Instance Troubleshooter Overview and Quick Start Guide - Support and Troubleshooting

Instance Troubleshooter Overview and Quick Start Guide Summary  PLEASE NOTE:

Beginning with the Now Platform® Xanadu release planned for September 2024, we will no longer deploy or activate the application listed below to new instances. It will remain active in your instance, including when you upgrade to a new release family. Beginning with the Now Platform® Yokohama release planned for March 2025, we will end support for the application listed below. While it will remain active in your instance, including when you upgrade to a new release family, we will not be able to support it. Contents Why Use It What Is It Checks Suites/Categories Run: Manual vs Scheduled Tasks Dashboard How to Use It Install the Application Manually Execute a Suite Scan Schedule a Suite Scan Create Tasks for Failed Checks

1. Why Use It Instance Troubleshooter is an application that alerts ServiceNow administrators about issues affecting their instances and how to fix them. By continuously running the Instance Troubleshooter application, ServiceNow administrators will dramatically reduce the amount of time to get to their issue's root cause or even prevent the issue altogether.

2. What Is It

Checks

The Instance Troubleshooter application finds issues by running a set of checks. These checks represent one single configuration item or data point. If the condition for the check fails, then it alerts the ServiceNow administrator. Please note that failed checks are also known as "findings". Findings also contain instructions on how to fix the issue and a link to get more information. As of version 3.1, there are 197 checks.

Suites

A Suite is a group of checks that belong to the same ServiceNow platform feature. ServiceNow administrators run all checks belonging to an area of the platform by executing the Suite/Category corresponding to that area. As of version 3.1, there are 19 Check Suites.

Run: Manual vs Scheduled

ServiceNow administrators may run scans at will or through a scheduled job.

Use Case #1: An administrator detects an issue in a specific area. Instead of searching the ServiceNow community for a fix or creating a case with customer support, the administrator manually runs a scan on that area. The Instance Troubleshooter finds the issue, recommends a solution, and provides a link for further information.

Use Case #2: An administrator schedules a daily Instance Troubleshooter scan to get notified of any new issues. If a check fails, the administrator addresses the issue before any user is affected.

Tasks

An Instance Troubleshooter task is a work item associated with a failed check. This task allows a ServiceNow administrator to delegate and track the work for fixing the issue found by the Instance Troubleshooter.

Dashboard:

The Instance Troubleshooter dashboard provides ServiceNow administrators a summary of all the findings.

3. How To Use It

1. Install the Application

To begin the installation process, click on the 'All' module under 'All Available Applications'

Find the Instance Troubleshooter Application and install it. This application is free of charge.

2. Manually Execute Suite Scan

To execute a suite scan, go to the "Get Started" page under "Instance Troubleshooter".

From the Instance Troubleshooter 'Get Started' page, click the 'Troubleshoot' link next to the desired suite.

A pop-up window shows the scan progress and results.

3. Schedule a Suite Scan

To schedule a suite scan to run at a pre-determined interval, start by clicking the three vertical dots in the desired suite, then select the Schedule menu item.

This will direct you to the Suite record. Find the 'Schedule' related list and click 'New' to create a new schedule execution for this suite.

Give the scheduled scan job a name and schedule details:

4. Create Tasks for Failed Checks

From the Instance Troubleshooter "Get Started" page, click the three vertical dots in the desired suite, then select the "Scan Task Config' menu item.

You will be directed to all the Scan Task Configuration records for this Suite. Create one by clicking on the "New" button. Enter the priority and group you want to assign the task when a check in this suite fails.

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Related Links For a more in-depth guide, see: KB0870978, Instance Troubleshooter User Guide

For a complete list of checks, see KB0966883, List of Checks for Instance Troubleshooter