Components installed with Automation Center

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
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    Summary of Components installed with Automation Center

    When you activate Automation Center in ServiceNow, several key components are installed automatically to support automation processes. These include essential tables, user roles, and scheduled jobs that enable you to manage automation requests, tasks, executions, and insights effectively. Demo data is also available to facilitate initial exploration.

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    Roles Installed

    Automation Center installs specific roles that control access and capabilities within the application:

    • Automation admin [snac.automationadmin] – Full control over Automation Center configurations and CRUD access to all tables. This role is responsible for setup and administration.
    • Automation technical user [snac.automationtechnicaluser] – Can create and modify automation requests, tasks, sources, resources, goals, and insight rules.
    • Automation business user [snac.automationbusinessuser] – Focuses on creating automation requests and goals and managing the lifecycle of requests.

    Note: To work with Robotic Process Automation (RPA) data, appropriate RPA roles are required as detailed in the RPA Hub documentation.

    Scheduled Jobs Installed

    Several scheduled jobs help maintain and update Automation Center data:

    • Automation Center: Purge Executions Data – Automatically deletes execution records older than a configurable number of days (default is 14) and with states Cancelled, Complete, or Error. This retention period is controlled by the snac.purgeautomationdataindays system property.
    • Automation Center: Purge Insights Data – Deletes insight records older than the same configurable retention period.
    • Automation Center: Copy spotlight score into request – If the Spotlight plugin is enabled, this job copies the Spotlight score into the automation request’s Score field. It runs on demand and should generally not be altered. After changing Spotlight criteria, manual execution is required to update scores.

    Tables Installed

    Automation Center installs multiple tables that store data critical to automation management:

    • Automation Request [snacautomationrequest] – Stores automation request details.
    • Automation Task [snacautomationtask] – Contains tasks linked to automation requests.
    • Automation Goal [snscautomationgoal] – Holds goal definitions that can be associated with multiple requests.
    • Base Robot [cmdbcibaserparobot] – Details of software agents (bots) that execute automation processes.
    • Base Bot Process [cmdbcibaserpaprocess] – Configuration data for robots.
    • Automation Execution [snacautomationexecution] – Stores all execution-related information.
    • Automation Insight [snacinsight] – Contains alerts and insight data.
    • Automation Insight Rule [snacinsightrule] – Defines rules that generate insights.
    • Automation Source [snacautomationsource] – Stores vendor-related data.
    • Automation Attribute [snacciattribute] – Stores metadata such as cost, time, and source associated with automation processes and robots.
    • Automation Import [snacrpaimport] – Temporarily holds data imported via REST API.

    Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers

    Understanding these installed components enables you to manage automation workflows, monitor execution outcomes, and maintain system health efficiently. The preconfigured roles help enforce appropriate access control, while scheduled jobs automate data maintenance tasks, ensuring optimal performance. The tables provide a structured repository for all automation-related data, facilitating reporting, troubleshooting, and continuous improvement.

    Several types of components are installed with the activation of Automation Center, including tables, user roles, and scheduled jobs.

    Note:
    The Application Files table lists the components that are installed with this application. For instructions on how to access this table, see Find components installed with an application.

    Demo data is available for this plugin.

    Roles installed

    Note:
    To view the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) data, RPA roles are required. For more information about RPA roles, see Components installed with RPA Hub .
    Role title Description Contains roles
    Automation admin

    [sn_ac.automation_admin]

    		 Sets up Automation Center application configurations. Performs all the actions in the Automation Center application. Possesses CRUD access for all tables.
    • sn_ac.automation_business_user
    • sn_ac.automation_technical_user
    • sn_ac.automation_admin
    Automation technical user

    [sn_ac.automation_technical_user]

    		 Creates automation requests, automation sources, automation tasks, automation resources, automation goals, insight rules, and insight triggers. Modifies automation attributes. sn_ac.automation_techincal_user
    Automation business user

    [sn_ac.automation_business_user]

    		 Creates automation requests, automation goals, and updates the automation request life-cycle stages. sn_ac.automation_business_user

    Scheduled jobs installed

    Scheduled job Description
    Automation Center: Purge Executions Data
    Deletes the data in the Automation Execution table only when the following conditions are met:
    • Records that were created ‘X’ days ago. X represents the value defined by the sn_ac.purge_automation_data_in_days system property. Users with the automation admin role can modify this property value. The default value of this property is 14.
    • Records with a state of Cancelled, Complete, or Error.
    Automation Center: Purge Insights Data Deletes the data in the sn_ac_insight system property that was created 'X' days ago. X represents the value defined by the sn_ac.purge_automation_data_in_days system property. Users with the automation admin role can modify this property value. The default value provided of this property is 14.
    Automation Center: Copy spotlight score into request
    Note:
    Available only if Spotlight is installed and enabled.

    Copies the spotlight score into the automation request’s Score field.

    The Schedule | Run to is set to On Demand. It is recommended not to change this setting.

    Note:
    If you change the default spotlight criteria, then after saving the changes made, you must select the Execute Now button in this Spotlight group record to recompute the Spotlight score for the automation request records. And, then you must select the Execute Now button on the scheduled job to copy the score.

    Tables installed

    Table Description
    Automation Request

    [sn_ac_automation_request]

    		 Contains the details of the automation request.
    Automation Task

    [sn_ac_automation_task]

    		 Contains information of tasks linked to a request.
    Automation Goal

    [sn_sc_automation_goal]

    		 Contains details of goals that can be mapped to multiple requests.
    Base Robot

    [cmdb_ci_base_rpa_robot]

    		 Contains the details of a software agent that runs a bot process.
    Base Bot Process

    [cmdb_ci_base_rpa_process]

    		 Contains the configuration details of a robot.
    Automation Execution

    [sn_ac_automation_execution]

    		 Stores all execution processes information.
    Automation Insight

    [sn_ac_insight]

    		 Contains alerts data across Automation Center.
    Automation Insight rule

    [sn_ac_insight_rule]

    		 Contains rules that configure insights.
    Automation Source

    [sn_ac_automation_source]

    		 Stores vendor data.
    Automation Attribute

    [sn_ac_ci_attribute]

    		 Stores cost, time, source, and associated automation for processes and robot.
    Automation Import

    [sn_ac_rpa_import]

    		 Temporarily stores data that is imported from the REST API.