system sends a code to the SMS device that the
user has authorized. The user must enter the code to verify their identity.
You can change the default behavior of an SMS code verification using either of the
following methods:
Note: Create only one instance of each SMS code parameter. Attempting to create
additional parameters causes an error.
Default Value: 4
Default Value: 2
Default Value: 10
You can configure the password reset application to send SMS enrollment and verification
codes using ServiceNow NotifyNow (via Twilio). NotifyNow is tightly integrated with the
workflow engine and business rules and delivers a highly configurable and trusted way to
deliver SMS messages.
Related Tasks
Set Password Reset properties
You can configure the password reset application to send SMS enrollment and verification
codes using ServiceNow NotifyNow (via Twilio). NotifyNow is tightly integrated with the
workflow engine and business rules and delivers a highly configurable and trusted way to
deliver SMS messages.
Procedure
Result
No other configuration is required. Users who request password change or reset will now
receive SMS codes through NotifyNow.
Customize the Password Reset process: Scripting
Password reset scripting enables you to customize password reset by creating your own
credential store, verification, and identification types, and extend them by defining extension
scripts.
Password reset scripting is available to users with the password_reset_admin role. The
easiest way to customize password reset is:
Extension script
Extension scripts allow you to extend password reset functionality by defining custom
scripts that can be used in a credential store, verification, or identification type, or as a post-
processor in a process. Extension scripts are predefined hooks within the Password Reset
application that perform specific types of behavior defined by the extension category, which
refers to where the script will be used.
For information about how to define extension scripts, see Extension scripts.
Password reset scripting examples
Extension scripts allow you to extend password reset functionality by defining custom
scripts that can be used in credential store, verification, or identification types.
Password reset extension script includes
Password reset scripts allow you to extend password reset functionality by creating your
own credential store, verification, and identification types, and by adding operations to
password reset processes.
Installed password reset script includes
The ServiceNow platform installs several password reset script includes, which you can
use as-is or customize.
Related Tasks
Set Password Reset properties
Related Concepts
Password Reset verifications
Related Reference
Settings on the 'Password Reset Details' tab
Settings on the Password Reset 'Advanced' tab
if (gr.next() ) {
result = gr.getValue('sys_id');
}
return result;
}
/**********
* Returns the credential-store account id for a given user
*
* @param params.userId The sys-id of the user being checked (table: sys_user)
* @return The credential-store account-id (string) for a given user
**********/
process: function(params) {
return params.userId;
},
type: 'SampleUserAccountLookupExtension'
};]]></script>
<sys_created_by>admin</sys_created_by>
<sys_created_on>2013-07-30 16:44:55</sys_created_on>
<sys_id>2df5a103d73201002bb9af728e610333</sys_id>
<sys_mod_count>1</sys_mod_count>
<sys_updated_by>admin</sys_updated_by>
<sys_updated_on>2013-07-30 16:46:00</sys_updated_on>
</sys_script_include>
<sys_app_file action="INSERT_OR_UPDATE">
<customer_update>false</customer_update>
<publish_override/>
<replace_on_upgrade>false</replace_on_upgrade>
<restore/>
<sys_app/>
<sys_code>!!1W4/</sys_code>
<sys_created_by>admin</sys_created_by>
<sys_created_on>2013-07-30 16:44:55</sys_created_on>
<sys_id>8306e143d73201002bb9af728e6103d3</sys_id>
<sys_mod_count>0</sys_mod_count>
<sys_name>SampleUserAccountLookupExtension</sys_name>
<sys_parent/>
<sys_path>!!1W4/</sys_path>
<sys_policy/>
<sys_source_deleted>false</sys_source_deleted>
<sys_source_id>2df5a103d73201002bb9af728e610333</sys_source_id>
<sys_source_table>sys_script_include</sys_source_table>
<sys_type>code</sys_type>
<sys_update_name>sys_script_include_2df5a103d73201002bb9af728e610333</sys_update_name>
<sys_updated_by>admin</sys_updated_by>
<sys_updated_on>2013-07-30 16:46:00</sys_updated_on>
</sys_app_file>
</record_update>
/**********
* Process the identification form request, and returns the user's sys_id. if user was
*
* @param params.processId The sys-id of the calling password-reset process (table: pw
* @param request The form request object. fields in the form can be accessed
* Supported request paramters:
* sysparm_user_id - the user identifier value entered in
* @return The sys-id of the user that corresponds to the requested input; if no user wa
**********/
processForm: function(params, request) {
return request.getParameter('sysparm_user_id') + '_' + params.processId;
},
type: 'SampleIdentificationProcessorExtension'
};]]></script>
<sys_created_by>admin</sys_created_by>
<sys_created_on>2013-07-30 17:00:28</sys_created_on>
<sys_id>3a79a503d73201002bb9af728e610349</sys_id>
<sys_mod_count>1</sys_mod_count>
<sys_updated_by>admin</sys_updated_by>
<sys_updated_on>2013-07-30 17:08:41</sys_updated_on>
</sys_script_include>
<sys_app_file action="INSERT_OR_UPDATE">
<customer_update>false</customer_update>
<publish_override/>
<replace_on_upgrade>false</replace_on_upgrade>
<restore/>
<sys_app/>
<sys_code>!!1W5/</sys_code>
<sys_created_by>admin</sys_created_by>
<sys_created_on>2013-07-30 17:00:28</sys_created_on>
<sys_id>4799ed03d73201002bb9af728e610333</sys_id>
<sys_mod_count>0</sys_mod_count>
<sys_name>SampleIdentificationProcessorExtension</sys_name>
<sys_parent/>
<sys_path>!!1W5/</sys_path>
<sys_policy/>
<sys_source_deleted>false</sys_source_deleted>
<sys_source_id>3a79a503d73201002bb9af728e610349</sys_source_id>
<sys_source_table>sys_script_include</sys_source_table>
<sys_type>code</sys_type>
<sys_update_name>sys_script_include_3a79a503d73201002bb9af728e610349</sys_update_name>
<sys_updated_by>admin</sys_updated_by>
<sys_updated_on>2013-07-30 17:08:41</sys_updated_on>
</sys_app_file>
</record_update>
Related Concepts
Extension scripts
Installed password reset script includes
Related Reference
Password reset extension script includes
Extension scripts
Extension scripts allow you to extend password reset functionality by defining custom
scripts that can be used in credential store, verification, or identification types.
Extension scripts are predefined hooks within the Password Reset application that perform
specific types of behavior defined by the extension category, which refers to where the
script can be used. You can create, edit, and use extension scripts. For detailed reference
information, see Password reset extension script includes.
The base system includes several scripts in each category. You can use them as-is or as a
template for creating custom scripts. For more information, see Installed password reset
script includes.
Extension script categories
Extension scripts contain a category that indicates what application is being extended
and to what purpose for example, category:
'password_reset.extension.enrollment_check'.
This example shows a script that uses two sample extensions, one process extension and
one processForm extension.
Related Concepts
Installed password reset script includes
Related Reference
Password reset scripting examples
Password reset extension script includes
Extension scripts contain a category that indicates what application is being extended and
to what purpose for example, category:
'password_reset.extension.enrollment_check'.
In the table, the category indicates where a script can be used in the Password Reset
application. For example, a script in the Enrollment check category can be selected to
perform the enrollment check for a verification. For more information about each script
include, see Password reset extension script includes.
Category Description
credential store (Password Reset Credential Store
form).
Verification form processor Defines how a verification form is processed.
Scripts of this category are available in the
Verification processor field when you define a
verification type (Password Reset Verification
Type form).
This example shows a script that uses two sample extensions, one process extension and
one processForm extension.
// Setup parameters required for this extension type - userIdvar params =new SNC.PwdExtens
params.userId='joe.employee';
// Setup parameters required for this extension type - processIdvar params =new SNC.PwdExt
params.processId='pwdreq1234';
// Simulate the posted form parameter for the indentification processorvar request =new SN
request.setParameter('sysparm_user_id','joe.employee');
// Simple helper to return the sys-id for a given extension scriptfunction getExtensionScr
gr.addQuery('name', scriptName);
gr.addQuery('script','CONTAINS','category: \'password_reset.extension.'+ category +'\''
gr.query();
if(gr.next()){
result = gr.getValue('sys_id');}return result;}
process function:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><record_update table="sys_script_include"><sys_scrip
SampleUserAccountLookupExtension.prototype={
category:'password_reset.extension.user_account_lookup',// DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE!
/**********
* Returns the credential-store account id for a given user
*
* @param params.userId The sys-id of the user being checked (table: sys_user)
* @return The credential-store account-id (string) for a given user
**********/
process:function(params){return params.userId;},
type:'SampleUserAccountLookupExtension'
};]]></script><sys_created_by>admin</sys_created_by><sys_created_on>2013-07-3016:44:55</sy
processForm function:
/**********
* Process the identification form request, and returns the user's sys_id. if user was
*
* @param params.processId The sys-id of the calling password-reset process (table: pw
* @param request The form request object. fields in the form can be accessed
* Supported request paramters:
* sysparm_user_id - the user identifier value entered in
* @return The sys-id of the user that corresponds to the requested input; if no user wa
**********/
processForm:function(params, request){return request.getParameter('sysparm_user_id')+'_'
type:'SampleIdentificationProcessorExtension'
};]]></script><sys_created_by>admin</sys_created_by><sys_created_on>2013-07-3017:00:28</sy
Password reset scripts allow you to extend password reset functionality by creating your
own credential store, verification, and identification types, and by adding operations to
password reset processes.
A script include is associated with a specific category, which is available in the appropriate
field of a password reset form.
The ServiceNow platform installs several scripts in each category. You can use them as-is or
as a template for creating custom scripts. For a description of these scripts, see Installed
password reset script includes.
Note: You should create new extension scripts only from the Password Reset
Extension Script form (Password Reset > Extensions > New extension script).
Extension scripts are special purpose script includes that should not be
created in the System Definition > Script Includes interface.
type : 'SampleEnrollmentChec
Enrollment Checks if all process(params) Parameters: Returns: This example
Form necessary (boolean) true, processes an
Processor information has if the user is enrollment
been collected params.resetRequestId
enrolled in the form
from the user. - The sys_id specified submission
Stores the of the current verification; successfully if
information so password otherwise, the user-
it can be used reset request false. submitted
for verification (table: response was
when the user pwd_reset_request). success. The
resets his or code would be
her password. params.userId contained in
- The sys_id the Script field
of the user to of an extension
be verified script named
(table: SampleEnrollmentProcessor:
sys_user). var SampleEnrollmentProcessor
SampleEnrollmentProcessor. pro
params.verificationId category : 'password_reset
- The sys_id
of the /**********
verification * Process the enrollment f
to be *
processed * @param params.userId
(table: * @param params.verificati
pwd_verification). * @param params.enrollment
request - The * @param request
form request *
object. Fields * @return boolean telling
in the form * The following informatio
can be * gs.getSession().putP
accessed * gs.getSession().putP
with * to the UI. E
request.getParameter('<element- * gs.getSession().putP
id>'). **********/
processForm : function (pa
The following
information if (gs. nil (verifica
should be
gs.getSession().putProperty("result.status",status)
- Whether
the user was
successfully
enrolled.
gs.getSession().putProperty("result.message",message)
- An
associated
message to
be returned
to the UI,
such as a
detailed error
message.
gs.getSession().putProperty("result.value",value)
- A custom
value
associated
with the
enrollment.
type : 'PwdIdentifyViaUser
Password Returns an process(params) Parameters: Returns:
Generator auto-generated (String) an This example
password. auto-generated randomly
params.processId
password. generates a
- The sys_id password from
of the calling a base word
password and numbers.
reset process The base word
(table: is selected
pwd_process). depending on
the credential
store. The code
would be
contained in
the Script field
of an extension
script named
SamplePasswordGenerator:
var SamplePasswordGenerator =
SamplePasswordGenerator. proto
category : 'password_reset.e
/**********
* Returns an auto-generated
* This sample randomly gene
*
* @param params.credentialS
* a password for (table: p
* @return An auto-generated
**********/
process : function (params )
generateSimple : function (
for ( var i = 0 , n = n
pwd += numbers. charA
type : 'SamplePasswordGenera
type : 'PwdPostProcessor'
User Account Gets the process(params) Parameters: Returns: This example
Lookup credential store (String) the gets the
account ID for credential store credential store
a given user. params.userId account ID for account for a
- The sys_id the given user. user. This code
of the user would be
being contained in
checked the Script field
(table: of an extension
sys_user). script named
SampleUserAccountLookupExtensio
var SampleUserAccountLookupExt
SampleUserAccountLookupExtensi
category : 'password_reset.e
/**********
* Returns the credential sto
* This sample echoes the use
*
* @param params.userId The
* @return The
**********/
process : function (params )
type : 'SampleUserAccountLoo
Verification Processes a processForm(params,
Parameters: Returns: This example
Form verification request) (boolean) true, shows a
Processor form request if the user is verification
and indicates params.resetRequestId
verified; processor that
whether the - The sys_id otherwise, returns true
user was of the current false. only if the user
verified or not. password sent ok in the
Related Concepts
Extension scripts
Installed password reset script includes
Related Reference
Password reset scripting examples
The ServiceNow platform installs several password reset script includes, which you can use
as-is or customize.
Use these script includes as a basis for creating customized password reset extension
scripts as needed.
For information on how to customize password reset script includes, see Extension scripts.
When you create a new extension, it must take the input values and return the values
described on this page for the extension category.
Note: You should create new extension scripts only from the Password Reset
Extension Script form (Password Reset > Extensions > New extension script).
Extension scripts are special purpose script includes that should not be
created in the System Definition > Script Includes interface.
Enrollment check script includes
Enrollment check script includes provide functionality for extending enrollment checks.
Identification form processor script includes
Enrollment form processor script includes provide functionality for extending enrollment
form processing.
User account lookup script includes
User account lookup script includes return the credential store account_id for a given
user.
Password generator script includes
Post processor script includes execute custom actions after the password reset process
has completed.
Related Concepts
Extension scripts
Related Reference
Password reset scripting examples
Password reset extension script includes
Enrollment check script includes provide functionality for extending enrollment checks.
All enrollment check script includes take the following parameters, and return a boolean
indicating whether the user is verified.
All identification form processor script includes take the following parameters, and return
the sys_id of the user that corresponds to the requested input, or if the user was not
identified, returns null.
params.processId: The sys_id of the calling password reset process (table: [pwd_process]).
param request: The form request object. Fields in the form can be accessed with
request.getParameter('<element-id>'). The supported request parameter is
sysparm_user_id, the user identifier value entered in the form.
Enrollment form processor script includes provide functionality for extending enrollment
form processing.
All enrollment form processor script includes take the following parameters, and return a
boolean indicating whether the user was successfully enrolled.
The following information should be added to the state of the enrollment process:
User account lookup script includes return the credential store account_id for a given user.
The following parameter returns the credential store account_id for a given user.
Password generator script includes take the following parameter, and return an auto-
generated string password.
Verification processor script includes take the following parameters, and return true if the
user is verified.
request: The form request object. Fields in the form can be accessed with
request.getParameter('<element-id>').
Post processor script includes execute custom actions after the password reset process has
completed.
The specific details of the password reset process vary depending on the verification type
and settings you have chosen. Also, depending on your organization's password reset
requirements, users can reset their passwords through a publicly accessible web page, or
service desk employees with the password_reset_service_desk role can perform password
resets on behalf of users.
The Reset Requests module displays the current status of each password reset request
from the Password Reset Request table [pwd_reset_request].
Specify lockout for failed login attempts
The system provides inactive script actions that enable you to specify the number of
failed login attempts before a user account is locked and to reset the count after a
successful login.
Reset a password
This example shows how service desk employees can reset passwords using email
verification with the unlock user account feature enabled.
Subscribe to a blocked user notification
You can receive email notifications when the number of users that are blocked, or locked,
exceeds the password blocked threshold.
View blocked users
A blocked user is a person who is prevented from logging in to the system if certain
events occur.
Unblock a user
When a user's password is reset by Service Desk, the Blocked status is not reset. You
must reset it manually to unblock the user.
The Reset Requests module displays the current status of each password reset request from
the Password Reset Request table [pwd_reset_request].
Procedure
Field Description
Self Service: This reset request was opened by
the requesting user.
Action Type
The corrective action to be taken by password
reset request.
Status
The result of the password reset request:
Related Tasks
Specify lockout for failed login attempts
Reset a password
Subscribe to a blocked user notification
View blocked users
Unblock a user
Unblock a user whose password was reset by Service Desk
View the activity log
Related Reference
Password Reset Overview module
Schedule for purging the Password Reset reporting data
The system provides inactive script actions that enable you to specify the number of failed
login attempts before a user account is locked and to reset the count after a successful
login.
Procedure
Navigate to System Policy > Script Actions to view or activate the scripts.
Each time a user attempts to log in, the action is recorded in an event log. You can view a
log of failed login attempts.
Related Tasks
View requests for password reset
Reset a password
Subscribe to a blocked user notification
View blocked users
Unblock a user
Unblock a user whose password was reset by Service Desk
Each time a user attempts to log in, the action is recorded in an event log. You can view a
log of failed login attempts.
Procedure
Reset a password
This example shows how service desk employees can reset passwords using email
verification with the unlock user account feature enabled.
Procedure
Related Tasks
View requests for password reset
Specify lockout for failed login attempts
Subscribe to a blocked user notification
View blocked users
Unblock a user
Unblock a user whose password was reset by Service Desk
You can receive email notifications when the number of users that are blocked, or locked,
exceeds the password blocked threshold.
Notifications can alert you to suspicious activities. The default threshold is 10.
Procedure
Related Tasks
View requests for password reset
Specify lockout for failed login attempts
Reset a password
View blocked users
Unblock a user
Unblock a user whose password was reset by Service Desk
View requests for password reset
View the activity log
View blocked users
Unblock a user
Related Concepts
Service desk processes: Resetting passwords
Monitoring Password Reset and Password Change activity
A blocked user is a person who is prevented from logging in to the system if certain events
occur.
The user exceeds the limit for the number of failed password attempts.
The user's most recent password reset occurred before the wait time required until the
next reset.
The user fails to provide the correct information while attempting to reset their password.
If the number of blocked or locked users exceeds the limit within a defined time interval, it
triggers a system log event. You can configure the number of blocked, or locked, users and
the time interval required to generate the log event by setting the
password_reset.activity_monitor.incident_threshold and
password_reset.activity_monitor.incident_window properties.
Procedure
To view a list of blocked users, navigate to Password Reset > Blocked Users.
Related Tasks
View requests for password reset
Specify lockout for failed login attempts
Reset a password
Subscribe to a blocked user notification
Unblock a user
Unblock a user whose password was reset by Service Desk
Set Password Reset properties
Unblock a user
Procedure
Related Tasks
View requests for password reset
Specify lockout for failed login attempts
Reset a password
Subscribe to a blocked user notification
View blocked users
Unblock a user whose password was reset by Service Desk
Related Concepts
Monitoring Password Reset and Password Change activity
When a user's password is reset by Service Desk, the Blocked status is not reset. You must
reset it manually to unblock the user.
A user can be blocked (not allowed to use the Password Reset application) if the user is
manually banned or flagged as exceeding max attempts. When the password reset request
is made through self-service, the user is unblocked when the password is successfully reset.
In contrast, Service Desk users are allowed any number of retries; max_attempt_reached
does not apply, and the Blocked status for the user is not reset after the password is reset.
As a result, after you successfully reset a requester's password, the you must manually
unblock the user.
If the user is not unblocked manually, then the system resets the blocked state only when
the max_attempt_window time period elapses and the user tries to reset the password
using self-service.
Procedure
Related Tasks
View requests for password reset
Specify lockout for failed login attempts
Reset a password
Subscribe to a blocked user notification
View blocked users
Unblock a user
The Password Reset application provides a number of tools for monitoring and
troubleshooting password reset activities.
The Reset Requests, Activity Log, and Blocked Users modules are useful for monitoring
password reset activities and for troubleshooting password reset issues. They also provide
access to more detailed information than the Overview module offers.
Password Reset Overview module
The Password Reset > Overview module displays reports on password reset and password
change activities.
Write to the ServiceNowPwdReset event log
Use the Password Reset event log to monitor the status of password reset activities,
identify potential security threats, and monitor for compliance with your organization's
password security policies.
View the ServiceNowPwdReset event log
Use the Password Reset event log to monitor the status of password reset activities,
identify potential security threats, and monitor for compliance with your organization's
password security policies.
View the activity log
You can view the activity log, which provides detailed information that can be used for
troubleshooting and for generating reports on password reset metrics.
Schedule for purging the Password Reset reporting data
To make room for new data, the system periodically purges the data that is used for
password reset monitoring and reporting.
Related Tasks
View requests for password reset
View blocked users
The Password Reset > Overview module displays reports on password reset and password
change activities.
Title Description
Password Reset Top Users (last 30 days) Number of password reset requests per user. A
large number of password reset requests from a
single user could indicate a security issue.
Password Reset Failed Verifications (last 7 days) Number of failed verification attempts, by
verification instance. A failed verification occurs
when a user attempts to reset their password, but
fails for one reason or another, during the identity
verification step. A large number of failed
verification attempts for a specific type of
verification could indicate that the process is too
complicated or unclear.
Password Reset Enrollment By Verification Number of users by verification type who have
and have not enrolled in the password reset
program. A large number for users who have not
enrolled could indicate a compliance or
communication issue within the organization.
Password Change Top Users (last 30 days) Number of password change requests per user. A
large number of password change requests from
a single user may indicate a security issue.
To make room for new data, the system periodically purges the data that is used for
password reset monitoring and reporting.
Users with the password_reset_admin role can customize the layout of the reports that
appear in the Overview module.
Related Tasks
Write to the ServiceNowPwdReset event log
View the ServiceNowPwdReset event log
View the activity log
View requests for password reset
Related Reference
Schedule for purging the Password Reset reporting data
Use the Password Reset event log to monitor the status of password reset activities, identify
potential security threats, and monitor for compliance with your organization's password
security policies.
Procedure
Computer > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Authe
2. By default, the key is set to 0. Set the key to 1 to write log entries to the
ServiceNowPwdReset event log.
Related Tasks
View the ServiceNowPwdReset event log
View the activity log
Related Reference
Password Reset Overview module
Schedule for purging the Password Reset reporting data
Use the Password Reset event log to monitor the status of password reset activities, identify
potential security threats, and monitor for compliance with your organization's password
security policies.
Procedure
1. On the Start menu, click Programs (or All Programs) > Administrative Tools > Event
Viewer.
2. The ServiceNowPwdReset log appears.
If the log does not appear, then, on the Windows Logs menu, click Applications >
Service Logs.
Related Tasks
Write to the ServiceNowPwdReset event log
View the activity log
Related Reference
Password Reset Overview module
Schedule for purging the Password Reset reporting data
You can view the activity log, which provides detailed information that can be used for
troubleshooting and for generating reports on password reset metrics.
Information contained in the activity log is stored in the Password Reset Activity Log
[pwd_reset_activity] table.
Procedure
1. To view the activity log, navigate to Password Reset > Activity Log.
2. Review the information.
Related Tasks
Write to the ServiceNowPwdReset event log
View the ServiceNowPwdReset event log
View requests for password reset
View blocked users
Unblock a user
Related Reference
Password Reset Overview module
Schedule for purging the Password Reset reporting data
To make room for new data, the system periodically purges the data that is used for
password reset monitoring and reporting.
Information contained in reports and monitoring tools may change dramatically immediately
after a data purge. Contact ServiceNow Technical Support if you need to modify purge
intervals.
Related Tasks
Write to the ServiceNowPwdReset event log
View the ServiceNowPwdReset event log
View the activity log
View requests for password reset
View the activity log
View blocked users
Unblock a user
Related Reference
Password Reset Overview module
If your organization has configured the ServiceNow Password Reset Windows Application,
you can reset your password directly from your Windows login screen.
2. Click the Forgot Password? link. (Your administrator may have configured different text
for the link.)
3. On the Identify page, enter the requested information and then click Next.
4. On the Verify page, enter the requested information, and then click Next.
If your identity is verified, the Reset page displays whether you were successfully verified
and the locked/unlocked state of your account.
5. Perform one of the following actions:
If your account is not locked, the page displays the Reset Password button. Enter
and retype the new password and then click Reset Password.
If your account is locked, the page displays the Reset Password and Unlock Account
buttons.
You can enter a new password and click Reset password to reset the password
and unlock the account.
If your administrator has selected Enable account unlock for the password
process, you can unlock the account without resetting the password by clicking
Unlock account.
Some organizations auto-enroll users in a password reset program. Your organization may
offer you the option to enroll for one or more methods of verifying your identity while you
are resetting your password.
The procedure for enrolling depends on the settings specified by the password reset
administrator. You may need to enroll using security questions, SMS, or both.
Verifying your identity using security questions: To enroll, you choose multiple questions
that only you can answer (like your first pet's name) and then supply answers. The system
stores your answers securely. Later, when you use a web page to request that your
password be reset, the system presents one or more of the questions. You answer the
questions to verify your identity.
Verifying your identity using SMS codes: To enroll, you authorize a device like a cellular
phone for SMS verification. Later, when you use a web page to request that your password
be reset, the system sends a numerical code to the device. You enter the code on the web
page to verify your identity.
Enroll for identity verification by means of security questions
Your organization can require you to enroll for password reset services using security
questions. To enroll, you select questions and provide answers that only you know. At
another time, when you request password reset, your answers verify your identity.
Enroll for identity verification by means of SMS codes
The process of verifying your identity using SMS codes works as follows: When you use a
web page to request password reset, the system sends a numerical code to the mobile
device that you specified in your Password Reset profile. You then enter the code on the
web page to verify your identity.
Related Reference
Installed verification types
Your organization can require you to enroll for password reset services using security
questions. To enroll, you select questions and provide answers that only you know. At
another time, when you request password reset, your answers verify your identity.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Enroll for identity verification by means of SMS codes
The process of verifying your identity using SMS codes works as follows: When you use a
web page to request password reset, the system sends a numerical code to the mobile
device that you specified in your Password Reset profile. You then enter the code on the
web page to verify your identity.
Procedure
Note: You can deauthorize a device at any time by clearing the Authorized
check box.
4. (Optional) Enroll for identity verification by means of security questions.
5. Click Submit.
Related Tasks
Enroll for identity verification by means of security questions
Problem Management
Problem Management helps to identify the cause of an error in the IT infrastructure that is
usually reported as occurrences of related incidents.
Resolving a problem means fixing the error that will stop these incidents from occurring in
the future. While Incident Management deals with fighting symptoms to incidents, Problem
Management seeks to remove the causes of incidents permanently from the IT
infrastructure. Problem resolution and elimination of root cause often calls for applying a
change to the configuration item in the existing IT environment.
The ServiceNow platform supports the Problem Management process with capabilities to
record problems, create knowledge from problems, request changes, assign to appropriate
groups, escalate, and manage through to resolution and reporting. This page attempts to
detail the out-of-box functionality provided by the platform to manage problems in
accordance with the ITIL process.
Within the platform, problems are handled using the task record system. Each problem is
generated through a variety of means as a task record, populated with the pertinent
information in individual fields. These tasks can be assigned to appropriate problem
management team members, who will deal with the task as appropriate. Once the problem
has been properly dealt with, the problem task is closed.
Gather problem data
The quick resolution of problems requires gathering as much information about problems
as possible.
Close related incidents from a problem
Once a Problem is considered resolved, all of the incidents related to the problem with the
state Awaiting Problem can be closed using a UI action from the Problem form.
Problem management service improvements
The problem management process can be improved if the service desk uses information
gathered within the platform.
Create knowledge
The ServiceNow knowledge base houses the information an organization needs to keep
and share. For example, it might include desktop support information, company/
department processes and procedures, and documentation on internally developed
applications.
Problem Management process
You can create a record on one table based on information contained in a record on
another table, for example, create a change request from a problem record.
Perl API problem
Inbound email actions enable users to log or update incidents or other tasks on an
instance via email. You can define an inbound email action to log problems.
Request a change from a problem
After a problem is identified and isolated, it may require changes to be made through the
organization's Change Management process.
The quick resolution of problems requires gathering as much information about problems as
possible.
In addition to the information within the problem ticket itself, there is often useful
information that can be gathered in other tables.
Check related records
Another source of information about a problem is documentation about known errors and
the knowledge base.
Use the CMDB
The Business Service Map provides a visual representation of the configuration items and
their relationships and displays information on related issues.
Use the CMDB baseline
Related Tasks
Create a problem template
Use a UI action to create a record
Customize UI action behavior
Define an assignment rule for problems
Define an inbound email action for problems
Request a change from a problem
Related Concepts
Close related incidents from a problem
Problem management service improvements
Create knowledge
Problem Management process
Use task outage
Related Reference
Perl API problem
Common related records include changes (through the RFC field), incidents in the incident
related list, security incidents in the security incidents related list, and vulnerable items in the
vulnerable items related list. All of the directly related records are accessible through related
lists. If the appropriate related list does not appear on the form, add it by configuring the
form.
Note: The security incidents related list will appear if the Security Incident
Response module is activated. The vulnerable items related list will appear if
the Vulnerability Response module is activated.
Related Concepts
Check known errors and the knowledge base
Use the CMDB
Use the Business Service Map
Use the CMDB baseline
Another source of information about a problem is documentation about known errors and
the knowledge base.
Information on already known issues can be found in two places: the Known Errors module
in the Problem Management application, or in the Knowledge Base. The Known Errors
module filters the problem table to present all of the problems whose cause has been
identified, but cannot be fixed. The Knowledge Base may have information gathered from
incidents, and may also have useful workarounds for problems.
Related Concepts
Check related records
Use the CMDB
Use the Business Service Map
Use the CMDB baseline
The Business Service Map, which can help isolate problems caused by problems in related
items
The CMDB Baseline, which can help track planned and unplanned changes
Related Concepts
Check related records
Check known errors and the knowledge base
Use the Business Service Map
Use the CMDB baseline
The Business Service Map provides a visual representation of the configuration items and
their relationships and displays information on related issues.
For example, the following image is a BSM for the CI NY-02-02, a server rack.
The caution symbol in the top right-hand corner indicates that there is a problem attached.
Related issues
The light color in on the rack indicates that it is affected by an down-stream CI's incident. In
this case, the orange-colored Data Center Zone NY2A has the caution symbol, which
indicates that there is an incident attached:
Lastly, one of the upstream CIs is colored in blue. This indicates that the CI has a change
record attached:
Change attached to a CI
With this information, we can see not only the CI, but also its relationships upstream and
downstream. The rack's problem might be caused by an improper change to the Web Server
software on one of its Linux Servers, or it might be caused by the incident logged on the
Data Center Zone where it resides.
Related Concepts
Check related records
Check known errors and the knowledge base
If a baseline has been generated, any changes (planned or unplanned) will be tracked within
the system. Since one major cause of problems is improperly executed changes, seeing the
history of changes of a configuration item can help the Problem Management team track
problems caused by improper changes.
To check the CMDB Baseline, view the CI's record and check the fields Baseline Differences
and Scheduled Changes. You may need to configure the form to add these fields.
Problem baseline
This information provides a window into the history of the configuration item. The changes
are recorded, including the time of change and the person who recorded the change. In the
example above, because the change in RAM is associated with a change request, it is
possible to review the change and see what was planned and what was implemented.
Also in the example, the computer recorded both a planned and an unplanned change.
System Administrator changed RAM according to CHG30002, changed the disk space,
removed QuickTime, and associated the CI with CHG30002.
Related Concepts
Check related records
Check known errors and the knowledge base
Use the CMDB
Use the Business Service Map
Once a Problem is considered resolved, all of the incidents related to the problem with the
state Awaiting Problem can be closed using a UI action from the Problem form.
To close related incidents with state Awaiting Problem, right-click the header and select
Close Incidents:
Related Tasks
Create a problem template
Use a UI action to create a record
Customize UI action behavior
Define an assignment rule for problems
Define an inbound email action for problems
Request a change from a problem
Customize UI action behavior
Related Concepts
Gather problem data
Problem management service improvements
Create knowledge
Problem Management process
Use task outage
Related Reference
Perl API problem
The problem management process can be improved if the service desk uses information
gathered within the platform.
Much of the data is already stored within the incident record. More information can be
gathered by enabling auditing, which allows for an accurate review of the history of the
problem. Using metrics, it is possible to define the Key Performance Indicators to monitor
within the system.
With these metrics, and the information within the database, it is possible to generate
reports, which can be added to homepages or scheduled for automatic generation and
distribution.
Using this information, it is possible to refine automatic rules such as the assignment rules,
service level agreements, or inactivity monitors to better suit the problem management
team's unique environment.
Related Tasks
Create a problem template
Use a UI action to create a record
Customize UI action behavior
Define an assignment rule for problems
Define an inbound email action for problems
Request a change from a problem
Related Concepts
Gather problem data
Close related incidents from a problem
Create knowledge
Problem Management process
Use task outage
Related Reference
Perl API problem
Create knowledge
The ServiceNow knowledge base houses the information an organization needs to keep and
share. For example, it might include desktop support information, company/department
processes and procedures, and documentation on internally developed applications.
Add information to the knowledge base by performing any of the following tasks.
By default, most new articles are created as drafts and move through a review state before
they are published. An exception to the standard workflow is posting news from the
Problem form.
If the administrator enables the optional knowledge submission workflow, articles created
from incidents or problems become knowledge submissions, which are processed through a
different path.
Access an external knowledge article
You can add new search engines to the advanced search function or add links at the top
of knowledge pages.
Communicate a workaround
Incidents within ITIL processes often generate information that may be needed in the
future.
Options for creating knowledge from a problem
You can create knowledge base articles directly in the Knowledge form.
Make an attachment visible
You can modify the behavior of the Communicate Workaround, Post Knowledge, and Post
News related links.
Post news
You can quickly create and publish a knowledge article in the News category.
Post knowledge
You can create a knowledge article from the problem immediately, and not wait for when
the problem is closed.
Use the knowledge check box
As with incidents, problems within ITIL processes often generate information that may be
needed in the future.
Related Tasks
Create a problem template
Use a UI action to create a record
Customize UI action behavior
Define an assignment rule for problems
Define an inbound email action for problems
Request a change from a problem
Related Concepts
Gather problem data
Close related incidents from a problem
Problem management service improvements
Problem Management process
Use task outage
Related Reference
Perl API problem
You can add new search engines to the advanced search function or add links at the top of
knowledge pages.
This lets you configure access to a knowledge base, either public or private, or to a public
search engine.
Procedure
4. Click Submit.
Related Tasks
Communicate a workaround
Create knowledge from an incident
Create knowledge manually
Make an attachment visible
Modify the UI Action
Post news
Post knowledge
Use the knowledge check box
Related Reference
Options for creating knowledge from a problem
Communicate a workaround
The Communicate Workaround option on the Problem form quickly and easily
communicates workarounds to multiple users from one place, eliminating the need to
manually update each incident.
Procedure
2. Enter the information in the Work notes text box and select the Workaroundcheck box.
3. Click Post.
4. Click the Communicate Workaround related link.
This adds the problem number and the contents of the Workaround field as a new entry
in the Activity field on all related incidents. By default, any entries made in an incident
Activity field generate an email notification to the Caller on the Incident form.
Related Tasks
Access an external knowledge article
Create knowledge from an incident
Create knowledge manually
Make an attachment visible
Modify the UI Action
Post news
Post knowledge
Use the knowledge check box
Related Reference
Options for creating knowledge from a problem
Incidents within ITIL processes often generate information that may be needed in the future.
The instance can automatically submit relevant information to the knowledge management
process when the incident is closed.
Procedure
If the knowledge submission workflow is enabled, the incident Short description and
Additional comments become a knowledge submission instead of an article.
Related Tasks
Access an external knowledge article
Communicate a workaround
Create knowledge manually
Make an attachment visible
Related Reference
Options for creating knowledge from a problem
The ServiceNow Problem form includes four options for creating knowledge directly from
the problem:
Related Tasks
Access an external knowledge article
Communicate a workaround
Create knowledge from an incident
Create knowledge manually
Make an attachment visible
Modify the UI Action
Post news
Post knowledge
Use the knowledge check box
You can create knowledge base articles directly in the Knowledge form.
Procedure
Search for Duplicates Click this button to search the knowledge base
for existing articles that contain similar content.
Delete Click this button to delete the knowledge
article from the system. You must confirm the
request before the record is deleted.
6. Click Submit.
Related Tasks
Access an external knowledge article
Communicate a workaround
Create knowledge from an incident
Make an attachment visible
Modify the UI Action
Post news
Post knowledge
Use the knowledge check box
Related Reference
Options for creating knowledge from a problem
By default, the attachments appear only to users with the admin, knowledge_admin, or
knowledge role, who can view the knowledge record.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Knowledge > Published and select the article, or click the Edit Article button
when viewing the article.
2. Select the Display attachments check box to display a list of attachments to users
viewing the article. You may need to configure the Knowledge form to display this field.
A list of attachments appears below the article.
Related Tasks
Access an external knowledge article
Communicate a workaround
Create knowledge from an incident
Create knowledge manually
Modify the UI Action
Post news
Post knowledge
Use the knowledge check box
Related Reference
Options for creating knowledge from a problem
You can modify the behavior of the Communicate Workaround, Post Knowledge, and Post
News related links.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Access an external knowledge article
Communicate a workaround
Create knowledge from an incident
Create knowledge manually
Make an attachment visible
Post news
Post knowledge
Use the knowledge check box
Related Reference
Options for creating knowledge from a problem
Post news
You can quickly create and publish a knowledge article in the News category.
Procedure
The problem number and Short description become the knowledge article Short
description.
The problem Description and Work notes become the knowledge article Text.
The problem Configuration Item becomes the knowledge article Configuration Item
for the Affected Products related list.
By default, the Post News related link creates an article in the Published workflow state.
These articles appear in the News category of the knowledge portal immediately.
If the knowledge submission workflow is enabled, the problem Short description and
Work notes are placed into a knowledge submission instead of an article.
Related Tasks
Access an external knowledge article
Communicate a workaround
Create knowledge from an incident
Create knowledge manually
Make an attachment visible
Modify the UI Action
Post knowledge
Use the knowledge check box
Related Reference
Options for creating knowledge from a problem
Post knowledge
You can create a knowledge article from the problem immediately, and not wait for when
the problem is closed.
Procedure
The problem number and Short description become the knowledge article Short
description.
The problem Description and Work notes become the knowledge article Text.
The problem Configuration item becomes the knowledge article Configuration Item.
The article Topic is set to Known Error.
By default, the system creates a knowledge article in Draft workflow state. If the
knowledge submission workflow is enabled, the problem Short description and Work
notes are placed into a knowledge submission instead of an article.
Related Tasks
Access an external knowledge article
Communicate a workaround
Create knowledge from an incident
Create knowledge manually
Make an attachment visible
Modify the UI Action
Post news
Use the knowledge check box
Related Reference
Options for creating knowledge from a problem
As with incidents, problems within ITIL processes often generate information that may be
needed in the future.
The system can automatically submit a knowledge article when a problem is closed.
Procedure
Closing the problem triggers the business rule Problem Create Knowledge. By default,
the business rule creates a knowledge article in the Draft workflow state, ready for a
knowledge team member to review and publish. The problem Short description
becomes the article Short description, and the problem Work notes become the article
Text.
If the knowledge submission workflow is enabled, the problem Work notes become a
knowledge submission instead of an article.
Related Tasks
Access an external knowledge article
Communicate a workaround
Create knowledge from an incident
Create knowledge manually
Make an attachment visible
Modify the UI Action
Post news
Post knowledge
Related Reference
Options for creating knowledge from a problem
An IT staff member can generate one manually using Problem > Create New or by clicking
New from the problem record list.
An IT staff member can generate a problem from an incident.
A record producer can be created to allow users to log problems in the service catalog.
If a user attempts to create a generic task, the task interceptor asks them to specify what
type of task to create. In this way, tasks are always assigned a handling process.
If an appropriate inbound email action is configured, a problem can be generated from an
email.
A problem can be associated with a configuration item using CMDB to help the problem
management team see the affected item and its relationships to other configuration items.
A problem can be assigned to a user or group. This can be done manually, or using an
assignment rule.
A problem can be associated with one or more incidents in the Incidents related list. The
association is automatic if the problem is generated from an incident. This allows the
problem management team to access the knowledge generated by the service desk during
incident investigation.
Note: The ServiceNow platform also provides the Structured Problem Analysis
application as a method for identifying the true root cause of a problem.
As a problem is updated, email notifications are sent to concerned parties. If inbound email
actions are specified, the problem can be updated via email.
The platform has an in-built system of escalations rules which can ensure that problems are
handled speedily. Two escalators are available in the system.
Service level agreements: SLAs monitor the progress of the problem according to defined
rules. As time passes, the SLA will escalate the priority of the problem, and leave a marker
as to its progress. SLAs can also be used as a performance indicator for the problem
management team.
Inactivity monitors: The inactivity monitors prevent incidents from being overlooked by
generating an event, which can create an email notification or trigger a script, when a
problem has not been updated within a certain amount of time.
Resolve problems
If a problem needs a change request to be resolved, it is possible to request a change, which
is resolved using the change management process. After a change has been requested, the
problem appears on a related list on the change item's form. After the problem is associated
with a change item, change the problem state to Pending Change.
You can create a business rule to close the problem automatically if the change associated
with it is closed. This automates the process of closing problems that are Pending Change.
You can also create a business rule that automatically close all incidents associated with the
problem if the problem is closed.
If a problem's cause has been determined but there is no permanent fix, changing the
problem state to Known Error communicates this fact to the IT staff. This helps reduce the
time spent on other incidents that have the known problem by making known errors easy to
find, as a list of Known Errors is automatically generated. To communicate knowledge
related to a problem to users, you can open the problem and communicate a workaround,
create a knowledge base article, or create a news item.
Related Tasks
Create a problem template
Use a UI action to create a record
Customize UI action behavior
Define an assignment rule for problems
Define an inbound email action for problems
Request a change from a problem
Related Concepts
Gather problem data
Close related incidents from a problem
Problem management service improvements
Create knowledge
Use task outage
Related Reference
Perl API problem
Procedure
3. Click Submit.
Problem templates
You can create templates that store populated versions of the problem form for reuse,
which saves time by reducing the amount of time spent filling out the form.
Use a template from a module
This example demonstrates how to place the Performance Issues template in a module in
the Self-Service application to enable users to directly file the problem using the template.
Related Tasks
Use a UI action to create a record
Customize UI action behavior
Define an assignment rule for problems
Define an inbound email action for problems
Request a change from a problem
Related Concepts
Gather problem data
Close related incidents from a problem
Problem management service improvements
Create knowledge
Problem Management process
Use task outage
Related Reference
Perl API problem
Problem templates
You can create templates that store populated versions of the problem form for reuse, which
saves time by reducing the amount of time spent filling out the form.
By defining common problems as templates, an administrator can save time for service desk
members later, allowing them to focus on solving the incidents at hand.
After a template is defined, it can be used from a record producer or from a module.
Related Tasks
Use a template from a module
This example demonstrates how to place the Performance Issues template in a module in
the Self-Service application to enable users to directly file the problem using the template.
Procedure
Related Concepts
Problem templates
The Task-Outage Relationship plugin creates a many-to-many relationship between the Task
[task] table and the Outage [cmdb_ci_outage] table, and includes the UI Action Create
Outage Record. The Task-Outage Relationship plugin can be activated by an administrator.
The business rule Add Short Description is included in the plugin, to add a short description
to outages in the following format "CI Name Outage."
The UI Action Create Outage Record is added to the Task [task] table to create outages
directly from the task form.
Add the UI action to another task form
By default, the create outage record is available on the incident and problem tables and
can be added to either task form.
Associate a task to an outage
Related Tasks
Create a problem template
Use a UI action to create a record
Customize UI action behavior
Define an assignment rule for problems
Define an inbound email action for problems
Request a change from a problem
Related Concepts
Gather problem data
Related Reference
Perl API problem
By default, the create outage record is available on the incident and problem tables and can
be added to either task form.
Procedure
current.getRecordClassName() == 'incident' ||
current.getRecordClassName() == 'problem'
Option Description
To add this UI Action to the Ticket [ticket] current.getRecordClassName() ==
table 'incident' ||
current.getRecordClassName() ==
'problem' ||
current.getRecordClassName() ==
'ticket'
4. Click Update.
Related Tasks
Associate a task to an outage
Create an outage from a task
Procedure
Related Tasks
Add the UI action to another task form
Create an outage from a task
Procedure
If a Configuration Item was specified on the task, it is associated with the outage.
When you save the outage, it appears in the Outage related list on the task form.
Related Tasks
Add the UI action to another task form
Associate a task to an outage
You can create a record on one table based on information contained in a record on another
table, for example, create a change request from a problem record.
Procedure
What to do next
The new record opens, and you can complete the information and save it.
Add related records
You can create a related list of records on the new record in order to keep track of records
on the original table.
Close related records automatically
Task records on the related list typically do not close by default when the current task
record is closed.
Configure a custom UI action
Related Tasks
Create a problem template
Customize UI action behavior
Define an assignment rule for problems
Define an inbound email action for problems
Request a change from a problem
Related Concepts
Gather problem data
Close related incidents from a problem
Problem management service improvements
Create knowledge
Problem Management process
Use task outage
Related Reference
Perl API problem
You can create a related list of records on the new record in order to keep track of records
on the original table.
For instance, the Problem form has a list of related incidents, which might include the
incident the problem was created from (if the problem was created from an incident).
If the related list is already present on the form, the record should already appear on the
related list. More can be added to the related list by clicking the Edit button.
If the related list does not already appear, right click the form header bar and select
Configure > Related lists. Use the slushbucket to add the appropriate related list.
Related Tasks
Configure a custom UI action
Related Reference
Close related records automatically
Task records on the related list typically do not close by default when the current task
record is closed.
Related Tasks
Configure a custom UI action
Related Reference
Add related records
The set of default UI actions can be used as a template for configuring similar UI actions on
other pages. For example, you can use the Problem UI action to create a Create Change UI
action on any release form. The Problem UI action is a better template to use than the
Incident UI action.
Procedure
Result
After the table is changed, the new record is automatically saved and the record view is
displayed.
Related Reference
Add related records
Close related records automatically
Constructor - new
new(Configuration);
Example:
$problem = ServiceNow::ITIL::Problem->new($CONFIG);
Related Tasks
Create a problem template
Use a UI action to create a record
Customize UI action behavior
Define an assignment rule for problems
Define an inbound email action for problems
Request a change from a problem
Related Concepts
Gather problem data
Close related incidents from a problem
Problem management service improvements
Create knowledge
Problem Management process
Use task outage
The following example customizes the behavior of the Close Incidents UI action to close all
incidents related to the current problem
Procedure
Related Tasks
Create a problem template
Use a UI action to create a record
Define an assignment rule for problems
Define an inbound email action for problems
Request a change from a problem
Related Concepts
Gather problem data
Close related incidents from a problem
Problem management service improvements
Create knowledge
Problem Management process
Use task outage
Close related incidents from a problem
Related Reference
Perl API problem
In this example, define an assignment rule to assign database problems to the database
group.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Create a problem template
Use a UI action to create a record
Customize UI action behavior
Define an inbound email action for problems
Request a change from a problem
Related Concepts
Gather problem data
Close related incidents from a problem
Problem management service improvements
Create knowledge
Problem Management process
Use task outage
Related Reference
Perl API problem
Inbound email actions enable users to log or update incidents or other tasks on an instance
via email. You can define an inbound email action to log problems.
The inbound email action parses the email and responds using a script. No problem
management inbound email actions are provided in the base system.
Procedure
current. insert ( ) ;
3. Click Submit.
Related Tasks
Create a problem template
Use a UI action to create a record
Related Concepts
Gather problem data
Close related incidents from a problem
Problem management service improvements
Create knowledge
Problem Management process
Use task outage
Related Reference
Perl API problem
After a problem is identified and isolated, it may require changes to be made through the
organization's Change Management process.
Procedure
What to do next
To modify how the Create Change UI action works, navigate to System Definition > UI
Actions. Select the Create Change UI action that specifies Problem in the Table column.
Related Tasks
Create a problem template
Use a UI action to create a record
Customize UI action behavior
Related Concepts
Gather problem data
Close related incidents from a problem
Problem management service improvements
Create knowledge
Problem Management process
Use task outage
Related Reference
Perl API problem
Procurement
Procurement managers can use the Procurement application to create purchase orders and
to obtain items for fulfilling service catalog requests.
Procurement workflows
Use the gauges on the Procurement Overview homepage to help you track and manage
requests, purchase orders, and other important aspects of the procurement process.
Activate Procurement
You can activate the Procurement plugin that provides core procurement capabilities.
Request items source
A request from the service catalog can contain multiple items that need to be obtained or
sourced.
Procurement purchase order management for assets
Accurate purchase order information is important for invoice tracking, receiving, and
reporting in the ServiceNow platform.
Receive assets
Assets can be received and added to the system when they are delivered to a stockroom.
Procurement roles
Related Tasks
Use the Procurement Overview module
Activate Procurement
Related Concepts
Procurement workflows
Request items source
Procurement purchase order management for assets
Receive assets
Procurement workflows
In the Service Catalog Request workflow, items ordered from the service catalog that cost
over one thousand dollars require approval.
In the Source Request workflow, catalog tasks are created so that a procurement manager
can source the item by creating a transfer order or purchase order.
These workflows are provided in the base system. You can edit these workflows in the
graphical workflow editor or create a workflow to better fit your organization's procurement
needs.
Related Tasks
Use the Procurement Overview module
Activate Procurement
Related Concepts
Request items source
Procurement purchase order management for assets
Receive assets
Related Reference
Procurement roles
Use the gauges on the Procurement Overview homepage to help you track and manage
requests, purchase orders, and other important aspects of the procurement process.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Activate Procurement
Related Concepts
Procurement workflows
Request items source
Procurement purchase order management for assets
Receive assets
Related Reference
Procurement roles
Activate Procurement
You can activate the Procurement plugin that provides core procurement capabilities.
Procedure
If the plugin depends on other plugins, these plugins are listed along with their
activation status.
Some plugins include demo datasample records that are designed to illustrate plugin
features for common use cases. Loading demo data is a good policy when you first
activate the plugin on a development or test instance. You can load demo data after the
plugin is activated by repeating this process and selecting the check box.
4. Click Activate.
Components installed with Procurement
Related Tasks
Use the Procurement Overview module
Related Concepts
Procurement workflows
Request items source
Procurement purchase order management for assets
Receive assets
Related Reference
Procurement roles
Demo data is available with Procurement. The demo data provides sample requests,
purchase orders, purchase order line items, and receiving slips.
Business rules installed with Procurement
Redirect TOL to existing TO- Transfer Order Line Attaches a transfer order line to
Procurement [alm_transfer_order_line] an existing transfer order if the
transfer order is in the
Draftstage and has the same
From stockroom and To
stockroom values as the transfer
order line.
Shipping Cost Changes Purchase Order Recalculates the total cost of
[proc_po] the purchase order if the
shipping rate changes.
State Change Transfer Order Line Marks the requested item as
Received if the state of the
Update expected delivery date Purchase order line items Sets the Expected delivery date
for PO [proc_po_item] for purchase orders to the latest
purchase order line Expected
delivery date.
Update expected delivery date Purchase Order Sets the Expected delivery date
for POLs [proc_po] of associated purchase order
lines to the purchase order's
Expected delivery date if at least
one of the following conditions
is true.
Update Ordered Date Purchase Order Sets the Ordered date field to
[proc_po] the date and time at which the
status of the purchase order is
set to Ordered.
Update PO Purchase order line items Updates the purchase order if
[proc_po_item] the cost of any purchase order
line item changes.
Table Description
Purchase Order Stores information about items ordered, cost of
[proc_po] items ordered, and users that require the items
for orders placed with a vendor.
Purchase order line items Stores information about items and quantity
[proc_po_item] ordered on purchases orders.
Table Description
Receiving Slip Stores receiving information for items ordered
[proc_rec_slip] with a purchase order. Can reference multiple
receiving slip lines.
Receiving Slip Line Stores receiving information for items ordered on
[proc_rec_slip_item] a specific purchase order line, such as the items
ordered, quantity ordered, and who ordered
them.
A request from the service catalog can contain multiple items that need to be obtained or
sourced.
Although there are separate procedures for creating a transfer order and a purchase order
from a request, both procedures may be used for a single request. For example, on a request
that contains four items to source, two items are available to transfer from a stockroom and
two must be purchased from vendors.
Only items with an assigned model can be sourced. Sourcing bundles is not supported.
Create a purchase order from a request
You can create a purchase order directly from a request. This enables procurement
managers to obtain items and fulfill requests from the Service Catalog.
Create a transfer order from a request
You can create a transfer order directly from a request to source items from stockrooms.
Related Tasks
Use the Procurement Overview module
Activate Procurement
Track a request from the service catalog
Related Concepts
Procurement workflows
Procurement purchase order management for assets
Receive assets
Models
Bundled models
Related Reference
Procurement roles
You can create a purchase order directly from a request. This enables procurement
managers to obtain items and fulfill requests from the Service Catalog.
Procedure
If the product is available from a single vendor, the vendor name is added to the Vendor
field automatically. If the item is available from multiple vendors, a choice list appears in
the Vendor field.
7. Select a vendor from the list.
If the selected vendor does not have the item, the Vendor Out of Stock field shows Out
of Stock. This can be configured in the Out of Stock option on the Vendor Catalog Item
form.
8. (Optional) Select the Consolidate Purchase Orders check box to combine the listed
items with existing purchase orders.
When Consolidate Purchase Orders is checked, all items sourced from the same vendor
on the same request are placed on the same purchase order. When a vendor is selected,
the system automatically searches for purchase orders that have been created for the
same request, have the same Vendor selected, and have the Requested status. If the
system finds a match, all items are placed on the same purchase order and can be
ordered together. If the system does not find a match, a new purchase order is created.
For example, if you are purchasing 25 phones from Apple and an open purchase order
already exists for Apple, the 25 phones are added to the open purchase order. If there
are no open purchase orders for the selected vendors, new purchase orders are created.
Items ordered from the same vendor are grouped together. Different items are shown on
separate lines on the purchase order.
9. Click OK.
the catalog task reopens and you see a message that the purchase order was created.
When you view the request, the Sourced check box is selected.
Related Tasks
Create a transfer order from a request
You can create a transfer order directly from a request to source items from stockrooms.
When an item is sourced with a transfer order, the system automatically looks for an existing
transfer order to which the new order can be added. When transfer orders are combined,
items can be received more quickly and efficiently. Transfer orders created in the
Procurement application are not merged or combined with transfer orders created from
other applications, like in Work Management.
For a new request to merge with an existing transfer order, the existing transfer order must
have the following characteristics:
Procedure
7. Click OK.
A transfer order is created to move the item or items from the From Stockroom location
to the Destination Stockroom location. When you view the request, the Sourced check
box is selected.
Related Tasks
Create a purchase order from a request
Accurate purchase order information is important for invoice tracking, receiving, and
reporting in the ServiceNow platform.
The Procurement application enables users with an appropriate procurement role to manage
purchase order information for assets. It also provides direct access to service catalog
requests. You can create purchase orders and transfer orders directly from requests.
Before using the Procurement application, create assignment groups for catalog tasks.
Assignment groups are sets of users, filtered by location, who can perform catalog tasks.
Track a request from the service catalog
The Procurement application lets you track a request that was ordered from the service
catalog.
Cancel a request from the service catalog
You can cancel a request from the service catalog if, for example, the item is no longer
needed or the request was not approved.
View and edit a catalog task
Catalog tasks are used to source items and fulfill requests. You can view and edit catalog
tasks from a request.
Create a purchase order
You can create a purchase order. Purchase orders specify assets to order from a single
vendor.
Create an asset and reserve it for the requester
In the procurement process, hardware, software, and consumable assets can be created
before the assets are delivered. This allows you to create the asset record early in the
process to reserve the asset for the user who requested it.
Related Tasks
Use the Procurement Overview module
Activate Procurement
Related Concepts
Procurement workflows
Request items source
Receive assets
Related Reference
Procurement roles
The Procurement application lets you track a request that was ordered from the service
catalog.
When a user places an order from the service catalog, a request record is created to track
the order. Each ordered item becomes a requested item that is listed on the request record.
For example, a single request for 1 laptop, 2 monitors, and 1 keyboard creates the following
records.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Cancel a request from the service catalog
View and edit a catalog task
Create a purchase order
Create an asset and reserve it for the requester
You can cancel a request from the service catalog if, for example, the item is no longer
needed or the request was not approved.
When a service catalog request is canceled, the following actions occur automatically.
Associated purchase orders that have not been received are canceled.
All procurement tasks are canceled.
Associated transfer orders are canceled, if all transfer order lines related to the transfer
order are also associated with the service catalog request and the transfer order lines have
all been canceled. If the transfer order contains transfer order lines that are not related to
the service catalog request and those lines have not been canceled, the transfer order is
not canceled.
Associated transfer order lines that are in the In Transit or Delivered stages are not canceled.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Track a request from the service catalog
View and edit a catalog task
Create a purchase order
Create an asset and reserve it for the requester
Catalog tasks are used to source items and fulfill requests. You can view and edit catalog
tasks from a request.
If a request requires approval, a catalog task is created automatically when the request is
approved. If a request does not require approval, a catalog task is created automatically
when the request is created.
Note: If a request contains one requested item and the item has no model
specified, a catalog task is not created automatically. If a request has multiple
requested items and only some of them have a model specified, catalog
tasks are created automatically, but only for the requested items with a
model.
Procedure
Field Description
Request The number of the request to which the
catalog task is associated. The information in
this field is derived from the Number field on
the Request form.
Request item The number of the requested item to which the
catalog task is associated. The information in
this field is derived from the Number field on
the Requested Item form.
Requested for The name of the person for whom the
associated item was requested. The information
in this field is derived from the Request or
Request item field.
Due date The date by which the catalog task should be
completed.
Configuration item The configuration item associated with the
Request Item.
Approval The status of catalog task approval: Not Yet
Requested, Requested, Approved, or Rejected.
State The current state of the catalog task: Pending,
Open, Work in Progress, Closed Complete,
Closed Incomplete, or Closed Skipped.
Assignment group The group from which an individual is selected
to complete the catalog task.
Assigned to The individual assigned to complete the
catalog task, selected from the Assignment
group.
Work notes list The list of users to receive email notifications
when the work notes on the catalog task are
updated.
Short description A brief description of the catalog task.
Description A detailed description of the catalog task.
Work notes Information about how the catalog task is
resolved.
Additional comments Additional information about the catalog task
that might be helpful for others to know. This is
a customer-visible field.
4. Click Update.
Related Tasks
Track a request from the service catalog
Cancel a request from the service catalog
Create a purchase order
Create an asset and reserve it for the requester
Related Concepts
Models
You can create a purchase order. Purchase orders specify assets to order from a single
vendor.
For example, an organization can create a purchase order to buy 20 laptop computers or 10
servers. Information on a purchase order enables physical and financial tracking of the
assets that were ordered.
You can also use a transfer order if an asset is already owned by an organization. A transfer
order is used to internally transfer assets from one stockroom to another instead of
purchasing the assets. For example, a company stockroom in New York has five laptops that
are needed in Boston. You create a transfer order to move the laptops from the New York
stockroom to the Boston stockroom.
After you create a purchase order, the Receiving Slip related list is available on the Purchase
Order form. A receiving slip is created manually or automatically when the item is received.
The Receiving Slip related list shows all receiving slips related to the purchase order. After a
receiving slip is added to a purchase order, all fields on the purchase order record become
read-only.
Procedure
Field Description
Status The current status of the purchase order:
Canceled, Ordered, Received, Requested, or
Suspended.
Assigned to The user to whom the purchase order is
assigned.
Bill to The location responsible for paying the
purchase order Total cost.
Short description A brief description of the purchase order.
General section
Shipping The delivery method to be used when shipping
the items on the purchase order.
Terms The purchase order payment terms: Credit, Net
30 days, or Net 90 days.
Ship rate The amount that must be paid for the delivery
method specified in the Shipping field.
Total cost The sum of all item costs on the purchase order
and the shipping costs.
Description A full description of the purchase order
contents.
Details section
Initial request The record number of the request that requires
the items on the purchase order.
Requested by The user requesting the items on the purchase
order.
Requested The date the user in the Requested by field
requested the items on the purchase order.
Ordered The date and time the Order button is clicked
on the Purchase Order form.
Expected delivery The date the items associated with the
purchase order are expected to arrive in the
stockroom identified in the Ship to field. This
field cannot be edited when the purchase order
has a Status of Received or Canceled. (For
more information about this field, see Purchase
order expected delivery date.)
Received The date and time at which the purchase order
status changed to Received.
Contract The record number of the contract with the
vendor from which the items on the purchase
order are ordered.
Department The department responsible for paying for the
purchase order.
Budget number The budget number associated with the
purchase order.
Vendor account The vendor account associated with the
purchase order.
4. Click Submit.
What to do next
Add purchase order line items to specify what you are ordering from this vendor.
Create a purchase order line item
After you save a new purchase order, you create purchase order line item records to
specify the individual items to order.
Purchase order status
Purchase orders follow a specific life cycle. The Status field on the purchase order record
is always read-only.
Purchase order expected delivery date
The purchase order record and the purchase order line item record both contain an
Expected delivery date field.
Cancel a purchase order
You can cancel purchase orders with a status of Requested, Ordered, or Pending Delivery.
Cancel a purchase order line item
You can cancel a purchase order line items with a status of Requested, Ordered, or
Pending Delivery.
Reorder a purchase order
You can reorder a purchase order line item that was canceled.
Related Tasks
Track a request from the service catalog
Cancel a request from the service catalog
View and edit a catalog task
Create an asset and reserve it for the requester
After you save a new purchase order, you create purchase order line item records to specify
the individual items to order.
Procedure
Field Description
List price The price at which the item retails, not
including discounts. If the system creates the
purchase order from the service catalog
ordering process, the purchase order line item
inherits the list price from the associated
vendor catalog item. If the vendor catalog item
does not have a list price value and you have
not entered a value, this field is automatically
populated with the value from the Cost field.
Cost The cost of a single product model, including
discounts. If the system creates the purchase
order from the service catalog ordering
process, the purchase order line item inherits
the cost from the associated vendor catalog
item Vendor Price.
Total cost The cost of a single product model multiplied
by the value specified in Quantity.
Short description A few words or short phrase describing the
purchase order line item.
5. Click Submit.
The purchase order reopens with the line item listed. The purchase order and line item
are in Requesteds status.
6. (Optional) Continue adding purchase order line items for this vendor, as needed.
7. After you initiate the order with the vendor and are ready to show that the order was
placed, click Order.
The status of the purchase order and line items change to Ordered.
Related Concepts
Vendor catalog items
Purchase orders follow a specific life cycle. The Status field on the purchase order record is
always read-only.
Status Description
Pending Delivery When you create assets before receiving them as
a purchase order line item, the status of purchase
orders and purchase order line items changes to
Pending Delivery status.
Received When ordered assets arrive in the specified
stockroom and you click Receive, the status of
purchase orders and purchase order line items
changes to Received.
Canceled You can cancel a purchase order if its status is
Requested, Ordered, or Pending Delivery. For
more information, see Cancel a purchase order.
The purchase order record and the purchase order line item record both contain an
Expected delivery date field.
The Expected delivery field can be edited on both records. Editing the field on one record
can change the field on the other record.
If you add an expected delivery date to the purchase order and the expected delivery date
field on the purchase order line item is blank, the date on the purchase order is added
automatically to the purchase order line item.
If you add an expected delivery date on the purchase order line item and the expected
delivery date field on the purchase order is blank, the date on the purchase order line item
is added automatically to the purchase order.
If the purchase order and the purchase order line item have the same expected delivery
date and you change the date on the purchase order, the date is changed automatically on
the purchase order line item.
If you change the date on the purchase order line item to a date that is later than the one
specified on the purchase order, the date on the purchase order is changed to the new
date. The expected delivery date of a purchase order line item cannot be later than the
expected delivery date on the associated purchase order.
If you change the date on the purchase order line item to a date that is earlier than the
date specified on the purchase order, the date on the purchase order remains the same.
You can cancel purchase orders with a status of Requested, Ordered, or Pending Delivery.
Purchase order line items can also be canceled from a purchase order.
Procedure
3. Click Cancel.
All associated purchase order line items that have not been received are canceled and
any assets created for the purchase order are deleted.
You can cancel a purchase order line items with a status of Requested, Ordered, or Pending
Delivery.
Keep the following in mind when you cancel a purchase order line item.
When a purchase order line item is canceled, if all other line items are also canceled, the
purchase order is canceled.
After a purchase order line item is canceled, it can be reordered if the associated purchase
order has not been canceled or received.
If you cancel a purchase order line item for which assets were created, the assets are
deleted from the system and removed from the purchase order.
If you reorder the same purchase order line item, the assets are recreated for that line if
the line has a status of Pending Delivery.
Procedure
Procedure
You can reorder a purchase order line item that was canceled.
Procedure
In the procurement process, hardware, software, and consumable assets can be created
before the assets are delivered. This allows you to create the asset record early in the
process to reserve the asset for the user who requested it.
Some requests must be approved before items on the request can be sourced. In the base
system, requests over $1,000 require approval. To change the $1,000 approval threshold and
other workflow attributes, edit the Service Catalog Request workflow.
When the asset state is In stock, the Reserved for field is maintained as the asset is received
and placed in a stockroom. When the asset state changes to In use, the Reserved for field is
relabeled Assigned to. If there is a name in the Reserved for field, the name is retained when
the field is relabeled. A user with the asset role can change the name in the Assigned to
field. This is helpful, for example, if an IT technician orders 10 laptops and needs to assign
them to individual users.
Note: If assets are not created prior to delivery, they are automatically created from
line items when purchase orders are received.
Procedure
You can also create assets for individual purchase order line items. On a purchase order,
go to the Purchase order line items related list and click a specific purchase order line
item number. Then, click the Create assets prior to delivery related link. Only the assets
included on the purchase order line item are created.
Consumables follow a slightly different life cycle from other assets, such as hardware
and software. For more information, see Consumables life cycle.
Related Tasks
Track a request from the service catalog
Cancel a request from the service catalog
View and edit a catalog task
Create a purchase order
Set asset states and substates
Related Concepts
Models
Receive assets
Assets can be received and added to the system when they are delivered to a stockroom.
Users with an appropriate procurement role can receive assets. If one purchase order
contains multiple purchase order lines, the lines can be received at different times. This is
useful if items arrive at the stockroom in different shipments. The purchase order status
does not change to Received until all purchase order lines are received.
As an alternative to receiving assets when they arrive, you can create assets before they
arrive and reserve them for the requester.
Receive an asset
When assets are received and delivered to a stockroom, they are added to the system.
Create a receiving slip
Receiving slips are created automatically during the process of receiving assets. You can
also create receiving slips manually.
Create a receiving slip line
When assets arrive at a stockroom and you receive them, a receiving slip is created on the
purchase order. You create a receiving slip line to identify the specific assets and
quantities that were received.
Consumable assets
Related Tasks
Use the Procurement Overview module
Activate Procurement
Related Concepts
Procurement workflows
Request items source
Procurement purchase order management for assets
Related Reference
Procurement roles
Receive an asset
When assets are received and delivered to a stockroom, they are added to the system.
Procedure
7. (Optional) Edit the Unit Cost if the price changed between the time the item was
ordered and the time it arrived at the stockroom. Enter a number; the number can
include decimals.
8. (Optional) Select the Reserve check box to reserve an item for the user specified in the
For User field. The check box is read-only for consumable assets, which cannot be
reserved.
When a reserved item is received, the State and Substate fields on the corresponding
asset record are automatically set to In stock and Reserved, respectively. If the Reserve
check box is not selected for an item, the State and Substate fields on the
corresponding asset record are set to In stock and Available.
9. (Optional) In the For User field, select the user for whom the item was ordered. If a
name was specified in the Requested for field on the Purchase order line item form, the
name is added to this field automatically but can be changed.
The Product and Part# columns are automatically filled in based on the product model
record.
10. (Optional) Select the Allow Asset Tag Input check box to display the asset tag and serial
number fields. The fields are not displayed for consumable assets. If the asset already
has an asset tag or serial number, the numbers are automatically added to the fields. If
you change the asset tag or serial number in the dialog box, the new values are saved in
the asset record.
11. Click OK.
A receiving slip is automatically created and can be viewed in the Receiving Slips related
list. If items on a purchase order are received at different times, a new receiving slip is
created each time any item on the purchase order is received. For example, if 30 laptop
computers were ordered and arrived in three separate shipments, three receiving slips
are created.
An asset record is automatically created for each item if an asset was not created prior
to receiving the item.
Related Tasks
Create a receiving slip
Create a receiving slip line
Related Concepts
Consumable assets
Receiving slips are created automatically during the process of receiving assets. You can
also create receiving slips manually.
After a receiving slip has been created for a purchase order, all fields on the purchase order
record are changed to read-only.
Procedure
A Number is assigned automatically. The current date and time is added automatically
to the Received field.
What to do next
Add a receiving slip line to the receiving slip to identify the items from the purchase order
that were received.
Related Tasks
Receive an asset
Create a receiving slip line
Related Concepts
Consumable assets
When assets arrive at a stockroom and you receive them, a receiving slip is created on the
purchase order. You create a receiving slip line to identify the specific assets and quantities
that were received.
If the asset already exists, the asset record is updated when you save the receiving slip line.
If the asset does not already exist, a new hardware or software asset record is created. The
Model category and Configuration item fields are automatically filled in on the new asset
record based on information in the request, purchase order, or receiving slip. If Asset Tag
and Serial Number information exists, it is not overwritten.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Procurement > Receiving > Receiving Slips and open a receiving slip.
2. In the Receiving Slip Lines related list, click New.
The following fields are completed automatically.
A Number is assigned.
In Received, the current date and time are added.
In Received by, the currently logged in user is added.
3. In Purchase Order Line, click the reference lookup icon and select a purchase order line.
The Purchase Order Line field is mandatory if the parent receiving slip has an associated
purchase order. Only purchase order lines that are associated with the same purchase
order linked to the parent receiving slip are available to select.
4. In Quantity, enter the number of items received. For example, five items were ordered,
but only two are being received.
5. (Optional) Edit the Received by, Requested for, and Unit cost fields, as needed.
6. Click Submit.
After you create a receiving slip line, the Receiving stockroom field on the Receiving Slip
record becomes read-only.
Related Tasks
Receive an asset
Create a receiving slip
Related Concepts
Consumable assets
Consumable assets
A consumable asset is one that is purchased in quantity and distributed. It is assigned to the
consumable model category, and the asset record tracks the quantity that are available and
total cost. When consumable assets are received, they are merged into an existing
consumable record, if available.
For the records to merge, the consumable cannot be listed on an active transfer order and
the Model, Location, Model Category, Stockroom, Status, and Substatus fields on the asset
record must match.
If consumables are merged into an existing consumable record, the cost of the additional
consumables received is added to that of the existing consumables in the record. For
example, if 50 computer keyboards arrive and 20 keyboards of the same model already exist
in the receiving stockroom, the two records are merged showing 70 keyboards in the
stockroom with a combined total cost.
Related Tasks
Receive an asset
Create a receiving slip
Create a receiving slip line
Product Catalog
The product catalog is a set of information about individual models. Models are specific
versions or various configurations of an asset. Asset managers use the product catalog as a
centralized repository for model information.
A detailed and well-maintained product catalog can coordinate with service catalog, asset,
procurement, request, contract, and vendor information.
Models published to the product catalog are automatically published to the service catalog.
The service catalog includes information about goods (models) and services. A model may
be listed more than once if the model is available from multiple vendors. Models are included
with the Asset Management application.
Keep the following in mind when working with the product catalog.
A product catalog item can be linked to multiple vendor catalog items or to a single
model.
A model can only have one product catalog item.
A vendor catalog item can only have a single product catalog item.
Components installed with Product Catalog
The following components are installed with the Product Catalog plugin.
Models
Models are specific versions or various configurations of an asset. Models are used for
managing and tracking assets through various ServiceNow platform asset applications,
including Product Catalog, Asset Management, and Procurement.
Vendor catalog items
Product catalog items are hardware and software that you want to track and offer in the
service catalog.
Model categories
Model categories associate CI classes with asset classes. Model categories are part of the
Product Catalog application.
Related Concepts
Asset and CI management
The following components are installed with the Product Catalog plugin.
Demo data is available with the product catalog. The demo data provides a variety of
models, model categories, product catalog items, vendor catalog items, and vendors.
Tables installed with Product Catalog
Related Concepts
Models
Vendor catalog items
Product catalog items
Model categories
Table Description
Call The base table for Product Catalog that contains
[new_call] all call information.
Hardware Catalog Stores all hardware catalog items that have been
[pc_hardware_cat_item] published from the Product Model [cmdb_model]
base table. Extends the Product Catalog Item
[pc_product_cat_item] table.
Product Catalog Item Stores all information for the product catalog.
[pc_product_cat_item] This table extends the Catalog Item [sc_cat_item]
table.
Software Catalog Stores all software catalog items that have been
[pc_software_cat_item] published from the Product Model [cmdb_model]
base table. Extends the Product Catalog Item
[pc_product_cat_item] table.
Table Description
Vendor Catalog Item Stores all vendor catalog item information.
[pc_vendor_cat_item]
Table Description
ProductCatalogUtils Utilities for creating and maintaining product
catalog items derived from vendor catalog items
and models.
Models
Models are specific versions or various configurations of an asset. Models are used for
managing and tracking assets through various ServiceNow platform asset applications,
including Product Catalog, Asset Management, and Procurement.
Model definitions can be based on vendor-provided criteria, for example, the manufacturer
name Apple MacBook Pro, or on a custom abstraction, for example, Graphic Designer
Workstation. All model information is located in the Product Catalog application.
A model can be in one or more model categories. For example, a laptop can be a computer
and a server. Model definitions specify whether the model creates an asset, a configuration
item, or both. On a hardware model record, compatible hardware models can be added.
Unless otherwise noted, working with product models requires the model_manager role.
This role is contained by other roles, such as sam, category_manager, and asset.
Creating models
Models are created in the Product Catalog > Product Model > All Models module.
See Model form fields for a list of the fields that appear on all models, regardless of the type
of model.
Model form fields
There are fields on the Model form that apply to all types of models.
Create hardware models
You use hardware models to track equipment assets such as servers and racks. You can
create a new hardware model.
Create consumable models
Consumables are items that are tracked as a group, not individually. An example of
consumable items are computer keyboards.
Bundled models
A bundled model is a single model comprised of individual models. For example, a laptop,
printer, keyboard, and mouse can be combined into a single bundled model. If you assign
any one asset from the bundled model to an individual, that person receives all of the
components in the bundle.
Software models
Software models are created as part of the asset management process. You can create
product models for software from the product catalog, but you cannot administer all
aspects of the software models.
Create application models
You can create application models that can be managed and tracked within a Scrum
development process.
Work order models
When work management is activated, the ServiceNow platform adds the Work Order
Models and Work Task Models modules to the product catalog.
Models created for VMware support and Amazon EC2
When you activate Orchestration for VMware or Amazon EC2, the system creates a new
model (vmware instance or ec2 instance) automatically.
Add skills to a model
You can associate skills with any model. Creating associations between skills and models
is helpful if you are using work management and need to assign tasks to agents based on
their skills with specific models.
Publish models to the hardware or software catalog
You can publish models to the hardware or software catalog to make the models available
in the service catalog.
Delete models
Related Concepts
Vendor catalog items
Product catalog items
Model categories
Asset Management
Procurement
Related Reference
Components installed with Product Catalog
There are fields on the Model form that apply to all types of models.
Field Description
Display name Name of the model. A system property called
glide.cmdb_model.display_name.shorten controls
how software model display names are
generated.
Manufacturer The company that built the model.
Name The manufacturer-assigned name of the model or
abstract name specified by the model manager,
such as Field Agent Laptop.
Edition The edition of the software model, such as
Professional.
Short description A brief description of the model.
Model categories The categories to which the model is assigned.
This field is a glide list and cannot be used to
create reports.
Asset tracking strategy The process by which the model should be
tracked. Choose from the following:
Field Description
Product Catalog The information about the model as it appears in
the product catalog and service catalog.
Information only appears if the model has been
published to the product catalog.
You use hardware models to track equipment assets such as servers and racks. You can
create a new hardware model.
Procedure
4. Click Update.
Add compatible models to a hardware model
On a hardware model record, you can add compatible hardware models. This is a good
method for tracking hardware assets that can work together.
Add substitute models to a hardware model
On a hardware model record, you can add substitutes to track what hardware models can
be substituted for another hardware model.
On a hardware model record, you can add compatible hardware models. This is a good
method for tracking hardware assets that can work together.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Add substitute models to a hardware model
Related Concepts
Models
Bundled models
On a hardware model record, you can add substitutes to track what hardware models can
be substituted for another hardware model.
For example, a 19" monitor may be a valid substitute for a 17" monitor. Note that
substitutions are directional so, in this case, a 17" monitor is not a substitution for a 19"
monitor. Information about valid substitute models is useful when you select models while
creating transfer orders.
Substitute models can be used with work management transfer orders. Substitute models
are not used in procurement part sourcing.
Hardware models included in bundled models cannot be added as substitutes.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Add compatible models to a hardware model
Related Concepts
Models
Bundled models
Procurement
Consumables are items that are tracked as a group, not individually. An example of
consumable items are computer keyboards.
Procedure
Bundled models
A bundled model is a single model comprised of individual models. For example, a laptop,
printer, keyboard, and mouse can be combined into a single bundled model. If you assign
any one asset from the bundled model to an individual, that person receives all of the
components in the bundle.
Abstract
Permits use of one model in multiple bundles. The abstract bundle is created as a container.
One asset in the bundle is usually specified as the main component. Model categories
define which assets can be included in a bundle and which can be the main component of a
bundle.
Add a main component to make it easier to track the bundle components. For example,
create an abstract bundle adding a computer as the main component and a mouse and
keyboard as other components. When the bundle is assigned to a user, the asset record for
the computer shows the computer, mouse, and keyboard all assigned to the user. Abstract
bundles are used more often than concrete bundles.
Concrete
Is a fixed bundle where the main component is an asset. Specify the main component and
the other components to create an exact bundle. Concrete bundles do not allow for a
many-to-many relationship with models.
Keep the following tips in mind when creating and using bundled models.
To create an abstract model, set the model category to Bundle and add components. To
create a concrete model, create a model in the Product Catalog > Product Model > Bundled
Models module and add components.
Add model components to a bundle
You add model components to a model as needed, for example, when you upgrade a
bundle to include additional assets.
Remove model components from a bundle
You remove a component from a bundled model, for example, when you need to replace
it with a different component.
Related Tasks
Create pre-allocated assets
Consume consumable assets
Related Concepts
Model categories
You add model components to a model as needed, for example, when you upgrade a bundle
to include additional assets.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Remove model components from a bundle
Related Concepts
Models
You remove a component from a bundled model, for example, when you need to replace it
with a different component.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Add model components to a bundle
Software models
Software models are created as part of the asset management process. You can create
product models for software from the product catalog, but you cannot administer all
aspects of the software models.
Software models are used in software counters. For more information about creating
software models, see Manage software models
Related Tasks
Use the Software License Compliance Checker
You can create application models that can be managed and tracked within a Scrum
development process.
Procedure
When work management is activated, the ServiceNow platform adds the Work Order
Models and Work Task Models modules to the product catalog.
Users with the wm_admin role can define new model records, which can be used as
templates to create work orders for common procedures.
When you activate Orchestration for VMware or Amazon EC2, the system creates a new
model (vmware instance or ec2 instance) automatically.
When the virtual machine is terminated, the asset state changes to Retired.
You can associate skills with any model. Creating associations between skills and models is
helpful if you are using work management and need to assign tasks to agents based on their
skills with specific models.
Procedure
You can publish models to the hardware or software catalog to make the models available in
the service catalog.
Procedure
Delete models
Procedure
An accurate and complete vendor catalog can make it easier to keep items in stock at the
best possible price.
You can link multiple vendor catalog items to a single product catalog item, which allows
you to track information about a single item at different vendors.
For example, for an iPhone 5 product catalog item, you can create separate vendor catalog
items from Apple and from Amazon. Select the vendor with the best price when you source
an item. Users need the model_manager role to work with vendor catalog items.
Synchronize information
Certain information is synchronized between models, product catalog items, and vendor
catalog items.
Create a vendor catalog item
You create a vendor catalog item to associate product models with a vendor.
View a vendor list
Related Concepts
Models
Product catalog items
Model categories
Related Reference
Components installed with Product Catalog
Synchronize information
Certain information is synchronized between models, product catalog items, and vendor
catalog items.
When working with models, product catalog items, and vendor catalog items, keep the
following in mind:
Changes to a model record update vendor catalog items automatically only if the vendor
catalog items are published, not linked.
If a model is linked to a vendor catalog item, any changes to the model do not update the
vendor catalog item.
After publishing a vendor catalog item or model to the hardware or software catalog,
some fields become read-only on the vendor catalog item or product catalog item record.
Information can only be updated on the model record.
Description
Short description
Name
Product ID
Price
Vendor
Specs
Features
Model
UPC
Model number
Cost
Manufacturer
Related Tasks
Create a vendor catalog item
View a vendor list
You create a vendor catalog item to associate product models with a vendor.
Procedure
Field Description
Product model The specific version or configuration of the
item.
Out of stock The option that indicates whether the item is
currently unavailable for order. This field is
important if you are sourcing request items.
Clear this check box if the item is available to
order.
Product ID The item identification number assigned by
your organization.
List price The price at which the item retails, excluding
vendor discounts.
Vendor price The price at which the item is available in the
vendor catalog. If the vendor offers a discount,
the vendor price reflects the discounted price.
Rank tier Displays the overall ranking for this vendor's
products and services, such as Valued Partner
or Blacklisted Supplier. Rank tier expresses your
organization's opinion of this vendor's
performance and can be used to decide if the
vendor's products should be promoted or
discontinued. Users with the vendor_manager
role can edit this field.
Short description A brief description of the item.
General section
Product catalog item Name of the product catalog item, if the item
has been added to the product catalog. Leave
this field empty if you are going to link a
vendor catalog item to the hardware catalog.
UPC The barcode number used to uniquely identify
and track items for sale.
Active Select the check box to list the item in the
vendor catalog. Clear this check box to hide the
item in the vendor catalog.
Description A detailed description of the item.
Information section
Specifications Facts about the item such as size, weight,
version, or speed.
Features Distinct properties or distinguishing
characteristics of the item.
4. Click Submit.
Link an item to the hardware catalog
After you create a vendor catalog item, link the item to the hardware catalog for viewing.
Link an item to the software catalog
After you create a vendor catalog item, link the item to the software catalog for viewing.
Publish an item to the hardware catalog
After you create a hardware item for the vendor catalog, publish it to the hardware
catalog for viewing. The hardware catalog is a section within the service catalog.
Publish an item to the software catalog
After you create a software item for the vendor catalog, publish it to the software catalog
for viewing. The software catalog is a section within the service catalog.
Related Tasks
View a vendor list
Related Concepts
Synchronize information
After you create a vendor catalog item, link the item to the hardware catalog for viewing.
To see the Link to Hardware Catalog Item related link on the Vendor Catalog Item form, add
a hardware model or a consumable model to the Product Model field, and leave the Product
Catalog Item field blank.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Link an item to the software catalog
Publish an item to the hardware catalog
Publish an item to the software catalog
After you create a vendor catalog item, link the item to the software catalog for viewing.
To see the Link to Software Catalog Item related link on the Vendor Catalog Item form, add
a software model or a consumable model to the Product Model field, and leave the Product
Catalog Item field blank.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Link an item to the hardware catalog
Publish an item to the hardware catalog
Publish an item to the software catalog
After you create a hardware item for the vendor catalog, publish it to the hardware catalog
for viewing. The hardware catalog is a section within the service catalog.
To see the Publish to Hardware Catalog Item related link on the Vendor Catalog Item form,
add a hardware model or a consumable model to the Product Model field, and leave the
Product Catalog Item field blank.
After you publish a vendor catalog item to the hardware catalog, the Publish to Hardware
Catalog related link is no longer available. Any changes made on the vendor catalog item
record are synchronized with the information in the hardware catalog.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Link an item to the hardware catalog
Link an item to the software catalog
Publish an item to the software catalog
After you create a software item for the vendor catalog, publish it to the software catalog
for viewing. The software catalog is a section within the service catalog.
To see the Publish to Software Catalog Item related link on the Vendor Catalog Item form,
add a software model or a consumable model to the Product Model field, and leave the
Product Catalog Item field blank.
After you publish a vendor catalog item to the software catalog, the Publish to Software
Catalog related link is no longer available. Any changes made on the vendor catalog item
record are synchronized with the information in the software catalog.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Link an item to the hardware catalog
Link an item to the software catalog
Publish an item to the hardware catalog
The list includes every company that has the Vendor option selected on its record.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Create a vendor catalog item
Related Concepts
Synchronize information
Product catalog items are hardware and software that you want to track and offer in the
service catalog.
The product catalog is an extension of the service catalog that contains a list of available
models. Users with the catalog_admin role can create, activate, and deactivate product
catalog items.
Create a product catalog item
You can create hardware and software product catalog items to include in the product
catalog and the service catalog.
Activate a product catalog item
You can activate a product catalog item to make it available in the product catalog and
the service catalog.
Deactivate a product catalog item
You can deactivate a product catalog item to remove it from the product catalog and the
service catalog.
Related Concepts
Models
Vendor catalog items
Model categories
Related Reference
Components installed with Product Catalog
You can create hardware and software product catalog items to include in the product
catalog and the service catalog.
You must activate the items separately before they appear in the product catalog or service
catalog.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Product Catalog > Catalog Definition > Hardware and Software Items.
2. Click New.
3. Complete the form.
Some of the fields listed do not appear until you save the product catalog item.
Field Description
the CI class is Hardware Catalog or Software
Catalog.
Omit price in cart When selected, hides the price when the item is
displayed in the service catalog. Clear the
check box to show the price in the service
catalog. This field is only visible in a product
catalog item record when the CI class is
Hardware Catalog.
Workflow Workflow associated with this item.
Execution plan The execution plan associated with this item.
Short description A brief description of the item.
Ordered item link The list of links containing more information
about items. The links can be reused across
multiple items.
Class The catalog item class this item belongs to.
Select Hardware Catalog or Software Catalog.
This field is visible by default. When you save
the record as a hardware or software catalog
item, the form is retitled Hardware Catalog or
Software, respectively.
General section
Category The named group of items to which the item
belongs.
Delivery time The amount of time it takes to deliver the item,
starting from when it is ordered from the
product catalog.
UPC The barcode number used to identify and track
items.
Description A detailed description of the item. The
description is displayed in the product catalog
listing.
Product Information section
Cost The price at which the item was purchased
from the vendor. This field is only visible when
the Class is Software Catalog.
Specifications Facts about the item, such as size, weight,
version, or speed.
Features Distinct properties or distinguishing
characteristics of the item.
Images section
Icon A small image that appears next to the name
when the item is displayed in the service
catalog. Supported file types are jpg, png, bmp,
gif, and jpeg.
Picture An image showing the item. Supported file
types are jpg, png, bmp, gif, and jpeg.
Related lists
Field Description
Includes Additional catalog items provided with this
item. This related list is for informational
purposes only.
Variables Service catalog variables associated with this
item. A service catalog variable provides the
ability to capture and pass on information
about choices a customer makes when
ordering an item from the service catalog.
Vendor Catalog Items Vendor catalog items associated with this item.
Vendor catalog items allow you to track
information about this item by its specifications
for each vendor.
Hardware catalog item record with an icon and picture of the item.
4. (Optional) Click Try It to preview the item as it appears in the service catalog.
5. Click Submit or Update.
Related Tasks
Activate a product catalog item
Deactivate a product catalog item
Create a vendor catalog item
Related Concepts
Service catalog variables
You can activate a product catalog item to make it available in the product catalog and the
service catalog.
You can activate the item from either the list view or the record.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Product Catalog > Catalog Definition > Hardware and Software Items.
2. Complete one of the following actions.
Option Description
Activate one or more items from the list view Select the check box next to one or more
items in the record list and click Activate below
the list.
Related Tasks
Create a product catalog item
Deactivate a product catalog item
You can deactivate a product catalog item to remove it from the product catalog and the
service catalog.
You can deactivate the item from either the list view or the record.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Product Catalog > Catalog Definition > Hardware and Software Items.
2. Complete one of the following steps.
Option Description
Deactivate from the list view Select the check box next to one or more
items in the record list and click Deactivate
below the list.
Related Tasks
Create a product catalog item
Activate a product catalog item
Model categories
Model categories associate CI classes with asset classes. Model categories are part of the
Product Catalog application.
The model category configuration determines if the ServiceNow platform should create an
asset from a CI, and, if so, what class of asset. Asset classes in the base system are
Hardware, Software License, and Consumable. You can associate a model category to many
models and a model to many model categories. For example, a specific model of a computer
can be a Computer and a Server.
Models diagram
Default model categories are included with product catalog. You can view a list of default
categories and the categories that you created.
Create model categories
The ServiceNow platform does not create an asset automatically under certain conditions.
You can create an asset manually as needed.
Edit model categories
All default model categories can be edited, except for the Contract model category. You
can edit any custom model categories that you created at any time.
Delete model categories
Related Tasks
Create an asset class
Related Concepts
Models
Vendor catalog items
Product catalog items
CMDB classifications
Related Reference
Components installed with Product Catalog
Default model categories are included with product catalog. You can view a list of default
categories and the categories that you created.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Create model categories
Create assets manually
Edit model categories
Delete model categories
The base system provides a model category for each CI class in the CMDB. As you create
new cmdb_ci classes, create a corresponding row in the model category table for the
model table to be used.
If you select an Asset class on any existing model category, the system automatically
creates assets for all configuration items associated with the model category, if configured
to do so. If an asset is not created automatically, you can create the asset manually. After
an asset class is selected for a model category, the asset class cannot be changed.
The Allow pre-allocated, Allow in bundle, and Allow as master options are only available if
an asset class is specified for the model category.
If you select Consumable or Software License for the asset class, the Allow in bundle
option is available, but not Allow pre-allocation or Allow as master.
When a CI is created from a model category that requires asset tracking, the system
automatically creates an asset record for the asset class specified in the model category. It
then links that asset record to the CI. The model category of the CI is determined by a
combination of the CI class and the list of categories supported by the model, if a model is
specified. Asset tracking is specified on the model record.
When an asset is created from a model category that requires CI tracking, the system
automatically creates a CI record of the class specified by the category and links it to the
asset.
The Model Categories list (Product Catalog > Product Model > Model Categories) shows all
of the CI classes and what asset class is generated on the asset side.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Product Catalog > Product Model > Model Categories and click New.
2. Complete the form.
Field Description
class cannot be added to the model category
later.
Asset class Default options and any new asset classes you
have created. Setting the asset class triggers
the creation of assets depending on the model
category selected. An asset class can be added
to the model category at a later time, but
cannot be changed after it is added. If you
select Consumable or Software License, the CI
class field becomes read-only because
consumables and software licenses do not
create CIs. If you specify a CI class and then
select Consumable or Software License, the CI
class field is changed to None automatically.
Asset: An item that should be tracked
individually.
Consumable: An asset not tracked
individually, such as keyboards.
Hardware: A physical piece of computer
equipment, such as a laptop or server.
Software License: A legal statement
defining the uses of software, such as the
number of installations allowed or the
terms of distribution.
Allow pre-allocation Add and track items in this category as pre-
allocated assets.
Allow in bundle Use items in this category in bundles.
Allow as master Use items in this category as the master
component in a bundle.
Enforce CI verification Prevents the system from automatically
creating assets in a specific model category
when CIs are added manually or found with
Discovery. This option enables an administrator
to review and verify new CIs before adding
them as assets. For example, an administrator
can prevent contractors' computers that are
discovered as CIs by Help the Help Desk from
being added to the asset portfolio.
3. Click Submit.
Related Tasks
View model categories
Create assets manually
Edit model categories
Delete model categories
Related Concepts
Help the Help Desk
The ServiceNow platform does not create an asset automatically under certain conditions.
You can create an asset manually as needed.
The conditions under which an asset is not automatically created include the following.
Forced CI verification: If you select the Enforce CI verification check box in the Model
Category form, the system does not create an asset automatically when a CI is created or
discovered. When Enforce CI verification is enabled, newly created CIs do not trigger an
automatic creation of an asset. Instead, these newly created CIs have their Requires
verification field automatically set to true, which displays the following UI actions for the
CI:
Create Asset: Creates an asset and sets Requires verification to false.
Merge CI: Merges duplicates of a CI. This is useful if an asset for the CI was created in a
separate process, which created an associated CI. Then a second CI was created either
manually or via the discovery source - and the duplicate CIs did not properly coalesce.
Configuration errors: In rare cases, the system can fail to create the asset automatically.
This may occur if you assign the model and model category to the CI in the wrong
sequence.
Procedure
Related Tasks
View model categories
Create model categories
Edit model categories
Delete model categories
All default model categories can be edited, except for the Contract model category. You can
edit any custom model categories that you created at any time.
Procedure
Related Tasks
View model categories
Create model categories
Create assets manually
Delete model categories
Only model categories that are not referenced by any models can be deleted.
Procedure
Related Tasks
View model categories
Create model categories
Create assets manually
Edit model categories
Service Catalog
The Service Catalog application helps you create service catalogs that provide your
customers with self-service opportunities. You can customize portals where your customers
can request catalog items, such as service and product offerings. You can also define
catalog items and standardize request fulfillment to ensure the accuracy and availability of
the items provided within the catalogs.
Service catalog items Service Catalog customization Ask or answer questions in the
Catalog management tool Developer Training Service Catalog community
Place an order Developer Documentation Search the HI knowledge base
for known error articles
Contact ServiceNow Support
Execution Plans
Define how something gets delivered. For example, a PDA might go through procurement /
activation / and installation of the desktop software.
Plan Tasks represent a step in the Execution Plan, are associated with a Fulfillment Group,
and have an approximate duration.
Fulfillment Groups
Fulfillment Groups work execution tasks. For example, one group may activate a cell phone
while a different group installs the desktop software.
Tickets
To configure service catalog system properties, navigate to Service Catalog > Catalog Policy
> Properties.
The following service catalog properties are available with all releases.
Name Description
Default value: false
Name Description
the Described Needs and Choose Options
screens. If set to false, only the values for the
cascading variables are reset.
glide.sc.restrict.quantity.changes Prevent changes to requested item quantity when
approved (except for catalog_admin users).
glide.sc.round.delivery.times Round all delivery plans > 1 day to the nearest day
(true) or display the precise time (false).
glide.sc.search.rowcount Number of Service Catalog matches returned for
global searches. Limits the number of results
returned by a catalog search to improve search
performance.
glide.sc.variable.snapshot Render variables on a request item as they
appear on the order panel, followed by the
delivery plan variables (true), or merge the two
based on their order values (false).
glide.sc.request_for.columns Additional columns for the "request for" Service
Catalog widget. Choose fields in the user
[sys_user] table. Must be semicolon separated.
glide.sc.request_for.order_by Ordering of matches for the "request for" Service
Catalog widget. Choose fields in the user
[sys_user] table.
glide.sc.search.suggestions Specify whether search suggestions should be
enabled.
Type: string
Default value: sc_cat_item_guide,
sc_cat_item_producer, sc_cat_item_wizard
Type: string
Default value: sc_cat_item_guide,
sc_cat_item_producer, sc_cat_item_wizard,
sc_cat_item_service
Type: string
Name Description
Default value: sc_cat_item_guide,
sc_cat_item_producer, sc_cat_item_wizard
Type: string
Default value: sc_cat_item_guide,
sc_cat_item_producer, sc_cat_item_wizard
Type: string
Default value: sc_cat_item_guide,
sc_cat_item_producer, sc_cat_item_wizard
Type: integer
Default value: 5
Type: integer
Default value: 2
Name Description
Default value: false
com.glide.servicecatalog.view_includes_category_descriptions
Show category descriptions in the category view
page.
Type: yes | no
Default value: yes
Name Description
Set this to true to display the user criteria related
lists without needing to switch to user criteria
functionality.
Type: yes | no
Default value: no
Service Catalog enables users with the Catalog Administrators role (catalog_admin) to set
up the service catalog.
Administrators and catalog administrators, users with the catalog_admin role can use the
Service Catalog application to define service catalog content and layout.
Administrators and catalog administrators can define and manage multiple service catalogs.
Procedure
4. Define the request fulfilment processes your organization uses to deliver ordered
catalog items.
What to do next
Administrators and catalog administrators can further extend the service catalog to provide
more powerful features, using specialized catalog items, configuration options, and scripting
functions. For example, administrators can customize the checkout process used when
ordering catalog items.
You can direct users to a specific catalog via a URL to a module in that particular catalog.
When you create a module for your catalog page, you can direct users to a specific catalog
and view from this module via a URL.
Procedure
In the Link Type section, select URL (from Arguments), then in the Arguments field, enter a
URL of the form catalog_home.do?sysparm_catalog=id of sc_catalog
record&sysparm_catalog_view=view name of sys_portal_page.
Note: If you make the default catalog inactive, then deactivate the Catalog module
otherwise users can continue to access the inactive catalog using that
module.
If a URL has a valid sysparm_catalog parameter, but an invalid or missing
sysparm_catalog_view parameter, the view with the default value from the corresponding
Catalog Portal Page record is used.
If a URL has a valid sysparm_catalog_view parameter, but an invalid or missing
sysparm_catalog parameter, the corresponding Catalog Portal Page record is used to set
the catalog.
Multiple service catalogs enable your organization to offer different sets of services.
Administrators and catalog administrators can manage multiple service catalogs to provide
services to different teams within the organization, such as IT services, human resources,
and facilities management.
End users can access multiple catalogs from a single homepage, can search across all
catalogs, or can search directly within each catalog.
Field Description
Title The descriptive name for the catalog.
Application The application scope for this catalog.
Active A check box to indicate whether the catalog is
available to end users.
Description Information about the catalog, displayed on the
multi-catalog homepage.
Background Color The background color used for the catalog on
the multi-catalog homepage.
Desktop image The larger image to display with the catalog on
the multi-catalog homepage. This is only shown
if image display is included in the renderer
selected, such as the default Title and Image
renderer.
Field Description
'Catalog Home' page A custom page to redirect to when the used
clicks the catalog within a breadcrumb.
'Continue shopping' page The location to direct service catalog users to
when they click the Continue Shopping button.
This field is designed to reference a content
page url suffix.
Use the Catalog Items related list on the Catalog form to view and manage the items
available in the catalog.
To define a new catalog item for the catalog, click New and enter the details for the item.
Service catalog enables you to create and manage multiple portal pages for a catalog.
A catalog portal page provides a homepage for a specific catalog. You can use portal pages
to create different catalog views for different user groups. Each portal page accesses the
same catalog content and presents that content in different ways.
Catalog portal page details include the owner, title, and view to use for that page.
Note: The View field on a portal page is the value used when you refer to the
homepage in a URL or module. When you upgrade to the Eureka release, this
view value for the default service catalog portal page is automatically set to
catalog_default. If you previously changed this value, you should manually
reapply this change after upgrade.
Procedure
1. The Catalog Portal Pages related list shows portal pages available for that catalog. Each
catalog has a default page, created automatically when the catalog is created.
2. Select an appropriate action:
Click New to create a new portal page.
Click Edit to select an additional portal page for the catalog.
Select a portal page to view and edit details for that page.
Administrators and catalog administrators must consider these points before they upgrade
to multiple service catalogs.
Before upgrading, you should be aware of changes made to the underlying service catalog
data model. These changes are made to implement multiple catalogs and should not affect
a standard upgrade. However, the changes may impact the instance if you have made
customizations, such as changes to the data model.
Related Concepts
Set up catalog portal pages
Catalog site records appear in the Sites related list on the Catalog form.
The Catalog Site [sc_catalog_site] table associates catalogs with CMS web sites.
Several service catalog system properties are deprecated and replaced with fields on the
catalog site record. This enables you to specify values for different sites used by different
catalogs.
When you upgrade, a new default catalog site record is automatically created. It is
populated with the default system properties from the previous version, which associate the
Employee Self-Service site to the default service catalog. The 'Continue Shopping' page field
on the Catalog form is also populated with the previous version's
glide.sc.continue.shopping.target property value.
Related Concepts
Set up catalog portal pages
Categories can have a parent-child relationship, for example, IT and Laptops. A child
category is a subcategory of its parent category. Each catalog item, order guide, record
producer, content item, and subcategory appears as a single item within the category.
Administrators and catalog administrators can create and configure categories, defining
their characteristics and adding content such as catalog items to them.
Note: If there are no active items in a category's hierarchy, that category does not
appear in (and cannot be added to) the catalog. Users with the admin or
catalog_admin roles can see all categories, regardless of the number of
active items. Configure the glide.sc.category.canview.override property to
change this behavior.
Create a category
Procedure
3. Group the Service Details form with one of the following options.
Option Action
Group by the type of change from the Select Change Type from the list.
baseline.
Group by the class of the CI. Select Class from the list.
Name of form
Field Description
Title The descriptive name for the category.
Parent Any parent category for which this category is
a subcategory.
Catalog The catalog this category belongs to.
Active A check box for indicating whether the
category is available to add to the service
catalog homepage.
Field Description
Location Any location information relevant for the
category.
Header icon The icon displayed beside the category header,
when the category is a top-level category.
Icon The small icon displayed beside the category
name, when the category is listed as a
subcategory.
Roles Roles permitted to view this category. Leave
the field blank, or use the role public, to allow
access for all users. Category-level access
restrictions may be overridden by restrictions
on the individual items within that category.
Description Information about the category. The
description appears when the category is
collapsed on the service catalog homepage.
The description also appears in the Related
Categories list when a user clicks the parent
category title.
Homepage image A larger image to display with the category on
the service catalog homepage. This is visible
only if the relevant renderer defines it to be
used (the default renderer does not display
this).
Mobile Subcategory Render Type The rendering option to control how
subcategories are displayed. Select List for a
single-column list, or Cards for a multi-column
display.
Hide description (mobile browsing) Option for displaying the description at the top
of the list on mobile devices.
Mobile Picture A picture to use on mobile devices for this
category. If a mobile image is not selected, the
Homepage image appears if the Mobile
Subcategory Render Type is set to Cards.
Dynamic categories display commonly requested items and knowledge articles on the right
side of the service catalog homepage by default.
Use dynamic categories to provide users with an access option that automatically adjusts to
changing request trends.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Service Catalog > Catalog Definition > Maintain Dynamic Categories.
2. Select New or open an existing dynamic category.
3. Fill in the fields on the Dynamic category form, as appropriate.
The Dynamic category form contains many of the same fields as the Category form.
Additional fields are:
Name of form
Field Description
Type The kind of items to display. Can be Requested
items or KB Articles
Search how long? For catalog items only, the period during which
to search for the most common requests. For
example, enter 7 00:00:00 to display the most
commonly requested items in the previous
seven days.
Number of Entries The number of items to display in the dynamic
category.
A catalog item can be a good or service. If something can reasonably be ordered by itself,
it's a catalog item. If something only really makes sense as part of a greater whole, it's part
of an item, rather than an item in and of itself. For example a new Dell server is a catalog
item, as is a new Executive Desk.
A Catalog Item
Related Concepts
Place an order
Field Description
Name Enter the item name to appear in the catalog.
Catalogs Select the catalogs this item appears in.
Category Select a category for the item. Categories can
only be selected after the Catalogs field is
populated. Catalog searches find only items
that are assigned to a category.
Model [Read-only] Click the reference icon to view the
product model to which the item is linked. This
field is visible by default only for items created
by publishing models.
Workflow or Execution Plan Select either a workflow or an execution plan
(formerly named delivery plan) to define how
the item request is fulfilled. If you select a
workflow, the Execution Plan field is hidden.
Clear the Workflow field to select an execution
plan.
Price Set a price for the item and select the currency
from the choice list.
Recurring Price Set a price that occurs repeatedly at a regular
interval. For example, a printer maintenance
service may have a $100.00 monthly recurring
price.
Recurring Price Frequency Select the time frame for recurrence, such as
Monthly or Annually, only if the Recurring Price
field has an entry.
Omit Price in Cart Select this check box to hide the item price in
the cart and the catalog listing.
Active Select this check box to make this item active
(available to be ordered).
Icon Upload a 16x16 pixel image to appear as an icon
beside the item name in the catalog. If no
image is uploaded, the default icon appears
beside this item. To use your own default icon,
upload an image. The uploaded image
overwrites the default image stored in images/
service_catalog/generic_small.gif.
Preview Link Click Preview Item to preview in a new window
how the current item definition would look in
the catalog.
Short Description Enter text that appears on the service catalog
homepage, search results, and the title bar of
the order form.
Ordered Item Link Specify the record defining a link to preview, as
shown on the ordered item screen.
Field Description
Description A full description of the item. This description
appears in the catalog when a user selects the
item or clicks the associated Preview link.
Picture [Optional] Upload an image of the item.
Availability Define which devices display the item: Desktop
and Mobile, Desktop Only, or Mobile Only.
Mobile Picture Type Define the type of picture to display for the
item on mobile devices. Set to Desktop to use
the standard desktop picture, Mobile to use a
specific image for the mobile device using the
Mobile picture field, or None for no picture.
Mobile Picture Appears if Mobile picture type is set to Mobile.
Select the image file to upload for the mobile
picture.
Hide Price(mobile listings) Select this check box to hide the item price on
mobile devices. Clear the check box to display
the price.
Fields that can be added by configuring the form
Template Select a template to populate the generated
record with predefined values. This is available
for Record Producer items only.
No Quantity Select this check box to hide the quantity
selector for the item.
No Cart Select this check box to hide the shopping cart
for the item.
No search Select this check box to prevent this item being
listed in search results.
Order Control the ordering of items in category lists.
Related Lists
Variables Define variables for the item to provide options
for ordering the item.
Variable Sets Link an existing variable set to the item to
provide multiple options for ordering the item.
Approved By Group Add the groups that must approve requests for
this item.
Approved By Add the users who must approve requests for
this item.
Categories Add any additional categories associated with
this item.
Catalogs Add any additional catalogs associated with
this item
Related Tasks
Create a variable
Apply user criteria to items
Related Concepts
Set a recurring price
Catalog administrators can edit an item from the service catalog listing.
Procedure
Copy an item to create a full duplicate of the item, including the item details, attachments,
variables, client scripts, and approvals.
This may be more useful than using the Insert function, which only copies the item details.
Procedure
Note: If you copy an active catalog item, the copy is also active. Consider
deactivating the copy by clearing the Active check box until your
changes are complete.
Service catalog enables you to add a catalog item to multiple catalogs and categories.
A catalog item may be available in more than one catalog and category. For example, a
laptop carrying case may be available from both Laptops and Cases and Accessories
categories.
Within an item:
The Catalogs related list defines the catalogs the item is available in.
The Categories related list defines the categories the item is available in.
Procedure
To assign an item to an additional category or catalog, enter the new details in the
appropriate related list.
Note: The values in these lists override the values of the Catalogs and Category
fields in the catalog item form. If you change values for either related list,
these changes automatically update the values in those fields.
You can share a catalog item, enabling users to order that item from different catalogs. For
example, you can share a Password Reset item across catalogs serving different teams.
Procedure
4. Select Update.
The shared item then appears in the Catalog Items related list for each catalog selected.
Order guides enable customers to make a single service catalog request that generates
several items.
For example, a New Employee Hire order guide could contain several items that new
employees commonly need, such as business cards, computer, and cell phone. After
selecting this order guide, the customer can then provide information about the new
employee, including location and job title. The order guide then submits an order for catalog
items like business cards, based on the details provided.
Order guides determine which catalog items to order by evaluating order guide rule
conditions. Information the customer enters within the order guide can be passed as
cascading variables to the ordered items, allowing common information to be reused across
multiple items.
Administrators and catalog administrators can create order guides for the service catalog.
Order guides can be run automatically, generating a set of ordered items without needing to
manually submit a service catalog request. For example, an onboarding workflow for a new
employee can automatically run an order guide to order items for that employee.
The script field in an order guide can be used to add or remove catalog items to or from the
order guide. It can be added to the order guide form by configuring the form layout.
To add a catalog item that is not added to the order guide via a rule base, write the
following code in the script field:
guide.add(<sys_id_of_cat_item>")
To remove a catalog item that is added to the order guide via a rule base, write the
following code in the script field:
guide.remove(<sys_id_of_cat_item>")
Related Tasks
Request an order guide
Review an order guide example
Create an order guide
Related Concepts
Order guides
Cascade an order guide variable
You can create an order guide with a two-step or three-step ordering process.
Procedure
Order guide
Field Description
Name Order guide name that appears in the catalog.
Active Check box to indicate whether the order guide
is active or not.
Category Category heading under which the order guide
appears in the catalog.
Two step Check box to enable two-step ordering instead
of the default three-step ordering, omitting the
final step. With two-step ordering, selecting
Check out submits the request immediately,
then displays the order confirmation screen.
Icon A 16x16 pixel image to appear as an icon beside
the order guide name in the catalog. If no
image is uploaded, the default icon appears
beside this order guide.
To use your own default icon, upload an image,
overwriting the image stored in images/
service_catalog/generic_small.gif.
Consider a scenario where you have a New Employee Hire order guide that provides
services and items as part of the onboarding process.
Procedure
1. Describe Needs: The order guide prompts the end user for information.
2. Choose Options: The order guide uses the information entered and predefined rules to
generate options.
The end user selects configuration options for the ordered items, and provides any
additional information needed.
3. Check Out: The end user reviews and edits item information, then clicks Submit Order to
place the request.
Order guides present the customer with a three-step ordering process by default.
1. Describe Needs: Enter information as prompted. Order guide rules evaluate this
information to determine which catalog items to order.
2. Choose Options: Select configuration options for the ordered items and provide any
additional information needed.
3. Check Out: Review and edit item information, then click Submit Order to place the
request.
Note: The Check Out step can be omitted from an order guide to provide a
quicker two-step process. To omit this third step, select the Two step
check box when creating the order guide.
You can add a catalog item to an order guide using specific rules.
Order guide rules define conditions that must be met for a specific item to be included in an
order. For example, a New Employee Hire order guide rule might state that if the new
employee's job title is CTO or Director, and the department is IT, then add an executive
desktop item to the order.
Procedure
Rule guide
Field Description
If this condition is true Conditions that must be true for this rule to
apply. Create conditions using the condition
builder. Conditions can be evaluated against
Keywords, Requested By, Requested For, or
any variables defined for that order guide.
Include this item Item to include in the order if all conditions
defined in If this condition is true are matched.
At this position Tab position to place this item within the
Choose Options screen. Tab positions are
numbered in order from left to right, with the
lowest number appearing at the left of the
screen.
Show quantity Check box to show the quantity ordered within
the order confirmation.
Ignore Mandatory Evaluation Check box to allow customers to proceed
without completing mandatory fields for the
Describe Needs and Choose Options screens. A
field's mandatory status is determined by the
variable defining that field.
If mandatory fields are not enforced, then
relevant information is not passed on to the
ordered items. For example, in a New Employee
Hire order guide, if the address is not provided
then this information is not included in business
cards ordered.
5. Click Submit.
To create or edit order guide variables, open an order guide, then select an entry from the
Variables related list. Service catalog variables within order guides define the questions and
potential answers presented to the customer while ordering. This information can then be
used by order guide rules. Variables can also be cascaded, which passes the variable values
along to individual ordered items.
Procedure
You may need to configure the form to add the Variable Sets related list.
Cascading enables values entered for variables in the initial order form to be passed to the
equivalent variables in the ordered catalog items.
Cascading allows values entered for variables in the initial order form to be passed to the
equivalent variables in the ordered catalog items. For example, a variable on the initial order
form prompts the customer to enter a delivery location value. If you enable cascading, the
value for this variable then populates delivery location fields on each of the ordered items.
To enable cascading, select the Cascade variables check box when creating the order guide.
Then, create variables on the catalog items that match the names of the corresponding
variables in the order guide. When a customer places an order, the variables on the ordered
items inherit the values of the identically named variables in the order guide.
To cascade variables requires the same variable on both the order guide and the ordered
items. It can be useful to define each variable just once in a variable set, then assign the
variable set to both the order guide and the individual catalog item. This approach avoids
duplication and ensures the variable is the same in both locations.
Procedure
3. Add the variable set to the order guide and to each catalog item involved.
Note: The individual variables in a variable set do not appear in the Order guide
or Catalog Item forms. To view the variables in a variable set, open the
variable set record.
You can hide the duplicated variables on the Choose Options screens to keep your screen
clean.
When cascading variables, you may want to hide the duplicated variables on the Choose
Options screens, making these screens simpler. To achieve this, run an onLoad catalog client
script to hide the variable on all screens after the initial Describe Needs screen.
For example,
By default, mandatory fields must be filled in before switching tabs in the Choose Options
section of order guides.
In this example, if the customer attempts to select another tab without filling in the Street
Address field, a warning prompt appears. The customer cannot switch tabs without entering
this information.
Procedure
If you make this change, mandatory fields are still mandatory, but the customer can
switch between tabs before filling in the mandatory fields. Enforcement is then checked
when the customer chooses to proceed to the next step.
An order guide automatically from within a workflow or a server script, passing parameters
to that order guide to define variable values.
You can run an order guide automatically from within a workflow or a server script, passing
parameters to that order guide to define variable values.
This enables you to automatically generate a set of ordered items as part of a wider process,
without needing to manually submit a service catalog request and reenter existing
information.
For example, you can run an order guide to fulfill HR onboarding requests, passing
parameters such as the new employee's position and department. The order guide then
generates a set of requested items such as laptop and email account, based on those
parameters.
A record producer is a specific type of catalog item that allows end users to create task-
based records, such as incident records, from the service catalog.
Record producers provide a simplified alternative to the regular form interface for creating
records.
You can create a record producer for tables and database views that are in the same scope
as the record producer and for tables that allow create access from applications in other
scopes.
Define a record producer in the service catalog or from the table record.
Note: To ensure that standard service catalog processes are followed, such as
initiating workflows as expected, do not create requested item records from
record producers. Instead, create requested item using catalog items.
You can create a record producer for tables and database views that are in the same scope
as the record producer and for tables that allow create access from applications in other
scopes.
After you submit the form, the Variables, Variable Sets, Categories, and Catalogs related
lists become available.
5. Open the record again to define variables for the record producer.
Note: You may need to configure the form to see all fields.
Field Description
Active A check box for making the record producer
active. Only active record producers are
available to users if they meet the role criteria.
Preview Link A link that opens a preview of the item.
Accessibility
Catalogs The service catalog this record producer
belongs to.
Category The service catalog category this record
producer belongs to. When users perform
catalog searches, only items that are assigned
to a category appear in search results.
View The CMS view in which the item is visible.
Roles The roles required to use the record producer.
Availability The interface the record producer is available
from: Desktop and Mobile, Desktop Only, or
Mobile Only.
Can cancel A check box for displaying a Cancel button on
the record producer. Users can click Cancel to
cancel the record producer and return to the
last-viewed screen
What it will contain
Short description A short summary of the record producer.
Description The full description of the record producer. The
description appears under a More information
link on the record producer to give users any
additional information they may need.
Script Scripts that should be run to dynamically
assign values to specific fields on the created
record.
Icon The small icon that appears on the list of
service catalog items. Click the Click to add link
and upload the photo.
Picture The picture that appears at the top of the
record producer form on the desktop view.
Click the Click to add link and upload the
photo.
Mobile picture The small picture that appears on the list of
service catalog items. Click the Click to add link
and upload the photo.
This field is available when you select the
Mobile for the Mobile picture type.
Mobile picture type The picture that the mobile interface uses on
the list of service catalog items. Select one of
the following:
Desktop: Uses the icon specified in the
Icon field. Selecting this option hides the
Mobile picture field.
Mobile: Uses the icon specified in the
Mobile picture field.
Field Description
None: Does not use any picture on the
mobile view. Selecting this option hides the
Mobile picture field.
Generated Record Data
Template Static assignments for fields on the created
record.
You can create service catalog record producers directly from a table record.
Procedure
1. Navigate to System Definition > Tables and open the table record.
Note: When using a workflow with a Record producer, set the condition to Run
the workflow.
2. Under Related Links, click Add to Service Catalog.
3. Complete the Name, Short Description, and Category fields as you would for service
catalog items.
4. Use the slushbucket to select the fields and the order in which you want them to appear.
To use container variables, select |- container start -| and |- container start -|.
5. Click Save and Open to open the record producer and define additional options.
Alternatively, click Save to return to the table record.
To enter data with a record producer, use any combination of the following methods:
Create a variable on the record producer with the same name as the field in the target
record. For example, a variable named caller_id on a Create a New Incident record
producer populates the caller_id field on the new incident record. Use a variable type
that corresponds to the field type.
Define a template to assign a static field value for all records created by the record
producer.
Define a script that uses any variable or server-side objects and functions to assign values.
Use current.*FIELD_NAME* to reference fields on the record being created.
Use producer.*VARIABLE_NAME* to reference values entered by the end user.
You can use the following variable types to collect data for the corresponding record
producer fields.
Values Returned
When you construct a record producer, you should be aware of the return value.
Most of these field types return a string. However, there are some exceptions,. For example, a
Reference value returns the sys_id of the target object, and a List value returns a comma-
separated list of sys_ids.
Example 1: For a List value, return an array which can be iterated to retrieve the individual
values submitted by your user:
var sys_id_string = producer. glide_list_field ; var sys_id_list = string. split ( ','
Example 2: For a Date or Date/Time value, return a date which can be evaluated by
GlideDate.
var glideDateTime = new GlideDateTime (producer. date_field ) ;
A content item is a service catalog item that provides information instead of goods or
services.
Content items may reference knowledge articles, static blocks of text, or external web-based
content.
Procedure
4. Click Submit.
Example
Field Description
Note: Since ServiceNowITSA Suite
instances are accessed via
HTTPS, links to HTTP sites may
result in a mixed mode content
error or warning, depending on
browser security settings.
Catalog administrators can provide a link on the ordered item screen, linking to more
information about an item.
After users order the catalog item, they can click the link to see relevant information about
the item they ordered, for example, for standard delivery terms and conditions. The URL text
and link can be defined once and reused across multiple items.
Links are rendered with an added parameter providing the sys_id of the requested item. For
example, if the link is mylink.com, it is rendered as mylink.com?req_item=abcde12345. This
can be useful for virtual provisioning situations.
Note: The ordered item link cannot be configured for mobile devices.
To create an ordered item link, then add an ordered item link to an item:
Procedure
1. Navigate to Service Catalog > Catalog Definition > Ordered Item Links.
2. Click New.
3. Enter a Name for the ordered item link.
4. Enter Link text to display as the link. For example, Click here to see more information about
the iPhone.
5. Enter the exact Link URL. For example, http://www.mylink.com.
6. Select the Target. You can choose to open the link in a new window or tab, or within the
catalog. If Within Catalog is chosen, the link must be within the same site. An HTTP site
cannot be called from within HTTPS.
7. Click Submit.
8. Navigate to Service Catalog > Catalog Definition > Maintain Items.
9. Click an item Name.
10. In the Ordered Item Link field, click the reference lookup icon.
11. Click an ordered item link Name.
12. Click Update.
UI policies are useful when applied to service catalog items. Keep the following points in
mind when creating service catalog UI policies:
A catalog UI policy applies to either a specific catalog item or any item that uses a specific
variable set.
A catalog UI policy can only contain and reference variables that are defined for the
catalog item or variable set.
Exactly like UI policy conditions, the variables in a service catalog UI policy condition must
be visible (even if hidden by UI policy or read-only) on the form for the condition to be
tested. Also, ensure that the variables have names. For more information see Creating a
Catalog Client Script.
Limited UI policy functionality applies to following variables:
Mandatory and Read Only policy do not apply to the following variable types: Break,
Container Start, Container Split, Container End, UI Macro, UI Macro with Label, Label, UI
Page
Set visible policy does not apply to the following variable types: Break, Container Split,
Container End
Service catalog UI policies are applied to variables and variable sets of catalog items
ordered in the service catalog. Policies can also be applied when the variables are present
in a Requested Item or Catalog Task form.
Catalog UI policies are supported for catalog items viewed in a service catalog wizard.
Note: The UI policy for catalog items always takes precedence over UI policy for
variable sets.
You can apply UI policies to variables and variable sets of catalog items ordered in the
service catalog.
Field Description
Applies to Select the type of item this UI policy applies to:
A Catalog Item: enables the Catalog item
field.
AVariable Set: enables the Variable set
field.
Catalog Item or Variable Set Select the catalog item or a variable set this UI
policy applies to. The field name and options
available depend on the Applies to selection.
Short description Enter a brief description (example, Out-of-state
move).
Active Select the check box to enable the UI policy.
Clear the check box to disable it.
When to Apply
Field Description
Catalog Conditions Create conditions for the UI policy using
catalog item variables. The policy is applied if
the conditions evaluate to true. For example, a
catalog item of Schedule a Move may have a
condition of move_from > is > San Diego. The
UI policy is applied when an employee
schedules a move from San Diego to any other
company location.
Applies on a Catalog Item view [Advanced Select the check box to apply the UI policy to
view] catalog items within the order screen.
Applies on Catalog Tasks [Advanced view] Select the check box to apply the UI policy on
a Catalog Task form.
Applies on Requested Items [Advanced view] Select the check box to apply the UI policy on
a Requested Item form.
On load [Advanced view] Select the check box to apply the UI policy
when the form is loaded. Clear the check box
to apply the policy only when the form is
changed.
Reverse if false [Advanced view] Select the check box to reverse the UI policy if
the Catalog Conditions statement evaluates to
false.
Script
Run scripts [Advanced view] Select the check box to use the Execute if true
and Execute if false scripting fields. Scripts are
necessary to apply a UI policy other than Read
Only, Mandatory, or Visible. For example, you
must create a script to apply a UI policy to a
specific role.
Other fields
Order Enter the sequence in which this UI policy is
evaluated if more than one matching UI policy
exists. The order is evaluated from the lowest
value to the highest value.
Global This field is not used for the service catalog.
Inherit This field is not used for the service catalog.
UI Action
Default view or Advanced view Changes the form view to the default or
advanced view. The fields change based on the
view.
UI Action
Variable name Select the variable that belongs to the catalog
item or variable set.
Mandatory Choice list for specifying how the UI policy
affects the mandatory state of the field.
Choices are:
Leave alone
True
False
Visible Choice list for specifying how the UI policy
affects the visible state of the field. Choices are:
Leave alone
Field Description
True
False
Read Only Choice list for specifying how the UI policy
affects the read-only state of the field. Choices
are:
Leave alone
True
False
6. Click Submit.
Example
The following UI policy makes it mandatory for any department to specify the name of the
department if Department is selected for the question Department or group?.
Catalog UI Policy
Administrators and users with the catalog_admin role can define service catalog variables.
A service catalog variable provides the ability to capture and pass on information about
choices a customer makes when ordering a catalog item. Some variables can be defined to
affect the order price, depending on the selected value.
For example, a New PC catalog item can use a variable called "Memory", which provides
choices to allow customers to select extra memory, for associated extra prices.
Variables can be stored, accessed from multiple places, and passed between tasks in a
process when fulfilling a request.
Variables can be displayed on the Requested Item and Catalog Task forms after an item has
been ordered.
Types of variables
The service catalog supports several types of service catalog variables, which are also
referred to as questions. Some variable types accept variable attributes. You can also attach
help text to any service catalog variable.
Break
Check box
Container variables
Date
Date and Time
HTML
Label
List Collector
Lookup Multiple Choice
Lookup Select Box
Macro
Macro With Label
Masked
Multi-Line Text
Multiple Choice
Numeric Scale
Reference
Select Box
Single-Line Text
UI Page
Wide Single-Line Text
YesNo
The following table shows the UI policy that does not apply to the variable/s listed against it.
Break
Displays a horizontal line across the form. Breaks are formatting elements. No data is
collected.
The break variable is not yet supported on service portal and mobile devices.
Break
Check box
Creates a check box to enable/disable options by selecting/clearing it. List check boxes in
order under a label to create a multi-option question (as shown in the figure).
Consecutive check box variables are automatically grouped under an Options label. If you
want to define a label of your own, then group check boxes under a label variable. The
default Options label is replaced with the label variable.
Check box
A container layout can be split into two or three columns using the container split variable.
By default, the split is calculated at the 50% mark.
A container is similar to a variable set. Unlike a variable set, containers can be used
anywhere (including inside a variable set) and can be nested (a container inside a container).
Refer to KB0539982 for more information on using container variables.
To reproduce the container format as shown in the figure, do the following in the container
start variable:
The container variables are not yet supported on service portal and mobile devices.
Container
Date
Creates a date input widget to display a date value.
Date
HTML
HTML variables are useful for providing more content for an item that requires more
advanced formatting, including images.
Used for reusable content when put into a variable set (for example, terms and
conditions).
Available in two modes: Edit and Read-only. In edit mode, a toolbar is available, and links
do not work. In read-only mode, no toolbar is available, and links work. To switch between
modes, use entitlements or create a UI policy to set the HTML field to read-only mode.
Attention: HTML variables are not supported for display on the shopping cart
summary or approval summary screens. If the type is 'HTML', the
available in summaries field is hidden in the variable form.
The HTML variable is not yet supported on service portal and mobile devices.
HTML
Label
Displays a label across the form. Labels are formatting elements. No data is collected.
Tip: You can use labels to arrange questions into sections. Use labels to create a
multi-option question (for example, using check boxes).
Label
List collector
Uses the list collector slushbucket interface to add multiple records from a table.
The list collector variable is not yet supported on service portal and mobile devices.
List collector
The lookup multiple choice variable is not yet supported on service portal and mobile
devices.
To create the lookup select box shown in the figure, enter the following values:
The lookup select box variable is not yet supported on service portal and mobile devices.
Macro
Inserts a UI macro into the catalog item.
UI macros in the service catalog do not support the following glide_list functions:
clickthrough, slushbucket editing, and email field.
Attention: Use phase one Jelly only for any UI macros added as variables. Phase
two Jelly within the macro is not processed and appears on the page as
standard content.
The macro variable is not yet supported on service portal and mobile devices.
Macro
The macro with label variable is not yet supported on service portal and mobile devices.
Masked
Inserts a text input box. Text entered in this text box is masked out, with each keystroke
represented as an asterisk (*) symbol. Masked is useful for questions asking for sensitive or
confidential data such as passwords.
The masked variable is not yet supported on service portal and mobile devices.
Masked
Multi-line text
Creates a multiple line text input widget.
Multi-line text
Multiple choice
Creates radio buttons for question choices.
Multiple choice
Numeric scale
Creates a horizontal set of radio buttons with numeric options from Scale min to Scale max
(a Likert scale).
Numeric scale
Reference
References a record in another table. For example, a variable named point_of_contact
references the User [sys_user] table.
Keep the following information in mind as you work with reference variables:
Reference variables use the auto-complete feature. To ensure that users have enough
information, configure the reference lookup list.
Reference variables store the sys_id of the selected record (like reference fields). To use
the display value in a script, use the same methods as for a reference field.
current.variables.<variable name>.getDisplayValue()
current.variable_pool.<variable name>.getDisplayValue()
Reference
Select box
Creates a choice list from pre-defined question choices.
Select box
Single-line text
Creates a single-line text input field.
The single-line text variable is not yet supported on service portal and mobile devices.
Single-line text
UI page
Inserts a UI page into the catalog item.
Attention: Use phase one Jelly only for any UI page added as variables, as phase
two Jelly within the UI page is not processed and appears on the page
as standard content.
The UI page variable is not yet supported on service portal and mobile devices.
The wide single-line text variable is not yet supported on service portal and mobile devices.
Yes/No
Creates a choice list with Yes and No as options.
Yes/No
Break
Container variables
HTML
Label
List Collector
Lookup Multiple Choice
Lookup Select Box
Macro
Macro With Label
Masked
Single-Line Text
UI Page
Wide Single-Line Text
Create a variable
Create service catalog variables to ask questions for ordering a catalog item.
Procedure
Field Description
Fields displayed when the variable belongs to record producers
Map to field Maps the variable to a specific field on the table
for the record producer.
Field The field that the variable maps to.
Record producer table The table that the record producer creates a
record in.
Question
Question Compose a question to display to the end user.
Name Enter an identifying name for the question to
be stored in the system.
Tooltip When the user rests the pointer on the variable,
the tooltip is displayed. Enter a brief note to
describe the purpose of the 'Question'.
Description Enter a detailed description of the question. It
is not visible to the customer.
Show help Select to provide help information.
Type Specifications: Options in this section differ depending on the variable type.
Default Value
Default value The default value for the variable.
Variable attributes The attributes for this variable.
Availability
Visible Elsewhere Displays the variable on other types of catalog
items (such as content items and record
producers).
Visible on Bundles Displays the variable on bundles.
Visible on Guides Displays the variable on order guides.
6. If applicable, apply roles to control who can create, read, or update the information in
the variable.
7. Click Submit.
Procedure
3. In the Help text field, enter the expanded help text that appears when the user clicks the
Help tag.
Note: Help Text and Help Tag are not designed to support HTML tags. If you
choose to use HTML tags, the glide.ui.escape_text property in High
Security Settings is honored. See KB0562895.
Lookup from table Specify a database table for the Lookup Multiple Choice, Lookup
variable to look into. The values Select Box
In the catalog variable form, attributes are entered in the Variable attributes field. You can
enter multiple attributes for a variable type by separating each with a comma.
Note: If you do not see the Variable attributes field, then enable the Show
attributes when Type is One of Certain Values UI policy.
Reference
ref_auto_completer: Specifies the name of a JavaScript class (client-side) that creates the
list for auto completion choices.
ref_ac_columns: Specifies the columns whose display values appear in an auto completion
list in addition to the name.
ref_ac_order_by: Specifies the column that is used to order the auto completion list.
max_length: Sets the maximum character length. For example, max_length=200. The
maximum value for max_length is 4000.
Some variable types present the user with a list of choices. For example, a multiple choice
variable that asks how much memory you want in a computer requires you to define the
available choices, such as 1GB and 2GB.
Procedure
3. Enter the question choice details and click Submit to save the record.
Price and Recurring price: variables may affect the item's price and recurring price
(if used).
Order: the number defining the order this appears when displayed.
Question: the actual question being asked for that variable.
Text: the choice presented to the user.
Value: the value stored in the database.
4. Repeat the steps for each available choice to define the full set of choices for that
variable.
Note: When you modify variable choices that are attached to a catalog item,
the existing requested items (RITMs) are also affected. For example, if
you add a variable choice for the catalog item, the value of that choice is
also considered in the existing RITMs. If you delete a variable choice that
is selected for a RITM, the value of that choice still persists in the RITM.
Variables are passed from one step of the fulfillment process to another.
They can be processed by any workflow or execution plan that is associated with the
requested items.
For example, consider the following tasks within the fulfillment process for a New PC catalog
item.
Procedure
1. Procure a PC.
2. Install corporate standard software.
3. Set up email account.
4. Deliver and set up PC for requester.
Step 4 may require a piece of information from step 3 (the email account credentials for
setting up email on the PC). If steps 3 and 4 are executed by different fulfillment groups,
you can use variables to make this information visible in the tasks for steps 3 and 4, and
to pass it between groups so that the second group can access the email account
credentials.
The Data Lookup and Record Matching Support for Service Catalog plugin offers similar
features to the general Data Lookup and Record Matching Support plugin.
The Data Lookup and Record Matching Support for Service Catalog plugin offers similar
features to the general Data Lookup and Record Matching Support plugin. Use the plugin for
service catalog to perform data lookups for variables on service catalog item screens, on
requested items, and on catalog tasks as a user fills out the values contained in variables.
Service catalog enables specific roles to participate in the process of creating and using
service catalog data lookups.
Note: The Run on Insert and Run on Update options are not supported for catalog
data lookups. Other options operate the same as for normal data lookup.
Procedure
4. Enter a Name.
5. In Applies to, select catalog item or variable set.
6. In Catalog item/Variable set, select a specific item or set.
7. Select a Matcher Table.
8. Select other options, as required.
9. Right-click the form header and click Save.
10. From the Catalog Matcher Variable Definitions related list, click New.
11. In Source Variable name, select the variable name of the item or variable set that
contains the values to be matched.
12. In Matcher table field, select the field from the matcher table that contains the value to
be matched.
13. Fill in the other fields, as appropriate.
For example:
For example:
The setter fields determine what variable the data lookup changes when the matching
conditions are true.
The columns of a data lookup table contain both matcher and setter field data.
Each data lookup is a query that searches for a row containing values that match the
matcher fields. The data lookup then returns the value listed in the setter fields.
For example, you can define the matching settings for bronze, silver, and gold offerings as
described previously.
Procedure
1. In the navigation filter, enter the name of the new custom lookup table.
2. Configure the list and create appropriate fields for the lookup table.
3. From the table list, click New and enter appropriate matcher and setter field values. For
example:
You can reate a custom table to store lookup data. The custom table must extend the Data
Lookup Matcher Rules [dl_matcher] table.
For example, you can create a Server Offering Lookups table to store information about
matcher offerings (bronze, silver, and gold) and associated setter values (memory and disk
space) for each matcher offering.
Creating a new catalog data lookup is similar to creating a normal, custom data lookup
except when creating the catalog data lookup definition record.
1. Create a custom data lookup table. It must extend the Data Lookup Matcher Rules
[dl_matcher] table.
2. Add data lookup values to the data lookup table.
3. Create a catalog data lookup definition record.
4. (Optional) Create a data lookup module.
If the custom data lookup definition rules are not behaving as expected, check for certain
conditions.
If the custom data lookup definition rules are not behaving as expected, check for the
following conditions:
Ensure that the matcher variable is not read-only. Since users cannot change read-only
variables, there cannot be an on form change event for read-only variables.
Ensure that the data in the matcher table is correct.
If the lookup requires an exact match, verify that there is a matcher table row for each
possible combination (including blank values). The lookup fails if cannot find a matching
value.
If the variable is an option or check box, it always has a value, so you must select Always
replace.
Verify that you have not created a recursive rule, such as:
The audit history records all changes to named service catalog variables.
The requested item history for all variables associated with the item.
The catalog task history for all variables that would normally be used by the task.
This auditing allows service catalog administrators to view a full history of changes to
variables that may have affected the parent record, including their creation.
Enabling Auditing
To enable auditing:
Procedure
Administrators and catalog administrators often define multiple catalog items that use the
same group of service catalog variables.
For example, a catalog administrator defines ten catalog items for types of servers, and the
request process for all of these items asks the same five questions, using the same variables.
Associating these variables individually per catalog item is repetitive, time-consuming and
error-prone. Also, to make a single change to multiple catalog items involves manually
changing each item. For example, to add a new variable to ten catalog items, you would
need to manually associate this new variable with each item.
Variable sets allow you to group variables together, and share this group between multiple
catalog items and order guides. Changes made to a variable set affect all items that use the
variable set, allowing you to change the set once, then apply the changes to all items using
that set.
Note: Variables in a set use the same rules as other variables to determine when
the variables in a set appear on a task. For example, variables must either be
global or be attached directly to an item. A note indicates neutral or positive
information that emphasizes or supplements important points of the main
text. A note supplies information that may apply only in special cases.
Examples are memory limitations, equipment configurations, or details that
apply to specific versions of a program.
Service catalog allows you to define a set of variables to be stored as a variable set for
future use.
Procedure
3. Enter details.
Field Description
Name The variable set name.
Variable sets can display an optional title, along with a section header bar to collapse and
expand the section.
Procedure
Note: When a user requests the item, all check box variables are grouped together
under a default title of Options. To use a custom title, insert a variable of type
Label, with an Order value that puts it directly above the check box variables.
1 column wide: Variables appear in a single vertical column, ordered from top to bottom.
This is a simple way to display information, but can result in empty space to the right of
questions. This is the default layout.
2 columns wide, alternating sides: Variables are laid out in two columns with variables
placed alternately in the left and right columns.
2 columns wide, one side, then the other: The first half of the variable set is laid out
sequentially in the left column and the second half is laid out sequentially in the right
column.
Note: Variables with several possible choices defined, such as multiple choice
variables, are considered a single entity in layouts. All choices are displayed
as a single, contiguous unit.
For additional layout options, you can also add container variables to a variable set.
Variable Order
Charlie 300
Delta 400
Echo 500
Foxtrot 600
Delta
Echo
Foxtrot
All variables within the set are included wherever the set is included.
For example, if you set the following order for some example variables and a variable set:
Variable A (100)
Variable B (200)
Variable C (300)
Variable Set 1 (250) - containing three variables (VS1, VS2, VS3) with incremental order
values (150, 250, 350)
Variable A (100)
Variable B (200)
Variable Set 1 (250): Variable VS1 (150)
Variable Set 1 (250): Variable VS2 (250)
Variable Set 1 (250): Variable VS3 (350)
Variable C (300)
Related Tasks
Create a variable set
Related Concepts
Service catalog variable sets
Define variable set layout
Related Reference
Set orders flexibly examples
When a variable set is used by more than one catalog item, you can define item-specific
ordering to provide more flexibility in the layout, using the catalog variable set record
associated with the item.
Use the Order field in this catalog variable set record to set this order value on a per-item
basis, overriding the default value defined in the variable set.
To view and edit the catalog variable set order for an item:
Procedure
The following example demonstrates the layout of variables when variable sets and item
variables are associated with an item under different scenarios.
The order for display of the variables and variable sets is specified using the Information
icon in the Related Lists.
In Layout 1, order values are specified for both Variable Set A and Variable Set B at the
Related Lists level and those order values always takes precedence. Hence, the layout is
organized based on the order value specified for the variable sets at the Related Lists level.
In Layout 2, an order value is not specified for Variable Set A whereas an order value is
specified for Variable Set B at the Related Lists level. In this case, the empty value for
Variable Set A is considered as zero. Hence, the layout is organized based on the order
value of 0 for Variable Set A and 300 for Variable Set B.
In Layout 3, order values are not specified for both Variable Set A and Variable Set B at the
Related Lists level. In this case, the order values specified within the variable sets are
considered. Hence, the layout is organized based on the order value of 400 for Variable
Set A and 150 for Variable Set B.
Service catalog enables you to add a variable set to one or more catalog items.
You may need to configure the form to add the Variable Sets related list.
Administrators can control access to content in the service catalog by creating and applying
user criteria records.
Catalog managers and catalog editors can apply existing user criteria for items and
categories to which they are assigned. However, catalog managers and catalog editors
cannot create or edit user criteria directly.
You can create user criteria records that define conditions for user information. Then apply
these criteria records to catalog items and categories, controlling access to these items and
categories.
For example, create a USA Sales user criteria record matching users who are both in the
sales team and based in the USA. Then apply this record to the USA IT Hardware catalog
category, so only users matching the record can access that category.
The feature is active by default in new Fuji instances and upgraded instances that do not use
entitlement-based access controls. If you upgrade an instance that uses entitlements, you
can migrate to user criteria to take advantage of the improved control, flexibility, and reuse.
Manage access to multiple items and categories in one user criteria record. For example,
create a single UK Employees user criteria record and apply it to multiple items and
categories that are available to employees in the UK.
Allow access if one condition matches, or if all conditions match. For example, define that
only users who are both in a specific location and who belong to a specific department
can have access.
Use Available For and Not Available For lists to allow or prohibit access to users matching
the conditions in a criteria record. For example, specify that a US-based catalog category
is available for the users located in the USA but is not available for users belonging to the
Sales department (whether in the US or not).
Extend matching to create conditions matching additional fields in the User [sys_user]
table, without having to use a script. For example, you can add a condition to match items
against the Cost center field in user records.
User criteria records define conditions that are evaluated against user records.
You can apply several user criteria records to a single catalog item or category. In this
situation, users need to match only one of these criteria records to have access.
Note: When a change is made to the end user profile such as their location so that
it affects their ability to view items, then those changes will not take effect till
the end user has relaunched their session.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Service Catalog > Catalog Definition > User Criteria and create a record.
Field Description
Locations The locations to match.
Departments The departments to match.
Match All A check box to determine whether all elements
from each populated criteria field must match.
If selected, only users who match all criteria are
given access. If cleared, the user must meet one
or more of the set criteria to be given access.
By default, this check box is cleared so that any
condition met provides a match.
Service catalog enables you to apply user criteria to an item, defining which users can and
cannot access that item.
You can apply user criteria to all types of catalog item, including order guides, content items,
and record producers.
Note: The user criteria restriction applies only within Service Catalog for the
specific item it is applied for. However, the user criteria restriction is not
applied outside the Service Catalog where the user has access to the item via
the table.
Procedure
1. In an item record, navigate to the Available For or Not Available For related lists.
2. Click Edit to add an existing user criteria record, or click New to create a new one.
3. Save the record to associate the user criteria record with the item.
Note: The Not Available For settings override Available For settings. A user on
the Not Available For list for an item cannot access that item, even if that
user is also on the Available For list for that item.
You can apply user criteria to a category, defining which users can and cannot access that
category.
1. In a category record, navigate to the Available For or Not Available For related lists.
2. Click Edit to add an existing user criteria record, or click New to create a new one.
3. Save the record to associate the user criteria record with the category.
Note: The Not Available For settings override Available For settings. A user on
the Not Available For list for a category cannot access that category,
even if that user is also on the Available For list for that category.
You can apply a user criteria record to items and categories, either from the item or
category form or from the user criteria form.
Note: The user criteria restriction applies only within Service Catalog for the
specific item it is applied for. However, the user criteria restriction is not
applied outside the Service Catalog where the user has access to the item via
the table.
To apply criteria directly to an item or category, use the Available For or Not Available For
related lists in the Item or Category form.
Note: When a change is made to the end user profile such as their location so that
it affects their ability to view items, then those changes will not take effect till
the end user has relaunched their session.
To apply criteria directly from the User Criteria form, add items to the Available For Catalog
Items and Not Available For Catalog Items related lists, and add categories to the Available
For Categories and Not Available For Categories related lists. You may need to configure the
User Criteria form to add these lists
Note: The Not Available For settings override Available For settings. A user on the
Not Available For list for an item cannot access that item, even if that user is
also on the Available For list for that item
Extend user criteria
Service catalog enables you to extend user criteria to match against additional reference
fields in the User [sys_user] table, such as hidden or custom fields, without using a script.
You can then add a matching field in the User Criteria [user_criteria] table, allowing you to
define conditions based on this field in user criteria records.
Note: The column on the User table must be a reference field, and the matching
column on the User Criteria table must be a glide_list type field. Also, both
columns must have matching names. Columns with a U prefix are catered
for, so, for example, cost_center and u_cost_center are considered as
matching.
Procedure
What to do next
You can further extend the User Criteria table to match against any columns in other tables.
In the User [sys_user] table, add a new reference field to the other table, then extend the
user criteria table to refer to that reference field, as described above.
Implement user criteria best practice
When creating user criteria for your system, consider the following good practice
recommendations.
Ensure that you design user criteria for maximum reuse. Create user criteria records with
common sets of conditions matching your organization's requirements. Allow them to be
shared across as many items and categories as possible, rather than creating multiple
similar criteria records for individual items and categories
Naming conventions: Give each user criteria record a meaningful name, to help you
determine the function for that record. For example,
Users in company Cloud Dimensions AND in London
Users in company Cloud Dimensions OR in London
Users belonging to the Group Development, IT, or Sales
Users with role itil, asset_manager, or catalog_admin
Test user criteria on a non-production instance: Consider testing user criteria on a
development or test instance, and then transferring the records from the user criteria
tables and catalog records to your production instance using update sets.
Service catalog user criteria records provide access control for service catalog items and
categories.
You may need to migrate your access controls to use user criteria. The user criteria feature is
automatically enabled for new instances. If you upgrade your instance, a script runs to
determine current access control usage.
If your instance does not use entitlement-based access controls, the user criteria feature is
automatically enabled.
If your instance does use entitlements, the user criteria feature is not enabled. If you want
to use user criteria, use the procedure described on this page to migrate your access
controls from entitlements to user criteria.
Migrate to user criteria to provide more reuse, control, and flexibility compared to
entitlements.
For example, you can use a single criteria record to make multiple catalog items available to
only users who meet all these requirements:
Service catalog enables you to maintain the required access controls to your service catalog
while migrating from entitlements to user criteria.
To maintain the required access controls to your service catalog while migrating from
entitlements to user criteria:
Procedure
1. Navigate to Service Catalog > Catalog Policy > Properties and verify that the user
criteria feature is not already enabled on your system.
If the property Use "User Criteria" to define access to catalog items and categories
(glide.sc.use_user_criteria) is set to true, you can skip the following steps. The user
criteria feature is automatically enabled because entitlements were not used in your
old system.
If this property is set to false, continue with the following steps. The user criteria
feature has not been enabled yet on your system.
2. To preview the user criteria feature, set the service catalog property Enable both "User
Criteria" and "Entitlement" related lists for catalog items and categories when migrating
from entitlements (glide.sc.user_criteria_migration) to true. This option lets you
compare user criteria records and entitlements before you fully switch to user criteria.
3. Inspect your service catalog items and categories to identify access control sets that
you can configure user criteria records for. Review your current entitlements and record
your organization's current design for access controls. Focus on identifying patterns
where multiple items have the same combination of location, group, and so on. Each
combination is a possible access control set.
4. Create a user criteria record for each access control set that you identified from your
inspection of the service catalog.
You have a step with a list, note, and image.
5. Apply these user criteria records to the items and categories identified, replacing the
equivalent entitlements.
6. Enable user criteria on your system by setting the service catalog property Use "User
Criteria" to define access to catalog items and categories (glide.sc.use_user_criteria) to
true. When this property is set to true, any remaining entitlements are no longer used.
Note: Scripts in user criteria cannot reference the category or catalog item as
current as entitlement scripts do. For scripts in user criteria, use the
user_id available for the user currently being evaluated against the
category or catalog item.
There are significant data structure differences between entitlements and user criteria,
which you must be aware of while migrating.
Using entitlements, the following tables are loaded into memory and evaluated before
rendering.
For categories:
The user criteria architecture collects all user attributes in the User Criteria [user_criteria]
table.
For categories:
Apply role-based restrictions to a catalog variable to control which users can create, write
(update), read, and delete a value for the variable.
Procedure
This example shows that, for the the CPU Speed variable used by the Executive Desktop
catalog item, only users with the itil role can write (update) or create a value for that
variable.
Note: You might need to configure the variable form to add the Create roles,
Read roles, Update roles, and Write roles fields.
Service catalog supports several ways to control access to a catalog item or category; this is
also known as catalog entitlements.
A service catalog item with no specific access controls is available to all users. If access
controls are specified, only users who meet all conditions have access.
Role
Custom script
Company, Department, Group, User, or Location
Access controls are checked in the following order: roles, then scripts, then Company,
Department, Group, User, or Location.
Note: The functionality described here is superseded by access controls using user
criteria. Migrate to user criteria for a more flexible and re-usable way to
define access controls.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Service Catalog > Maintain Items or Service Catalog > Maintain Categories.
2. Open an item or category, and then configure the related lists in the form to add
Available for Department and Available for Company.
3. Click Update to save the form layout.
4. Open the item or category you wish to secure and add companies and departments to
related lists.
The item or category is available only for the companies and departments listed. If no
companies or departments are listed, then the item or category is available to all
companies or departments.
Service catalog enables an administrator to grant or deny access to a service catalog item or
category by company, department, group, user, or location.
1. Navigate to Service Catalog > Maintain Items or Service Catalog > Maintain Categories.
2. Open the relevant catalog item or category.
3. Personalize the form to add the appropriate Available or Not available lists.
4. Add the companies, departments, groups, users, or locations to the appropriate list.
5. Click Update.
By default, individual catalog items and categories do not have access restrictions.
Administrators can grant or deny access to a service catalog item or category based on role.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Service Catalog > Maintain Items or Service Catalog > Maintain Categories.
2. Open the relevant catalog item or category.
3. Add the required roles to the Roles field.
You may need to personalize the form or change to Default View to see the Roles field.
Related Tasks
Restrict access
Restrict access by a script
Related Concepts
Legacy service catalog access controls
Service catalog enables you to control access to a service catalog item or category with a
custom script.
1. Navigate to Service Catalog > Maintain Items or Service Catalog > Maintain Categories.
2. Open the relevant catalog item or category.
3. Configure the form to add the Entitlement script field.
Sample Scripts
The following example script grants access to a catalog item named French Blackberry
to users with a language of Fr (French):
gs.log ( 'Running Entitlement script for French Blackberry' ) ;
answer ;
The following example script could be used to distinguish between two categories of
users (one with full access and one with restricted access) on the catalog of services:
var userid = gs. getUserID ( ) ; var gr = new GlideRecord ( 'sys_user' ) ;
gr. get ( 'sys_id' , userid ) ;
if (gr. source )
answer = true ; else
answer = false ;
answer ;
Related Tasks
Restrict access by role
Restrict access
Related Concepts
Legacy service catalog access controls
Service catalog enables you to configure the layout and functionality of the service catalog
cart used in your organization to place requests for catalog items.
You can:
Remove components. For example, hide prices throughout the cart if your catalog does
not use pricing.
Change labels. For example, change the Order now button label to Request Item in the
shopping cart.
Change the order of elements. For example, change the order of the columns on the order
status screen.
Configure, hide, or create functionality. For example, add a Requested For reference field
to the shopping cart.
Configure cart layout records to define functionality for widgets or screens in the shopping
cart.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Service Catalog > Catalog Definition > Maintain Cart Layouts.
2. Select a widget or screen:
Cart widgets: Item Ordering Widget, Shopping Cart Widget, or Item Ordering
Widget (Order Guide)
Shopping cart screens: Cart Preview Screen, Cart Preview Screen (Two Step), or Cart
Preview Screen (Mobile)
Order status screens: Order Status Screen or Order Status Screen (Mobile)
3. Update the Title field to change the title that appears on the widget.
4. Leave the default Target value. Do not change this value because it identifies the cart
element being defined.
5. Update the other sections of the cart layout record, as required. The availability of these
sections varies for each widget and screen record.
In the Components section, select the components to display, such as delivery times,
item descriptions, and prices.
In the Columns section, select which columns to display, such as the item description
column, delivery time column, or price column.
In the Buttons section, select the buttons to display, such as Add to Cart, Edit Cart,
and Delete Item.
In the Button Labels section, enter new labels to replace the default button labels.
A new label is used on all screens that the button appears on. For example, the
Continue Shopping button is used on several screens, so changing its label affects all
those screens.
Service catalog enables you to configure macros that define functionality for elements
within each widget or screen.
Some widgets or screens also have column macros that define the horizontal layout and
configuration of shopping cart contents.
You can configure these macros to alter the display order of elements, or hide elements,
within the widget or screen. You can also create new macros to implement any extra
requirements.
Procedure
2. Click the order number entry of a macro to edit its display order, or to activate or
deactivate it.
3. Click Update.
4. Click the Widget / View Macro entry of a macro to view its functionality settings. You
cannot edit functionality settings for default macros, but these settings can be a useful
reference for creating your own widget macros.
Service catalog enables you to create macros for cart layout records using Jelly scripts to
define customized behavior and display within a widget or screen.
Macros that you create do not affect upgrades because customized widget functionality is
isolated from general cart behavior.
Procedure
Macro form
Field Description
Name The name for the new macro.
Active A check box to indicate whether the macro is
displayed or not.
Description A summary of how the macro is used.
Active A check box to indicate whether the macro is
displayed or not.
XML The Jelly script to apply for your macro.
Example
This example demonstrates the script to add a Requested for reference field as a widget
macro to a cart layout record.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<j:jelly trim="false" xmlns:j="jelly:core" xmlns:g="glide" xmlns:j2="null" xmlns:g2="null"
<j:set var="ref" value="sc_cart" />
<j:set var="jvar_ref" value="${jvar_cart.getRequestedFor()}" />
Service catalog enables you to set fields in the Catalog Item form to configure the cart
layout for specific items.
This overrides any general cart layout settings. For example, you can hide an item's price by
setting the Omit price in cart field to true for that item.
Procedure
6. Click Update.
Service catalog enables you to use additional methods to configure cart behavior or layouts,
which override cart layout record settings.
For example, your cart layout record settings might hide item prices, but you may decide to
display the price of the Sales Laptop. In that case, you would set the relevant configuration
values on that catalog item. Be aware of the impact of these additional methods, to ensure
your cart behaves in the way you want.
Note: If you are migrating to cart layouts, you may have defined additional settings
and properties that impact your cart layout settings.
You can customize the widget that provides details of the current catalog item on an order
guide or wizard.
Order guide cart widget is visible when an order guide item is ordered.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Service Catalog > Catalog Definitions > Maintain Cart Layouts.
2. Open the Item Ordering Widget (Order Guide) record.
3. You can add and remove components and rename widget title.
4. Click Update.
Cart widget displayed for an order guide item
Note: By default, order guides use a two-step process, and catalog items use a
one-step checkout process. If you configure the checkout process, keep
in mind that order guides and catalog items will provide different cart
experiences if they use different checkout processes.
Both shopping cart and item ordering widgets are visible on the standard catalog page and
any ESS catalog page. The shopping cart widget is also available in additional locations,
such as the catalog homepage.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Service Catalog > Catalog Definitions > Maintain Cart Layouts.
a. Open the Item Ordering Widget record to modify the widget for ordering item.
b. Open the Shopping Cart Widget record to modify the widget for shopping cart.
2. You can add/remove components, buttons, rename widget title and button labels.
3. Click Update.
Service catalog allows you to customize the order status screen that is displayed on
desktops.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Service Catalog > Catalog Definitions > Maintain Cart Layouts.
2. Open the Order Status Screen record.
3. You can add/remove components, columns, buttons, and rename labels. See Configure
cart layout.
4. Click Update.
Service catalog allows you to customize the order status screen that is displayed on mobile
devices.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Service Catalog > Catalog Definitions > Maintain Cart Layouts.
2. Open the Order Status Screen (Mobile) record.
3. You can add and remove components and buttons.
4. Click Update.
Service catalog allows you to customize the shopping cart screen that is displayed on
mobile devices.
The shopping cart on mobile devices always uses a two-step checkout process. You cannot
modify widget macros or button labels on mobile devices.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Service Catalog > Catalog Definitions > Maintain Cart Layouts.
2. Open the Cart Preview Screen (Mobile) record.
3. You can add and remove components and buttons.
4. Click Update.
Service catalog allows you to customize the shopping cart display screen for a one-step
checkout process.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Service Catalog > Catalog Definitions > Maintain Cart Layouts.
2. Open the Cart Preview Screen record.
3. You can add and remove components, columns, buttons, and rename title and button
labels. See Configure cart layout.
4. Click Update.
Service catalog allows you to customize the shopping cart display screen for a two-step
checkout process.
Changes made to the two-step record are visible only if the two-step checkout process is
enabled in properties. By default, catalog items use a one-step checkout process.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Service Catalog > Catalog Definitions > Maintain Cart Layouts.
2. Open the Cart Preview Screen (Two Step) record.
3. You can add/remove components, columns, buttons, and rename title and button labels.
See Configure cart layout.
4. Click Update.
Shopping cart screen displayed for a two-step checkout process
Some of these properties are impacted when you use cart layouts. For example, with the
order status screen, the When to show prices and sub-totals on the Service Catalog Cart
(glide.sc.price.display) property overrides cart layout settings for displaying prices.
Consider the possible outcomes with service catalog properties that will be impacted when
you enable cart layouts, and then alter the settings or properties to achieve the cart layout
and functionality you require.
Table title
Property Impact
Allow ESS users the option to cancel their Overridden when the Cancel Request check box
requests from the checkout screen. in cart layout settings is selected. If this check
[glide.sc.checkout.cancel] box is selected, the Cancel button is displayed
even if the property is set to No.
Enable cloning requests during checkout. Not used (deprecated) if cart layouts are enabled.
[glide.sc.allow.checkout.clone] It is replaced by the Clone Checkout check box in
cart layout settings.
The Clone Checkout check box is cleared by
default for new instances. For upgraded
instances, the check box is set to the existing
value of the glide.sc.allow.checkout.clone
property.
List of roles (comma-separated) that can use the Overrides any relevant cart layout settings.
quantity selector in the shopping cart
[glide.sc.allow.quantity]
Show the request item number for each line item Not used (deprecated) if cart layouts are enabled.
on the checkout screen (default false). It is replaced by the Request Item Number
[glide.sc.checkout.request.number] column check box in cart layout settings.
Show the 'Back to Catalog' button on the two Not used (deprecated) if cart layouts are enabled.
step checkout screen. It is replaced by the Back to Catalog check box in
[glide.sc.checkout.twostep.back] cart layout settings.
When to show prices and sub-totals on the Overrides any relevant cart layout settings.
Service Catalog Cart.
[glide.sc.price.display]
Service catalog enables you to configure cart layouts to add, remove, or change elements of
the service catalog shopping cart.
This feature is enabled by default and default cart layout settings implemented. For
upgrades, an upgrade script checks to see if your current cart macros are customized.
If cart macros are not customized, cart layout configuration is enabled by default.
If cart macros are customized, cart layout configuration is disabled. You must migrate your
system to use this feature.
Before you migrate your system to use cart layouts, familiarize yourself with existing
configurations for catalog content and decide whether to discard or retain these
configurations.
UI macros defining custom shopping carts that have been linked to items.
Service catalog properties that might be impacted by cart layouts.
Item-specific settings that may override cart layout record settings.
Some catalog items may have cart layout settings that are specific to them.
For example, these items might show prices even though the general cart layout record
settings hides prices.
To retain item-specific settings, clear the Use cart layout check box in the catalog item form.
Item-specific settings
Note: You may need to configure the form to display the Use cart layout check box.
If any of the following UI macros are customized, migrate the customizations to cart layout
widgets before you enable cart layouts.
sc_catalog_homepage_cart
sc_catalog_requested_for
catalog_item
catalog_cart_default
sc_cart_main
Procedure
After you review configuration settings and migrate any customized macros, you can enable
cart layouts.
Procedure
Set the Use the sc_layout driven cart macros glide.sc.use_cart_layouts service catalog
system property to Yes to enable cart layouts for your system.
ServiceNow includes several options that provide administrators some control over content
in service catalog's template-driven forms.
Some service catalog forms, such as the checkout form, are generated from templates,
instead of being data-driven like other forms in the system, such as the Incident form.
Template-driven forms provide enhanced look-and-feel over standard data-driven forms, but
they provide more limited control over the form content.
Note: It is recommended that you use cart layout records to configure cart layouts.
Using cart layout records lets you configure the service catalog cart without
writing and maintaining scripts.
Modify the delivery screen
In the final checkout step, a summary screen provides a list of all items and services ordered.
After you enable the two-step checkout process, the Requested for field appears on the
Request form.
The Requested for field references the User [sys_user] table and has an auto-complete
feature. Two service catalog properties (Service Catalog > Catalog Policy > Properties)
enable an administrator to add columns to the search results for this field and to order the
list by one of the columns.
Ordering of matches for the "request for" Service Choose fields from the User [sys_user] table.
Catalog widget.
(glide.sc.request_for.order_by)
By default, the checkout forms list the Description, Delivery Date, Stage, Price, Quantity and
Total columns. For example:
Checkout default
Administrators can use specific control options, to modify the checkout form to:
Procedure
By default, the short_description column of the catalog item appears as the item
description.
Procedure
Procedure
Note: To reduce the quantities available for catalog items, delete the relevant
quantity records. For example, to reduce the quantity range to 1-3, delete
the records for 4 and 5.
To restrict the roles allowed to change quantities, edit the List of roles
(comma-separated) that can use the quantity selector in the shopping
cart (glide.sc.allow.quantity) service catalog property. For example, you
might limit this ability to the admin and catalog admin roles.
Related Tasks
Service catalog administration
Service catalog enables you to remove or apply restrictions on all order guides, record
producers, and wizard launchers.
Catalog administrators can use service catalog properties to configure the behavior and
usage of a catalog item.
By default, all order guides, record producers, and wizard launchers have these restrictions:
Procedure
List of class names for catalog items that cannot be added to an existing
request(glide.sc.item.cannot_add_to_request): restricts the items that can be added to a
requested item, after an end user places a request. For example, to restrict content items
from being added to an existing request, add sc_cat_item_content to the list for this
property.
List of class names for catalog items that do not use the default "Try It" UI
Action(glide.sc.item.cannot_try_it): restricts the items which allow you to click Try It on the
item form to preview how it appears in the service catalog. Items with such restrictions do
not display Try It on the form.
List of class names for catalog items that do not generate a normal cart
item(glide.sc.item.not_normal_cart_item): restricts which item types are added to the cart
by default.
Check box
A check box variable helps to set the price or recurring price of the item being ordered.
Create a checkbox variable and set the price of the item in type specifications.
Use the Price if checked or Recurring price if checked field to specify the price or recurring
price difference for that variable when the option is selected
Multiple choice
For a multiple choice variable, there are two options for pricing.
Specify the price difference in the Price field on the question choices.
Specify the recurring price difference in the Recurring Price field on the question choices.
Note: Select Boxes operate the same as multiple choice variables but are displayed
as select boxes.
Set up variable price
The price or recurring price of a catalog item can be modified with variables, increasing the
base price for that item.
This is useful if you want the price or recurring price dynamically calculated based on how a
user completes the ordering form. For example, the cost of an item can be increased based
on options the user selects, such as extra memory in a PC.
The following variable types can be configured to modify the total cost of an item:
Check box
Multiple choice
Reference
List collector
Select box
Lookup select box
If this field is selected and there is a price, u_price, recurring_price or u_recurring_price field
on the referenced table, the value of that field is used to modify the cost of the item being
ordered when a reference value is selected.
For example, suppose that computers in Phoenix cost $100 more than the ordering price
and computers in Boise cost $100 less than ordering price.
When ordering a computer, if Phoenix is selected as the location for this variable, the
ordering price is increased by $100. If Boise is selected, the ordering price is decreased by
100.
Note: List collectors operate the same as a reference variable, but use the List table
field to specify the table being referenced. Since it is a list collector variable;
multiple selections can be made that all modify the ordering price or
recurring price.
Lookup from table: the table from which values are queried.
Lookup value field: the field on the lookup table whose value is used as the variable's value
(typically sys_id).
Lookup label field(s): a comma-separated list of fields on the lookup table whose values
are used to display the selections in the select box. For example,manufacturer,name for the
Software [cmdb_ci_spkg] table would display selections as:
Microsoft | Excel
Adobe | Photoshop Elements
Lookup price field: the field whose value is used to modify the price of the item being
ordered.
Lookup recurring price field: the field whose value is used to modify the recurring price of
the item being ordered.
A catalog item can have a recurring price in addition to an initial price. For example, a
subscription to a mobile phone contract may cost $500.00, with an $30.00 monthly
recurring price.
The price and the recurring frequency are set on the catalog item record. After the price and
frequency are set, the recurring price appears in the catalog, catalog search results, catalog
page for the item, shopping cart, and order summary screen.
If multiple items with the same recurring price frequency are placed in the shopping cart,
they are grouped together. The grouping makes it easier to view how much items cost for
each frequency (for example, weekly, monthly, and annually). If the shopping cart contains
items with and without recurring costs, they are grouped separately.
If multiple items with the same recurring price frequency are placed in the shopping cart,
they are grouped together. The grouping makes it easier to view how much items cost for
each frequency (for example, weekly, monthly, and annually). If the shopping cart contains
items with and without recurring costs, they are grouped separately.
On a request record, recurring prices are grouped by frequency and shown in the Recurring
Prices related list. In the example below, two items each have a monthly recurring cost of
$100.00 and their prices are grouped as a single record of $200.00 monthly. Another item
with an annual recurring cost of $500.00 is listed as a separate record.
If a request record contains multiple items with the same recurring frequency, click the arrow
next to the corresponding recurring prices record to view details. In the example below, two
items (the mobile phone and the sales laptop) each have a monthly recurring cost and are
grouped together under the Monthly recurring prices record, but are listed separately when
the recurring prices record is expanded. Only one item has an annual recurring cost.
Administrators can configure options to hide catalog item prices in the service catalog for
listings of specific items, for specific types of items, or for all items.
Catalog Subcategory
A subcategory listing
Shopping cart
Service catalog enables you to configure service catalog properties to hide prices.
Navigate to Service Catalog > Catalog Policy > Properties to view and edit service catalog
properties.
You can change which catalog item types show prices using the List of class names for
catalog items that do not show the price in listings property
(glide.sc.item.cannot_show_price). Provide a comma-separated list of table names for item
types that you want to hide prices for.
For example, to hide prices for standard catalog items, add sc_cat_item to the list.
You can also remove an existing entry to display prices for that item type. For example, to
display prices for order guides, remove the order guide entry sc_cat_item_guide from the
list.
You can configure this behavior to always hide or show prices, using the When to show
prices and sub-totals on the Service Catalog Cart property (glide.sc.price.display).
Set this to Always show prices to display prices for all items on all service catalog screens, or
to Never show prices to hide prices for all items on all service catalog screens.
Procedure
The price does not appear in the catalog listing or when the item is added to the cart.
The price is listed as "-" on the edit cart, order confirmation, and order status screens.
Procedure
1. From the left navigation pane, select System Definition > Script Includes.
2. Edit the CatalogPriceCalculator script to customize the item price and the
CatalogRecurringPriceCalculator script to customize the recurring price.
Bulk requests enable a customer to create up to 10 copies (clones) of the same Service
Catalog request, for different users, without having to enter the same information multiple
times.
For example, you can request a new piece of equipment for several specified people,
generating multiple individual requests quickly from a single initial request.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Place a bulk request
Create scripts
Client-side scripting: allows catalog designers to use the same functionality available on
other forms.
The Service Catalog Script API makes catalog ordering easier from inside business rules.
Scriptable Assignment of Execution Plans allows selection of an execution plan at the time
of ordering, based on scripted conditions.
Administrators with a knowledge of Jelly can customize the look and feel of service catalog
carts, either globally or for specific catalog items, using our UI macro capability.
Once created, a custom cart can be reused and linked to catalog items.
Procedure
Procedure
Example
Procedure
1. Navigate to Service Catalog > Catalog Policy > Catalog Client Scripts. A list of current
custom catalog client scripts appears.
2. Click New.
3. Fill in the fields, as appropriate.
Field Description
Name Enter a unique name for the catalog client
script.
Applies to Select the item type this client script applies to:
A Catalog Item: enables the Catalog item
field.
A Variable Set: enables the Variable set
field.
Active Select the check box to enable the client script.
Clear the check box to disable the script.
UI Type Whether to apply this to desktop, mobile, or
both.
Script Enter the client script that should run on the
service catalog item.
Field Description
Type Select when the script should run, such as
onLoad or onSubmit.
Catalog item or Variable set Select a catalog item or variable set from the
list. The field name and options available
depend on the selection in the Applies to field.
Applies on a Catalog Item view Select the check box to apply the catalog client
script to catalog items displayed within the
order screen on the service catalog.
Applies on Requested Items Select the check box to apply the catalog client
script on a Requested Item form, after the item
is requested.
Applies on Catalog Tasks Select the check box to apply the catalog client
script when a Catalog Task form for the item is
being displayed.
4. Click Submit.
You can use service catalog properties to configure content types, which are also called
widgets.
Navigate to Service Catalog > Catalog Policies > Properties to view service catalog
properties.
To select additional content types, add these types in a comma-separated list in the List of
content types (comma-separated) to allow on the catalog homepage property
(glide.sc.home.filter).
For example, to include service catalog categories and gauges, set the property to Catalog
Categories, Gauges.
To display this icon on the left of each category, check Yes beside the Toggle whether the
expand/collapse icon is rendered for category widgets on the service catalog homepage
property (glide.sc.homepage.show.collapse).
You can use service catalog properties to configure search and navigation within the service
catalog homepage.
Navigate to Service Catalog > Catalog Policies > Properties to view service catalog
properties.
To restrict access to this search function by role, use the List of roles (comma-separated)
that can search the service catalog property (glide.sc.can_search).
For example, to only allow logged-in users to access search, set this to blank. To remove the
search function for all users, set this to None.
Note: Search results only show items that the logged-in user can access.
To avoid returning results from inactive categories, set the Service catalog searches return
items in inactive categories property (glide.sc.search.disabled_cats) to No. For example,
when designing a new category, you may want to avoid users seeing search results from this
category until you are ready to make it active.
Note: Security constraints may also make a category or catalog item inaccessible.
To define which catalog item types do not show the search field, list these types in the List
of class names for catalog items that do not have the search field displayed
(glide.sc.item.cannot_show_search) property.
To display these breadcrumbs with links, set the Use links for breadcrumbs rendered in
Service Catalog pages accessed via a CMS site property
(glide.sc.use_breadcrumb_links.cms) to Yes. This provides greater navigational control for
end users.
To disable these suggestions, set the Specify whether search suggestions should be enabled
property (glide.sc.search.suggestions) to No.
Service catalog enables you to use properties in order to refine search results.
The auto-completion feature returns values that contain an exact match to the letter
combination entered.
Administrators can use the Additional columns for the "request for" Service Catalog widget
(glide.sc_request_for.columns) property to add columns to this list, to further refine the
search results, and help determine which user to select when two users have the same
name.
In this example, the property is set to display two additional columns, Department and Title:
Administrators can use the Ordering of matches for the "request for" Service Catalog widget.
(glide.sc.request_for.order_by) property to configure the columns to sort by one of the
values.
Auto-completion also applies to the Request for field, which can be added to the service
catalog homepage.
Procedure
Configure preview
Service catalog enables you to configure the number of items that have the Preview section
expanded to display item details.
By default, if not showing item details using pop-ups, the first two items listed in the
category display have the Preview section expanded to display item details.
To change the number of items with this information expanded, set the Number of Catalog
Items to expand in browsing and search when not using pop-up icons to view details
(glide.sc.auto_expand) property to the number required.
4. Click Add here in the location where the category should appear on the homepage.
5. (Optional) Repeat steps 3-4 to add more categories.
6. Close the pop-up window.
7. (Optional) To change a category's location, drag it to the appropriate place.
8. (Optional) To remove a category, click the (X) icon on the top right of the category
header.
9. (Optional) Add a shopping cart on the page.
Procedure
Procedure
The default value is Service Catalog, which includes only service catalog categories. For
example, to include service catalog categories and gauges, set the property to Service
Catalog, Gauges.
Administrators and catalog administrators can apply renderers to catalogs and categories.
Procedure
4. Select a renderer from the list displayed in the right-hand panel, for example Title Only.
5. Click Close to save the catalog with the renderer settings you defined.
Appearance: how categories are displayed to users. For example, display subcategories in
a panel or as a list in the category view.
Homepage content types and search and navigation elements. For example, enable or
disable service catalog searching for all users.
Catalog item behavior: how items, item class names and item categories appear to users.
For example, define the number of catalog items or categories to preview in a section.
You can customize the multi-catalog homepage to provide end users with access to multiple
catalogs from one homepage.
Procedure
2. Select Add Catalogs at the top of the page to add catalogs to this page.
3. Select a catalog in the middle panel of the pop-up window.
Note: Only administrators can see catalogs that do not contain active
categories or items.
4. [Optional] Select a renderer from the right-hand panel, for example Title Only.
5. Click Add here in the location where the catalog should appear on the homepage.
6. [Optional] Repeat steps 3-5 to add more catalogs.
7. Close the pop-up window to save the changes.
Create a renderer
Administrators can create or modify renderers using UI macros to provide the rendering
instructions.
For example, you can create a renderer showing the category homepage image, the
description, and the first two catalog items in a category.
To create a renderer:
Procedure
Renderer Details
Field Description
Name A name for the renderer.
Macro The UI Macro to use.
Render catalog title Appears for catalogs renderers. A check box to
display the catalog title bar on the multi-
catalog homepage.
Field Description
Render title Appears for category renderers. A check box to
display the category title bar on the catalog
homepage.
6. Click Submit.
By default, when viewing a category, subcategories are displayed in a panel at the bottom of
the display.
Procedure
Name of form
When set to Yes, the subcategories appear in a When set to No, the subcategories appear as a
panel at the bottom. list at the top.
Note: If your organization has multiple service catalogs, searches return results only
from the currently viewed catalog.
To find a specific item in a catalog, use the Search field. Click the down arrow to see a list of
previous searches. Catalog search is available on catalog and category pages.
Search results list items in active categories along with their short description. Use the
breadcrumbs in the header bar or below the short description to quickly navigate to a
different page. The Found In list shows the categories related to the search results in
hierarchical format.
You can control the number of results shown on one page with the search results selection
list.
In the catalog listing, click a link in the breadcrumbs at the top of the screen to quickly
navigate back one or more levels in the hierarchy.
To remove the search term from the breadcrumbs, click the x next to the term.
If a search returns multiple results, obtain details about a specific catalog item by clicking
Preview.
Note: The system performs the service catalog search on English language
descriptions only.
Related Concepts
Service Catalog for end users
Service catalog enables you to change the number of items that display the preview.
By default, if not showing item details in pop-up windows, the first two items listed in the
category display have the Preview section expanded to display item details.
Procedure
Set the Number of Catalog Items to expand in browsing and search when not using pop-up
icons to view details (glide.sc.auto_expand) property to the number required.
Service catalog enables you to view item details using a Preview link, which expands the
items details below the item.
To make these details accessible as a pop-up when users point to the item icon:
Procedure
Set the When browsing a category use the pop-up icon to show item details
(glide.sc.cat_view_use_popup_for_details) property to Yes.
When set to No, the item details appear when When set to Yes, the item details appear as a
clicking Preview. pop-up when the cursor hovers over the item
icon.
Service catalog enables you to hide the other categories that a specific item also exists in.
By default, catalog items that are in several categories show Exists in categories information
that shows any other categories the items are available in.
Procedure
Set the Show the additional categories section when viewing a catalog
item(glide.sc.show_additional.cats) property to No.
The homepage for a service catalog provides the primary front end for ordering items within
that catalog.
Administrators and catalog administrators can design a homepage in any of the following
ways.
Using catalog properties to provide additional control over behavior and appearance.
Using renderers to define the appearance of categories.
Note: End users can access the catalog through the customizable user homepage,
or with content management pages that use content blocks for categories.
Users can access the service catalog on mobile devices in order to:
Note: Users cannot access order guides, wizards, or content items from mobile
devices.
Administrators and catalog administrators can configure the layout, presentation, and other
aspects of the service catalog for mobile devices.
This includes:
Catalog items are grouped into categories, which may also contain one or more
subcategories.
You can browse and select and item. To browse for an item within a category, tap the
category name to view all items and subcategories in that category.
To request an item:
Procedure
1. Select an item.
2. Tap any field with an arrow (>) to add information, such as the requester's name or
location, the need-by date, or item quantity.
3. Tap Add to add the item to your cart. The order screen appears.
After the request is submitted, ServiceNow follows request fulfillment processes to fulfill
the ordered item.
You can configure the mobile layout for categories within a service catalog.
By default, service catalog categories appear on mobile devices in the same order as on
desktop devices.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Service Catalog > Mobile Admin > Mobile Layout to display a list of service
catalogs.
2. Click the lookup icon for the service catalog you want to configure.
The mobile layout details for that catalog displays.
3. Click Edit to select which categories appear on mobile devices, and in which order.
4. Add, remove, or reorder the selected mobile categories, and then click Save.
Note: To return the display to the default desktop layout settings for the portal
page associated with that catalog, click the Replace categories with
desktop layout related link.
Procedure
If set to Yes, descriptions are limited to two If set to No, the full descriptions are given
lines
The Content Management System (CMS) enables users to create a custom interface for the
service catalog.
If you are using the ServiceNow content management system as well as the service catalog,
the Sites related list allows you to set which catalogs are supported within sites. This enables
you to ensure that end users can always access an appropriate catalog. You can also view
and edit values for your sites.
In the Sites related list, click Edit to add a site for this catalog.
Procedure
Field Description
CMS homepage The homepage for this site.
CMS search page The location of the search page for the site.
CMS 'Continue Shopping' page The location to direct end users to when they
click the Continue Shopping button in that CMS
site. This field is designed to reference a
content page url suffix.
3. Click Update.
The Catalog Portal Page [sc_catalog_view_mtom] table links catalogs to CMS portal pages
and defines the default catalog to portal page combination used by URLs.
For example, the default portal page for the service catalog is the catalog_default page.
Catalog portal page records appear in the Catalog Portal Pages related list on the Catalog
form. The Catalog Portal Page table generates two values in a URL: sysparm_catalog_view
and sysparam_catalog. Use the Catalog Portal Page form to enter a custom link, if required.
For example, if the default service catalog has no catalog portal page record, the system
sets sysparm_view to catalog_Service_Catalog. If this happens, when you navigate to Self-
Service > Service Catalog, you view the new and apparently blank catalog_Service_Catalog
portal page, instead of the existing and populated catalog_default portal page.
To correct this, go to the Sites related list on the Catalog form and add a new catalog portal
page record manually.
For example, for the default service catalog, add a record with values of:
Service catalog enables you to create and manage multiple portal pages for a catalog.
A catalog portal page provides a homepage for a specific catalog. You can use portal pages
to create different catalog views for different user groups. Each portal page accesses the
same catalog content and presents that content in different ways.
Catalog portal page details include the owner, title, and view to use for that page.
Note: The View field on a portal page is the value used when you refer to the
homepage in a URL or module. When you upgrade to the Eureka release, this
view value for the default service catalog portal page is automatically set to
catalog_default. If you previously changed this value, you should manually
reapply this change after upgrade.
Procedure
1. The Catalog Portal Pages related list shows portal pages available for that catalog. Each
catalog has a default page, created automatically when the catalog is created.
2. Select an appropriate action:
Click New to create a new portal page.
Click Edit to select an additional portal page for the catalog.
Select a portal page to view and edit details for that page.
When a user orders a catalog item, ServiceNow creates a request and attaches the catalog
item attached to it.
The processing of this request or request fulfillment is driven by a fulfillment process that
must be defined.
This process lets administrators automate requesting approvals, assigning requests, and
fulfilling requests, using tools similar to those used elsewhere in task administration or
workflow.
Procedure
Each catalog item uses a fulfillment process, to define the request fulfillment process when
that item is ordered.
Fulfillment processes are used when ordering standard catalog items, but are not used for
some extended types of catalog item, such as content items.
Procedure
Tip: ServiceNow typically recommends using workflows for your request fulfillment
processes.
Service Catalog workflows can be defined using the graphical workflow editor, enabling you
to:
Use the Graphical Workflow Editor to create service catalog workflows that drive catalog
request fulfillment.
After creating a workflow, attach it to any catalog item in the Workflow reference field on
the item form.
Use these examples to see how the workflow engine can work for the service catalog.
Service Catalog Request
Procedure
4. Click Submit.
A graphical representation of the new workflow displays with an Activities pane on the
right.
What to do next
After creating a workflow, attach it to any catalog item in the Workflow reference field on
the item form.
Associate item with domain-specific workflow
When using service catalog workflows with domain separation, ensure your catalog items
use the domain-specific workflow.
If you create a domain-specific version of a workflow, existing catalog items continue to use
the original workflow. To configure the catalog item to use the domain-specific workflow,
select the new workflow in the Workflow field on the catalog item record.
Open the Workflow Actions menu ( ) and select Publish to publish the workflow.
The resulting workflow displays.
Workflow stage fields for service catalog workflows display when a user deletes a record
required by the workflow.
If a user deletes a catalog item and that catalog item has active request workflows running,
the workflow stage field displays Catalog item removed. Similarly, deleting the associated
workflow context causes the stage field to display Workflow context removed.
Procedure
1. In the Activities pane, expand Approvals and drag the activity Approval - User onto the
arrow between Begin and End.
This activity generates an approval from the manager of the person requesting the
laptop.
2. Fill in the form.
Option Description
Name Manager's Approval
3. Click Submit.
4. Expand Utilities in the Activities pane and drag the activity Set Values to the space
below the approval.
5. Drag from the yellow box beside Rejected on the Approval - User activity to the new Set
Values activity.
6. Drag again from the yellow box beside Always on the Set Values activity to End.
This activity marks the request as rejected if the manager rejects the request and then
ends the workflow
7. Fill in the form.
Option Description
Name Rejected
Stage Completed
8. Drag the activity Set Values onto the arrow between Approval - User and End, and then
fill in the form.
Option Description
Name Approved
Stage Fulfillment
Option Description
Name Laptop Procurement
Stage Fulfillment
Priority 3 - Moderate
Option Description
Name Procurement
Stage Fulfillment
Option Description
Name Set Up Laptop
Stage Fulfillment
Priority 3 - Moderate
This task tells Hardware to configure the laptop and prepare it for use.
12. Drag the activity Create Task onto the arrow between Set Up Laptop and End, and then
fill in the form.
Option Description
Name Pick Up Laptop
Stage Delivery
Priority 3 - Moderate
Option Description
Name Delivered
Stage Completed
This leaves a message in the log to record the successful completion of the workflow.
Execution Plans
An execution plan describes how a catalog item is procured, configured, and installed.
Execution plans enable you to describe simple, linear processes. Each execution plan
contains one or more tasks. For example, an organization might create an execution plan for
delivering a corporate standard PC that contains these tasks:
An execution plan is not specific to any one catalog item. There could be many different
models of PC that a user can order, all using the same execution plan. It is usually not
necessary to create a new execution plan for each individual catalog item in a mature
service catalog.
Note: Execution plans are not as powerful or flexible as workflows, and cannot be
designed using a graphical editor. Execution plans are useful in some
circumstances, for example, if you need to build your processes
programmatically or through imports. ServiceNow recommends using
workflows for request fulfillment processes.
Administrators and catalog administrators can create and manage execution plans.
Procedure
For example, when a user requests a laptop, the fulfillment group may need to know what
screen size and how much memory to order.
Each catalog item can contain one or more variables for gathering information from the user
who requests the item. Assuming that the relevant catalog items have been associated to
the execution plan, you can associate these variables to the specific created tasks that need
the information.
Procedure
Make sure the form shows the Plan view. If not, right-click the header bar and select
View > Plan.
Consider all the types of catalog items that might use this execution plan, and select all
the variables that might be assigned to them.
6. Click Save to associate these variables to the execution plan task, making them
accessible.
Each task represents work that needs to be completed by a specific group as part of the
overall request fulfillment process.
Administrators create templates for tasks as part of defining an execution plan. The catalog
tasks themselves are then created when the relevant item is requested, based on these task
templates.
If an approval task is rejected, the execution plan can roll back to a previous task.
Procedure
5. Use the Upon reject field to define the action to take if the task is rejected:
Cancel all future Tasks: [default] cancels all future tasks in the execution plan and
also cancels the parent request item.
Go to a previous Task: displays the Rejection goto field where you can select which
task this execution plan should roll back to.
6. Save the task, then scroll down to the Approved By list and select one or more
approvers for the tasks.
This example shows how the process works in practice, using a request to order a
Blackberry phone.
Next, complete the first two steps, which leads to the approval task.
Reject the request to roll back the execution plan to a previous task, and reset any
intermediate tasks to pending:
After a plan has been rolled back, ServiceNow adds to the rolled-back task a note
indicating that it was rolled back and why.
Note: Rolling back rolls back all intermediate tasks within the execution plan.
Other plans within the same request are not rolled back, however.
This can include approving an order based on characteristics such as content and price, or
any direct action required to complete the order, such as loading software or installing
hardware. Any existing user group (in User Administration > Groups) can be assigned
fulfillment tasks.
Procedure
Use the Total delivery time field to specify an estimated delivery time for each task in your
execution plan. This estimate is calculated based on the combined total of times for the
tasks in that execution plan.
By default, time estimates do not use a "working days" calendar system, but are based on
simple elapsed time. For example, for a 5-day execution plan, if you submit the request on a
Friday, the delivery date is Wednesday of the following week (5 elapsed days later), even if
your organization does not work weekends.
Use the On Calendar field to specify a calendar system to apply to the execution plan, to
help estimate more accurate delivery times.
If using this calendar system for estimated delivery time, ensure that estimates are
expressed in working hours and days. For example, a task which is supposed to take 1 day
on a 9-5 calendar is assumed to take 24 working hours, and so actually takes 3 working
days.
Note: This calendar system is used to help provide delivery estimates only, and is
not linked to any SLAs you might set on execution tasks.
Each task template defines work that needs to be completed by a specific group.
Execution plans are associated to catalog items; when the relevant catalog item is
requested, these task templates are used to generate tasks, to be performed as part of the
request fulfillment process for that requested item. Each generated task within that
requested item is assigned a catalog task number.
Example
The execution plan for an executive desktop computer catalog item might define the
following task templates in the execution plan:
When this catalog item is ordered, the following request, requested item and tasks are then
created:
Request REQ0002 -- 1 PC
Requested Item ITEM0004 -- 1 X executive desktop
Each execution plan contains one or more task templates, which define actions that must be
taken to fulfill a request.
After creating the execution plan, you should now define these task templates.
When the relevant catalog item is ordered, request tasks will be generated for that
requested item, based on this information.
Field Description
Note: This field is normally left blank,
as the functionality has been
superseded by the service level
management functionality.
Administrators and catalog administrators can define conditions under which a particular
execution plan task runs, or is skipped, when the relevant item is requested.
1. Order hardware
2. Receive hardware
3. Configure hardware
4. Deliver hardware
However, when an item is requested, if the hardware in question is already on site, it does
not need to be ordered and so the first task in the list can be skipped.
Note: Skipped task records are still created, but are marked as skipped, and are not
processed within the execution plan.
Conditional Tasks
To make an execution plan task conditional, defining the conditions under which the task
runs.
If no conditions are set, the task runs every time a user orders an item associated with this
execution plan.
In this example, the Deliver to IT Labs step does not run if the request itself is in Atlanta;
there is no need to deliver something to the IT lab if it is already there.
Note: If you are using both a condition (via the condition field) and a condition
script, both must be true before the task will run.
To use a script, you must configure the Execution Plan Task form to add the "Condition
script" field. If the script returns true, the task runs. If the script returns false, the task does
not run.
Ensure you add the variable used in the script to the execution plan task.
If a task is skipped, the request fulfillment process moves on to the next task.
If the last task in an execution plan is skipped, the process is finished and the appropriate
request item is closed as complete. Skipped tasks have their state set to Closed Skipped
and display as gray boxes on a requested items list.
Service catalog enables you to associate execution plans with catalog items.
Once you have created the execution plan record, you can then associate it with catalog
items, create task templates, and associate any catalog item variables to tasks if required.
After you submit the execution plan record, you select a catalog item to use the execution
plan.
This association can be done at a later date, but doing it at this stage enables you to access
relevant catalog item variables in the execution plan.
Procedure
Configure checkout
Administrators and users with the catalog_admin role can enable and configure the two-
step checkout model.
The service catalog defaults to a one-step checkout model. When a user clicks Proceed to
checkout or Order now, items in the shopping cart are ordered and the order summary or
status screen appears. The one-step checkout model runs in the following order:
The service catalog also supports a two-step checkout model. Under this model, when a
user clicks Proceed to checkout or Order now, an order confirmation screen appears,
allowing the user to edit the order, choose a delivery location, or upload an attachment
before submitting the order. The two-step checkout model runs in the following order:
Press Checkout Order > Confirmation Screen > Submit Order > Order Summary.
Procedure
In the two-step checkout model, end users may specify a recipient, delivery address, and
special instructions for an order.
Checkout
Administrators can control how the delivery address is populated. By default this is defined
by the client script called set location.
When the two-step checkout process is enabled, the set location script retrieves the
address of the user and enters formatted details in the Deliver to field.
Service Catalog enables you to view and order items from departments within your
organization.
Anything that can be ordered individually can be ordered as a catalog item. Anything that
only exists as a part of a larger whole cannot be a catalog item. For example, a laptop can
be a catalog item, but a high-resolution display for a laptop cannot.
After placing an order, the customer can track its progress. Predefined groups follow a series
of tasks to deliver the item, based on a fulfillment process, including any approvals required.
The homepage for a service catalog lists the goods and services available to order from that
catalog.
Catalog items are grouped into categories, which may also contain one or more
subcategories. By default, the first ten items in a category appear under the category name
on the service catalog homepage.
To access the default service catalog homepage, navigate to Self-Service > Service Catalog.
Click a category name to see a list of all subcategories and items in the category.
To place a request from a service catalog, navigate to the catalog homepage and select the
item to order.
When an item is ordered, the ServiceNow ITSA Suite generates a request to track the order
and displays a summary that includes the order status in the Stage column:
Each individual catalog item in a request creates a discrete request item. For example, a
request for 2 PCs, 1 chair, and 1 desk would produce four request items on a single request.
The shopping cart screen displays previews of the cart immediately before an order is
placed.
You can configure the layout for either the one-step or two-step catalog checkout process.
The order status screen is the final summary screen a user sees in the service catalog after
placing an order successfully.
Place an order
When a customer orders something from the catalog, a request is generated to keep track
of the order.
If a service catalog request is canceled, all associated purchase orders and transfer orders
that have not been received are canceled.
Each individual catalog item that is part of a request creates a discrete request item with the
request.
For example, a request for 2 PCs, 1 Chair, and 1 Desk would produce:
Procedure
Procedure
The Service Catalog item designer enables non-administrators to create, maintain, and
publish catalog items.
The catalog item designer uses a structured design and publishing process to ensure
consistency of usage. The item designer is best suited to manage items that have basic
questions, approvals, and tasks.
Note: To create and manage more complex items, use the service catalog features
for creating items.
Process flow for catalog item design
Administrators and catalog administrators can control the options available to catalog
managers and catalog editors who use the catalog item designer.
These control options include defining question types, approval types, and task assignment
types. You can restrict these options to ensure that items are designed consistently and with
few variations, or expand them to enable greater design flexibility.
You can also process category creation requests and view or modify definitions of
notifications used by the catalog item designer.
Process Flow
The catalog item designer uses the records in three distinct areas for creating, publishing,
and requesting items:
1. Creating The catalog item designer uses staging records for items that are being
created, with staging records for any associated questions, approvals, and tasks. For
example, a staging Item [sc_ic_item_staging] record can have associated staging
Approval [sc_ic_aprvl_defn_staging] records. These records are staging only, and
not available for order within the Service Catalog.
2. Publishing A published item is available within the Service Catalog to be requested.
When item editors publish an item, the following actions occur:
Staging items create or update the equivalent catalog items.
Questions are copied into variables on that catalog item.
Associated approvals and tasks are copied into equivalent published tables. For
example, Approval [sc_ic_aprvl_defn_staging] records are copied to equivalent
Approval Definition [sc_ic_aprvl_defn] records for the item.
3. Requesting Requested items and associated records are created when a published
catalog item is ordered. When a self-service user requests a catalog item:
A requested item is generated based on the last-published item and the last-
published versions of any variables used by that item.
Associated approvals and tasks are copied from the published records into
equivalent requested item tables. For example, Approval Definition
[sc_ic_aprvl_defn] records are copied to equivalent Approval Definition
(Requested Item) [sc_ic_req_item_aprvl_defn] records.
1. A user requests a category, either requesting to become the manager of that category,
or assigning another user as the category manager.
a. An administrator or catalog administrator processes that request, creating the
category with a selected category manager.
b. [Optional] The category manager assigns catalog editors to a category they
manage.
2. Category managers and catalog editors can use the catalog item designer to:
a. Create new items within a category they are assigned to.
b. Create questions, approvals,tasks, and sections, for the item.
c. Publish items to the category after review.
3. Self-service users can use the service catalog to request items in the category, like any
service catalog item.
Question types define the options available to catalog editors or catalog managers when
they define questions for a catalog item.
You can modify question types, expanding or restricting the list of types available, to meet
requirements for your organization's design environment. For example, you can deactivate
date-based question types.
Note: This list of available question types is also used when you create a new
service in service creator. For example, if you deactivate Multi Line Text, it is
deactivated for both the catalog item designer and the service creator.
Procedure
Field Description
Date/Time
Label
Multi Line Text
Multiple Choice
Numeric Scale
Reference
Field Description
Question The question itself, as displayed. Appears if
Preconfigured Question is checked.
Help text Help text to appear with the question. Appears
if Preconfigured Question is checked.
Default value The default value for the question. Appears if
Preconfigured Question is checked.
Approval types are available to catalog editors or catalog managers when they define
approvals for an item.
For example, you can define Facilities Items Approvers, a specific list of approvers for
facilities items.
Procedure
4. Click Submit.
Publish an approval type after it is defined correctly for catalog editors or catalog managers
to use when they create items.
To publish an approval type, navigate to Item Designer > Administration > Approval Type
Definitions, open an entry, then click Publish.
To view a list of published approval types, navigate to Item Designer > Administration >
Published Approval Type Definitions.
To change details for an approval type, navigate to Item Designer > Administration >
Approval Type Definitions, open an entry, then edit the details and save your changes.
Note: After you save your changes, the version number for that approval type
increases by 1.
To make your changes live, publish the changed approval type.
To remove an approval type from use, you can expire it, making it inactive.
To expire an approval type, navigate to Item Designer > Administration > Approval Type
Definitions, open an entry, then click Expire.
Task assignment types define the assignment options available to catalog editors and
catalog managers when they define tasks for an item.
When a user then requests that item, these assignment options determine which users are
assigned to complete these tasks. For example, you can use information the user enters
when requesting an item to dynamically assign a task to the requester's on-call IT support
contact.
Procedure
4. Click Submit.
To change details for a task assignment type, navigate to Item Designer > Administration >
Task Assignment Definitions, open an entry, then edit the details and save your changes.
Note: After you save your changes, the version number for that task assignment
type increases by 1.
To make your changes live, publish the changed task assignment type.
Service catalog enables you to change the details of a task assignment type.
To change details for a task assignment type, navigate to Item Designer > Administration >
Task Assignment Definitions, open an entry, then edit the details and save your changes.
Note: After you save your changes, the version number for that task assignment
type increases by 1.
To make your changes live, publish the changed task assignment type.
To remove an assignment type from use, you can expire it, making it inactive.
To expire an assignment type, navigate to Item Designer > Administration > Task Assignment
Definitions, open an entry, then click Expire.
Administrators and catalog administrators review category creation requests and approve or
reject them. For example, you might reject a request if it duplicates an existing category.
Procedure
Option Description
To approve the request: Click Create Category.
The category is created, the nominated
category manager receives an email
notification, and is granted the catalog
manager role for that category. The category
manager can then manage the new category.
View notifications
You can list definitions of notifications sent to users who request a category.
Notifications
You can modify these definitions as required, using standard email notification functions.
1. Navigate to Item Designer > Administration > All Items to view a list of all catalog items
created using the item designer.
2. Click an item name to view and edit details for that item.
Category managers, users with the catalog_manager role, can use the catalog item designer
to manage their categories, assign editors to those categories, and create, modify, and
publish catalog items.
For example, a facilities team leader can manage a Facilities category. Catalog editors can
use the catalog item designer to create, modify and publish items within their categories.
For example, facilities team members can create, edit, and publish items within the Facilities
category.
Note: You can only manage standard catalog items [sc_cat_item] using the catalog
item designer, not more complex items such as order guides. In addition, UI
policies and client scripts are not supported by the item designer. To
implement these more advanced functions, use the service catalog features
for creating items.
1. A user requests a category, either requesting to become the manager of that category,
or assigning another user as the category manager.
a. An administrator or catalog administrator processes that request, creating the
category with a selected category manager.
b. [Optional] The category manager assigns catalog editors to a category they
manage.
2. Category managers and catalog editors can use the catalog item designer to:
a. Create new items within a category they are assigned to.
b. Create questions, approvals, tasks, and sections for the item.
c. Publish items to the category after review.
3. Self-service users can use the service catalog to request items in the category, like any
service catalog item.
Request a category
For example, a facilities team leader responsible for managing office furniture could request
a new category of Office Furniture Requests, within the Facilities catalog.
To request a category:
Procedure
4. Click Submit.
The catalog request record state is set to Requested, and you are granted the catalog
item designer role so you can view the status of the request.
5. Log out from your ServiceNow instance, then log back in again, to ensure you have
activated this role in your account.
6. Navigate to Item Designer > My Item Categories to view the status of the request.
Manage a category
New categories are created as active, available to display in the selected catalog. Categories
with no items are not displayed in the catalog.
Procedure
Navigate to Item Designer > My Item Categories to view and edit categories you manage.
Click the category number to open that category.
To assign editors to a category, select users in the Editors field of the relevant category
form, then click Update.
To deactivate a category, click Deactivate. The category is then no longer visible in the
service catalog.
To reactivate a category, reopen the category form and click Activate.
Category managers can also create and manage items in their categories, and publish
items to make them available to users.
Create an item
Category managers and catalog editors can create items using the item designer.
Designer view
Field Description
Name The name of the item.
State [Read-Only] The state of the item. Initially the
state is set to Draft. When you publish the item,
the state changes to Published.
Details section
Availability The interface where this item is available.
Choose from Desktop and Mobile, Desktop
Only, or Mobile only.
Catalogs The catalogs the item should be published to.
Categories The categories the item should be published to
within the selected catalogs.
Short Description A brief description of the item.
Desktop image An image of the item. This field is available only
if Availability is set to either Desktop Only or
Desktop and Mobile.
Mobile image An image of the item for the smartphone
interface. This field is available only if
Availability is set to either Mobile Only or
Desktop and Mobile.
Field Description
Description A full description of the item. This description
appears in the catalog when a user selects the
item or clicks the associated More Information
link.
Costs section
One off cost The price for the item and the currency for that
price.
Recurring cost A price that occurs repeatedly at a regular
interval. For example, a printer maintenance
service could have a $100.00 monthly recurring
price.
Recurring cost frequency The time frame when the cost recurs. Select a
frequency, such as Monthly or Quarterly, if you
enter a value in the Recurring cost field.
Item questions appear in the catalog when a user requests the item.
The user answers the questions to provide the information needed to fulfill the request. For
example, a request for a new laptop might have a multiple choice question to specify the
screen size, allowing the requester to select one of a set of options.
You can organize questions into sections, to provide a logical flow for a multi-question item.
If you plan to use sections, consider creating the sections so that you can select the
appropriate section when defining the questions.
To add a question:
Procedure
Add question
Field Description
Type The type for the question, defining the format
you would like to receive the information in. By
default, the options are Checkbox, Date, Date/
Time, HTML, Multi Line Text, Multiple Choice,
Numeric Scale, Reference, Select Box, Single
Line Text, or Yes/No. Each type allows you to
create your own option, using the Option field,
Administrators and catalog administrators
determine the question types available.
Field Description
example, Create your own Numeric Scale allows
you to define Scale Min and Scale Max values.
Help text Text that helps the user decide how to answer
this question. Help text appears under the More
information link below the question.
Question Choices The choices a user can choose for answering
the question. Double-click on the row to add an
Field Description
entry to the list. This field appears only for
question types which have choices, such as
Multiple Choice.
3. Click Submit.
An approval for an item identifies a user or group that must approve each request for this
item.
An approval for an item identifies a user or group that must approve each request for this
item. All listed approvers must approve this request for it to be fulfilled; a rejection halts the
process immediately. For example, you could define approvers for a facilities item to be the
facility management team.
Users can view their open approvals by navigating to Self-Service > My Approvals, or by
opening the requested item and viewing the approval in the Group approvals related list.
Procedure
3. Click Submit.
Item tasks describe the work required to fulfill a request for an item.
Item tasks are generated as standard catalog tasks when an item is ordered, like the tasks
generated by workflows. Tasks are assigned to users or groups as part of the fulfillment
process when that item is ordered. For example, an item to request a new laptop could have
a task to deliver the laptop to the user.
Users can view their open tasks by navigating to Service Catalog > Open Records > Tasks, or
can open the requested item and view the task in the Catalog Tasks related list.
Procedure
Add task
Field Description
Short Description A brief description of the task.
Description A more detailed description that provides
details and instructions for the people
performing the task.
Assignment The assignment type. Select User specified to
select your own assignment options, or
Field Description
Predefined to select from predefined task
assignment definitions set by an administrator.
Group The group to perform the task. Appears if the
assignment is set to User specified.
User The user to perform the task. Appears if the
assignment is set to User specified.
You can add sections to organize the questions into logical groups, each with its own
heading, which can streamline the request process.
For example, an item to request a new laptop could have sections for the laptop's hardware
specifications and software requirements.
You can add sections to organize the questions into logical groups, each with its own
heading, which can streamline the request process. For example, an item to request a new
laptop could have sections for the laptop's hardware specifications and software
requirements.
Add the sections before you add the questions to simplify the layout process.
Procedure
Item section
Field Description
Label The section title that describes the type of
questions in the section. For example, you can
define sections such as User Details.
Position A number indicating the vertical position of the
section. Position 1 shows at the top, position 2
is below that, and so on.
3. Click Submit.
4. To edit a section, open it from the related list. By default, a single two-column section is
created for each item.
Publish an item
When you create an item, it is in a Draft state. You can review the item, make changes, and
refine the layout as many times as needed to get the details exactly right.
When the item is ready, a category manager or catalog editor can publish it, making it
available as a catalog item in the service catalog.
To publish an item:
Procedure
Each time you make changes to an item, you must republish it in order for the changes to
reflect in the item catalog.
If you make and save the changes to an item in the Item Designer > Administration > All
Items module, the item state returns to Draft. The live catalog item remains available to
order, but does not have the changes you made. This enables you to make changes to the
item in a staging area, then apply those changes to the live catalog item after review.
Procedure
Navigate to Item Designer > Administration > All Items, open the item record, then click
Publish.
Navigate to Item Designer > Administration > All Items, open the item record, and select
Unpublish.
The item is then inactive within the service catalog, but remains available for editing and
republishing. This is useful if you do not want customers to order the catalog item while you
are making changes.
When you expire an item, it is removed from both the service catalog and the item designer.
Navigate to Item Designer > Administration > All Items, open the item record, and select
Expire.
The item is removed from the list of active items, and cannot be edited or republished.
Navigate to Item Designer > Published Items to view a list of published catalog items.
It is best not to edit an item record from the Published Items module. This directly accesses
that catalog item using standard service catalog functions, not the catalog item designer,
losing the benefits of the controlled publishing environment.
For example, if you copy an item, the copied catalog item is not listed in the Published Items
module. To access this copy, navigate to Service Catalog > Catalog Definition > Maintain
Items and locate the item named Copy of [item name]. The copied item is an active catalog
item. Consider deactivating it by clearing the Active check box until your changes are
complete.
If you alter a question associated with an item, then you can republish the item.
The system may need to create a new version of the item and deactivate the previous
version to ensure that items currently being requested are not affected by these changes.
For example, if you change the default value of a question associated to an item, a new
version of that item is automatically created when the changed item is published.
As a result, you may see multiple records with the same item name in the Catalog Item Table
[sc_cat_item] when viewing all items. The published version of the item is the only active
one.
The catalog item designer adds or modifies tables, user roles, script includes, and other
components.
Tables
The catalog item designer adds the following tables.
For example, catalog items are stored as Item [sc_ic_item_staging] records in the
creating area, as Catalog Item [sc_cat_item] records in the publishing area, and as
Requested item [sc_req_item] records in the requesting area.
Name Description
sc_ic_Section Wrapper class for item designer question layout
sections.
sc_ic_Factory Entry point for all customization of the service
catalog item designer script.
sc_ic_ColumnSecurityManager Security manager for the sc_ic_column table.
sc_ic_QuestionSecurityManager Security manager for the sc_ic_question table.
sc_ic_CatalogItemRecordProducer Wrapper class for sc_cat_item_producer for the
item creator.
sc_ic_Base Base class for all item designer wrapper classes.
sc_ic_QuestionClass Wrapper class for the Question class table
(sc_ic_question_class).
sc_ic_TaskDefnStagingSecurityManager Security manager for the
sc_ic_task_defn_staging table.
sc_ic_SectionSecurityManager Security manager for the sc_ic_section table.
sc_ic_CategoryRequest Wrapper for the category request table.
Name Description
sc_ic_ApprovalDefnStagingAJAX Helper function which can be called from client
scripts.
sc_ic_QuestionChoiceSecurityManager Security manager for the
sc_ic_question_choice table.
sc_ic_ApprovalDefnStagingSecurityManager Security manager for staged approval definitions.
sc_ic_TaskAssignDefnStaging Wrapper class for
sc_ic_task_type_definition_staging.
sc_ic_TaskDefnStaging Wrapper class for staged task definitions.
sc_ic_Question Wrapper class for item designer questions.
Subclass to modify and inject using
sc_ic_Factory. See sc_ic_Factory for more
information.
sc_ic_SectionAJAX Service dealing with sections that can be called
from client scripts.
sc_ic_CatalogTask Wrapper class for sc_task for item designer
functionality.
sc_ic_CatalogItem Wrapper class for sc_cat_item for the item
designer.
sc_ic_QuestionChoice Wrapper class for question choices
(sc_ic_question_choice).
sc_ic_CatalogItemVariable Wrapper for catalog item variables.
sc_ic_ApprovalDefnStaging Wrapper for that approval definition staging
table.
sc_ic_ReqItemApprovalDefn Wrapper for requested item approval definitions.
sc_ic_Item Subclasses, injected using sc_ic_Factory. For
more information, see sc_ic_Factory.
sc_ic_CatalogItemVariableChoice Wrapper class for variable choices.
sc_ic_ReqItemTaskDefn Wrapper for requested item approval definitions.
sc_ic_ItemStagingSecurityManager Security manager for the sc_ic_item_staging
table.
sc_ic_BaseTypeDefnStaging Base class for all type definition staging classes
sc_ic_Column Wrapper class for item designer question layout
columns.
sc_ic_ApprovalTypeDefnStaging Wrapper class for staged approval type
definitions.
sc_ic_CatalogItemRecordProducerService Wrapper class for
sc_cat_item_producer_service for the item
designer.
sc_ic_QuestionAJAX Service for item designer questions that can be
called from the client.
sc_ic_QuestionType Wrapper class for item designer question
types.Subclass to modify and inject using
sc_ic_Factory. See sc_ic_Factory for more
information.
sc_ic_TaskDefnStagingAJAX Service for staged task definitions that can be
called from client scripts.
Name Description
sc_ic_RequestedItem Item creator wrapper class for the sc_req_item
table.
sc_ic_ApprovalTypeDefn Wrapper class for the approval type definition
table.
sc_ic_TaskAssignDefn Wrapper class for task assignment definitions.
sc_ic_TaskDefn Wrapper class for task definitions.
sc_ic_SecurityManager Base security manager class for the item designer
tables.
sc_ic_BaseFactory Base factory class. All customizations should be
made in the sc_ic_Factory class. See
sc_ic_Factory for more information on how to
mount customizations.
sc_ic_ApprovalDefn Wrapper for approval definitions.
sc_ic_getCategoriesForModule Class that gets categories.
The following business rules do not contain independent logic, but simply call methods in
script includes, as indicated below. To find out which business rules call which script
includes, refer to the default class registrations within the sc_ic_BaseFactory script include.
Several types of components are installed with the service catalog management.
Activating the Service Level Management plugin adds or modifies several tables, user roles,
and other components.
Script includes
Service Catalog Management adds the following script includes.
Service Desk
The ServiceNow platform includes a default homepage and a Service Desk application to
provide a basic set of service desk functions.
Both of these can be customized to suit the processes you are involved in and the needs of
the organization.
ITIL Homepage
The ITIL Homepage provides commonly used reports that give an overview of the processes
you are involved in. Access the ITIL Homepage from the homepage icon on the edge (UI15)
or favorites tab (UI16).
Because these reports link directly to the appropriate records and tables, you can use the
work queues and the reports on critical tasks to manage your work directly from the
homepage.
Service Desk Call
Service Desk Call allows ITIL users to create a call record and quickly capture basic
information from a customer contact, before deciding whether the call is an incident, a
problem, a change, or a service catalog request.
Service Desk Call uses
ITIL users, users with the itil role, can quickly capture basic information within a call record
while in contact with the customer.
Service Desk Call allows ITIL users to create a call record and quickly capture basic
information from a customer contact, before deciding whether the call is an incident, a
problem, a change, or a service catalog request.
Service desk personnel can more quickly process customer calls by retaining and reusing
the information captured during the call. Users with the itil role can read, create and edit an
existing call, but cannot delete existing calls or edit a call after it is transferred.
At the end of the call, the ITIL user can decide the action to take.
Transfer the call record to an incident, problem, change, or service catalog request.
Record the call as another type of contact, such as a wrong number.
Activate Service Desk Call
Saving a call record may create two records: a service desk call record and a transferred
record. For systems using domain separation, these two records may be stored in
different domains.
Related Tasks
Create a new call
Related Concepts
Service Desk Call uses
Call transfer
Procedure
If the plugin depends on other plugins, these plugins are listed along with their
activation status.
Some plugins include demo datasample records that are designed to illustrate plugin
features for common use cases. Loading demo data is a good policy when you first
activate the plugin on a development or test instance. You can load demo data after the
plugin is activated by repeating this process and selecting the check box.
4. Click Activate.
Installed with Service Desk Call
Related Concepts
Service Desk Call and domain separated systems
Service Desk Call
Table Description
Call The base table for service desk call that contains
[new_call] all call information.
Saving a call record may create two records: a service desk call record and a transferred
record. For systems using domain separation, these two records may be stored in different
domains.
The service desk call record is saved in the ITIL user's domain. This domain is determined as
follows:
Use the ITIL user's domain if the ITIL user has a domain.
Otherwise, use the default domain.
Any transferred record is saved in the caller's domain. This domain is determined as follows:
Related Tasks
Activate Service Desk Call
ITIL users, users with the itil role, can quickly capture basic information within a call record
while in contact with the customer.
After the information has been gathered, they can decide how to classify that call record, for
example, as an incident.
ITIL users can use service desk call to perform any of the following tasks.
You can create a new call when a user contacts you for assistance with their issue.
Tasks by same caller or company
When you submit a call, two related lists are associated with the call record: Tasks by
Same Caller and Tasks by Same Company. Checking these related lists can be useful to
check for duplicate calls.
Call transfer
Details gathered during the customer contact determine the type of record. Saving the
call with a call type of Incident, Problem, Change, or Request saves the call record and
also creates a new record of the task type selected.
View service desk calls
You can view call records from several Service Desk modules.
Related Concepts
Service Desk Call
You can create a new call when a user contacts you for assistance with their issue.
Procedure
Field Description
Caller The person who contacted the service desk.
This is mandatory if the call type is Incident,
Problem, Change, or Request.
Company The company where the call originated.
Call type A field that specifies the status of the call.
Select a task type, such as Incident, to
transfer the call.
Select Hang Up, Wrong Number, Status
Call, or General Inquiry to save the call
record without transferring.
Opened The date and time when the call record was
opened.
Opened by The ITIL user who communicated with the
customer.
Contact type The type of communication used to contact the
service desk.
Short description A short description of the caller's issue or
question.
Description Additional information about the call that
might be helpful for others to know. This field is
visible to the customer.
3. Click Submit.
If the call type is Incident, Problem, Change, or Request, this transfers the call, creating
another record of the appropriate task type. A message provides the task number as a
link.
Related Concepts
Tasks by same caller or company
Call transfer
View service desk calls
When you submit a call, two related lists are associated with the call record: Tasks by Same
Caller and Tasks by Same Company. Checking these related lists can be useful to check for
duplicate calls.
These list all active incidents, problems, changes and service catalog requests for that caller
or company.
The Tasks by Same Caller list shows all active records where the value in the Caller field on
the Call form matches the value in:
The Tasks by Same Company list shows all active records where the value in the Company
field on the Call form matches the value in:
Related Tasks
Create a new call
Related Concepts
Call transfer
View service desk calls
Call transfer
Details gathered during the customer contact determine the type of record. Saving the call
with a call type of Incident, Problem, Change, or Request saves the call record and also
creates a new record of the task type selected.
For example, the service desk receives a phone call from a customer reporting email issues
with his laptop. When the call is answered, the service desk user opens a call record and
enters basic information during the course of the phone call. At the end of the phone call,
the service desk user decides it should be logged as an incident, sets the Call type to
Incident, and saves the call record. A new incident record with details taken from the original
call record is created. The new incident is handled through standard incident management
processes.
After a call is transferred, the number of the new record appears in the Transferred to field
on the Call form and the Calls list. A link to the new record appears above the Calls list.
Transfer a call to an incident, problem or change
When you select a task call type, you transfer the call to an incident, problem, or change
request.
Transfer a call to a service catalog request
You can transfer a call to a service catalog request and enter the relevant details for the
requested catalog item as part of a single process.
Related Tasks
Create a new call
Related Concepts
Tasks by same caller or company
View service desk calls
Incident Management
When you select a task call type, you transfer the call to an incident, problem, or change
request.
Procedure
Contact Type
Opened By
Caller
Location (Incident only, populated with the caller's location)
Requested by (Change only, populated with the caller's name)
You can transfer a call to a service catalog request and enter the relevant details for the
requested catalog item as part of a single process.
Procedure
The requested item is listed in the Task by Same Caller related list in the call.
Related Concepts
Request a catalog item
You can view call records from several Service Desk modules.
Service Desk > Calls > My Calls lists all calls that you created.
Service Desk > Calls > My Open Calls lists all calls you created that have transferred
records, such as incidents, that are still open.
Service Desk > Calls > All Open Calls lists all calls created in the last month that have
transferred records that are still open.
My calls
The Time Spent column shows the time between creating and saving the call record.
Related Tasks
Create a new call
Related Concepts
Tasks by same caller or company
Call transfer
Service Level Management (SLM) enables you to monitor and manage the quality of the
services offered by your organization.
Service Level Managers are responsible for a set of agreements between a service provider
and customer that define the scope, quality and speed of the services being provided. The
intention of SLM is to provide the customer with an expectation of service within a known
timescale and the ability to monitor when service levels are not being met.
SLM can be used across the organization in departments such as HR, Facilities, and IT to
keep track of how internal and external teams are performing against their agreed service
levels.
SLA definitions
Task SLAs
Integration with other ServiceNow plugins
SLA definitions
Use the SLA Definition record to define a specific set of criteria that would result in an SLA
being generated. You must define some of the following parameters:
Schedule: You can specify the schedule, which indicates valid working and non working
days that the service provider follows to deliver the service. The selected schedule will be
used to determine when the SLA will breach.
Conditions: You can specify the conditions under which the SLA will start, pause, stop, or
reset.
Task SLAs
When an SLA Definition is triggered against a particular task the Task SLA record is
generated and contains all the tracking data for the specific SLA on that record. For
example if an SLA Definition exists for P1 incidents a Task SLA record will attach to the P1
incident record and capture all the data associated with it. In many cases there will be
multiple Task SLA records against a single task since many definitions apply.
Configure SLAs to define a set amount of time for a task to reach a certain condition, to
ensure that incidents are closed or resolved according to the expectations set for
customers.
SLA processing
The SLA engine performs two passes to evaluate SLA definitions and their conditions
based on a task.
Repair SLAs
SLA Administrators can repair SLA records to ensure SLA timing and duration information
is accurate.
SLA for the end user
You can view the details for every task SLA record created for a task.
Legacy SLA engines
If you are on an earlier version of the SLA engine, you can upgrade to the 2011 engine to
make use of the complete service level management functionality.
Installed with Service Level Management
Related Concepts
My Services SLAs homepage
Configure SLAs
Configure SLAs to define a set amount of time for a task to reach a certain condition, to
ensure that incidents are closed or resolved according to the expectations set for customers.
SLA definition
An SLA definition is used to create and progress SLAs, enabling you to use an SLA
system for your organization's tasks.
Configure SLA properties
You can configure the SLA engine, logging, and repair properties based on the
requirements within your organization.
SLA process example
As work is done on the relevant task, the SLA may change stage appropriately, depending
on the information defined for that SLA in the relevant SLA definition.
Add custom business rules to SLAs
Prior adding custom business rules to the task SLA table, you must consider a few points
regarding the processing and calculation of the task SLA based on your organizations
needs.
Related Concepts
SLA processing
Repair SLAs
SLA for the end user
Legacy SLA engines
Related Reference
Installed with Service Level Management
SLA definition
An SLA definition is used to create and progress SLAs, enabling you to use an SLA system
for your organization's tasks.
An SLA definition record defines the timings, conditions, workflows, and other information
required to create and progress task SLAs.
For example, the default Priority 1 resolution (8 hour) SLA Definition defines the Task SLAs
to attach to incidents with a P1 - Critical priority, specifies appropriate conditions for those
Task SLAs, and uses the default SLA workflow to create events such as to send a
notification, when an incident's Task SLA reaches 50% of its allotted time.
Create an SLA Definition
You can create one or more Service Level Agreement (SLA) definitions based on your
organization's requirements.
Workflows for SLA
You can select one of two SLA durations types to define the length of time within which a
task must be completed before the SLA is breached. If an SLA schedule is defined, the
duration works in conjunction with the schedule.
Schedules within SLA
Schedules within SLA enable you to define the time periods during which the SLAs
accumulate business time.
SLA duration and schedules
SLA conditions determine when a task SLA record is attached, paused, reset, and
completed.
SLA transitions
SLA condition rules control how the different conditions you define in an SLA definition
are combined to determine whether an SLA should attach, pause, complete, reattach, or
cancel.
Use SLA retroactive start
You can use retroactive start to retain the timing information for an SLA when a task
record changes.
Related Tasks
Configure SLA properties
SLA process example
Add custom business rules to SLAs
Related Reference
Add custom business rules to SLAs considerations
You can create one or more Service Level Agreement (SLA) definitions based on your
organization's requirements.
Procedure
SLA Definition
Field Description
Name Specify an identifying name for the SLA.
Type Select the type of agreement being defined:
SLA, OLA or Underpinning contract.
Note:
Type is used for reporting purposes only.
Table Select the table whose records will be tracked
by this SLA. This must be a table that extends
the Task table such as Incident [incident].
Workflow Select the workflow that determines what
activities occur in response to the SLA.
Workflows are typically used to create events
that send notifications.
Enable logging Select Enable logging check box to activate
debug logging just for the specific SLA
definition. This includes details of the
conditions that have matched or not matched
and also the before and after values for the
Task SLA and Task records.
Relative duration works on Specify the record against which the relative
duration should be calculated. Select to use
Field Description
either Task record or SLA record. This field
appears when the duration is User specified
duration.
Schedule Specify the hours during which the SLA timer
runs.
Timezone Specify the time zone for the SLA. The
timezone can be definition, schedule, location,
or configuration item.
Start condition Define the conditions under which the SLA will
be attached. If one or more of these conditions
change, then the SLA will be canceled.
Retroactive start: Select Retroactive start
to choose a date and time field from the
task that will provide the start time of the
task SLA. If you select the Retroactive start
check box, the Set start to field appears
offering the date and time fields available
on the task type that this SLA definition
applies to. For example if you select
Retroactive start on a Priority 1 SLA
definition and then choose Created in the
Set start to field, then the SLA is attached
with the start time being the date and time
from the Created field on the Incident.
Pause condition Define the conditions under which the SLA will
suspend increasing elapsed time. If one or more
of these conditions no longer match, then the
elapsed time will continue to increase.
Stop condition Define the conditions under which the SLA
completes. If all of these conditions match, then
the task SLA will complete regardless of
whether it is breached.
Reset condition Define the conditions under which the running
SLA will be completed and a new SLA will be
attached. For a new SLA to be attached the
start condition must match.
Fields that can be added by configuring the form
Condition type Select the condition type to determine when an
SLA attaches, pauses, completes, or resets.
Related Tasks
Use SLA retroactive start
Create an SLA Condition Rule
Related Concepts
Workflows for SLA
SLA duration
Schedules within SLA
SLA duration and schedules
SLA conditions
SLA condition rules
Related Reference
SLA transitions
You can create and edit workflows with the Workflow Editor. The default workflow that is
available with the Service level management plugin is Default SLA Workflow.
The Default SLA Workflow creates the events that send out notifications. For example, it
creates an event to send a notification to the user assigned to a task, such as an incident,
when the task SLA reaches 50% of its allotted time.
Workflows for SLA considerations
As you configure a workflow for SLA, make sure you do the following.
Related Tasks
Create an SLA Definition
Use SLA retroactive start
Related Concepts
SLA duration
Schedules within SLA
SLA duration and schedules
SLA conditions
SLA condition rules
Workflows for SLA considerations
Related Reference
SLA transitions
As you configure a workflow for SLA, make sure you do the following.
When you create a workflow for the Task SLA table, the If condition matches and Condition
fields are not visible because the SLA engine controls when a workflow is triggered for a
Task SLA record.
Note: Do not use the existing Stage field on task SLAs because this field is
maintained by the SLA engine.
The Default SLA Repair workflow provides a basic default repair path.
SLA duration
You can select one of two SLA durations types to define the length of time within which a
task must be completed before the SLA is breached. If an SLA schedule is defined, the
duration works in conjunction with the schedule.
When you define an SLA, you can select either a user specified duration or a relative
duration.
Specifies a static duration period, such as 8 hours, often in conjunction with a business
schedule.
Relative duration
Specifies a duration relative to the start time of the task SLA and is defined using a script.
For example, you can select a relative duration such as End of next business day or Next
business day by 4pm.
If a schedule is selected in the SLA definition, the SLA duration will work in conjunction with
the SLA schedule. For example, an SLA might have a user-specified duration of 16 hours
with the schedule as 8-5 weekdays. If this SLA starts to run for a task at 8:00 am, then it will
breach at 5:00 pm.
User specified duration
You can choose to specify the length of time an SLA must run before it is marked as
breached.
Relative duration for SLA
Relative durations specify durations relative to the start time of the task SLA and are
defined using a script.
Related Tasks
Create an SLA Definition
Use SLA retroactive start
Related Concepts
Workflows for SLA
Schedules within SLA
SLA duration and schedules
SLA conditions
SLA condition rules
Related Reference
SLA transitions
You can choose to specify the length of time an SLA must run before it is marked as
breached.
Select User specified duration in the Duration type field to specify a duration. The Duration
field displays enabling you to specify the length of time in days, hours, minutes, and seconds
the SLA must run before it is marked as breached.
The number of days specified in the Duration field are converted to 24 hour blocks.
Each time you set a duration, an example breach time information message displays at the
top of the form. This will assist you in understanding how the breach date is calculated. For
example, if the current date is January 1, 2015, time is 10:30 am, and the duration is set to 10
hours and no schedule has been selected, then the following information message displays:
An SLA starting now will end breach on 2015-01-01 20:30 (Actual elapsed time: 10 Hours).
Related Concepts
Relative duration for SLA
Relative durations specify durations relative to the start time of the task SLA and are defined
using a script.
For example, End of next business day or Next business day by 4pm. The set of relative
durations are defined in the core configuration using script-based duration calculations.
You can use relative duration within service level management in the following ways:
When you select a relative duration such as Next business day by 4pm, the Relative duration
works on field displays. This enables you to specify the record against which the relative
duration should be calculated. You can select to use Task record or SLA record and the one
you select will be available as current for the relative duration script.
Note: The example breach date information message is not displayed if a relative
duration is selected.
If your task record has a target date and time field, you can create an SLA with a relative
duration based on that field.
Related Concepts
User specified duration
Schedules within SLA enable you to define the time periods during which the SLAs
accumulate business time.
Schedules are typically based on the working hours of the resource or departments to
whom a task is allocated. Configure schedules in the SLA engine properties and in the
definition of each SLA.
Each SLA uses the schedule associated with the configuration item (CI) specified on the
task.
Related Tasks
Create an SLA Definition
Use SLA retroactive start
Related Concepts
Workflows for SLA
SLA duration
SLA duration and schedules
SLA conditions
SLA condition rules
Related Reference
SLA transitions
This impact is reflected in the timings that are taken into consideration while calculating an
SLA.
Note: If a schedule is not selected for an SLA, the SLA will run 24X7.
Consider a scenario where you select a duration of one day, which is 24 hours, and a
schedule of 9 am to 5 pm, which is 8 hours. The SLA calculation will distribute the 24 hours
across three working days of 8 hours each. So a team working on a task associated with this
SLA has 3 days to complete the task before the SLA is breached.
Related Tasks
Create an SLA Definition
Use SLA retroactive start
Related Concepts
Workflows for SLA
SLA duration
Schedules within SLA
SLA conditions
SLA condition rules
Related Reference
SLA transitions
SLA conditions
SLA conditions determine when a task SLA record is attached, paused, reset, and
completed.
On the SLA definition, you specify four conditions that are evaluated each time a task record
is created or updated. For example, for an SLA to attach to a task, the start conditions must
match and stop conditions must not match.
SLA conditions
SLA condition evaluation
SLA conditions
You can set four SLA conditions: start, pause, stop, reset.
Start condition
Enables you to define the conditions under which the SLA will be attached. If one or more
of the specified start conditions change, then the SLA will be canceled.
Select Retroactive start to choose a date and time field from the task that will provide the
start time of the task SLA. If you select the Retroactive start check box, the Set start to
field appears offering the date and time fields available on the task type that this SLA
definition applies to. For example if you select Retroactive start on a Priority 1 SLA
definition and then choose Created in the Set start to field, then the SLA is attached with
the start time being the date and time from the Created field on the Incident.
Pause condition
Enables you to define the conditions under which the SLA will suspend increasing elapsed
time. If one or more of these conditions no longer match, then the elapsed time will
continue to increase.
Stop condition
Enables you to define the conditions under which the SLA completes. If all of the specified
stop conditions match, then the task SLA will complete regardless of whether it is
breached.
Reset condition
Enables you to define the conditions under which the running SLA will be completed and a
new SLA will be attached. For a new SLA to be attached, the start condition must match.
Process new SLAs-- Determine if a new SLA record must be attached to a task
Process existing SLA records attached to a task.
Attach if start condition matches and the stop condition doesn't match.
Complete if the stop condition matches.
Pause if the pause condition matches.
Reattach if both the reset and the start conditions match.
Cancel if the start condition no longer matches.
Consider this evaluation order when you create conditions. For example, if your Start
condition is a subset of your Stop condition, the Stop condition will always match when the
Start condition matches and the SLA will never attach. This includes processing any new
SLAs that were just created.
Similarly, if your Pause condition is a subset of your Start condition, the SLA will attach but
will permanently be in Paused state. As soon as the Pause condition does not match, the
equivalent Start condition will also not match and that task SLA record will be cancelled.
In addition, if you create a SLA definition with a Start condition and a Pause condition that
are mutually exclusive, your SLA will never pause but will always be canceled first. For
example, for an SLA definition where the Start condition is State is one of "New, Active" and
the Pause condition is State is "Awaiting User Info", when the Task is updated to state
Awaiting User Info, the start condition will no longer match and the task SLA will be
canceled.
Related Tasks
Create an SLA Definition
Use SLA retroactive start
Related Concepts
Workflows for SLA
SLA duration
Schedules within SLA
SLA duration and schedules
SLA condition rules
Related Reference
SLA transitions
SLA transitions
Related Tasks
Create an SLA Definition
Use SLA retroactive start
Related Concepts
Workflows for SLA
SLA duration
Schedules within SLA
SLA duration and schedules
SLA conditions
SLA condition rules
SLA condition rules control how the different conditions you define in an SLA definition are
combined to determine whether an SLA should attach, pause, complete, reattach, or cancel.
The way that the conditions in an SLA definition are interpreted, to control transitions in
state, can be varied using SLA Condition Rules. SLA Condition Rules are defined globally,
and can be overridden for specific SLA definitions.
Navigate to Service Level Management > Administration > SLA Condition Rules to see a list
of SLA condition records.
SLAConditionBase script
You can create custom SLA condition class and condition rule records.
Related Tasks
Create an SLA Definition
Use SLA retroactive start
Related Concepts
Workflows for SLA
SLA duration
Schedules within SLA
SLA duration and schedules
SLA conditions
Related Reference
SLA transitions
The SLAConditionBase script include implements the default SLA condition processing.
To view the script, navigate to Service Level Management > Administration > SLA Condition
Rules, then click on the SLAConditionBase entry to view details. The record in the Class
name field is the script include that defines the condition processing.
Note: We recommend you do not modify this script , but use it as an example for
creating your own script includes.
SLAConditionBase
Related Concepts
Extend SLA condition rules
Related Reference
SLAConditionSimple script
The SLAConditionSimple script include is one of the default supplied SLA condition rules.
This shows an example of how you can modify and extend condition processing, by
overriding the SLAConditionBase methods, with a 'simple' variation that interprets each
condition to match a particular transition. For example, for an SLA to attach only the start
condition is checked. This affects attach, reattach, and cancel.
To edit this script, navigate to Service Level Management > Administration > SLA Condition
Rules, then click on the SLAConditionSimple entry to view or modify details. Click Class
name field to open the script include that defines the condition processing.
SLAConditionSimple
Related Concepts
Extend SLA condition rules
Related Reference
SLAConditionBase script
You can create custom SLA condition class and condition rule records.
Custom SLA condition class and condition rule records enable you to modify the logic
around one or more of the transitions involved in task SLA processing. The custom records
can then be applied globally to the processing of all task SLA records or on a per SLA
definition basis.
Create a custom SLA condition rule
Related Reference
SLAConditionBase script
SLAConditionSimple script
Procedure
SLA condition classes contain script to define processing for an SLA condition rule.
Create an SLA Condition Rule
Related Tasks
Invoke an SLA condition rule globally
Invoke SLA condition rules on a specific SLA definition
Related Concepts
SLA condition rules
SLA condition classes contain script to define processing for an SLA condition rule.
Procedure
Within the script in the SLA Condition Class, provide methods to modify one or more of the
default SLA transitions (attach, pause, complete, reattach, cancel), defining the conditions
for SLA processing. For example, the attach method defines when an SLA is created and
attached to a task. The methods need to test a condition, referencing the condition fields on
the SLA Definition form.
Note:
Example
For example, including the following method in an SLA Condition Class attaches the SLA if
its condition matches the SLA's start_condition field:
attach: function() {
return (this._conditionMatches(this.sla.start_condition));
},
The following is an example which shows the format of a script include that would extend
the SLAConditionBase class and provide methods for each of the SLA transitions:
SLAConditionLocal.prototype = Object.extendsObject(SLAConditionBase, {
attach: function() {
// insert script here
},
pause: function() {
// insert script here
},
complete: function() {
// insert script here
},
reattach: function() {
// insert script here
},
cancel: function() {
// insert script here
},
});
Related Tasks
Create an SLA Condition Rule
Related Concepts
Extend SLA condition rules
Procedure
1. Navigate to Service Level Management > SLA Condition Rules and click New.
Related Tasks
Define an SLA Condition Class
By default, the SLAConditionBase is used for the SLA condition rules. This can be changed
by doing the following:
Procedure
Related Tasks
Create a custom SLA condition rule
Invoke SLA condition rules on a specific SLA definition
Related Concepts
SLA condition rules
In cases where a particular SLA requires that specific SLA condition rules should be used,
you can specify the condition rule to be used within the relevant SLA definition form,
Procedure
Note: If no condition rule is defined, the global default condition rule is used.
Related Tasks
Create a custom SLA condition rule
Invoke an SLA condition rule globally
Related Concepts
SLA condition rules
You can use retroactive start to retain the timing information for an SLA when a task record
changes.
When a task record changes, typically a new SLA may be attached, with a new set of timing
information. This is useful if you are re-assigning an incident to another group and want to
attach a new SLA record with new timing information.
However, you may want to retain the task's time information in specific situations. For
example, an incident is raised with a priority of 3 - Moderate and the priority changes to 1 -
Critical after 3 hours. A priority 1 SLA is attached to the incident at that time. You can use
retroactive start to ensure this SLA timing is adjusted retroactively to count from when the
incident was first created, rather than from when the incident's priority changed. This
reflects the actual time the user contacted you.
Note: When retroactive start is enabled, it may result in task SLAs being breached
as soon they attach, which will trigger multiple notifications. To prevent the
workflow from being processed for these breached SLAs, set the
com.snc.sla.workflow.run_for_breached property to false.
Procedure
This option determines the start time used for every task SLA record created from this
SLA definition.
For example, you can select Opened to start the SLA from when the task form was
initially opened to create the record, which accurately reflects the time the end user
contacts the service desk. Alternatively, you can select Created to start the SLA from
when the task form was initially saved.
5. Click Update.
Use SLA retroactive pause
To prevent immediate breaches and notifications when retroactive start is enabled for
SLA definitions, enable the retroactive pause property to apply pause times to the new
SLA.
Related Tasks
Create an SLA Definition
Related Concepts
Workflows for SLA
SLA duration
Schedules within SLA
SLA duration and schedules
SLA conditions
SLA condition rules
Related Reference
SLA transitions
To prevent immediate breaches and notifications when retroactive start is enabled for SLA
definitions, enable the retroactive pause property to apply pause times to the new SLA.
You can use retroactive pause to retain the task's time information in specific situations.
Procedure
You can configure the SLA engine, logging, and repair properties based on the requirements
within your organization.
Procedure
SLA Engine
SLA Logging
configure logging properties for SLA Script Includes and logging output destination.
SLA Repair
Administrators can manage the SLA engine using SLA engine properties.
SLA Logging properties
Administrators can manage the SLA repair function using system properties.
Related Tasks
SLA process example
Add custom business rules to SLAs
Related Concepts
SLA definition
Related Reference
Add custom business rules to SLAs considerations
Administrators can manage the SLA engine using SLA engine properties.
Navigate to Service Level Management > Properties > SLA Engine to view SLA engine
properties.
Type: integer
Default value: 1000
Type: String
Default value: SLAConditionBase
com.snc.sla.calculate_planned_end_time_after_breach
Continue to re-calculate the "Planned End Time"
of SLAs after they have breached
Related Reference
SLA Logging properties
SLA Repair properties
Navigate to Service Level Management > Properties > SLA Logging to view SLA logging
properties.
The Logging level for... properties set logging levels for relevant script includes. This allows
you to activate extra logging targeted at whenever that script include is invoked via a task
SLA. For example, if you know of an issue with the TaskSLAworkflow script include, you can
use the com.snc.sla.workflow.log property to enable logging on that script include. These
properties are all set to Notice level by default.
Logging levels
The following logging levels are available for the Logging level for... properties:
Logging Levels
Level Name Description
Emerg Emergency Total failure.
Alert Alert System corruption of a
database, for example.
Crit Critical Typically used for hardware
errors, for example.
Err Errors Errors
Warning Warnings Warnings
Notice Notice Possible action required but not
essential.
Info Informative No action required.
Debug Debugging Generally not used except for
capturing everything for fault-
finding.
Related Reference
SLA Engine properties
SLA Repair properties
SLA Engine properties
Administrators can manage the SLA repair function using system properties.
Navigate to Service Level Management > Properties > SLA Repair to view SLA repair
properties.
Type: string
Default value: Default SLA Repair workflow
Related Reference
SLA Engine properties
SLA Logging properties
As work is done on the relevant task, the SLA may change stage appropriately, depending
on the information defined for that SLA in the relevant SLA definition.
For example, if an incident is resolved within the time specified, the SLA stage is typically set
to Complete.
Similarly, if the incident does not reach the required condition within the set amount of time,
the Task SLA record associated to that Incident marked as Has Breached. For example, by
default, if a P1 incident is not resolved within 8 hours, the Task SLA for that incident will have
Has Breached set to true.
This example demonstrates how an SLA can be attached to an incident, then progressed to
completion.
Procedure
Note: The default Priority 1 resolution (8 hour) SLA definition record is used to
create and attach this Task SLA.
4. Change the Impact to 2, which changes the Priority to 2 - High, then save the form.
The Priority 1 SLA is now marked Cancelled, and a Priority 2 SLA has been attached,
because of the conditions on the SLAs.
5. Change the Incident State to Awaiting User Info, then save the form.
Awaiting User Info is a Pause condition on the Priority 2 SLA, so the SLA is marked
Paused.
Note: The pause duration on Task SLA gets updated only after the SLA moves
out of pause.
7. Enter any Close code and Close notes values in the Closure Information section of the
incident.
8. Change the Incident State to Resolved, then save the form.
The SLA is marked Completed.
Related Tasks
Configure SLA properties
Add custom business rules to SLAs
Related Concepts
SLA definition
Related Reference
Add custom business rules to SLAs considerations
Procedure
Option Description
Use setWorkflow(false)
a. Prior to updating your task, add a call to
setWorkflow(false) on the GlideRecord
object for the task within the business rule
that is updating the task. This prevents the
business rules from being processed.
Option Description
}
)();
Related Tasks
Configure SLA properties
SLA process example
Related Concepts
SLA definition
Related Reference
Add custom business rules to SLAs considerations
Prior adding custom business rules to the task SLA table, you must consider a few points
regarding the processing and calculation of the task SLA based on your organizations
needs.
Points to consider
Business rule that directly updates the parent task when an SLA is updated.
Avoid writing a business rule on the task SLA table that updates the parent task directly.
Doing so causes recursive processing of the business rules.
Avoid writing a business rule on the task SLA table that updates the default fields. These
default fields are managed and updated by the SLA engine. and any updates made to
them might result in the following.
Fields being ignored, overwritten, or both the next time the SLA is calculated.
Incorrect calculations of other values on the task SLA.
Related Tasks
Configure SLA properties
SLA process example
Add custom business rules to SLAs
Related Concepts
SLA definition
SLA processing
The SLA engine performs two passes to evaluate SLA definitions and their conditions based
on a task.
1. Checks the SLA definitions that do not have an active SLA record associated to the task.
The SLA engine determines if the SLA definition applies to the task and if it needs to
create a SLA record. The following condition checks are performed:
a. If the Start condition is true and the Stop condition is true, do nothing. No SLA
record is created, because the Stop condition overrides the Start condition.
b. If the Start condition is true and the Stop condition is false, a new SLA record is
created for this task using the SLA definition. The SLA record is then set to the In
Progress stage.
2. Checks all active SLA records associated to the task. The engine determines if the SLA
records are changing stage. The condition checks are performed in the following order:
a. If the Stop condition is true, the SLA changes to Completed and becomes inactive.
b. If both the Reset and Start conditions are true, the SLA changes to Completed and a
new task SLA is created.
c. If the Start condition is false, the SLA changes to Cancelled and becomes inactive.
d. If the SLA is active, the Pause condition is true, and the SLA stage is In Progress, the
SLA is paused.
e. If the SLA is active, the Pause condition is false, and the SLA stage is Paused, the
SLA changes back to In Progress.
Actual and business elapsed times
Task SLA records contain two sets of timing information: Actual elapsed and Business
elapsed.
SLA calculation
SLAs are calculated and assessed by a business rule and scheduled jobs that run in the
background.
Scheduled jobs for SLA
SLA has default scheduled jobs to regularly refresh the time calculations on each active
task SLA.
Related Concepts
Configure SLAs
Repair SLAs
SLA for the end user
Legacy SLA engines
Related Reference
Installed with Service Level Management
Task SLA records contain two sets of timing information: Actual elapsed and Business
elapsed.
The difference between these two sets of timing is vital when you create and report on SLA
definitions.
Note: If no schedule is specified, then the Business elapsed time is the same as
the Actual elapsed time. This can be disabled by changing the
com.snc.sla.always_populate_business_fields property to false in the SLA
Engine. When this property is set to false, the Business fields will be 0 or
empty.
By default, the related list for the task SLA record displays the actual elapsed time only. You
can configure the list to also display the business elapsed time.
For example, if a task SLA starts at 2 pm on a weekday, its business elapsed time at 9 am on
the next weekday is 3 hours while its actual elapsed time is 19 hours.
In addition, if a schedule defines an 8 hour working day, then 24 hours or one day in
business elapsed time equates to 3 days in actual elapsed time.
Example
For example, an incident is opened on Friday, December 12 at 9 pm, outside of the SLA
schedule of 8 am to 5 pm on weekdays.
Business elapsed time is 1 hour and 30 minutes because the SLA business timer stopped
at 5 pm on Friday and restarted at 8 am on Monday.
Actual elapsed time is 60 hours and 30 minutes, representing the real time between the
incident being opened and the current time.
Elapsed percentages are also similarly calculated. The actual elapsed percentage is over
750% while the business elapsed percentage is 19% on an 8 hour SLA.
Related Concepts
Scheduled jobs for SLA
Related Reference
SLA calculation
SLA calculation
SLAs are calculated and assessed by a business rule and scheduled jobs that run in the
background.
The mechanisms that control SLA Workflow and SLA Automation are independent of each
other. You may have a requirement to send out email notifications from the SLA Workflow
displaying the current elapsed percentage of the SLA. However, this does not work because
using percentage in a notification only displays the most recently calculated value of the
Task SLA. This results in inaccurate values sent out in email when using SLA calculated
values in a Task SLA email notification.
One solution is to specify elapsed percentage in SLA notifications by using notifications for
each percentage level. For example, an email notification for "75 percent SLA Warning" is
created and a special event is used to trigger that notification. The event can be called
"sla.warning.75". Another solution is hard-coding these email notifications to trigger at a
specified duration percentage, and configure the workflow linked to that SLA definition to
send an email notification after waiting an elapsed percentage.
Run the 2011 SLA engine asynchronously
By default in the 2011 engine, the Run SLAs business rule runs synchronously after a task
is changed and evaluates the conditions for transitioning the SLA state.
Recalculate SLA times automatically
By default when a user opens a task, the SLA timing information for that task is not
automatically recalculated.
Use exact times in SLA calculations
When business percentages are used for SLA calculations, they are rounded up to two
decimal places.
Related Concepts
Scheduled jobs for SLA
Related Reference
Actual and business elapsed times
By default in the 2011 engine, the Run SLAs business rule runs synchronously after a task is
changed and evaluates the conditions for transitioning the SLA state.
You can run this calculation asynchronously for performance reasons such as avoiding
delays when a user saves a new incident record.
Note: In the 2010 engine, the asynchronous Process SLAs business rule runs this
processing
Procedure
3. Click Save.
Related Tasks
Recalculate SLA times automatically
Use exact times in SLA calculations
By default when a user opens a task, the SLA timing information for that task is not
automatically recalculated.
You can enable this information to be automatically recalculated each time the task is
opened, to provide current information rather than information from the last scheduled job.
Procedure
3. Click Save.
Related Tasks
Run the 2011 SLA engine asynchronously
Use exact times in SLA calculations
When business percentages are used for SLA calculations, they are rounded up to two
decimal places.
As a result, breaches can occur when SLA calculations are rounded up to 100%. You can
enable SLA calculations to instead use the business time or actual time left.
For more accurate SLA calculations, enable the SLA engine property for using the exact
value of the business time left if a schedule is specified or the actual time left if the SLA has
no schedule specified.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Run the 2011 SLA engine asynchronously
Recalculate SLA times automatically
SLA has default scheduled jobs to regularly refresh the time calculations on each active task
SLA.
Note: By default, the SLA update (already breached) scheduled job will calculate
either for up to one year after it was breached or if 1000% of its allocated
time is breached. You can set this maximum actual elapsed percentage
value property in the SLA Engine properties.
Scheduled job runs more frequently when the task SLA is closer to being breached.
Related Reference
Actual and business elapsed times
SLA calculation
SLA Engine properties
Repair SLAs
SLA Administrators can repair SLA records to ensure SLA timing and duration information is
accurate.
Repair of SLAs is useful to determine accurate timing information if your system has SLA
records that contain incorrect values. For example, you may need to repair SLA records as a
result of:
The repair function removes the SLA record, then recreates and recalculates it from the
start, including recreating the workflow. The repair uses the history from the Task and if
appropriate will also create new Task SLAs that did not previously exist. For example, a new
Task SLA may be needed if a new SLA Definition has been added since an associated
Incident was created or updated.
The workflow used when recreating the SLAs is controlled by system properties and can be
found by navigating to Service Level Management > Properties > SLA Repair. Any workflow
that is used in the repair process will attempt to follow a repair path when processing the
SLA Percentage Timer activities. This can be used to avoid running activities that are not
needed for the repair over and over again.
You can repair single SLAs from the relevant form or multiple SLAs from relevant lists.
Note: SLA repair is not available on SLA definitions, as running a repair operation
for an SLA definition could affect large numbers of records on your system,
with significant performance impact.
Administrators can set SLA repair properties and view repair logs.
Repair SLA from a form
You can repair task SLA records from the Task form, or from the task SLA form for an SLA
associated to a Task.
Repair SLAs from a list
You can repair multiple SLA records from a list of task or SLA records.
SLA Repair workflow
Related Concepts
Configure SLAs
SLA processing
SLA for the end user
Legacy SLA engines
Related Reference
Installed with Service Level Management
Administrators can set SLA repair properties and view repair logs.
Note: Repair actions will not be available for instances that are not running the 2011
engine.
Navigate to Service Level Management > Repair Logs to view repair log information:
Related Tasks
Repair SLA from a form
Repair SLAs from a list
Related Reference
SLA Repair workflow
You can repair task SLA records from the Task form, or from the task SLA form for an SLA
associated to a Task.
You can also repair multiple task SLA records from a list.
Procedure
1. To repair all SLAs associated to a specific task, open that form and select the Repair
SLAs related link.
2. Alternatively, to repair a specific SLA on a specific Incident record, open the Incident
record, open the SLA record associated with that incident, then select the Repair button
on that SLA form.
The SLAs selected are repaired. When the repair process is completed, the user
selecting to repair receives a standard notification of the repair results.
Note: Closing the progress dialog box does not stop the repair process. You can
go to Active repairs or My repairs and click Show progress to view the
progress dialog again.
Related Tasks
Repair SLAs from a list
Related Reference
Configure SLA repair
SLA Repair workflow
You can repair multiple SLA records from a list of task or SLA records.
You can also repair SLA records from the relevant Task form, or from the SLA form for the
SLA associated with the task.
Procedure
Note: Closing the progress dialog box does not stop the repair process. You can
go to Active repairs or My repairs and click Show progress to view the
progress dialog again.
Related Tasks
Repair SLA from a form
Related Concepts
Repair SLAs
Related Reference
Configure SLA repair
SLA Repair workflow
Workflow usage
The SLA repair workflow is used if SLA repair functionality is enabled.
When the SLA repair function is in progress and new task SLA records are created, the
workflow will follow a repair path through the workflow. The repair path is based on the
result of the SLA Percentage Timer activities. While repair is in progress, the result of this
activity will be repair, which enables the workflow to follow a different path in order to skip
certain actions, such as generating events for notifications. This avoids duplicate
notifications from being sent out during the repair process for each SLA that is repaired.
To specify that the SLA repair function should use the SLA's original workflow for repair
operations, go to Service Level Management > Properties > SLA Repair and remove the
selection from the com.snc.sla.repair.use_repair_workflow repair property.
Note: If you choose to use a non-default repair workflow, or a workflow you have
changed, you should modify this workflow to ensure it includes appropriate
repair conditions on the SLA Percentage Timer activities. When a task SLA is
repaired, the repair transitions are followed for any activities that occurred in
the past. For example, the Default SLA Repair workflow configures the repair
conditions to follow repair transitions.
To change the default workflow the SLA repair function uses, go to Service Level
Management > Properties > SLA Repair and set the com.snc.sla.repair.workflow repair
property.
Related Tasks
Repair SLA from a form
Repair SLAs from a list
Related Reference
Configure SLA repair
You can view the details for every task SLA record created for a task.
Each task can have one or more task SLA records associated with it. For example, the
diagram below considers three SLA definitions irrespective of whether they attach to a task
or not. The SLA definitions for priority P1 and Assignment group Network match the task in
terms of priority and assigned to group. As a result, two task SLA records are created.
However, the SLA definition for priority 2 does not match and hence no task SLA record is
created.
In the task SLA record, you can view the task SLA details such as the stage the task SLA is
in and if it has breached.
In addition, you can get an overview of the timings for the task SLA such as the actual and
business elapsed time and percentage, and the actual and business time left in days and
hours.
SLA timeline
You can visualize the timeline of a task SLA record and follow when the record transitions
from one stage to another.
Activate SLA timeline
You can activate the SLA timeline plugin (com.snc.sla.timeline) if you have the admin role.
This plugin activates related plugins if they are not already active.
View SLA timeline
You can view an SLA timeline from a Task SLA record or from an SLA definition.
SLA timeline tutorial
This tutorial provides an example of using the SLA timeline to determine the reasons an
SLA attaches, pauses, cancels, or resets.
SLA notifications
Related Concepts
Configure SLAs
SLA processing
Repair SLAs
Legacy SLA engines
Related Reference
Installed with Service Level Management
SLA timeline
You can visualize the timeline of a task SLA record and follow when the record transitions
from one stage to another.
From and to dates: The From date and time is first history record of the task when it was
created. The To date and time is the most recent update to the task.
Blue dots: The blue dots signify an update to the incident with the first dot signifying when
the incident was created. You can hover over the blue dot to view the details of the
updates that were made to the task and the SLA conditions that matched the update as
shown in the screenshot below. For example, the screenshot below displays that the task
SLA record attached at first when the start conditions matched and is currently paused
since the pause conditions matched. It also displays that task SLA is in Awaiting user info
state, which is the reason for pause condition match.
Time of the update: When you hover over the blue dot, the SLA Timeline also displays the
time of the update in the time bar at the bottom of the form.
Time spans: The spans displayed on the timeline have different colors to denote the
different stages the task SLA record has progressed through. You can point to the stage
spans to view details of every stage including the actual and business elapsed times.
Retroactive start calculation: The SLA definition is configured to have a retroactive start
and the timeline includes this information when the task SLA attaches to the incident.
SLA schedule: The SLA timeline displays the schedule that the task SLA record follows.
For example, in the screenshot below, the schedule for this SLA is 8-5 weekdays and so
the actual business time will always be based on the same.
Business elapsed time: The SLA timeline displays the total business elapsed time the task
SLA record has accumulated. For example, in the screenshot below, the task SLA has
accumulated a total of 8 minutes business elapsed time prior to getting canceled.
Related Tasks
Activate SLA timeline
View SLA timeline
SLA timeline tutorial
Related Concepts
SLA notifications
You can activate the SLA timeline plugin (com.snc.sla.timeline) if you have the admin role.
This plugin activates related plugins if they are not already active.
Procedure
If the plugin depends on other plugins, these plugins are listed along with their
activation status.
Some plugins include demo datasample records that are designed to illustrate plugin
features for common use cases. Loading demo data is a good policy when you first
activate the plugin on a development or test instance. You can load demo data after the
plugin is activated by repeating this process and selecting the check box.
4. Click Activate.
Installed with SLA timeline
Related Tasks
View SLA timeline
SLA timeline tutorial
Related Concepts
SLA timeline
SLA notifications
You can view an SLA timeline from a Task SLA record or from an SLA definition.
Procedure
Location Navigation
SLA definition Navigate to Service Level Management > SLA >
SLA Definitions. Click the Show SLA Timeline
link.
Task SLA record Open a task SLA record from the task form. Click
the Show SLA Timeline link.
The SLA timeline for the selected task or incident is displayed. It includes all the task SLA
record details and the visual representation of the progress of the task SLA over the lifetime
of the task.
Related Tasks
Activate SLA timeline
SLA timeline tutorial
Related Concepts
SLA timeline
SLA notifications
This tutorial provides an example of using the SLA timeline to determine the reasons an SLA
attaches, pauses, cancels, or resets.
You are viewing the details of INC0010003 and the following three task SLA records that are
attached to the incident:
View the SLA timeline to determine the reason for the cancellation of task SLA for Priority 3
resolution and the duplication of task SLAs for Priority 2 resolution.
SLA timeline tutorial: evaluate canceled task SLA record
Task SLAs are canceled when the task no longer meets the start conditions defined in the
SLA definition.
SLA timeline tutorial: evaluate duplicate task SLA records
Task SLAs are completed in a variety of scenarios. You must look at the start, reset, and
complete conditons to determine the reason a task SLA is completed.
Related Tasks
Activate SLA timeline
View SLA timeline
Related Concepts
SLA timeline
SLA notifications
Task SLAs are canceled when the task no longer meets the start conditions defined in the
SLA definition.
To investigate the reason for the cancellation of the task SLA record for Priority 3 resolution,
you can open the SLA timeline.
You can further understand the details represented in the SLA timeline. After you have
viewed the details presented in the timeline view, you can determine the cause of the
cancellation with the following details:
Procedure
1. Point to the last blue dot in the timeline to get the details when the task SLA was
canceled.
The information displayed when you point to the last blue dot confirms that the cancel
SLA condition matched. It also displays the fields that were changed and their new
values.
Note: When you point to the blue dot, the SLA timeline also displays the time of
the update in the time bar at the bottom of the form. In this case, the
time of the update is November 13, 2015 at 15:32 hours.
2. Note the time period when the task SLA canceled.
The incident notes show that the incident priority was increased during that time, which
was noted as November 13, 2015 at 15:32 hours, from priority 3 to priority 2 per the
customers request.
3. View the start conditions defined for the Priority 3 resolution (1 day) SLA definition,
which generated the task SLA record.
The Priority 3 resolution (1 day) SLA definition specifies that the SLA will be canceled if
one of the start conditions is not met. In the case of INC0010003, one of the start
conditions is not met when the priority was updated to P2, causing the task SLA to
cancel.
Next Topic
SLA timeline tutorial: evaluate duplicate task SLA records
Task SLAs are completed in a variety of scenarios. You must look at the start, reset, and
complete conditons to determine the reason a task SLA is completed.
To investigate the reason for the duplication of the second and third task SLA record, the
Task SLA record Priority 2 resolution (8 hours), you can open the SLA timeline.
You can further understand the details represented in the SLA timeline. After you have
viewed the details presented in the timeline view, you can determine the cause of the
duplication with the following details:
Procedure
1. Point to the blue dot (update to the incident) that is at the point where the timeline
stops for the SLA to view the status of the two duplicate SLA records.
Task SLA record Priority 2 resolution (Task SLA Complete: Stop SLA conditions matched along
2) with the fields that were changed and their new
values as shown in the screenshot below.
Note: When you point to the blue dot, the SLA timeline also displays the time of
the update in the time bar at the bottom of the form.
2. Note the time when the task SLA completed and view the incident notes for the same
time period.
Task SLA record Priority 2 resolution (Task SLA The incident notes show that the incident was
2) resolved during that time.
3. View the conditions defined for the Priority 2 resolution (8 hours) SLA definition.
Task SLA record Priority 2 resolution (Task SLA The screenshot below displays the stop
2) conditions defined for the Priority 2 resolution
(8 hours) SLA definition, which confirms that
the SLA will be completed if all of the
Previous Topic
SLA timeline tutorial: evaluate canceled task SLA record
SLA notifications
Note: SLA notifications are typically only sent to the user the incident is
assigned to. However, when the SLA is breached, notifications are sent to
the user the incident is assigned to and their manager.
Related Tasks
Activate SLA timeline
View SLA timeline
SLA timeline tutorial
Related Concepts
SLA timeline
Workflows for SLA
If you are on an earlier version of the SLA engine, you can upgrade to the 2011 engine to
make use of the complete service level management functionality.
Previously, only a single SLA could be attached to a task via the Escalation engine. The
information for the SLA was stored in the task table using the SLA Due, Made SLA, and
Escalation fields.
Migrate to service level management
Migrate SLA processing from the escalations engine to use the service level management
functionality.
Move from the 2010 Engine to the 2011 Engine
There are several ways to convert the old SLAs to the new Task SLAs.
Convert an SLA to an SLA Definition
You must replicate the default SLA record as a new SLA definition.
Reactivate an old SLA Engine
Related Concepts
Configure SLAs
SLA processing
Repair SLAs
SLA for the end user
Related Reference
Installed with Service Level Management
Previously, only a single SLA could be attached to a task via the Escalation engine. The
information for the SLA was stored in the task table using the SLA Due, Made SLA, and
Escalation fields.
The Task SLA engine now enables multiple SLAs to be attached to a single task, making the
earlier task fields redundant. Their equivalents are in the task_sla table for each SLA
attached to the task.
Task SLA, Breach time: This is equivalent to the SLA Due field
Task SLA, Has breached: This will be true if the SLA has breached, the opposite of Made
SLA field.
There is no equivalent field for Escalation field. Notifications can be sent via the SLA
workflow and an increase in priority can trigger additional SLAs to be attached to the task.
Note: The Business Duration field is neither part of the Escalations Engine nor the
Task SLA Engine.
The fields on the Task are considered legacy and are not updated by the Task SLA engine. In
case these fields are being updated, the legacy Escalation engine may still be running. This
can happen if you have upgraded from Express or a previous instances.
Related Tasks
Move from the 2010 Engine to the 2011 Engine
Organize the migration process
Convert an SLA to an SLA Definition
Reactivate an old SLA Engine
Related Concepts
Migrate to service level management
Migrate SLA processing from the escalations engine to use the service level management
functionality.
The two core differences between the old SLA engine and the new service level
management plugin are that tasks can now run multiple SLAs simultaneously, and the
escalation concept has been replaced with the more robust Workflow Editor. This allows
administrators greater control on what actions, notifications, and events are triggered by
tasks, to take into account more mature Service Level processes.
If an instance has been using the original SLA engine and has just activated the Service
Level Agreements (SLA) Plugin, the old SLAs will not work. For the old SLAs to work, they
must be converted to the new SLA Definition records, which will attach the appropriate Task
SLA records to the matching Task records. This is done manually by creating new SLA
Definition records that reflect the definition of the old SLA. Old SLAs will continue to
function, but any time a task is updated, the appropriate new Task SLAs will attach.
Once new Task SLAs are implemented, they will attach themselves to any new or updated
incident, including ones which already have old SLAs attached. If the new Task SLA is set to
retroactively start, it will automatically calculate the duration from that point in the past,
which means that the duration will still be accurate.
When enabled, the property Compute prior SLA pause time for new, retroactive SLAs (2011
SLA engine only) property calculates the pause time when a retroactive SLA is attached.
For example: if a retroactive SLA attaches to an incident one hour after its creation, and
meets the pause conditions for half an hour, then the elapsed time is half an hour rather than
the full hour.
Note: This property is only used with audited tables. Tables which are not audited
ignore the pause time before the creation of the record.
Related Tasks
Move from the 2010 Engine to the 2011 Engine
Organize the migration process
Convert an SLA to an SLA Definition
Reactivate an old SLA Engine
Related Concepts
Legacy SLA fields
The service level management plugin was enhanced with the ability to script the condition
rules for SLA transitions, giving control over how the conditions in an SLA Definition are
used. Please review the documentation before enabling the enhancements to understand
how the new engine will impact existing customizations
Note: Activating the 2011 SLA engine will deactivate all business rules on the
task_sla table (except for the rule Task SLA Empty Schedule Warning,
which is part of the 2011 engine). If you have added any additional business
rules or customized the default business rules, these will not be automatically
deactivated. So you should review these customizations, and manually
deactivate such business rules, before making this change.
The default Process SLAs rule on the task table will also be deactivated, so any
customizations to this script must be incorporated into the new SLA engine.
In addition, breach information is removed from the Stage field, and stored in the new Has
breached field.
Procedure
By default, the 2011 Engine sets the Stage field to In Progress, shaded red to indicate the
breached status, and sets the Has Breached field to true. The SLA continues to run until
the stop conditions are met.
Related Tasks
Organize the migration process
Convert an SLA to an SLA Definition
Reactivate an old SLA Engine
Related Concepts
Legacy SLA fields
Migrate to service level management
There are several ways to convert the old SLAs to the new Task SLAs.
Procedure
1. Convert the old SLAs to new SLA Definitions, but leave the Active flag unchecked on
each one.
2. Back up the old SLAs by exporting the table to XML.
3. Deactivate the old SLAs, setting the Run the old SLA engine (System Policy -> SLA
Management) system property (com.snc.sla.run_old_sla_engine) to false. This
deactivates the legacy SLA engine preventing both engines from running and
conflicting. This property is set to true by default, but will be set to false by the new SLA
plugins, effectively deactivating the old SLAs.
4. Activate the new SLA Definitions by checking the Active flags on each one.
5. Navigate to Incident > Open and use the List Editor to "touch" each record. As each
record is updated, the new Task SLA will attach to each incident. If there are too many
open incidents to effectively touch using the List Editor, run a business rule that will
update every open incident.
Related Tasks
Move from the 2010 Engine to the 2011 Engine
Convert an SLA to an SLA Definition
Reactivate an old SLA Engine
Related Concepts
Legacy SLA fields
Migrate to service level management
You must replicate the default SLA record as a new SLA definition.
Procedure
Example
The following example is an old SLA for Priority 1 incidents to be resolved on a Monday-
Friday (8-5) Calendar, with escalations to Moderate at 4 hours, to High at 2 hours, and to
Overdue at 2 hours:
This is the new Task SLA created from the same information:
Note: This example workflow responds to each escalation by firing off an event. A
business rule can be configured to respond to escalation events, or the
workflow can be adjusted to match the organization's process.
The Task SLA [task_sla] table stores Task SLA records for the SLAs attached to particular
tasks.
Related Tasks
Move from the 2010 Engine to the 2011 Engine
Organize the migration process
Reactivate an old SLA Engine
Related Concepts
Legacy SLA fields
Migrate to service level management
The Task SLA [task_sla] table stores Task SLA records for the SLAs attached to particular
tasks.
For each task, attached SLAs are accessible in a related list on the Task's form.
Stage values
The following Stage values are defined:
In progress
Cancelled
Paused
Completed
Note: The Breached stage value is also available for systems either using the 2010
SLA engine, or running in compatibility mode.
Timing information
The Timings fields on the Task SLA contain the crucial information powered by the SLA
Engine:
Actual Elapsed Time Time between start time and now (minus pause
duration).
Actual Elapsed Percentage Percentage of total SLA that has elapsed (minus
pause duration).
Actual Time Left Time remaining until SLA breach.
Business Elapsed Time Time within the specified schedule between start
time and now (minus pause duration).
Business Elapsed Percentage Percentage of total SLA that has elapsed within
the specified schedule (minus pause duration).
Business Time Left Time within the schedule remaining until SLA
breach.
Original breach time The date/time the SLA would breach, as
calculated when the SLA is first attached.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Move from the 2010 Engine to the 2011 Engine
Organize the migration process
Related Concepts
Legacy SLA fields
Migrate to service level management
Activating the Service Level Management plugin adds or modifies several tables, script
includes, and other components.
Tables installed with Service Level Management
Related Concepts
Configure SLAs
SLA processing
Repair SLAs
SLA for the end user
Legacy SLA engines
Form message - Example end SLA Definition [contract_sla] Displays an information message
time providing an example breach
time based on the values in the
definition.
Field Message - Pause condition SLA Definition Displays an information message
[contract_sla] on the Pause condition field
when Duration type is not a user
Duration type specified duration.
Email notifications
Service Level Management uses the following email notifications.
Scheduled jobs
Service Level Management adds the following scheduled jobs.
Workflows
Service Level Management adds the following workflows.
Default SLA Repair workflow This workflow is designed to work with the SLA
Repair functions for upgraded instances where
the default SLA workflow may have been
customized. It is equivalent to the default SLA
workflow with the addition of repair conditions
on certain activities. The repair conditions will
skip notifications being sent for an SLA that is
being repaired.
The plugin can be used to document the various business services offered using a
standardized, structured format. This list of offerings can be offered to the user base in a
consumer-friendly catalog.
Once services are defined, the system will start automatically tracking performance
against defined availability commitments. If outages are reported, the platform handles
availability tracking.
Once service offerings are documented and performance is being tracked, the information
can be relayed in realtime performance gauges available to end users. These gauges can
be displayed on customized homepages, or users can view their My Subscriptions home
page and see the status of any service offerings to which they are subscribed.
Installed with Service Portfolio Management
Set up Service Portfolio Management to define business services, document them, track
performance against defined availability commitments, and relay the performance
information in real-time to your end users.
Business service catalog
Scope is an arbitrary detail that is used to define the limits of a business service.
Service offerings
A service offering derives from a business service, refining the parent business service to
a specific business need.
Service pricing
Each service offering in service portfolio management must have a price model and a
price unit that is defined on the parent business service.
Service subscriptions
Related Tasks
Service offerings
Set up Service Portfolio Management
Related Reference
Installed with Service Portfolio Management
Related Tasks
Set up Service Portfolio Management
Service offerings
Set up Service Portfolio Management
Related Concepts
Business service catalog
Business service scope
Service pricing
Service subscriptions
Service 360
My Services SLAs homepage
Service Portfolio Management
Set up Service Portfolio Management to define business services, document them, track
performance against defined availability commitments, and relay the performance
information in real-time to your end users.
Procedure
Create Service Offering records that define different levels of service for an existing
Business Service. For example, you might offer two levels of Desktop Support in your
organization, a Standard offering for upgrades and virus protection, and an Executive
offering that also includes some type of availability guarantee. Create a complete set of
Service offerings, defined by Service commitments which define the specifics of the
offering.
Related Tasks
Service offerings
Related Concepts
Business service catalog
Business service scope
Service pricing
Service subscriptions
Service 360
My Services SLAs homepage
Related Reference
Installed with Service Portfolio Management
A module installed with the Service Portfolio Management plugin enables an administrator
to control what services an end user is allowed to see in the Service Catalog and how those
services are categorized.
The Business Service Catalog retrieves the information it displays from the following records:
To list the business services that you provide, include them in the Service Catalog and
make them active for your customers to see. Use categories to organize your business
services.
Make the business service visible in the business service catalog
After you configure the service catalog entry for your business service, configure the
service catalog to display the service.
Related Tasks
Set up Service Portfolio Management
Service offerings
Related Concepts
Business service scope
Service pricing
Service subscriptions
Service 360
My Services SLAs homepage
Related Reference
Installed with Service Portfolio Management
To list the business services that you provide, include them in the Service Catalog and make
them active for your customers to see. Use categories to organize your business services.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Service Catalog > Catalog Policies > Business Service Entries
2. Click New.
3. Select a Business Service that you want to make it available in the Service Catalog.
11. Close the preview pane, right-click the header, and click Save.
Modifying the line items that appear in each service offering, such as Location and Billed
Monthly, requires knowledge of scripting and Jelly tags. The service offering line items
can be modified by navigating to System UI > UI Macros and selecting the UI macro
named servicecatalog_delivery. For more information, see UI macros.
Related Tasks
Make the business service visible in the business service catalog
After you configure the service catalog entry for your business service, configure the service
catalog to display the service.
2. If the category in which your Business Service appears is not in the Service Catalog, click
the plus sign for Add Content in the upper right corner.
3. In the list of Sections, select the desired category and position it on the page by clicking
Add here.
4. Close the selection list, and then click the Business Service you just added to check the
contents of the Service Catalog page.
Related Tasks
Configure business service entries
Scope is an arbitrary detail that is used to define the limits of a business service.
Scope items can be of any type or granularity and are used to define what the Business
Service can provide (In Scope) and what it cannot provide (Out of Scope). Scope allows an
administrator to grant or deny specific services that define a more detailed view of a
Business Service. For example, Nightly Backups might be In Scope for the Desktop Support
Business Service, but Disaster Recovery is Out of Scope.
The In Scope and Out of Scope definitions appear in the Business Service Catalog page that
end users see when they access the Service Catalog.
To view the entire list of scope entries in your system, add service_scope_list.do to the end
of your instance address and press Enter.
3. Click New in either list to create a new In Scope or Out of Scope definition or click Edit
to add an existing scope definition.
These can be anything that is pertinent to the Business Service and helps define the
limits of the service that is being offered.
5. Click Submit.
The new scope definition appears in the list in which it was created.
6. Create another scope definition or select one from the existing list.
Related Tasks
Set up Service Portfolio Management
Service offerings
Related Concepts
Business service catalog
Service pricing
Service subscriptions
Service 360
My Services SLAs homepage
Related Reference
Installed with Service Portfolio Management
Service offerings
A service offering derives from a business service, refining the parent business service to a
specific business need.
Service offerings are the starting point for configuring Service Portfolio Management.
A Service Offering consists of a set of Service Commitments which uniquely define the
service offering's level of service in terms of availability, scope and pricing. For example, an
organization may offer two levels of Desktop Support in your organization: a Standard
offering of upgrades and virus protection and an Executive offering with the standard
commitments plus some type of availability guarantee, such as 98% availability from 8-5 on
weekdays.
Procedure
The Price model and the Price unit fields are read-only. These values can only be set in
the Service Portfolio view of the parent Business Service.
5. In versions at Dublin and later, select a Vendor and a Contract for this service offering.
6. Complete the form, right-click in the header bar and select Save from the pop-up menu.
7. Configure Service Commitments and Subscribe by User using the procedures in this
page.
Note: Modifying the line items (such as Location, Manager, Tech Contact, and
Billed Monthly) that appear in each service offering requires knowledge
of scripting and Jelly. The service offering line items can be modified by
navigating to System UI > UI Macros and selecting the UI macro named
servicecatalog_delivery.
Availability report
When a service commitment contains an availability guarantee, the service offering form
displays an availability commitment report that is generated on the fly.
Outages
Service commitments for availability can be adjusted with commitments for maintenance
to accommodate planned outages.
Service commitments
Service commitments are specific services that define the unique availability guarantees,
scope, and pricing for a service offering.
Subscribe by user
A service offering subscription for a user enables that user to add subscribed availability
data as gauges to the home page.
Related Tasks
Set up Service Portfolio Management
Related Concepts
Business service catalog
Business service scope
Service pricing
Service subscriptions
Service 360
My Services SLAs homepage
Related Reference
Installed with Service Portfolio Management
Availability report
When a service commitment contains an availability guarantee, the service offering form
displays an availability commitment report that is generated on the fly.
This report tracks the actual availability of the offering. For a 7 day chart, no reporting data
is available until 5 days after the service offering is created. For 30 day charts, 23 days of
data is required before a report can be generated, and for a 12 month chart, the database
must contain at least 10 months of data.
Click the links under the different availability commitments to see the charts for those time
periods. The completed Service Offering form with an active availability report looks like
this:
Related Tasks
Outages
Service commitments
Related Concepts
Subscribe by user
Outages
Service commitments for availability can be adjusted with commitments for maintenance to
accommodate planned outages.
Service Portfolio Management tracks and reports on outages for all Service Offerings that
include availability commitments. Outages are recorded manually and tracked in reports in
Service Offering records and in the Service Subscription gauges added to users' home
pages. There are three types of outages:
Outage: Unplanned outages such as those caused by hardware or network issues. This is
the only type of Outage considered when calculating availability of a service.
Planned outage: Necessary outages caused by planned maintenance or upgrades.
Degradation: Indicates a problem affecting a service that does not result in a disruption of
that service.
Procedure
If you leave this field blank, the system adds a description automatically when you save
the outage record, using the format <configuration item name> Outage. If vendor
ticketing is activated, the system uses the short description to identify this outage in the
Related outage field of the Vendor Credit form.
9. Click Submit.
The outage is used to evaluate the availability of the offering and appears in the reports
generated for this offering.
Related Tasks
Service commitments
Related Concepts
Availability report
Subscribe by user
Service commitments
Service commitments are specific services that define the unique availability guarantees,
scope, and pricing for a service offering.
A service offering derives from a business service, tailoring the parent business service to a
specific business need. A service offering consists of a set of service commitments which
uniquely define the service offerings.
Procedure
7. Enter the information needed to calculate credit owed by this vendor for any contract
breaches.
9. Click New to add another service commitment or click Edit to add an existing
commitment to this offering.
To view all the commitments in the system, navigate to Business Services >
Commitments. You can add, edit, or delete commitments in this module.
Related Tasks
Outages
Related Concepts
Availability report
Subscribe by user
Subscribe by user
A service offering subscription for a user enables that user to add subscribed availability
data as gauges to the home page.
These Service Subscriptions display the actual availability of an offering and indicate any
outages, planned or otherwise. Links on the gauges allow the user to open a service offering
record, open an outage record, or view an availability report. To add users to the subscribers
list, click Edit in the Subscribed by user related list.
Related Tasks
Outages
Service commitments
Related Concepts
Availability report
Service pricing
Each service offering in service portfolio management must have a price model and a price
unit that is defined on the parent business service.
The actual price per unit is then set in the service offering record, which specifies the service
commitments for the level of service delivered.
Set the service offering price
Every service offering that has the parent business service inherits the pricing structure.
The actual price per unit is established in the service offering record using this price
model and unit.
Set price models and units
Set the pricing structure for a service offering in the service portfolio view of the parent
business service.
Related Tasks
Set up Service Portfolio Management
Service offerings
Related Concepts
Business service catalog
Business service scope
Service subscriptions
Service 360
My Services SLAs homepage
Related Reference
Installed with Service Portfolio Management
Every service offering that has the parent business service inherits the pricing structure. The
actual price per unit is established in the service offering record using this price model and
unit.
Every service offering that has this parent business service inherits the pricing structure. The
actual price per unit is established in the service offering record using this price model and
unit.
To set the service offering price, navigate to Business Services > Service Offerings and select
an offering for which you have defined a pricing structure. Enter the Price for each service
unit and update the record.
Related Tasks
Set price models and units
Set the pricing structure for a service offering in the service portfolio view of the parent
business service.
The service offering inherits the pricing model and unit description from its parent.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Business Services > Business Services(the Service Portfolio view), and then
select the parent Business Service to a Service Offering you have created.
2. Select a Price model.
The choices are Per Unit and Fixed. If you select Per Unit, the Price unit field appears.
3. Type the name of a unit to use for pricing, such as service, server, person, etc.
4. (Optional) Type a description in the Unit description field of the service that is delivered
for a price unit.
5. Click Update.
Example
Related Concepts
Set the service offering price
Service subscriptions
Widgets display outage data, availability commitments, and availability performance over
the last 7 days, 30 days, and 12 months.
Subscribe to a service offering
Your users can subscribe to a service offering and they can add the subscribed availability
data as gauges to their ServiceNow home page.
Related Tasks
Set up Service Portfolio Management
Service offerings
Related Concepts
Business service catalog
Business service scope
Service pricing
Service 360
My Services SLAs homepage
Related Reference
Installed with Service Portfolio Management
Widgets display outage data, availability commitments, and availability performance over
the last 7 days, 30 days, and 12 months.
Role required: You must have a role to add and edit homepages and dashboards.
You can add widgets to your dashboard that display availability data for the Service
Offerings to which you are subscribed.
Widgets can be added for individual offerings or for all the offerings to which you are
subscribed.
Procedure
1. Click Add content in the upper left corner of the home page.
2. Select Service Offerings in the content list on the left to display all the choices.
3. Select individual offerings or select My Service Subscriptions to add all the gauges to
which you are subscribed.
4. Select the location for the gauges and close the Add content dialog box.
What to do next
View selected availability reports: Click the availability percentage value (actual) to view a
report for any of the three evaluation periods.
Edit the outage record: Click the icon in the header bar of a gauge indicating an outage to
open the record for that outage.
Related Tasks
Subscribe to a service offering
Your users can subscribe to a service offering and they can add the subscribed availability
data as gauges to their ServiceNow home page.
Procedure
1. In a Service Offering record, click Edit in the Subscribe by User Related List.
2. In the slushbucket that appears, move the subscribed users to the Subscribed by User
List.
3. Save your changes.
These users can now add a gauge for this Service Offering to their ServiceNow
homepages.
Related Tasks
Service subscription widget
Service 360
Performance Analytics provides critical information about historic service performance (the
past), shows real-time data about the process (the present), and forecasts service
performance (the future) for customers. Using Service 360 and Performance Analytics
together enhances the quality of an organizations Service Portfolio by allowing executives
and business service owners to quickly move from strategic to tactical by drilling down to
specific recordsall with just a few clicks.
Note: Service 360 is dependent on Performance Analytics for its reporting tools
and capabilities. As such, Performance Analytics must be activated to use
this product.
Key concepts
Service 360 depends on other applications within ServiceNow to collect the data
displayed in reports.
Default configuration
To be useful as a reporting tool, Service 360 comes with fully configured indicators (both
in Performance Analytics and Service 360), widgets, categories, dashboards, and
treemaps, by default. Each indicator has its own treemap.
Configure Service 360
Service 360 uses Performance Analytics for reporting purposes and to provide answers to
the questions of executives. As such, Performance Analytics must be activated to use this
product.
Installed components
Related Tasks
Set up Service Portfolio Management
Service offerings
Related Concepts
Business service catalog
Business service scope
Service pricing
Service subscriptions
My Services SLAs homepage
Related Reference
Installed with Service Portfolio Management
Key concepts
Note: Service 360 relies heavily on Performance Analytics for its reporting tools
and capabilities.
Concept Definition
Widget A visual presentation of the indicator on a
dashboard. Widgets can display the indicator as a
chart, speedometer, dial, scorecard, or column
based on various breakdowns like time series,
scores, and location.
Related Tasks
Configure Service 360
Related Concepts
Service 360
Related Reference
Service 360 application dependencies
Default configuration
Installed components
Service 360 depends on other applications within ServiceNow to collect the data displayed
in reports.
Note: Service 360 can work without all of the following plugins being activated.
Data is collected and displayed if your organization is actively utilizing the
various tools, like Risk Management and Financial Management, activated by
the plugins. However, if one of the listed plugins is not activated, or is
activated but not utilized, there is no data collected to display in the
corresponding widgets, dashboard, and treemap. These components display
with the message "No Records to Display," or "No data available."
Plugin dependencies
Plugin Name Plugin ID Description
Performance Analytics com.snc.pa.change Contains the out-of-box key
Content Pack Change performance indicators for
Management Change Management.
Performance Analytics com.snc.pa.problem Contains the out-of-box key
Content Pack Problem performance indicators for
Management Problem Management.
Service Portfolio Management com.snc.service_portfolio Allows an organization to
document the business services
it proves using a standardized,
structured format. Performance
against availability commitments
To reap the benefits of Service 360, Performance Analytics Premium plugin will have to be
installed as well. This plugin will allow the user to automate recurring information needs with
scorecards and dashboards and by taking configurable snapshots of any data at regular
intervals. To activate both Service 360 and Performance Analytics Premium, contact your
ServiceNow account manager.
There are additional applications (Risk Management, Project Portfolio Management, and
Financial Management) that require additional licenses to activate the plugins. Once
activated, the following plugins populate the Service 360 treemap and dashboard with
additional categories, indicators, and widgets.
Default configuration
To be useful as a reporting tool, Service 360 comes with fully configured indicators (both in
Performance Analytics and Service 360), widgets, categories, dashboards, and treemaps, by
default. Each indicator has its own treemap.
promoters
(9-10)
passives
(7-8)
detractors
(0-6)
NPS can be as
low as -100 or
as high as
+100; anything
above 0 is
positive, but a
score above
+50 is
excellent. Any
score below 0
needs serious
improvement.
The score
displayed in
the treemap is
from the most
recent
assessment,
usually at the
end of the
previous
quarter.
Operation Number of Incident incident Real time Displays the
Open Incidents Management number of
open incidents
on any given
day to measure
the workload
of the Service
Desk related to
a single
business
service. The
score is an
indicator of
issues with a
particular
service. The
score displayed
in the treemap
is the most
current score.
Note: By default,
business
services
with smaller
number of
open
changes is
shown in a
larger tile in
the Service
360
treemap. To
display the
reverse
(larger
number
shown in
larger tile),
go to
Performance
Analytics
and set its
Number of
open
changes
indicators
direction to
Minimize.
Note: This is a
custom
indicator
taken
directly
from ITFM.
Selecting a
tile that
corresponds
to business
service re-
directs you
to the
business
service
overview in
the ITFM
application,
and not the
Service 360
dashboard.
Note: Real time indicates that by drilling into a specific indicator, real time records
are available to view real time data. The data displayed in the widgets and on
the treemap are from the previous time frequency (for example, yesterday,
last week, or last month).
The following additional indicators are displayed in the widgets on the dashboard.
By selecting any of these widgets on the dashboard, you are able to drill-in further to view a
detailed scorecard for the indicator. A scorecard is an additional graphical visualization of
the scores of an indicator. The basic look and feel of a scorecard cannot be changed, but
they can be enhanced by adding targets, thresholds, trend lines, and useful comments for
significant changes. In a scorecard, the scores of an indicator can be analyzed further by
viewing the scores by breakdowns, aggregates, time series, and drilling down to the records
on which the scores are based.
Jobs collect data for the provided indicators and breakdowns. These jobs are run on a set
schedule, or can be executed at will by the pa_admin or pa_data_collector. All jobs collect
data from the previous period. For example, if the time interval is set to collect data daily,
then a daily job collector collects data from the previous day.
Service 360 uses Performance Analytics for reporting purposes and to provide answers to
the questions of executives. As such, Performance Analytics must be activated to use this
product.
To configure Service 360, create categories and indicators, then link Service 360 to
Performance Analytics.
Create categories
Linking Performance Analytics to Service 360 is a crucial step to enable the Click-
Through feature for Service 360.
Create categories
Procedure
Field Description
Name* Name of the new Category.
Visible by all roles If this check box is unselected, you are able to
restrict who is able to view this category by
user roles.
Additional indicators
The steps to create indicators depend on the data source of the information you wish to
display in the treemap.
Create indicators for performance analytics
Performance analytics is the primary method of establishing indicators for Service 360.
Create indicators for custom scripts
Custom scripts are one of the data sources used to collect data for the treemap.
Create indicators for query conditions
Query conditions are one of the data sources used to collect data for the treemap.
Performance analytics is the primary method of establishing indicators for Service 360.
If the reporting tools from performance analytics are selected as the data source, it cannot
be added to the Service 360 treemap until it is set up in Performance Analytics.
It is critical that the indicator is setup properly in Performance Analytics prior to being
added to the treemap.
Procedure
Important: Ensure that the Data Source field is set to Performance Analytics so
that the previous configured indicator can be added to the treemap.
Field Description
Name* Name of the new indicator.
Category* Select the category with which you want this
indicator to be grouped. For example, the out-
of-box indicators for availability are grouped
under the category Operation, while indicators
for inherent and residual risk scores are
grouped under the Risk category.
Direction* Options are Minimize or Maximize. Choose the
direction that is considered a positive change
for the indicator. If the goal of the indicator is
to Minimize the score, then large value scores
will have larger tiles. The reverse is true for
Maximize. For example, the goal of Risk is to
minimize the risk, so the direction is set to
minimize so that higher risk scores appear
more prominently in larger tiles.
Automatic Refresh Interval Used to identify the refresh frequency for the
treemap.
Active If this check box is not selected, the indicator
does not display in the treemap.
Order The order that an indicator appears in the
drop-down menu and list for a particular
category. The order must correspond to the
order value of the category to which you want
the indicator to belong. For example, if the
category order is 100, then the indicator order
would start at 100 and increase to 101, 102, and
so on, incrementally.
Data Source Defines the location from which this indicator
receives data. The following options are
available.
Performance Analytics, which populates
the treemap with the scores from
indicators created in Performance
Analytics. Indicators must be created in
Performance Analytics prior to being
created as an indicator in Service 360.
Custom Script, which allows you to write a
script that collects data from another
Field Description
application to display in the treemap.
Custom scripts only display on the
treemap, and are not shown on the Service
360 dashboard.
Query Condition, which allows you to
select a table to run filters on to obtain
data to display in the treemap. Results
from the query conditions only display in
the treemap, and are not shown on the
Service 360 dashboard.
PA indicator* Select the indicator from Performance
Analytics that is to be displayed on the
treemap.
Field Description
Group by* Select the field to sort the queried data.
Click Through URL Navigation Type This feature enables the treemap to drill-in to
another display when a tile on the treemap is
selected. For Service 360, when a tile is
selected you are re-directed to the Service 360
dashboard in Performance Analytics. There are
three options: New Window, Current Window,
or Modal Dialog.
Click Through URL Script Edit the sample script using the HTML editor to
customize the URL that you are re-directed to
when a tile on the treemap is selected.
Related Tasks
Create indicators for custom scripts
Create indicators for query conditions
Custom scripts are one of the data sources used to collect data for the treemap.
Field Description
minimize so that higher risk scores appear
more prominently in larger tiles.
Automatic Refresh Interval Used to identify the refresh frequency for the
treemap.
Active If this check box is not selected, the indicator
does not display in the treemap.
Order The order that an indicator appears in the
drop-down menu and list for a particular
category. The order must correspond to the
order value of the category to which you want
the indicator to belong. For example, if the
category order is 100, then the indicator order
would start at 100 and increase to 101, 102, and
so on, incrementally.
Data Source Defines the location from which this indicator
receives data. The following options are
available.
Performance Analytics, which populates
the treemap with the scores from
indicators created in Performance
Analytics. Indicators must be created in
Performance Analytics prior to being
created as an indicator in Service 360.
Custom Script, which allows you to write a
script that collects data from another
application to display in the treemap.
Custom scripts only display on the
treemap, and are not shown on the Service
360 dashboard.
Query Condition, which allows you to
select a table to run filters on to obtain
data to display in the treemap. Results
from the query conditions only display in
the treemap, and are not shown on the
Service 360 dashboard.
PA indicator* Select the indicator from Performance
Analytics that is to be displayed on the
treemap.
Field Description
Note: This field only appears if Data
Source is set to Performance
Analytics.
Field Description
Click Through URL Navigation Type This feature enables the treemap to drill-in to
another display when a tile on the treemap is
selected. For Service 360, when a tile is
selected you are re-directed to the Service 360
dashboard in Performance Analytics. There are
three options: New Window, Current Window,
or Modal Dialog.
Click Through URL Script Edit the sample script using the HTML editor to
customize the URL that you are re-directed to
when a tile on the treemap is selected.
Important: Ensure that the Data Source field is set to Custom Script. Additional
fields display at the top of the form. Beneath the Data Source field, a
sample script appears. Use the HTML editor to customize the script
as needed. The result of running the script must be an array in order
for the information to display in the treemap.
4. Click Submit.
Related Tasks
Create indicators for performance analytics
Create indicators for query conditions
Query conditions are one of the data sources used to collect data for the treemap.
Field Description
Result Limit* Defines the maximum number of results
allowed. The upper limit is 100.
Result Precision* Select the number of decimal digits to display
in the scores for the indicators.
Automatic Refresh Interval Used to identify the refresh frequency for the
treemap.
Active If this check box is not selected, the indicator
does not display in the treemap.
Order The order that an indicator appears in the
drop-down menu and list for a particular
category. The order must correspond to the
order value of the category to which you want
the indicator to belong. For example, if the
category order is 100, then the indicator order
would start at 100 and increase to 101, 102, and
so on, incrementally.
Data Source Defines the location from which this indicator
receives data. The following options are
available.
Performance Analytics, which populates
the treemap with the scores from
indicators created in Performance
Analytics. Indicators must be created in
Performance Analytics prior to being
created as an indicator in Service 360.
Custom Script, which allows you to write a
script that collects data from another
application to display in the treemap.
Custom scripts only display on the
treemap, and are not shown on the Service
360 dashboard.
Query Condition, which allows you to
select a table to run filters on to obtain
data to display in the treemap. Results
from the query conditions only display in
the treemap, and are not shown on the
Service 360 dashboard.
PA indicator* Select the indicator from Performance
Analytics that is to be displayed on the
treemap.
Field Description
Note: This field only appears if Data
Source is set to Performance
Analytics.
Click Through URL Navigation Type This feature enables the treemap to drill-in to
another display when a tile on the treemap is
selected. For Service 360, when a tile is
selected you are re-directed to the Service 360
dashboard in Performance Analytics. There are
three options: New Window, Current Window,
or Modal Dialog.
Click Through URL Script Edit the sample script using the HTML editor to
customize the URL that you are re-directed to
when a tile on the treemap is selected.
Important: Ensure that the Data Source field is set to Query Condition.
Additional fields display at the top of the form and beneath the Data
Source field. Complete the query as appropriate.
4. Click Submit.
Related Tasks
Create indicators for performance analytics
Create indicators for custom scripts
Linking Performance Analytics to Service 360 is a crucial step to enable the Click-Through
feature for Service 360.
Without Click-through enabled, when a tile is selected on the Treemap for the new
indicator, you are re-directed to the Service 360 dashboard.
Procedure
1. Navigate to Performance Analytics > Dashboard > Service 360 and copy the URL
specific to the dashboard you wish to display.
2. Navigate to Business Services > Administration > Indicators and select the indicator you
wish to link to the Service 360 dashboard.
3. On the Click through tab, select New Window in the Click Through URL Navigation Type
field.
4. In the Click Through URL Script field, use the HTML editor to edit the sample script and
paste the copied URL into the script where appropriate.
5. Click Update.
The click through can be enabled to re-direct to other pages so long as it has a valid
URL.
Installed components
Just like Performance Analytics - Premium, Service 360 is a premium plugin. To turn on both
plugins, contact a ServiceNow representative to get the following components installed:
Plugins
User Roles
Additional components can be optionally installed if you wish to obtain additional licenses
for Risk Management, Project Portfolio Management, and Financial Management. Contact a
ServiceNow representative for more information.
Plugins
The following plugins are installed with Service 360.
Note: All additional plugins, tables, and other installed components associated with
the following plugins are also installed when the Service 360 plugin is
activated.
Installed plugins
Plugin Name Plugin ID Description
Service 360 com.snc.service_360 Installs Service 360 functionality,
as well as all of the plugins listed
in this table, except Performance
Analytics - Premium. Contact a
ServiceNow representative to
get Service 360 plugin installed.
Tree map com.snc.treemap Enables support for treemap
view on any application.
Performance Analytics com.snc.pa.premium Performance Analytics allows
Premium the user to automate recurring
information needs with
scorecards and dashboards and
by taking configurable
snapshots of any data at regular
intervals. Contact a ServiceNow
representative to get this plugin
activated.
Performance Analytics com.snc.pa.change Contains the out-of-box key
Content Pack Change performance indicators for
Management Change Management.
Performance Analytics com.snc.pa.problem Contains the out-of-box key
Content Pack Problem performance indicators for
Management Problem Management.
Service Portfolio Management com.snc.service_portfolio Service Portfolio Management
allows an organization to
document the business services
it proves using a standardized,
structured format. Performance
against availability commitments
is calculated and can be
displayed in a homepage.
Service Portfolio Management com.snc.service_portfolio.sla Adds SLA commitments to
SLA Commitments support Service Portfolio
Management.
Tables
Service 360 collects information and data from existing tables installed with the plugins
listed above. Therefore, no additional tables are installed with the Service 360 plugin.
User roles
Roles specific to Service 360 are those for Service Portfolio Management.
If the optional Risk Management, Project Portfolio Management, and Financial Management
plugins are installed, a user needs the following additional security roles assigned for these
applications in order to view the reports in Service 360.
To set up dashboards and indicators in Performance Analytics, the user needs one of the
following roles.
Script Includes
Script includes specific to Service 360 are:
The My Services - SLAs homepage displays SLA result information for the service offerings
(with SLA service commitments) to which a user is subscribed. For each service offering, a
gauge displays SLA service commitment results for the last 7 days, last 30 days, and last 12
months.
To view the number of tasks that met the SLA versus the total number of tasks, point to
the green check (indicates commitment is met) or red X (indicates commitment is not
met).
To open a report on the commitment, click the cell.
SLA commitments
Before activating this plugin, consider the installed components, dependencies, and
impact.
SLA commitments new tables
The Calculate SLA Results scheduled job is added that calls the SLAResultSummarizer
script include.
Define commitments on a service offering with an SLA
Define a service offering that consists of a set of service commitments, which are specific
services. Service commitments uniquely define the level of service in terms of availability,
scope, and pricing. You can define your service commitments with an SLA that allows the
service desk to track whether they provide a level of service in a defined amount of time.
Define SLAs that apply to service offerings
Define an SLA which is a record that specifies the time within which a service must be
provided and you can apply this to a service offering.
Add SLAs as service commitments
Service commitments define the services that are included with the service offering.
Hence, adding Service Level Agreements (SLAs) as service commitments enable the
service desk to track whether they provide a level of service within the stipulated time.
Add SLA service commitments to service offerings
Service offerings define different levels of service for a business service. Therefore, adding
SLA service commitments define the services that are included in the service offering at
different levels of service.
Related Tasks
Set up Service Portfolio Management
Service offerings
Related Concepts
Business service catalog
Business service scope
Service pricing
Service subscriptions
Service 360
Related Reference
Installed with Service Portfolio Management
SLA commitments
The Service Portfolio Management - SLA Commitments plugin adds functionality to Service
Portfolio Management.
In Service Portfolio Management, Service Offerings define different levels of service for an
existing business service and Service Commitments define the services that are included
with the service offering. For example, an organization may offer two levels of desktop
support: a Standard offering provides commitments of upgrades and virus protection, and
an Executive offering provides the standard commitments plus an availability guarantee of
98% from 8-5 on weekdays. Service Level Agreements (SLAs) allow the service desk to track
whether they provide a level of service in a defined amount of time.
Note: Service Offering SLAs run against records that have an associated Service
Offering CI, and do not create standard task SLA [task_sla] records.
Related Tasks
Activate the SLA commitments plugin
Define commitments on a service offering with an SLA
Define SLAs that apply to service offerings
Add SLAs as service commitments
Add SLA service commitments to service offerings
Related Reference
SLA commitments new tables
SLA commitments new fields
SLA commitments business rules
SLA commitments script includes
SLA commitments scheduled job
Before activating this plugin, consider the installed components, dependencies, and impact.
Installed Components: modules, a homepage, fields, tables, business rules, script includes,
and a scheduled job.
Dependencies (installed automatically with the plugin): Service Portfolio Management
Plugin, Service Level Agreements (SLA) Plugin (active by default in the current version).
Impact:
The plugin modifies the Process SLAs business rule to process Service Offering SLAs.
Customers who have modified this business rule must contact customer support prior to
installation or the plugin does not work and SLA results are not evaluated.
A new type of service commitment (SLA) is added to Service Portfolio Management.
Procedure
If the plugin depends on other plugins, these plugins are listed along with their
activation status.
Some plugins include demo datasample records that are designed to illustrate plugin
features for common use cases. Loading demo data is a good policy when you first
activate the plugin on a development or test instance. You can load demo data after the
plugin is activated by repeating this process and selecting the check box.
4. Click Activate.
Related Tasks
Define commitments on a service offering with an SLA
Define SLAs that apply to service offerings
Add SLAs as service commitments
Add SLA service commitments to service offerings
Define commitments on a service offering with an SLA
Define SLAs that apply to service offerings
Add SLAs as service commitments
Add SLA service commitments to service offerings
Related Concepts
SLA commitments
SLA commitments
My Services SLAs homepage
Related Reference
SLA commitments new tables
SLA commitments new fields
SLA commitments business rules
SLA commitments script includes
SLA commitments scheduled job
SLA commitments new fields
SLA commitments new tables
SLA commitments business rules
SLA commitments script includes
SLA commitments scheduled job
New tables
Display Name [table name] Description
Service Offering SLA [service_offering_sla] Stores SLA definitions that apply only to service
offerings. Extends contract_sla.
Service Offering SLA Results [service_sla_result] Stores the SLA result calculations (daily, weekly,
monthly, annual) for each service offering and
each service commitment of type SLA.
Related Tasks
Activate the SLA commitments plugin
Define commitments on a service offering with an SLA
Define SLAs that apply to service offerings
Add SLAs as service commitments
Add SLA service commitments to service offerings
Related Concepts
SLA commitments
Related Reference
SLA commitments new fields
SLA commitments business rules
SLA commitments script includes
SLA commitments scheduled job
New fields
Display Name [table name] Modification
Service Commitments [service_commitment] Add fields to support SLA as a new type of
service commitment.
Task SLA [task_sla] Add field to support SLA calculations.
SLAs [contract_sla] Add field to support new service offering SLA
table.
Related Tasks
Activate the SLA commitments plugin
Define commitments on a service offering with an SLA
Related Concepts
SLA commitments
SLA commitments
My Services SLAs homepage
Related Reference
SLA commitments new tables
SLA commitments business rules
SLA commitments script includes
SLA commitments scheduled job
SLA commitments new tables
SLA commitments business rules
SLA commitments script includes
SLA commitments scheduled job
Business rules
Calculate SLA Result History when a new SLA service commitment is added to
a service offering, calculates SLA result records
for the previous year so that the My Services -
SLAs homepage displays relevant information.
Process SLAs (modified) runs after every task is inserted or modified and
evaluates the Start, Pause, and End conditions for
the SLA. This rule is modified to process Service
Offering SLAs along with standard SLA
definitions. Customers who have modified this
business rule cannot install the updated version
automatically.
Related Tasks
Activate the SLA commitments plugin
Define commitments on a service offering with an SLA
Define SLAs that apply to service offerings
Add SLAs as service commitments
Add SLA service commitments to service offerings
Related Concepts
SLA commitments
Related Reference
SLA commitments new tables
SLA commitments new fields
SLA commitments script includes
SLA commitments scheduled job
Script includes
SLAResultSummarizer calculates daily, weekly, monthly, and annual SLA
results records used by SLA homepage gauges.
Called by the Calculate SLA Results scheduled
job.
SLAResultCalculator used by the SLAResultSummarizer script include.
SLAResultRecord used by the SLAResultSummarizer script include.
Related Tasks
Activate the SLA commitments plugin
Define commitments on a service offering with an SLA
Define SLAs that apply to service offerings
Add SLAs as service commitments
Add SLA service commitments to service offerings
Related Concepts
SLA commitments
Related Reference
SLA commitments new tables
SLA commitments new fields
SLA commitments business rules
SLA commitments scheduled job
The Calculate SLA Results scheduled job is added that calls the SLAResultSummarizer script
include.
It runs nightly and calculates the daily SLA results for the previous day. It also calculates the
weekly, monthly, or annual results after the last day of a week, month, or year. These records
are used by SLA homepage gauges.
Related Tasks
Activate the SLA commitments plugin
Define commitments on a service offering with an SLA
Define SLAs that apply to service offerings
Add SLAs as service commitments
Add SLA service commitments to service offerings
Related Concepts
SLA commitments
Related Reference
SLA commitments new tables
SLA commitments new fields
SLA commitments business rules
SLA commitments script includes
Define a service offering that consists of a set of service commitments, which are specific
services. Service commitments uniquely define the level of service in terms of availability,
scope, and pricing. You can define your service commitments with an SLA that allows the
service desk to track whether they provide a level of service in a defined amount of time.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Activate the SLA commitments plugin
Define SLAs that apply to service offerings
Add SLAs as service commitments
Add SLA service commitments to service offerings
Related Concepts
SLA commitments
Related Reference
SLA commitments new tables
SLA commitments new fields
SLA commitments business rules
SLA commitments script includes
SLA commitments scheduled job
Define an SLA which is a record that specifies the time within which a service must be
provided and you can apply this to a service offering.
Procedure
Related Tasks
Activate the SLA commitments plugin
Define commitments on a service offering with an SLA
Add SLAs as service commitments
Add SLA service commitments to service offerings
Related Concepts
SLA commitments
Related Reference
SLA commitments new tables
SLA commitments new fields
SLA commitments business rules
SLA commitments script includes
SLA commitments scheduled job
Service commitments define the services that are included with the service offering. Hence,
adding Service Level Agreements (SLAs) as service commitments enable the service desk to
track whether they provide a level of service within the stipulated time.
Procedure
For example, an SLA Service Commitment may require Priority 1 incidents to be resolved
within 1 hour (defined in the SLA field) 90% of the time (defined in the SLA percentage
field).
7. Click Submit.
Related Tasks
Activate the SLA commitments plugin
Define commitments on a service offering with an SLA
Define SLAs that apply to service offerings
Add SLA service commitments to service offerings
Related Concepts
SLA commitments
Related Reference
SLA commitments new tables
SLA commitments new fields
SLA commitments business rules
SLA commitments script includes
Service offerings define different levels of service for a business service. Therefore, adding
SLA service commitments define the services that are included in the service offering at
different levels of service.
Procedure
You can run a slushbucket filter of SLA is not empty to view all available SLA service
commitments.
Related Tasks
Activate the SLA commitments plugin
Define commitments on a service offering with an SLA
Define SLAs that apply to service offerings
Add SLAs as service commitments
Related Concepts
SLA commitments
Related Reference
SLA commitments new tables
SLA commitments new fields
SLA commitments business rules
SLA commitments script includes
SLA commitments scheduled job