DEX policies for Windows

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of DEX policies for Windows

    DEX policies for Windows define guidelines and rules to ensure consistent, secure, and compliant use of applications and devices. They help ServiceNow customers reduce data breach risks, enhance data accuracy, and optimize application and device performance. These policies collect and send various metrics to MetricBase and ServiceNow instances for monitoring and analysis.

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    The Agent Client Collector (ACC) must run as a local system account to fetch complete playbook data from Windows devices. ACC version 4.2 or higher and the DEX browser extension plugin version 2.5.0 or higher are required to enable certain network-related monitoring features.

    Application Policies

    • DEX Windows Apps Metrics: Collects application metrics such as CPU and memory usage, uptime, crashes, and I/O usage every 5 minutes (historical data). Requires ACC running as Local System account when using the uptime parameter.

    Application Network Experience (ANE) Policies

    • Collect latency, packet loss, jitter, and network path details for Windows installed and web applications every 10 minutes (historical data) or every 30 minutes (latest data).
    • Uses tracert commands but does not support paths within domain URLs.
    • Requires ACC version 4.2+ and DEX browser extension 2.5.0+.

    Device Policies

    • DEX Windows Device Metrics: Collects comprehensive device metrics including uptime, security status (antivirus, firewall), hardware details, system stability, updates, energy consumption, and more.
    • Metrics collection intervals vary from 5 minutes to 24 hours, supporting both historical and latest data.
    • Certain metrics like energy consumption and bitlocker details require ACC to run as Local System account.
    • Additional policies collect running process data and device compliance metrics.
    • Policies exist to capture logged-in user data and device configuration changes in near real-time (every 60 seconds).

    Important Notes for ServiceNow Customers

    • Ensure ACC runs as Local System account to access full metric capabilities.
    • Use supported ACC and browser extension versions for network monitoring features.
    • Historical data refers to metrics stored for the past 7 days; latest data refers to the most recent metrics collected.
    • After upgrading the DEX Content Playbook plugin, refer to specific troubleshooting guidance if policy updates behave unexpectedly.

    Use policies for Windows are guidelines and rules to confirm that the application is used consistently, securely, and in compliance. DEX policies help organizations to reduce the risk of data breaches, improve data quality and accuracy, and optimize application performance and availability.

    To fetch the complete playbook data for a Windows device, the Agent Client Collector (ACC) must run as a local system account. For more details on how to set up the ACC service as a local system account, see Run ACC as a local system account user.

    Note:
    The historical data for an application or device is the information that is kept in the MetricBase database for the past 7 days, while the latest data pertains to the most recent information available.

    Policies for Windows — Application

    DEX provides the following policies for applications.
    Policy name Description Check instance Frequency Historical or latest Check instance parameters*
    DEX Windows Apps Metrics Collects the application metrics in the Windows device and sends the metric data to Metric Base. os.win.check-app-historical 5 mins Historical cpu_usage, memory_usage, uptime, last_access_time, crashes, io_usage_read, io_usage_write, is_running
    Important:
    * DEX Windows Apps Metrics with the uptime check instance parameter only runs with the Local System account.

    Policies for Windows — Application Network Experience

    Before configuring the following policies, make sure that the Agent Client Collector is version 4.2 or higher to display the network path for applications. Additionally, the DEX browser extension plugin must be installed and should be version 2.5.0 or higher to fetch network metrics for web applications.
    Note:
    These policies have the following limitations:
    • A tracert command is used to get the network path.
    • ANE doesn't work for path in the domain URL. Example: <domain>/<path>
    DEX provides the following policies for applications.
    Policy name Description Check instance Frequency Historical or latest Check instance parameters
    DEX Windows Apps Domain Network Monitoring Metrics Collects Windows installed apps network monitoring metrics like latency, packet loss, and jitter and sends monitoring data to Metric Base and the ServiceNow® instance. os.win.check-app-dom-network-historical 10 mins Historical domain_network_details
    DEX Windows Apps Domain Network Monitoring Metrics Collects Windows Web apps network monitoring metrics like latency, packet loss, and jitter and sends monitoring data to Metric Base and the ServiceNow instance. os.win.check-web-app-dom-net-historical 10 mins Historical domain_network_details
    DEX Windows Apps Domain Network Monitoring Metrics Collects Windows Web apps network monitoring metrics like latency, packet loss, and jitter and sends monitoring data to Metric Base and the ServiceNow instance. os.win.check-app-dom-network-latest 30 mins Latest source_details, domain_network_route_details

    Policies for Windows — Device

    DEX provides the following policies for devices.
    Policy name Description Check instance Frequency Historical or latest Check instance parameters*
    DEX Windows Device Metrics Collects Windows device metrics and sends the metric data to the ServiceNow instance. os.win.check-system-metrics-latest 24 hours Latest uptime, logged_in, antivirus_enabled, firewall_enabled, disk_details, device_details, battery_details, bsod_details, cpu_details, os_details, power_plan, stability_index, pending_updates, network_details, bitlocker_details, user_profiles, antimalware_details, hard_drive_status, peripheral_devices_details, cpu_usage, memory_details, device_events, last_access_time, os_setup_details, reboot_details, energy_consumption
    Important:
    * DEX Windows Device Metrics with the following check instance parameters runs only with a Local System account:
    • energy_consumption
    • bitlocker_details
    • last_access_time
    • pending_updates
    • user_profiles
    DEX Windows Device Metrics Collects Windows device metrics and sends the metric data to MetricBase. os.win.check-system-metrics-historical 30 mins Historical network_connection_profiles
    DEX Windows Device Metrics Collects Windows device metrics and sends the metric data to MetricBase. os.win.check-system-metrics-historical 5 mins Historical disk_usage, io_usage_write, io_usage_read, memory_usage, cpu_usage, battery_charge_percentage, energy_consumption, memory_details, uptime, disk_details, cpu_performance_details, crashes, power_consumption, wifi_transmit_rate, wifi_receive_rate, wifi_signal_strength
    DEX Windows Device Metrics Collects data for running Windows processes and sends the data to the ServiceNow instance. os.win.check-process-data 24 hours N/A N/A
    DEX Windows Device Metrics Collects Windows device metrics and sends the metric data to the ServiceNow instance. os.win.check-sys-compliance-historical 5 mins Historical N/A
    DEX Windows Device Metrics Collects Windows device metrics and sends the metric data to the ServiceNow instance. os.win.check-sys-compliance-latest 24 hours Latest N/A
    DEX Get online Windows user on change Gets a logged-in user's data on a Windows device whenever there’s a change. os.win.check-system-custom-query-on-chan 60 secs Latest query,query_sys_id, query_type
    DEX Get device configuration on change Gets a logged-in user's device configuration whenever there’s a change. os.all.check.internal.get-device-configu 60 secs Latest N/A
    Note:
    If you upgrade the DEX Content Playbook plugin on an instance and encounter unexpected policy update issues, see the Troubleshooting: Policy update issues post DEX plugin upgrade [KB1586917] article in the Now Support knowledge base.