How can failed Discovery jobs be effectively troubleshooted in ServiceNow?

The most effective way to troubleshoot failed Discovery jobs in ServiceNow is to examine the Discovery logs for errors and adjust probe configurations accordingly. The Discovery logs provide detailed information about what occurred during the Discovery process, highlighting specific errors or issues encountered. This information is crucial for diagnosing problems, as it can pinpoint misconfigurations, network issues, or probe failures.

Once the logs have been reviewed, adjustments can be made to probe configurations to correct the identified issues, whether that involves changing parameters used in the probes or addressing any connectivity problems that might be preventing Discovery from successfully identifying and updating Configuration Items (CIs). This targeted approach enables a more streamlined and efficient resolution to the failed jobs, as opposed to more general or drastic measures.

In contrast, restarting the Discovery server is a broad action that may not address the root cause of the job failures. Manually updating CI records does not resolve the underlying issues that caused the failures in the first place and can lead to inconsistencies. Rebooting network devices might rectify specific network-related issues, but it is not a comprehensive solution for troubleshooting Discovery failures, which often require a more precise analysis of logs and probe settings.