Discovery error messages

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated May 28, 2026
  • 5 minutes to read
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    Summary of Discovery error messages

    This document provides a comprehensive guide to common Discovery error messages in ServiceNow Zurich release. It helps customers identify the causes of errors encountered during discovery runs and offers practical advice to resolve these issues efficiently.

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    Common Error Categories

    • Input/output errors: Includes connection failures, timeouts, protocol issues, file not found, and general I/O errors that indicate communication problems during discovery.
    • Authentication errors: Errors related to missing or invalid credentials, or failed authentication attempts.
    • SSH errors: Issues with unsupported shells, script transfer failures, or invalid sessions.
    • Windows errors: Such as unsupported PowerShell versions or WMI service connection problems.
    • Command errors: Timeouts, invalid commands, parser errors, or terminal session issues encountered during command execution.
    • Generic component errors: Invalid or unsupported component operations.
    • General errors: XML parsing issues, ignored duplicate IPs during discovery, and warnings related to CI identification.

    Key Error Messages and Their Practical Implications

    • Authentication failures: Occur when discovery cannot authenticate to a target. Resolution involves adding correct credentials to the discovery credentials table.
    • PowerShell impersonation failures: Ensure domain and username are correctly specified in credentials.
    • WMI connection errors: Often caused by permission issues or unavailable remote machines. Verify MID Server service credentials, access rights, and firewall settings. Use command-line tools to test connectivity.
    • WMI repository corruption: Follow Microsoft TechNet guidance to repair the repository if this error arises.
    • Payload size limits: If discovery probe results exceed payload limits, adjust the MID Server property mid.discovery.maxpayloadsize to disable or increase the limit.
    • Version mismatches: Version conflicts between probes and sensors (major or minor) prevent proper processing; resolving these ensures sensors process discovery data correctly.
    • Missing or inactive sensors: Every active probe requires a corresponding sensor; absence causes processing errors that must be corrected by activating or creating the sensor.
    • XML parsing errors: Typically related to malformed input data; recommended actions include escaping special characters and ensuring correct XML formatting.
    • Probe not found errors: Occur when the sensor processor cannot locate the probe record; verify the sysid and probe cache integrity.

    Troubleshooting and Resolution Guidance

    • Use provided command-line checks on the MID Server host to validate connectivity and credentials.
    • For authentication issues, confirm credentials are complete and correctly configured, including domain names where applicable.
    • Address version mismatches by aligning the versions of sensors and probes to ensure compatibility.
    • Fix sensor errors by modifying the relevant JavaScript files that define sensor processing logic.
    • Refer to specific instructions for handling special cases like Solaris serial number collection requiring root credentials or locked-down admin shares affecting PowerShell probes.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    Understanding these error messages enables ServiceNow customers to quickly diagnose discovery failures, reducing downtime and improving data accuracy in CMDB updates. Proactive resolution of authentication, connectivity, versioning, and sensor issues ensures reliable discovery operations and better asset visibility.

    Review common Discovery error messages and their causes to identify and resolve issues that occur during discovery runs.

    Common error messages

    Input/output errors
    • CONNECTION_FAILED
    • CONNECTION_TIMEOUT
    • CONNECTION_REFUSED
    • CONNECTION_CIPHER_UNSUPPORTED
    • CONNECTION_PROTOCOL_UNSUPPORTED
    • CONNECTION_LOST
    • INVALID_CONNECTION_PARAMETER
    • FILE_NOT_FOUND
    • IO_ERROR
    Authentication errors
    • NO_CREDENTIALS
    • AUTHENTICATION_FAILED
    • INVALID_CREDENTIALS_TYPE
    SSH errors
    • SSH_SHELL_UNSUPPORTED
    • SSH_SCRIPT_TRANSFER_FAILED
    • SSH_INVALID_SESSION
    Windows errors
    POWER_SHELL_VERSION_UNSUPPORTED
    Command errors
    • COMMAND_TIMEOUT
    • INVALID_COMMAND
    • COMMAND_FILTER_ERROR
    • COMMAND_PARSER_ERROR
    • COMMAND_KEY_MAPPER_ERROR
    • COMMAND_VALUE_NORMALIZER_ERROR
    • TERMINAL_SESSION_LOST_ERROR
    • TERMINAL_SESSION_ENVIRONMENT_MODIFICATION_ERROR
    Generic component errors
    • INVALID_COMPONENT
    • INVALID_COMPONENT_PARAMETER
    • INVALID_OPERATION

    General error messages

    Message: org.xml.sax.SAXParseException: The entity name must immediately follow the '&' in the entity reference
    A version of this message occurs if you have used special characters in a password that is saved in an XML file.
    Message: Identified, ignored extra IP
    This message can appear at the end classification phase of Discovery if a targeted IP address belongs to a device that is being discovered at the same time.

    For example, a Windows server has two NIC cards with two IP addresses. Discovery targets both IP addresses within the same Discovery schedule. This message is generated to note that second IP address is ignored because we don't want to update the same CI twice within the same Discovery run.

    This message is a warning and is expected. No action is needed.

    Message: Authentication failures
    The discovery process could not discover the CI because the discovery application could not authenticate. To resolve, add the credentials of that machine in to the discovery credentials table.
    Message: Identified, not updating CI, now finished
    No match on any of the CI Identifiers.
    Message: The impersonation of user failed
    This message originates in the Powershell. Check that the domain is specified along with the user name in the credentials.
    Message: Connection failed to WMI service. Error: Permission denied
    This message originates in WMI. Check that the MID Server service is running with the correct credentials and has access to the target device.

    To check this, run the following command from the command prompt on the MID Server host:

    wmic /node:target /user:user /password:password path win32_operatingsystem
    target = IP address of target device
    user = user account used by the mid server service
    password = password used by the mid server service
    Message: Connection failed to WMI service. Error: The remote server machine does not exist or is unavailable
    This message originates in WMI. Check that the MID Server service account has access to the targeted machine. Check if a domain admin account is used as the MID Server service account. Check if any existing firewalls are open to the connection. To check this, run the following command from the command prompt on the MID Server host.

    Execute for runner_type=WMI:

    wmic /node:"<target>" /user:"<user>" /password:"<password>" path win32_operatingsystem
    From within a Powershell console on the mid server host, execute for runner_type=Powershell:
    gwmi win32_operatingsystem -computer <ip> -credential '<username>'
    Message: Provider is not capable of the attempted operation
    WMI repository was corrupted. After following the "WMI: Repository Corruption, or Not?" article on the Microsoft TechNet site, the problem was corrected.
    Message: The result file can't be fetched because it doesn't exist
    PRB581515 - Powershell does not work when customer has locked down write rights to admin share.
    Message: Please run sneep as root to ensure correct serial number from fserial data source
    The Oracle Sneep command line tool must be installed for the Solaris - Serial Number probe to work correctly. There is a known limitation with Fujitsu PRIMEPOWER devices. To work around this limitation, run the Solaris discovery with root credentials.

    Discovery sensor error messages

    Message: The multisensor will not process because its major version = X while probe_name responding script's major version = Y
    This error message indicates that there is a major version mismatch.
    Message: Payload length exceeds limit of 5000000
    This error message indicates that the Discovery probe results exceed the limit. The MID Server will discard the results and return a warning message. To resolve, set the value of the mid.discovery.max_payload_size MID Server property to any negative number (for example, -1) to disable the payload limit and allow payloads of any size to be sent to the instance.
    Message: The multisensor will not process because its responding script's major version = X while its referenced probe probe_name major version = Y
    This error message indicates that there is a major version mismatch.
    Message: sensor_name sensor's major version = X while its related probe's major version = Y
    This error message indicates that there is a major version mismatch in the probe and sensor versions and the sensor will stop processing until this condition is resolved.
    Message: sensor_name multisensor's minor version = X while probe_name responding script's minor version = Y
    This error message indicates that there is a minor version mismatch.
    Message: sensor_name multisensor's responding script's minor version = X while its referenced probe probe_name minor version = Y
    This error message indicates that there is a minor version mismatch.
    Message: sensor_name sensor's minor version = X while its related probe's minor version = Y
    This error message indicates that there is a minor version mismatch in the probe and sensor versions. Processing will continue, but you may want to resolve this condition.
    Message: Sensor error when processing . . . : No sensors defined
    Every active probe looks for a corresponding sensor to process the data that is collected by the probe. This error message indicates that the corresponding sensor for the probe is missing or inactive.
    Message: Sensor error when processing . . . : typeError: . . .
    This error message indicates that the sensor has one of the core error constructors in JavaScript.
    Message: Sensor error when processing ...: Exception while processing sensor: XML Parse Problem: ![CDATA]
    This XML parsing error occurs when the discovery sensor fails to parse the input ECC queue payload. The payload is not formatted according to XML specifications. Possible solutions include:
    • Escape problematic characters. For example, change < to &lt and & to &amp.
    • Escape entire blocks of text with CDATA sections, or put encoding declarations at the start of the text.
    • Remove any whitespace characters (space, tabs, newlines) before the XML declarations.
    Message: Sensor error when processing Linux - Network ARP Tables: Exception while running probe post processing script: No XML data
    The system displays the No XML data error when the XML sensor processor fails to find the expected XML data in the probe output. During sensor processing, Discovery attempts to retrieve the probe results but finds the probe output empty. Verify that the probe returns the correct output for the sensor to process.
    Message: Sensor error when processing Shazzam: Exception while running probe post processing script: Probe not found: null
    The Probe not found error occurs when the sensor processor fails to find the probe record supposedly associated with the sensor. During sensor processing, Discovery gets the probe record from the probe cache and stores it for later reference. The "Probe not found" error occurs either when the sys_id of the probe cannot be found or there is an issue with the probe cache.

    See Find the cause of a "Probe not found" error for more information.