Software Asset Management Foundation plugin migration

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated July 20, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Software Asset Management Foundation plugin migration

    This document guides ServiceNow customers through migrating from the Software Asset Management (SAM) plugin to the Software Asset Management Foundation plugin. The migration unlocks more powerful asset management features but requires both automatic system changes during plugin activation and manual customer actions afterward to complete customization updates and configuration.

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    Automatic Changes During Activation

    • Table Renaming: Key tables are renamed to reflect new terminology:
      • Software License [almlicense] → Software Entitlement
      • User Entitlement [almentitlementuser] → User Allocations
      • Device Entitlement [almentitlementasset] → Device Allocations
    • New tables and script includes are added to support enhanced functionality.
    • License key values from Software Entitlements are copied to the License Key table.
    • Field Adjustments:
      • Inference mandatory field values transfer from software suites to a new Mandatory field.
      • Rights fields are renamed and split, with "Rights" renamed to "Active rights" and a new "Purchased rights" field created.
      • Software entitlement allocations are aligned to associated software models, consolidating multiple allocations per user/device into aggregated records with quantity counts.
    • Forms and lists for Software Models, Entitlements, Discovery Models, and Software Installations are updated to fit the new plugin framework.

    Manual Customer Actions Required

    • Overwrite any previous customizations for forms and lists affected by the plugin migration, as automatic updates do not overwrite these.
    • Manually configure certain fields in software models, entitlements, and user/device allocation forms to align with the new schema.

    Functionality Changes

    • Disabled Features:
      • SAM License Counters scheduled job is deactivated, disabling software counters.
      • Auto-match functionality for linking discovery models to software models is disabled.
      • The original Software Asset Management plugin navigation menu is renamed and deactivated.
      • Legacy business rules related to discovery models are disabled.

    Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers

    By migrating to the Software Asset Management Foundation plugin, customers gain access to enhanced features and a more modern asset management framework. However, successful migration demands attention to manual configuration tasks post-activation, especially regarding customized forms and allocation fields. Customers should plan accordingly to overwrite customizations and verify configuration to ensure continuity and leverage the new capabilities fully.

    Migrate from the Software Asset Management plugin to the Software Asset Management Foundation plugin to take advantage of more powerful features. Manual actions by the customer are required after plugin activation.

    After automatic changes are performed during plugin activation, successful migration from the Software Asset Management (com.snc.software_asset_management) plugin to the Software Asset Management Foundation (com.snc.sams) plugin requires a Overwrite customizations for Software Asset Management migration to be performed by the customer.

    Customizations to forms and lists may need to be manually overwritten by the customer after plugin activation. In addition, certain fields in software models, software entitlements, user/device allocations forms require manual configuration by the customer after plugin activation.

    Automatic changes

    The Software Asset Management Foundation (com.snc.sams) plugin performs these automatic changes:
    • Tables
      • Table labels renamed
        Table Original Label New Label
        [alm_license] Software License Software Entitlement
        [alm_entitlement_user] User Entitlement User Allocations
        [alm_entitlement_asset] Device Entitlement Device Allocations
      • Adds new tables and script includes.
      • Adds any string value in the Software Entitlements License key field to the License Key [samp_sw_license_key] table
    • Field names and values
      • Inference mandatory field

        For software models that have suite components (to bundle software models), the Inference mandatory field value in the Software Suite [cmdb_m2m_suite_model] table is transferred to a new Mandatory field

      • Rights field

        The Software Entitlements (formerly Software Licenses) Rights field value in the License Entitlements [alm_entitlement] table is transferred to a new Purchased rights field, and name changed from Rights to Active rights

      • The Software model field for a software entitlement allocation (Software Entitlement [alm_license] table) is automatically set to the software model on the entitlement (License Entitlements [alm_entitlement] table)
      • The quantity for a software entitlement allocation (License Entitlements [alm_entitlement] table) is set to 1 unless there are multiple allocations

        If there are multiple software entitlement allocations for the same user or device, the allocations are aggregated into one record, the quantity is set to the count of aggregated records, and duplicate allocations are not allowed.

    • Forms and lists
      Software Models, Entitlements (formerly Software License), Discovery Models, and Software Installations form and list layouts are modified to fit the new application
      Note:
      Any customizations to these forms and lists must be manually overwritten after plugin activation.
    • Functionality
      Table 1. Functionality disabled
      Functionality Description
      License and software counters The scheduled job trigger for SAM License Counters is changed to None so that it is deactivated, and software counters are disabled.
      Auto-match functionality The auto-match functionality, which attempts to match a discovery model to a corresponding software model, is deactivated.
      Navigation menu The navigation menu for the Software Asset Management plugin is deactivated and renamed.
      Business rules Legacy business rules applied to discovery models are disabled.