ServiceNow CIS-Discovery Certified Implementation Specialist - Discovery Exam Practice Test

According to the ServiceNow website1, the key capabilities of a ServiceNow ITOM Enterprise solution are:

Manage hybrid clouds: Gain visibility and control across your hybrid cloud environment with a single system of action for IT.

Proactively eliminate service outages: Identify issues and anomalies before they cause service outages with AIOps and machine learning.

Automate IT service operations: Automate common service requests, processes, and tasks with digital workflows and virtual agents.

Optimize IT service delivery: Align your IT resources and investments with business priorities and optimize service delivery performance.

The Parse File operation is used to extract information from a file and create variables to contain the extracted information1. The two main options within a Parse File operation are Select File and Define Parsing2. Select File allows you to specify the file path or browse to the file. Define Parsing allows you to select the relevant parsing strategy and define parsing criteria2.

The deletion strategy ‘Mark as absent’ means that when a related CI that was previously discovered by a pattern is no longer found, the install_status attribute of that CI is set to Absent. This indicates that the CI is missing or removed from the network. The main CI (in this case, the Linux Server CI) is not affected by the deletion strategy of the related CI (in this case, the Disk CI)12.

References

1: Set a deletion strategy - Product Documentation: San Diego - ServiceNow

2: Network adapter status setting to “Absent” in EMC … - ServiceNow …

During the Port Scan phase in ServiceNow Discovery, the warning level error "No results returned from probe" typically indicates a connectivity issue. This error often arises when a logical or physical firewall is blocking the connectivity between the MID Server and the target device. This prevents the probe from successfully scanning the ports and returning results. The other options, such as incorrect process classifier configuration, wrong credentials, or incorrect datasource precedence, would generally lead to different types of errors or issues in the discovery process.References= ServiceNow Discovery documentation, particularly the sections that deal with troubleshooting Port Scan issues and understanding common errors during Discovery phases.

For ServiceNow Discovery to detect a Windows device, the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) service needs to be running on the host. WMI is a Windows feature that provides a standardized way to access management information about operating system components and services. Discovery uses WMI to query Windows hosts for information about their hardware, software, and system configuration. SSH is used for Unix-like systems, WinRM is an alternative Windows management protocol, and CIM (Common Information Model) is a cross-platform standard; however, WMI is the primary service used for Windows device discovery.

A MID Server needs to have access to the install.service-now.com domain to automatically stay up-to-date with instance versions. This domain hosts the MID Server upgrade files that are downloaded and installed by the MID Server when a new version is available. The MID Server checks for updates every 24 hours by default, or when the mid.upgrade.check_interval property is set12.

When increasing the maximum number of threads for a MID Server in ServiceNow Discovery, it's often necessary to also increase the memory allocated to the MID Server application. This is because more threads can result in higher memory usage as each thread may consume resources while performing discovery tasks. Increasing disk space, updating ACL rules for CMDB tables, or increasing the MID Server max payload size are not directly related to the number of threads used by a MID Server.References= ServiceNow Discovery documentation, especially sections discussing MID Server configuration and performance tuning.

The Automation Error Messages list displays the errors that occurred during the execution of Discovery automation scripts. From this list, you can view the details of each error, such as the script name, the error message, the device, and the time. You can also perform actions on the errors, such as retrying the script, ignoring the error, or creating an incident. To do so, you can use the options on the right navigation pane, which are categorized as follows1:

SELECT ALL: This option allows you to select all the errors in the list.

SELECT ONE: This option allows you to select one error in the list by clicking on the checkbox next to it.

ACTION ON SELECTED: This option allows you to perform an action on the selected errors, such as Retry, Ignore, or Create Incident. You can also choose to perform the action on all the errors in the list by selecting the All option from the drop-down menu.

ACTION ON ALL: This option allows you to perform an action on all the errors in the list, regardless of the selection. You can choose from the same actions as the ACTION ON SELECTED option.

Global variables are variables that are automatically available for all steps in horizontal discovery patterns. They store information about the target CI, such as its IP address, host name, operating system, and credentials. There are two global variables that may be used for steps in horizontal discovery patterns: system and computer_system. The system variable contains the information about the target CI’s IP address, host name, and credentials. The computer_system variable contains the information about the target CI’s operating system, such as its name, version, and architecture12.

A horizontal discovery pattern is a sequence of operations that collects information about a specific type of configuration item (CI), such as an operating system, a database, or a web server1. A horizontal discovery pattern does not use the connectivity section, which is only used for the application pattern type2. The connectivity section defines how to connect to a CI and run commands on it3. A horizontal discovery pattern uses the following sections1:

Variables: Defines the variables that store the data collected by the pattern and map them to the target table fields.

Identification: Defines the criteria to identify a CI and update or create a record in the CMDB.

Operations: Defines the actions to perform on the target CI, such as running commands, querying databases, or parsing files.

Based on the image, the value assigned to the label “Value” is a concatenation of variables and strings. One of the variables is $name_details[1].exec_info, which indicates that $name_details is a tabular variable, meaning an array or a map that can store multiple values1. The [1] is the index or the key that accesses the element of the tabular variable. The .exec_info is the attribute or the property of the element. Therefore, the choice D is true.

The other choices are not true based on the image. The choice A is false because the image does not show any WMI query operation step. A WMI query operation step is a pattern step that executes a WMI query on a Windows device and returns the results as a tabular variable2. The image does not show any WMI query syntax or result. The choice B is false because there is no scalar variable labeled ‘1’. A scalar variable is a variable that can store only one value1. The image shows a label “Value” but not a variable name. The choice C is false because the value can be used in a pattern step. A pattern step is a unit of logic that performs a specific action during Discovery or Service Mapping3. The value can be used as an input or an output of a pattern step, depending on the context.

 Based on the web search results from the search_web tool, the following choices best represent key capabilities of a ServiceNow ITOM Enterprise solution:

Manage Hybrid Clouds: ServiceNow ITOM enables organizations to gain visibility into their IT environment, on-premises to cloud, and see the impact of their applications on business services12. It also helps to plan, track, and secure cloud implementation through best-practice governance1. Four apps comprise Cloud Accelerate to help prepare for cloud migration, streamline provisioning requests, and manage cloud resources1.

Proactively Eliminate Service Outages: ServiceNow ITOM helps to predict issues, reduce user impact, and automate resolutions with predictive AIOps and automation13. It analyzes telemetry and log data using AI to reduce noise, expeditemapping and predict issues1. It also delivers proactive digital operations with real-time log data to solve problems quickly1.

The other choices are not specific to ServiceNow ITOM Enterprise solution, but rather general features of the ServiceNow platform. The ServiceNow platform allows users to create an engaging user experience with intuitive interfaces and workflows. It also enables users to build new apps fast with low-code development tools and pre-built components.

 When Discovery or Service Mapping identifies a CI that matches an existing CI in the CMDB, it checks whether the CIs are duplicates or not. If they are duplicates, Discovery adds them to a de-duplication task, which is a record that groups duplicate CIs and allows you to review and remediate them. You can use the Duplicate CI Remediator wizard to merge, flag, retire, or delete the duplicate CIs. By default, Discovery does not send notifications, create identification rules, or stop the next discovery for duplicate CIs.

File-based Discovery is a process that helps identify what software is running on your Windows and UNIX servers and devices, even if there is no registration information available. File-based Discovery is triggered in the exploration phase of normal Discovery, after the target device has been classified and identified. File-based Discovery probes execute a scan searching for specific file extensions or file names in paths that you configure. The resulting file information is returned in the probe payload. The sensor attempts to match the discovered files with installed software, using the file name, size, and version returned by the probe.

Pattern operations are the building blocks of patterns that define the logic and actions to perform on the target CIs. Some pattern operations query targets to retrieve information or execute commands, while others manipulate data or perform other tasks. WMI Query and Get Process are examples of pattern operations that query targets. WMI Query executes a Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) query on a Windows target and stores the results in a variable. Get Process executes a command to list the processes running on a target and stores the results in a variable12.

 CI reclassification is the process of changing the class of a CI in the CMDB based on the discovery data. It can be done manually or automatically, depending on the configuration settings. CI reclassification can result in data loss if the new class has fewer or different attributes than the original class, and the existing attribute values are not preserved or mapped to the new class. This can happen when a CI is switched to a different class hierarchy, such as from a Linux Server to a Windows Server, or when a CI is downgraded to a less specific class, such as from a Database to a Software Instance. Therefore, switching and downgrading have a higher chance of leading to lost data during CI reclassification.

The ECC Queue is the normal connection point between an instance and other systems that integrate with ServiceNow, such as MID Servers1. The ECC Queue displays input and output messages from and to MID Servers2. The actual XML payload that is sent to or from an instance is stored in the ECC Queue3. The ECC Queue also provides a connected flow of probe and sensor activity, as probes are sent from the instance to the MID Server, and sensors are sent from the MID Server to the instance2.

The Set Parameter Value operation is used to assign a value to a variable in a Discovery pattern1. The syntax for this operation is as follows2:

Set Parameter Value: =

The  can be either a constant or an expression. To declare a constant, unchanging value, one must use quotes around the value. For example2:

Set Parameter Value: $name = "John"

This assigns the string “John” to the variable $name. The quotes indicate that the value is a constant and will not change. The other options, hash tag, brackets, and dollar sign, are not used to declare a constant value. They have different meanings in the syntax of the Set Parameter Value operation. A hash tag (#) is used to indicate a comment2. Brackets ([]) are used to access an element of an array or a map2. A dollar sign

Horizontal discovery patterns are a series of operations that tell Discovery which CIs to find on your network, what credentials to use, and what tables to populate in the CMDB. Horizontal discovery patterns use variables to store and pass information between the operations. By default, there are two variables that are automatically available for horizontal discovery patterns: infrastructure_system and computer_system. These variables store the information about the infrastructure and the computer system of the target CI, respectively. They are populated by the Horizontal Pattern probe and sensor, which enable Discovery to use patterns for horizontal discovery123.

Horizontal pattern types are used to discover the configuration items (CIs) that belong to a specific category or class, such as infrastructure or application. They define the operations that Discovery performs to identify and classify the CIs, and the attributes that Discovery populates for each CI. Horizontal patterns can be applied to any operating system or platform that supports the required protocols and commands12.

To launch any pattern, you need to specify the CI classification and the CI type. The CI classification determines the table where the discovered CI is stored in the CMDB, and the CI type defines the specific attributes and relationships of the CI. For example, if you want to discover a Windows server, you need to select the CI classification as cmdb_ci_win_server and the CI type as Windows Server. These choices are mandatory for any pattern, as they enable Discovery to identify and classify the CIs correctly.

The Parse Variable pattern operation allows you to extract information from the output of a previous operation and save it in a variable. You can choose from different parsing methods, such as JSON File, XML File, Regular Expression, or Custom Script. To have two different parsing methods to populate variables, you need to use two different steps, each with a different Define Parsing selection. For example, you can use one step to parse a JSON file and another step to parse an XML file. You cannot use two different parsing methods on the same step, as the Define Parsing selection is unique for each step.

A horizontal discovery pattern is a set of steps that execute operations to identify, classify, and populate attributes for configuration items (CIs) of a specific category or class, such as infrastructure or application. A horizontal pattern can be applied to any operating system or platform that supports the required protocols and commands12.

Discovery uses the ping method to determine if a host IP is active or alive. Ping is a network utility that sends an ICMP echo request packet to a target IP address and waits for an ICMP echo reply packet. If the target IP address responds, it means that the host is active or alive12.

The main Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the CMDB Health scorecard in ServiceNow include Correctness, Completeness, and Staleness. These KPIs are critical for assessing the overall health and quality of the CMDB. Correctness refers to the accuracy of the data in the CMDB, Completeness measures whether all required CI data is present, and Staleness indicates the freshness or timeliness of the CI data. Compliance and Duplicates, while important, are not considered main KPIs in the context of the CMDB Health scorecard.References= ServiceNow CMDB documentation and CMDB Health Dashboard user guide, focusing on the key performance indicators for CMDB health.

Discovery Range Sets in ServiceNow Discovery offer a flexible way to manage and identify networks. They simplify the administration of network discovery by allowing administrators to define groups of IP ranges. This organization helps in effectively managing and targeting different network segments without needing to define each IP range in individual Discovery Schedules. Range Sets do not necessarily show the number of IPs in a subnet, nor are they the only way to define multiple IP ranges in a schedule.

Quick Discovery is a wizard that helps you get up and running with Discovery quickly. It discovers both physical and logical components, including virtual machines, servers, storage, databases, applications, and more. To use Quick Discovery, you need to have a MID Server installed and configured, and provide a target IP range or subnet to scan. You do not need to create a Discovery Schedule or a PID for Quick Discovery.

ServiceNow Discovery can be extended in three main ways: Classifiers, Probes & Sensors, and Discovery Patterns. Classifiers are used to identify the type of device or application that is being discovered, based on the information returned by a probe. Probes are commands or scripts that are executed on the target device or application to collect data. Sensors are scripts that process the data collected by probes and create or update configuration items (CIs) in the CMDB. Discovery Patterns are graphical representations of the discovery process that can be customized or created to discover specific types of devices or applications, using classifiers, probes, and sensors as building blocks.

 Discovery can provide information about the relationships between configuration items (CIs), including applications and hosts. Application relationships are the connections between applications that run on different hosts or servers, such as web servers, databases, load balancers, etc. Host relationships are the connections between applications and the hosts or servers that they run on, such as Windows, Linux, Unix, etc. Discovery can identify these relationships using various methods, such as probes, sensors, patterns, file-based discovery, etc. Discovery can also create and update these relationships in the CMDB, using the Depends on::Used by or Runs on::Runs relationship types.

For a pattern operation, the <_> placeholder can be replaced by any valid index or wildcard character that can be used to access an element of an array or a table. The $IfTable variable is a table that contains information about the network interfaces of a device1. The InstanceID attribute is a unique identifier for each interface2. To access the InstanceID of a specific interface, the pattern operation can use the following syntax:

$IfTable[].InstanceID

where is either:

A numeric index that corresponds to the position of the interface in the table, such as 3 for the third interface.

A dot (.) followed by a key-value pair that matches a specific attribute and value of the interface, such as [.Name=eth0] for the interface with the name eth0.

An asterisk () that represents a wildcard that matches any interface in the table, such as [] for all interfaces.

CI identifiers can be viewed under the CI record1. A CI identifier is a set of attributes that uniquely identify a CI of a specific class2. CI identifiers are used by the identification and reconciliation engine (IRE) to match incoming data with existing CIs in the CMDB3. CI identifiers can be viewed and edited in the CI record by clicking the Identification Information related link1.