Synchronizing BMC Helix ITSM incidents with ServiceNow incidents via BMC Helix iPaaS, powered by Jitterbit

As an administrator, you can integrate BMC Helix ITSM with ServiceNow to synchronize incidents between the two applications. When an incident is created in ServiceNow ITSM, a corresponding incident is created in BMC Helix ITSM, and the converse is also true. You can also synchronize comments and data between the BMC Helix ITSM and ServiceNow ITSM incidents.

BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker, along with BMC Helix iPaaS, powered by Jitterbit provides an out-of-the-box integration template that you can use to integrate BMC Helix ITSM with ServiceNow. You configure the integration in BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker and deploy the integration template to your BMC Helix iPaaS environment.

This integration provides the following capabilities:

The following image gives an overview of the capabilities that this integration supports:

Before you begin

Make sure that you have the following items:

• A valid  BMC Helix iPaaS, powered by Jitterbit subscription.
• Administrator access to the ServiceNow account.

• Administrator permissions for BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker and BMC Helix ITSM users to run this integration.

• The Sync_BMC_Helix_ITSM_incident_and_ServiceNow_incident.json project file downloaded to your system from the BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker page on the Electronic Product Distribution site.

View the ServiceNow incident details in the BMC Helix ITSM incident

After you implement the integration by using BMC Helix iPaaS, powered by Jitterbit, you can view the ServiceNow incident details in the corresponding BMC Helix ITSM incident.

BMC Helix ITSM to ServiceNow data flow

ServiceNow to BMC Helix ITSM data flow

Task 1: To configure the integration

1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio.
2. On Workspace, click Multi-Cloud Broker.

3. To launch BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker, click Visit Deployed Application.
   

   Tip

   You can access BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker directly by entering the URL https://hostName:portNumber/helix/index.html#/com.bmc.dsm.mcsm/login and logging in as a tenant administrator.

4. Click Settings .
5. Select Start Here > Quick Configuration Guide.
   The Quick Configuration Guide page is displayed.
6. In the Step 1: Choose configuration tab, perform the following steps:
   1. From the Choose configuration list, select the Helix iPaaS (powered by Jitterbit).
   2.  Under Incident Brokering, select ITSM incident and ServiceNow incident.
      
   3. Click Next.
7. In the Step 2: Perform configurations tab, perform the following steps:
   1. Add an operating organization, if you have not already done so.
   2. Add ServiceNow as the vendor organization, if you have not already done so.
   3. To add vendor metadata for ServiceNow, click Map vendors, and perform the following steps:
      1. On the Map Vendors page, click Map Vendor.

      2. Complete the fields as described in the following table:

         Field	Action
         Description	Enter a description for the ServiceNow vendor metadata configuration.
         Ticketing Technology Provider	From the list, select ServiceNow.
         (Optional) Instance Name	If you are using multiple instances of ServiceNow, enter the instance name that you are using to identify it.
         Add Mapping	After you select the ticketing technology provider, click Add Mapping. BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker displays the default values in the Instance URL field and the Display Field Mapping section.
         Instance URL	If you have clicked Add Mapping, this field is auto-populated.  Update the URL and replace the ServiceNow server with the correct host name.
         Vendor Field Mapping	You must not update the default mappings.
         Display Field Mapping	By default, the basic ServiceNow fields are mapped in this section. If you want to map additional fields to display in the BMC Helix ITSM UI, add the relevant mappings by clicking .
         Enable Local ITSM Communication	By default, this toggle key is enabled.  If you want to use BMC Helix Integration Service as the underlying integration platform, disable this toggle key.
         Integration Platform	Select Jitterbit.

      3. Click Save.

   4. To fetch incidents from BMC Helix ITSM, click Define filter criteria to fetch records from ITSM to Helix Multi-Cloud Broker for incident, and perform the following steps:

      1. From the Select trigger event for incident list, select the operation for which you want to fetch the incidents.

      2. In Advanced filter, define a filter criteria for the operation you have selected, as described in the following table:

         Trigger event	Filter criteria
         Created	Select any value from the Advanced filter list.; for example, as shown in the following image:
         Updated	Enter Broker Vendor Name: ServiceNow. Important: If you have selected multiple integration features in step 6b, you can add multiple values in the filter criteria for the update event; for example, Broker Vendor Name: ServiceNow, JIRA.

      3. Click Save.
         When an incident matches the operation and filter that you have selected, the system fetches that incident to BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker.

   5. In the Configure ServiceNow integration section, refer the configuration steps listed and select the check boxes as you complete each step.

   6. Click Save.

Task 2: To import the integration template project file

1. Log in to BMC Helix iPaaS and navigate to the Cloud Studio.
2. Select your organization.
3. On the projects page, click Import.

4. Click Browse to navigate to and select the JSON file that you downloaded from the Electronic Product Distribution site.
   The Project Name and Organization fields are automatically populated. The default project name is displayed. You can change the project name.

5. From the Environment list, select the environment to which you want to import this integration template, and click Import.
   The project opens after the integration template is imported. 
6. To open the project file at a later time, select the environment where the integration templates are available, select the project name, and click View/Edit.

Task 3: To update the project variables for the integration template

1. Click the ellipsis ... next to the project name and select Project Variables.
   
2. Update the project variables as described in the following tables:

   • BMC Helix iPaaS variables
     

     Project variable	Action
     BHIP_API_NAME	The default value of this variable is set to BMCHelixITSMAndServiceNowIncident. If required, you can change the name.
     BHIP_API_User_Roles	Specify the organization roles that should have access to the new API. You can add multiple comma separated values. Important: If you do not specify any value, all the organization roles get access to the new API.
     BHIP_MCB_API_Profile_User_Name	The integration template creates an API in BMC Helix iPaaS to handle requests from BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker. Enter the user name that should be used while creating the BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker API profile.
     BHIP_MCB_API_Profile_User_Password	The integration template creates an API in BMC Helix iPaaS to handle requests from BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker. Enter the password that should be used while creating the BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker API profile.
     BHIP_Vendor_API_Profile_Type	The integration templates create APIs to accept requests from a vendor. By default, the value of this variable is APIKEY.
     BHIP_Vendor_API_Profile_User_Name	You need not provide any value for this variable.
     BHIP_Vendor_API_Profile_User_Password	You need not provide any value for this variable.
     BHIP_Vendor_API_Profile_ApiKey_Name	The default value is apiKey. If required, you can change the API Key name. Important: Provide a value for this variable, when you select the APIKEY option in BHIP_Vendor_API_Profile_Type.
     BHIP_Host	Enter the BMC Helix iPaaS instance URL where you want to run this project. Important: Make sure that you do not enter any leading and trailing spaces.
     BHIP_User_Name	Enter the user name for the BMC Helix iPaaS instance.
     BHIP_User_Password	Enter the password for the BMC Helix iPaaS instance.
     Enable_BMC_Helix_To_Vendor_Integration	By default, this variable is set to true. Important: This variable enables the creation of ServiceNow incidents from Helix ITSM incidents, and synchronization of data updates and comments. If you do not want to enable the creation of BMC Helix ITSM incident from a ServiceNow incident, you can set this value to false.
     Enable_Vendor_To_BMC_Helix_Integration	By default, this variable is set to true. Important: This variable enables the synchronization of BMC Helix ITSM incidents and ServiceNow ITSM incidents, including the synchronization of comments and data. If you do not want to enable the creation of BMC Helix ITSM incident from a ServiceNow ITSM incident, you can set this value to false.

   • ServiceNow variables

     Project variable	Action
     ServiceNow_Host_URL	Enter the ServiceNow instance URL in the following format: [http/https]://[host name]:[port] Important: Make sure that you do not enter any leading and trailing spaces.
     ServiceNow_User_Name	Enter the user name that enables you to interact with ServiceNow.
     ServiceNow_User_Password	Enter the password for the user name provided.
     ServiceNow_Client_Id	Enter the ServiceNow API client ID that is used for the integration template. Get the client ID from ServiceNow and enter it in this variable.
     ServiceNow_Client_Secret	Enter the ServiceNow API client secret. Get the client secret from ServiceNow and enter it in this variable.
     ServiceNow_Incident_Filter_Condition	Enter the filter condition based on which you want to broker ServiceNow incidents to BMC Helix ITSM. For example, enter short_descriptionSTARTSWITHSnowITSMIncident^priority=2^EQ.

   • BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker project variables

     Project variable	Action
     MCB_Host	Enter the BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker host URL in the following format:  [http/https]://[hostname]:[port] Important: Make sure that you do not enter any leading and trailing spaces.
     MCB_User_Name	Enter the user name that enables users to interact with BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker.
     MCB_User_Password	Enter the password for the provided user name.
     MCB_Vendor_Name	This variable is autopopulated. You must not change the value.

     The following variables are inputs from BMC Helix ITSM. Either enter values for these variables or map the appropriate ServiceNow fields if the data is available:

     Project variable	Action
     ITSM_Company_Name	Enter the company name for which the integration template needs to be run; for example, Calbro Services
     ITSM_Customer_First_name	Enter the first name of the BMC Helix ITSM customer.
     ITSM_Customer_Last_Name	Enter the last name of the BMC Helix ITSM customer.
     ITSM_Incident_Type	Enter any of the following incident types that you want to create in BMC Helix ITSM for a corresponding ServiceNow ITSM incident: User Service Restoration User Service Request Infrastructure Restoration Infrastructure Event Security Incident

Task 4: To deploy and enable the project

Deployment is a one-time activity that initializes the integration configurations. The UI displays a message for the deployment status.

The following image shows the steps to deploy the project and enable it by deploying the workflow:

(Optional) Task 5: To set the time for API debug mode

By default, the debug mode is set to 2 hours after you run the integration. Debug logs are updated for the time set for the debug mode. To increase the debug mode for a longer period of time, perform the following steps:

1. In BMC Helix iPaaS, powered by Jitterbit, select API Manager > My APIs.

2. Open the any of the following APIs:

   • BMC_Helix_ITSM_And_ServiceNow_Incident_Vendor_To_MCB—This API creates a BMC Helix ITSM incident from a ServiceNow ITSM incident.

   • BMC_Helix_ITSM_And_ServiceNow_Incident_MCB_To_Vendor—This API creates a ServiceNow ITSM incident from a BMC Helix ITSM incident.

3. Select Enable Debug Mode Until: and set it for the required date and time.

4. Save and publish the API.

(Optional) Task 6: To map a custom field between BMC Helix ITSM and ServiceNow

You can map custom fields between BMC Helix ITSM and ServiceNow. To learn about the steps to map the custom fields, see Mapping custom fields for integrations by using BMC Helix iPaaS, powered by Jitterbit.

Related topics

Getting started with BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker

ServiceNow integration reference