CI de-duplication experience in CMDB Workspace and in Service Graph Workspace
Summarize
Summary of CI de-duplication experience in CMDB Workspace and in Service Graph Workspace
ServiceNow provides a streamlined CI de-duplication experience within CMDB Workspace and Service Graph Workspace to efficiently identify and remediate duplicate Configuration Items (CIs) in bulk. This capability enables customers to maintain a clean and accurate CMDB by using pre-configured de-duplication templates, dashboards, and task management tools designed for consistent and scalable duplicate CI remediation.
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Key Features
- De-duplication Templates and Libraries: Pre-configured templates contain remediation settings specific to CI classes, such as selecting the main CI and consolidation methods. Templates can be organized into libraries by meaningful categories to simplify management and retrieval.
- De-duplication Dashboard: A central interface to view all de-duplication templates, assign tasks, run remediation in bulk, create recurring schedules, and monitor ongoing and completed runs with status details.
- Insights Pane: Provides metrics on recent de-duplication activity, highlights tasks with errors requiring attention, and identifies tasks unmatched to any template for further investigation.
- Role-Based Access: Specific roles like
sncmdbadminandcmdbdedupadmincontrol access to managing and executing de-duplication tasks within the workspaces. - Manage Duplicate CIs Skill: An interactive guided experience through ServiceNow Otto for CMDB helps customers review templates, assign tasks, and run remediation step-by-step.
- Task Management: Ability to remediate single or multiple de-duplication tasks either manually or by running templates, with options to publish/unpublish templates and schedule recurring remediation jobs.
Practical Use and Benefits
With these features, ServiceNow customers can expect a consistent and automated approach to resolving duplicate CIs, improving CMDB data quality and operational efficiency. The ability to schedule recurring remediation ensures ongoing data hygiene without manual intervention. The dashboard and insights facilitate monitoring and troubleshooting, enabling timely resolution of duplicate CI issues. Organizing templates into libraries tailored to organizational needs enhances template reuse and governance.
Getting Started
- Access the De-duplication dashboard via CMDB Workspace or Service Graph Workspace under Management or Governance sections.
- Create and publish de-duplication templates with appropriate remediation settings per CI class.
- Assign de-duplication tasks to templates and run them in bulk or schedule recurring runs.
- Use the insights pane to monitor task status and resolve errors effectively.
- Leverage the Manage duplicate CIs skill for guided remediation processes.
Create libraries of de-duplication templates in CMDB Workspace or in Service Graph Workspace, to process de-duplication tasks which remediate duplicate CIs, in a consistent manner and in bulk. De-duplication templates are pre-configured with all necessary settings for remediating duplicate CIs in de-duplication tasks, per class.
Use the De-duplication dashboard in CMDB Workspace or in Service Graph Workspace to see an overview and insights about duplicate CIs in your CMDB. The De-duplication dashboard lets you create de-duplication templates and organize these templates into libraries. You can also examine de-duplication tasks and then run a preconfigured template to remedy duplicate CIs in multiple de-duplication tasks in a single operation.
- To learn about general duplicate CI remediation concepts, restrictions, and special cases such as remediations that involve a large number of duplicate CIs, see Duplicate CIs remediation.
- To process a single de-duplication task manualy, using the Duplicate CI Remediator, see Remediate a de-duplication task (manual).
- To learn about Identification and Reconciliation (IRE) processes that detect duplicate CIs and other concepts related to duplication CI, see Detecting duplicate CIs.
Access
- Access either workspace:
- Navigate to and then select Management in the CMDB Workspace menu bar.
- Navigate to and then select the Governance icon in the Service Graph Workspace navigation panel.
- In the Manage group in Management tools, select either of the following links:
- De-duplication Dashboard
- De-duplication Template Library
- To access the Management view in CMDB Workspace to perform de-duplication tasks: sn_cmdb_admin
- To access the Governance view in Service Graph Workspace to perform de-duplication tasks: sn_cmdb_editor or sn_cmdb_admin
- To perform de-duplication tasks, cmdb_dedup_admin or any role containing cmdb_dedup_admin (such as sn_cmdb_admin)
De-duplication templates and libraries
Use a de-duplication template to apply a consistent remediation to multiple, similar, de-duplication tasks, in a single action. A de-duplication template contains the settings that are required to processing de-duplication tasks for a class. For example, how to choose the main CI, which method to use to consolidate attributes, and what to do with the duplicate CIs (aside from the main CI) after remediation. A de-duplication template also contains conditions that de-duplication tasks are matched on. When you run a de-duplication template, the remediation settings in the template are applied to all de-duplication tasks that match the template conditions.
To be able to run a de-duplication template, the template must be in a published state (a template is initially in a draft state).When published, you can create a schedule for a de-duplication template so it will automatically run on a recurring time interval. When necessary, you can unpublish a published template so it is temporarily unavailable for use until you republish it.
Organize your de-duplication templates into libraries to group templates by categories that are meaningful in your organization and to help locate a template. For example, you can create several de-duplication templates, all of which for the same CMDB class such as cmdb_ci_win_server. Then, add all those templates to the 'De-duplication templates for cmdb_ci_win_server' library for easy access.
De-duplication Dashboard
- See all de-duplication templates on a set of cards. Each card shows details about a template. On a template card, you can select Assign task to assign de-duplication tasks to the template, and run the template to process its associated de-duplication tasks. You can also create a recurring schedule for a template such as daily and monthly.
- Select Run all to run all templates, each template remediating its assigned and matching de-duplication tasks.
- Select View de-duplication tasks to access a list view of de-duplication tasks with details such as the de-duplication template assignment. In the list view, you can select Only show tasks that do NOT match any template conditions to show only those de-duplication tasks that are unassigned or unmatched to any template class.
- Select View template libraries to create and manage de-duplication templates and libraries.
- Select the Running tab to track templates that are currently running.
- Select the Completed tab to check the status and details about the final state of a run, such as Completed, Cancelled, or Completed with errors.
De-duplication insights pane
- Total count of de-duplication tasks that were processed in the past week.
- De-duplication tasks that have completed with various types of errors and therefore need your attention. Provides the View de-duplication tasks that need your attention link to access a list view of the associated de-duplication tasks. You can examine error messages and drill down tasks for further troubleshooting details.
- De-duplication tasks that don't match the conditions in any template and therefore can't be assigned for remediation by a template. Provides the View de-duplication tasks that don't match link to access a list view of the associated de-duplication tasks. You can drill down tasks for further details.
Review the de-duplication templates and ensure that they're properly configured for remediating the on-going duplicate CIs that are being generated in the CMDB by newly added data.
Manage duplicate CIs skill
You can use the Manage duplicate CIs skill that ServiceNow Otto for CMDB provides to get step-by-step guidance through the de-duplication process. The manage duplicate CIs skill guides you through reviewing de-duplication templates, assigning tasks to the templates, and then running the templates. The manage duplicate CIs skill presents you with relevant options for your next step, as you go, until you complete the remediation.
For more information, see ServiceNow Otto for Configuration Management Database (CMDB).