What is the app/plugin "CSDM Activation" mentioned in "Migrate to CSDM life cycle standards"?

[Johannes]

In the article "Migrate to CSDM life cycle standards", it says:
"What to do next
After the data has migrated successfully, you can start managing data following the CSDM model:
1. Activate the CSDM Activation (com.snc.cmdb.csdm.activation) plugin."
https://docs.servicenow.com/en-US/bundle/utah-servicenow-platform/page/product/configuration-managem...

I see that we have a downloadable app with that name, but the only description is "Indicates activation of CSDM support.".

There is no app with that name in the ServiceNow Store, so I can not find any more information regarding this.

What is the purpose of this app, where can I read more about it, why does the "Migrate to CSDM life cycle standards" documentation advice us to install it it?

[Alec Hanson]

Hi @Johannes ,

I have been working with this quite a bit recently.

First question I have though is why do you need to know what the plugin "CSDM Activation" actually does?

I can not see that it does anything, but I have activated anyway in case there is some code that checks this plugin is installed, rather than just checking the system property.

With regards whether installing "CSDM Activation" is a prerequisite to start the using CMDB Data Manager, according to the documentation it is, in that Activating the CSDM Lifecyles is a pre-requisite and activating this plugin is part of the CSDM Lifecycle setup.

Note: This pre-requisite is being removed in Utah

From my experience I would avoid activating the CSDM Lifecycles just yet as it is clearly not quite mature enough, I have numerous Support Cases and will likely have to customise the product to get it working as it seems it should.

Thanks

[Johannes]

Hi @Alec Hanson 
Why I need to know what the plugin "CSDM Activation" actually does":

- I must know what I install on our platform, and I would expect Servicenow to describe the purpose of things they want us to install. I do not want to install things not needed, and we have had several cases where OOTB plugin installation has messed up our platform by creating ACL on sys_properies etc., so both checking what is actually installed, what SN says it does and document why we need to install it is mandatory in our company (and in my mind, should be everywhere:).

Reason for us to migrate is really just to be able to use the Data Manager, but if it will cause trouble, it might of course not be worth it yet. Can you share what issues you are experiencing?

[DonnaOlsen]

It provides the synchronized use of the new product lifecycles with the legacy lifecycles.  When you enable this, you can continue to use the legacy values while new values are mapped.  It allows a smoother transition when migrating over to the new values. Check out the NowCreate file: CMDB - Lifecycle Stage and Status.

https://nowlearning.servicenow.com/nowcreate/en/pages/assets?id=nc_asset&nc_ai_search=true&sys_id=fb... 

"

• Common Service Data Model (CSDM) provides standard fields and values for tracking life cycle stages and stage statuses for CIs. Using these standard values consistently across applications helps to effectively track assets through their life cycle transitions"