--- sourceDocument: Australia ServiceNow AI Platform Capabilities sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/servicenow-platform Release : - australia ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Australia ServiceNow AI Platform Capabilities ft:clusterId : - platcap bundleId : - platcap workflow : - Platform --- # CMDB Health KPIs and metrics # CMDB Health KPIs and metrics {#ariaid-title1} * Release version: Australia * * Updated March 12, 2026 * * ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 4 minutes to read CMDB Health calculates an aggregated score for three Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which are correctness, compliance, and completeness, each further consisting of sub-metrics.{#r_CMDBHealthMetrics__ph_HealthMetricsShortDesc} You can configure which KPIs and metrics are included in CMDB Health evaluations and dashboards. In the base system, all KPIs and all their metrics are included.{#r_CMDBHealthMetrics__p_HealthMetricsDescription} To access the CMDB Health Dashboard and view CMDB health, see [View CMDB Health Dashboard](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/dpnuyWI_Rja8Aso6zJc0Wg "The CMDB Health Dashboard serves as a central location to view detailed health reports for your CMDB at a glance. Also, it provides functions to remediate issues that CMDB Health detected, to improve CMDB health."). ## Correctness A KPI which is an aggregation of the following metrics: Orphan : Measures the percentage of orphan CIs in the CMDB. A CI can become orphan if it was unintentionally left in the CMDB when it is no longer needed. A CI is determined to be orphan if: * The CI satisfies the criteria in an [orphan rule](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/aNpmLG9TxuJKEBj6t5lWWw "Create an orphan rule to determine the percentage of orphan CIs in the CMDB. This sum is then aggregated into the correctness CMDB Health KPI. Orphan rules are defined per class, and only a single orphan rule can be defined per class."). This criteria checks for specific attributes that a CI must have, and for CIs that have no relationships or that don't have specific relationships. * Data is missing for the CI in its respective table, or in one of its parents' table. {#r_CMDBHealthMetrics__ul_OrphanDescriptionItems}{#r_CMDBHealthMetrics__ph_OrphanGeneralDescription} Staleness : Measures the percentage of stale CIs in the CMDB. A CI is stale if it was not updated within the Effective Duration time period that is specified in the [staleness rule](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/VCEdyIGrXvcSilPPoOs3zg "If the staleness metric is in effect, then staleness rules are used to determine the percentage of stale CIs in the CMDB. This sum is then aggregated into the correctness KPI.") that applies to the class.{#r_CMDBHealthMetrics__ph_StaleCIDesc} The base system includes a default staleness rule for the Configuration Item \[cmdb_ci\] class, which sets the Effective Duration time to 60 days. This rule applies to all extended CMDB classes, and can be overridden by class specific staleness rules defined by the user. To determine CI staleness, a staleness rule for the CI's class is used if it exists, otherwise, the default staleness rule is used.{#r_CMDBHealthMetrics__p_StalenessHealth_p2} In addition, a relationship in which a stale CI is a parent or a child, is determined to be a stale relationship.{#r_CMDBHealthMetrics__p_StaleNote} Note: Discovery marks VMware vCenter CIs that no longer physically exist, as stale. By default, this setting takes precedence over a CMDB Health staleness rule defined for the CI. When drilling-down in the CMDB Health Dashboard to Health Results, the Source for CIs determined to be stale by Discovery, is Cloud Discovery. For the aggregated score of the correctness KPI to include only health results generated by CMDB Health, set the glide.cmdb.health.src.cmdb_health_audit_only system property to true. In which case, drilling-down to the details of stale CIs still shows those CIs in which source is Cloud Discovery. For more information, see [CMDB Health system properties](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/un3wXj533e3UC5Vknatx0g "Configure the following system properties to customize how CMDB Health monitors and evaluates CIs health.") and [Discovery for VMware vCenter](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=c_DiscoveryForVMwareVCenter&version=australia&pubname=australia-it-operations-management&ft:locale=en-US). Duplicate : Measures the percentage of duplicate CIs in the CMDB using [identification rules](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/XeHgHGmCieUlQ6rwpgEmdA "Identification rules are used to uniquely identify CIs in the CMDB, as part of Identification and Reconciliation (IRE) processes. Each CMDB class can be associated with a single identification rule."). Only independent CIs are evaluated for duplication. In a set of duplicate CIs, the count of duplicate CIs is the total number of CIs in the set, minus one. The detailed graphs for a duplicate set of CIs display all the CIs in the set. For more details, examples, and troubleshooting information about duplicate metric, see the [CMDB Health - Duplicate Metric - algorithm \[KB0726425\]](https://support.servicenow.com/kb_view_customer.do?sysparm_article=KB0726425) knowledge base article. ## Completeness A KPI which is an aggregation of the following metrics: Required : Measures the percentage of CIs in which fields that are defined as mandatory, are not populated. Missing fields are tagged as incomplete noting that for this CI some information is missing. Required fields are equivalent to the fields that are [specified as mandatory](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/~dOsIFHZybrseBZals52bQ "Configure a CI attribute as mandatory so it is included in the CMDB Health tests for the required metric if enabled. Required is a metric of the CMDB Health completeness KPI.") in the system dictionary.{#r_CMDBHealthMetrics__ph_RequiredGeneralDescription} Recommended : Measures the percentage of CIs in which fields that are [set as recommended](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/iTFlAIG4cbjLzq5wYHLhrw "Define a list of CI fields as recommended, noting that it is desirable that they are populated by a data source such as Discovery. You can then configure the CMDB completeness KPI to include recommended fields in its aggregated health reports."), are not populated. Out-of-box, no recommended fields are specified.{#r_CMDBHealthMetrics__ph_RecommendedField} You can use the [Add Identifier Fields In Recommended Rules](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/IGHT6DVkME6_oNzoDjHSNQ "Several types of components are installed with CMDB Health (included in the com.snc.cmdb plugin), such as tables, properties, and scheduled jobs.") scheduled job to set criterion attributes from active identification rules, as recommended fields. You can use the [Remove Identifier Fields In Recommended Rules](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/IGHT6DVkME6_oNzoDjHSNQ "Several types of components are installed with CMDB Health (included in the com.snc.cmdb plugin), such as tables, properties, and scheduled jobs.") scheduled job to unset criterion attributes from active identification rules, as recommended fields. ## Compliance Based on the results of actual CMDB audit runs. Note: Audit must be activated for the compliance KPI to show results. For more information, see [Compliance Activation](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/WVBsXlte1p5X9NP44I2Bew "Compliance functionality is provided by the Certification Core (com.snc.certification_core) plugin which contains shared functionality required for certification audits."). Audit : [Audit](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/mz9GBvyWO426VeC8Trfoig "A certification audit compares the actual attributes of certain ServiceNow records. This audit selects a filter, against the expected attributes, relationships, and related record values defined by template conditions or a script.") compares actual values of specified fields, against expected values defined in template and scripted audits. Based on the Last run date of audits, CMDB Health identifies the set of the most recent complete audit run, and uses those audit results. To pass the CMDB Health audit test, a CI must be in compliance with all audits for that CI. Create a compliance-type audit, for which the results are calculated into the CMDB Health compliance KPI. {#r_CMDBHealthMetrics__ph_AuditDes} When running [scripted audits](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/R_TxQUiSaX~Jh2y3gm_eFQ "A scripted audit enables users with the certification_admin role to conduct an audit from a script rather than using restrictive template conditions."), the Last run date is not populated. Therefore, for the compliance KPI to include the results of a scripted audit, update the script in the audit to record the audit run time. ## Relationships Measures the health of CI relationships, consisting of the following metrics which are not-configurable: Duplicate relationships : Relationships that have identical parent and child CIs, identical relationship type, and an identical port. Duplicate relationships are displayed per relationship type. In a set of duplicate relationships, the duplicate relationship count is the total number of duplicate relationships in the set, minus one. The detailed graphs for a duplicate set of relationships display all the relationships in the set.{#r_CMDBHealthMetrics__ph_DuplicateRelDesc} Orphan relationships : A relationship that is missing either a parent CI, a child CI, or both.{#r_CMDBHealthMetrics__ph_OrphanRelDesc} Stale relationships : A relationship in which the parent CI or the child CI is a stale CI.{#r_CMDBHealthMetrics__ph_StaleRelDesc} A single relationship can fail more than one health test. For example, a duplicate relationship can also be stale. Also reports the following relationship-related summaries: * Relations not compliant with suggested relations * Relations not compliant with containment rules * Relations not compliant with hosting rules {#r_CMDBHealthMetrics__ul_lb4_br3_4z} To access the Relationship Health Dashboard and view relationships health, see [View relationships health](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/uG7KAQ3WTpReqanNZUkb7g "View health scores for relationship health such as orphan, stale, and duplicate relationships, in the Relationship Health Dashboard."). **Related tasks** * [Configure KPI and metrics preferences](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/KbbzhrgibnGJ_~Mu3hJEAQ "Include or exclude KPIs and metrics as needed in your organization, and configure system behaviour when CIs fail metric health tests.") **Related reference** * [CMDB Health system properties](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/un3wXj533e3UC5Vknatx0g "Configure the following system properties to customize how CMDB Health monitors and evaluates CIs health.")