Free CIS-Discovery Practice Test Questions and Answers (2026)

Tracked configuration files are files that contain settings and parameters of certain applications or

devices that Discovery can find and add to the CMDB. Some of the benefits of tracked configuration

files are:

Content version comparison: You can compare the content of different versions of the same

configuration file and see the changes that occurred over time. This can help you troubleshoot

issues, audit changes, and restore previous configurations if needed.

Files tracked as CIs: You can view the configuration files as configuration items (CIs) in the CMDB and

see their relationships with other CIs, such as the applications or devices they belong to. This can

help you understand the dependencies and impact of the configuration files on your IT environment.

Reference: Configuration file tracking, Modify tracking changes in configuration files

Discovery can provide information about the relationships between configuration items (CIs),

including applications and hosts. Application relationships are the connections between applications

that run on different hosts or servers, such as web servers, databases, load balancers, etc. Host

relationships are the connections between applications and the hosts or servers that they run on,

such as Windows, Linux, Unix, etc. Discovery can identify these relationships using various methods,

such as probes, sensors, patterns, file-based discovery, etc. Discovery can also create and update

these relationships in the CMDB, using the Depends on::Used by or Runs on::Runs relationship types.

Reference: Discovery Relationship Creation, Application Discovery Mapping Overview, IT Discovery –

Application Dependency Mapping

According to the ServiceNow Discovery documentation, the base system CI Identifiers for Windows Server class are name and serial_number. These are the attributes that Discovery uses to uniquely identify a Windows Server CI. If both attributes match an existing CI, Discovery updates that CI. If only one attribute matches, Discovery creates a new CI. If neither attribute matches, Discovery also creates a new CI. In this scenario, the serial_number is the same for both Windows Servers, but the name is different. Therefore, Discovery will create two separate CIs, one with WindowsSN1 as the name and one with WindowsSN2 as the name. Reference: Create a Discovery CI classification - Product Documentation: Tokyo - Now Support Portal Identification rules - Product Documentation: Tokyo - Now Support Portal ServiceNow IRE: Identification Rules Explained — Cookdown

:

The functionality shown in the image is related to the Tracked Configuration files feature of

ServiceNow Discovery. This feature allows Discovery to track changes in configuration files on

Windows and Unix hosts and store them as configuration items (CIs) in the CMDB1. To modify this

functionality, such as adding or removing files to track, changing the file attributes to capture, or

defining the CI relationships, one needs to edit the Discovery Pattern that is associated with the

Tracked Configuration files classifier2. A Discovery Pattern is a series of operations that tell Discovery

how to find and identify an application or a configuration file on a host3.

Reference:

1: Tracked Configuration files - Product Documentation: San Diego - ServiceNow

2: Tracked Configuration files pattern - Product Documentation: San Diego - ServiceNow

3: Patterns and horizontal discovery - Product Documentation: Tokyo - ServiceNow

The Automation Error Messages list displays the errors that occurred during the execution of

Discovery automation scripts. From this list, you can view the details of each error, such as the script

name, the error message, the device, and the time. You can also perform actions on the errors, such

as retrying the script, ignoring the error, or creating an incident. To do so, you can use the options on

the right navigation pane, which are categorized as follows1:

SELECT ALL: This option allows you to select all the errors in the list.

SELECT ONE: This option allows you to select one error in the list by clicking on the checkbox next to

it.

ACTION ON SELECTED: This option allows you to perform an action on the selected errors, such as

Retry, Ignore, or Create Incident. You can also choose to perform the action on all the errors in the

list by selecting the All option from the drop-down menu.

ACTION ON ALL: This option allows you to perform an action on all the errors in the list, regardless of

the selection. You can choose from the same actions as the ACTION ON SELECTED option.

Reference:

Discovery error messages: This article explains the different types of error messages and warnings in

Discovery, and how to access and manage them.

When Discovery or Service Mapping identifies a CI that matches an existing CI in the CMDB, it checks

whether the CIs are duplicates or not. If they are duplicates, Discovery adds them to a de-duplication

task, which is a record that groups duplicate CIs and allows you to review and remediate them. You

can use the Duplicate CI Remediator wizard to merge, flag, retire, or delete the duplicate CIs. By

default, Discovery does not send notifications, create identification rules, or stop the next discovery

for duplicate CIs.

Reference: Handle Duplicate CIs in your CMDB, De-duplication tasks, How to de-duplicate 2 ESX

servers with same name?

Reference: https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/quebec-servicenowplatform/page/product/configuration- management/reference/r_CMDBHealthMetrics.html

:

London Linux Servers is a CMDB Group with Health Group type. A CMDB Group is a collection of

configuration items (CIs) that share common characteristics or are related in some way1. A Health

Group is a type of CMDB Group that is used to monitor and measure the health of a specific set of CIs

based on predefined rules and metrics2. The image shows that London Linux Servers is selected from

the CMDB Health Group List, which is a dropdown menu that displays all the Health Groups defined

in the system3. The image also shows the Group Health tab, which displays the health scores and

indicators for the selected Health Group.

Reference: 1: Create a CMDB group - ServiceNow 2: CMDB health groups - ServiceNow 3: CMDB

health dashboard - ServiceNow : [View CMDB health scores - ServiceNow]

The SNMP Query operation on a pattern for a custom device query allows Discovery to retrieve

information from the target device using the SNMP protocol. It is best practice to use the published

manufacturer’s device MIB, which is the official and standard definition of the device’s SNMP data.

Using the manufacturer’s device MIB ensures that the query is accurate, consistent, and compatible

with the device. Modifying the default MIB information, enabling SSH as a secondary protocol, or

using live devices in production are not recommended practices, as they may introduce errors,

security risks, or performance issues123.

Reference:

SNMP Query pattern operation - Product Documentation: San Diego - Now Support Portal

Load a MIB file - Product Documentation: Vancouver - ServiceNow

How Loading of MIB file works on SNMP Browser ( Pattern Step - SNMP Query) - Support and

Troubleshooting

A classifier is a set of rules that identifies a device type based on the results of a probe. A classifier

can have one or more related lists that define the classification criteria, the pattern probes, and the

triggers probes. The pattern probes related list specifies which horizontal discovery pattern to run for

the device type. The triggers probes related list specifies which probes to run after the device is

classified, and before the horizontal discovery pattern is executed. The triggers probes can be used to

gather additional information or credentials that are needed for the horizontal discovery pattern12.

Reference:

1: ServiceNow Discovery Overview, page 9

2: ServiceNow Discovery Documentation, Classifiers section

Discovery Range Sets in ServiceNow Discovery offer a flexible way to manage and identify networks.

They simplify the administration of network discovery by allowing administrators to define groups of

IP ranges. This organization helps in effectively managing and targeting different network segments

without needing to define each IP range in individual Discovery Schedules. Range Sets do not

necessarily show the number of IPs in a subnet, nor are they the only way to define multiple IP

ranges in a schedule.

In ServiceNow Discovery, relationships between Configuration Items (CIs) in a horizontal pattern are

created using the "Create Relation/Reference" operation. This operation allows the pattern to define

and establish relationships or

between discovered CIs, based on the information gathered

during the discovery process. Options B and C are incorrect as relationships are not automatically

created nor is it true that they cannot be created via patterns. Option D, "Create Connections," is not

a standard operation in this context. Reference = ServiceNow Discovery documentation, specifically

the sections on creating and managing horizontal discovery patterns.

A horizontal discovery pattern is a set of steps that execute operations to identify, classify, and

populate attributes for configuration items (CIs) of a specific category or class, such as infrastructure

or application. A horizontal pattern can be applied to any operating system or platform that supports

the required protocols and commands12.

Reference:

Horizontal discovery patterns

Discovery pattern types

A MID Server needs to have access to the install.service-now.com domain to automatically stay up-

to-date with instance versions. This domain hosts the MID Server upgrade files that are downloaded

and installed by the MID Server when a new version is available. The MID Server checks for updates

every 24 hours by default, or when the mid.upgrade.check_interval property is set12.

Reference:

1: ServiceNow Discovery Documentation, MID Server Upgrade section

2: ServiceNow Support Article, Connections to allow list for the MID Server

The default thread count for a MID Server is 25. This means that the MID Server can run up to 25

worker threads simultaneously to execute the jobs assigned to it by the ServiceNow instance. The

worker threads are divided into different thread pools based on the priority of the jobs. The MID

Server can also adjust the thread count dynamically based on the system resources and the

workload. The thread count can be configured by changing the MID Server parameters in the

ServiceNow instance12. Reference = 1: MID Server Max Threads - Worker Groups - Priority and

Queues - ServiceNow 2: Product Documentation | ServiceNow

The Discovery Dashboard provides a summary of the Discovery status, including the number of active

discovery errors, the number of devices discovered, and the number of credentials used. Each error

has a help link that provides more information about the cause and possible solutions.

Reference:

Discovery Dashboard

Discovery troubleshooting | Error messages

The Extension section in a horizontal pattern is executed after the Identification sections have

completed and the CI has been identified. The Extension section allows adding additional attributes

or relationships to the CI, or launching other patterns for further discovery12.

Reference:

1: ITOM: Extending Discovery/Service Mapping Patterns - GlideFast ServiceNow

2: Horizontal Pattern probe - Product Documentation: San Diego - ServiceNow

The Credential Affinity table is a table that associates an IP address and a credential in Discovery1. It

is used to store the credential that was successfully used to access a device during Discovery2. It can

also be used to manually assign a credential to an IP address or a range of IP addresses3. The other

options are not tables that associate an IP address and a credential in Discovery. The Service Affinity

table is a table that associates a business service and a credential. The Service CI Association table is

a table that associates a business service and a configuration item (CI). The Tags table is a table that

stores tags that can be applied to records in any table.

Reference: 1: Credential Affinity table 2: Credential affinity 3: Manually assign a credential to an IP

address : Service Affinity table : Service CI Association table : Tags table