ServiceNow CMDB

Intro

ServiceNow CMDB (Configuration Management Database) is a central repository that stores information about all the configuration items (CIs) in an organization's IT infrastructure. Configuration items include users, locations, applications, hardware and software components, contracts, and more.

The Forward Enterprise ServiceNow CMDB Integration allows Forward Networks users to enhance their ServiceNow CMDB by incorporating data collected by Forward Enterprise from network devices or imported from Endpoints.

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Check the prerequisites document before configuring the integration in the Forward Enterprise platform.

The data exported into the ServiceNow CMDB is extracted from NQE using an NQE query, mapped to Configuration Item (CI) attributes of the same type, and then pushed to the ServiceNow CMDB via the ServiceNow Identification and Reconciliation (IRE) REST APIs.

The wizard-based workflow in Forward Enterprise enables customers to:

• Add and test a connection to a ServiceNow instance
• Choose a ServiceNow discovery source
• Pull the list of Configuration Items (CIs) configured in the ServiceNow CMDB instance and their attributes
• Select an NQE query to extract data from NQE
• Map the Forward data to the ServiceNow CMDB CI attributes
• Define the Networks configured in the Forward platform to synchronize.

After saving the integration, Forward Enterprise will synchronize the data with the ServiceNow CMDB and provide a report after each successful snapshot collection

Add a ServiceNow CMDB Integration

To add a ServiceNow CMDB Integration, navigate to the Settings --> System --> Integrations page and click Add in the ServiceNow CMDB section.

Add instance connection

Provide Connection name, ServiceNow instance URL, X509 certificate (optional) Username, Password, ClientID (optional), Client secret (optional), and Proxy configuration (optional).

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The optional X509 certificate will be trusted when connecting to the ServiceNow instance over SSL (https). It should be a Base64-encoded PEM certificate. This can be useful if the ServiceNow instance is hosted on premises using a self-signed certificate.

Click Test connection to ensure Forward Enterprise can reach the ServiceNow instance, can log in using the provided credentials, and can successfully run REST API calls.

Choose discovery source

ServiceNow CMDB CI records can be created and updated by different sources. Common sources are the ServiceNow Discovery, ServiceNow Graph Connectors, 3rd party external applications, and custom tools.

It is recommended creating a discovery source in ServiceNow to distinguish Forward Enterprise from the other data sources and assign the highest priority to this source. Refer to the prerequisites document to learn how to identify configured discovery sources in a ServiceNow instance or how to add a new one.

Select a Discovery source from the drop-down menu (e.g. Forward Enterprise).

Then, click Next.

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The list of discovery sources is pulled from the ServiceNow instance using the following REST API:

GET /api/now/table/sys_choice?element=discovery_source

Pull & Map Configuration Items

Select one or more CIs from the drop-down menu. Use filtering to quickly find the CIs of interest.

Then, click Pull Configuration Items (CIs). Forward Enterprise will pull the CI definitions from the ServiceNow instance.

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The list of CIs and their definition are pulled from the ServiceNow instance using these REST APIs:

GET /api/now/table/sys_db_object?sysparm_query=nameSTARTSWITHcmdb_ci&sysparm_fields=name
GET /api/now/cmdb/meta/<CI_name> 

Select a CI tab to start mapping the CI attributes, and select the NQE query to be used as data source from the drop-down menu. Utilize filtering to quickly locate the Configuration Items (CIs) of interest

For every CI attribute to be updated in ServiceNow CMDB:

• Utilize Name filtering to quickly locate the attribute of interest
• Map to an NQE field using the drop-down menu.

Forward Enterprise allows mapping only NQE query columns of the same type as the CI attributes, reducing the likelihood of errors when pushing updates to the ServiceNow CMDB.

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Refer to the prerequisites document to learn how to add new attributes to a CI, then, click Refresh to pull the updated CI definition.

Repeat the same process for every CI to be updated, then, click Next.

Define synchronization

Select one or more Networks as data sources.

Then, click Done to save the integration.

Push to ServiceNow

After saving the integration, Forward Enterprise will synchronize the data with the ServiceNow CMDB

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The updates are pushed to the ServiceNow instance using the following REST API:

POST /api/now/identifyreconcile?sysparm_data_source=<discovery_source>

To manually push an update, click Push to ServiceNow, and confirm.

Synchronization Reports

Click View responses to access a synchronization summary report:

The reports show synchronization Time, source Networks, synchronization Status, Entities inserted, and Entities updated in ServiceNow CMDB.

The reports can be exported in xlsx format using the button on the upper right.

Edit/Enable/Disable connection

To edit the ServiceNow connection, click on Configuration on the right side of the connection.

Edit the connection details in any of the tabs, test again the connection, and Save it.

Use the Enabled toggle button near the ServiceNow CMDB logo to disable or enable the integration.

Troubleshooting

Any error occurred during the test connection will be shown below the Test connection button like in the example below:

The following errors will be detected and highlighted with a red warning icon on the right of the Configuration option:

• Mappings lost in ServiceNow
• NQE query used as a data source changed
• ServiceNow Instance is hibernating/unable to connect

Any change to the NQE query that would create a missing mapping to a CI attribute will be highlighted when trying to commit the change in the NQE library: