Synchronizing BMC Helix ITSM incidents with ServiceNow incidents by using BMC Helix iPaaS

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.
• BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker and BMC Helix ITSM users should have the administrator permissions to run this integration.
• From the Electronic Product Distribution site, download the Sync_BMC_Helix_ITSM_incident_and_ServiceNow_incident.json project file to your system.

BMC Helix ITSM to ServiceNow data flow

ServiceNow to BMC Helix ITSM data flow

Task 1: To perform configurations in Quick Configuration Guide

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.

      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 by selecting any of the available fields.
      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 download and 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	Value
     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_MCSM_API_Profile_Username	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_MCSM_API_Profile_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_Username	You need not provide any value for this variable.
     BHIP_Vendor_API_Profile_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.
     BHIP_Username	Enter the user name for the BMC Helix iPaaS instance.
     BHIP_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 synchronizes 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	Value
     ServiceNow_Host_URL	Enter the ServiceNow instance URL in the following format: [http/https]://[host name]:[port]
     ServiceNow_Username	Enter the user name that enables you to interact with ServiceNow.
     ServiceNow_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	Value
     MCSM_Host	Enter the BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker host URL in the following format:  [http/https]://[hostname]:[port]
     MCSM_Username	Enter the user name that enables users to interact with BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker.
     MCSM_Password	Enter the password for the provided user name.
     MCSM_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	Value
     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: User Service Restoration User Service Request Infrastructure Restoration Infrastructure Event Security Incident

Task 4: To deploy and enable the project

1. To deploy the integration after you update the project variables, on the project page, click the ellipsis ... and select Deploy Project. 
   
   Deployment is a one-time activity that initializes the integration configurations. The UI displays a message for the deployment status.
2. After successfully deploying the integration, on the Workflows tab, select 2.0 Integrations > 2.0 Enable Integration.
3. Click the ellipsis ...  next to the Enable Integration element and select Deploy > Run.
   

(Optional) Task 5: To set the 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, select API Manager > My APIs.
2. Open the any of the following APIs:
   • BMC_Helix_ITSM_And_ServiceNow_Incident_Vendor_To_MCSM—This API creates a BMC Helix ITSM incident from a ServiceNow ITSM incident.
   • BMC_Helix_ITSM_And_ServiceNow_Incident_MCSM_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.

Related topics

Getting-started-with-BMC-Helix-Multi-Cloud-Broker

ServiceNow-integration-reference