Can you describe how SLAs (Service Level
Agreements) are associated with incidents in ServiceNow?
Answer: SLAs
define the expected response and resolution times for incidents. In ServiceNow,
SLAs are associated with incidents based on their priority levels. The system
automatically tracks the time elapsed and alerts stakeholders if SLA targets
are at risk of being breached.
How do you escalate incidents in ServiceNow?
Answer: Incidents
can be escalated in ServiceNow based on predefined criteria such as elapsed
time or priority level. Automated notifications can be set up to alert
higher-level support groups or management when an incident meets the escalation
criteria.
Can you
explain the role of Problem Management in relation to Incident Management in
ServiceNow?
Answer: Problem Management in ServiceNow focuses on
identifying and addressing the root causes of recurring incidents to prevent
future disruptions. It works closely with Incident Management to ensure that
incidents are properly investigated, and any underlying problems are addressed
through the problem resolution process.
How do you handle incidents that require input from
multiple support teams?
Answer: For
incidents that require input from multiple support teams, I facilitate
collaboration by assigning tasks to the respective teams within the incident
record in ServiceNow. I also schedule regular meetings or conference calls to
coordinate efforts and ensure that everyone is aligned on the resolution plan.
How do you differentiate between an incident and a problem
in ServiceNow?
Answer: An
incident is an unplanned interruption to a service or a reduction in the
quality of a service, while a problem is the underlying cause of one or more
incidents. Incident Management focuses on restoring services quickly, whereas
Problem Management focuses on identifying and eliminating the root cause to
prevent future incidents.
What is Root Cause Analysis (RCA)?
A systematic process of investigating and identifying the
underlying cause or causes of incidents or problems within the IT environment.
What is Relationship?
Defines the connections between Configuration Items (CIs) within
the CMDB. Relationships can be hierarchical (parent-child) or peer-to-peer.
Example: A
relationship between a server and the application it hosts, indicating that the
server CI supports the application CI.
What is Discovery?
The process of automatically identifying and populating
Configuration Items (CIs) and their attributes within the CMDB. This can be
done through network scans, agent-based discovery, or other methods.
Example: ServiceNow
Discovery automatically discovers and populates CIs in the CMDB by scanning the
network for devices and collecting information.
What is Service Mapping?
A process of visualizing the relationships and dependencies
between CIs and business services within the CMDB, providing a comprehensive
view of IT infrastructure.
Example: ServiceNow
Service Mapping identifies the connections between servers, applications,
databases, and network devices to map out the dependencies of a business
service.
What is Impact Analysis?
Evaluating the potential effects of changes to Configuration
Items (CIs) on IT services and other CIs within the CMDB.
Example: Before
making changes to a server’s configuration, performing impact analysis in
ServiceNow CMDB helps predict how it might affect related applications and
services.
What is Change Management?
A process of controlling and managing changes to Configuration
Items (CIs) within the IT infrastructure, ensuring that changes are implemented
smoothly and efficiently.
Example: ServiceNow
Change Management module allows organizations to create, assess, and authorize
changes to CIs while maintaining proper documentation and approvals.
From
where we can call Script Include in ServiceNow?
·
Client Script
·
Business Rule
·
Reference Qualifier
·
Default value
·
Workflow
·
Any utility on the Client’s Side
·
Any utility on the Server Side
What are
roles delegation?
·
Administrators can authorize
users to be role delegators to assign roles to users who are in a particular
group.
·
Role delegators can assign only
the roles that are assigned to them.
How many
types of impersonations are available in ServiceNow?
·
There are two types of
impersonations available
·
Impersonation
logging for interactive sessions: Interactive sessions are performed through the user interface (UI).
·
Impersonation
logging for non-interactive sessions: Non-interactive sessions are performed by applications and scripts,
not through the UI.
Which users
can’t be impersonated in ServiceNow?
·
Inactive users
·
Users with no userID
What are
the ways to see the relation between ServiceNow classes?
·
Administrators can use these
tools to see the relationships between classes.
·
Schema map
·
System dictionary
·
Tables module
Which database in Servicenow supports rollback and recovery?
What is the delete records module in ServiceNow?
·
This module is used to recover
deleted records from the servicenow instance.
·
This module works on records in
audited tables.
·
Cascaded deleted records must be
recovered within seven days of the record deletion.
·
After seven days, only data
records and references on tables that audit deletions can be recovered, which
is the same functionality as prior releases
How to recover script execution details under the Scripts – Background module?
·
Navigate to Rollback & Recovery > Script Execution History
What are rollback context?
·
Rollback contexts contain
everything necessary to roll back a software upgrade or plugin activation.
·
They include deleted records,
patch updates, Scripts-Background script executions, database actions, and
plugin activations.
·
A rollback context is created
for each patch upgrade within a family, and each plugin activation, provided
that the plugin supports rollback contexts.
·
To use rollback contexts,
activate the Restore Deleted Records and Delete Recovery plugins.
What is
ServiceNow dictionary override?
·
Dictionary overrides provide the
ability to define a field on an extended table differently from the field on
the parent table.
·
For example, for a field on the Task [task] table, a
dictionary override can change the default value on the Incident [incident]
table without affecting the default value on Task [task] or on Change [change].
·
Administrators can override
these aspects of a field:
·
Reference qualifiers
·
Dictionary attributes
·
Default values
·
Calculations
·
Field dependencies
·
Default column display values
·
Mandatory and read-only status
Can we change the type of a field in ServiceNow?
·
You can change the type of a
field.
·
To preserve existing data, only
change between logical types that map to the same physical type on the database.
·
For example, Choice and String
What are functional fields in ServiceNow?
·
a field that displays the
results of a database function, such as a mathematical operation, field length
computation, or day-of-the-week calculation.
·
Once the new function record is
saved, you cannot clear the check box to make the field a regular field.
·
hild tables, not just the
current table.
What are journal fields in ServiceNow?
·
Journal fields work together to
create a log of changes and comments as tasks are worked on.
·
Journal fields work on audited
tables only.
·
Fields of the journal_input type
are multi-line text boxes which, upon saving, add the comments into the
Activity field with a notation
·
Two fields in ServiceNow are
journal fields – Additional Comments and work notes.
What is a reminder table in ServiceNow?
·
The Reminder [reminder] table
provides a way to auto-generate reminders for a task.
·
Any table that extends the Task
table, such as the Incident [incident] table, can use the
·
Reminder [reminder] table.
·
You can add Reminders as a
related list to the Incident form by opening the form context menu, navigating
to Configure > Related Lists, and then adding Reminders->Task.
·
By default, only an
administrator can create or modify a Reminder record.
·
To enable non-administrators to
create reminders, you must add create and read ACL rules to the Reminder
[reminder] table and specify the user’s role.
·
To access the Reminder table,
type reminder.do in the filter navigator.
What are assignment rules in ServiceNow?
·
The instance can automatically
assign a task to a user or group based on pre-defined conditions by using data
lookup rules and assignment rules.
·
The Assignment rules module
allows you to automatically set a value in the assigned_to and assignment_group
fields when a set of conditions occurs.
What is the execution order between data lookup, assignment, and
business rules?
·
Before
business rules: Scripts configured to execute
before the database operation with an order of less than 1000.
·
Before
engines. The following are not executed
in any specific order:
·
Approval engine (for task and
sys_approval_approver tables)
·
Assignment rules engine (for
task tables)
·
Data policy engine
·
Escalation engine
·
Field normalization engine
·
Role engine – keeps role changes
in sync with sys_user_has_role table (for sys_user, sys_user_group,
sys_user_grmember, and sys_user_role tables)
·
Execution plan engine (for task
tables)
·
Update version engine – creates
version entry when sys_update_xml entry is written (for sys_update_xml table)
·
Data lookup engine inserts or
updates
·
Workflow engine (for default
workflows)
·
Before
business rules: Scripts configured to execute
before the database operation with an order greater than or equal to 1000.
·
The database operation (insert,
update, delete)
·
After
business rules: Scripts configured to execute
after the database operation with an order less than 1000.
·
After
engines. The following are not executed
in any specific order:
·
Label engine
·
Listener engine
·
Table notifications engine
·
Role engine – keeps role changes
in sync with sys_user_has_role table (for sys_user, sys_user_group,
sys_user_grmember and sys_user_role tables)
·
Text indexing engine
·
Update sync engine
·
Workflow engine (for deferred
workflows)
·
Trigger engine (for all Flow
Designerflows)
·
Email notifications. The
following are executed based on the weight of the notification record:
·
Notifications sent on an insert,
update, or delete
·
Event-based notifications
·
After
business rules (Only active records). Scripts configured to execute after the database operation with an
order greater than or equal to 1000.
What are database views in ServiceNow?
·
A database view defines table
joins for reporting purposes.
·
For example,
·
a database view can join the
Incident table to the Metric Definition and Metric Instance tables. This view
can be used to report on incident metrics and may include fields from any of
these three tables.
·
Any user who can create a report
can use database views as the report source, but ACLs on the underlying tables
are honoured.
·
A database view is not treated
like a custom table, so there is no licensing impact.
·
Database view tables are not
included in FTP exports.
·
You do not need to create ACLs
on fields in the view. The system honours contextual ACLs (ACLs with a
condition or script) that exist on the underlying table.
·
Non-contextual ACLs (ACLs with
only role checks) are still honoured just as with previous releases.
What are the limitations of Database views in ServiceNow?
·
Database views cannot be created
on tables that participate in table rotation.
·
It is not possible to edit data
in the database view output.
·
Database view tables cannot be
added as a data preserver in clone requests
·
You can still create additional
ACLs on the database views. These ACLs are evaluated last and are always
honoured.
How tables are related to each other in ServiceNow?
Tables can be related to each
other in the following ways
·
Extensions: A table can extend another table.
·
One-to-Many: There are 3 types of one-to-many relationship
fields
·
Reference Field: allows a user
to select a record on a table defined by the reference field.
·
Glide List: allows a user to
select multiple records on a table defined by the glide list
·
Document ID Field: allows a user
to select a record on any table in the instance.
·
Many-to-Many: Two tables can have a bi-directional
relationship so that the related records are visible from both tables in a
related list.
·
Database
views: Two tables can be joined
virtually with Database Views to enable reporting on data that might be stored
over more than one table.
When two
records have the same sys_id in ServiceNow?
If two records have the same
sys_id value, it occurs as a result of the following situations
·
If a record with the sys_id was
copied to the other at the database level outside of the Now Platform.
·
If a record with the sys_id was
copied using an Update Set or via XML, its sys_id is the same.
Let’s look
at an example GlideAggregate setup.
var agg = new GlideAggregate('incident');
agg.addAggregate('COUNT', 'category');
agg.orderBy('category');
agg.addQuery('sys_created_on', '>=', 'javascript:gs.beginningOfLast12Months()');
agg.query();
while
(agg.next()) {
//do things on the results
var incidentCount = agg.getAggregate('COUNT', 'category');
gs.info('Display the count {0}', [incidentCount]);
}
The
similarities to GlideRecord will s