Troubleshooting: Execution Failure with ServiceNow Zurich Target Instance

Overview

On ServiceNow Zurich and later instances, Precision Bridge may silently create a web service with an empty script body. No error is shown at creation time — the failure only surfaces when an execution is run. This article explains the cause and the steps to resolve it.

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Symptoms

• An execution is run in Precision Bridge against a ServiceNow Zurich instance.
• A web service named u_pb_getServerMetaData_<version> is created in ServiceNow, but its Script field is empty.
• No error is raised at the point the web service is created.

• When the execution runs, it fails with an error beginning with:
   

  Cannot invoke "java.util.Map.get(Object)" because "this.I" is null

Note: Because the web service record is created successfully, ServiceNow does not surface any error at setup time. The empty script is only detectable by opening the web service record and inspecting the Script field, or by observing the execution failure.

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Root Cause

The ServiceNow Zurich release introduced the Scripting Governance Tool, which adds a mandatory permission layer on top of the standard admin role.

Prior to Zurich, any user with the admin role could freely create and modify scripts. From Zurich onwards, writing to script fields requires membership of the Conditional Script Writers group, which grants the snc_required_script_writer_permission role.

When Precision Bridge attempts to create the web service and populate its script body, the ServiceNow user account it connects with silently lacks this permission. ServiceNow creates the web service record but discards the script content without raising an error — resulting in an empty script field.

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Verification

To confirm this is the cause, check the web service record in ServiceNow:

1. Navigate to All > Scripted Web Services (or search for Scripted REST Services).
2. Locate the record named u_pb_getServerMetaData_<version>.
3. Open the record and inspect the Script field. If it is blank, the missing scripting permission is confirmed as the cause.

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Resolution

Important: All three steps below must be completed in order. If the empty web service record is not deleted first, Precision Bridge will reuse it and the failure will recur.

Step 1 — Delete the empty web service

1. In ServiceNow, navigate to the u_pb_getServerMetaData_<version> web service record identified during verification.
2. Delete the record. Precision Bridge will recreate it correctly once the permission is in place.

Step 2 — Grant the scripting permission

1. Elevate your ServiceNow session to Security Admin (click your user avatar in the top-right > Elevate role).
2. Navigate to All > System Security > Scripting Governance Tool.
3. Use the tool to add the Precision Bridge service account to the Conditional Script Writers group.
   
   Alternative: Navigate to User Administration > Groups, open the Conditional Script Writers group, go to the Members tab, and add the service account user directly. If the Precision Bridge service account belongs to an admin group, you can also add the snc_required_script_writer_permission role to that group via its Roles tab, so all members inherit the permission automatically.

Step 3 — Restart Precision Bridge and retry

1. Fully restart the Precision Bridge tool to clear any cached state from the failed execution.
2. Re-run the execution. Precision Bridge will recreate u_pb_getServerMetaData_<version> with the correct script content, and the execution should complete successfully.

Expected outcome: The web service record is recreated with a populated Script field, and the execution error no longer occurs.

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Affected Versions

This issue affects all ServiceNow Zurich and later instances where the Precision Bridge service account has not been granted the snc_required_script_writer_permission role. It does not affect instances running Yokohama or earlier.

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Related ServiceNow Documentation

• KB2458058 — Scripting Governance Tool (product documentation)
• KB2581331 — Scripting Governance tool and Conditional Script Writer group overview
• KB2599480 — Conditional Script Writer group and snc_required_script_writer_permission role clarification