Issue with Product Discovery in ACC-V

[satheeshnkl]

Hi All,

I’m using the ACC-V tool for discovery, but I’ve noticed that while some products appear in the 'cmdb_sam_sw_install' table, they aren’t being populated in the 'samp_sw_usage' table. Has anyone encountered this issue before? Is there a known limitation within ACC-V that could be preventing certain products from being discovered or listed in the table?

Any insights or solutions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Satheesh

[Jon Tickle]

As well as creating 'Reclamation Rules' (samp_sw_reclamation_rule), you also need to have Product Processes before Software Usage data is loaded.

Product Processes are essentially the physical file names (*.app or *.exe) of the installed software.

I know that the original post was about ACC-V but as an aside, it's worth noting that if you're using Microsoft SCCM, the 'SQL Statement' fields in both the 'Software Last Used' and 'SAMP Usage' Data Sources are maintained dynamically using the 'File Name' field in the Product Processes table.

The behaviour of the 'SQL Statement' fields are controlled by a couple of Business Rules:
Set Query in SCCM Software Last Used DS
Set Query in SCCM SAMP Usage DS

Anyway, enough about SCCM; back to ACC-V:

The SAM Content Service doesn't seem to contain a huge number of 'Software product processes' (samp_sw_product_process) - a few thousand records versus hundreds of thousands of records in the 'Software Product' (samp_sw_product) table.

Therefore you'll need to create records manually in the 'Custom Product Processes' (samp_custom_product_process) table. (This is an extension of the 'Software product processes' table.)

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to do this:
(i) You can interrogate the SCCM/MECM console if you're still using this.
(ii) Or you can examine the 'Name' field and/or eyeball the file path in the 'Command' field in the 'Running Processes' (cmdb_running_process) table. 

Then you'll need to match your understanding of the discovered executables to the 'Software Installations' (cmdb_sam_sw_install) table.  I recommend that you start there because you can often compare version numbers between the Running Processes and Software Installations tables in order to improve your confidence in the match.

Once you have match, click through to the Software Product, create a Custom Product Process and populate the 'File Name' field with the 'Name' field from the Running Processes table.

Simples!  Or not.  Anyone who can work out how to automate this process will win a Nobel prize!

Tips:
1. Be proactive. You don't want to have to find the names of executables retrospectively if you can help it.
2. Engage with your software packaging team and get them to associate 'Software Packages' (cmdb_ci_spkg) to 'Software Models' (cmdb_software_product_model).  From there, they can add a Custom Product Process to the Software Product.  

3. Engage with Procurement, Enterprise Architects and vendors - get them to give you the names of executables before you sign the purchase orders.
4. Make sure that Custom Product Process is a related list on the Software Product form and that the 'New' button is active.

5. Include the 'Discovery model.Product' column in the list view of the Software Installation table so that you can navigate easily to the Software Product.

[AJ-TechTrek]

Hi @satheeshnkl ,

Great and very relevant question! Let’s walk through this step by step so it’s clear why this can happen, what the known ServiceNow limitations are with ACC‑V (Agent Client Collector for Visibility), and what you can do to troubleshoot and fix it.

1. Understanding the behavior
In ServiceNow SAM (Software Asset Management), discovery and population into SAM tables is typically split like this

cmdb_sam_sw_install Captures what software is installed on the devices.
samp_sw_usage Captures actual usage data: whether the software has been run/executed (helpful for reclaim, true-up, etc.).
ACC‑V primarily discovers installed software, populating cmdb_sam_sw_install.
 Usage data in samp_sw_usage requires additional data collection beyond the standard installation discovery.

2.Known limitation / why you see missing data in samp_sw_usage

1. ACC‑V by default does not track usage data
* ACC‑V focuses on file and software inventory, not on process execution history or usage metering.
* Usage metering typically relies on:
* ServiceNow Client Software Metering agent
* SCCM metering data
* BigFix metering data
* Tanium or other discovery integrations

2. Missing meter rules
* If you don’t have active software metering rules configured, nothing triggers population into samp_sw_usage.

3. Not all products can be metered
* Some products (e.g., utilities, background services, drivers) don’t generate executable runs that can be metered.
* ACC‑V cannot detect usage for software that doesn’t have a distinct process (like .exe) or if the executable is never launched.

3. Step-by-step solution / what you should do

Step 1: Confirm ACC‑V scope
* Double-check that ACC‑V is configured to send all software inventory to ServiceNow.
* Review the agent policy → confirm inclusion of all relevant file patterns.

Step 2: Check SAM Metering Rules
* Go to Software Asset > Administration > Metered Software.
* Confirm there are active metering rules for the products you want to track.
* If missing, create new metering rules:
* Identify the product, vendor, version.
* Specify the executable file(s) you want to meter.
* Publish the rules and wait for data collection.

Step 3: Enable software metering data source
* By default, ACC‑V doesn’t send usage data.
* To populate samp_sw_usage, you need:
* SCCM metering connector
* Tanium connector (with usage data)
* ServiceNow Client Software Metering (requires deploying a separate agent).
* Configure the connector under Discovery > Integration.

Step 4: Validate product coverage
* Some products may not produce usage signals (background services, drivers, etc.).
* For these, only installation data will appear; usage data won’t.

🔄 Step 5: Run reconciliation
* Once metering data starts arriving, run the SAM reconciliation job:
* Software Asset > Reconciliation > Run reconciliation.
* Confirm new entries in samp_sw_usage.

key points
ACC‑V discovers installations → populates cmdb_sam_sw_install.
samp_sw_usage requires:
* Metering rules (to tell ServiceNow what executables to track).
* Data source that can supply usage telemetry (SCCM, Tanium, client metering).
⚠ ACC‑V alone does not provide usage → known product limitation.

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Thank You
AJ - TechTrek with AJ
LinkedIn:- https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajay-kumar-66a91385/
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ServiceNow Community MVP 2025