Use Ansible to set multiple affected or impacted configuration items on a change_request

[mjbear]

Hello,

I've been poking at a ServiceNow instance with Ansible attempting to figure out how I can add multiple (or additional) affected or impacted configuration items of a change_request.

I realize that cmdb_ci is the primary configuration item, based on my testing with servicenow.itsm.change_request.

What about the Affected CIs and also Impacted Services/CIs (terms from the ServiceNow webui)?

Field	Description
Affected CIs	List of CIs (from the CMDB) affected by the change. You can associate multiple affected CIs with a change.

https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/tokyo-it-service-management/page/product/change-management/task/t_CreateAChange.html

Associate multiple CIs with a change request
You can associate multiple impacted or affected CIs with a single change request.

https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/tokyo-it-service-management/page/product/change-management/concept/c_AffectedCIsAndImpactedServices.html

Thank you!

[augustinosusky]

Hello,

assignment of multiple CIs to RFC is probably not achievable with this module in single request. This module generally calls table client and writes/updates/deletes a single table entry on servicenow side. The change request to CI relation is actually also a table so you have to relate each CI you want to relate in a loop. I use something like this in a loop:

- name: Create relation between CI and RFC
  servicenow.itsm.api:
    instance:
      host: "{{ snow_host }}"
      username: "{{ snow_user }}"
      password: "{{ snow_password }}"
    action: post
    resource: task_ci
    data:
       ci_item: "{{ ci_to_add }}"
       task: "{{ rfc_number }}"
  register: snow_ci_rfc_relate_result

The SNOW API does not seem to have multiple CI relation as well. However, SNOW API can be enhanced on the SNOW side with custom processors (eg. this thread) but then it will be no longer a table client and it will not be possible to reach it via servicenow.itsm module. You would have to use some URL module and setup everything yourself (SNOW host, SNOW headers, SNOW credentials,...).

As for the Change Request primary ci (cmdb_ci) - this is NOT entered in task_ci relation table. It is simple attribute of the Change Request. In some cases you don't care but in some cases you do. For example if you plan dynamically adjust CI relations and you want to remove CIs from the Change Request, it may happen that you want to remove primary CI. The things can get complicated in this case. You would need to unrelate some other CI from the Change Request and use it to replace primary cmdb_ci.

I decided to use only generic CIs in the primary CI field (cmdb_ci) to avoid these hassles.

Please, let me know if you still need more details.
Cheers,
Augustin

[mjbear]

Hello @augustinosusky ,

Thank you for the reply!

I appreciate you getting me working in the right direction.
The Affected CI relationship is working correctly.

I learned about the Tables list and by filtering table label column with "impact" I have located two possible options. I believe the impacted services/CIs live in task_cmdb_ci_service table. Unfortunately all of my several varied attempts against a PDI show up with an "(empty)" CI name.

Thoughts?

 - name: Relate impacted items/services to CHG 
      servicenow.itsm.api:
        instance:
          host: "{{sn_instance}}"
          username: "{{sn_user}}"
          password: "{{sn_pass}}"
        action: post
        resource: task_cmdb_ci_service
        data:
          ci_item: "ThinkPad Configuration"
          task: "{{chg_ticket.record.number}}"

Thank you!

[augustinosusky]

Hello @mjbear
I am sorry I haven't noticed that you mean the impacted CIs but you are right that the logic is the same, just the table is different. In this case I found the same table task_cmdb_ci_service to be the one storing relations however instead of "ci_item" parameter "cmdb_ci_service" parameter needs to be used, for example like this:

   - name: Relate Impaced CI
      servicenow.itsm.api:
        instance:
          host: "{{ snow_host }}"
          username: "{{ snow_user }}"
          password: "{{ snow_password }}"

        action: post
        resource: task_cmdb_ci_service
        data:
           cmdb_ci_service: "ThinkPad Configuration"
           task: "{{ change_request_number }}"

Sometimes it is hard to find these attributes but it always pays off to use api_info module first to check what possible attributes are there and for example in this case, "cmdb_ci_service" is immediately obious there:

    - name: Check Impacted CIs relation
      servicenow.itsm.api_info:
        instance:
          host: "{{ snow_host }}"
          username: "{{ snow_user }}"
          password: "{{ snow_password }}"

        resource: task_cmdb_ci_service
        sysparm_query: "task.number={{ change_request_number }}"
      register: result

    - name: debug
      debug:
        msg: "{{ result.record }}"

Best Regards,
Augustin

[mjbear]

@augustinosusky

Huge thank you for the excellent guidance.
I appreciate the help and patience as I'm a ServiceNow newbie.

Hello @mjbear I am sorry I haven't noticed that you mean the impacted CIs but you are right that the logic is the same, just the table is different. In this case I found the same table task_cmdb_ci_service to be the one storing relations however instead of "ci_item" parameter "cmdb_ci_service" parameter needs to be used, for example like this:

No worries. My question was "loaded" from the beginning since I thought I might just be missing a key that would land in the "other:" section. 🤦‍♂️

Sometimes it is hard to find these attributes but it always pays off to use api_info module first to check what possible attributes are there and for example in this case, "cmdb_ci_service" is immediately obious there:

My bad. I didn't poke at api_info (and several other modules) to see what treasures they might uncover. 💎

For anyone curious here's example output from when I ran my Ansible playbook with verbosity level 1.
Update: Fix code block formatting.

TASK [Relate impacted items/services to CHG] *********************************************************************************************************
changed: [localhost] => {"changed": true, "record": {"cmdb_ci_service": "a9a3546ac6112276018461494d608503", "manually_added": "true", "sys_created_by": "admin", "sys_created_on": "2023-04-21 02:32:21", "sys_id": "1e02f2022f522110c137d5f62799b699", "sys_mod_count": "0", "sys_tags": "", "sys_updated_by": "admin", "sys_updated_on": "2023-04-21 02:32:21", "task": "43f172022f522110c137d5f62799b669"}}                                                                                                                                                                                                          

TASK [Check Impacted CIs relation] *******************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost] => {"changed": false, "record": [{"cmdb_ci_service": {"link": "https://devXXXXX.service-now.com/api/now/table/cmdb_ci/a9a3546ac6112276018461494d608503", "value": "a9a3546ac6112276018461494d608503"}, "manually_added": "true", "sys_created_by": "admin", "sys_created_on": "2023-04-21 02:32:21", "sys_id": "1e02f2022f522110c137d5f62799b699", "sys_mod_count": "0", "sys_tags": "", "sys_updated_by": "admin", "sys_updated_on": "2023-04-21 02:32:21", "task": {"link": "https://devXXXXX.service-now.com/api/now/table/task/43f172022f522110c137d5f62799b669", "value": "43f172022f522110c137d5f62799b669"}}]}                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

TASK [debug] *****************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost] => {                                                                                                                                  
    "msg": [                                                                                                                                          
        {                                                                                                                                             
            "cmdb_ci_service": {                                                                                                                      
                "link": "https://devXXXXX.service-now.com/api/now/table/cmdb_ci/a9a3546ac6112276018461494d608503",                                    
                "value": "a9a3546ac6112276018461494d608503"                                                                                           
            },                                                                                                                                        
            "manually_added": "true",                                                                                                                 
            "sys_created_by": "admin",                                                                                                                
            "sys_created_on": "2023-04-21 02:32:21",                                                                                                  
            "sys_id": "1e02f2022f522110c137d5f62799b699",                                                                                             
            "sys_mod_count": "0",                                                                                                                     
            "sys_tags": "",                                                                                                                           
            "sys_updated_by": "admin",                                                                                                                
            "sys_updated_on": "2023-04-21 02:32:21",                                                                                                  
            "task": {                                                                                                                                 
                "link": "https://devXXXXX.service-now.com/api/now/table/task/43f172022f522110c137d5f62799b669",
                "value": "43f172022f522110c137d5f62799b669"
            }
        }
    ]
}

[augustinosusky]

I am glad I could be of help :)

[stephenpaynter]

I am experiencing this exact same issue. I have raised a Redhat ticket internally and will report back with my findings. I can deploy affected ci's via ansible but not impacted ci's.

You can also deploy affected CI's as below with the change request module but again impacted ci's do not work.

      servicenow.itsm.change_request:
        other:
           cmdb_ci: test_server
           task_cmdb_ci_service: test_service

Also if you right click on the item and open in new window within servicenow you can verify the field it's using within the URL. I also need to create a risk assessment and can't find a way of doing that either.

[mjbear]

@stephenpaynter

Also if you right click on the item and open in new window within servicenow you can verify the field it's using within the URL. I also need to create a risk assessment and can't find a way of doing that either.

Thank you for the response.

For anyone else wondering, add an "impacted service" to that section and then right click it and copy URL. Below is an example with task_cmdb_ci_service sandwiched within that URL. Good stuff!
https://devXXXXX.service-now.com/nav_to.do?uri=task_cmdb_ci_service.do?sys_id=ae0a26462f122110c137d5f62799b677

Thank you for teaching me something about ServiceNow ITSM.
(I'll have to poke around to see if there's training within the ServiceNow Developer program that will help me level up to at least "SN power user". 😄 )

Thank you!

[mjbear]

@stephenpaynter

I also need to create a risk assessment and can't find a way of doing that either.

Hmm
I haven't figured the risk assessment out yet, but the URL below is the most helpful tidbit I've found so far.

https://www.servicenow.com/community/developer-forum/apis-or-from-name-for-quot-fill-up-risk-assessment-quot-in/m-p/2242459

[augustinosusky]

Thank you for adding up on my reply @mjbear . I haven't ever tried to do something with risk assessment. From your link it seems that this actually involves several table updates so the job via APIs would be relatively complex. Also note, that every company has own SNOW tweaks so they can use custom named attributes, can make some fields mandatory and so on. It is quite a trial and error process every time.

[mjbear]

@stephenpaynter

I also need to create a risk assessment and can't find a way of doing that either.

Hmm I haven't figured the risk assessment out yet, but the URL below is the most helpful tidbit I've found so far.

https://www.servicenow.com/community/developer-forum/apis-or-from-name-for-quot-fill-up-risk-assessment-quot-in/m-p/2242459

Going off of the ServiceNow Community post, there are three tables that need updated (dropping them here in case something were to happen to that post).

• asmt_assessment_instance
• asmt_assessment_instance_question
• asmt_metric_result

Quick table query:
https://devXXXXX.service-now.com/sys_db_object_list.do?sysparm_query=sys_update_nameISNOTEMPTY%5EnameSTARTSWITHasmt_assessment_instance%5EORname%3Dasmt_metric_result&sysparm_view=

The summary as well as "steps" in the code comments within the JavaScript example paint a complex picture. Plus the word of caution by Augustin that each customer/organization often has their own augment/flavor of changes for their SNOW.
https://www.servicenow.com/community/developer-articles/how-to-script-a-change-risk-assessment/ta-p/2318654

[mjbear]

@stephenpaynter

As an update from my side, I got busy and I have not re-dedicated time to solving how to perform a risk assessment.
By chance did you make any progress?

[stephenpaynter]

Anyone had any joy with running a conflict check from the servicenow.itsm.api?

[augustinosusky]

Hello,
in the end it is again just a table. This time, it is 'conflict'.

The change_request itself has some fields indicating whether there is a conflict:
"conflict_last_run" should indicate if the script to detect conflicts was executed
"conflict_status" could then get values "Conflict", "No Conflict", "Not Run"

The conflict table itself can be inspected for the conflicts:

    - name: Check conflict
      servicenow.itsm.api_info:
        instance:
          host: "{{ snow_host }}
          username: "{{ snow_user }}"
          password: "{{ snow_password }}"

        resource: conflict
        sysparm_query: "change.number=CHG0066545"
      register: result

    - name: debug
      debug:
        msg: "{{ result.record }}"

Best Regards,
Augustin

[mjbear]

Hello,

I just so happen to work for an organization that chose to disable the automatic conflict checker so now I get to figure out how to trigger a manual conflict check via the API.

It's been shared how to disable the conflict checker script via /sys_script.do?sys_id=eeeb0f59d7410200d82ba1737e6103b1. But thus far I haven't found details on manually conflict checking from the API.

Update: There are REST API docs for initiating a conflict check so now to see if/where that is implemented within the Ansible module.

[augustinosusky]

You are right, if you want to run the conflict itself, you need to execute it at the proper API endpoint. This module is not capable of this, it just writes into tables.

The #247 issue is requesting precisely this.

[mjbear]

You are right, if you want to run the conflict itself, you need to execute it at the proper API endpoint. This module is not capable of this, it just writes into tables.

The #247 issue is requesting precisely this.

Thank you!

And there's an example provided on the feature enhancement request too.
Super helpful!