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File-based Discovery references › File-based Discovery › Running discoveries in your network › Using Discovery › Discovery › ITOM Visibility › IT Operations Management
Release: Australia · Updated: 2026-03-25 · Official documentation · View source

File-based Discovery issue resolution

If you have any issues while setting up or running File-based Discovery, follow the actions listed here to help resolve them.

IssueCause/Action
Error message: File Discovery data not yet synced...- Allow Content Data Service \(CDS\) time to synchronize the samp\_file\_\* tables. Initial synchronization can take approximately 24 hours. - Review the Data Services: Download Schedules \(cds\_client\_schedule\) table to check if the timestamp has been updated for “samp\_file\_\*” tables.
File-based Discovery is not triggered during discovery.- Feature has not been enabled. Check the Discovery Definition Configuration Console and verify that File-based Discovery is enabled. - Interval between scans is too long. Check the interval setting on the Discovery Definition Configuration Console.
File-based Discovery is not triggered during discovery.

Check the Internal properties managed by the Discovery [discovery_private_properties] table for the following items. To view this table, enter discovery_private_properties.list in the navigation filter and press Enter.- File_discovery.file_extensions_windows should contain a list of Windows file extensions to be scanned. - File_discovery.unix_filename_timestamp should be something other than 1970 timestamp. - File_discovery_windows_filename.timestamp should be something other than 1970 timestamp.

If either timestamp shows 1970, CDS content hasn't downloaded yet. To trigger an immediate download, navigate to the Data Services: Download Schedules (cds_client_schedule) table and search for records where the Table field is samp_file_name, samp_file_map, or samp_file_set. Open each record and select Execute Now. To verify the download, navigate to System Logs > Outbound HTTP Requests and confirm the Response status is 200 for requests where the URL hostname is sncdataservices.service-now.com.

Errors in MID Server log from FileDiscoveryFilter or MID Server issue created.
  • Check if the File-based discovery inclusion list exists. The inclusion list is in the MID Server installation folder in /agent/work. If it does not exist, the synchronization did not succeed.
  • Review the MID Server record on the instance to see if a MID Server issue was created.
  • MID Server uses the GetMIDInfo scripted soap service to synchronize the inclusion list. See if errors are generated from this script.
  • Select the File discovery filter refresh Related Link in the MID Server record to synchronize the file names to this MID Server.
PowerShell errors- Include the script in your anti-virus software. - Add ServiceNow publisher to your trusted publisher repository.

Related topics

File-based Discovery references