Client Software Distribution 2.0 application

Release version: Xanadu

Updated January 29, 2026

5 minutes to read

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Summary of Client Software Distribution 2.0 application

The Client Software Distribution 2.0 (CSD 2.0) application enables ServiceNow administrators to distribute software through the service catalog using third-party management systems. It automates software deployment and revocation via custom flows and integrates with Software Asset Management (SAM) to track license compliance and entitlements. CSD 2.0 supports providers like Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, Jamf, and Microsoft Intune, offering improved performance and flexibility over the legacy CSD integration.

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Key Features

Software Deployment and Revocation: Automate deployment and revocation from third-party providers using provider-specific spoke flows.
Lease Management: Define lease periods for software with options for lease extensions subject to approval.
Provider Support: Supports Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, Jamf, and Microsoft Intune with REST-based data discovery for better efficiency.
Integration with SAM: Optionally use SAM tables for managing software models and licensing, enhancing license compliance tracking.
AI Agents and Agentic Workflows: Includes AI agents to automate tasks like catalog item creation, collection management, and application targeting in Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, improving operational efficiency.
Extensibility: Easily add new providers using subflows in Workflow Studio without scripting, simplifying customization.
Sample Agentic Workflows: Provides prebuilt workflows to manage device/user collections and application assignments in Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager.

Key Outcomes

Streamlined Software Distribution: Simplifies managing software deployment and revocation directly from the ServiceNow service catalog.
Improved License Management: Integrates with SAM for precise license tracking, reducing compliance risks.
Enhanced Automation: AI agents automate routine tasks and complex workflows, reducing manual intervention.
Flexible Provider Integration: Supports multiple modern endpoint management systems and allows easy addition of new providers.
Operational Efficiency: REST-based data discovery improves performance and reduces MID Server load.
User-Friendly Lease Management: Enables users to request software lease extensions with approval workflows.

Practical Considerations for ServiceNow Customers

CSD 2.0 is available via the ServiceNow Store and requires a subscription to Integration Hub.
Administrators can create and manage software models, catalog items, licenses, and entitlements within the application.
To integrate with SAM, enable the appropriate property to use SAM tables for license management.
AI agents require the CSD Admin role for data access and can be cloned and customized for specific needs.
Sample agentic workflows can be activated and modified to automate common collection and application management tasks.
Software can be ordered by users or approved delegates through the service catalog, with lease management and revocation handled automatically.
CSD 2.0 supports integration with other software providers beyond the default ones, offering flexibility to expand software distribution capabilities.

Client Software Distribution 2.0 application (CSD 2.0) application enables administrators to distribute software from the service catalog using third-party management systems.

CSD 2.0 enables an administrator to create all the records necessary to deploy software from service catalog requests, including software models and catalog items. You can use the CSD 2.0 application to automate the deployment and revocation of software from a third-party software provider using the custom flows. You can define lease periods for software distributed from the Service Catalog and allow lease extensions in some cases, pending approvals. Deployment is accomplished using provider-specific spoke flows, subflows, and actions. For example, deployment is accomplished using Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager spoke.

CSD 2.0 also integrates with Software Asset Management (SAM Professional or SAM Foundation) to manage license information of the deployed software.

Note:

CSD 2.0 is different from Client Software Distribution using Integration Hub. CSD 2.0 is available on ServiceNow Store.

Figure 1. CSD 2.0 process flow when CSD is integrated with SAM

Note:

To integrate CSD 2.0 with SAM, navigate to Client Software Distribution 2.0 > Properties and select the check box for Determines whether to use SAM plugin(SAM Foundation or SAM Professional) tables for managing software models and licensing information. Option to integrated with SAM.

Important considerations

Ensure that you are aware of these differences between CSD and CSD 2.0:


	CSD	CSD 2.0
Supported providers	Microsoft System Center Configuration Management (SCCM).	Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, Jamf, and Microsoft Intune.
Procedure to add new provider	User must write extension point scripts.	User can use subflows in Workflow Studio. This is easier than writing extension point scripts in CSD.
License compliance check and entitlements	Tightly coupled with the SAM license data.	Flexibility to choose either the SAM tables or CSD 2.0 tables.
Data discovery	Microsoft SCCM provider uses PowerShell cmdlets for data discovery.	Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager spoke is updated to use the REST protocol for data discovery. This improves the performance and reduces load on MID Server as REST supports pagination.
Software revocation	CSD can revoke software requested using the CSD catalog. CSD can also uninstall software using SCCM when revocation is triggered from the reclamation candidates for SCCM provider.	CSD 2.0 can revoke software requested using the CSD 2.0 catalog. CSD 2.0 can also uninstall software using Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, Microsoft Intune, and Jamf when revocation is triggered from the reclamation candidates.

Application version

CSD 2.0 v1.5.0 is the latest version.

Available AI agents

Install Now Assist for Integration Hub and start using the available AI agents. For more information, see Now Assist for Integration Hub.

This application provides standalone AI agents that mimic human-like intelligence to perform tasks in your ServiceNow instance.

In the ServiceNow agentic system, you can create an agentic workflow that comprises of a set of large language model (LLM) instructions along with one or more standalone AI agents to execute an objective. See Create an agentic workflow for information about adding AI agents to create agentic workflows as per your requirement and provide the required trigger.
You can also search for other available AI agents and add them to your agentic workflow. See Find AI agents for more information.
You can create a clone of the required spoke AI agent and customize it as per your requirement. See Duplicate an AI agent for more information about creating a clone.
See Now Assist AI agents for information about AI agents.

Available AI agents include:


AI agent	Description
Catalog item creation AI agent	Automates the creation of catalog items for applications provided by service providers like Microsoft Intune and Jamf. The agent also manages software models, configurations, group associations, and catalog item generation. Note: This version of CSD 2.0 supports Microsoft Intune and Jamf providers only.
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager collection creation management AI agent	Creates collections in Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager. The agent prompts for required collection details, validates inputs, and requests confirmation before creating the collection. The agent also handles common errors and reports the outcome of the operation.
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager collection deletion management AI agent	Deletes collections in Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager. The agent collects the required inputs, checks for dependencies, and requests confirmation before deletion. The agent also attempts to resolve dependencies automatically and reports the result.
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager collection membership addition AI agent	Adds collections as deployment targets for applications in Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager. The agent gathers the required information, confirms the action, and handles errors that occur during the operation.
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager collection membership removal AI agent	Removes device or user members from collections in Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager. The agent guides users through the required inputs, confirms the action before execution, and handles errors during the process.
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager application targets addition AI agent	Adds device or user targets to collections in Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager. The agent prompts for the required details, validates inputs, requests confirmation, and reports the result of the operation.
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager application targets removal AI agent	Removes collections as targets from applications in Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager. The agent gathers the required inputs, confirms the action, and handles errors while performing the removal.

Looking for an AI agent?

There might be AI agents installed with the Now Assist application that are not used in agentic workflows. To learn how to see all agents that are available on your instance, see Find AI agents.
To find agents that might not be installed on your instance, visit the AI Agent Marketplace on the ServiceNow Store.

Note:

To access data or perform operations on data in the table that is associated with the AI agent, users must have the CSD Admin role.

Available sample agentic workflows

Install Now Assist for Integration Hub and start using the available sample agentic workflows and AI agents. For more information, see Now Assist for Integration Hub.

In the ServiceNow agentic system, you can create an agentic workflow that comprises of a set of large language model (LLM) instructions along with one or more standalone AI agents to execute an objective. Use the available sample agentic workflow in AI Agent Studio so that AI agents can coordinate to solve complex problems. To modify the available sample agentic workflow as per your requirement, see Modify an agentic workflow.


Sample agentic workflow	Description	AI agents used	Always ON by default?
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager Collection Management Agentic Flow	Manages Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager device and user collections and their application assignments. This agentic workflow interprets user requests, separates them into discrete collection and deployment tasks, and coordinates the required operations to create or delete collections, manage membership, and assign or remove application targets in a controlled, sequential manner.	Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager collection deletion management AI agent Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager application targets removal AI agent Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager collection membership addition AI agent Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager collection creation management AI agent Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager application targets addition AI agent Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager collection membership removal AI agent	No Note: To activate the workflow, see Activate an agentic workflow template.