ITOM Health release notes

Release version: Xanadu

Updated August 1, 2024

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Summary of ITOM Health release notes

The ServiceNow® ITOM Health product suite, including Event Management, Agent Client Collector, Health Log Analytics, and the new Service Reliability Management application, enables organizations to monitor and maintain the health of their IT services effectively. The Xanadu release introduces significant enhancements across these applications to improve security, data collection, alert management, and operational efficiency.

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Key Features

Agent Client Collector (ACC) Updates: Configure agent log levels directly from the ServiceNow instance without modifying configuration files, secure agent connections with self-signed certificates added to the OS truststore, and utilize expanded Linux and Windows server checks for richer data collection.
Health Log Analytics Enhancements: Benefit from security fixes, updates to Filebeat, Elasticsearch, Azure Event Hubs data inputs, Java JDK 17 support, and stream system logs from the Glide Syslog data input (which operates without a MID Server) to the AI-driven analytics engine.
Event Management Improvements: Access configuration item (CI) details in the Express List preview panel, leverage Now Assist AI for analyzing past related incidents to speed up alert resolution, generate alert group descriptions, and launch alert analyses directly within the Now Assist panel. Additional support for Dynatrace raw metric data collection and enhanced MID Server stability during keepalive operations with configurable Network Interface Controller (NIC) monitoring.
Service Reliability Management Application: Newly introduced in Xanadu, this app facilitates collaborative response, tracking, and self-remediation for alerts and incidents, enhancing operational responsiveness.
Automation and UI Enhancements: Improved alert enrichment and grouping automation with clearer interfaces and updated terminology for better usability. Service admins can now associate any supported service for use within Service Reliability Management, regardless of ownership or support group configurations.

Important Considerations

Agent Client Collector is available via the ServiceNow Store and requires activation through the Event Management plugin.
Health Log Analytics requires purchasing ITOM Predictive AIOps for full functionality.
Installation of the App Service Extension app from the ServiceNow Store is recommended to enhance application service mapping.
Some dashboards, including Event Management scorecards and Health Log Analytics Overview, have been deprecated and will be hidden or unsupported in new instances.

Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

Improved security and simplified management of agent configurations reduce operational overhead and risk.
Enhanced log analytics and AI-driven insights enable proactive identification and resolution of IT issues before they impact users.
Advanced alert management features and integrations with Now Assist accelerate incident investigation and remediation.
The new Service Reliability Management app supports better coordination and self-service capabilities among IT operations teams.
Ongoing UI and automation improvements streamline workflows, making it easier to maintain service health and respond to incidents efficiently.

Next Steps

To leverage these enhancements, customers should review upgrade prerequisites, activate relevant plugins via the ServiceNow Store, and consider integrating the new Service Reliability Management application into their IT operations processes. Additionally, updating to the latest versions of supporting components like Java JDK and data inputs will ensure optimal performance and security.

The ServiceNow® ITOM Health product includes the Event Management, Agent Client Collector, Health Log Analytics, and Service Reliability Management applications. With ITOM Health, you can track and maintain the health of the services in your organization. ITOM Health was enhanced and updated in the Xanadu release.

ITOM Health highlights for the Xanadu release

Agent Client Collector highlights:

Configure the agent log level from the instance without needing to access the acc.yml configuration file.
Ensure secure agent connections by adding a self-signed certificate.
Gather expanded information on your Linux and Windows servers by using expanded Linux and Windows checks.

Health Log Analytics highlights:

Enhance your system with the latest updates: Security fixes; Filebeat, Elasticsearch, and Microsoft Azure Event Hubs data input updates; Java JDK 17 update and support, and dependency upgrades.
Stream system logs from Glide to Health Log Analytics using the Glide Syslog data input.

Event Management release notes highlights:

View configuration item (CI) information on the preview panel in Express List.
Optimize alert resolution with Now Assist AI-driven investigation of past related incidents.
Generate an alert group description in Express List using Now Assist.
Launch an alert analysis from the Now Assist panel.

Important:

Agent Client Collector is available in the ServiceNow Store. For details, see the "Activation information" section of these release notes.

Important information for upgrading ITOM Health to Xanadu

Enhance your application service mapping by installing the App Service Extension app from the ServiceNow® Store.

New in the Xanadu release

Load the allow list only from the configuration file: Enhance your security by loading the allow list from the configuration file and ignoring the allow-list parameters.
Configure the agent log level from the instance: Configure the agent log level directly from the ServiceNow® instance without needing to access the acc.yml configuration file.
Ensure secure agent connections: Ensure that your agent connections are secure by adding a self-signed certificate to your operating system's truststore. Adding a certificate to the truststore verifies that the certificate is authentic.
Use the new application Service Reliability Management: Use the Service Reliability Management application to respond, collaborate, track, and self-remediate when working on alerts and incidents.
Configure the Dynatrace connector instance: Starting in version 3.6.3, Event Management supports collecting raw metric data collection using the Dynatrace metric connector.
Enable expanded processing for the MID server on Network Interface Controllers (NICs) during keepalive operation: Starting in version 3.6.3, benefit from enhanced stability when running a keepalive operation. You can use the enhanced MID Server capability to configure the number of Network Interface Controllers (NICs) that can be monitored by a keepalive operation.
Stream log data from the System Log table in Glide to the Health Log Analytics AI engine: Use the Glide Syslog data input to stream log messages from the System Log table (Glide Syslog) in Glide to the Health Log Analytics AI engine (Occultus).
Note:
Only a single Glide Syslog data input can exist in the system. This data input doesn't run on a MID Server.
Enrich automation: Map current alert fields values to specified new values through the Change alert values option, in the "If these conditions are met, don't add an alert in ServiceNow" section.
Group automation: Track and optimize alert grouping efficiency through a new header displaying key details from the Test Automation section, including total alerts, alert groups, ungrouped alerts, and compression.
View data on configuration items on the preview panel in Express List: View additional details about configuration items (CIs) that are bound to alerts on the Express List preview panel.
Speed up alert resolution with a Now Assist analysis of past related incidents: Enhance efficiency and reduce downtime with a Now Assist analysis of past incidents related to the current alert. Now Assist investigates historical data to identify past incidents related to the current alert and reports their frequency and criticality levels. It also provides a summary of effective strategies used to resolve them. In addition, Now Assist offers contact information for individuals or teams who have resolved similar incidents in the past and could assist when needed.
Generate an alert group description in Express List using Now Assist: Use Now Assist to generate a description of an alert group in Express List that encompasses all the alerts within the group. The generated description replaces the original description of the group.
Launch an alert analysis from the Now Assist panel: Analyze an alert from the Now Assist panel. The alert analysis displays directly in the Now Assist panel for convenient review.

UI changes

Integrations Launchpad enhancements: The Related events tab has been renamed Events.; The banner message has been updated, with a highlighted background added to emphasize the change.; The Health state has been renamed Integration Stats.; The Alert compression rate has been renamed Grouping ratio.
Alert automation enhancements: The text on the landing pages for all automations has been updated to provide clearer context for each automation.; The text below the "If these conditions are met, don't add an alert in ServiceNow" section has been removed.; In Group automation, in the Simulation section, Re-run test has been renamed Re-run simulation.

Changed in this release

Alert automation enhancements: In Group automation, in the Simulation section, Re-run test has been renamed Re-run simulation.; The Active toggle switch has been replaced with a check box.
Enrich automation: A new section, And finally, featured two radio buttons, Run other enrich alert automations and Don't run other enrich alert automations, which replace the previous Continue running automations of this type toggle switch. Although this section is new, the functionality is unchanged. Selecting Run other enrich alert automations continues running automations with the same filter conditions, while Don't run other enrich alert automations halts additional automations after execution except for those owned by other assignment groups.
Associate services to use in Service Reliability Management: System admins can select any supported service and associate it to use in Service Reliability Management regardless of the owner or support group configurations.

Deprecations

The following dashboards have been deprecated:

Event Management scorecards
Event Management insights
Event Management overview
Health Log Analytics Overview

Service Management Dashboard is being prepared for future deprecation. It will be hidden and no longer activated on new instances but will continue to be supported. For details, see the Deprecation Process [KB0867184] article in the Now Support knowledge base.

Activation information

ITOM Health is available with activation of the Event Management plugin (com.glideapp.itom.snac). To work with Health Log Analytics, you must purchase ITOM Predictive AIOps, a more comprehensive ITOM Health package. For details, see Event Management setup.

Install Service Operations Workspace (ITOM) by installing the AIOps Experience [sn_sow_aiops] application from the ServiceNow Store. Visit the ServiceNow Store website to view all the available apps and for information about submitting requests to the store. For cumulative release notes information for all released apps, see the ServiceNow Store version history release notes.