Data Grid Widget Fails to Render in ServiceNow Employee Center (ESC) Using ITSM Plugin 9.0.1 and ServiceNow platform Zurich

Products

• VCF Automation

Issue/Introduction

• After upgrading the VMware Aria Automation ITSM Plugin for ServiceNow to version 9.0.1, and ServiceNow platform Zurich Data Grid variable widgets (Multi-Row Variable Sets) fail to display on request forms.

• The space where the Data Grid should appear is blank/empty.

• The issue specifically occurs within the ServiceNow Employee Service Center (ESC) portal.

• The browser's Developer Console (F12) shows no visible JavaScript errors or exceptions (silent failure).

• The ServiceNow backend system logs confirm that the payload is processing correctly and the Multi-Row Variable Set (mrvs) is successfully generated.

• The form works as expected natively within the Aria Automation Service Broker.

Environment

• VMware Aria Automation 8.18.x
• VMware Aria Automation ITSM Plugin for ServiceNow 9.0.1
• ServiceNow Platform (Zurich release)
• ServiceNow Employee Service Center (ESC) Portal

Cause

This issue is caused by a sequencing miscalculation during the plugin's catalog synchronization process.

When the ImportCatalog scheduled job runs, it assigns an Order value to the Data Grid Variable Set that is lower than the order value of the final page's "Container End" element. Because the variable set's sequence number places it out of sync with the strict container boundaries expected by the ESC portal framework, ServiceNow silently skips rendering the widget.

Resolution

VMware Engineering is aware of this issue. A permanent fix to correct the ImportCatalog sequencing logic will be included in a future release of the Aria Automation ITSM Plugin.

Workaround:
To make the Data Grid visible, you must manually adjust the rendering sequence of the variable set and reduce the frequency of the catalog sync to prevent the system from overwriting the manual fix.

Step 1: Manually Update the Variable Set Order

1. In ServiceNow, navigate to the affected Catalog Item.

2. Scroll to the Variables related list and look at the Order column.

3. Identify the highest Order value among all variables and container elements (e.g., if the last variable has an order of 245).

4. Navigate to the Variable Sets related list and open the Data Grid variable set (e.g., disks_mrvs).

5. Update the Order field of the Variable Set to a number strictly higher than the highest variable identified in step 3 (e.g., change it to 250).

6. Save the record. Reload the ESC request form to verify the Data Grid now renders correctly.

Step 2: Modify the ImportCatalog Scheduled Job
Because the ImportCatalog scheduled job will overwrite the manual sequence correction the next time it runs, you must temporarily reduce its execution frequency.

1. In ServiceNow, navigate to System Definition > Scheduled Jobs.

2. Locate and open the ImportCatalog job associated with the Aria Automation ITSM Plugin.

3. Temporarily change the run frequency (e.g., from Daily/Hourly to Weekly) to minimize how often the manual workaround is overwritten.

4. Note: If a sync is required before the weekly schedule, a ServiceNow administrator will need to manually re-apply Step 1 after the sync completes.

Additional Information

This issue has been identified to be a bug related to the 9.0.1 version of the plugin, and the fix for this should be included in the 9.0.2 release.