--- sourceDocument: Brazil ServiceNow AI Platform Capabilities sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/servicenow-platform Release : - brazil ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Brazil ServiceNow AI Platform Capabilities ft:clusterId : - platcap bundleId : - platcap workflow : - Platform --- # Desired State # Desired State {#ariaid-title1} Release version: Brazil Updated September 10, 2026 ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 2 minutes to read Summarize ![AI sparkle icon](https://servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ai-sparkle-icon) Summarized using AI This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. ## Summary of Desired State Desired State in ServiceNow performs automated or scheduled audits of Configuration Management Database (CMDB) data to verify that configuration items (CIs) meet your organization's expected attributes, relationships, and compliance standards. It helps ensure that CIs, such as computers or servers, comply with required configurations---for example, verifying software licenses or hardware specifications. Discrepancies found during audits trigger follow-on tasks automatically assigned to qualified users for remediation. Show full answer Show less ## Key Features * **Automated Compliance Audits:** Desired State audits CIs on demand or on a schedule against predefined desired state conditions. * **Certification Filters:** Define subsets of CIs to audit by creating filters on the CMDB tables, allowing focused certification efforts. * **Templates:** Establish detailed conditions for the desired attributes, relationships, and related records of CIs to guide the audits. * **Audit Results and Follow-On Tasks:** Audit outcomes highlight compliance discrepancies, and the system generates tasks assigned to appropriate users to address issues. * **Role-Based Access:** Users with the `certificationadmin` role can manage certification elements and filters but require additional roles for full table access depending on organizational needs. * **Configurable Task Management:** Control whether new follow-on tasks are created on repeated audit failures through the system property `glide.allow.new.certfollowontask`, which is enabled by default. ## Key Outcomes * Ensure that CIs conform to organizational standards and compliance requirements by continuously auditing and validating their desired state. * Gain visibility into compliance gaps through detailed audit results that specify exact discrepancies. * Streamline remediation by automatically generating and assigning follow-on tasks to responsible personnel, helping maintain CMDB accuracy and reliability. * Differentiate from manual data certification by automating validation of CI configurations against approved desired states, enhancing operational efficiency. Desired State performs scheduled or on-demand audits of CMDB data to determine which records match the expected attributes, CI relationships, and relationships to other records in the system. For example, desired state can determine if a computer has a license for a particular software program. The compliance process checks configuration items (CI) to ensure that their attributes and relationships comply with standards set by your organization. Audit results show any discrepancies in the desired state of a record, and ServiceNow automatically assigns follow-on tasks to qualified users who can remediate those discrepancies. ## Desired State roles {#c_DesiredState__section_wpg_zyv_mqb} To access or configure certification elements, a user must have the certification_admin role. These users can create, update, and delete filters if they have the proper access to necessary tables. In the base system, certification_admin users have limited system rights and do not have access to all the necessary tables. When assigning compliance resources, make sure to grant additional roles to the certification_admin user as needed. For example, the certification administrator requires roles that grant access to these tables: * Company \[`core_company`\] * Cost Center \[`cmn_cost_center`\] * Schedule \[`cmn_schedule`\] {#c_DesiredState__ul_b1n_czv_mqb} ## Desired State process {#c_DesiredState__section_tcg_ryv_mqb} The desired state certification process can mean checking servers to ensure that their physical resources, such as CPU speed or memory, comply with certain standards. This process also ensures that all critical business services have a manager, support group, and approval group assigned. The administrator responsible for certification creates definitions of desired states and then schedules an audit to check CIs for compliance. The audit results identify CIs that pass certification and itemize the discrepancies in those CIs that fail. The ServiceNow system automatically generates follow-on tasks to track the process of adjusting the CIs to the desired state. Desired state differs substantially from data certification. Data certification is a manual process to ensure that your data matches reality. Desired state examines the same data and determines when the configuration of each item is in the desired and approved state. 1. Create a certification filter: Create a filter that defines a subset of configuration items to certify. You can create multiple versions of a filter, and then activate the version you want to use for certification. You can create filters on the Configuration Item \[`cmdb_ci`\] table and all tables that extend it. 2. Create a template: Create a template with conditions that define the desired state of the physical attributes, related records, and relationships for a CI. The certification filter you select for the template determines which configuration items the system examines. 3. Create and run an audit: Create an audit using the template. Set the audit to run on a schedule or on demand. The audit generates a set of results based on the conditions from the template you specify. Determine usage of follow-on tasks: * Determine if the audit creates follow-on tasks and assignment. * Determine if the same follow-on task is used for the same audit failure across multiple runs. The system property glide.allow.new.cert_follow_on_task is set to true by default, allowing for new follow on tasks to be created for the same failure, at each audit run (this property applies only to audits which aren't scripted). {#c_DesiredState__ul_cwn_hys_55} 4. View audit results: View the audit results which display any discrepancies between the desired state, as specified by the template, and the actual state of the target configuration items. 5. Correct discrepancies: Correct the discrepancies the audit found by completing the follow-on tasks created by the system. {#c_DesiredState__ol_lqz_1v5_vt}