CI de-duplication experience in CMDB Workspace

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 4 minutes to read
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    Summary of CI de-duplication experience in CMDB Workspace

    The CI de-duplication experience in CMDB Workspace enables ServiceNow customers to efficiently identify and remediate duplicate Configuration Items (CIs) in their CMDB. It provides tools to create, manage, and apply de-duplication templates in bulk, ensuring consistent and streamlined remediation of duplicate CIs across different classes.

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    This feature is accessed via CMDB Workspace under Management and requires specific roles such as sncmdbadmin or cmdbdedupadmin. It supports both bulk remediation through templates and single-task remediation using legacy tools.

    Key Features

    • De-duplication Templates: Pre-configured remediation settings tailored per CI class, including rules for selecting the main CI, attribute consolidation methods, and handling duplicates post-remediation. Templates must be published to be runnable, can be scheduled for recurring execution, and can be organized into libraries for better management.
    • De-duplication Dashboard: A centralized interface showing all templates as cards, allowing users to assign tasks, run templates, create schedules, and monitor execution status. It also provides access to lists of de-duplication tasks, including those unassigned to any template.
    • De-duplication Insights Pane: Displays counts and details of remediated tasks, tasks with errors needing attention, unmatched tasks without assigned templates, and top discovery sources generating duplicate CIs. This helps prioritize remediation efforts and verify template effectiveness.
    • Manage Duplicate CIs Skill: An interactive guide via Now Assist for CMDB that walks users through reviewing templates, assigning tasks, and running remediation steps with contextual recommendations.

    Practical Use and Benefits

    • Apply consistent and repeatable remediation actions across multiple duplicate CI tasks, improving CMDB data quality and reliability.
    • Organize remediation logic into reusable templates and libraries, enhancing operational efficiency and governance.
    • Monitor remediation progress and quickly identify tasks needing manual intervention through comprehensive dashboard insights.
    • Automate remediation with scheduling capabilities to maintain ongoing CMDB hygiene without manual trigger.
    • Leverage guided assistance to simplify the de-duplication process and reduce errors.

    Key Actions Supported

    • Create, publish, unpublish, schedule, and retire de-duplication templates.
    • Assign de-duplication tasks to templates and run bulk remediation operations.
    • Remediate individual duplicate CI tasks either via CMDB Workspace or legacy tools.
    • Organize templates into libraries for easier access and management aligned with organizational needs.

    Create libraries of de-duplication templates in CMDB Workspace, to remediate de-duplication tasks in a consistent manner, and in bulk. De-duplication templates are pre-configured with all necessary settings for remediating duplicate CIs in de-duplication tasks, per class.

    Use the De-duplication dashboard in CMDB Workspace to see an overview and insights about duplicate CIs in your CMDB. The De-duplication dashboard lets you create de-duplication templates and organize these templates into libraries. You can also examine de-duplication tasks and then run a pre-configured template to remedy duplicate CIs in multiple de-duplication tasks in a single operation.

    More information:
    • To learn about general duplicate CI remediation concepts, restrictions, and special cases such as remediations that involve a large number of duplicate CIs, see Duplicate CIs remediation.
    • To remediate a single de-duplication task using the legacy Duplicate CI Remediator, see Remediate a de-duplication task (legacy).
    • To learn about Identification and Reconciliation (IRE) processes that detect duplicate CIs and other concepts related to duplication CI, see Detecting duplicate CIs.

    Access

    To access the de-duplication functionality in the CMDB Workspace, navigate to Workspaces > CMDB Workspace and select Management in the CMDB Workspace menu bar. Then select the following links in Management tools, in the Manage section:
    • De-duplication Dashboard
    • De-duplication Template Library
    Role requirement:
    • To access the Management view in CMDB Workspace to perform de-duplication tasks, sn_cmdb_admin
    • To perform de-duplication tasks, cmdb_dedup_admin or any role containing cmdb_dedup_admin (such as sn_cmdb_admin)

    De-duplication templates and libraries

    Use a de-duplication template to apply a consistent remediation to multiple, similar, de-duplication tasks, in a single action. A de-duplication template contains the settings that are required to remediate de-duplication tasks for a class. For example, how to choose the main CI, which method to use to consolidate attributes, and what to do with the duplicate CIs (aside from the main CI) after remediation. A de-duplication template also contains conditions that de-duplication tasks are matched on. When you run a de-duplication template, the remediation settings in the template are applied to all de-duplication tasks that match the template conditions.

    To be able to run a de-duplication template, the template must be in a published state (a template is initially in a draft state). When published, you can create a schedule for a de-duplication template so it will automatically run on a recurring time interval. When necessary, you can unpublish a published template so it is temporarily unavailable for use until you republish it.

    Organize your de-duplication templates into libraries to group templates by categories that are meaningful in your organization and to help locate a template. For example, you can create several de-duplication templates, all of which for the same CMDB class such as cmdb_ci_win_server. Then, add all those templates to the 'De-duplication templates for cmdb_ci_win_server' library for easy access.

    De-duplication dashboard

    The De-duplication dashboard in CMDB Workspace is a central location for remediating de-duplication tasks. Use the dashboard to:
    • See all de-duplication templates on a set of cards. Each card shows details about a template. On a template card, you can select Assign task to assign de-duplication tasks to the template, and run the template to remediate its associated de-duplication tasks. You can also create a recurring schedule for a template such as daily and monthly.
    • Select Run all to run all templates, each template remediating its assigned and matching de-duplication tasks.
    • Select View de-duplication tasks to access a list view of de-duplication tasks with details such as the de-duplication template assignment. In the list view, you can select Only show tasks that do NOT match any template conditions to show only those de-duplication tasks that are unassigned or unmatched to any template class.
    • Select the context menu icon and then select View template libraries to create and manage de-duplication templates and libraries.
    • Select the Running tab to track templates that are currently running.
    • Select the Completed tab to check the status and details about the final state of a run, such as Completed, Cancelled, or Completed with errors.

    De-duplication insights pane

    The De-duplication insights pane on the right side of the De-duplication dashboard provides counts and insights related to the on-going de-duplication processes in your organization. This pane provides the following cards and links to help you resolve issues:
    • Total count of de-duplication tasks that were remediated in the past week.
    • De-duplication tasks that have completed with various types of errors and therefore need your attention. Provides the View de-duplication tasks that need your attention link to access a list view of the associated de-duplication tasks. You can examine error messages and drill down tasks for further troubleshooting details.
    • De-duplication tasks that don't match the conditions in any template and therefore can't be assigned for remediation by a template. Provides the View de-duplication tasks that don't match link to access a list view of the associated de-duplication tasks. You can drill down tasks for further details.
    • Top 5 discovery sources that generate duplicate CIs.

    Review the de-duplication templates and ensure that they're properly configured for remediating the on-going duplicate CIs that are being generated in the CMDB by newly added data.

    Manage duplicate CIs skill

    You can use the manage duplicate CIs skill that Now Assist for CMDB provides to get step-by-step guidance through the de-duplication process. The manage duplicate CIs skill guides you through reviewing de-duplication templates, assigning tasks to the templates, and then running the templates. The manage duplicate CIs skill presents you with relevant options for your next step, as you go, until you complete the remediation.

    For more information, see Now Assist for Configuration Management Database (CMDB).