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Integration Plugin - ServiceNow

The ServiceNow plugin was designed to support the Service Management events: Request, Change, Asset and Incident. On deployment, the Cloud Broker invokes the ServiceNow plugin to register configuration information of newly created assets in the CMDB.

Similarly, when deployments are terminated, the ServiceNow Plugin is invoked to de-register the terminated assets from the CMDB.

Prerequisites

The plugin has been tested with the following versions of ServiceNow:

  • Jakarta
  • Kingston
  • London
  • Madrid

The following information is required for configuration of this plugin.

Requirement Description
ServiceNow URL The URL of the ServiceNOW API Service
eg. https://instance.service-now.com:port
Username ServiceNow service account username
Password ServiceNow service account password

User Permissions

The following tables lists the minimum permissions required for the service account, however where possible, the admin role is recommended.

Type Name Operations
Access Control List System Property [sys_properties] Read
Access Control List Table [sys_db_object] Read
Access Control List Dictionary Entry [sys_dictionary] Read
Access Control List Dictionary Entry [sys_dictionary.*] Read
Role itil Assigned

Configuration Steps

  1. Log in to the Broker UI as an administrative user
  2. Navigate to Admin > Plugins

  3. Locate the ServiceNow plugin tile - this appears under the Integrations section
  4. If not already enabled, click the ellipses and select Enable
        
  5. Select the ServiceNow tile to access its settings
  6. Enter the required information under the ServiceNow API section
    Optionally modify any parameters under the Advanced section
    Click Save Settings
  7. A prompt will be displayed once the settings have successfully been saved
  8. Select the drop down list under the plugin icon
    Select Refresh Schema
  9. A request is queued for the plugin to interrogate the ServiceNow instance database
  10. It may take a few minutes to complete the task, depending on the configured scope of the database tables
    The status of the request can be monitored in the notifications pane

Applying a ServiceNow Policy

ServiceNow actions are invoked by applying the ServiceNow policy to an environment. This ensures that all deployments in policy enabled Environments receive ServiceNow updates, but also allows exclusions in Environments where ServiceNow updates aren't required.

Additionally, variables can be passed to the ServiceNow plugin so that value unique to each Environment are part of the database update. Please refer to the ServiceNow Mappings article for further information.

To apply a ServiceNow policy to an Environment, complete the following.

  1. Log in to the Broker UI as an administrative user
  2. Navigate to Manage > Environments
  3. Select the Environment > Policies tab
    Click Add 
  4. Select ServiceNow
    Click Next
  5. Select the resource types (Archetypes) to enable ServiceNow updates for
    Enter any variables configured within the ServiceNow mappings
    Click OK
  6. The ServiceNow policy will now be visible in the listed policies

Using Mappings

Mappings allow deployment variables to be mapped to ServiceNow database fields which are populated during deployment into an Environment with the ServiceNow plugin enabled.

Deployment variables include values such as deployment name, owner, lease end date, or virtual machine flavour, hardware details, and IP address details.

Additionally, variables can be passed to the ServiceNow plugin so that value unique to each Environment are part of the database update.

To map a ServiceNow database field, perform the following.

  1. Log in to the Broker UI as an administrative user
  2. Navigate to Admin > Plugins
  3. Select the ServiceNow plugin tile
  4. Select the Mappings tab
  5. Default mappings are displayed under the Business Service Mappings and Configuration Information Mappings sections

Default Mappings

Business Service Mappings

Configuration Information Mappings

Compute Resources

Load Balancer Resources

Database Resources

Edit Mappings

To edit an existing ServiceNow database field mapping, perform the following.

  1. Click the  Edit button next to the field to edit
  2. The Simple editor allows for a one-to-one field mapping
    Drag an object from the Available items into the mapping box
    Click OK
  3. The Complex view allows for a many-to-one mapping
    Drag one or more objects from the Available items into the mapping box
    Optionally insert additional strings and required into the mapping box
    Click OK

Create Mappings

To add additional ServiceNow database field mappings, perform the following.

  1. Click the  Plus button located at the bottom of existing mappings
  2. Locate the ServiceNow database field to be mapped
    Click OK
  3. Select and drag the variable(s) to map to the selected field
    Click OK
  4. The new mapping appears in the mappings list
  5. Click Save

Using Variables

Variables allow additional ServiceNow fields to be mapped to values which are by default not exported during a deployment.

Create Variables

To create a ServiceNow variable, perform the following.

  1. Log in to the Broker UI as an administrative user
  2. Navigate to Admin > Plugins

  3. Select the ServiceNow plugin tile
  4. Select the Mappings tab
  5. Expand the Variables section
    Existing variables will be listed here
  6. Click the  Plus button located at the bottom of existing variables
  7. Enter the following details for the new variable
    • Name: Variable name
    • Label: Variable label
    • Default Value: Variable value if not overridden within the Environment policy (can be blank)
  8. Click Save

Map Variables

To map a variable to a ServiceNow database field, perform the following.

  1. Click the  Plus button located at the bottom of existing mappings
  2. Locate the ServiceNow database field to be mapped
    Click OK

  3. Select and drag the variable(s) to map to the selected field
    Click OK

  4. The new mapping appears in the mappings list
  5. Click Save

Assign Values to Variables

To assign a value to a variable, perform the following.

  1. Log in to the Broker UI as an administrative user
  2. Navigate to Manage > Environments
  3. Select the Environment > Policies tab
  4. Click the  Edit button next to the ServiceNow policy
    If a ServiceNow policy is not yet assigned, add the ServiceNow policy
  5. Enter variable values to override default values as required
  6. Click OK