Integrating with ServiceNow

You can view the collected data in various BMC Helix application and derive the following benefits:

As a tenant administrator, perform the following steps to configure a connection with ServiceNow, verify the connection, and view the collected data in various BMC Helix applications.

Watch the following video (05:55) to learn how to collect topology data from ServiceNow and view the collected data in BMC Helix applications .

https://youtu.be/HbQXNcGkCEA

Supported versions

This connector supports the following versions of ServiceNow for data collection:

• Washington DC
• Vancouver
• Utah
• Tokyo

Planning for the connection

Before you configure a connection with ServiceNow , ensure that the following prerequisites are met.

ServiceNow prerequisites

You have read permissions for the following REST API endpoints in ServiceNow:

• /api/now/table/cmdb_rel_ci
• /api/now/table/cmdb_rel_type
• /api/now/cimodel/cmdb_ci/fullclasshierarchy
• /api/now/table/[type], where type is determined by querying fullclasshierarchy

• /api/now/cmdb/instance/cmdb_ci
  For information about APIs, see the ServiceNow API documentation.

You have permissions to access the ServiceNow UI.

You have been assigned the ITIL role. For information about the ServiceNow roles, see Base system roles in the ServiceNow documentation.

BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations prerequisites

• Depending on the location of the third-party product (SaaS, on-premises), choose one or more BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations deployment modes and review the corresponding port requirements. For information about various deployment modes and port requirements, see Deployment-scenarios.
• Based on the deployment modes, use the BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations SaaS deployment or the BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations on-premises gateway or both. For more information about the gateway, see Deploying-the-BMC-Helix-Intelligent-Integrations-on-premises-gateway.

• The on-premises gateway must be able to reach the third-party product on the required port (default is 443).

• You have the latest Technology Knowledge Update (TKU) required to collect the topology data from the third-party product. To obtain the latest TKU, see Schedule and Roadmap

In the preceding list, third-party product refers to ServiceNow . 

Configuring the connection with ServiceNow

1. Access BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations:
   • BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations SaaS – Log on to BMC Helix Portal, and click Launch on BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations.
   • BMC Helix Intelligent Integrationson-premises gateway – Use the following URL to access BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations:
     https://<hostName>:<portNumber>/swpui
2. On the CONNECTORS tab, click   in the SOURCES panel .

3. Click the 

   ServiceNow

    tile.

4. Specify the following source connection details:

   1. Specify a unique instance name.

      Best practice
      We recommend that you specify the instance name in the following format: 

      <sourceType>_<sourceControllerServerName>{_<InstanceQualifier>}                                      

      The instance qualifier helps you to distinguish among the multiple instances configured from the same source server; for example, SN_Host_PROD and SN_Host_TEST.

      
      

   2. Specify the ServiceNow host name and port number (default value is 443).
   3. Specify the ServiceNow HTTP or HTTPS port number depending on the connection protocol (default port number is 443).
   4. Select the HTTPS check box if you plan to use an https connection to the ServiceNow host.
   5. Specify the user name and password for the ServiceNow instance and ensure that the specified user can access the ServiceNow REST API.
5. Click VALIDATE AND CREATE .
   The specified connection details are validated and the corresponding source connection is created in the Source Connection list.

6. Select the source connection that you created from the list if it is not selected already.

   Important

   The destination host connection is created and configured automatically when you create a connection for a source. 

7. Ensure that the options for the datatypes for which you want to collect data are selected.

8. Click the topology data type and specify the configuration parameters in the Collectors section as described in the following table:

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9. Click CREATE COLLECTORS  to create the required collector streams for the topology data type.
10. Click the topology data type and specify the configuration parameters in the Distributors section as described in the following table:
    

    Parameter name	Description
    Max Batching Size	Specify the maximum number of data items to send in a single POST request to the destination API. The batch size depends on the destination’s ability to buffer the incoming data.Default: 250
    Max Batching Delay	Specify the maximum time (in seconds) to wait before building and processing a batch.Default: 3 seconds
    Base Retry Delay	Specify the initial time (in seconds) for which to wait before retrying to build and process a batch. The waiting time increases in the following sequence: n1, n2, n3, and so on, where n indicates the number of seconds.Default: 2 secondsExample:Base Retry Delay is set to 2 seconds.Retry is performed after 2, 4, 8, 16, ... seconds.
    Max Intra-Retry Delay	Specify the maximum limit for the base retry delay. Default: 60 secondsExample:Max Intra-Retry Delay is set to 60 seconds. Base Retry Delay is set to 2 seconds.Retries are performed 2, 4, 8, 16, 32,... seconds later.
    Max Retry Duration	Specify the total time for retrying a delivery. For REST destinations, a delivery is a batch of data items in one POST request. Default: 5 minutesExample:Max Retry Duration is set to 8 hours. Base Retry Delay is set to 2 seconds.Requests are sent for 2+4+8+16+32+64+132... until 8 hours in total duration is reached. After that, no subsequent attempts are made to retry the delivery.The assumption here is that if there is an outage or other issue with the destination tool, recovery should take less than the value of the Max Retry Duration parameter to be completed.
    Attributes To Be Dropped When Updating Events	Specify the event attributes that you do not want to be updated in BMC Helix Operations Managementwhen events are updated. For example, if you do not want an event's severity, source address, source category, and subcategory to be updated in BMC Helix Operations Management , you need to specify those attributes in a comma-separated format: severity,source_address,source_category,source_subcategory .Important:You can obtain the event attribute names in BMC Helix Operations Management, by exporting any event data in JSON, BAROC, XML, or CSV format . The exported file contains all attributes of the event data, and from there you can identify the attributes to be dropped.

11. Click CREATE DISTRIBUTORS to create the required distributor streams for the topology data type.

12. Click one of the following buttons:

    • SAVE STREAM : Click this button if you want to edit the integration details before creating the instance. After you save the stream, the instance that you created is listed in the SOURCES panel. Move the slider to the right to start the topology data stream.
    • SAVE AND START STREAM : Click this button if you want to save the integration details and start receiving topology data immediately.

    ImportantFor a data stream, the Run Latency (max/avg), Items (Avg per Run), and Last Run Status columns on the Streams page might show No Runs as the status during the data collection process. After completion of the process, these columns are updated with an appropriate status.

    
    For more information about data streams, see Starting-or-stopping-data-streams.

Verifying the connection

In BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations , on the SOURCES panel, confirm that the topology data stream for the integration you created is running. Data streaming is indicated by moving colored arrows.

A moving light blue arrow () indicates that the topology stream is running. Topology data will be pushed according to the configured Collection Schedule interval.

Viewing data in BMC Helix applications

View data collected from ServiceNow in multiple BMC Helix applications.

To view topology in BMC Helix Discovery

1. In BMC Helix Discovery, select Explore > Data.

   Important

   Service models for business services, technical services, and business applications for which you have collected topology data from ServiceNow are automatically created in BMC Helix Discovery and BMC Helix AIOps .

2. Click the folder link corresponding to the entity for which you have collected data from ServiceNow .
   For example, if you have collected topology for a business service, click the <count> Business Services link.
   The <entity> List page shows the list of entity names and its other attributes received from ServiceNow . For information about entities in the infrastructure, see Managing your IT infrastructure..

3. Click the entity name to view its topology.

The following figures show the topology for the Blackberry service in the ServiceNow UI and in the BMC Helix Discovery UI:

To view services in BMC Helix AIOps

1. In BMC Helix AIOps, go to the Services page.
   This page shows the Blackberry_Service, for which you have collected data from ServiceNow.
   
   
2. To view the impact on the service, hover over the service.
   The impact score in percentage and Situations, events, incidents, or configuration items (CIs) associated with a service are displayed.  
3. Click the service to view the health summary, causal analysis, health insights, and other key metrics of interest.

For more information about services, see Monitoring services.

Troubleshooting

Issue

The Streams page shows one data item as collected from a ServiceNow instance and no data gets imported into BMC Helix Discovery. 

Reason

This issue occurs when you try to collect topology data from a hibernating or sleeping ServiceNow instance.

Resolution

Wake up the ServiceNow instance.