Scheduled maintenance days in RPA Hub

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 7 minutes to read
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    Summary of Scheduled maintenance days in RPA Hub

    Scheduled maintenance (SM) days in RPA Hub designate periods when a configuration item (CI), such as a robot or bot process, is unavailable for execution due to planned maintenance. These days are tracked on the robot calendar based on change requests (CRs) approved by RPA release managers or admins. Visibility of SM days is available to RPA business users, developers, support users, release managers, and admins, helping all stakeholders plan and avoid skipped process jobs during maintenance windows. SM days also apply to robots within robot pools.

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    Key Features

    • Change Request Integration: SM days are created from CRs in Scheduled, Implement, or Review states with specified planned start and end dates.
    • Robot Calendar Event Cards: SM days appear as event cards on the robot calendar, showing maintenance windows and allowing release managers and admins to accept or reject them.
    • Maintenance Request Creation: Accepting an SM event card generates a Maintenance Request (MR) in Pending state; rejecting creates an MR in Rejected state.
    • CI Lifecycle Management: When an SM day is active, the associated CI moves to In Maintenance state and stops execution until the CR is closed, after which the CI returns to Published state.
    • One-to-One CR and MR Mapping: Each CR maps to a single MR. Creating a new MR for the same CR requires canceling the prior MR first.
    • Dynamic Behavior Based on CR States and Dates: The appearance and execution of SM days depend on CR states and whether planned start/end dates are specified, including handling of rescheduling and On Hold statuses.

    Benefits

    • Improved robot capacity planning with clear visibility of maintenance windows.
    • Optimized robot utilization by proactively managing downtime.
    • Enables proactive measures to minimize process disruptions due to maintenance.

    Scheduled Maintenance Behavior Details

    The behavior of SM days depends on the CR state and planned dates as follows:

    • If CR is in Scheduled, Implement, or Review state with valid start and end dates, the SM day triggers an MR moving through Pending to In Progress, and the CI switches to In Maintenance during this window.
    • If the start date is set but end date is empty, SM day applies for one day until 11:59 PM, and CI remains in maintenance until CR closes.
    • Empty start date or both dates empty results in no SM day displayed or executed.
    • Rescheduling of dates cancels previous MR and creates a new MR based on updated dates.
    • If CR is On Hold or canceled, SM days do not reflect or execute; appropriate MR states are updated accordingly.
    • Closing the CR updates the CI lifecycle status to Published or In Use.

    This detailed coordination between CRs, MRs, and robot calendar ensures that maintenance periods are clearly communicated, tracked, and managed to minimize automation downtime and improve operational efficiency within ServiceNow’s RPA Hub.

    Track the scheduled maintenance (SM) days on the robot calendar so that the bot processes can function optimally. If an issue occurs, you can take preventive measures. For example, you can know in advance about the days when the robot or the bot process is unavailable so that you can avoid the number of skipped process jobs.

    Scheduled maintenance days overview

    A scheduled maintenance (SM) day is when a configuration item (CI), such as, a robot or a bot process, is unavailable for execution. When a change request for a robot or a bot process is accepted by the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) release manager or RPA admin to create a scheduled maintenance day. Then the robot or the bot process can’t be executed at that time.

    An RPA support user, RPA developer, and RPA business user can view the scheduled maintenance days on the robot calendar. You can make sure that the RPA business user is also added to the Managed by Group list.

    Scheduled maintenance days also apply to the robots that are in the robot pool.

    Benefits of scheduled maintenance days

    With the scheduled maintenance days on the robot calendar, you get the following benefits:
    • Perform robot capacity planning with better visibility and rich visual plotting in a single view.
    • Optimize the robot utilization and avoid any potential issues related to scheduled maintenance windows.
    • Enables you to take proactive measures instead of being reactive for a configuration item (robot or a bot process).

    Workflow

    In RPA Hub, a Change Request (CR) with details of planned start and end dates along with time is created. This CR reflects as a scheduled maintenance day on the robot calendar, only when the change request is either in Scheduled, Implement, or Review states. For more information about the CR states, see State model and transitions.

    An associated SM event card appears on the robot calendar to display the scheduled maintenance days.

    See the following example for a snapshot of scheduled maintenance day event cards on the robot calendar.

    Figure 1. Scheduled maintenance day event cards on robot calendar
    Snapshot of scheduled maintenance day event cards on robot calendar.

    RPA business users, RPA release managers, RPA support users, RPA developers, and RPA admins have visibility to the potential impacts of current or future automation executions. RPA release managers and RPA admins can take an appropriate call to action, such as, either accepting or rejecting an associated SM event card for the CI on the robot calendar.

    If the SM event card is accepted, a Maintenance Request (MR) is created on the robot calendar, with Pending state.

    See the following example for a snapshot of an accepted SM day event card on the robot calendar.
    Figure 2. Snapshot of an accepted scheduled maintenance day event card on the robot calendar
    Snapshot of an accepted scheduled maintenance day event card on the robot calendar.

    If the associated CI is in Published state, then the associated CI moves to In Maintenance state during the planned scheduled maintenance time frame. The executions are stopped until the CR is closed. Then, the CI automatically moves to the Published state.

    See the following example for a snapshot of accepting the SM event card when the associated CI (bot process) is in Published state.
    Figure 3. Accept a scheduled maintenance event card on the robot calendar
    Snapshot of accepting a scheduled maintenance event card on the robot calendar when the associated CI is in Published state.

    If the SM event card is rejected, it does not reflect on the robot calendar. An MR is created with Rejected state.

    You can view the maintenance request for tracking the state of the scheduled maintenance. For more information, see View maintenance requests in RPA Hub and Maintenance request form in RPA Hub.

    For more information about managing scheduled maintenance days, see Manage scheduled maintenance days in RPA Hub.

    Mapping between a change request and a maintenance request

    A one-to-one mapping exists between a Change Request (CR) and a Maintenance Request (MR). If an existing MR is mapped to a CR and you want to create an MR for the same CR. Then, you must cancel the previous MR and create an MR for the same CR. For example, if CR1 is mapped to MR1 (CR1:MR1). To create MR2, you must cancel MR1 and map CR1 to MR2 (CR1:MR2).

    If multiple or duplicate CRs are created for the same CI, then the MRs are considered against any one CR. The RPA release manager takes the decision.

    Scheduled maintenance days behavior for various CR states

    If the CR is in either Schedule, Implement, or Review states and the Planned Start Date and Planned End Date fields on the CR form are mentioned. Then, the scheduled maintenance day occurs as per these dates. The MR is updated in a sequence as follows:
    • An MR is created with Pending state.
    • The MR is then updated to In Progress state after the Planned Start Date is initiated.
    • The associated CI moves to In Maintenance state.

    If the CR is in either Schedule, Implement, or Review states and the Planned Start Date field on the CR form is empty. Then, the SM day doesn’t reflect on the robot calendar and the existing MR isn’t executed.

    If the CR is in either Schedule, Implement, or Review states and the Planned End Date field on the CR form is empty. For example, the Planned Start Date is January 21. Then, the SM day reflects for only one day starting from the planned start date until 11:59PM on the same day. An MR is created for January 21. The CI is in In Maintenance state till the CR is closed, even if the date passed. But the schedule maintenance does not reflect on the robot calendar after the end date passes.

    If the CR is in either Schedule, Implement, or Review states, the Planned Start Date and Planned End Date fields on the CR form are empty. Then the SM day doesn’t reflect on the robot calendar and the existing MR isn’t executed.

    If the CR is in either Schedule, Implement, or Review states and the Planned Start Date and Planned End Date on the CR form are rescheduled. Then, the scheduled maintenance is updated to the rescheduled date automatically. The previous MR is canceled and the RPA release manager creates an MR for the rescheduled date by accepting the SM event card.

    If the On Hold option on the CR form is selected, then the SM day doesn’t reflect on the robot calendar and the existing MR isn’t executed.

    If the CR of the respective CI isn’t in Closed state, however the CI is functional. Then, the RPA release manager can update the life cycle stage status of the CI to Published or In Use.

    If the CR is closed, then the life cycle stage status of the respective CI is updated to Published or In Use.

    If the CR is canceled and the MR is in Pending state, the MR isn’t executed. If the MR is picked for execution, then cancel the MR. For more information, see Manage scheduled maintenance days in RPA Hub.

    If the CR is canceled and the MR is in In Progress state. Then, the life cycle stage status of the CI moves to Published state and the MR is updated to complete state.

    The following table shows the scheduled maintenance days behavior for various CR states.
    Table 1. Scheduled maintenance days behavior for various CR states
    CR State Planned Start Date Planned End Date Rescheduled Planned Start Date Rescheduled Planned End Date Applicable for Scheduled maintenance MR State
    Schedule/ Implement/Review 21-Jan 22-Jan Empty Empty Yes. MR is created for January 21. On January 21, it moves to In progress.

    The CI is updated to In Maintenance.
    Schedule/ Implement/Review Empty 22-Jan Empty Empty SM day doesn’t reflect on the robot calendar. Not executed.
    Schedule/ Implement/Review 21-Jan Empty Empty Empty SM day reflects on January 21, until 11:59PM.

    But the schedule maintenance does not reflect on the robot calendar after the end date passes.

    		 MR is created for January 21.

    CI is in In Maintenance state till the CR is closed, even if the date passed.
    Schedule/ Implement/Review Empty Empty Empty Empty SM day doesn’t reflect on the robot calendar. Not executed.
    Schedule/ Implement/Review 21-Jan 22-Jan 23-Jan 24-Jan Scheduled maintenance is updated to the rescheduled date automatically. The previous MR is canceled (that is due on January 21.

    The RPA release manager creates an MR for the rescheduled date by accepting the SM event card.
    On Hold option on the CR form is selected 21-Jan 22-Jan Empty Empty SM day doesn’t reflect on the robot calendar. Not executed.
    Closed 21-Jan 22-Jan Empty Empty Not applicable The life cycle stage status of the respective CI is updated to Published or In Use
    Canceled 21-Jan 22-Jan Empty Empty Not applicable If the MR is in Pending state, the MR isn’t executed.

    If the MR is picked for execution, then cancel the MR.

    If the MR is in In Progress state. Then, the life cycle stage status of the CI moves to Published state and the MR is updated to complete state.