ITIL Users Cannot Close Problem Tickets Despite Documentation Stating They Can

[02Admin]

This isn't really a question as I have figured out the answer, but the solution makes no sense. In ServiceNow's own documentation on the itil role it states "Can open, update, close incidents, problems, changes, config management items". This is just demonstratively false, as the role problem_coordinator is needed to close out problems. To add on to the absurdity, this role cannot be assigned to the itil role OOTB because it contains the itil role.... like what? So in order to actually let itil users do what the documentation says they can do, you have to remove the itil role from the problem_coordinator role and then assign it to the itil role.

I have been working on ServiceNow for about 2 1/2 years, and I have been shocked at how bad their documentation I have used has been, especially with spoke configuration and the fact none of them ever mention the need for a service account when setting up with OAuth. I have had to fight with other teams to allow the creation of these accounts because none of the documentation ever states this. Apologies, on the tangent, but please ServiceNow do better on your documentation.

[Yogesh11bhatt]

Hi,

I can definitely understand your frustration here.

What the documentation says and what actually happens in the platform don't always line up perfectly. The itil role does allow users to work with Problems, but certain actions—such as closing a Problem—are often controlled by additional roles like problem_coordinator.

The reason you can't simply assign problem_coordinator to itil is because problem_coordinator already contains itil. ServiceNow prevents circular role relationships, so that part is expected behavior, even if it feels confusing.

One thing I would be cautious about is modifying the out-of-the-box role hierarchy (for example, removing itil from problem_coordinator). That can create headaches during upgrades and future maintenance.

A cleaner approach would be to create a custom role that grants only the permissions needed to close Problems and assign that role to the appropriate users alongside itil.

As for the documentation comments, you're not alone. Many of us have run into situations where the documentation provides the high-level capability but doesn't explain all the underlying role requirements, ACLs, plugin dependencies, or integration prerequisites. It can definitely lead to some unexpected troubleshooting.

Thanks for sharing your findings—it will likely save someone else a lot of time.

Thanks,
Yogesh Bhatt