SNOW-CSA Database Administration and CMDB Practice Test 4 — 15 Questions

Question 1

During a CMDB audit, an administrator discovers duplicate CI records for the same network switch. The switch is identified by its serial number. The identification rule currently uses IP address and MAC address as identifiers. What is the most likely cause of the duplicate records?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

The serial number is not included in the identification rule.. The duplicate CI records exist because the identification rule does not include the serial number, which is the unique hardware identifier for the switch. Without it, the system cannot reliably match the discovered switch to an existing CI, so a new record is created each time the switch is discovered with a different IP or MAC address. Including the serial number in the identification rule ensures that the same physical device is always reconciled to the same CI record.

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There is a conflict in the class hierarchy.

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The discovery source is set to ServiceNow Discovery only, but multiple sources exist.

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The reconciliation rule is set to manual mode.

Question 2

An administrator needs to delete a large number of records from the cmdb_ci table based on a condition. Which method is recommended for bulk deletion to ensure data integrity and performance?

Accepted Answer

Use a GlideRecord script with deleteMultiple() to delete all matching records in one transaction.. DeleteMultiple() processes all matching records in a single database transaction, ensuring data integrity by respecting business rules, ACLs, and database constraints while offering better performance than iterating individual deletes. This method is specifically designed for bulk deletion in ServiceNow, balancing efficiency with platform safety.

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Use a script that iterates and deletes each record using glideRecord.delete().

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Use a direct SQL DELETE statement in a background script.

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Use the 'Delete all records in this table' option in the table configuration.

Question 3

Which CMDB relationship type should be used to represent that a server is physically installed in a rack?

Accepted Answer

Contains. The 'Contains' relationship type is correct because it models a parent-child containment hierarchy in the CMDB, where the rack is the container and the server is the contained item. This aligns with the CMDB's ability to represent physical location and dependencies, ensuring accurate service mapping and impact analysis.

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Depends on

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Runs on

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Connected to

Question 4

An administrator is troubleshooting why a CMDB CI's last discovered date is not updating after a successful discovery run. The CI is in a valid state and the discovery schedule runs. What could be the cause?

Accepted Answer

The reconciliation rule is set to 'Manual' and the discovered data conflicts with existing data.. When a reconciliation rule is set to 'Manual', the CMDB will not automatically update CI attributes with discovered data if there is a conflict with existing data. The CI remains in its last discovered state until a manual reconciliation is performed, even if the discovery run succeeds and the CI is valid.

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The CMDB identification rule has a condition that excludes this CI from updates.

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The discovery source is set to 'ServiceNow' but the CI was created manually.

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The CI is a parent class and child class discovery is updating child records.

Question 5

An administrator wants to improve the performance of a report that aggregates data from a large custom table. Which database administration technique is most effective?

Accepted Answer

Use a glide aggregate query with a group by clause.. A glide aggregate query with a GROUP BY clause is the most effective technique because it offloads the aggregation work to the database server, reducing the amount of data transferred to the application tier and minimizing processing overhead. This approach leverages the database's native ability to compute sums, counts, or averages directly on the large custom table, which is far more efficient than retrieving all rows and aggregating in memory.

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Create a database view that pre-aggregates the data.

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Schedule a job to archive old records.

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Add an index on the table's sys_updated_by field.

Question 6

In the CMDB, what is the purpose of the 'cmdb_ci' table?

Accepted Answer

It is the base table for all hardware and software CI classes.. The 'cmdb_ci' table is the base (or parent) table for all hardware and software Configuration Item (CI) classes in the ServiceNow CMDB. It defines common fields such as name, serial number, and operational status, which are inherited by all child CI tables (e.g., cmdb_ci_server, cmdb_ci_software_product). This design follows a single-table inheritance model, ensuring consistency across all CI types.

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It stores the discovery schedule and probes.

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It contains the CMDB health rules.

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It stores relationships between configuration items.

Question 7

An administrator is asked to design a solution to prevent unauthorized changes to the CMDB. The requirement is that any update to a CI's critical attributes (e.g., serial number, model) must be logged and require an approval. Which approach should be taken?

Accepted Answer

Create a business rule that fires on update, checks the previous values, and sends an approval request.. A business rule that fires 'on update' with a condition checking previous values of critical attributes (e.g., serial number, model) can trigger an approval request via an approval engine or flow. This approach directly enforces the requirement that updates to those specific fields require approval before the change is committed, without relying on external modules or triggers that may bypass ServiceNow's native approval framework.

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Configure the CMDB to use 'Data Certification' and require approval for attribute changes.

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Use a database trigger that captures changes and creates a change request.

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Set field-level audit on the critical fields and use the 'Audit' module to report changes.

Question 8

Which two statements are true about CMDB relationships? (Select two.)

Accepted Answer

Relationship types are defined in the cmdb_rel_type table.. The `cmdb_rel_type` table stores the definitions of all relationship types in the ServiceNow CMDB, such as 'Depends on' and 'Used by'. Each record in this table defines a unique relationship type with its name, direction, and cardinality constraints. This table is the authoritative source for the relationship types available in the system.

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Relationships can only be created manually.

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A CI can have only one relationship of a given type.

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The 'Depends on' relationship is default for all CIs.

Question 9

Which three are components of CMDB Reconciliation? (Select three.)

Accepted Answer

Identification rules. Identification rules are a core component of CMDB Reconciliation because they define how ServiceNow uniquely identifies CIs across multiple data sources. They use specific attributes (like serial number or MAC address) to match CIs and prevent duplicates during the reconciliation process.

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CMDB Health Score

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CI Class Manager

Question 10

Refer to the exhibit. The script runs but no output is produced. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The field 'u_environment' does not exist on records with sys_class_name='cmdb_ci_server'.. The script uses `getValue('u_environment')` on a GlideRecord query for `cmdb_ci` with `sys_class_name='cmdb_ci_server'`. If the field `u_environment` does not exist on that table or class, `getValue` returns null, and the `gs.print` statement outputs nothing (or an empty string). The script runs without error, but no output is produced because the field is missing, not because the query returns zero rows.

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The table 'cmdb_ci' has no records with sys_class_name='cmdb_ci_server'.

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The orderByDesc method is misspelled (should be orderByDescending).

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The script lacks point number of rows (no rows with condition).

Question 11

Refer to the exhibit. What is the purpose of the 'condition' field in this discovery probe?

Accepted Answer

It filters which discovered CIs should be updated by this probe.. In ServiceNow discovery probes, the 'condition' field is used to filter which discovered CIs should be updated by the probe. It acts as a predicate that evaluates against the discovered CI's attributes; only CIs that match the condition will have their fields updated by the probe's actions. This prevents the probe from overwriting CIs that do not meet specific criteria, ensuring targeted and accurate CI updates.

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It defines the condition under which the probe triggers.

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It specifies the condition for identifying duplicates.

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It limits the probe to only query the database for existing records matching the condition.

Question 12

Refer to the exhibit. What action should the administrator take to improve the completeness score?

Accepted Answer

Configure a data certification policy with required fields.. A data certification policy in ServiceNow allows administrators to define required fields for CI classes. When a data certification policy is configured with required fields, the system automatically validates that those fields are populated during certification runs, directly improving the completeness score by ensuring critical data is present. This is a proactive, automated approach that aligns with CMDB Health best practices.

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Use a scheduled job to populate common fields with default values.

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Manually edit each CI that has missing fields.

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Increase the CMDB Health weight for completeness.

Question 13

An administrator needs to identify which CI(s) are affected by a recent network outage. Which table should be queried to find the relationship between CIs and incidents?

Accepted Answer

task_ci. The task_ci table stores the direct relationship between tasks (including incidents) and configuration items (CIs). When an administrator needs to identify which CIs are affected by a specific incident, querying task_ci with the incident's sys_id will return the associated CIs. This table is the standard ServiceNow junction table for linking any task record (such as an incident) to CIs.

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cmdb_ci

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sys_ci_relation

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cmdb_rel_ci

Question 14

A company uses Discovery to populate the CMDB. After a recent change, some CIs are incorrectly classified as 'Network Gear' instead of 'Server'. What is the most efficient way to correct the classification for these specific CIs?

Accepted Answer

Update the Discovery classification pattern and re-run Discovery on the affected IPs.. Discovery classification patterns define how CIs are categorized based on probe results. Updating the pattern to correctly identify the affected CIs and re-running Discovery on their IPs ensures that the classification is corrected at the source, preventing future misclassification without manual intervention or data loss.

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Delete the CIs and let Discovery recreate them.

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Manually change the 'Class' field on each CI.

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Run the 'Identify CI' probe again.

Question 15

A scheduled job runs a transform map to import data into the CMDB from an external asset management system. The transform map has a field mapping that uses script to derive the CI class based on asset type. Recently, imports have been failing with a 'GlideRecord: Invalid table name' error. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The script in the field mapping is returning a value that does not correspond to an existing table name.. The error 'GlideRecord: Invalid table name' indicates that the script in the field mapping is returning a string that does not match any existing table (class) in the CMDB. When a transform map uses a script to derive the CI class, the returned value must be a valid table name (e.g., 'cmdb_ci_server'). If the script returns a misspelled, malformed, or non-existent table name, GlideRecord fails to instantiate the record, causing the import to fail.

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The external system is sending malformed data.

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The scheduled job does not have the right roles.

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The target table name in the transform map is misspelled.