Is it OK to delete a Retired MID Server?

[Juli C]

I have 3 mid servers that have been decommissioned and turned off.

Is it OK to delete the mid servers from the MID server list in ServiceNow?

They are still listed in the CMDB as retired.

Please let me know what you think.

Thx, Juli

[Allen Andreas]

Hi,

Yes, you can delete the MID Server from your MID Server list without issue if it's been decommissioned.

This is a common practice and shouldn't be an issue.

Furthermore, just to provide this guidance, here's a support article on how to uninstall the old mid-server to recapture some space, if needed: https://support.servicenow.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0723764

Please mark reply as Helpful/Correct, if applicable. Thanks!

[Curtis2]

As @Allen Andreas stated, you CAN delete but the real question is SHOULD you?

If you are an organization which must comply with SOx and/or other regulatory requirements, ServiceNow, and its component parts, would very likely fall under those regulation.

That said, if your ServiceNow instance falls under SOx, or other, you should probably retire the MID server and then archive retired CIs once they have reached a given threshold.  At our organization, we are heavily regulated (insurance) so we archive at 3 years and delete only after 10 years - or longer if there is a legal hold in play.

In the end, the answer to this question is something you must make for yourself after consulting with your Legal and Enterprise Architecture teams.

[Allen Andreas]

Hello,

Nice points, thanks for adding! 🙂

It would be hopeful that the author had taken those things into account and the question was more so from a technical point of view as if they could delete it, etc.

Yes, one should always know their own organization and retention period for records and assets, etc. and any related audit requirements or expectations.

However, if the question is merely from a technical perspective, then they can address it per my reply above.

Thanks again!

-Allen

[Bob D]

The question was specific to the list of MID Servers in the ServiceNow instance.  From what I can tell, there is no way to Retire a MID Server in this list or otherwise prevent it from showing DOWN after the server itself has been decommissioned (and marked Retired in the CMDB) without deleting the entry.    Unless - does uninstalling the MID Server agent service on the server perform a smart cleanup on the instance?