Software Model record created with all fields empty (Created by = system, Created source = empty)

MichelleS384771
Tera Contributor

3 weeks ago

Hi everyone,

I’m investigating an issue in ServiceNow SAM where a Software Model record (cmdb_software_product_model) is being created with all fields empty.

 

Observed details of the Software Model record:

  • Display name: empty
  • Publisher: empty
  • Product: empty
  • Product type: empty
  • Created by: system
  • Created source: (empty)
MichelleS384771_0-1777999343363.png

Important sequence identified:

  1. A Removal Candidate (samp_sw_reclamation_candidate) is created first.
  2. After the Removal Candidate creation, the system creates a Software Model record with all fields empty.

 

Questions

  1. Is this behavior expected by design?
  2. Which process / script path is responsible for creating this empty Software Model?
    • Business Rule on samp_sw_subscription?
    • Scheduled SAM job?
    • Protected OOB Script Include?

Any confirmation, documentation links, or pointers to the relevant OOB logic would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

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2 REPLIES 2

Vishnu-K
Kilo Sage

3 weeks ago

Hi @MichelleS384771 ,

Is it expected?

Partially. SAM has a system property that auto-creates Software Model records (cmdb_software_product_model) when no matching model is found. These get stamped with created_source = system_property and created_by = system. But yours has created_source empty too — that's the anomaly and means it's not coming from the property path. Reference: https://www.servicenow.com/community/sam-articles/automatic-software-model-creation-on-servicenow-sa...

 

What's actually creating it?

Based on the sequence you described (Removal Candidate - empty Software Model), the trigger is almost certainly the "SAM - Identifying New Reclamation Candidates" scheduled job. When it hits an install with an incomplete normalization path, it tries to reference or create a Software Model but has nothing to populate - so it inserts an empty record. Others have hit the same thing: https://www.servicenow.com/community/sam-forum/removal-candidates-are-getting-created-with-empty-fie...

 

If it helped you please do mark it as helpful and accept the solution

 

Thanks,

Vishnu

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MichelleS384771
Tera Contributor

3 weeks ago

Hello @Vishnu-K, 

Thanks for the clarification — that helps a lot.

 

While reviewing the issue further, we noticed a clear pattern:

  • The empty Software Model / Product on RCC only occurs for Power BI and Microsoft Teams
  • Both of these have reclamation rules where the Software Product is left empty
  • These empty‑scoped reclamation rules were created manually by a user, not by the system
As shown in the image below, a Teams reclamation rule that is explicitly scoped to a Software Product does populate the Software Model and related fields correctly on the RCC. This further suggests that the issue is tied to reclamation rules with an empty Software Product scope.
MichelleS384771_0-1778174128560.png

 

Given that the empty software models are created after the reclamation candidate, can you please confirm if the recommended approach is to disable or remove reclamation rules with an empty Software Product scope to prevent this behavior?
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