servicenow-pdi-projects

Hands-on lab work from my ServiceNow Personal Developer Instance (PDI) while studying for the Certified System Administrator (CSA) exam.

Every Sunday from 3:30-5:00 PM CT I run a scripted lab on my PDI, screenshot the result, and log what I built here. Twelve weeks of labs mapped to the January 2026 CSA blueprint (6 domains).

About this repo

• Instance type: ServiceNow Personal Developer Instance (Yokohama/Zurich release)
• Study window: 12 weeks toward Certified System Administrator
• Cadence: 1 lab per week, every Sunday
• Every lab includes a screenshot, a plain-English write-up of what I built, and the CSA domain it maps to

CSA domain mapping

Domain	Weight	Weeks covered
Platform Overview and Navigation	7%	Weeks 1-2
Configuration Management Database (CMDB)	17%	Weeks 3-4
Data Schema	10%	Weeks 5-6
Applications and Access	20%	Weeks 7-8
Self-Service and Automation	22%	Weeks 9-10
Reporting and Analytics	24%	Weeks 11-12

Lab log

Week 1: First Incident + Platform Navigation

Domain: Platform Overview and Navigation Objective: Create the first incident record from scratch, understand the anatomy of a ServiceNow record, and navigate the Application Navigator. What I built:

• 1 incident record with Caller, Category, Subcategory, Short description, Impact, Urgency, Assignment group
• Explored the dictionary lookup on a field label
• Reviewed the record history and journal entries What I learned: (fill in after lab) Screenshot: screenshots/week-1-first-incident.png

Week 2: Users, Groups, and Roles

Domain: Platform Overview and Navigation + Applications and Access Objective: Create a new user, assign the user to a group, and grant a role. Impersonate the user to see what changes. What I built: (fill in during lab) What I learned: (fill in after lab) Screenshot: screenshots/week-2-users-groups-roles.png

Week 3: CMDB Basics — CIs and CI Classes

Domain: Configuration Management Database (CMDB) Objective: Create a Configuration Item (CI) for a laptop, understand the CI class hierarchy, and view the CI in the dependency map. What I built: (fill in during lab) What I learned: (fill in after lab) Screenshot: screenshots/week-3-cmdb-ci.png

Week 4: CMDB Relationships

Domain: Configuration Management Database (CMDB) Objective: Create relationships between CIs (laptop is used by user, laptop runs software). View the map. What I built: (fill in during lab) What I learned: (fill in after lab) Screenshot: screenshots/week-4-cmdb-relationships.png

Week 5: Tables, Fields, and Dictionary

Domain: Data Schema Objective: Create a custom table, add custom fields with different types (string, choice, reference, date), and view the dictionary entries. What I built: (fill in during lab) What I learned: (fill in after lab) Screenshot: screenshots/week-5-custom-table.png

Week 6: Extending an Existing Table

Domain: Data Schema Objective: Extend the Incident table with a custom field, and see how table extension inherits fields from the parent. What I built: (fill in during lab) What I learned: (fill in after lab) Screenshot: screenshots/week-6-table-extension.png

Week 7: Access Control Lists (ACLs)

Domain: Applications and Access Objective: Create a read ACL on the Incident table restricting access to a specific group. Test with impersonation. What I built: (fill in during lab) What I learned: (fill in after lab) Screenshot: screenshots/week-7-acl.png

Week 8: UI Policies and Data Policies

Domain: Applications and Access Objective: Create a UI Policy that makes a field mandatory when Category = Software. Create a Data Policy that enforces the same rule regardless of interface. What I built: (fill in during lab) What I learned: (fill in after lab) Screenshot: screenshots/week-8-ui-vs-data-policy.png

Week 9: Service Catalog + Record Producers

Domain: Self-Service and Automation Objective: Build a simple catalog item ("Request New Laptop") with variables, and a record producer that creates an incident from a form. What I built: (fill in during lab) What I learned: (fill in after lab) Screenshot: screenshots/week-9-catalog-item.png

Week 10: Workflow / Flow Designer

Domain: Self-Service and Automation Objective: Build a flow that triggers on catalog item submission, sends an approval to the manager, then creates a task once approved. What I built: (fill in during lab) What I learned: (fill in after lab) Screenshot: screenshots/week-10-flow-designer.png

Week 11: Reports and Dashboards

Domain: Reporting and Analytics Objective: Build a bar chart report of Incidents by Category, then add it to a dashboard. What I built: (fill in during lab) What I learned: (fill in after lab) Screenshot: screenshots/week-11-reports.png

Week 12: Performance Analytics + Homepages

Domain: Reporting and Analytics Objective: Build a Performance Analytics indicator for average incident resolution time, and create a homepage that displays the KPI. What I built: (fill in during lab) What I learned: (fill in after lab) Screenshot: screenshots/week-12-performance-analytics.png

PDI anti-hibernation rule

ServiceNow hibernates Personal Developer Instances after 10 days of inactivity. Every Sunday 3:30-5:00 PM CT lab session keeps mine active. If two Sundays are missed, log in Monday morning to reset the counter.

Instance info (kept private)

• Instance URL: not published (identifies the specific PDI, kept in personal password manager)
• Release version: (fill in after signup)
• Signup date: (fill in after signup)

Study path

This repo pairs with:

• ServiceNow CSA Notes (private Notion) — one-sentence-per-concept vocabulary log
• Now Learning CSA course — official ServiceNow curriculum

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About me: I'm pivoting into IT support and ServiceNow administration from a staffing coordination background. Follow the journey on my profile.