In ServiceNow, User Impersonation allows an admin or a user with the appropriate role to temporarily act as another user without needing their password. This is mainly used for testing and visibility, helping administrators and developers verify user permissions, role-based access, and UI experiences.
Primary Functions of User Impersonation:
Testing Permissions & Roles
Ensures that users have the correct access rights (e.g., verifying ITIL user permissions for incident management).
Helps test UI Policies, Business Rules, and ACLs (Access Control Rules) by viewing the system from the perspective of different roles.
Debugging & Troubleshooting
Identifies why a user cannot access certain records or modules.
Helps in resolving permission-related issues without affecting live users.
Experience Validation
Ensures users see the correct menus, fields, and options based on their assigned roles.
Useful when developing new applications, workflows, or Service Catalog items.
How to Use Impersonation:
Admins and authorized users can impersonate by clicking on their name in the top-right corner and selecting Impersonate User.
Once impersonated, all actions are logged for security and compliance.
Explanation of Each Option:
(A) Testing and visibility - Correct ✅
The primary function of user impersonation is to test and verify what different users can see and do in the system.
It helps with debugging UI, role-based access, ACLs, and workflow execution.
(B) Activate verbose logging - Incorrect ❌
Verbose logging is used for detailed debugging and performance monitoring, but impersonation does not enable logging features.
(C) View custom perspectives - Incorrect ❌
ServiceNow does not use the term "custom perspectives" in the context of impersonation.
Impersonation shows what a specific user sees based on their roles, but it does not create custom perspectives.
(D) Unlock Application master list - Incorrect ❌
There is no such feature as an "Application Master List" that requires impersonation to unlock.
Application access is controlled by roles and permissions, not impersonation.
Additional Notes & Best Practices:
Never impersonate a user without permission, especially in production environments.
All impersonation actions are logged in the system for security and auditing purposes.
Use impersonation in a sub-production (development or test) instance before making changes to production.
Admins should use impersonation instead of logging in with test user accounts to maintain security and accountability.
Reference from Certified System Administrator (CSA) Documentation:
ServiceNow Docs: Impersonating Users
https://docs.servicenow.com
ServiceNow Community: Best Practices for User Impersonation
https://community.servicenow.com