How to trace customizations in ServiceNow?

[Anish Reghu]

Dear platform experts,

We all know customizations are an unavoidable feature of ServiceNow, when it comes to real-time customer instances.

If we have a use case wherein there is a task to capture the customizations on a given instance, can someone elaborate on all the possible ways of tracing it?

Some of the known ones are:

• Visit the list of tables (sys_db_object) and check for custom tables (starts with u_)
• Visit the attribute or column list of base tables (cmdb_ci, task and extended tables) or base process tables (incident, etc.) and check for custom attributes in it (starts with u_)
• Check for custom applications (sys_app.LIST)

Where else can I trace customizations? Along with your suggestions kindly suggest the shortcuts or navigations on the instance where to find them.

I hope this post does help many other looking for this info.

Regards,

Anish

[HIROSHI SATOH]

Tracing ServiceNow Customizations

Building on Your Foundation

You've already identified some key areas for investigating customizations:

• Custom tables: sys_db_object with name starting with 'u_'
• Custom attributes: sys_dictionary entries with name starting with 'u_' on base tables
• Custom applications: sys_app table

Expanding the Search

To get a comprehensive view of customizations, consider these additional areas:

1. Business Rules, Client Scripts, UI Actions, UI Policies:

• Location: System Definition > Business Rules, Client Scripts, UI Actions, UI Policies
• Shortcut: sys_script, sys_script_client, sys_ui_action, sys_ui_policy
• Look for: Customizations often involve scripting to modify behavior.

2. UI Pages and Components:

• Location: System UI > UI Pages, Components
• Shortcut: sys_ui_page, sys_ui_component
• Look for: Customizations to the user interface usually involve modifications to these elements.

3. Dictionaries:

• Location: System Definition > Dictionaries
• Shortcut: sys_dictionary
• Look for: Custom fields, options, and choices can be found here.

4. Workflows:

• Location: System Workflow > Workflows
• Shortcut: sys_workflow
• Look for: Custom workflow definitions and actions.

5. Notifications:

• Location: System Notification > Notifications
• Shortcut: sys_notification
• Look for: Custom notifications and email templates.

6. Reports:

• Location: System Reporting > Reports
• Shortcut: sys_report
• Look for: Custom reports and report templates.

7. Data Policy Rules:

• Location: System Policy > Data Policy Rules
• Shortcut: sys_data_policy_rule
• Look for: Custom access controls and data masking rules.

8. Import Sets:

• Location: System Import Sets > Import Sets
• Shortcut: sys_import_set
• Look for: Custom import mappings and transformations.

Advanced Techniques

For a more in-depth analysis, consider these approaches:

• Update Sets: Use the sys_update_set table to track changes made to the instance.
• Application Scopes: Examine applications and their scopes to identify isolated customizations.
• Database Queries: Write custom queries to extract specific information about customizations.

Additional Tips

• Use Filters: When searching tables, use filters to narrow down results (e.g., name STARTSWITH 'u_').
• Leverage the Search Bar: ServiceNow has a powerful search bar that can be used to find specific records.
• Consider a Scripting Tool: A scripting tool can automate the process of identifying customizations.

By combining these methods, you can gain a comprehensive understanding of the customizations on your ServiceNow instance. Remember that the depth of your analysis will depend on the specific requirements of your use case.

[Anish Reghu]

Thank you very much @HIROSHI SATOH, much appreciated. One more challenge that I face is - while I visit configurations like the Business rules, etc. while trying to trace the customizations done, the records in there are found to be updated by OOTB user names like system, glide.maint, etc.

How do we then differentiate the customizations marked on OOTB user names than the OOTB configurations? Do we have to manually compare the configurations then with OOTB instance records?

Regards,

Anish

[Mark Roethof · Accepted solution]

Hi there,

With Washington DC "sys_metadata_customization" was added, which gives a nice overview. I also like having a look at "sys_update_xml".

There's absolutely NO need to go into separate things like Business Rules, Client Script, Workflows, etc.. The above I mentioned will provide you almost everything. What not? When its not captured as Customer update / not captured in an Update Set / when its treated as data. 

[Anish Reghu]

Loved this. Thank you so very much!

Kind of a lottery... 😍

Regards,

Anish