CI deletion strategies for pattern discovery

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated August 11, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of CI deletion strategies for pattern discovery

    When performing discovery with patterns in ServiceNow, you can manage how configuration items (CIs) that exist in the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) but are no longer detected by Discovery are handled. This capability is specific to pattern-based discovery and is not available for probes or sensors.

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    Patterns identify a main CI type, such as an IIS web server or Tomcat server, and Discovery also finds related CIs like the hosting machine, configuration files, websites, and dependencies. The relationships between the main CI and related CIs are configured in the Related CI Types [sacitopattern] table, where deletion strategies are set.

    Key Features

    • Deletion strategies apply only to related CIs: You cannot set deletion strategies for the main CI if it belongs to the Infrastructure pattern type. For Application or Cloud Resource pattern types, deleting the main CI is allowed.
    • Deletion strategies take effect when Discovery finds the main CI but not a related CI on subsequent runs.
    • Available deletion strategy options for related CIs:
      • Keep: Retains the CI record with no changes (default).
      • Delete: Removes the CI record and its relationship from the CMDB.
      • Mark as absent: Sets the CI’s Status [installstatus] to Absent, indicating it was not found but does not delete the CI or relationship. Exceptions are network adapter and IP address CIs, which are deleted if marked absent.
      • Delete relations: Removes only the relationship between the related CI and main CI, leaving the CI record intact.
      • Mark as retired: Sets the CI’s Status [installstatus] to Retired, showing it is no longer used without deleting the CI or relationship.
    • Deletion strategies cannot be applied to related entries (rules based on related CIs).

    Practical Application for ServiceNow Customers

    By configuring deletion strategies in the Related CI Types [sacitopattern] table, customers can automate the lifecycle management of related CIs discovered via patterns. This ensures the CMDB reflects the current environment accurately by removing or marking CIs that Discovery no longer detects, preventing stale or orphaned records.

    It is important to understand which deletion strategy best fits your operational needs, whether you want to retain data for audit purposes (Keep or Mark as absent), clean up the CMDB (Delete), or manage relationships separately (Delete relations). This granular control helps maintain CMDB integrity and supports accurate dependency mapping.

    When you perform discovery with a pattern, you can choose what to do with configuration items (CIs) that are in the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) but Discovery can no longer find.

    Note:
    Deletion strategies are available only with patterns, not probes/sensors.
    When you use a pattern to perform discovery, you identify a CI Type, which is the main CI you're trying to find, such as an IIS web server or Tomcat server. Discovery can also find related CIs and populate the CMDB accordingly. For example, after Discovery finds an IIS server with the IIS pattern, it can also find these related CIs:
    • The Windows machine that hosts the web server
    • The configuration files for the IIS server
    • The website that the IIS server hosts
    The dependency map on the main CI also shows the related CIs, as illustrated by the following graphic:
    Figure 1. An example of an IIS server main CI and its related CIs
    related CIs to an IIS server

    After you discover the main CI and its related CIs for the first time using a pattern, you must manually configure an entry in the Related CI Types [sa_ci_to_pattern] table for each relation between the main CI and a related CI type. These records are where you determine the deletion strategy for each related CI based on its type. Note that you cannot set a deletion strategy for the main CI for Infrastructure pattern type.

    You can view a list of the relations as the following image illustrates:
    Figure 2. Example CIs related to an IIS server
    CIs related to an IIS server
    The deletion strategy on a related CI takes effect when both of these conditions occur:
    • After you run Discovery with the pattern again.
    • Discovery successfully finds the main CI but cannot find the related CI.

    These deletion strategy options are available:

    Value Description
    Keep Preserves the configuration file CI record and makes no other changes to the record. This option is the default setting.
    Delete Deletes the configuration file CI record from the CMDB, and the relationship to the main CI.
    Mark as absent Marks the Status [install_status] field of the configuration file CI record as Absent, meaning that Discovery cannot find the tracked configuration file. This status does not instruct the system to delete the actual CI or the relationship.
    Note:
    There are two tables that do have their CIs deleted if marked as absent: cmdb_ci_network_adapter and cmdb_ci_ip_address.
    Delete relations Deletes only the CI relationships between the related CI and the main CI.
    Mark as retired Marks the Status [install_status] field of the configuration file CI record as Retired, meaning that Discovery no longer uses this configuration file. This status does not instruct the system to delete the actual CI or the relationship.
    Note:
    Deletion strategies are not available for related entries, which are rules that are based on related CIs. For more information, see Related entries.