Resource order controls for template-based cloud catalog items

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Resource order controls for template-based cloud catalog items

    Resource order controls in ServiceNow's Xanadu release enable quota management and enforcement for template-based cloud catalog items. They allow you to set quota limits and policies that control provisioning for users and groups, ensuring resource usage stays within defined boundaries. When quota limits are exceeded, you can configure notifications, approval workflows, or both to manage resource requests effectively.

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    Key Features

    • Quota Checks for Template-Based Catalogs: Starting in the Xanadu release, ServiceNow supports quota enforcement on cloud template-based catalog items, allowing quotas to be mapped directly to these catalogs.
    • Quota Calculations and Limits: Resource order controls calculate quotas and capacity during provisioning and enforce stack quota limits to control the number of active stacks per user or group.
    • Policy-Driven Actions: When quotas are exceeded, configured policies trigger notifications, approval workflows, or both, controlling whether further provisioning can proceed.
    • Stack Count Quota: A default system quota that counts all active stacks provisioned by users or groups. This quota applies universally to template-based catalogs without requiring individual mapping, but default limits must be set by administrators.
    • User and Group Quota Visibility: Users and groups can view their quotas for template-based catalogs in the Cloud User portal, promoting transparency and self-service management.

    How Resource Order Controls Work

    Provisioning continues if a quota is exceeded the first time after controls are configured. Subsequent attempts that breach the quota trigger the configured Resource Order Control policy actions, which may block provisioning or require approval. Note that if a quota is not mapped to a catalog, no quota checks occur for that catalog’s provisioning.

    The stack count quota specifically manages the total active stacks, and exceeding this triggers the corresponding policy actions. Since there are no predefined default stack quotas, administrators must define these limits to activate enforcement.

    Resource Order Control Policy

    The base system Resource Order Control policy is initially in Draft and can be customized or replaced with new policies tailored to your needs. The key policy action 'on Resource Limits exceeded' governs what happens when a quota breach occurs, such as initiating approval workflows or sending notifications. Without publishing this policy, provisioning is blocked once quotas are exceeded.

    Next Steps for ServiceNow Customers

    • Configure resource order controls by creating quota definitions and mapping them to template-based cloud catalog items.
    • Define policies with rules and actions to manage quota breaches via approvals or notifications.
    • Set default stack count quotas for users and groups to enable system-wide stack count enforcement.
    • Publish Resource Order Control policies to activate quota enforcement and control provisioning effectively.

    Use resource order controls to perform quota checks for template-based catalog items using quota definitions and policies. Quota limits enable you to control provisioning or ordering resources for users and groups. Configure policy actions to trigger notifications, an approval workflow, or both.

    Resource Order Controls

    Resource order controls enable you to control the quota limit of resources provisioned through template-based catalogs. Quota checks for cloud template-based catalog items are available beginning with the Xanadu release.

    You can now map quota limits to template-based catalogs and trigger notifications or an approval workflow when the resource limit or quota definitions you specify for a user or user group is exceeded. For more information, see Resource Quota.

    Use resource controls to perform the following actions:
    • Calculate quota and capacity for template-based catalog items.
    • Set limits for stack quota during provisioning for the cloud user.
    • Create a policy to be triggered when a quota limit is exceeded.
    • Add a policy notification and request for approval when a quota limit is exceeded.
    • Show user and user group quotas for template-based catalogs in the Cloud User portal.

    How resource order controls work

    Resource order control applies only when the quota has exceeded. If the quota exceeds during catalog provisioning for the first time after resource order controls are configured, the cloud resources continue to be provisioned. However, if the cloud user tries to provision a resource that breaches the configured quota limits again, the Resource order limit exceeded policy action set up for the Resource Order Control policy is triggered.
    Note:
    If quota is not mapped to a template-based catalog, quota calculations for that catalog are not performed, even if users exceed their quota limits.

    For example, say you specify a quota limit of 20 GB for a storage volume for a cloud user and the user provisions a 40 GB storage volume. The first time, the storage volume is provisioned even though it exceeds the quota limit. However, provisioning will fail the next time the user attempts to provision a cloud resource over 20 GB.

    Stack count quota

    The stack count quota introduces a default base system quota for template-based cloud catalog items. The Stack count quota counts all active stacks (identified by the Stack CI class) provisioned by users and user groups. The stack count quota applies to all template-based cloud resources and you do not need to map catalog items to quota definitions. Once the stack quota is enabled, whenever a user from the group mapped to the stack quota provisions a cloud resource, the quota is calculated. When users from the mapped group try to provision resources beyond the limit defined in the quota definition for stacks, the Resource Order Control policy and on Resource Limit exceeded policy action is triggered.
    Note:
    The base system stack count quota does not have predefined default quotas to preserve stacks that might have been created prior to upgrading to Xanadu. You must specify default quota limits for users and user groups to enable the Stack count quota.

    Resource Order Control Policy

    The Resource Order Control policy is a base system policy that is in the Draft state by default. You can customize the default policy to meet your requirements and publish it, or create a new policy and define quotas, rules and actions to enable resource order controls. The 'on Resource Limits exceeded' policy action triggers the Resource Order Control policy when any resource exceeds the defined quota limit. You can determine whether to initiate an approval workflow, a notification, or a combination of both when the resource limit exceeded policy is triggered. For more information, see Create an action for an 'on Resource Limit exceeded' policy.
    Note:
    You cannot provision catalog items once the user or user group quota is exceeded without the policy being published because the existing quota behavior disables further provisioning and does not process the request further.

    Next Steps