Life-cycle operations in Cloud Provisioning and Governance

Release version: Zurich

Updated July 31, 2025

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Summary of Life-cycle operations in Cloud Provisioning and Governance

Life-cycle operations, also known as day-2 operations, in Cloud Provisioning and Governance allow ServiceNow customers to manage cloud resources and stacks post-provisioning. These operations include actions such as Start, Stop, Deprovision, and executing scripts on virtual machines (VMs). Each operation triggers a change request subject to approval policies, ensuring controlled and auditable modifications.

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Key Operations and Their Usage

Start/Stop: Start powers on a VM, changing its status to On; Stop powers it off, changing status to Off. Both require no additional settings.
Deprovision: Terminates stacks or resources (VMs, compute security groups, load balancers, networks, storage volumes), notifying owners and updating resource status to Terminated. This operation removes billing items where applicable.
ExecuteScript: Runs scripts on Windows or Linux VMs to perform tasks like application installation. Linux VMs inherit credentials at provisioning; Windows VMs require credentials added via the InfuseKey operation.
InfuseKey: Adds key credentials to Windows VMs for secure operations, requiring specification of the key during the operation.
Execute Job Template: Uses Ansible to attach nodes and execute application packages on VMs. Users must select supported applications to avoid provisioning failures.
Resize: Changes VM size (hardware type) by specifying a new size during the operation.
Storage Volume Operations (IBM Cloud only):
- Create Snapshot: Captures a read-only snapshot of a volume, requiring approval if configured, and may shut down the VM during the process.
- Restore From Snapshot: Restores a volume from a selected snapshot.
- Delete Snapshot: Removes a selected snapshot.
- Attach/Detach: Attaches or detaches volumes to/from VMs, managing volume status accordingly.
- Deprovision: Terminates volumes and updates billing and status, with reclaimed storage available in IBM Cloud Console.

Key Outcomes

Controlled management of cloud resources via automated change requests and approval workflows.
Ability to perform essential operational tasks on cloud stacks and resources directly from ServiceNow.
Enhanced flexibility through integration with configuration management tools like Ansible and Terraform.
Support for credential management and script execution enhances automation and operational efficiency.
Visibility into resource status changes and stack health provides clear operational insights.
Snapshot and volume management for IBM Cloud enables data protection and recovery options within governance processes.

Operations like Start/Stop, Deprovision, and ExecuteScript are called life-cycle operations or day-2 operations. When you request a life-cycle operation on a stack or resource, the system generates a change request. An approval policy specifies either that the change is auto-approved or that a user on the approver list must approve the change.

To perform an operation, you select a stack or resource and then click Select Stack Operation or Select Resource Operation. The list includes only appropriate operations for the selected resource or stack. Some operations are provided by configuration management systems like Ansible or Terraform.

Operations in the base system

Start: The Start operation starts selected VM. The resource status changes to On.
No setting is required.
Stop: The Stop operation stops the selected VM. The resource status changes to Off.
No setting is required.
Deprovision: The Deprovision operation terminates the selected stack and sends a notification to the stack owner.
No setting is required.

Virtual Machine 'Store Extension Interface' operations

Only Google Cloud Platform and IBM Cloud support the Virtual Machine Store Extension Interface operations. The Terraform Connector ServiceNow Store app supplies the operations.

Virtual Machine Store Extension Interface.ExecuteScript

The ExecuteScript operation runs a script on the selected Windows or Linux VM. For example, a script might install an application on a resource. See KB0756431 for detailed instructions.

Note:

To run the ExecuteScript operation, a VM must include credentials. Linux VMs inherit management key credentials when they are provisioned. For Windows VMs, use the InfuseKey operation to add credentials to the VM.

In the pop-up, specify:

ScriptType: Shell and PowerShell scripts are supported.
Script: Name of the script.

Virtual Machine Store Extension Interface.InfuseKey

For Windows VMs, the InfuseKey operation adds key credentials (public and private key pair values) to the VM.

As a result, you can view the credentials on the Properties list of the Windows VM and can use the credentials to perform VM operations. For instructions on generating a key, see Create an SSH key.

To add key credentials to a Windows VM:

Select the Windows VM.
In the Select Resource Operation list, select Virtual Machine Store Extension Interface.InfuseKey.
In the pop-up, specify the key to use in the UserKey field and then click OK.

Virtual Machine Store Extension Interface.Execute Job Template

Ansible supplies the Execute Job Template operation. The operation enables you to attach a node to an Ansible server and execute a package on that VME. For example, a script might install an application on a resource. In the pop-up, specify:


WorkloadConfigProviderType
WorkloadConfigProvider
Inventory
HostGroup	The list includes all possible applications (called groups in Ansible), not just the applications that the configuration management provider supports. Therefore, if users select an unsupported application, the provisioning fails.
ApplicationProfile	Select the application profile to execute on the selected resource.

ScriptType: For Google Cloud Platform, Shell is supported.
Script: Name of the script.

Virtual Machine Store Extension Interface.Resize

The Resize operation changes the Size setting for a VM (called HardwareType in the CI definition). In the pop-up, specify the new size in the HardwareType field.

'Compute Security Group Store Extension Interface' operations

The Compute Security Group Store Extension Interface operations are supported for IBM Cloud only. The Terraform ServiceNow Store app supplies the operations.

Compute Security Group Store Extension Interface.Deprovision

The Deprovision operation terminates the selected compute security group resource and sends a notification to the owner.

No setting is required.

The Status of the network interface changes to Terminated. In the Stack Health section of the home page, the status of the stack indicates that some resources are down.

'Load Balancer Store Extension Interface' operations

Load Balancer Store Extension Interface.Deprovision

The Deprovision operation terminates the selected load balancer and sends a notification to the stack owner.

No setting is required.

The Status of the load balancer changes to Terminated. In the Stack Health section of the home page, the status of the stack indicates that some resources are down.

'Network Store Extension Interface' operations

'Network Store Extension Interface.Deprovision

The Deprovision operation terminates the selected network store and sends a notification to the stack owner.

No setting is required.

The Status of the network store changes to Terminated. In the Stack Health section of the home page, the status of the stack indicates that some resources are down.

'Storage Volume Store Extension Interface' operations

The Storage Volume Store Extension Interface operations are supported for IBM Cloud only. The Terraform ServiceNow Store app supplies the operations.

Storage Volume Store Extension Interface.Create Snapshot

The Create Snapshot operation generates a read-only copy of the specified volume.

In the pop-up, specify the SnapshotName to use as the label for the snapshot.

The snapshot is saved in the [cmdbci.ci_storage_vol_snapshot_list] table.

If approval is not required, the system immediately takes the snapshot. If approval is required, there may be a delay while an admin approves the change. You receive email when the admin approves. After the admin approves, return to the VM Instance form and click the Proceed with Change related link.

Note:

If the VM is running, the VM is shut down at the start of the snapshot process and then restarted when the process finishes. The system auto-deletes the oldest snapshot when the Snapshot eviction policy limit is exceeded.

Storage Volume Store Extension Interface.Restore From Snapshot

The Restore From Snapshot operation restores the image from the specified snapshot.

Select the SnapshotID to use to restore the volume.

Storage Volume Store Extension Interface.Delete Snapshot

The Delete Snapshot operation deletes the selected snapshot.

Storage Volume Store Extension Interface.Attach

The Attach operation attaches a VM to the selected volume.

Select the volume to attach. The Status of the volume must be Available.
Select the Storage Volume Store Extension Interface.Attach operation.
In the NodeId field on the pop-up, select the Instance ID of the server to attach to the volume.
The status of the volume changes from Available to In Use.

Storage Volume Store Extension Interface.Detach

The Detach operation detaches a VM from the selected volume.

Select the volume to attach. The Status of the volume must be In Use.
Select the Storage Volume Store Extension Interface.Detach operation.
In the NodeId field on the pop-up, select the Instance ID of the host to detach from the volume.
If this VM is the last or the only VM that is detached, then the status of the volume changes from In Use to Available.

Storage Volume Store Extension Interface.Deprovision

The Deprovision operation terminates the selected volume and sends a notification to the stack owner.

No setting is required.

The billing item for the storage resource is removed.
The Status of the volume changes to Terminated. In the Stack Health section of the home page, the status of the stack indicates that some resources are down.
For IBM Cloud: The storage volume is available in the IBM Cloud Console for an extended period to enable the user to reclaim the storage volume.