Enhance Troubleshooting Results

Property 1.3 | Tip 03 | Tip 04 | Tip 05 | Tip 06 | Tip 07

Introduction

Results of the Troubleshooting completed by Discovery Admin can be further enhanced by looking up relevant data in the CMDB to provide additional information about the IP Address, that failed ServiceNow Discovery.

The CMDB Lookup Properties on this page control how we can Enhance Troubleshooting Results by retrieving additional information about IP Addresses present in the CMDB, that are not currently being Discovered.

Video: Why do a CMDB Lookup while Troubleshooting (1 min :: 11 secs)

Time Stamps:

0:05 - Value of CMDB Lookup

0:11 - Why perform a CMDB Lookup

0:35 - Retrieving information from the CMDB relating to the IP Address

0:43 - Correlating the information of the IP Address from the CMDB

Summary: Doing a CMDB Lookup is a powerful way to get the necessary context about an IP Address that is not being discovered and identify who we should be working with to help resolve the issue.

Property 1.1: log_analysis.cmdb_ci_lookup.ignore_ci_class (2 mins :: 36 secs)

Captures CI Classes in the CMDB, which can be ignored when IP Addresses are looked up in the CMDB during the analysis.

Tip 01: Using Property 1.1

ADD new CI Classes to this Property to EXCLUDE CIs in those CI Classes from the CMDB Lookup.

REMOVE existing CI Classes from this Property to INCLUDE CIs in those CI Classes to the CMDB Lookup.

Property 1.2: log_analysis.cmdb_ci_lookup.priority (3 mins :: 14 secs)

Captures a series of conditions to determine which CI needs to be prioritized, due to the possibility of more than one CI being returned during the CMDB Lookup.

The lookup priority can be configured, so that we get the most relevant CI returned in the CMDB Lookup, even if there are multiple CIs with the same IP Address in the CMDB.

The most recently updated prioritized CI is the one that is populated in the field: CI Lookup Reference

However, if no CIs in the CMDB match the conditions for prioritized CI Lookup, then the CI with the most recent Updated timestamp is populated in the CI Lookup Reference Field.

The CI Lookup Reference Field is empty, if there is no corresponding IP Address found in the CMDB (after excluding the CI Classes configured in Property 1.1)

Tip 02: Enhancing Property 1.2

It is often common for IP Addresses to be reused after a CI gets retired. It is best practice to retain the retired CI in the CMDB. Often, the status of the CI is updated, but the IP Address is not cleared to retain CI History.

Consider prioritizing the CMDB Lookup for installed CIs (leveraging the status attribute on the CI that tracks the CI Lifecycle) by updating the corresponding out-of-the-box query filter.

Property 1.3: log_analysis.cmdb_ci_lookup.attributes (6 mins :: 42 secs)

Captures up to 4 attributes on the CI (including dot-walks), the CI Related List, or another CI Related to this CI (via CI Relationships).

Insightful information about the CI, for example, the CI Class, Install Status, Environment, or Support Group can help determine who is responsible for resolving the Discovery Issues.

This information can also provide inputs to Discovery Admin to make better decisions on the categorization of the identified errors.

Tip 03: Read THIS before changing Property 1.3

Changing the value of this Property after IECs or Reports have been created referencing any one of the 4 CI Lookup Attributes will require a design and configuration update to the respective IECs or Reports.

Tip 04: Dot-walking via CI Lookup Reference

If more than 4 attributes are needed for insights via the CMDB Lookup, leverage the 'CI Lookup Reference' field on the Log Analysis table.

This allows us to leverage the four 'CI Lookup Attributes' to get insights into the CI, that are not directly available via dot-walking the 'CI Lookup Reference' field.

Examples include:

Information in the CMDB accessible via the CI Related List
Information in the CMDB accessible via the CI Relationships
Information in the CMDB accessible via CMDB Groups
Information in the CMDB for CI attributes present ONLY on the cmdb_ci CHILD Tables

Attributes directly present on the cmdb_ci PARENT table can be directly dot-walked from the CI Lookup Reference field on the Log Analysis table (for Creating and Managing IECs and IECMs and Creating and Managing Reports on the Log Analysis table), eliminating the need for those attributes to be configured in this property.

Tip 05: Unpopulated CI Lookup Attribute

The 'CI Lookup Attribute' on the Log Analysis Form can be empty due to the following reasons:

There is no data corresponding to the configured attribute on the Looked Up CI
There is a typo for the attribute name on Property 1.3
There is a syntax error for the attribute on Property 1.3

Tip 06: Label Changes for CI Lookup Attribute

Optionally change the Labels on any of the four 'CI Lookup Attribute' corresponding to the Attributes configured in Property 1.3. This will provide an intuitive way to see the data on the List View or in Reports.

For Example:

If 'CI Lookup Attribute 1' is mapped to Support Group on the CI, the label of the 'CI Lookup Attribute 1' on the Log Analysis Table can be changed to 'Support Group'
As a result, on the Log Analysis Form, Log Analysis List View and for any reports, 'Support Group' will be visible as the Label for 'CI Lookup Attribute 1'

Tip 07: Advanced Lookup

For Advanced Lookup configurations for Property 1.3, it is important to confirm that the Table is configured in Application Cross-Scope, so Discovery Admin has read access to it.

We recommend working with your Discovery Admin point-of-contact to verify this configuration to prevent any unexpected behavior due to the lack of Application Cross-Scope Access.