Combined Configuration Management Database (CMDB) release notes for upgrades from Xanadu to Zurich
Summarize
Summary of Combined Configuration Management Database (CMDB) Release Notes for Upgrades from Xanadu to Zurich
This consolidated release note guide assists ServiceNow customers upgrading their Configuration Management Database (CMDB) from the Xanadu through Yokohama to the Zurich release. It highlights important pre- and post-upgrade tasks, new features, changes, deprecations, removals, and enhancements affecting CMDB functionality and user roles across these releases.
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Important Upgrade Considerations
- Xanadu: Improvements to Recent CI activity trend lines and CMDB Health dashboard jobs require reactivation post-upgrade. Bookmarks for CI dashboards no longer work; use CMDB Workspace instead. Legacy dashboards on Core UI are unsupported but accessible via bookmarks.
- Yokohama: New database indexes improve Identification and Reconciliation Engine (IRE) performance but may increase upgrade time. Role permissions for sncmdbeditor and sncmdbadmin require scheduled job execution to restore create, update, and delete (CUD) access on Configuration Item records.
- Zurich: Removal of the “Design” operational status value requires reviewing CIs with manual discovery sources and updating their operational status. Manual execution of a scheduled job is needed to correctly configure user role permissions related to CMDB Workspace tasks. CMDB Workspace installation is included, but customers can upgrade to newer versions from the ServiceNow Store.
Key Features and Enhancements
- Centralized CI Management: The new CI form in CMDB Workspace (available since Xanadu 7.6) offers a comprehensive, editable view of CI attributes, relationships, resources, activities, health state, and CMDB 360 data.
- Data Certification Dashboard: Accessible within CMDB Workspace, it provides detailed insights into certification policies, tasks, progress, and workloads.
- Unified Map Enhancements: Users with the appropriate roles can save shared filter presets, add or remove CIs, and manage CI relationships directly on the map, enhancing visualization and control.
- Archival and Retention: Certification policy records now have separated archival and destruction processes with extended retention periods to support audits and compliance.
- CMDB Health Dashboard Improvements: Redesigned with UI Builder components and integrated fully into CMDB Workspace, featuring a modern Next Experience UI look and CI health shown directly on CI forms.
- Service Graph Connector (SGC) Central View: Available in CMDB Workspace for simplified discovery, installation, monitoring, and debugging of connectors.
- Generative AI Assistance: “Now Assist for CMDB” provides AI-powered skills including CI summarization and guided duplicate CI remediation. “Now Assist for SGC” aids in diagnosing Service Graph Connector issues.
- Create CI Experience: Enhanced manual CI creation in CMDB Workspace supports lookup identifiers with mandatory attributes and validates uniqueness via IRE policies to maintain data integrity.
- Performance and Governance Tools: Filtering options on CMDB 360 coverage charts and configurable performance thresholds help optimize processing. Governance workflows assist admins in improving CMDB data quality and trust.
- Improved Accessibility: Configurable Workspace supports Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA, including zoom and reflow capabilities for better usability.
Changes Affecting User Roles and Permissions
- From Xanadu Patch 9 and Yokohama Patch 4 onward, the sncmdbeditor and sncmdbadmin roles lost direct CUD access to Configuration Item records. Customers must run a scheduled job to reassign these permissions appropriately for CMDB Workspace tasks.
- In Zurich, the itil user role no longer contains sncmdbeditor, and itiladmin no longer contains sncmdbadmin; instead, these CMDB roles have full CUD access to Configuration Item records to maintain proper separation and security.
Deprecated and Removed Features
- Deprecated: The Data Certification plugin (com.snc.certificationv2) and the ServiceNow hosted Service Graph Connector for ExtraHop are deprecated, with functionality now provided via CMDB Workspace and updated connectors.
- Removed: Legacy CMDB Health dashboards and CI dashboard widgets on Core UI are unsupported or removed in newer releases. Concepts like overall health scores and weighted averages in health metrics have been eliminated to simplify usage.
Post-Upgrade Actions and Best Practices
- Review and update operational status values on CIs, especially those with manual discovery sources post-Zurich upgrade.
- Run the scheduled job “Remove CMDB Roles from ITIL roles and Add CUD access to sncmdbadmin/sncmdbeditor roles” to ensure roles have necessary permissions for CMDB Workspace functionalities.
- Execute quick start tests after upgrades or deployments to verify CMDB functionality; customize tests if your CMDB has customizations.
- Use CMDB Workspace and Unified Map for comprehensive CI management, data certification, health monitoring, and governance workflows.
Activation and Requirements
Consolidated page of all release notes for Configuration Management Database (CMDB) from Xanadu to Zurich.
How to use this page
To help you prepare for your upgrade, we have combined the cross-family Configuration Management Database (CMDB) release notes onto one page. Read this summary of the new features, changes, and updated information for your product from Xanadu to Zurich.
Important information for upgrading Configuration Management Database (CMDB) to Zurich
Before you upgrade to Zurich, review these pre- and post-upgrade tasks and complete the tasks as needed.
| Release | Release notes |
|---|---|
Xanadu |
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Yokohama |
Three new indexes (parent, type), (child, type), and (child, parent, type, port) are added to the CI Relationship [cmdb_rel_ci] table to improve the performance of Identification and Reconciliation Engine (IRE) querying this table. This change is likely to increase upgrade time. For more information about the impact of this change during upgrade and to learn how to minimize that impact, see Increased Yokohama Upgrade Time due to cmdb_rel_ci index additions [KB1703367]. |
Zurich |
Due to the removal of the Design value for the operational status attribute in a CI, after an upgrade, you must review all CIs that have the discovery source attribute set to Manual via IRE. Review the operational status attribute of those CIs and set it to a supported value in CMDB for your environment. For example, you can set the attribute to Non-Operational. For more information about the operational status values, see Tangible/physical life cycle. On an upgraded Zurich instance, to configure the sn_cmdb_admin and the sn_cmdb_editor user roles with the necessary permissions to perform some CMDB Workspace tasks, you must manually run the scheduled job Remove CMDB Roles from ITIL roles and Add CUD access to sn_cmdb_admin/sn_cmdb_editor roles. This scheduled job modifies the user
roles as follows:
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New features
Between your current release family and Zurich, new features were introduced for Configuration Management Database (CMDB).
| Release | Release notes |
|---|---|
Xanadu |
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Yokohama |
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Zurich |
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Changes
Between your current release family and Zurich, some changes were made to existing Configuration Management Database (CMDB) features.
| Release | Release notes |
|---|---|
Xanadu |
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Yokohama |
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Zurich |
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Removed
Between your current release family and Zurich, some Configuration Management Database (CMDB) features or functionality were removed.
| Release | Release notes |
|---|---|
Xanadu |
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Yokohama |
No updates for this release. |
Zurich |
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Deprecations
Between your current release family and Zurich, some Configuration Management Database (CMDB) features or functionality were deprecated.
| Release | Release notes |
|---|---|
Xanadu |
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Yokohama |
CMDB Data manager on Core UI is now deprecated and no longer supported or available for new activation. CMDB Workspace provides the latest experience for this functionality. For more information, see CMDB Data Manager experience in CMDB Workspace. |
Zurich |
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Activation information
Review information on how to activate Configuration Management Database (CMDB).
| Release | Release notes |
|---|---|
Xanadu |
CMDB is a ServiceNow AI Platform feature that is active by default. |
Yokohama |
CMDB is a ServiceNow AI Platform feature that is active by default. |
Zurich |
CMDB is a ServiceNow AI Platform feature that is active by default. |
Additional requirements
If any additional requirements were introduced or changed for Configuration Management Database (CMDB) we have noted them here.
| Release | Release notes |
|---|---|
Xanadu |
No updates for this release. |
Yokohama |
No updates for this release. |
Zurich |
No updates for this release. |
Browser requirements
If any specific browser requirements were introduced or changed for Configuration Management Database (CMDB) we have noted them here.
| Release | Release notes |
|---|---|
Xanadu |
No updates for this release. |
Yokohama |
No updates for this release. |
Zurich |
No updates for this release. |
Accessibility information
Review details on accessibility information for Configuration Management Database (CMDB), such as specific requirements or compliance levels.
| Release | Release notes |
|---|---|
Xanadu |
No updates for this release. |
Yokohama |
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Zurich |
No updates for this release. |
Localization information
If there are specific localization considerations for Configuration Management Database (CMDB) we have noted them here.
| Release | Release notes |
|---|---|
Xanadu |
No updates for this release. |
Yokohama |
No updates for this release. |
Zurich |
No updates for this release. |
Highlight information
If there are specific highlight considerations for Configuration Management Database (CMDB) we have noted them here.
| Release | Release notes |
|---|---|
Xanadu |
See Configuration Management for more information. |
Yokohama |
See Configuration Management for more information. |
Zurich |
See Configuration Management for more information. |