Certified Servicenow Administrator Exam

Employee Center : Employee center is a servicenow store application that is available to all
customers by default.

Employee center is a unified portal that helps connect systems across the enterprise to create a
centralized experience for employees.

Impersonate a user : Administrators can impersonate other authenticated users for testing
purposes and view impersonation logs.

When impersonating another user, the administrator has access to exactly what that user can
access in the system, including the same menus and modules.

What is baseline implementation?

Baseline implementation is a set of applications installed on a servicenow instance, before any
configuration or customization has been done.

What is an instance?
An instance is a copy of servicenow environment that is specific to a customer.
There are three typical environment :
- Production : where people do their work and support customers.
- Non-production : used for development, testing and experimentation
- Development : developers may get their own personal instance to do experimentation
and learning outside the customer/company’s environment.

Configuration and Customization

Everything in the servicenow has two names: display name and system name. To fetch a table
using system name we have to add .list along with system name.

Glide.ui.polaris.dark_themes_enabled : System property to change theme dark/light.

Note : All -> System property ->My company (to change logo) -> click on UI 16 Banner image.
Note : Notice the two types of notes.
i) Work notes : Work notes are used to document internal notes related to working of the
incident.
ii) Additional comments : Additional comments are visible to customers.

Note : Submit and update buttons save the changes made to the form, and then take you back
to the page you were on previously. Clicking a post is another option which will keep you on
the form.

Q-1 What are some of the ways to interact with the servicenow platform?
● Workspaces
● Service Portal
● Dashboards
● Lists
● Forms
● Knowledge Bases

Installing an application and application features :

Path : All -> System applications -> All Available Applications -> All

Plugins : Plugins are software components that add features and functionality to a ServiceNow
instance.
Path : All -> System Definition -> Plugins
Users : Users are the individuals who use ServiceNow within the organizations.
Groups : A collection of users is called a group, which performs a similar task.

Roles in ServiceNow :

Path : Users table

All -> System Security -> Users and Groups -> Users
Note : One user can be a part of several groups and certainly any group can have several group
members, and we know that a group can have more than one role associated with it.

Path : To Update Browser tab label

All -> System Properties -> System -> Browser Tab Title

Lists Records and Field

List : List displays a set of records from a table within the content frame.
● Each row represents one record.
● Each column represents one field.

Filter : A filter is a set of conditions applied to a table list to isolate a subset of the data.
Three components of a filter condition are :
1. Field
2. Operator
3. Value

Note : Filter conditions are also known as “Breadcrumbs”

View : A view is a version of a list or form that defines which field appears and in what order.
Note :

Note : We can configure the List Layout to show or hide fields from a view and change the list
column order.

Note : Users with the admin and personalize_list role can add or remove columns (fields)
from a list or change the order in which the columns appears in the list for all users.

List personalization
Note : We can create views and fields as per our need by simply clicking on any column
header.

Path : All ->incidents ->Click on any column header ->Configure ->List layout

Configure List on Application Menus :

We can also add new applications (like self-service) and modules (like dashboards) to all
menus.
Path 1: All -> System Definition -> Application Menus -> New
Path 2: All ->System Definition -> Tables & Columns -> Create Application
Workspace, list and filters

Note : We can edit the list record by double clicking on a specific field. But we may need to
enable the glide.lists.inline_editing_enabled system property by setting the value to true for
the double-click method to work.

Note : There is a terminology difference in the workspace for what appears in the list pane. For
example in a workspace incident is a category. Assigned to me, unassigned, open, resolved
all are UX lists.
System administrator can configure form using :
● Form Layout
● Form Design

Important :

Form configuration involves changing the form layout and the related list layout.
Note : Related lists show the records in tables that have a relationship to the current record.
We can also configure the Related lists

Personalizing a form will affect only what you see on a form – others will not be affected.
We can configure form as per our need and create our own fields

We can also configure the other sections in the form. Sections like Incident, Notes,
Related list, Resolution Information.

We can also add a new section in the form as per our need.
We can also modify the layout of our form using Form Design. Here, we can also change
the dimensions of the form (column-wise 1 or 2 column layout).

We can also add new fields Form Design

Better practice is always to use Form Layout for any modification in form.
We can also configure the choices list and can add choices.
Note : We know that in a reference field, we are actually looking up records stored in another table.
Note : System names of fields need to be in snake cases like this.
Sys_ID - Globally Unique Identifier (GUID), 128-bit, 32-character ( also works as foreign key, points to record stored elsewhere.

No capitals, No Spaces, No special characters. And any space or special characters besides an
underbar will be replaced with an underbar or underscore.
Note : We can put double star in reference field record and servicenow will attempt to show all
the related
 Configure Self-Service

Service Portal : Service Portal is a way to access things like service management, knowledge
management, service catalog orders , you name it. It’s a way to put a nice pretty point of entry
into all the goodness that the servicenow platform can give.

There are a variety of baseline portals we see on the above image. And with any developer
instance of servicenow, we can quite easily just append the name of the portal to the end of
your instance URL.
For example :

Adding /esc : https://dev146865.service-now.com/esc (For Employee center Portal)

Adding /sp : https://dev146865.service-now.com/sp (For Service Portal )
Adding /kb : https://dev146865.service-now.com/kb (For Knowledge Portal)
Adding /cab : https://dev146865.service-now.com/cab (For CAB workbench)
Adding /isc : https://dev146865.service-now.com/isc (For Instance Security Center)

Request : The request which is generated using the service catalog item is Service
request.Service Request is generated when we order something (software, new desktop,
access to a system, system privileges).
A request record is like the overarching order. It’s our shopping cart only.

Understanding the RITM :

● Each Request can have a request item(RITM).
● Each RITM can have multiple task assigned to different groups for fulfillment
● A RITM is marked as complete only when all its Task and Subtask gets completed

Understanding the Catalog Task :

● Request ticket starts with REQ
● Request Item ticket starts with RITM
● Task ticket starts with SCTASK
Service catalog variables : Service catalog variables capture and pass on information about
choices a customer makes when ordering a catalog item. Variables help define the structure of a
catalog item form that is displayed to the customer.

For example, we can define a variable called Memory to provide users with memory options at
an extra cost for a PC catalog item. An Apple iPhone catalog item can use a variable called
Color that allows customers to select the color when they order the phone from the catalog. We
can define some variables to affect an item price, depending on the choices made.

Service Catalog provides several types of variables, which are also referred to as questions.
Variables can be stored, accessed from multiple places, and passed between tasks in a process
when fulfilling a request. They can be displayed on the Requested Item and Catalog Task forms
after an item has been ordered.

Variable Set : A variable set being a group of like variables. And a variable set record is really
just a parent container record into which we can store several variables.

Note : But, once they are stored in a variable set, they are portable, they are shareable across
different service catalog items.

Note : How to complete a request item :

● To complete a RITM the associated Task needs to be completed first.
● If all the tasks of a RITM gets completed the RITM will automatically get to Closed
Complete status.
● Attached SLA will be completed.
To add a new catalog item :
Path : All -> Service catalog -> Catalog Definitions -> Maintain Items -> New
Here, we can put this catalog item in baseline (available) catalog i.e Service Catalog

Note : We also need some kind of process automation for the request fulfillment. For that, we
have three choices i.e either we can create flow, workflow or simply select the by default
execution flow for the request fulfillment.

But only one can be chosen at a time. So if we choose a workflow here, we see that the
execution plan is blank here.

Note : By the way, the execution plan is not really used in the service catalog, nowadays, flows
might be the more popular choice.

We can also add product specifications and and select products based on our own needs like
we can select color, RAM, versions, model, company if we are ordering any phone , tablet etc.
Variable set contains the baseline questions or specification of a product that is global and can
be used with any catalog.

Path : All -> Process Automation -> Flow Designer or Studio -> Create Application File -> Flow
Designer
Flow Designer is a Now Platform feature for automating processes in a single design
environment.Flow Designer lets process owners use natural language to automate
approvals, tasks, notifications, and record operations without coding.

Flow Designer components :

Flows -: A flow is an automated process consisting of a trigger and a sequence of reusable

actions. The trigger specifies when to run the flow. The actions perform a sequence of
operations on your data. For example, the VTB Sample Flow creates and assigns a VTB card
whenever a priority 1 incident is created.

Flow execution details -: A flow execution details page allows a flow author to view run-time
information about an action or flow directly from the design environment. You can view details
such as the current state, actions or steps run, output values generated, and errors produced.

Flow error handler -: A flow error handler enables a flow to catch and report errors from the
flow execution details. Run a sequence of actions and subflows to identify and correctissues.
For example, have flows log output values, send notifications, and run corrective subflows when
they produce an error.

Subflows -: A subflow is an automated process consisting of a sequence of reusable actions,

data inputs, and outputs. In contrast to flows, subflows do not have a trigger but instead run
when called from a flow, from another subflow, or from a script.

Actions -: An action is a reusable operation that enables process analysts to automate Now
Platform features without having to write code. For example, the Create Record action allows
process analysts to generate records in a particular table with particular values when certain
conditions occur. ServiceNow core actions like Create Record require some familiarity with Now
Platform tables and fields.

Spokes -: A spoke is a scoped application containing Flow Designer actions and subflows for
managing specific tables. For example, the ITSM Spoke contains actions for managing Incident
and Problem records. You can activate additional spokes from the ServiceNow Store or activate
the appropriate plugin.

Steps -: An action step or step is a single reusable operation within an action. For example, the
Create Record step allows action designers to specify the table and field values to use during
record creation. Action steps require subject matter expertise with application tables, fields, and
business logic
Path : All -> Reports -> Create New or Open existing report by clicking on run/view.
We can also create reports based on our data from the incident table or any other data table. For that we
have to select any two columns based on our choice to get the report. For example : Here, I selected All
open incidents data and i want a report which shows Priority 1 incident wrt Assignment group.
Path : All -> Reports -> View/Run -> Select any report ->
Reporting and Performance analytics both are two distinct applications.
A notification is a tool for alerting users when events that concern them have occurred through
the followings methods :
● E-mail
● SMS
● Meeting Invitation
Notifications are received by configured users and voluntary recipients and can notify of specific
activities in the platform, such as updates to incidents or change requests. To access a
notification record, navigate to
Path : All -> System Notification -> Email -> Notification
Note : To view notifications in your instance, navigate to
Path : All -> System Mailboxes ->Outbound -> Outbox

Email Layouts are created to specify the HTML content we want to appear in the body of one
or more email templates. By default, the system includes several sample layouts administrators
can use to create their own layouts. Administrators can create email layouts using an inline
HTML editor or manually entering HTML code.

Path : All -> System Policy -> Email ->Layouts -> New
Note : The system stores email layout records in the Email Layout [sys_email_layout] table.

Email templates :
Path : All -> System Notifications -> Email -> Templates.
Watermark format : 31 character in length
- Prefix : length 3
- Auto numbered identifier : length 7
- 1 underscore character and 20-character-string

Note : Main part of notification are, When to send, Who will receive and what it will contain.
Note : The process of traversing the tables and fields in the available list is called dot-walking.
Note : If we add ${number} then it will fetch the particular incident number of the record.
Manage an Instance :
Path : How to navigate to Dashboards
All -> Self-Service -> Dashboards
;

Manage Data :

Data in servicenow is stored and managed according to database structure that administrators
can view and configure:
● Tables are a data structure or database component, which contain records.
● Records are the data stored in tables, which contain fields.
● Fields are individual piece of data within a record.
Applications use tables and records to manage data and processes, such as incident, problem
and CMDB. Tables can extend other tables, creating parent tables and child tables.

The System Dictionary contains the definition of each table and field in the database.

Path : All -> System Definition -> Dictionary

Note : Records are identified by a 32-character, globally unique ID, called a sys_id.

Record numbers are automatically incremented, and the number format per table in the system
can be changed by visiting the All -> System Definition -> Number Maintenance application.
For example, the default problem record number prefix is “PRB” but can be redefined as
“PRBLM”.

Fields are available in a variety of different types, including Choice, Date/Time, Journal,
Reference, and more. Field types define how a field is interacted with through the interface, as
well as the type and format of data it can store.
 ● Examples of field labels shown above include First Name, Last Name and Location.
● Field data represent an individual item of data on a record, such as this user’s name,
Abel Tuter, or his location, Brasilia. In some cases value may be null(empty).

Note :
1. The field name is a unique term that does not match a field’s label. For example,
notice that the field name “city” is the system-friendly field name in the sys_user table
that corresponds to the user-friendly field label “Location”.

2. The field names shown in this example are first_name, last_name, and city. They
correspond to field labels, First Name, Last Name, and Location.
A reference field stores a unique system identifier (known as the sys_id) of a record on another
table which is what establishes the reference relationships. For example, the Caller field on the
incident table is a reference to a record on the user [sys_user] table.

When we define a reference field, the system creates a relationship between the two tables.
Adding a reference field to a form makes the other fields in the reference table available
to the form. Wildcard searches can be used in reference fields.

Note : A reference field can refer only to records from one other table. To add a field that can
refer to records on any table, use Document ID element type.
A table that extends another table is called a child class, and the table it extends is the parent
class. When we extend a table, we create a child class that has a relationship to the parent
class.

Note : Table extension is about deriving fields from one table and replicating them to another. It
is used for tables that contain similar data.

The task tables and configuration item table are examples of parent classes that are
extended to child classes. For example, child tables extended from the task table include
Change, Request, Incident and Problem.

Extending a table incorporates all the fields of the original table and allows for unique fields to
be created on the new table.The inheritance of the fields of the original table is used to create
subcategories of data. Examples include the Incident, Problem, and Change Request table,
which are all subcategories of the Task[task] table.
A table can be both a parent and child class both extending and providing extensions for
other tables. A parent class that is not an extension of another table is called a base
class.

Understanding Base vs Core Tables :

● A core table is a table that exists in the servicenow base system. In other words, core
tables come with the system, they are there from the start. This is probably the easiest
distinction of this table type. If it is a table that comes with servicenow, it’s a core table.
 But it is important to understand that a core table can also be a parent table (e.g.. Task)
a child table (e.g..Incident) or a base table (e.g., Task).

● A Base Table is a table that serves as a “base” from which other tables may extend.
From the base table, we can establish parent/child relationships in the database.The
child (extended) table includes unique fields PLUS all of the fields and properties which
were inherited from the parent table.

Note : What makes a base table different from a core table is that base table is not an extension
of another table (it has no parent).

Although custom tables are not in the base system, they can still interact with existing core
tables or other custom tables.
To view the schema map for a table, navigate to All -> System Definition -> Tables
Servicenow provides several level of security before an end user has the capability to perform
CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations on a table :
● User Authentication / Login : Users, Group, Roles
● Application and Module Access : Controlled by roles at the Application and Module
level.
● Database Access : Access to tables and their records and fields are controlled via
globally defined system properties (deny access is the default behavior) as well as table
and field level access controls.

Important :
There are three security modules typically used by the system administrator:
1. All -> System Properties -> Security
2. All -> System Security -> Access Control (ACL)
3. All -> System Security -> High Security Settings
Most Security settings are implemented using Access Controls.
In addition to restricting CRUD operations. Access control rules can restrict servicenow-specific
operations on tables and fields.
Users with the admin role have special access to all platform features, functions, and data
because admins can override access controls and pass all role checks, so grant the admin
privilege carefully!

Note : In the base system, only the default system administrator has the security_admin role.
For others that are granted the admin role, they would also need to be granted the
security_admin role to be able to maintain ACLs.

Each access control rules specifies : Operation, Object, Permissions

With System-Created Access controls, it is rare to have a table with no access control rules.
When a table is created, acess controls are automatically created.
Table Access control rules :
● Create
● Delete
● Read
● Write

Each access control specifies the table or type of record (including fields), operation being
secured, and unique object identifier.

Access Control rules are defined for and applied to a specific table so that the rule is within the
context of the table and the type of data stored.
Import sets provide a mechanism to pull data into servicenow. Import sets store data in import
set tables. Any user logged in with the admin or import_admin role can manage all aspects of
the import set.

Data sources are records in servicenow that contain information regarding an import set data
source. We can import data from a local source (e.g., XML, CSV, Excel) or from a network
server by providing a path and authentication information.A data source can come from a
file, a lightweight directory protocol (LDAP) connection, or a java database connectivity
(JDBC) connection.

- The import set table acts as a staging area for records imported from a data source.
- Transform maps provide a guide for moving data from import set (staging) tables to
target tables.

The Target Table is an existing table where the data will be placed, post-transformation.

Type of data sources used for import set are :

● JDBC
● HTTP / FTP
● Excel
● CSV
● XML
A transform map is a set of fields that determine the relationship between fields in an import set
and fields in an existing servicenow table, such as incidents [incident] or users [sys_user].

Automatic Mapping Utility : The simplest mapping method is where all of the fields names of
the import set match the name of the fields on the target table where the data will be
transformed. In this case, simply click Auto Matching Fields in the related links in the Table
Transform Maps form and confirm proper matching.

Mapping Assist Utility : The Mapping Assist utility provides a visually intuitive environment for
specifying mapping between import set fields and target table fields. With the Mapping Assist
Utility, it is possible to map a single source field (field on an import set table) to multiple
destination fields (fields on a target table).

If there are any discrepancies in terms of how fields were automatically matched, these can
easily be corrected using the Mapping Assist Utility.
Why do we use coalesce?
Because, if no coalesce is defined, all imported rows are treated as new records. No existing
records are updated. If the import is executed again, duplicate records will be created.

Path : System Import Sets > Load Data

Click the Submit button to load the data from the excel file into the staging table.
Transform Map Path : All -> System Import Sets -> Create Transform Map

The CMDB is the ServiceNow database that stores information about all technical
services.

What are the 4 roles required to access the CMDB tables?

● asset
● itil
● itil_admin
● cmdb_read
Key system table for CMDB : cmdb, cmdb_ci, and cmdb_rel_ci
Three key CMDB tables are Base Configuration item [cmdb], Configuration item [cmdb_ci]
which contains CI data, and CI Relationship [cmdb_rel_ci] which contains CI relationship data.
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