CI de-duplication experience in CMDB Workspace and in Service Graph Workspace

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 4 minutes to read
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    Summary of CI de-duplication experience in CMDB Workspace and in Service Graph Workspace

    ServiceNow provides CI de-duplication capabilities within CMDB Workspace and Service Graph Workspace to help you identify and remediate duplicate Configuration Items (CIs) consistently and efficiently. Using de-duplication templates and the De-duplication dashboard, you can manage bulk remediation of duplicate CIs, improving CMDB data quality and reliability.

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    Key Features

    • De-duplication Templates: Pre-configured remediation settings tailored per CI class that define how to select the main CI, consolidate attributes, and handle duplicates after remediation. Templates include matching conditions for de-duplication tasks and must be published to run.
    • Template Libraries: Organize templates into meaningful groups for easier management and quick access based on organizational needs or CI classes.
    • De-duplication Dashboard: Centralized interface to view, assign, run, and schedule de-duplication templates. It provides task lists, template cards with detailed information, and tabs to track running and completed operations.
    • De-duplication Insights Pane: Displays counts of remediated tasks, highlights errors needing attention, and identifies tasks that do not match any template conditions. It provides direct links to review and troubleshoot these tasks.
    • Manage Duplicate CIs Skill: Guided workflow from ServiceNow Otto that helps walk you through reviewing templates, assigning tasks, and running remediation steps systematically.
    • Role Requirements: Specific roles such as sncmdbadmin, sncmdbeditor, and cmdbdedupadmin are required to access and perform de-duplication tasks in the respective workspaces.

    Practical Actions

    • Create and Publish Templates: Define remediation logic in templates and publish them to enable running and scheduling.
    • Run Templates in Bulk: Apply consistent remediation across multiple matching de-duplication tasks simultaneously for efficiency.
    • Schedule Automated Runs: Automate template execution on recurring intervals (e.g., daily, monthly) to maintain CMDB health proactively.
    • Remediate Individual Tasks: Manually remediate single de-duplication tasks using templates or the Duplicate CI Remediator tool when finer control is needed.
    • Manage Template Lifecycle: Unpublish templates temporarily when not in use or retire templates that are obsolete to maintain a clean remediation environment.

    Access and Navigation

    Access the de-duplication tools within:

    • CMDB Workspace: Navigate to Workspaces > CMDB Workspace > Management > De-duplication Dashboard or Template Library.
    • Service Graph Workspace: Navigate to Workspaces > Service Graph Workspace > Governance > Management Tools > De-duplication Dashboard or Template Library.

    Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    This functionality enables ServiceNow customers to maintain a cleaner, more accurate CMDB by systematically identifying and resolving duplicate CIs. Bulk remediation with templates ensures consistency and saves significant manual effort, while scheduling and insights provide proactive management and visibility into ongoing de-duplication activities.

    Create libraries of de-duplication templates in CMDB Workspace or in Service Graph Workspace, to remediate de-duplication tasks 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 the Service Graph Workspace store app 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.

    More information:
    • 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 remediate 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

    1. Access either workspace:
      • Navigate to Workspaces > CMDB Workspace and then select Management in the CMDB Workspace menu bar.
      • Navigate to Workspaces > Service Graph Workspace and then select the Governance icon in the Service Graph Workspace navigation panel.
    2. In the Manage group in Management tools, select either of the following links:
      • De-duplication Dashboard
      • De-duplication Template Library
    Role requirement:

    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 remediate 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

    The De-duplication dashboard in CMDB Workspace is a central location for remediating de-duplication tasks. Use the dashboard to:
    • 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 remediate 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

    The De-duplication insights pane on the right side of the De-duplication dashboard provides counts and insights related to the on-going de-duplication processes in your organization. This pane provides the following cards and links to help you resolve issues:
    • Total count of de-duplication tasks that were remediated 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 is provided by ServiceNow Otto for CMDB 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).