History Timeline

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of History Timeline

    The History Timeline feature in ServiceNow allows you to view a detailed timeline of changes for a Configuration Item (CI) and its related records, relationships, baselines, and proposed changes. This timeline is available for CIs in the Configuration Item [cmdbci] table or its descendants, provided auditing is enabled for those tables.

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    Access to the timeline requires specific roles: by default, the itil role (configured via the glide.history.role system property) and read access to the History Set [syshistoryset] table, typically granted to admin users.

    Key Features

    • Timeline Visualization: Changes to CIs are shown as bubbles of different shapes and colors, indicating the type and validity of each change. Baselines are represented by black circles with hover details.
    • Change Validity: Relationship changes are valid only if implemented through change management or the Proposed Changes framework.
    • Time Period and Zoom Controls: You can specify and adjust the timeline’s time range using a navigator with handles and zoom options, ranging from minutes to the full data period. This helps manage visualization when many changes occur.
    • Property Filtering: Filters allow you to display bubbles only for selected property changes, aiding focus on relevant modifications. Changed properties are highlighted in light blue in the views.
    • Summary and Detail Views:
      • Summary View: Shows snapshots of each change set with old and new values and relationship changes. You can choose to display all CI properties or only those changed.
      • Detail View: Provides read-only snapshots focusing on properties within the filter scope, highlighting changed fields.
    • Navigation: Use navigation buttons to move chronologically through change sets in both Summary and Detail views.
    • Export and Compare: You can export snapshots and compare CI states at different points in time to support troubleshooting and audit processes.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Enables comprehensive tracking and auditing of CI changes, enhancing configuration management transparency.
    • Supports troubleshooting by providing historical context of CI modifications and related records.
    • Facilitates compliance and validation through visibility into valid and invalid changes linked to change management processes.
    • Improves efficiency by allowing users to filter, zoom, and navigate change data tailored to their needs.

    You can view a timeline of changes for a CI and for its related records, relationships, baselines, and proposed changes for the CI. Timelines are available for CIs in the Configuration Item [cmdb_ci] table or a descendant of this table, if auditing is enabled for the tables.

    Role required: The ACL for this view is based on the roles defined in the glide.history.role system property, which by default is set to itil. Also, the user must have read access to the History Set [sys_history_set] table, which by default is granted to admin.

    You can open a timeline when you view the history of a CI. You can specify the time period, time range, and properties that are displayed in the timeline. You can view either what has changed in a particular change set, or view the entire CI to better troubleshoot any issues. You can also display a timeline of changes to the CI's related records, and export and compare snapshots of the CI at any point in time.

    CI changes are represented by bubbles in different shapes and colors along the timeline. The shape of each bubble represents a different type of change and the color of each bubble specifies whether the change is valid or invalid. CI baselines are represented by black circles that you can hover over to display more details. Click the ? icon to display bubble shape and color definitions, and point to a bubble to display details about the change set.

    A change to a relationship is considered valid only if it was applied through change management. If the change was applied via the Proposed Changes framework, it is valid. For additional validation steps, see Create or edit a planned validation script .

    Figure 1. History Timeline view
    Figure 2. Timeline bubbles
    Note:
    Proposed changes that do not have a planned start date are placed at future points of time.

    Timeline navigator

    Use the handles on both ends of the timeline navigator to extend or to shorten the time period that is shown.

    You can scroll to a different period of time by clicking on the bottom part of the timeline navigator and then dragging the navigator to the left or right.

    Zoom

    By default, the timeline for the last month is shown. Next to the Zoom label above the timeline, you can select another time interval. You can select intervals from a minute to the entire period of data.

    If there are many changes of the CI during the time period, the bubbles displayed might get too crowded. You can zoom in or out to spread the bubbles in either method:
    • Change the time interval on the timeline. As you shorten the time interval, you zoom in, and as you lengthen the time interval, you zoom out.
    • Select the section of the timeline that you want to zoom into.

    Property filter

    You can filter the bubbles that are displayed. By default, all bubbles are displayed, representing changes to all of the CI's properties. You can limit the view to display only the bubbles in which selected properties have changed and exclude bubbles in which only unselected properties changed.

    The Detail and Summary views highlight properties within your filter scope that have changed. The changed properties are highlighted in light blue.

    In the Summary view, you can choose to include all the properties of the CI, or only properties that have changed. If you choose to display all properties in the summary view, then changed properties are listed before unchanged properties.

    Summary view

    The Summary view displays snapshots of the CI's represented by each bubble. Each snapshot displays the changes to the CI's fields and relationships according to the change set. It displays old and new values before and after the change, and any relationships that were added or deleted.

    Use the > and < buttons on both sides of the snapshot display to scroll through the next and previous change set records in a chronological order.

    Detail view

    The Detail view displays snapshots of the CI that correspond with the bubbles. Each snapshot includes the fields that are within the property filter scope, displaying the properties that have changed with a light blue background. Click on a bubble to display its corresponding snapshot of the CI. The data that is displayed is read-only.

    Use the > and < buttons on both sides to scroll through the next and previous change set records in a chronological order.