ServiceNow CMDB Tutorial | Concepts of CMDB in ServiceNow

What is CMDB in ServiceNow ?

A configuration management database (CMDB) is a database that contains all relevant information about the hardware, IP Components and software components etc. used in an organization's IT services and it also contains the relationships between those components.

So, in this way cmdb in servicenow provides an organized view of configuration data so that the organization gains the full visibility of its infrastructure and services, leading to more control of organization environment and better decisions.

There are some core features of cmdb, which helps to manage and maintain the Configuration data and provides the required information of infrastructure components. Core features of cmdb are:

CMDB Health

CMDB Identification and Reconciliation

CMDB lifecycle Management

CMDB baseline

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So before we start cmdb in servicenow, let's first have a look that what is configuration item, so that we can relate the thing while having a complete overview of servicenow cmdb.

What is CI in ServiceNow ?

CI in servicenow is referred as configuration item and it is used to store information about hardware and software assets. Ci's record in cmdb includes all of the relevant data, such as manufacturer, vendor, location, asset id, Model Id,operating system etc. this data is depend on the Ci class.

Information in CI can be added, deleted and modified in cmdb manually or through cmdb discovery and cmdb service mapping application. Ci in cmdb can be created or maintained either using tables, lists, and forms within the platform.

What is CI Class in CMDB?

CI class in cmdb is actually a table which extends any other table or extended by any other table.

What is CI Relationship in ServiceNow?

When two CI's in cmdb have dependency on each other in any way then, we can say that those two CI's have a relationship. In servicenow cmdb there are lots of relationship type, such as cluster of (parent), stored on (child), uses (parent), runs (child) and many others etc. So a relationship consist of two CI and a relationship type, please find below image for understanding:

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How to create CI Class in CMDB?

So below are the steps and screenshots, which helps you to create the CI Class in cmdb:

1. Navigate to the servicenow application. Type "configuration" in left side filter navigator and click on CI class manager as displayed in below screenshot.

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2. Once you clicked on CI Class Manager module, click on hierarchy as displayed in below screenshot:

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CI in CMDB can be populated, created and modified in ServiceNow through mentioned various ways:

1. Manually

User can manually create or modify any CI in cmdb, as i have mentioned in below screenshot by clicking on new button.

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Create CI Manually in ServiceNow Picture9

You can also populate the CI using Import set.

2. SCCM

Through Microsoft SCCM integration you can import SCCM data into cmdb in servicenow. But remember that you can only perform single direction import from SCCM to cmdb in servicenow.

3. CMDB Discovery

Cmdb discovery is servicenow product and by using cmdb discovery you can import the information into servicenow instance from another source and you can also integrate servicenow cmdb with existing external cmdb. Cmdb discovery is widely used to populate and manage the CI related data in servicenow cmdb.

So as we discussed above about cmdb discovery, let's see in detail that what is cmdb discovery and what are the types of discovery.