---

name: cmdb-patterns description: This skill should be used when the user asks to "create CI", "CMDB", "configuration item", "CI relationship", "impact analysis", "dependency map", "cmdb_ci", "asset", or any ServiceNow CMDB and configuration management development. license: Apache-2.0 compatibility: Designed for Snow-Code and ServiceNow development metadata: author: groeimetai version: "1.0.0" category: servicenow tools:

• snow_cmdb_search
• snow_cmdb_ci_create
• snow_cmdb_relationship_create
• snow_query_table

---

CMDB Patterns for ServiceNow

The Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is the foundation of ServiceNow ITSM, tracking all Configuration Items (CIs) and their relationships.

CMDB Architecture

CI Class Hierarchy

Copycmdb (Base)
└── cmdb_ci (Configuration Item)
    ├── cmdb_ci_computer
    │   ├── cmdb_ci_server
    │   │   ├── cmdb_ci_linux_server
    │   │   ├── cmdb_ci_win_server
    │   │   └── cmdb_ci_unix_server
    │   └── cmdb_ci_pc_hardware
    ├── cmdb_ci_service
    │   ├── cmdb_ci_service_auto
    │   └── cmdb_ci_service_discovered
    ├── cmdb_ci_appl
    │   ├── cmdb_ci_app_server
    │   └── cmdb_ci_db_instance
    └── cmdb_ci_network_gear
        ├── cmdb_ci_netgear
        └── cmdb_ci_lb

Key CI Tables

Creating Configuration Items

Basic CI Creation (ES5)

Copy// Create a new server CI
var ci = new GlideRecord('cmdb_ci_server');
ci.initialize();
ci.setValue('name', 'PROD-WEB-001');
ci.setValue('ip_address', '10.0.1.100');
ci.setValue('os', 'Linux Red Hat');
ci.setValue('os_version', '8.5');
ci.setValue('cpu_count', 8);
ci.setValue('ram', 32768);
ci.setValue('operational_status', 1);  // Operational
ci.setValue('install_status', 1);      // Installed
ci.setValue('used_for', 'Production');
ci.setValue('owned_by', 'sys_id_of_owner');
ci.setValue('support_group', 'sys_id_of_group');
var sysId = ci.insert();

CI with Discovery Source

Copy// CI from Discovery
var ci = new GlideRecord('cmdb_ci_linux_server');
ci.initialize();
ci.setValue('name', 'discovered-server-001');
ci.setValue('discovery_source', 'ServiceNow');
ci.setValue('first_discovered', new GlideDateTime());
ci.setValue('last_discovered', new GlideDateTime());
ci.setValue('ip_address', '10.0.2.50');

// Set classification
ci.setValue('classification', 'Production');
ci.setValue('environment', 'Production');

ci.insert();

CI Relationships

Relationship Types

Creating Relationships (ES5)

Copy// Create relationship between CIs
function createCIRelationship(parentSysId, childSysId, relationType) {
    // Find relationship type
    var relType = new GlideRecord('cmdb_rel_type');
    relType.addQuery('name', relationType);
    relType.query();

    if (!relType.next()) {
        gs.error('Relationship type not found: ' + relationType);
        return null;
    }

    // Check if relationship already exists
    var existing = new GlideRecord('cmdb_rel_ci');
    existing.addQuery('parent', parentSysId);
    existing.addQuery('child', childSysId);
    existing.addQuery('type', relType.getUniqueValue());
    existing.query();

    if (existing.next()) {
        gs.info('Relationship already exists');
        return existing.getUniqueValue();
    }

    // Create new relationship
    var rel = new GlideRecord('cmdb_rel_ci');
    rel.initialize();
    rel.setValue('parent', parentSysId);
    rel.setValue('child', childSysId);
    rel.setValue('type', relType.getUniqueValue());
    return rel.insert();
}

// Usage
createCIRelationship(appSysId, serverSysId, 'Runs on::Runs');

Querying Relationships

Copy// Find all servers an application runs on
function getAppServers(appSysId) {
    var servers = [];

    var rel = new GlideRecord('cmdb_rel_ci');
    rel.addQuery('parent', appSysId);
    rel.addQuery('type.name', 'Runs on::Runs');
    rel.query();

    while (rel.next()) {
        var server = rel.child.getRefRecord();
        servers.push({
            sys_id: server.getUniqueValue(),
            name: server.getValue('name'),
            ip_address: server.getValue('ip_address')
        });
    }

    return servers;
}

// Find all dependencies of a service
function getServiceDependencies(serviceSysId) {
    var deps = [];

    var rel = new GlideRecord('cmdb_rel_ci');
    rel.addQuery('parent', serviceSysId);
    rel.addQuery('type.name', 'Depends on::Used by');
    rel.query();

    while (rel.next()) {
        deps.push({
            sys_id: rel.child.getUniqueValue(),
            name: rel.child.getDisplayValue(),
            class: rel.child.sys_class_name.toString()
        });
    }

    return deps;
}

Impact Analysis

Upstream/Downstream Analysis

Copy// Get all CIs affected by a CI outage (downstream impact)
function getDownstreamImpact(ciSysId, depth) {
    if (typeof depth === 'undefined') depth = 3;

    var impacted = [];
    var processed = {};

    function traverse(sysId, currentDepth) {
        if (currentDepth > depth || processed[sysId]) return;
        processed[sysId] = true;

        var rel = new GlideRecord('cmdb_rel_ci');
        rel.addQuery('child', sysId);
        rel.query();

        while (rel.next()) {
            var parentId = rel.parent.toString();
            if (!processed[parentId]) {
                impacted.push({
                    sys_id: parentId,
                    name: rel.parent.getDisplayValue(),
                    depth: currentDepth
                });
                traverse(parentId, currentDepth + 1);
            }
        }
    }

    traverse(ciSysId, 1);
    return impacted;
}

// Get all CIs this CI depends on (upstream dependencies)
function getUpstreamDependencies(ciSysId, depth) {
    if (typeof depth === 'undefined') depth = 3;

    var dependencies = [];
    var processed = {};

    function traverse(sysId, currentDepth) {
        if (currentDepth > depth || processed[sysId]) return;
        processed[sysId] = true;

        var rel = new GlideRecord('cmdb_rel_ci');
        rel.addQuery('parent', sysId);
        rel.query();

        while (rel.next()) {
            var childId = rel.child.toString();
            if (!processed[childId]) {
                dependencies.push({
                    sys_id: childId,
                    name: rel.child.getDisplayValue(),
                    depth: currentDepth
                });
                traverse(childId, currentDepth + 1);
            }
        }
    }

    traverse(ciSysId, 1);
    return dependencies;
}

Business Service Impact

Copy// Find all business services impacted by a CI
function getImpactedServices(ciSysId) {
    var services = [];
    var processed = {};

    function findServices(sysId) {
        if (processed[sysId]) return;
        processed[sysId] = true;

        // Check if this CI is a service
        var ci = new GlideRecord('cmdb_ci');
        if (ci.get(sysId)) {
            if (ci.sys_class_name.toString().indexOf('cmdb_ci_service') === 0) {
                services.push({
                    sys_id: sysId,
                    name: ci.getValue('name'),
                    criticality: ci.getValue('busines_criticality')
                });
            }
        }

        // Traverse upstream
        var rel = new GlideRecord('cmdb_rel_ci');
        rel.addQuery('child', sysId);
        rel.query();

        while (rel.next()) {
            findServices(rel.parent.toString());
        }
    }

    findServices(ciSysId);
    return services;
}

CMDB Health & Data Quality

Orphan CI Detection

Copy// Find CIs without relationships
function findOrphanCIs(ciClass) {
    var orphans = [];

    var ci = new GlideRecord(ciClass || 'cmdb_ci');
    ci.addQuery('operational_status', 1);  // Operational only
    ci.query();

    while (ci.next()) {
        var sysId = ci.getUniqueValue();

        // Check for any relationships
        var rel = new GlideRecord('cmdb_rel_ci');
        rel.addQuery('parent', sysId)
           .addOrCondition('child', sysId);
        rel.setLimit(1);
        rel.query();

        if (!rel.hasNext()) {
            orphans.push({
                sys_id: sysId,
                name: ci.getValue('name'),
                class: ci.getValue('sys_class_name')
            });
        }
    }

    return orphans;
}

Stale CI Detection

Copy// Find CIs not updated by discovery
function findStaleCIs(daysOld) {
    if (typeof daysOld === 'undefined') daysOld = 30;

    var stale = [];
    var cutoff = new GlideDateTime();
    cutoff.addDaysLocalTime(-daysOld);

    var ci = new GlideRecord('cmdb_ci');
    ci.addQuery('operational_status', 1);
    ci.addQuery('last_discovered', '<', cutoff);
    ci.addNotNullQuery('last_discovered');
    ci.query();

    while (ci.next()) {
        stale.push({
            sys_id: ci.getUniqueValue(),
            name: ci.getValue('name'),
            last_discovered: ci.getValue('last_discovered')
        });
    }

    return stale;
}

MCP Tool Integration

Available CMDB Tools

Example Workflow

Copy// 1. Search for existing CI
await snow_cmdb_search({
    ci_class: 'cmdb_ci_server',
    query: 'name=PROD-WEB-001',
    include_relationships: true
});

// 2. Create new CI if not found
await snow_create_ci({
    ci_class: 'cmdb_ci_linux_server',
    name: 'PROD-WEB-002',
    ip_address: '10.0.1.101',
    operational_status: 1
});

// 3. Create relationship
await snow_create_ci_relationship({
    parent: appSysId,
    child: serverSysId,
    type: 'Runs on::Runs'
});

// 4. Impact analysis
await snow_impact_analysis({
    ci_sys_id: serverSysId,
    direction: 'downstream',
    depth: 3
});

Best Practices

1. Use Correct CI Class - Always use most specific class (cmdb_ci_linux_server, not cmdb_ci)
2. Maintain Relationships - CIs without relationships have limited value
3. Discovery Alignment - Align manual CIs with discovery patterns
4. Operational Status - Keep status current (Operational, Retired, etc.)
5. Unique Identifiers - Use serial_number, asset_tag for uniqueness
6. Service Mapping - Connect CIs to business services
7. Regular Cleanup - Archive retired CIs, remove orphans