Preparing an application for config data upload

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 4 minutes to read
    • Summarize
    Summarized using AI
    This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete.

    Summary of Preparing an application for config data upload

    This process guides ServiceNow customers through preparing an application in Configuration Data Management (CDM) to accept uploaded configuration data. An application in CDM represents the full collection of configuration data for an application service, application model, or dynamic CI group in the CMDB. After uploading source config data, the application supports multiple deployables representing different environment versions (Development, Test, Production). Note that DevOps Config is deprecated and unavailable for new activations.

    Show full answer Show less

    Preparing an Application to Accept Configuration Data

    • Create an application record in CDM using the Apps tab with the CDM Admin role. This generates a hierarchical folder structure for mapping your existing config data.
    • Define multiple deployables corresponding to environments (e.g., Development, Test, Production), with multiple versions per deployable.
    • Use the CDM code editor to create a changeset (a draft application copy) where you model the config data by creating nodes within appropriate folders. Nodes can use any UTF-8 character, including slashes.
    • Upload your existing configuration data into the changeset via REST APIs or the CDM code editor. Supported dataset types include component variables, components, collections, and deployables.

    Key Data Structures

    • Components: Represent logical elements of an application or infrastructure (e.g., microservices, servers, Docker templates). Components contain variables that vary in collections and deployables.
    • Collections: Sets of components defining a release composition. Collections can include variable overrides specific to release versions and additional configuration overlays.
    • Deployables: Configuration datasets for specific environments (Development, Test, Production), composed of collections that define the release for that environment. Deployables allow environment-specific variable overrides, enabling tailored configuration per environment.

    Post-Upload Configuration and Commit

    • After uploading data, update variable and override values to enable reuse of components and collections across deployables with environment-specific configurations.
    • Save and commit the changeset. The system checks for conflicts with prior commits, requiring resolution if conflicts arise.
    • Commit pushes changes into the application’s data model, generates snapshots of affected deployables, and validates config data against policies.
    • Snapshots are immutable and can be published or used to export configuration data.

    Managing Configuration Data

    Once config data is persisted in CDM tables, you can:

    • Map validation policies to deployables to ensure compliance.
    • Validate snapshots against these policies.
    • Export configuration data for use in CI/CD pipelines or other processes.

    Additional Considerations

    • Policies can technically be mapped to empty deployables, but this is uncommon.
    • Key related tasks include defining or updating components, collections, and deployables, as well as handling changeset conflicts and validation.

    An application in CDM is the full collection of config data for an application service, application model, or dynamic CI group [infrastructure] in the CMDB. After you upload your source config data, the application can support all potential deployables that make up each version of the development, test, and production environments of the service.

    Important:
    DevOps Config is now deprecated and no longer supported or available for new activation.

    Overview: Preparing an application to accept uploaded config data

    You follow this general process to prepare an application to accept the upload of config data:
    1. On the Apps tab, you, a user with the CDM Admin [sn_cdm.cdm_admin] role, create an application record.

      The system generates an application that includes several standard folders in a hierarchical structure. You will map your existing config data into this data structure to enable the benefits that are described in CDM data model.

      Data structure for a new application. You will add your config data as nodes in the appropriate folder

      The application supports creation of multiple deployables. For example, you might create a deployable for each typical environment: Development, Test, and Production. You might also create multiple versions of each deployable for each environment type.

    2. Working in the CDM code editor, you now create a changeset — a draft copy of the application that you can edit.
    3. While working in the changeset, you create the following types of nodes in the appropriate folders. This process models the config data, that is, it prepares the application to map your source config data into the CDM data structure.
      Note:

      Starting with Configuration Data Management version 4.2, you can define a node using any UTF-8 character, including the forward slash (/).

    4. Now that the structure is in place, you use the REST APIs or the CDM code editing panel to upload your existing configuration data into the changeset. The process is described in Uploading your config data. For more information, see CdmApplicationsAPI, CdmChangesetsAPI, and CdmSnapshoAPI.
      Note:
      If you're uploading an XML or CSV file to import your existing config data into CDM, the CDM parser parses the data in a specific way. For more information, see Parsing of XML files in CDM and Parsing of CSV files in CDM.
      You can upload the following types of datasets: component variables, components, collections, and deployables.
      Components
      Components are the building blocks that typically represent the config data for a logical element of an application or a part of an infrastructure service. For example, a monolithic app, a micro-service, a physical server, or a Docker template.

      A component can contain variables that can take on different values in collections and deployables. More detailed instructions appear in Define or update a component.

      Collections

      A collection is the set of components that together define a release — You can think of a collection as a release composition.

      A collection can contain variable or override settings that are specific to the particular version. For example, the VM config data used in release-1 is different from the data used in release-2. release-1 might use the value 2Gb for the memory setting ("memory": "2Gb") and release-2 might specify a different value ("memory": "4Gb"). In addition, a collection might include config settings that do not appear in its components. You might think of such values as "overlays".

      Deployables

      A deployable is a config dataset (for a development, test, or production environment) that can be deployed into your CI/CD pipeline as a service. Each deployable in an application configures a service in the CMDB. For example, you might create three deployables, one for each environment type: Development, Test, and Production.

      A deployable is made up of the collection or set of collections that define the release for a particular environment. The combination of collections+environment link to an application service in the CMDB or an infrastructure service.

      A deployable can contain variable or override settings that are specific to the environment. For example, the database variable has one value in the development environment and a different value in the production environment. An override value in the production deployable might specify a required container parameter that is not needed in the development environment.

    5. After the data is uploaded, you return to CDM. You update variable and override values so that the relatively small set of components and collections can provide config data for all three deployable environments. For example, the Development deployable can use the same components and collections as the Test deployable. Development uses the default database variable value. Test, in contrast, uses a different value that is appropriate for the test environment.
    6. Now, save and commit the changeset. The system performs the following actions:
      • Determine whether there are conflicts with other earlier commits. If the system reports a conflict, you must resolve it and recommit or create a changeset and redo your changes. For more information on conflict resolution, see Conflicts between changeset commits.
      • Push all changes into the data model of the application (the config data is persisted).
      • Generate a snapshot of each deployable that is affected by the changes in the changeset. The system validates config data by executing specified policies against a snapshot. At the moment that the snapshot is created, the snapshot can be published and used to export the config data. Snapshots are permanent records that cannot be edited.
    The source config data is now held in CDM tables. You can now manage the data as needed: map policies to each deployable so that the snapshots can be validated, validate the data in a snapshot (apply the policies), export config data, and so on.
    Note:
    You can map policies to an empty deployable, but that is not a typical procedure.