Instance Troubleshooter v/s Instance Scan v/s Instance Health Scan

[Kopal Garg]

What is an instance troubleshooter?

Instance troubleshooter is a self-service tool to diagnose and resolve your ServiceNow platform issues. It is an OOB and free plugin for ServiceNow admins and a low-code way to fix some known issues. In more formal terms please find the definition below:

‘The application offers a simple user interface to start the troubleshooting process across various categories. Each product category checks for a set of issues on your instance and a results summary is shown within a few minutes on the screen. Customers can take action to implement the fixes and verify the issue resolution. If the issue still isn’t resolved, customers can create a case to ServiceNow Support.’

Few Points to Note:

• This tool is built on top of instance scan functionality and is a read-only application and doesn’t make any changes as per its findings.
• However, there is no overlap between the functionality and analysis of Instance scan and instance troubleshooter applications.
• This can be executed on any type of instance, but you would want to use it actively in your production.
• You can set the scan tasks priority and schedule them may be as frequent as every morning rather than spending boring human hours doing the same checks.

What does it provide?

Out-of-the-box San Diego Instance Troubleshooter v0.3 (yes it has been in existence since the Quebec release) has 19 products/services [a logical grouping of services] to offer. It provides a faster resolution time by minimizing dependency on HI support and maintaining a healthy instance. It empowers the customers in a way to run standards checks on their own. As of now, it is non-configurable however gives an opportunity to provide feedback.

What’s New in version 3.0?

• Support for 6 more products/services (ACL, Performance, Reporting, PA, Clone, Currency)
• 32 additional checks
• UX Enhancements

I am seriously delighted with the ACL’s checks and looking forward to how this application grows.

What can I do with the troubleshooter scan findings?

This application provides an opportunity to raise an internal task for the internal support team in case of failures and a predefined set of rules. You can also set up the schedule of scans. Cool right!

How is it different from Instance Scan?

Instance scan is again an OOB and free application that sits on any ServiceNow instance and can be executed on-demand as an opportunity to identify errant patterns and warning signs for developers. It assists in identifying in finding a scope of improvement. Instance scan sits in the middle of your development cycle i.e. [Develop > Validate (Instance Scan) > Test]. It is a continuous improvement process to catch issues sooner rather than waiting for something to go-live and cause troubles later. [Silent killers]

-Stay tuned for more detailed information on Instance Scan and when you can use it [spolier alert: always]

How Instance Troubleshooter is different from Instance Health Scan?

Instance health scan is a ServiceNow internal tool that is executed on request (get in touch with your customer support to know more) by any client. It is not accessible outside ServiceNow and may not be free always Refer to Instance Health Scan Services. HealthScan is ServiceNow's automated instance scanning system. It is a full-body assessment of your instance health that analyses system configuration against best practices. It also provides insights and recommendations for what you should continue doing and where you might be able to improve. This is an opportunity to know in and out about your instance.

What do I think about this?

	Instance Troubleshooter	Instance Scan	Instance Health Scan
Provider	ServiceNow	ServiceNow	ServiceNow + Third-Party Tools
OOB	Yes	Yes	No
Free	Yes	Yes	Contact your ServiceNow Representative
Type	Built on top of Instance Scan	OOB Application available on all ServiceNow instances	Services by ServiceNow to check the instance ways of improvement
Instance Strategy	Can be executed on all instances but makes more sense for production	Can be executed on all instances but makes more sense for dev and test	Production
Installation	‘sn_troubleshooter’ plugins	‘com.glide.instance_scan’ installed plugin	On-Demand services and refer Instance Health Scan Get in touch with your customer support to know more

All three applications and services have their own role to play and together they make a deadly combination. Also, Cheery on top - Instance Troubleshooter and Instance Scan are free and available at the tips of your hand then… Why not?? I won't be able to comment much on the Instance health scan since it totally depends on your services with ServiceNow.

I have personally used and recommended Instance Scan to my clients and that has made some really great impacts and improved the quality of development. After using Instance Troubleshooter, I am having a good feeling that both scan and troubleshooter make a deadly combination. So, go…. stop reading and improve your instance health and share your experiences in the comments below.

Resources to Refer:

https://support.servicenow.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0870978

https://support.servicenow.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB1112531

-Enough for the day, never stop learning

Kopal Garg

Linkedin | Mavericks | ServiceNow

[Mark Roethof]

Nice article!

Some small comments.

A huge difference between Instance Scan and HealthScan: Instance Scan runs on your Instance. HealthScan runs remote where ServiceNow will pull-in information from your instance. Not every customer agrees on this.

Instance Health Scan is partially free. If it's a one of with limited detailed report of findings, you can get it for free. If you frequently want to have this and want a detailed report of findings… it's not free.

The instance strategy as you mentioned really differs on the use case. HealthScan scan perfectly be run on a non-production environment.
Instance Scan is by far not limited to dev and test. See my articles. Why not use it for Data Quality (most likely production), why not use it for Sanity Checks (for all instances)?

I do feel ServiceNow messed up with Instance Troubleshooter. It's a complete separate team from Instance Scan. It would help if they would collaborate. To improve Instance Scan itself (I've got lots of suggestions), though also to have a clear vision on how to use Instance Scan with Instance Troubleshooter and what message to bring across to the public. For example, I've asked twice on different live sessions on Instance Troubleshooter how they see the usage of Scan Tasks… they clearly couldn't answer the question (while they were so enthusiastic about using Scan Tasks...) and lack knowledge of core Instance Scan.

And a good quality assurance on the Scan Checks would help also… even found Scan Checks which because of script typos will run though actually will never produce Scan Findings, the Run Condition underutilized in Scan Checks, inconsequent use of Score fields, etc..

Kind regards,
Mark

[Maik Skoddow]

Hi @Kopal Garg 

why do you think, that the Instance Health Scan is not free? Having a look on the last page of https://www.servicenow.com/content/dam/servicenow-assets/public/en-us/doc-type/success/quick-answer/... I can find a different statement.

So what's correct?

Kind regards
Maik

[Allen Andreas]

Thanks for the article.

As has been mentioned by another, there is a free version of the Health Scan as well.

The main theme is that ServiceNow helps with it and is more of an assisted process than you doing everything yourself (like the other two options). More information towards this in the article would have been nice to see as Health Scan is very powerful and helpful. Instead, it is sort of mentioned briefly, then guided against using.

Either way, thanks for taking the time to share knowledge!

-Allen

[Kopal Garg]

Hello Maik,

Thank you for your valuable comments and I have made certain changes to the article. I agree some part of Instance Health Scan is free but I think it depends on the contract how often one can get it and how detailed it would be.

-Kopal

[Kopal Garg]

Hello Andreas,

Thank you for your valuable comments. I agree with you and as per me Instance scan and troubleshooter is something clients can manage on their own and should be treated as a leading practice. I am totally in favor of using an Instance health scan, especially as an annual practice or before each major implementation.

Regards,

Kopal

[Kopal Garg]

Thanks, Mark. You always come up with some amazing new points. I have made certain tweaks to the article as per the analysis shared by you, Maik, and Allen.

[Mark Roethof]

"why do you think, that the Instance Health Scan is not free"

Because I had customers who do needed to pay for this if they wanted the HealthScan performed multiple times and if they wanted the detailed findings.

Kind regards,
Mark

[Sascha Wildgru1]

The CodeSanity app contains a set of Instance Scan checks aimed at improving source code and application quality. Developers should run them before shipping a new application version.

This being said, it's not just about different "tools" but also about different intentions.

Do I look a the instance as a whole - mainly at the production instance? Or do I explicitly want to boost delivery quality of the app development process - and thus run checks on the dev environment?

Vote to make it part of the platform OOTB!

https://community.servicenow.com/community?id=view_idea&sysparm_idea_id=23716958db25d514904fa9fb1396...

Or install it right away:

https://www.wildgrube.com/servicenow-codesanity

[katn]

Suggest update section titled "What do I think about this?" to ensure the action figures and table columns match. The current display is confusing due to the Instance Health Scan & Instance Troubleshooter visuals and column titles do not match.

[Volkmar]

Best overview and side-by-side comparison of the different scan tools.  Similar to @katn, I suggest matching the action figures to the column titles.  Furthermore, I would reorder the columns as follows: 1. Instance Scan, 2. Instance Troubleshooter (since it is built on top of Instance Scan), and then 3. Instance Health Scan (since it is the icing on the cake and NOT always free).

Lastly, speaking of cakes, please correct the spelling - Cheery on top to read "Cherry on top".

Respectfully,

Volkmar

[stingfeld]

I asked ChatGPT to explain the difference between these two tools as Jerry Seinfeld. Honestly, AI Jerry Seinfeld can help you learn anything. Here is what it came up with...

You know what's the deal with ServiceNow's Health Monitor and Instance Monitor? They're like two buddies hanging out at the IT party. The Health Monitor is the cool dude who keeps an eye on the entire ServiceNow instance, making sure it's healthy and functioning. Meanwhile, the Instance Monitor is like the wingman, focusing on each individual instance in a multi-instance setup, checking if they're all in tip-top shape. So, Health Monitor is like the main act, while Instance Monitor is the sidekick who keeps things running smoothly. It's like Batman and Robin, but for your ServiceNow instances.

[Troy Pesola]

We have several tools aimed at helping our customers improve their platform health.   The tools mentioned above are each performing analysis, but let's not forget that with Impact we also provide Instance Observer (IO).

Not to be confused with these other tools, IO is like the dashboard on your car keeping you up to date as you go; across all instances in real time.   That proactive monitoring capability can then let you know WHEN additional analysis is needed.

https://docs.servicenow.com/en-US/bundle/vancouver-impact/page/product/impact/concept/io-overview.ht...