How to Make a Software Catalog Public in CSM portal

[Community Alums]

My university recently implemented a Software Catalog and we would like to make it available and searchable without needing to log in.

We use the CSM portal (because as a university we want to allow prospective students, and the parents of students to look up information and submit issues when necessary).

When researching this online there are instructions to either make the "Available For" public or to leave it blank. However there is no Available For related-links type section on the form at all. In the URL I can see that the item is from the pc_software_cat_item table which I have learned extends the pc_product_cat_item table.

Do I need to make that table available publicly?

Any help would be appreciated.

[Ben_Barker · Accepted solution]

Hi @Community Alums !

To make a catalog item publicly visible in the ServiceNow CSM portal, the visibility must be configured at the catalog item level, not at the catalog level itself.

1. 
   Use User Criteria with snc_external role
   Create a User Criteria that leverages the snc_external role and assign it to the catalog item via the "Available For" related list. Leave "Not Available For" empty.
   These related lists are found on the catalog item record (e.g., from the pc_software_cat_item table, which extends pc_product_cat_item).
2. Ensure the portal page is public
   The page used to display the item (e.g., csm_sc_cat_item) must be set to public=true so unauthenticated users can access it.
3. Reference variables and ACLs
   If the item uses variables that reference other tables (e.g., Lookup Select Box), make sure those tables have read ACLs for the public role and are added to sys_public if needed.
4. Avoid incompatible variable types
   Checkbox variables are not supported for public access. Use Yes/No or Lookup Select Box instead.

The answer here from @Andrei Silva is also great!
Solved: How to make catalog item public ? - ServiceNow Community

I hope this helps!