Instance Scan

Create a check suite to bundle a group of checks into a suite and execute it.

Create a scan task to facilitate task assignments from the finding of a record.

Execute suites of available checks against a specific target to have targeted scan results by selecting Execute Suite Scan.

Create a linter check to identify any issues in a script. When a linter check is run on a record, an abstract syntax tree for its code is generated. You can use the abstract syntax tree to analyze issues with the code.

Scan Results dashboard helps you with an overview of all details of an executed scan.

Create a schedule to regularly trigger a suite scan even when you don’t have an active session.

A suite is a collection of individual checks and suites that can be used for a scan. Suites can be created for specific business needs. All child suites are executed when a parent suite is used in a scan.

Mute a finding on the Scan Finding form to avoid the finding from being reported in the later scan results.

Cancel or abort an ongoing scan by either selecting Cancel Scan in the scan execution modal or the Cancel Scan related link in the results record.

Retrieve all records containing a specific column field type from all tables in an instance by selecting Create a new Column Type Check. The Column Type Check type implements the rule you created to iterate all records matching the target column field type.

Create your own checks by implementing the following procedure.

Create a new timeout threshold property for a check if the glide.scan.process_check.time_out system property is not present. Setting of a timeout threshold prevents your instance from running a long check.

Create a check without specifying a table or a column type by selecting Create a new Script Only Check. You can verify meta data, configurations, and execute complex checks by writing your own script.

Create a check by selecting Create a new Table Check if you know which specific table and conditions you want to test. This check type is applied on only one table at a time. You can also include your own script for more complex capabilities by selecting the Advanced option on the form.

Clean up previous scan results at a regular interval by customizing the table cleanup time period.

The Instance Scan dashboard is a system wide visual representation of the health of your instance. The dashboard helps you to manage and analyze the results of full scan against your instance.

Scan the installed files of an application as well as the application record itself with applicable checks by executing an application scan.

Execute a scan for the entire instance by selecting Execute Full Scan. Implementing a full scan runs all the active checks present in your instance.

Execute all applicable checks against a single record, update set or an application by selecting Run Point Scan.

Use the following types of scans to execute checks, a scan or a suite scan.

Execute a test scan to verify if the check works as expected. The test scan enables you to test a single check instead of a full scan by selecting a single check and selecting Test Check on the Check form.

Use an update set scan to run applicable checks against the current versions of records that have updates in the update set. If a record has been modified since it was added to the update set, the scan reflects those later changes. Issues that exist only in the update set version of a record aren't detected.

A finding is a reference to a record that has violated a rule from a check on the instance. You can find the source record and the number of times the record triggered rules of a given check.

Set the execution time of a single scan by implementing Transaction Quota Rules. Setting of a quota rule prevents your instance from running a long scan.

If you are new to Instance Scan, read this overview to learn what the tool can do. Follow the tutorial to create checks and execute scans that uses most basics of Instance Scan features.

Set the execution time of an individual check by implementing timeout system property. Setting of a timeout threshold prevents your instance from running a long check.

Compare and analyze the results of the scans in your instance by representing it on the premium Performance Analytics (PA) dashboard.

Checks are singular focused rules that detect anomalies or opportunities in an instance. These checks can run against tables, records, or metadata. Checks are defined to identify security, upgrade best practices, manageability, user experience and performance vulnerabilities.

Execute the different kinds of scans that Instance Scan offers to keep a check on the health of your instance. You can also schedule a full scan so you can ensure the health of your instance even without an active session.

Access Instance Scan directly from your integrated development environment (IDE) on the ServiceNow AI Platform.

Use ServiceNow Instance Scan to interrogate your instance for configurations that indicate health issues and identify opportunities to address best practices. Instance Scan checks your existing configurations and helps you avoid creating future configuration issues. Instance Scan is a tool that can be used as a part of your development operations, release management as well as pre- and post-upgrades.

Linter check scripts helps you in writing checks that look for issues in scripts. When a linter check is run on a record, it provides an abstract syntax tree for its code. You can use this abstract syntax tree to analyze issues with the code such as too many nested if statements or usages of slow API in a while loop.

Parallel scan is a functionality in Instance Scan that allows multiple scans to run in parallel instead of sequential execution. This improves efficiency and reduces wait times when several scans are executed concurrently.

You can check the progress status of a scan by checking the progress tracker.

Leverage the scan queue feature to line up your scans for automatic execution following the current scan.

A timeout determines the execution threshold of a scan from running long scans. For example, any scan running longer than the set time period results in a failure.

Execute a reactive scan to set up a scan that runs automatically on an execution tracker failure.

The reference topics provide additional information about Instance Scan.

An Instance Scan result reports the status and type of scan. You can also see all the checks that ran as part of the scan and all other information related to the scan such as errors and scan logs.

After the scans have been executed, you can review them with the findings and results components.

Create a schedule to regularly trigger a full scan even when you don’t have an active session. A schedule creates an established baseline for the health of the instance and provides a comparison to configuration and instance health over time.

On the properties form, you can set parameters that control how the instance executes.

Instance Scan offers table cleanup policies to erase previous scan results.

Execute and schedule the following scans within Instance Scan. You can also analyze the results of the scans in your instance on a dashboard.

Instance Scan is installed with these roles.