Runbooks

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Introduction

The use of runbooks is available to Premier plan customers.

Runbooks document processes in an automated workflow. In Service Desk these runbooks help to structure the naturally unstructured process of incident resolution by documenting best practices established by experts or experienced agents. Runbooks are centrally stored.

The ability to create runbooks is role-based. Users with administrator access to Setup > Service Desk can create runbooks.

Agents can attach runbooks to incident tickets to show the troubleshooting and resolution process. The information in the runbook can be used by other agents for future similar issues.

Navigation

ITSM customers	ESM customers
Setup > Service Desk > Runbooks	Service Provider > Service Desk > Runbooks

Runbooks index table

The Runbooks index page contains a list of all your organization's runbooks. You can see that each runbook is assigned a number. Numbers are assigned consecutively as new runbooks are created. To filter the click, click Edit View. For more information, see List view and Filtering options.

Columns

Columns available on the Runbook table are:

• Number. The number assigned to the runbook when it was created.
• Title. The name provided for the runbook when it was created.
• Scope. The object the runbook is scoped to.
• Updated at. The date the last edit was made to the runbook.
• Last used. The last time the runbook was attached and run.
• Updated by. The name of the individual who last edited the runbook.
• Description. A description of the runbook added by the creator.
• Active toggle. The toggle that makes the runbook available (or unavailable) for use in an incident.
• Ellipsis options. Hovering over the far right end of the record displays an ellipsis that offers editing options. When the ellipsis is clicked, the user can delete or clone the runbook.

Filtering options

The Runbooks table can be filtered on the following fields:

• Name (text-based field)
• Scope (dropdown list of all objects that use runbooks)
• Creator (user list)
• Updated (today, last day, 7, 14, 21, 30 days, select date range)
• Last run (today, last day, 7, 14, 21, 30 days, select date range)
• Active (Yes or No field)

Runbook features and limitations

• Each incident can have only one runbook.
• Runbooks cannot start on their own. They can only be started and stopped with user interaction.
• When a runbook process is stopped, the process returns to its beginning.
• A runbook midstream in its process cannot be replaced unless it is stopped first.
• Runbooks can be assigned or attached via APIs.
• All runbook-related actions are documented in the audit log.

Runbook creation

Runbooks can be created using two different methods: create from scratch or use GenAI to generate.

Create a runbook from scratch

1. From the Runbook index table, click in the upper right corner.

2. Provide a title and description (required).

3. On the Inputs bar, click and then proceed through the screen prompts to add a field.

4. If you need to, apply form logic. See Form logic.

5. Under the Process bar, click to add a process. For more information on adding a process, see Configure service catalog: process.

Change a process workflow step type to another one for an AI generated runbook

The workflow step types in a workflow for a runbook, service request item, or change catalog item can be changed to another step type without you having to completely delete an existing process type and create a new one. See Process workflows.

Edit an existing runbook

1. From the Runbook index table, click the link to the runbook you want to edit.

2. In the Edit Runbook dialog, make changes as needed.

   You can edit process steps by clicking to the right of the process name and then clicking the pencil icon to edit or clicking the Replace Step icon to change the step to a different action type. You can also copy to clipboard or delete.

3. When finished, click Update.

Use custom fields in runbooks

You can add custom fields to a runbook when creating or editing one. You can also make custom fields mandatory and use them as conditions in a runbook. For example, you could have a database server that is not responding, but each of your database servers is unique in the way it needs to be troubleshot. By creating custom fields for server name and IP address, then requiring the agent to provide that information from dropdown lists when the runbook is attached, you can set a condition for that server name and IP address that triggers an action that provides the agent with steps specific to that server. And the agent who performs the runbook steps can feel confident that the proper steps are being followed.

See Custom fields.

When a runbook is removed, any custom fields and any data entered into those custom fields are also removed. See Audit log.

Delete a runbook

There are multiple ways to delete a runbook. Before you can delete a runbook, you must first stop any inflight process.

• From the Runbooks index page, scroll to the far right of the runbook and hover over the pop-up ellipsis. Click the ellipsis, and then select Delete.

• From the Runbooks index page, click the runbook, then in the Edit Runbook dialog, if a trash can appears under the Process tab, the runbook was created from a file. Click the trash can to delete the file used to generate the runbook and the runbook itself.

Delete a runbook generated by GenAI

If you delete the attachment file used by AI to generate a runbook in Service Desk, both the attachment and the AI-generated runbook are deleted.

Attach a runbook to an incident

To attach an existing runbook to an incident ticket:

1. Open the incident ticket.

2. Click the Process tab.

3. Click .

4. Use the search feature to locate the appropriate runbook and then select it.

   If appropriate, you can select the checkbox on the right to start the runbook after it is added.

5. Click Add Runbook in the lower right corner.

Manually run a runbook on an incident

From an open incident ticket, select the Process tab, and then click Start Process to the right of the runbook.

At any time, you can click Stop the Process to return to the beginning of the process.

Audit log

Custom fields added to or removed from a runbook, and any data entered into the custom field, are added to the audit log.

Related topics

• Incidents
• Runbooks demo video