Remedial actions using Playbook

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 4 minutes to read
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    Summary of Remedial actions using Playbook

    ServiceNow’s Remedial Actions using Playbook enable you to resolve Configuration Item (CI)-related issues directly from the Investigate tab in Service Operations Workspace. These remedial actions, such asEnd processandRestart service, provide guided, step-by-step interactive workflows through playbooks to efficiently remediate problems affecting devices or servers.

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    This feature requires the Investigation Framework and Remedial Action Framework applications to be installed and configured. When triggered, remedial actions are added to a playbook accessible via the contextual side panel on the Incident record page, allowing centralized control and tracking of remediation processes.

    Key Features

    • Interactive Playbook UI: Guides users through each step of the remediation process, ensuring controlled execution.
    • Remedial Actions Types:
      • End process: Stops a problematic process on a CI, available for Device and Server classes with appropriate approval or change request requirements.
      • Restart service: Restarts services on a CI, also available for Device and Server classes with similar approval workflows.
    • Playbook Panel Tabs:
      • Current: Lists ongoing remedial action playbooks (status New or In Progress).
      • History: Displays completed, canceled, or failed remedial action playbooks with cancellation reasons available where applicable.
    • Cancellation Capability: Ongoing remedial actions can be canceled from the playbook panel, updating the status accordingly.
    • Scope of Remedial Actions: Actions can be viewed and executed against the primary CI or all CIs associated with an incident using a toggle.
    • Concurrency Controls: By default, concurrent or duplicate remedial actions on the same CI or process/service are prevented, but this behavior is configurable.

    Execution Details

    • Device CI Class: Requires user approval before executing End process or Restart service remedial actions.
    • Server CI Class: Requires creation of a standard change request with additional information before executing remedial actions.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Provides a structured and auditable approach to resolving CI issues directly from incident records, improving operational efficiency.
    • Reduces manual steps and errors by guiding users through remediation with a controlled playbook interface.
    • Enhances visibility with detailed current and historical tracking of remedial actions and their status.
    • Supports compliance by enforcing approvals and change requests where necessary for device and server remediation.

    Resolve the CI-related issues using the remedial actions using Playbook in the Investigate tab.

    The Investigate tab includes the following types of remedial action to resolve CI-related issues:
    • End process
    • Restart service
    These remedial actions are available on the Investigate tab only if the following conditions are met:
    Remedial actions use playbooks to resolve CI issues. Playbook provides you with an interactive UI to guide and execute the remedial actions step by step. With a playbook, you can control every execution step of the remediation process. Playbook is available on the contextual side panel of the Incident record page. When any remedial action is performed, that remediation process is added to a playbook. You can then select the playbook (Playbook icon) icon on the contextual side panel to open the playbook on a separate panel and execute the process. The playbook panel displays the following tabs:
    • Current: Displays the current list of playbooks that trigger the remedial action, including both processes and services that have the status New and In Progress.
    • History: Displays the historical list of playbooks, including both processes and services that have the status Completed, Canceled, or Failed.
    You can cancel an ongoing End process or Restart service remedial action playbook. To cancel a remedial action playbook, select the remedial action playbook and select the menu (Menu icon) icon and then select Cancel action option. After the remedial action playbook is canceled, the corresponding action is also canceled. Then, the status of the remedial action is displayed as Canceled in the History tab of the playbook panel. To view the reason for cancellation, select the View reason option on the playbook. This option isn’t available if any of the following are true:
    • The remedial action is already in Canceled status.
    • The corresponding CI action record of the remedial action is already in progress.
    • The change request has already moved to implement state for actions associated to CIs of type server.

    The Remedial actions section on the Investigate tab also contains the Current and History tab to display the list of remedial actions performed. By default, this section displays the list of remedial actions for the primary CI or current CI. You can switch the Show actions performed on all CIs in this incident toggle to display the list of remedial actions for all the CIs associated with the Incident.

    Playbook is available only if both the Remedial Action Framework [com.snc.sn_reacf] application and the Investigation Framework [sn_invest_fwk] application are installed and configured, as well as if the remedial actions are triggered. For more information on Playbook, see .

    Note:
    You can't execute concurrent or duplicate remedial actions when a remedial action is in progress on a process or service for a CI type device or server. You also can't execute concurrent or duplicate remedial actions on the same CI until the previous remedial action execution is completed. You can change this behavior and allow concurrent execution of the remedial action by selecting the Allow concurrent execution option for Remedial Action Type. For more information, see Configure the Remedial Actions Framework.

    End process

    The End process remedial action is available with the following metric information cards:
    • Top processes By Memory
    • Top processes By CPU
    Select the CI and then select End process to stop the process running on the CI. The remediation process then is added to the playbook. Select the Playbook (Playbook icon) icon from the contextual side panel to open the playbook on a separate panel and execute the process. You can execute the End process remedial action for the following CI classes:
    • Device: For this CI class, a two-step process is executed where you must get the user approval before the End process remediation process can be executed. After it’s approved, you can directly stop the process on the device, which is also known as the endpoint.
    • Server: For this CI class, you must create a change request before the End process remedial action can be executed using a standard change request. You must also provide additional information to create a change request.

    Restart service

    The Restart service remedial action is available with the Services metric information card.

    Select the CI and then select Restart service to restart the services running on the CI. The remediation process then is added to the playbook. Select the Playbook (Playbook icon) icon on the contextual side panel to open the playbook on a separate panel and execute the process. You can execute the Restart service remedial action for the following CI classes:
    • Device: For this CI class, a two-step process is executed where you must get the user approval before the Restart service remediation process is executed. After it's approved, you can directly restart the services on the device, which is also known as the endpoint.
    • Server: For this CI class, you must create a change request before you can execute the remedial action using a standard change request. You must also provide additional information to create a change request.