Incident Data Load

This article has an example method to import Incidents without History or relationship information from another ITSM application. There are many different ways to import data in ServiceNow and this is one example method. For your imports you will need to adjust accordingly.

Note: It should be discouraged to import old Incidents, especially a large number of Incidents that can add a performance burden on a new system. However it sometimes is necessary to import a selected number of incidents.

Wiki Articles for reference:

http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?title=Import_Sets
http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?title=Creating_New_Transform_Maps
http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?title=Transform_Map_Scripts

Example Incident Import

1. Turn off Email

   Turn off email on system if activated.

2. Create Excel File

   Create an excel file with columns such as:

   • Assigned To
   • Assignment Group
   • Caller ID
   • Category
   • Close Time (Format: yyyy-mm-dd)
   • Closed By
   • Close Code
   • Close Notes
   • Configuration Item
   • Contact Type
   • Description
   • Impact
   • Location
   • Opened At (Format: yyyy-mm-dd)
   • Opened By
   • Short Description
   • Status
   • Subcategory
   • Urgency
3. Load Data

   Load Data into Import Set Table:

   • Label: Incident Data Upload

   After Import Set Table is created, Click Create Transform Map link.

4. Transform Map

   Setup Transform Map:

   • Name: Incident Data Upload
   • Source Table: Incident Data Upload
   • Target Table: Incident
   • Run Business Rules: true
   • Enforce Mandatory fields: No
   • Copy empty fields: false

   Transform Map (Field Map)

   Source field | Target field | Coalesce | Choice Action | Date Format
   u_assigned_to | assigned_to | FALSE | ignore
   u_assignment_group | assignment_group | FALSE | ignore
   u_caller_id | caller_id | FALSE | ignore
   u_category | category | FALSE | ignore
   u_close_time | closed_at | FALSE | ignore | yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss
   u_closed_by | closed_by | FALSE | ignore
   u_close_code | close_code | FALSE | ignore
   u_close_notes | close_notes | FALSE | ignore
   u_configuration_item | cmdb_ci | FALSE | ignore
   u_contact_type | contact_type | FALSE | ignore
   u_description | description | FALSE | ignore
   u_impact | impact | FALSE | ignore
   u_location | location | FALSE | ignore
   u_opened_at | opened_at | FALSE | ignore | yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss
   u_opened_by | opened_by | FALSE | ignore
   u_short_description | short_description | FALSE | ignore
   u_status | state | FALSE | ignore
   u_subcategory | subcategory | FALSE | ignore
   u_urgency | urgency | FALSE | ignore

5. Transform Script

   Reference fields are stored as sys ids in a ServiceNow table, so we need transform scripts to convert the data we imported for reference fields to sys ids. Below are some example conversions for reference fields:

   • When: onBefore
   • Order: 100
   • Script:

   //Set Opened At Time
   var dtOpenedAt = source.u_opened_at.getGlideObject();
   dtOpenedAt.addSeconds(-7200);
   target.opened_at = dtObj;
   //Find Assigned To
   var grAssignedTo = new GlideRecord('sys_user');
   grAssignedTo.addQuery('name','STARTSWITH',source.u_assigned_to);
   grAssignedTo.query();
   if (grAssignedTo.next()) {
    target.assigned_to = grAssignedTo.sys_id;
   }
   //Find Caller
   var grCaller = new GlideRecord('sys_user');
   grCaller.addQuery('name','STARTSWITH', source.u_caller_id);
   grCaller.query();
   if (grCaller.next()) {
    target.caller_id = grUser.sys_id;
   }
   //Find Closed By
   var grClosedBy = new GlideRecord('sys_user');
   grClosedBy.addQuery('name','STARTSWITH',source.u_closed_by);
   grClosedBy.query();
   if (grClosedBy.next()) {
    target.closed_by = grClosedBy.sys_id;
   }
   //Find Opened By
   var grOpenedBy = new GlideRecord('sys_user');
   grOpenedBy.addQuery('name','STARTSWITH',source.u_opened_by);
   grOpenedBy.query();
   if (grOpenedBy.next()) {
    target.opened_by = grOpenedBy.sys_id;
   }

6. Transform!

   After your Import Set, Transform Map, and Transform Script are ready. Transform the Import Set you created.

7. Purge Emails and Turn on Email

   Purge any emails in the Email Log that you don't want sent and Turn on Email