Cloud Provisioning

Cloud Provisioning
ServiceNow
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Introduction
Cloud Provisioning
Overview
The ServiceNow Cloud Provisioning application facilitates the provisioning and management of virtual machines
(VM) within a company's infrastructure. Cloud provisioning delivers the key benefits of private (VMware) and
public (Amazon EC2) virtual machine management in a single application that is fully integrated with ServiceNow.
ServiceNow provides process and service automation with orchestration, approvals, and service catalog capabilities.
ServiceNow can package and deliver infrastructure elements, such as servers, networks, and storage, to end-users
through the service catalog. These virtual resources can then be requested through a self-service portal, provisioned
automatically, and managed directly by the requester.
The ServiceNow Cloud Provisioning application offers the following capabilities:
Abstraction of virtualization systems: Virtual machine users are not required to know the details of the specific
virtualization system. This allows use of a single interface to manage virtual resources in public and private
clouds: VMware and Amazon EC2.
Reuse of virtual machine configurations: ServiceNow uses VMware templates and Amazon EC2 images to
create reusable catalog items in a wide range of sizes that users can select from the service catalog.
Improved service catalog interface: Requesting the right virtual machine for the job is quick and easy in the
improved services interface.
Role-based access: Role-based security ensures that users have the proper privileges for viewing, creating, and
managing virtual resources.
Dedicated service portals: ServiceNow users view their virtual resources and request changes in a dedicated
portal. Administrative and operational users manage virtual machines, provisioning tasks, and SLAs from portals
that grant role-based access to virtual resources.
Controlled lease duration: Default end dates for virtual machine leases are applied automatically to all requests.
Lease duration controls prevent unused virtual machines from persisting past their intended use date.
Automatic cost adjustment: Modifications to virtual resources that are subject to cost adjustments are
recalculated automatically when the change is requested.
Fully integrated with the ServiceNow platform: Approvals, notifications, security, asset management, and
compliance capabilities are all integrated into virtual resource management processes.
The Cloud Provisioning application is available with the ServiceNow Calgary release.
Cloud Provisioning
How Cloud Provisioning Works

Cloud provisioning tasks are performed by users who are members of virtual provisioning groups. The entire process
from configuration to provisioning, and eventually to service catalog requests for virtual resources, is controlled by
members of these groups. This diagram shows how the process flow works:
All required tasks within cloud provisioning are performed by members of these groups:
Virtual Provisioning Cloud Administrator: Members of this group own the cloud provisioning environment
and are responsible for configuring the different virtualization providers used by cloud provisioning. Cloud
administrators can create service catalog items from VMware templates and Amazon EC2 images, approve
requests for virtual machines, and monitor the cloud provisioning environment using the Service Monitoring
Portal.
Virtual Provisioning Cloud Operator: Members of this group fulfill provisioning requests from users. Cloud
operators perform the day-to-day work of cloud provisioning by completing tasks that appear in the Cloud
Operations Portal. Cloud operators are assigned to specific virtualization providers and must be technically adept
with the providers they support.
Virtual Provisioning Cloud User: Members of this group can request virtual machines from the service and use
the My Virtual Assets portal to manage any virtual machines that are assigned to them.
Note: See Creating Users and Associating to a Group for instructions.
Cloud Provisioning
Features
In addition to provisioning virtual machines, the Cloud Provisioning application fully integrates the life cycle
management of virtual machines into other ServiceNow functionality. This integration offers these features:
Approvals: Each request made in cloud provisioning can be subject to approvals, allowing for the development
of more complex and business-critical processes.
Capacity: Basic capacity information is available from the discovery of virtual machines. This allows a cloud
operator to determine the best fit for a virtual machine if there are multiple virtualization servers available.
Discovery of virtual machines: Discover VMware components and their relationships in the vCenter instance.
Use the ServiceNow Discovery application or the standalone capability within the Cloud Provisioning
application. See Gathering vCenter Data Without Discovery for information.
Labs: You can schedule a lab framework to manage multiple groups of virtual machines for a common purpose,
such as training. Schedule lab termination date and time to shut down virtual machines as soon as they complete
their function.
Modification of virtual machines: You can request modifications to existing VMware images, such as increased
memory. Workflows can require approvals for each modification or create a change request automatically. See
Managing Virtual Assets for details.
Notifications: Notifications are delivered at key points along the life cycle of a virtual machine. These
notifications provide information and set expectations for system users.
Prices: Price calculations and an integration of managed virtual machines with asset management provide a
cost-based component to cloud provisioning. For details, see pricing configuration for VMware and Amazon
EC2.
Information about requests: ServiceNow collects notes and guest customization information and attaches these
to the provisioning request.
Automated provisioning: A cloud administrator configures ServiceNow to apply automatic and zero-click
provisioning to virtual machine requests. These modes of operation employ rules differently:
Fully automatic: Rules make all configuration decisions, and processing goes directly from the request to
provisioning.
Semi automatic: Rules make all configuration decisions, but a cloud operator can modify and approve the
request before continuing.
Manual: Requests go to an operator who must make all decisions about where a virtual machine is
provisioned and how it is configured.
Schedules: Virtual machines are created with a lease duration. The schedule includes start and end times, a grace
period, and automatic stop/terminate actions. ServiceNow notifies the user of the virtual machine's state. For
details, see lease duration configuration instructions for VMware and Amazon EC2.
SLAs: ServiceNow tracks SLAs and OLAs for cloud provisioning requests.
Workflows: Each action employs customizable workflows that allow business processes to include cloud
provisioning as a step.
Zero-click provisioning: Fully automatic provisioning of requested virtual machines enables IT departments to
respond quickly to customer requests.
Cloud Provisioning
Getting Started with Cloud Provisioning

Assign users in your ServiceNow instance to each of the groups required to access, configure, and provision virtual
resources. For complete information about the roles and capabilities assigned to these groups, see Cloud
Provisioning Security.
Use these links to view the configuration or provisioning tasks assigned to each group.
Cloud Administration for VMware

Cloud Administration for Amazon EC2
Cloud Operations
Cloud Users
Use these links to quickly set up VMware or Amazon EC2 provisioning.

VMware Provisioning Quick Start
EC2 Provisioning Quick Start
Activating Cloud Provisioning

Cloud provisioning is part of Orchestration, which is available as a separate subscription. The following are required
for their respective virtualization products.
Orchestration - VMware Support
Orchestration - Amazon EC2
Upgrading with Cloud Provisioning

The following are considerations for existing WMware and Amazon EC2 provisioning requests and tasks when
upgrading to Eureka.
For Both VMware and Amazon EC2

The VM request and provisioning workflows have been redesigned in Eureka to support additional features. Any
scheduled VM requests or provisioning tasks that are open when upgrading will cause provisioning to fail. To ensure
a successful upgrade, do the following before you begin the upgrade:
All requests and tasks related to VM provisioning should be approved, rejected, or closed before beginning the
upgrade.
If there are any jobs scheduled to be processed in the future, navigate to the Scheduled Jobs module and execute
them before starting the upgrade. If that is not possible, VM requests related to those jobs must be re-ordered after
the upgrade.
For Amazon EC2 Only

Because Amazon has deprecated the SOAP API, use the REST API instead of the SOAP API.
Before beginning the Eureka upgrade, make sure all of the REST API access and secret keys are updated
correctly. You can do this by performing a single "update keys/images/instances" operation to confirm the
change. If the keys are not updated correctly, any VM provisioning requests started or scheduled before the
upgrade will fail and will need to re-ordered. To fix any errors, use the catalog tasks for VM provisioning for any
requests started or scheduled after the upgrade.
Cloud Provisioning
Enhancements
Fuji
Allows administrators to tag Amazon resources to enable usage analysis. Supports Amazon billing to let
administrators analyze cost metrics across Amazon resources through dashboards and reports.
Provides support for the provisioning and management of Amazon CloudFormation stacks to create virtual
datacenters using Amazon Web Services resources.
Provides support for Amazon S3 storage solution activities.
Allows administrators to discover cloud resources on demand or as part of a cloud provisioning workflow.
Adds support for VMware VMotion technology such as cloning.
Adds support for Amazon Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs) to isolate and secure virtual datacenters.
Eureka
An incident is created when a provisioning request is broken so that the request can be resubmitted.
Virtualization provider extension points allow you to customize virtualization providers.
Users can take snapshots of a VM and later revert the VM to a specific snapshot.
Dublin
ServiceNow does not automatically end the lease for virtual machines with Production selected in the Use for
choice list. Instead, ServiceNow renews the lease on Production virtual machines automatically for the default
lease duration and sends a notification to the requestor each time the lease is renewed.
The Configure Windows activity now accepts the Run once, License mode, and Concurrent connections input
variables.
Additional fields allow you to specify a license type and commands to run on Windows VMware virtual
machines.
An Instance name field allows provisioners to specify a friendly name for Amazon EC2 virtual machines.
A new Stage field on the Cloud Operations Portal now displays additional detail about the provisioning workflow
status of each virtual machine.
Cloud Operations
Cloud Operations
Overview
Cloud operators can fulfill provisioning requests from users for Amazon EC2 or VMware virtual machines. Cloud
operators perform the day-to-day work of cloud provisioning by completing tasks that appear in their view of the
Cloud Operations Portal. Cloud operators are assigned to specific virtualization providers and must be technically
adept with the products they support.
Required Roles
Assign cloud operators to one or both of the following groups, which have the necessary roles:
VMware Operators: Contains the vmware_operator role.
EC2 Operators: Contains the ec2_operator role.
For more information about cloud provisioning roles and capabilities, see Cloud Provisioning Security.
Prerequisites
Before a cloud operator can provision a virtual machine, a cloud administrator must set up the Amazon EC2 or
VMware virtualization product and configure that product in ServiceNow.
Cloud Operations Tasks

1. Provision all requests for new VMware or Amazon EC2 virtual machines.
Provisioning procedures and responsibilities are described in these pages:
Amazon EC2 Approvals and Provisioning for Cloud Provisioning
Approving and Provisioning VMware Requests for Cloud Provisioning
2. Fulfill user requests for modifications to existing virtual machines, such as increased memory or data disk size,
and for lease extensions.
Cloud operators also can change the state of a virtual machine to start, stop, or pause; terminate virtual
machines; and take and restore to snapshots.
3. Resolve errors that occur during provisioning or when modifying an existing virtual machine.
4. [Optional] Configure ServiceNow to create change requests for specific modifications to VMware virtual
machines requested from the My Virtual Assets portal.
Examples of modifications that generate change requests are lease extensions, requests for additional memory,
and requests to terminate a virtual machine.
Cloud Users
Cloud Users
Overview
Members of the Virtual Provisioning Cloud Users group can request virtual machines from the service catalog and
use the My Virtual Assets portal to manage any virtual machines that are assigned to them. Users in the Virtual
Provisioning Cloud Administrators and Virtual Provisioning Cloud Operators groups inherit the cloud_user role.
Cloud Users Tasks

1. Request new virtual machines from the service catalog for these virtualization products.
Amazon EC2 requests
VMware requests
2. Request modifications to their virtual machines, such as increased data disk size and memory or a state change
such as start or stop.
Some changes to specifications and some state changes might require a change request.
Cloud Provisioning Security

Overview
The Cloud Provisioning application adds a number of user groups to the system for managing security. When you
add a user to one of these groups, that user is automatically granted the roles assigned to that group. Administrators
can easily manage cloud provisioning security by adding users to or removing them from the appropriate groups. A
good practice for implementing security for users who must play multiple roles in the system is to add them to
multiple groups. If the predefined groups do not provide enough granularity, you can create custom groups or grant
specific roles directly to individual users.
User Groups
Cloud provisioning user groups have the following roles and privileges:
Group
User Roles
Privileges
Virtual Provisioning
Cloud Users
cloud_user
Request virtual machines from the service catalog and use the My Virtual Assets portal to manage any
virtual machines that are assigned to them.
Cloud Operators
cloud_operator
Fulfill provisioning requests from users by completing tasks that appear on the Cloud Operations Portal.
Cloud operators are assigned to specific virtualization providers and must be technically adept with the
products they support. This group also includes all members of the child groups EC2 Operators and
VMWare Operators.
Cloud Administrators
cloud_admin
Own the cloud provisioning environment and are responsible for configuring the different virtualization
products used by cloud provisioning. Cloud administrators can monitor the cloud provisioning
environment using the Cloud Admin Portal (starting with the Fuji release) or the Service Monitoring
Portal (for Eureka and previous releases).
EC2 Approvers
itil
Approve or reject requests for Amazon EC2 virtual machine resources. This includes requests for new
virtual machines, state changes to existing virtual machines, and lease extensions. Approvers have no
technical responsibilities.
Cloud Provisioning Security
EC2 Operators
ec2_operator
Fulfill Amazon EC2 provisioning requests from users by completing tasks that appear on the Cloud
Operations Portal. Users in the EC2 Operators group are members of Virtual Provisioning Cloud
Operators parent group.
VMware Approvers
itil
Approve or reject requests for VMware virtual machine resources. This includes requests for new
virtual machines, modifications to existing virtual machines, and lease extensions. Approvers have no
technical responsibilities.
VMware Operators
vmware_operator Fulfill VMware provisioning requests from users by completing tasks that appear on the Cloud
Operations Portal. Users in the VMware Operators are members of the Virtual Provisioning Cloud
Operators parent group.
Specific Provisioning Actions

By default, users with the cloud_operator role can perform the following actions on any virtual machine. Users with
the cloud_user and cloud_admin roles can perform these actions only on virtual machines assigned to them.
Modify VM (VMware only)

Update Lease End
Pause VM
Stop VM
Start VM
Cancel
Terminate
Take Snapshot
Restore from Snapshot
Delete Snapshot
Snapshots are available starting with the Eureka release.
My Assets Portal
My Assets Portal
Overview
The My Assets portal, accessed from the Self-Service application, provides a view of the assets issued to a user by
the company, such as a computer, monitor, and telephone. The base ServiceNow system provides views of the
logged-in user's software entitlements, subscription contracts, and all requests the user has made for company assets.
The My Assets portal is constructed like a ServiceNow homepage and contains familiar controls for moving, adding,
or deleting available gauges.
Required Roles
All users can access the My Assets portal, regardless of their role assignments.
Using the Portal

To access the portal, navigate to Self-Service > My Assets. The following gauges appear by default:
Assets Assigned to me: Computers and other equipment issued to the logged-in user by the IT department,
identified by asset tags.
My Assets by Model: Model names for assets issued to the user.
Key Metrics: Useful metrics about the user's assets, such as total number of assigned assets and days remaining
until an equipment upgrade.
My Software Entitlements: The software licenses the user is entitled to. Data in this list requires that Software
Asset Management be activated.
My Subscription Contracts: All subscription contracts associated with the user.
My Asset Requests: All requests for company assets made by the user. The list shows the details of the request
and the stage, which allows the user to track the approval and provisioning process.
My Assets Portal
Virtual Assets Management Portals

Overview
The Self-Service and Cloud Provisioning applications provide three portals for viewing and managing the virtual
machines you order and the virtual assets you administer. The information is presented in a familiar homepage
layout with controls for moving, adding, or deleting gauges. These virtual asset views are included in the
ServiceNow system when either the Orchestration - VMware Support or Orchestration - Amazon EC2 plugin is
activated:
My Virtual Assets: Users see the virtual machines they have ordered and their current requests for virtual
resources.
My Team's Virtual Assets: Users see the virtual machines that the team has ordered and the team's current
requests for virtual resources.
Cloud Admin Portal: Cloud admins see metrics, resource optimization, chargebacks, and several requests for
virtual assets.
Cloud Operations Portal: Cloud operators see the virtual machines they manage and the provisioning tasks
assigned to them.
Service Monitoring Portal: Cloud administrators see pending approvals for virtual machines (VMs) and
summary data regarding their deployment state. This portal is available for Eureka and previous releases only.
From these portals, users can open virtual server records and perform management tasks such as starting and
stopping virtual machines and changing the duration of a lease. The virtual assets management portals are available
in the Calgary release.
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My Virtual Assets
Members of the Virtual Provisioning Cloud Users group can access the My Virtual Assets portal by navigating to
Self-Service > My Virtual Assets.
The portal shows these gauges in the base ServiceNow system:
My Virtual Assets: All virtual machines assigned to the logged-in user.
My Virtual Assets - Key Metrics: Useful metrics about the user's virtual machines: total number of active VMs,
scheduled VMs, and VMs that will expire soon.
VMs By State: A chart of the user's VMs, grouped by state, such as on, off, or paused.
VMs By Type: A chart of the user's VMs, grouped by type, such as VMware or EC2.
My Virtual Asset Requests: All requests for virtual resources made by the user. The list shows the details of the
request and the stage, which allows the user to track the approval and provisioning process.
My Team's Virtual Assets

Members of the Virtual Provisioning Cloud Users group can access the My Team's Virtual Assets portal by
navigating to Self-Service > My Team's Virtual Assets.
The portal shows these gauges in the base system:
Team Virtual Assets: All virtual machines assigned to the logged-in user.
Team Virtual Resource Metrics: Useful metrics about the user's virtual machines: total number of active VMs,
scheduled VMs, and VMs that will expire soon.
VMs By State: A chart of the user's VMs, grouped by state, such as on, off, or paused.
VMs By Type: A chart of the user's VMs, grouped by type, such as VMware or EC2.
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Cloud Admin Portal

Members of the Virtual Provisioning Cloud Administrators group can access the Cloud Admin portal by navigating
to Cloud Provisioning > Management > Cloud Admin Portal.
Virtual Resource Request Metrics: Requests for virtual resources.

Amazon Resource Request Metrics: Requests for Amazon resources.
Resource Optimization: Underutilization counts for virtual assets.
Virtualization Chargeback: Total prices for chargebacks for virtual assets, shown by retail, IT, engineering, and
sales.
VM Requests Last Month: Request records for all virtual machine requests, grouped by state.
Service Catalog Virtual Requests by Type: Service catalog requests for virtual assets shown by type.
Stack Requests Last Month: The number of stack requests, grouped by state.
Cloud Operations Portal

Members of the Virtual Provisioning Cloud Operators group can access the Cloud Operations portal by navigating to
Cloud Provisioning > Management > Cloud Operations Portal.
Virtual Provisioning Tasks: Pending tasks related to provisioning virtual machines, such as providing
provisioning details.
Virtual Administration - Key Metrics: Useful information about the virtual machine environment, such as the
number of virtual machines in an error state and the number of tasks requiring the attention of the logged in user.
Included are breached OLAs, displaying active tasks that have breached their contract. By default, this limit is 1
day. For more information about OLAs for virtual server tasks, see Virtual Server Requests SLA.
Virtual Requests by Status: Recent virtual requests, grouped by status.
Virtual Provisioning Tasks by Type: Cloud provisioning catalog tasks grouped by type.
Virtual Assets that I manage: All virtual resources managed by the logged-in user.
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Service Monitoring Portal for Eureka and Previous Releases

Members of the Virtual Provisioning Cloud Administrators group can access the service monitoring portal by
navigating to Cloud Provisioning > Management > Service Monitoring Portal. This portal is available for
Eureka and previous releases only.
Virtual Machine Request Metrics: Requests for virtual machines and changes to existing virtual machines, such
as upgrading the CPU count, memory, or disk size. Included are active requests that have exceeded their contract
limits. By default, this limit is 1 day. For more information about SLAs for virtual server requests, see Virtual
Server Requests SLA.
Virtual Machine Key Metrics: Useful metrics about the cloud provisioning environment, such as the number of
managed VM instances and service catalog offerings.
Virtualization Chargeback: Virtualization items in a list displaying stage, approval status, and price. Price is
only visible when the list is configured for the Service Monitoring view.
Open Virtual Requests by Stage: Virtual requests, by stage.
Virtual Requests by Type: All current virtual resource requests, by type.
All VMs By State: The number of virtual machines in each state.
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Managing Virtual Assets

Overview
Use the virtual assets portals to view the history of your virtualization requests and the status of all virtual machines
requested by all members of your team. View the virtual machines you ordered in the My Virtual Assets portal.
Users with the cloud_operator role can see the virtual servers they administer in the Cloud Operations portal. Open
the records for virtual resources directly from the portals to change instance specifications (CPU count, memory, or
disk size) or the state of the virtual machine. ServiceNow notifies users about the status of their requested changes.
You can make these changes to your virtual servers:
Modify specifications
Update the lease
Start
Stop
Pause
Cancel
Terminate
Take a snapshot
Restore from a snapshot
Delete a snapshot
For all actions that are subject to change control, if change control is enabled, the action is added to change request
page. After the change request is approved, the user must return to the virtual asset page to click link Proceed with
Change under Related Lists.
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Updating a Virtual Machine

To make a change to an existing virtual machine, select an action from a context menu or use the Related Links in
the virtual machine record.
Context menu: The list view displays all the virtual servers you or your teams requested through the service
catalog and includes virtual machines from VMware and Amazon EC2. Machines in all states appear on the list,
including those that are terminated or have been deleted. The state of the virtual machines is shown in the list, as
are the Lease start and Lease end times for each virtual machine. List editing is not enabled for lease times. To
initiate a change from the list of virtual machines, right-click on an instance and select VM Management from
the context menu. Only those actions that are appropriate for the State of the virtual machine are available.
Related Links: Open the virtual machine instance record and select an action from the Related Links. The
controls that appear are dependent on the State of the virtual machine.
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Modifying the Specifications of a Virtual Machine

You can upgrade these specifications of a VMware virtual machine. You cannot downgrade a virtual machine.
CPU count
Memory
Disk space
Note: This feature is not available for Amazon EC2 instances.
1. Navigate to Self-Service > My Virtual Assets to see the virtual machines you ordered.
2. Select a VMware virtual machine in one of these states:
On
Off
Paused
Scheduled
3. Under Related Links, click Modify VM.
A dialog box appears, allowing you to upgrade the specifications of this virtual machine. If this action is
subject to change control, the dialog box advises you that this is required and asks if you want to proceed.
If you select additional disk space, the platform adjusts the number of disks as follows:
If the virtual machine is Off, ServiceNow adds an additional disk of the size requested.
If the virtual machine is Scheduled, ServiceNow replaces a data disk that was added in the original request.
If no additional disk was requested during provisioning, ServiceNow adds a new disk.
4. Select new values for the CPU count, memory, or disk space, and then click OK.

A change request and an approval task can be required for a modification. When both have been approved, the
requestor is notified and invited to confirm the modifications in the VMware Virtual Machine Instance form. If
change control is not configured, the upgrade to the virtual machine occurs automatically when the approval
task is complete. When change control is configured, the requestor's manual confirmation of the change
triggers the upgrade. ServiceNow then stops the virtual machine, performs the requested upgrade, and restarts
the machine.
Updating the Lease

You can modify the lease end date for a running virtual machine. To set the lease default duration and maximum
duration, see Configure the Lease Duration.
To update the lease end date for one virtual machine:
1. Open the virtual machine instance record.
2. Under Related Links, click Update Lease End.
A dialog box appears, allowing you to specify a new lease end time.
3. Edit the date and time field and click OK.
A warning appears if you select a lease end date that is outside the configured maximum duration. If the
virtual machine does not have a configured lease duration, the system sets a new start time, using the current
day, and a lease end date at the configured default lease duration. A dialog box appears allowing you to select
a new lease end date. If this action is subject to change control, the dialog box advises you that this is required
and asks if you want to proceed.
4. Enter a new lease end date, and then click OK to create a change request for this modification.
State Changes
The services portal for virtual servers enables an administrator to change machine states, if the changes are permitted
by the virtual machine providers. This table lists possible states for virtual machines and the change controls that are
available for each state:
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State
Controls
On
Modify VM
Update Lease End
Stop VM
Pause VM (VMware)
Terminate VM
Off
Modify VM
Start VM
Update Lease End
Terminate VM
Paused
Modify VM
Start VM
Update Lease End
Terminate VM
Scheduled
Modify VM
Cancel VM
Update Lease End
Starting
No changes are permitted when a virtual machine is in transition between states
Stopping
Terminated
No state changes are possible
Error
Cancelled
No state changes are possible
Pausing
Terminate
Update Lease End
Terminating No changes are permitted when a virtual machine is in transition between states
Starting or Stopping a Virtual Machine

To start or stop a VMware or EC2 virtual machine, click the appropriate Related Link. These restrictions apply:
The provisioning service must support the feature. For Amazon EC2, only Elastic Block Store (EBS) [1] volumes
can be started and stopped from the virtual machine portal.
Only a virtual machine that was successfully provisioned can be started or stopped.
The link that appears is dependent on the state of the virtual machine (On/Stop or Off/Start).
If this action is subject to change control, a pop-up window advises you that this is required and asks if you want to
proceed.
Note: Details for a VMware virtual machine are different from those displayed for an EC2 instance. Hardware details for a VMware
virtual machine, such as memory and CPU count, are only displayed in records if Discovery ran successfully against the
configuration item (CI).
ServiceNow runs the VMware Start-Stop workflow to provision the request.
Pausing a Virtual Machine

To pause a VMware virtual machine from the virtual services portal:
2. Select a virtual machine in the On state.
You cannot pause a virtual machine in a transitional state.
3. Under Related Links, click Pause VM.
If this action is subject to change control, a pop-up window advises you that this is required and asks if you
want to proceed.
The list of your virtual machines appears. The machine you paused shows the transitional state of Pausing.
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Cancelling a Virtual Machine

To cancel a scheduled EC2 or VMware virtual machine from the virtual services portal:
2. Select a virtual machine in the Scheduled state to cancel.
You can only cancel a virtual machine after it has been scheduled and before it is provisioned.
3. Under Related Links, click Cancel VM.
Terminating a Virtual Machine

Note: Termination deletes the resource and all associated data. You cannot recover a resource after terminating it. Be sure to
capture all needed data before terminating.
To terminate an EC2 or VMware virtual machine from the virtual services portal:
2. Select a virtual machine to terminate.
You can terminate virtual machines in these states:
On
Off
Error
Paused
Note: You cannot terminate a virtual machine in a transitional state (stopping, pausing, and so on).
3. Under Related Links, click Terminate VM.
If this action is subject to change control, a pop-up window advises you that change control is required and
asks if you want to proceed.
This is an example of an Amazon EC2 virtual machine to terminate.
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This is an example of a VMware virtual machine to terminate.
The State changes to Stopping if the virtual machine is running. In the list view of virtual machines, the status
shows Terminated when the VM is stopped. The asset is marked Retired in Asset Management.
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Deleting a Virtual Machine

Users with the cloud_operator role (the Virtual Provisioning Cloud Operators group) can delete a virtual machine
configuration item (CI) that is in an Error state and has a missing correlation ID. This is considered an
unrecoverable state, and the CI should be deleted.
1. Navigate to Cloud Provisioning > Management > Cloud Operations Portal.
2. In the Virtual Assets that I manage gauge, select a virtual resource that shows a State of Error.
3. Click Delete in the VMware Virtual Machine Instance record.
The platform does not permit users with the cloud_operator role to delete CIs in any other state, including a
virtual machine in an Error state with a correlation ID.
Managing Snapshots
Users with the cloud_operator role (the Virtual Provisioning Cloud Operators group) can take snapshots of a VM and
later restore the VM from a specific snapshot. Snapshots are available starting with the Eureka release.
Taking a Snapshot
To take a snapshot of a virtual machine:
2. In the Virtual Assets that I manage gauge, select a virtual resource.
3. Under Related Links, click Take Snapshot.
A dialog box appears, allowing you to define a snapshot. If change control is enabled for snapshot, an
indication is included in the dialog box.
4. Edit the name and description fields and click OK.
If change control is enabled, and the action is approved, you must return to this page and click Proceed with
Change.
A new Take Snapshot link is added on the VMware instance form under Related Links. If the snapshot limit
is reached, the link is unavailable. If a cloud user deletes the stored snapshots so that the total is below the
limit, or an administrator increases the snapshot limit, the link reappears in the form.
Restoring from a Snapshot

To restore a VM instance from a snapshot:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Navigate to Cloud Provisioning > Management > Cloud Operations Portal.

Open the VM instance to restore.
In the Virtual Assets that I manage gauge, select a virtual resource.
Right-click the snapshot and select Restore snapshot. The VM is reverted to the state captured in the selected
snapshot.
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Deleting a Snapshot
To delete a snapshot:
2. In the Virtual Assets that I manage gauge, select a virtual resource.
3. Under Related Links, click Delete a Snapshot.
A dialog box appears, listing the current snapshots. If change control is enabled for snapshot, an indication is
included in the dialog box.
4. Select the snapshot to delete and click OK.
If change control is not enabled, the snapshot is immediately deleted. If change control is enabled, the
snapshot is deleted after it is approved.
Configuring Snapshots
Users with the cloud_admin role can configure snapshots by applying conditions to specific VM tables.
1. Navigate to Cloud Provisioning > Management > Snapshot Configurations.
2. Click New.
3. Fill in the fields as shown in the table and then click Submit.
Field
Description
Active
Activates (selected) or deactivates (cleared) the configuration.
Table
Specifies the VMs that are subject to this configuration.
Limit
Maximum number of snapshots that are saved for VMs that meet the specified conditions.
When the Limit value is reached, the scheduled job attempts to delete the oldest snapshot before it creates a new snapshot.
The scheduled snapshot job will not delete a snapshot that was created by an on-demand request.
On the first run of the scheduled job, if the total number of snapshots for the VM is equal to the global limit, then the job deletes the
oldest snapshot before it creates a new snapshot.
Condition Defines the VMs that are subject to this configuration in addition to the those in the specified table. Use the condition builder to further
limit the VMs.
Notifications
The ServiceNow platform notifies
users of status changes to their virtual
resources and acknowledges requests
Snapshot configuration
for additional resources. Notifications
can contain specifics of the action
taken, the date, and any modifications made. Included is a link to the request or to the CI record for the virtual
machine. For each success message, there is a corresponding failure message.
The system sends emails to requestors and asset owners automatically when a virtual resource is:
Requested: The user requests a virtual server. This notification states: Request <number> has been opened on
your behalf.
Approved: The user's request for a virtual server is approved. This notification states: Your request <number>
has been approved.
Rejected: The user's request for a virtual server was not approved. This notification states: Your requested item
<number> for VMware Instance has been rejected.
Scheduled: The requested instance is scheduled for creation. This notification states: VMware instance <name>
has been successfully scheduled.

Provisioned: The user's VMware or Amazon EC2 virtual server was successfully provisioned and is ready for
use. This notification states: VMware/Amazon EC2 instance <name> has been successfully provisioned.
Modified: Applies to VMware only. The user's virtual machine configuration (such as memory allocation or
storage capacity) was modified. This notification states: The configuration of VMware instance <name> has been
successfully updated.
Extended: The lease end date for this virtual machine was extended. This notification states: The lease end of
virtual instance <name> has been successfully updated.
About to expire: The lease on the user's virtual machine expires in n days. To configure the default lead time for
notification of pending expiration, navigate to Cloud Provisioning > Management > Properties and change the
value in the Time prior to lease end to notify requestor property (glide.vm.lease_end_notification). The default
lead time in the base system is one day. This notification states: Virtual instance <name> will be terminated in
<n> days.
Terminated: The user's virtual machine lease expired, and the virtual resource was terminated. This notification
states: VMware instance <name> has been successfully terminated.
References
[1] http:/ / aws. amazon. com/ ebs/
Change Control
Overview
A cloud administrator can configure ServiceNow to create change requests for specific modifications to VMware
and Amazon EC2 virtual machines. The administrator can specify which virtual machine categories and types of
modifications require approval through a change request. For example, an organization might require a project
manager's approval before a user can extend the lease end date or change the state of a development server. Change
request approvals created in this manner are independent of the approvals required by the provisioner who manages
the virtual resources being requested. This functionality is available with the Calgary release.
The cloud administrator can configure change control for these actions performed on a virtual machine:
Extend the duration of a lease

Start a virtual machine
Stop a virtual machine
Terminate a virtual machine
Pause a virtual machine
Modify the specifications of a VMware server
Take a snapshot
Revert to a snapshot
24
Change Control
25
Roles Required
Members of these groups can configure change control for virtual machine modifications:
Virtual Provisioning Cloud Administrators
Virtual Provisioning Cloud Operators
Change Request Conditions

Cloud provisioning uses preconfigured condition builders to determine if a change request is required for specific
user requests, such as those for state changes or memory increases. The change request launches a workflow that
executes an approval task and then waits for the requester to commit or cancel the change. You can deactivate
change conditions or edit them to create different approval conditions.
Tables
These tables are used in change control processing.
Table Name
Contains
Change Condition
[vm_instance_change_condition]
Records that define the conditions for creating a change request.
VM Instance Action [vm_instance_action]
Records that define the type of change (action) that requires an approval, such as additional CPUs
or an increase in the data disk size.
Change Conditions
The following change conditions in the base system require change approvals for actions performed on production
environments:
Name
Description
Action
Create production VM
snapshot
A user requests a snapshot for a virtual machine.
create_snapshot
Extend production VM
lease
A user requests an extension to the lease duration for a virtual machine running a production
instance.
update_lease_end
Modify production VM
A user requests changes to the specifications of a VMware production server, such as an increase
in the number of CPUs.
modify
Pause production VM
A user attempts to pause a virtual machine running a production instance.
pause
Restore snapshot
A user attempts to restore a snapshot for a virtual machine.
restore_snapshot
Start production VM
A user attempts to start a virtual machine running a production instance.
start
Stop production VM
A user attempts to stop a virtual machine running a production instance.
stop
Terminate production VM
A user attempts to terminate a virtual machine running a production instance.
terminate
Change Control
Editing Change Conditions

1. Navigate to Cloud Provisioning > Change Conditions.
2. Select a change condition from the list.
3. Make sure the change condition is in an active state.
By default, Active is selected for all change conditions.
4. Edit the condition statement appropriately.
For example, you might add a condition requiring a change request for lease extensions on any virtual machine
used for Demonstration.
5. Click Update.
Creating a Change Request

In this example, a user requests additional memory for a VMware virtual machine, a procedure not available with
Amazon EC2 cloud provisioning.
1. A user requests a specific change to a VMware virtual server using the procedures described in Managing Virtual
Assets in Cloud Provisioning.
ServiceNow displays a message informing the requester that this modification is subject to change control.
2. Click OK.
ServiceNow creates the change record with data from the original request and displays the record. If the
change request specifies an item that is a service catalog offering, such as a lease extension, then a message
appears at the top of the form containing a link to the request number. The requested modification is noted in
the Description field. The provisioning workflow begins but waits for change request approval.
26
Change Control
3. An approver approves the change request.

ServiceNow sends the requester a notification that contains a link to the virtual machine record.
4. The requester opens the virtual machine record from this link.
5. Under Related Links, the requester clicks Proceed with Change to confirm the changes, or click Cancel
Change to stop the change process.
If the requester clicks Proceed with Change, the provisioning workflow completes and makes the requested
modification. If the requester clicks Cancel Change, the workflow exits without making any modifications to
the virtual machine. After either selection, the system returns the requester to the source portal from which the
27
Change Control
request was made. The asset view shows the state of the virtual machine.
28
29
Amazon EC2
Overview
A ServiceNow cloud administrator must have expert knowledge of VMware and also be a proficient ServiceNow
administrator. Cloud administrators can see pending approvals for virtual machines and summary data regarding the
state of virtual machine deployments in the Service Monitoring Portal.
A cloud administrator can perform the following functions:
Define vCenters
Define catalog offerings
Set pricing for the offerings
Define provisioning rules

Define change control parameters for a virtual machine
Approve change requests associated with virtual machine modifications
Set properties applicable to cloud provisioning
Set up networking information for VMware guest customization
Monitor requests and key metrics related to requests surrounding virtual machines
Required Roles
The Virtual Provisioning Cloud Administrators group has or inherits these roles:
cloud_admin
itil
cloud_user
Prerequisites
Before configuring your instance for cloud provisioning, complete these prerequisites.
Activate the Plugin

Cloud provisioning requires Orchestration, which is available as a separate subscription from the rest of the
ServiceNow platform.
Cloud provisioning for VMware requires the Orchestration - VMware Support plugin. Activating this plugin also
activates the Orchestration and Web Service Consumer plugins if they are not already active.
Install a MID Server

Install a ServiceNow MID Server on a suitable machine in your network and configure it to communicate with the
instance. Ensure that the MID Server version is compatible with the instance version.
See the following pages for information about setting up your MID Server:
MID Server Requirements
MID Server Installation
MID Server Configuration
Install vCenter
Install the vCenter management application from VMware. Create the Windows and Linux templates on your ESX
Server that ServiceNow can use to create virtual machines from service catalog requests. Refer to VMware product
documentation for vCenter and the ESX Server for details about these procedures.
Example Configurations
Cloud administration tasks can be divided into these configurations:
Basic service catalog offerings: Use ServiceNow presets to test cloud provisioning in your environment and to
determine how you want to customize service catalog offerings. This is the easiest and quickest procedure for
configuring cloud provisioning.
Custom service catalog offerings: Build on the basic configuration by adding features to the provisioning
workflow. Give users more choices and apply prices to your catalog items.
Advanced service catalog offerings: Customize your catalog offerings, allowing users to request special
configurations or allowing provisioners to skip approvals and automate provisioning tasks.
Basic Service Catalog Offerings

Make sure you have a properly configured MID Server communicating with your instance. These procedures link
offerings associated with VMware templates to the default VMware Instance request item in the service catalog.
Users requesting virtual machines from this source can select only machine size or specifications such as CPU count,
memory, and data disk size. For the basic configurations, default sizes already exist as demo data or as custom sizes
from an upgraded instance.
1. Discover vCenter and the templates it contains by using ServiceNow Discovery or the utility described in
Gathering vCenter Data Without Running Discovery.
Discovering the templates makes them available for configuration as catalog items.
2. Create the catalog offerings (operating system selections) that are presented to users in the service catalog or use
the offerings provided in the base ServiceNow system.
3. Open each template record in the instance and link the template to a catalog offering.
This links the operating system selection that a user makes in the service catalog with the proper template.
4. Open the service catalog and click the VMware Instance link under Virtual Resources to request a VMware
instance.
You can select from a list of predefined sizes or customize the virtual machine by selecting the number of
CPUs, quantity of memory, and the storage disk size. When you order the virtual machine from the basic
configuration, manual approvals and provisioning tasks are required.
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Custom Service Catalog Offerings

These procedures build on the basic cloud provisioning configuration by providing additional options for the virtual
machines requested through the default VMware Instance service catalog link. The cloud administrator configures a
price structure based on hardware selections and creates a pool of IP addresses for provisioning. At this level of
customization, the system requires approvals, and the cloud operator must complete the provisioning tasks manually.
Note: Ensure that the tasks for the basic configuration are complete before attempting to add the customizations discussed here.
1. Configure these virtual machine specifications:

Size definitions: Create virtual machine offerings with different specifications, or sizes, based on a single
VMware template. For example, a CentOS 5.3 Linux template might come in three sizes (large, medium, or
small) based on the number of CPUs, memory, and disk space offered.
CPU selections: Customize service catalog hardware selections so that users can request the number of CPUs
for a virtual server.
Memory selections: Customize service catalog hardware selections so that users can request a specific amount
of memory for a virtual server.
Data disk size selections: Customize service catalog hardware selections so that users can request the virtual
server's data disk size.
Note: Prices for these specifications are calculated automatically from amounts configured in the Prices
module.
2. Define prices for each hardware element: CPU, memory, and data disk size.
The catalog price is calculated by the system as multiples of a unit price. All prices on the VMware Size
Definition [vmware_size] table and the hardware selection tables for CPU, memory, or data disk size are
calculated from prices defined in the Catalog VM Element Price [sc_vm_element_price] table. Pricing can be
used to integrate cloud provisioning with asset management model categories. For instructions on setting
prices for hardware elements, see Pricing.
3. Assign collections of IP addresses or IP pools to one or more VMware networks.
When a virtual machine is provisioned from that network, the workflow identifies the IP pool associated with
the network and selects an IP address from the pool for the newly-provisioned machine.
4. Create custom specifications for the catalog item, based on the different versions of Windows and Linux
operating systems that your organization offers.
This value appears in the Operating System choice list for the catalog item. The user's selection tells the
provisioning task which configuration information to use.
Advanced Service Catalog Offerings

These procedures build on the basic catalog offering configuration and the custom catalog offering configuration to
provide advanced customization to the service catalog and to the offerings. The cloud administrator configures the
catalog items for guest customization and task automation.
Note: Ensure that the basic and custom configurations are complete before attempting to add the customizations provided by these
procedures.
1. Configure the following:
31

Checkout redirect: [Optional] Configure the checkout redirect property to redirect the view after checkout to
the user's My Virtual Assets portal rather than to the Order Status form.
Size definitions: Create virtual machine offerings with different size definitions, based on a single VMware
template.
2. [Optional] Reconfigure the defaults for the duration of a virtual server lease in the appropriate properties.
The default length of a lease in the base ServiceNow system is 60 days. The maximum lease duration
permitted is 90 days.
3. Configure the provisioning rules.
Provisioning rules enable you to select which vCenter resources (datacenter, network, and folder) are used to
provision virtual machines for a specific category, such as Dev, QA, or Prod. Use provisioning rules to
organize multiple vCenters around the types of virtual machines they support.
4. Create catalog items for virtual servers from VMware templates and present the items to users in the service
catalog.
These catalog items minimize a requester's involvement by simplifying the process of selecting the appropriate
virtual server. A cloud administrator can create virtual machines with different specifications that are built
from the same template. Some of the options you can configure in the VMware catalog item record are:
Skip approval: Allow requests for this item to bypass an approval from the VMware Approvers group.
Task automation: Select the automation level for this item: Fully automatic, Semi automatic, or
Manual.
Guest customization: Select the settings to be applied to the newly provisioned virtual resource when guest
customization is enabled.
5. [Optional] Configure ServiceNow to create change requests when users request modifications to their VMware
machines from the My Virtual Assets portal.
Examples of modifications that generate changes are lease extensions, requests for additional memory, and
requests to terminate a virtual machine.
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Configuring Amazon EC2

Overview
Create one or more Amazon EC2 accounts (http:/ / aws. amazon. com/ ec2/ [1] ), and then configure ServiceNow to
communicate with those accounts. Make sure you copy the following information about your Amazon EC2 accounts
for use in the ServiceNow configuration procedures.
Certificate (download and store in a safe location)

Private key (download and store in a safe location)
Account number
Key pairs
Required Roles
Users who are members of the Virtual Provisioning Cloud Administrators group (cloud_admin role) can configure
Amazon EC2 accounts in ServiceNow.
Configuration Tasks
Perform these tasks in order to configure Amazon EC2 provisioning in ServiceNow, starting with the Eureka release.
If you are using an earlier release, see previous version information.
Configure the ServiceNow Amazon Web Services Account

To configure an AWS account, see Configuring Amazon Web Services.
Create Region Settings for the Account

1. In the EC2 Region Settings related list, click New.
2. In the Region Settings form, create a Name for the region, assign that region a Key pair, and select the Amazon
Region associated with the key pair.
Use the private key portion of this key pair along with user credentials to log in to any virtual machine created
with this key pair.
3. Click Submit.
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Customize Image Permissions

1. If the owner of a different AWS account has granted you permission to access images (AMIs) in their account,
configure your account to receive these images. Make sure you have the AWS account number that has the shared
images.
a. In the Shared Image Accounts related list, click New.
b. Enter a unique and descriptive name for the new shared account and provide Amazon EC2 account number
of the shared account.
c. Click Submit.
d. Repeat this procedure for additional shared accounts.
2. Click the Update Images related link to populate the EC2 Images related list with images provided by Amazon.
Versions Prior to the Eureka Release

For instances using the Dublin or Calgary release, use this procedure to configure an Amazon EC2 account in
ServiceNow.
Click the plus to expand previous version information
Enter the Amazon Certificate
Copy the certificate for your Amazon EC2 account into ServiceNow.
1. Navigate to Amazon EC2 > Configuration > Certificates.
2. Click New.
3. Create a new record with the following values:
Name: Enter a unique name
Format: PEM
Type: Trust Store Cert.
4. Copy your Amazon EC2 certificate and paste it into the PEM Certificate field.
5. Make sure the certificate begins and ends with
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE---------END CERTIFICATE-----
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6. Click Submit.
Generate the PKCS12 Key Store File
Generate a PKCS12 [2] key store file using the certificate and the private key downloaded when you created the
Amazon EC2 account. Record the key store alias and the password you create in this procedure for use in the next
task.
Generate the PKCS12 File
Generate the PKCS12 key store file using a tool such as OpenSSL. The following command creates the PKCS12 key
store file using OpenSSL on Linux. The key store alias can be any string. Enter this command on one line.
openssl pkcs12 -export -name <KEY STORE ALIAS> -out <KEY STORE FILE NAME> -in <AMAZON CERTIFICATE NAME> -inkey <AMAZON PRIVATE KEY>
An example of a command line might be:

openssl pkcs12 -export -name snc_aws -out snc_aws.pkcs12 -in aws_auto_x509_cert.pem -inkey aws_auto_private_key_.pem
Note: The PKCS12 key store file format is binary and the pem files are text files. Also remember that the private key should be
protected. The certificate is encrypted with the password in ServiceNow but does contain the private key.
Attach the Key Store File

Attach the key store file created in the previous procedure to the ServiceNow key store record and provide the key
store password.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Navigate to Amazon EC2 > Configuration > Certificates.

Click New.
Enter a unique Name and set the Type to PKCS12 Key Store.
Enter the Key store password.
Click the attachment icon ( ) and attach the PKCS12 file generated in the previous procedure.
35

6. Click Submit.
Configure the ServiceNow Amazon EC2 Account
1. Navigate to Amazon EC2 > Configuration > Account.
2. Click New.
3. In the EC2 Account form:
Enter a unique Name for the account.

Enter the Account number.
Select the Amazon EC2 Certificate and Key store created in Tasks 1 and 2.
Enter the Key store alias used to generate the PKCS12 key store file.
4. Click Submit.
5. Open the account you just created.
6. Under Related Links, click Update Key Pairs.
After a brief pause, ServiceNow populates the EC2 Key Pairs related list. Key pairs consist of a private key
and a fingerprint. To launch an EC2 instance in a region and access it via SSH, you use the private key from
the key pair for that region.
7. In the EC2 Region Settings related list, click New.

8. In the Region Settings form, create a Name for the region, assign that region a Key pair, and select the Amazon
Region associated with the key pair.
36

Use the private key portion of this key pair to log into any virtual machine created with this key pair.
9. Click Submit.
10. If the owner of a different EC2 account has granted you permission to access images (AMIs) in their account,
configure your account to receive these images. Make sure you have the Amazon EC2 account number that has
the shared images.
a. In the Shared Image Accounts related list, click New.
b. Enter a unique and descriptive name for the new shared account and provide Amazon EC2 account number
of the shared account.
c. Click Submit.
d. Repeat this procedure for additional shared accounts.
11. Click the Update Images related link to populate the EC2 Images related list with images provided by
Amazon.
Protecting the Private Key
To avoid distributing your private key to users who request an instance:
1. Create an EC2 instance using the private key.
2. Configure this instance with a different user name and password.
3. Create an image from this instance.
Amazon provides tools for doing this.
4. Provision requests for instances from this image and distribute the user name and password to the users.
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Regions
AWS regions are the geographic locations of AWS datacenters, accessed though SOAP endpoints. After you
configure an AWS account in ServiceNow, you can create EC2 instances in any of these regions. The AWS regions
are:
Asia Pacific (Singapore) Region

Asia Pacific (Sydney) Region
Asia Pacific (Tokyo) Region
EU (Ireland) Region
South America (Sao Paulo) Region
US-East (Northern Virginia) Region
US-West (Northern California) Region
US-West (Oregon) Region
Managing Regions
The list of AWS regions is populated by default when you activate Amazon Web Services. To see the list of
available regions, navigate to Amazon Web Services > Configuration > Regions.
You can update the list with any new regions that Amazon might add or restore the list, as needed. You do not need
to update regions if the region in which you want to create EC2 instances already appears in the EC2 Regions list.
To update the AWS Regions list, run Discovery for the AWS account. For more information on running Discovery
for AWS accounts, see Discovering an AWS Cloud.
References
[1] http:/ / aws. amazon. com/ ec2/
[2] http:/ / www. flatmtn. com/ article/ creating-pkcs12-certificates
38
Creating Catalog Items from EC2 Images
39

Overview
An administrator can create catalog items for virtual servers from Amazon EC2 images and present the items to
users in the service catalog. These catalog items minimize a requester's involvement by simplifying the process of
selecting the appropriate virtual server. An administrator can create virtual machines with different specifications
that are built from the same image and presented to users in the service catalog by size (or EC2 type).
Tables
The following tables are used for this feature.
Table
Description
Virtual Machine Template

[cmdb_ci_vm_template]
Contains virtual machine templates from Amazon EC2 and VMware.
EC2 Approved Image

[ec2_approved_images]
Contains only the EC2 images approved for provisioning through the service catalog. This table extends
the Virtual Machine Template [cmdb_ci_vm_template] table.
EC2 Image [ec2_image]
Contains all the EC2 images in the system, including approved images. This table extends the Virtual
Machine Template [cmdb_ci_vm_template] table.
EC2 Size [ec2_size]
Contains all the EC2 size (type) definitions. This table extends VM Size Definition [vm_size] table.
Configuration
Before you create a catalog item from an EC2 image, configure the categories in the service catalog, determine the
appropriate setting for the check-out redirect property, and define the virtual machine sizes.
Categories
See Service Catalog Categories for instructions on creating categories and sub-categories for catalog items. The
category hierarchy determines the category path for locating EC2 virtual machines in the service catalog.
Checkout Redirect Property

A property called One-step checkout redirect (glide.vm.checkout_redirect) controls the view presented
to virtual machine requesters in the service catalog. By default, this property is set to false, which redirects the view
to the Order Status form when the requester clicks Order Now. When this property is set to true, ServiceNow
redirects the requester to his or her My Virtual Assets portal. This property is located in Cloud Provisioning >
Management > Properties and is available starting with the Calgary release.
Size Definitions
ServiceNow includes a full range of current Amazon EC2 sizes [1]. The prices shown for these sizes are arbitrary and
do not reflect any realistic price structure. These prices are calculated from the price per unit defined in the EC2
Element Price record.
Some examples of the EC2 sizes are:
M3 Double Extra Large

M2 High-Memory Extra Large
M2 High-Memory Double Extra Large
M2 High-Memory Quadruple Extra Large
C1 High-CPU Medium
C1 High-CPU Extra Large
New sizes provided by Amazon must be added manually.

1. Navigate to Amazon Web Services > Service Catalog > Sizes.
2. Click New.
3. Provide the required information.
Name: Friendly name that has some indication of the actual size of the virtual machine.
API name: Actual Amazon EC2 name for this size.
4. Click Submit.
To change the price of an existing EC2 size:
1. Navigate to Amazon Web Services > Service Catalog > Sizes.
2. Configure the list to show the Price factor column.
This is an arbitrary value that the system multiplies by the unit price from the Price factor record to determine
the price of each image size.
3. Edit the Price factor value for the image size.

The system calculates the new price immediately in the size record.
40
Pricing
The base system contains one price record called Price factor. This record defines the unit price that is applied to all
EC2 virtual machines provisioned from this instance. The price in this record is an arbitrary value and might not
reflect the price structure in your organization. Do not delete the Price factor record, which would set all EC2 image
prices to zero. To change the price structure for the service catalog offerings, edit the existing record.
To change the unit price for a virtual machine:
1. Navigate to Amazon Web Services > Service Catalog > Prices
2. Open the Price factor record.
3. Change the value in the Service catalog price field.

This is the amount charged to the user per unit as defined in the size record. A good practice is to modify the
price per unit rather than changing the value in the Elements per unit price field.
4. Click Update.
Creating a Catalog Item

EC2 images approved for provisioning from the service catalog are contained in the EC2 Approved Image
[ec2_approved_images] table. To view catalog items created from EC2 images, navigate to Amazon Web Services
> Maintain Items > EC2 Items.
To create a service catalog item from an approved image:
1. Navigate to Amazon Web Services > Instances > Approved Images.
2. Select the image to use as a catalog item.
3. Under Related Links, click Create Catalog Item.

The VM Catalog Item form opens with the following fields pre-populated.
Name: EC2 Instance - <size> - approved image name.

Short description: By default, this value is the same as the name.
Description: The description of the size selected.
Price: The price of the size selected. In the base system, this value is calculated from the hourly cost of
each size [2] in the most expensive, allowed region, multiplied by a default lease duration of 60 days. If you
change the default lease duration time, you must recalculate the price manually. These price estimates might
be higher than corresponding prices offered for EC2 virtual machines in your service catalog.
VM template: The approved image from which this catalog item was created.
41

VM size: The smallest ordered size for the image from which this catalog item was created.
4. Complete the form as described in Defining Catalog Items.
5. Select the virtual machine size in the VM size field.
By default, the price is determined by the selection in the VM size field. If the size changes, or the price of the
size changes, the system recalculates the item's price automatically.
6. To override the price calculation manually, clear the Calculate check box and enter a new price for this item.
7. Clear the Skip approval check box to require an approval for this item from the EC2 Approvers group.
By default the catalog item skips the approval. When you skip approvals, other approvals that apply to
requests through the service catalog are still required.
8. Select the appropriate Task automation mode:
Fully automatic: [Default] This selection enables automatic provisioning. No catalog task is assigned to the
EC2 Operators group.
Manual: A catalog task for specifying provisioning information is assigned to the EC2 Operators group with
no automatic selections. The EC2 operator can review the settings before closing the task.
9. Click Update.
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Field Dependencies for Image Sizes

Values in these pre-populated fields are based on the size of the image you select.
Name
Short description
Price
Description
If you change the image size, but no other values, the pre-populated data adjusts according to the parameters of the
new size. However, if you change a value in a pre-populated field before changing the size, the field value you
changed is not updated when the size changes. This behavior allows you to change the price, name, or description of
specific sized images.
Example
The default name of a service catalog item is EC2 Instance - T1 Micro - ami-vpc-nat-1.0.0-beta.i386-ebs. You
change the size to M1 Medium without modifying the Name field. The system changes the name to EC2 Instance M1 Medium - ami-vpc-nat-1.0.0-beta.i386-ebs. If you edit the Name field before changing the size, the item name
is not changed.
Each of the four pre-populated fields behaves the same and is independent of the others. For example, if you change
the name of the item but not the short description before selecting a new size, the name value is unaffected, but the
short description adjusts to match the requirements of the new size.
Verifying the Path to the Catalog Item

After creating the catalog item and the category path, verify your configuration in the Service Catalog.
1. Open the service catalog and follow the category path you created to this EC2 catalog item.
The top level category may appear similar to the following:
2. Click on the virtual machine you want and provide the requested information.
See Configure the Lease Duration for information about how to configure the properties that control the lease
start and end date defaults. Enter the name of a business service or application that depends on this virtual
machine.
43
3. Click Order Now to request the virtual machine.
References
[1] http:/ / aws. amazon. com/ ec2/ instance-types/
[2] http:/ / aws. amazon. com/ ec2/ pricing/
44
Amazon EC2 Approvals and Provisioning

Overview
Use these procedures to make Amazon EC2 images available for provisioning from the service catalog. Images are
not available until all Amazon and ServiceNow account configuration is complete. Two separate approvals are
required before an EC2 instance is available for provisioning:
Approval by the cloud administrator for the image to be available to users in the service catalog.
Approval by an EC2 approver of a user request for an instance.
If the user request is approved, members of the provisioning group create the instance. When the virtual machine is
provisioned, ServiceNow automatically creates a new asset in Asset Management. This new asset appears in the
requester's My Assets portal.
Task 1: Approve Available Images

After you establish the Amazon EC2 account (http:/ / aws. amazon. com/ ec2/ [1] ) and configure Amazon Web
Services in ServiceNow, retrieve the list of available images and approve them for the service catalog offering. In
this task, the administrator decides which images are available for selection in the specific regions defined by
Amazon. Only approved images are available to fill requests from the service catalog.
1. Navigate to Amazon Web Services > Instances > Available Images.
2. Select an image from the list and review its configuration.
3. Click Approve.
The image is not yet available to users and must be configured as a service catalog offering by the cloud
administrator.
Task 2: Set up the Service Catalog Offering

The administrator must link the approved images to the operating systems offered to users in the service catalog.
1. Navigate to Amazon Web Services > Service Catalog > Offerings and click New.
2. In the Offering field of the Catalog EC2 OS Selection form, enter the operating system as it should appear to
users.
3. Click Submit.
4. Create a separate record for each operating system offered.
5. Navigate to Amazon WebServices > Service Catalog > Sizes and click New.
6. Enter a descriptive Name that conveys the size of the image, and enter the value of the corresponding Amazon
EC2 size in the API field.
For example, a High-Memory Double Extra Large virtual machine uses an API value of m2.2xlarge. See Size
Definitions for a list of Amazon EC2 size values.
7. Click Submit.
8. Navigate to Amazon Web Services > Instances > Approved Images.
9. Select an image from the list.
10. Select an operating system in the Catalog offering field to link with this image and click Submit.
This is the name that is presented to users requesting an EC2 instance from the service catalog.
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Task 3: Approve and Provision the Request

The following user groups control the approval and provisioning of requests. Ensure that users are assigned to these
groups before offering Amazon EC2 instances in the service catalog. See Creating Users and Associating to a Group
for instructions.
EC2 Approvers: approve all instances requested through the service catalog for provisioning.
EC2 Operators: select the Amazon EC2 account, region, and image to fulfill approved requests from the service
catalog.
Approval
Requests for virtual machines in the base system can be approved or rejected by members in either of the following
approval groups:
EC2 Approvers
Approvers pick up their tasks in Service Desk > My Approvals. Only one member of either approval group is
required to approve a request. The approver opens the request and clicks Approved or Rejected.
Note: If the approver rejects the request, the process is finished, and no instance is provisioned. The system notifies the user that the
request was rejected.
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Provisioning
Approved requests appear in the Service Desk > My Groups Work queue for the members of the EC2 Operators
group.
1. Open the task and select the Amazon Web Services account from which to provision the requested instance.
2. In Region settings, select a region for the instance (an Amazon EC2 datacenter).
Available regions are those selected during the Amazon EC2 configuration. A choice list of available images
is added to the form for this task. This list is filtered to show:
Images in the region selected for the account
Images that match the OS requested
Images in the size requested
3. Enter a user-friendly name for this instance in the Instance name field. (Dublin)
ServiceNow uses this name to identify the instance in the My Virtual Assets portal and in the CMDB. Amazon
uses this name as the Name Tag in the EC2 instance list. If you request more than one instance, ServiceNow
adds a unique number to the specified name for each instance. For example, three instances requested with the
name TestLab become TestLab1, TestLab2, and TestLab3. If the Instance name field is blank, the instance
is identified by a machine generated string created by Amazon. This field is available with the Dublin release.
4. Select an Image to provision and click Close Task to launch the provisioning workflow that creates the EC2
instance.
When the workflow has finished provisioning the instance, the requester receives an email containing the
instance ID, IP address, and the public DNS for the instances created. If provisioning fails, the workflow
notifies the provisioning group by email.
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Task 4: Configure the Lease Duration

The default setting for a lease period and the maximum allowed duration of a virtual server lease are controlled by
the following properties found in Cloud Provisioning > Management > Properties. For instructions on how to
configure lease start and end times for individual virtual machines, see Requesting an Instance.
Default lease duration: This property (glide.vm.lease_duration) controls the length of the lease period
automatically configured for a virtual server request. The default duration is 60 days from the lease start time,
which begins on the current date and time of the request. The actual time of the lease is calculated from the time
the instance is provisioned, after any approvals.
Max lease duration: This property (glide.vm.max_lease_duration) controls the maximum length of
the lease period permitted for a virtual server. The default maximum duration is 90 days from the lease start time.
This property prevents virtual resources that have been ignored from running indefinitely.
Note: ServiceNow applies the same values to both Amazon EC2 and VMware lease durations.
Grace Period
A configurable grace period enables an administrator to delay the termination of a virtual machine when the lease
end date expires. When the lease ends, the virtual machine is powered off, but is available for use until the end of the
grace period. To change the default grace period of 7 days, navigate to Cloud Provisioning > Management >
Properties and edit the value in the Grace period after lease end until VM termination property
(glide.vm.grace_period).
When the lease ends, the platform runs the Amazon EC2 End of Lease workflow, which powers off the virtual
machine and notifies the requester that the lease has expired. The Amazon EC2 End of Lease workflow evaluates the
glide.vm.grace_period property to determine when the Terminate Amazon EC2 Instance workflow should
run. The requester is notified when the virtual machine is terminated (or when termination has failed).
To configure a different workflow to run when a lease is terminated.
1. In the application navigation filter, enter task_action_workflow.list.
2. Select the end_of_lease action for the EC2 Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_ec2_instance] table.
3. Select a different workflow to run in the Workflow field.
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4. Click Update.
Discovering Existing EC2 Instances

1. Navigate to Amazon Web Services > Configuration > Account and select the account for the instances you
want to discover.
2. Under Related Links, click Create Discovery Schedule.
The Discovery Schedule page is displayed.
3. Under Related Links, click Discover Now.
After Discovery has completed, all discovered Amazon resources will be displayed on the account page.
Terminating an EC2 Instance

You can the request termination of an EC2 instance at any time during its lease from the My Virtual Assets portal in
the service catalog. A cloud administrator can configure the system to generate a change request automatically when
a user requests the early termination of a virtual machine. When an instance reaches the end of its lease (or its grace
period), cloud provisioning terminates the virtual machine automatically and notifies the user.
Requesting an Amazon EC Instance

Overview
Users with the cloud_user role (Cloud Users group) can request an Amazon EC2 virtual machine from the
ServiceNow service catalog. Requested virtual machines are subject to normal approvals and some special
provisioning tasks. A workflow enables a user to make a service catalog request to terminate a virtual machine. Any
virtual machine created from a ServiceNow instance can be destroyed from that instance. This functionality requires
the Orchestration - Amazon EC2 plugin.
For role-based information about configuring and managing virtual machines in ServiceNow, see Cloud
Provisioning.
49
50
Requesting an Instance
Users requesting an Amazon EC2 instance from the service catalog must have the cloud_user role.
1. Navigate to Self-Service > Service Catalog.
2. Select Amazon EC2 Instance from
the Virtual Resources category.
The Amazon EC2 instance
request form appears.
3. In the request form, complete the
following fields:
Business purpose: Enter a brief
description of how this virtual
server will be used.
Start and End: Select the start
and end times for this virtual
Service Catalog
machine lease. The lease start
time is set automatically for the
current date and time. In the base ServiceNow system, the lease end time is set to 60 days after the start time,
and the maximum lease duration is limited to 90 days. The system does not allow requesters to set a lease end
time beyond the configured limit. The lease duration is calculated from the time the virtual machine is actually
provisioned, which occurs after the request is approved. If you request a virtual machine for now (the current
date), and there is a delay in approval, the end date is reset according to the configured lease duration time.
Business Service: [Optional] Name a business service that depends on this virtual machine. When
Orchestration creates the virtual server, it also creates the relationships to this business service in the CMDB.
Application: [Optional] Name the principal application that depends on this virtual machine, such as an
exchange server or an SQL Server database. When Orchestration creates the virtual machine, it also creates the
relationships to this application in the CMDB.
Used for: Select the purpose of this virtual machine (such as Development or Training) from the choice list.
With the Dublin Release, ServiceNow does not automatically end the lease for virtual machines marked as
Production. Instead, ServiceNow renews the lease on Production virtual machines automatically for the
default lease duration and sends a notification to the requestor each time the lease is updated.
Offering: Select the offering (such as the operating system, database server, or web server) for the virtual
machine you are requesting.
Size: Select a class of server for this operating system that has the desired features (memory, storage, CPU
speed).
Number of instances: (Versions prior to Eureka) Enter the quantity of instances of this type that you want.
Account: Select the AWS account.
VPCs: Select the VPC to provision the virtual machine into.
VPC Security Group: Select and add the VPC security groups from the list of available security groups. You
can only add up to 5 security groups.
Subnets: Select the subnet to provision the virtual machine into. The available subnets are automatically
populated when you select the VPC.
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4. Click Order Now to order the
instance.
Your view changes either to the
My Virtual Assets portal or to
the
Order
Status
form,
depending on how the Service
Catalog is configured. The portal
shows the various gauges
associated with the logged in
user's virtual assets and requests.
To view the current request,
click the request item number in
the My Virtual Asset Requests
list or expand the Stage column
to determine where the request is
in the provisioning process.
EC2 Order Catalog Item
5. Bookmark this page and return to it to track the status of this request.
Upon successful creation of the instance, you receive an email containing the instance ID, IP address, and the
public DNS for the instances created. (Eureka) If the provisioning request fails for any reason, an incident is
automatically created and assigned to the Cloud Administrators group (if the glide.vm.create_incident system
property is enabled).
Terminating an Instance
You can request the termination of a running EC2 instance provisioned for you any time during the lease by using
the My Virtual Assets portal in the service catalog. When the virtual machine reaches the end of its lease or grace
period, ServiceNow automatically terminates the instance without notice. Virtual machines with a Used for value of
Production do not automatically expire (Dublin release). You must manually terminate these virtual machines.
Amazon EC2 Integration for Training Partners

Overview
ServiceNow training partners can share Amazon EC2 [1] images that the ServiceNow Training Department has
prepared by activating the Orchestration - Amazon EC2 Integration for Training Partners plugin. These images can
be used to run instances for training on the ServiceNow platform. This functionality is built on top of the
ServiceNow Amazon EC2 application.
Note: If you are using a version of ServiceNow earlier than Calgary, see previous version information in Amazon EC2 for Training
Partners - Versions Prior to Calgary.
Enhancements
Calgary
The following enhancement has been added in the Calgary release.
Lab termination time: When you generate lab records, ServiceNow gives you the option of setting a termination
date and time for the lab instance. This allows you to terminate the virtual machine when it is no longer needed, to
avoid unnecessary cost.
Activating the Plugin

This feature requires the Orchestration - Amazon EC2 Integration for Training Partners plugin. Amazon EC2 for
cloud provisioning is a feature of Orchestration, which is available as a separate subscription from the rest of the
ServiceNow platform. To purchase an Orchestration subscription and have this plugin activated, contact your
account manager.
Installed with the Plugin

The following new elements are installed by the Orchestration - Amazon EC2 Integration for Training Partners
plugin.
Property
The glide.vm.ec2_lab_duration property sets the duration, in days, for all virtual lab instances (Calgary
release). Lab instances are automatically terminated when they reach this limit. The default duration in the base
system is 5 days. To configure this property, navigate to Amazon EC2 > Lab Management > Lab Properties.
Tables
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53
Table
Lab [lab]
Description
Stores the labs, which are expected to be one per class.
Lab link [lab_link] Stores the individual lab instances, which are expected to be one per student.
Business Rules
Business Rule
Description
Update lab on status
Updates the State in the Lab link [lab_link] table when an instance state in the Computer [cmdb_ci_computer] table
changes from pending install to installed or from installed to retired.
Prevent deleting with

active labs
Prevents a lab from being deleted when the lab contains open instances. Users are notified to close any open instances
before the lab is terminated.
Script includes
Script Include
Description
GenerateLabs
Generates the Lab link [lab_link] records for a lab.
EC2LabUtil
Helps check status to display appropriate UI actions.
Step 1: Set Up Amazon EC2

To share ServiceNow training images, you must first acquire an Amazon EC2 account and perform the configuration
tasks described in Configuring Amazon EC2. The last step in this process is to add the ServiceNow Training
Account as a shared account. Contact the ServiceNow Training Department for details on receiving account
numbers.
Step 2: Approve Images

After configuring EC2 and adding the Training Department account number, approve the training images. Task 1 is
the only task required from this procedure.
Step 3: Set Up the Labs

1. Navigate to Amazon EC2 > Lab Management > Labs and click New.
2. Complete these fields in the form.
Name: A unique and descriptive name for the lab.
Notes: Optional information about the purpose and contents of the lab.
Prefix: Prefix for the ID number of each lab. For example, if advadmin is the prefix, the individual labs are
advadmin01, advadmin02, advadmin03, and so on.
Image: Image the training department has provided for this lab, selected from the list of available images.
Termination time is supplied when you generate and provision the labs.
3. Click Submit.
4. Repeat this procedure for each class that has a shared training image available.
Step 4: Generate and Provision Labs

1. In the lab record you just created, click Generate Lab Records under Related Links.
2. In the dialog box that appears, enter the number of lab records to generate.
Amazon EC2 accounts have an initial limit of 20 instances. To raise the limit of instances allowed to run
simultaneously in your Amazon EC2 account, use this form: http:/ / aws. amazon. com/ contact-us/
ec2-request/ [1].
3. For the purpose of partner training, clear the Randomize lab numbers check box.
This control is intended for instances created by ServiceNow for training.
4. Accept the default Termination time or select another date and time.
The
system
calculates
the
termination
time
by
adding
the
duration
from
the
glide.vm.ec2_lab_duration property to the current date and time. The default lab duration in the
base ServiceNow system is 5 days.
5. Select the Do not schedule the lab termination check box to allow the lab to run indefinitely.
This selection clears the Termination time field. Labs created in this state must be terminated manually.
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6. Click Generate Labs to generate the lab records.
7. After the lab records are created, verify that the number of labs looks correct.
8. Click Provision Labs under Related Links.
This action provisions the requested number of lab instances and creates a scheduled job to terminate the labs
if you selected a termination time. A status message at the top of the page advises that provisioning has started.
The requester receives an email when the provisioning is complete. Do not click the link again to avoid
creating an unwanted set of lab instances.
9. When the labs are provisioned, the lab links contain the Amazon EC2 IP addresses.
You might have to reload the form to see these.
10. To access a running lab instance, enter either the Amazon EC2 IP address or the EC2 DNS in the address line of
a browser.
11. To terminate a lab for which no termination date was scheduled, open the lab record and click Terminate lab
under Related Links.
Step 5: Configure Amazon EC2 Security Group

To make the shared ServiceNow training images to be visible:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Log into your Amazon EC2 account via http://aws.amazon.com/ [2].

Select the EC2 tab.
Under Network & Security, select Security Groups.
Edit the default security groups inbound rules to add ports 80 and 443.
Apply the change.
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Configuring a Custom DNS

To provide URLs to students based on the labs' unique names, customize the Update Lab DNS ServiceNow
workflow as follows:
1. Open the Update Lab DNS workflow and check it out for edit.
For instructions on using workflows, see Creating a Workflow.
2. Replace the Run Script activities titled DNS Update for Provisioning and DNS Update for terminating with
Orchestration activities to update your DNS server appropriately.
The
necessary
data
is
available
in
an
array
of
objects
workflow.scratchpad.amazon_instances, where each object has the following fields:
in
the
variable
ec2_ip: The Amazon EC2 IP address

ec2_dns: The Amazon EC2 DNS
custom_dns: The custom name on the Lab Link form
3. Configure your DNS to map the custom_dns names to their Amazon EC2 IP addresses.
For example, adminoct05 with an Amazon IP address of 1.2.3.4
https://adminoct05.mycompany.com and directs it to the appropriate lab instance.
References
[1] http:/ / aws. amazon. com/ contact-us/ ec2-request/
[2] http:/ / aws. amazon. com/
forms
the
URL
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VMware
VMware for Cloud Provisioning
Overview
The VMware application for cloud provisioning enables users to request VMware virtual servers through the
ServiceNow service catalog. When a user requests a virtual server, Orchestration executes preconfigured approval
and provisioning tasks. If the request is approved, Orchestration automatically creates a virtual server from a stored
template, configures the virtual machine, and then starts the server. Cloud provisioning is available with the Calgary
release.
VMware for cloud provisioning is a feature of Orchestration, which is available as a separate subscription from the
rest of the ServiceNow platform.
Upgrade Instructions
After you upgrade from an earlier version to the Calgary release, the information in VMware vCenter must be
updated. To add data and update the relationships, either run ServiceNow Discovery or discover vCenter details
using the discovery utility that does not require the full Discovery product.
How it Works
Orchestration in the ServiceNow platform integrates with the vCenter [1] API and adds VMware workflow activities
to the existing Workflow application. These activities enable Orchestration to clone new virtual machines from
templates, configure virtual machines, and power virtual machines on and off.
Provisioning Tasks by Group

Tasks for setting up a virtualization product, provisioning virtual resources, and requesting virtual machines from the
service catalog depend on the user group to which you belong.
Virtual Provisioning Cloud Administrator: Members of this group own the cloud provisioning environment
and are responsible for configuring the different virtualization providers used by cloud provisioning.
Administrators can create service catalog items from VMware templates and Amazon EC2 images, approve
requests for virtual machines, and monitor the cloud provisioning environment using the Service Monitoring
Portal.
Virtual Provisioning Cloud Operator: Members of this group fulfill provisioning requests from users.
Operators perform the day-to-day work of cloud provisioning by completing tasks that appear in the Cloud
Operations Portal. Operators are assigned to specific virtualization providers and must be technically adept with
the products they support.
Virtual Provisioning Cloud Users: Members of this group can request virtual machines from the service catalog
and use the My Virtual Assets portal to manage any virtual machines that are assigned to them.
Asset Management Integration

The My Assets plugin creates a new model and model category called VMware Instance. The system creates a new
asset for this model when cloud provisioning fulfills a virtual machine request, and then creates a VMware
configuration item (CI). The new asset appears in the requester's My Assets portal. When the virtual machine is
terminated, asset management retires the asset. The My Assets plugin is automatic for new Calgary instances, but
must be activated for upgraded instances.

Users with the admin role can activate the My Assets plugin on an instance upgraded to Calgary.
Click the plus to expand instructions for activating a plugin.
If you have the admin role, use the following steps to activate the plugin.
1. Navigate to System Definition > Plugins.
2. Right-click the plugin name on the list and select Activate/Upgrade.
If the plugin depends on other plugins, these plugins are listed along with their activation status.
3. [Optional] If available, select the Load demo data check box.
Some plugins include demo datasample records that are designed to illustrate plugin features for common use cases. Loading demo data is
a good policy when you first activate the plugin on a development or test instance. You can load demo data after the plugin is activated by
repeating this process and selecting the check box.
4. Click Activate.
Requirements
All virtual machine templates must contain VMware Tools.
For Windows virtual machines (VMs), click here [2] to determine whether Microsoft Sysprep is required on the
vCenter instance.
The vCenter user must have proper credentials for cloning, customization, and powering on the virtual machine.
On Windows 2003 templates, the password for an Administrator must be blank on the base image.

This feature requires the Orchestration - VMware Support plugin. VMware for cloud provisioning is a feature of
Orchestration, which is available as a separate subscription from the rest of the ServiceNow platform.
Selecting a role for the VMware vCenter integration

While configuring ServiceNow to connect to vCenter, you supply credentials for a vCenter user. The user's
permissions in vCenter determine which VMware tasks the user can perform in the ServiceNow instance. Based on
the role that you select, you can implement one of a variety of levels of permission.
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Administrator role in VMware

The Administrator role provides all privileges available in vCenter. This includes access to every operation that
ServiceNow supports plus all of the features that ServiceNow does not use. Using the Administrator role is a simple
way to grant a ServiceNow instance full power.
Full access
It is possible define a role that provides the ServiceNow instance enough access to perform all supported operations
without granting full Administrator privileges. With this role, ServiceNow users can run Discovery, view all
resources, perform all operations (Start, Stop, Pause, Snapshot, Terminate, VM Modifications), and provision new
VMs (including guest customization).
One way to accomplish this is to clone the "Virtual Machine Power User (sample)" role that is provided with
vCenter and then edit the role to add the following additional permissions:
Datastore > Allocate Space

Network > Assign Network
Resource > Assign virtual machine to resource pool
Virtual Machine > Inventory > Create from existing
Virtual Machine > Inventory > Create new

Virtual Machine > Inventory > Remove
Virtual Machine > Provisioning (All in this category)
Virtual Machine Power user

The "Virtual Machine Power User (sample)" role that is provided with vCenter allows a user to browse the datastore,
schedule tasks, and perform many VM operations. The role enables ServiceNow users to run Discovery, view all
resources, and perform the Start, Stop, Pause, and Snapshot operations and to perform VM modifications like adding
a disk.
This role does not have permission to provision new VMs or to terminate existing VMs.
Virtual Machine user

The "Virtual Machine User (sample)", slightly less powerful than the Power User role, allows a user to browse the
datastore, schedule tasks, and perform some VM operations. It provides enough for ServiceNow users to run
Discovery, view all resources, and perform the Start, Stop, and Pause operations.
The role does not have permission to provision new VMs, terminate existing VMs, manage snapshots, or make VM
configuration modifications.
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Read-only user
The "Read-only" role allows a user limited read access to the system without any other privileges. The role allows
ServiceNow users to run Discovery and view resources.
The role does not have permission to provision new VMs or to run any VM operations.
Enhancements
Eureka
The new activities Delete Snapshot, Get VM Events, and Get VM Guest Info are available.
Configuration of Windows VMs has been updated to support Windows workgroups.
An alternate IP address can be provided when using an IP pool to select a static IP address.
DHCP is supported for configuring VMs.
A cloud administrator can provision VMs to use datastores with the least remaining space sufficient to create the
VM.
References
[1] http:/ / www. vmware. com/ products/ vcenter-server/
[2] http:/ / kb. vmware. com/ selfservice/ microsites/ search. do?language=en_US& cmd=displayKC& externalId=1005593
Cloud Administration for VMware VMware

Overview
A ServiceNow cloud administrator must have expert knowledge of VMware and also be a proficient ServiceNow
administrator. Cloud administrators can see pending approvals for virtual machines and summary data regarding the
state of virtual machine deployments in the Service Monitoring Portal.
A cloud administrator can perform the following functions:
Define vCenters
Define catalog offerings
Set pricing for the offerings
Define provisioning rules
Define change control parameters for a virtual machine
Approve change requests associated with virtual machine modifications
Set properties applicable to cloud provisioning
Set up networking information for VMware guest customization
Monitor requests and key metrics related to requests surrounding virtual machines
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Required Roles
The Virtual Provisioning Cloud Administrators group has or inherits these roles:
cloud_admin
itil
cloud_user
Prerequisites
Before configuring your instance for cloud provisioning, complete these prerequisites.
Activate the Plugin

Cloud provisioning requires Orchestration, which is available as a separate subscription from the rest of the
ServiceNow platform.
Cloud provisioning for VMware requires the Orchestration - VMware Support plugin. Activating this plugin also
activates the Orchestration and Web Service Consumer plugins if they are not already active.
Install a MID Server

Install a ServiceNow MID Server on a suitable machine in your network and configure it to communicate with the
instance. Ensure that the MID Server version is compatible with the instance version.
See the following pages for information about setting up your MID Server:
MID Server Requirements
MID Server Installation
MID Server Configuration
Install vCenter
Install the vCenter management application from VMware. Create the Windows and Linux templates on your ESX
Server that ServiceNow can use to create virtual machines from service catalog requests. Refer to VMware product
documentation for vCenter and the ESX Server for details about these procedures.
Example Configurations
Cloud administration tasks can be divided into these configurations:
Basic service catalog offerings: Use ServiceNow presets to test cloud provisioning in your environment and to
determine how you want to customize service catalog offerings. This is the easiest and quickest procedure for
configuring cloud provisioning.
Custom service catalog offerings: Build on the basic configuration by adding features to the provisioning
workflow. Give users more choices and apply prices to your catalog items.
Advanced service catalog offerings: Customize your catalog offerings, allowing users to request special
configurations or allowing provisioners to skip approvals and automate provisioning tasks.
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Basic Service Catalog Offerings

Make sure you have a properly configured MID Server communicating with your instance. These procedures link
offerings associated with VMware templates to the default VMware Instance request item in the service catalog.
Users requesting virtual machines from this source can select only machine size or specifications such as CPU count,
memory, and data disk size. For the basic configurations, default sizes already exist as demo data or as custom sizes
from an upgraded instance.
1. Discover vCenter and the templates it contains by using ServiceNow Discovery or the utility described in
Gathering vCenter Data Without Running Discovery.
Discovering the templates makes them available for configuration as catalog items.
2. Create the catalog offerings (operating system selections) that are presented to users in the service catalog or use
the offerings provided in the base ServiceNow system.
3. Open each template record in the instance and link the template to a catalog offering.
This links the operating system selection that a user makes in the service catalog with the proper template.
4. Open the service catalog and click the VMware Instance link under Virtual Resources to request a VMware
instance.
You can select from a list of predefined sizes or customize the virtual machine by selecting the number of
CPUs, quantity of memory, and the storage disk size. When you order the virtual machine from the basic
configuration, manual approvals and provisioning tasks are required.
Custom Service Catalog Offerings

These procedures build on the basic cloud provisioning configuration by providing additional options for the virtual
machines requested through the default VMware Instance service catalog link. The cloud administrator configures a
price structure based on hardware selections and creates a pool of IP addresses for provisioning. At this level of
customization, the system requires approvals, and the cloud operator must complete the provisioning tasks manually.
Note: Ensure that the tasks for the basic configuration are complete before attempting to add the customizations discussed here.
1. Configure these virtual machine specifications:

Size definitions: Create virtual machine offerings with different specifications, or sizes, based on a single
VMware template. For example, a CentOS 5.3 Linux template might come in three sizes (large, medium, or
small) based on the number of CPUs, memory, and disk space offered.
CPU selections: Customize service catalog hardware selections so that users can request the number of CPUs
for a virtual server.
Memory selections: Customize service catalog hardware selections so that users can request a specific amount
of memory for a virtual server.
Data disk size selections: Customize service catalog hardware selections so that users can request the virtual
server's data disk size.
Note: Prices for these specifications are calculated automatically from amounts configured in the Prices
module.
2. Define prices for each hardware element: CPU, memory, and data disk size.
The catalog price is calculated by the system as multiples of a unit price. All prices on the VMware Size
Definition [vmware_size] table and the hardware selection tables for CPU, memory, or data disk size are
calculated from prices defined in the Catalog VM Element Price [sc_vm_element_price] table. Pricing can be
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used to integrate cloud provisioning with asset management model categories. For instructions on setting
prices for hardware elements, see Pricing.
3. Assign collections of IP addresses or IP pools to one or more VMware networks.
When a virtual machine is provisioned from that network, the workflow identifies the IP pool associated with
the network and selects an IP address from the pool for the newly-provisioned machine.
4. Create custom specifications for the catalog item, based on the different versions of Windows and Linux
operating systems that your organization offers.
This value appears in the Operating System choice list for the catalog item. The user's selection tells the
provisioning task which configuration information to use.
Advanced Service Catalog Offerings

These procedures build on the basic catalog offering configuration and the custom catalog offering configuration to
provide advanced customization to the service catalog and to the offerings. The cloud administrator configures the
catalog items for guest customization and task automation.
Note: Ensure that the basic and custom configurations are complete before attempting to add the customizations provided by these
procedures.
1. Configure the following:

Checkout redirect: [Optional] Configure the checkout redirect property to redirect the view after checkout to
the user's My Virtual Assets portal rather than to the Order Status form.
Size definitions: Create virtual machine offerings with different size definitions, based on a single VMware
template.
2. [Optional] Reconfigure the defaults for the duration of a virtual server lease in the appropriate properties.
The default length of a lease in the base ServiceNow system is 60 days. The maximum lease duration
permitted is 90 days.
3. Configure the provisioning rules.
Provisioning rules enable you to select which vCenter resources (datacenter, network, and folder) are used to
provision virtual machines for a specific category, such as Dev, QA, or Prod. Use provisioning rules to
organize multiple vCenters around the types of virtual machines they support.
4. Create catalog items for virtual servers from VMware templates and present the items to users in the service
catalog.
These catalog items minimize a requester's involvement by simplifying the process of selecting the appropriate
virtual server. A cloud administrator can create virtual machines with different specifications that are built
from the same template. Some of the options you can configure in the VMware catalog item record are:
Skip approval: Allow requests for this item to bypass an approval from the VMware Approvers group.
Task automation: Select the automation level for this item: Fully automatic, Semi automatic, or
Manual.
Guest customization: Select the settings to be applied to the newly provisioned virtual resource when guest
customization is enabled.
5. [Optional] Configure ServiceNow to create change requests when users request modifications to their VMware
machines from the My Virtual Assets portal.
Examples of modifications that generate changes are lease extensions, requests for additional memory, and
requests to terminate a virtual machine.
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Configuring VMware for Cloud Provisioning

Overview
Configuring Orchestration for VMware requires these steps, in order:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Install and configure vCenter.

Create virtual server templates on the ESX Server.
Create vCenter and ESX records in ServiceNow.
Configure the Windows and Linux connection information.
Allocate IP addresses for virtual servers on the network.
Assign users to the default approval and provisioning groups.
Configure the virtual server products that a user selects in the service catalog.
Configure the datastores.
Note: If you are using a version of ServiceNow earlier than Calgary, see previous version information in Configuring VMware Versions Prior to Calgary.
Required Roles
Users who are members of the Virtual Provisioning Cloud Administrators group (cloud_admin role) can configure
VMware accounts in ServiceNow.
vCenter and the ESX Server

vCenter is the VMware management console that manages the activities of ESX Servers. ESX Servers contain the
virtual server templates and hosts running virtual machines. Refer to VMware product documentation for
instructions about installing and configuring vCenter and ESX Servers. Observe the following requirements when
setting up ServiceNow to interact with vCenter and the ESX Server:
Ensure that all VMware products advertised in the ServiceNow service catalog have corresponding templates on
the ESX Server. The names of the templates on the ESX Server should be descriptive enough to simplify
selection during the manual phase of provisioning.
The MID Server probe's user must log in to vCenter with the proper VMware role to execute the probes action.
ServiceNow supports Cloud Provisioning on vCenter versions 4.1 through 5.1. Using Cloud Provisioning with
other versions of vCenter may cause unexpected results.
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ESX Servers
With the proper credentials, ServiceNow Discovery can detect and explore all the ESX Servers in a network.
Discovery returns the hardware characteristics of the ESX machines and the relationships to the other VMware
components. If you are not using ServiceNow Discovery, you must configure each ESX Server record manually. To
view the ESX records in ServiceNow, navigate to VMware > Configuration > ESX Servers.
To configure the relationships between VMware components manually, click the green plus sign ( + ) beside
Related Items and use the Define Relationships form provided. See VMware Component Relationships for the
relationships in the base ServiceNow system.
vCenter
Create a record for each vCenter instance in the network.
1. Navigate to VMware > Configuration > vCenter Instances.
2. Click New.
3. Enter the Name of an active vCenter machine and the URL to the instance, then save the record.
The location of this vCenter is for convenience and is not used anywhere else.
4. Click the Discover vCenter Details related link to have ServiceNow explore vCenter and record the relationships
between the vCenter and the other VMware components.
This action does not require the ServiceNow Discovery application, but performs the same type of scan. For
more information on this utility, see Gathering vCenter Data Without Running Discovery. A MID Server is
required for this procedure. See VMware Component Relationships for the relationships provided in the base
system.
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VM Configuration in ServiceNow
The VM configuration in ServiceNow provides the information necessary to create each type of virtual server
offered in the service catalog and to power up the virtual machines on the network. This includes:
List of available IP addresses (IP pools) to assign to virtual machines as they are added to the network.
Credentials and connection information for Windows and Linux.
Catalog offering configuration.
IP Pools
IP pools are collections of IP addresses that can be or have been assigned to newly-provisioned virtual machines
(VMs). Each IP pool can be associated with one or more VMware networks. When the Select IP Address activity
runs, it identifies the IP pools associated with the VMware network selected for the virtual machine (generally by the
Select Datacenter, Network, and Folder activity), chooses the one with the most available IP addresses, and allocates
an IP address to the virtual machine from that pool.
An administrator must ensure that there are IP pools associated with all active VMware networks and that the IP
pools contain enough IP addresses to meet the demand for new virtual servers. Associate VMware networks with an
IP pool by editing the VMware Network related list on the IP Pool form. When you provision a new virtual
machine through vCenter, select a VMware network. Orchestration assigns an available IP address from the VMware
network's IP pool to the new virtual machine. If the VMware network contains multiple IP pools, Orchestration
selects an IP address from the pool with the most available addresses.
Note: vCenter contains VMware networks that Discovery (including DiscoverNow) adds to the CMDB as VMware CIs.
To add a new IP pool:

1. Navigate to VMware > Rules > IP Pools and click New.
2. Enter the specifics of the network in which virtual servers will be created. An optional Alternate DNS Server IP
can be specified, starting with the Eureka release.
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67
3. Save the record.
4. To add IP addresses to the pool,
click Add Allocatable IPs under
Related Links.
5. Add ranges, networks, or individual
addresses in a comma separated list.
VM IP Pool Configuration
6. Click Allocate IP Addresses.

ServiceNow lists each IP address
separately in the related list and
marks them as not in use. When
a
VMware
instance
is
provisioned,
Orchestration
marks the address as In use and
associates the virtual machine
name with the IP address in the
IP pool record.
VM IP Pool Allocation
Windows VMs
The following describes how to
configure
Windows
connection
information starting with the Eureka
release. If you are using an earlier
release,
see
previous
version
information.
To configure Windows connection
information:
Allocated IP addresses
1. Navigate to VMware >

Customization Specifications >
Windows and click New.
2. Enter a unique and descriptive
Name that includes the operating system.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
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This value appears in the Operating System choice list for the catalog request item. The user's selection tells
the provisioning task which configuration information to use.
Enter the registered user's name and organization.
Enter the Product key, select the License mode, and, if the selected license type is Per server, enter the
maximum number of Concurrent connections.
Enter the Administrator password.
Choose a Membership option, either Domain or Workgroup. If you choose Workgroup, enter the workgroup
name. If you choose, Domain, enter the domain name and login credentials.
[Optional] Add any number of Windows commands, each listed on a new line, to the Run once field.
In the Choose networking through field, choose whether to use IP Pool or DHCP.
9. Click Submit.
Windows configuration

Navigate to VMware > Customization Specifications > Windows and click New.
Enter a unique and descriptive Name that includes the operating system.
This value appears in the Operating System choice list for the catalog request item. The user's selection tells the provisioning task which
configuration information to use.
Enter the machine and domain login credentials for the virtual machine, the operating system product key, and the registered user's name.
Select the License type and, if the selected license type is Per server, enter the maximum number of Concurrent connections (Dublin release).
[Optional] Add any number of Windows commands, each listed on a new line, to the Run once field (Dublin release).
Click Submit.
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Linux VMs
To configure Linux connection information:
1. Navigate to VMware > Customization Specifications > Linux and click New.
2. Enter a unique and descriptive Name that includes the operating system.
This value appears in the Operating System choice list for the catalog request item. The user's selection tells
the provisioning task which configuration information to use.
3. Enter the DNS name in the Domain field.
4. Choose whether to use IP Pool or DHCP in the Choose networking through field (Eureka release).
5. Click Submit.
Group Membership
Linux configuration
Activating the Orchestration - VMware

Support plugin installs the following
groups:
VMware Approvers: approve requests for VMware instances.
VMware Operators: are responsible for the technical operation of the VMware cloud provisioning environment.
To add users to these groups:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Navigate to User Administration > Groups.

Open VMware Operators from the list of groups.
Go to the Group Members related list and click Edit.
Select one or more users from the list and click Save.
5. Repeat this process to add members to the VMware Approvers group.
Configuring the Catalog Offering

The products you configure in the service catalog must represent accurately the items they offer. Users can select
from lists of preconfigured virtual servers or build their own server.
Size Selections
A VMware size defines a virtual hardware package that includes predefined number of CPUs, amount of memory,
data disk size, and related details. Users can choose a VMware size or select separate attributes. When the user
selects a size, the individual selections for CPU, memory, and disk size are hidden.
1. Navigate to VMware > Service Catalog > Sizes and click New.
2. Complete the form with the following considerations:
The Name should indicate some increment of size, such as Large or Standard.
In the CPUs, Memory, and Data disk size fields, enter a label to appear in the service catalog. For example,
enter 4 GB of memory or 30 GB for the data disk size.
In the corresponding value fields, enter the value of that element in the specified units. For example, a data
disk size with a label of 30 GB has a value of 30,720 (in MB).
3. Click Submit.
Offering Selections
1. Navigate to VMware > Service Catalog > Offerings and click New.
2. Enter the virtual server's Offering description as it should appear in the service catalog.
Typically, this contains the operating system and some version information, such as Windows Server 2003 or
CentOS 6.
3. Click Submit.
Pricing
All prices for virtual servers or modifications to virtual servers are calculated from the per-unit price for the
following components:
CPU
Memory
Data disk size
The Catalog VM Element Price [sc_vm_element_price] table stores the prices for VMware components included in
the base system. Each component has a single record that defines the units and the price per unit. Users with the
cloud_admin role can access these records to change the unit price for each component.
To change the price for a component:
1. Navigate to VMware > Service Catalog > Prices.
2. Select a component.
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3. Enter the new price per unit in the Service catalog price field.
4. Click Update.
ServiceNow recalculates the price for all items in the service catalog that use this Element type.
Editing Prices
By default, the price of an instance is determined by the selection in the VM Size field in the VMware Catalog Item
form. If a requester changes the desired size when ordering a virtual machine, or an administrator changes the price
of the size, ServiceNow recalculates the instance price automatically. The administrator can make price changes by
modifying the specifications of the instance in the VMware Size Definition form or override the calculated price in
the VMware Catalog Item form when creating a service catalog item. You cannot adjust instance size prices by
editing quantities in the VMware Size Definitions list view.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Navigate to VMware > Service Catalog > Sizes.

Select a size.
Change the quantity of CPUs, the memory, or the data disk size.
Click Update.
ServiceNow calculates the price of the modified size.
CPU Selections
You can customize service catalog hardware selections so that users can request the number of CPUs for a virtual
server. The service catalog shows the CPU option only when the user declines the choice of a predefined virtual
server size.
1. Navigate to VMware > Service Catalog > CPU Selections and click New.
2. In the CPUs label field, enter a description of this CPU selection to be displayed in the service catalog.
3. In the Value field, enter the quantity for this CPU selection.
Be sure the CPU label quantity matches the number in the Value field. ServiceNow calculates the cost for
each CPU quantity based on the configured price per unit.
4. Click Submit.
Memory Selections
You can customize service catalog hardware selections so that users can request a specific amount of memory for a
virtual server. The service catalog shows the VM memory option when the user declines the choice of a predefined
virtual server size.
1. Navigate to VMware > Service Catalog > Memory Selections and click New.
2. In the Memory label field, enter the memory quantity to be displayed in the service catalog.
This field typically includes a number and size abbreviation, such as 4 GB.
3. Enter the Value for this memory selection as an integer representing the total number of MB.
In the example used here, 4 GB of memory would have a value of 4,096. ServiceNow calculates the cost for
the amount of memory selected based on the configured price per unit.
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4. Click Submit.
Data Disk Size Selections

You can customize service catalog hardware selections so that users can request the virtual server's data disk size.
The service catalog shows the data disk size option only when the user declines the choice of a predefined virtual
server class.
1. Navigate to VMware > Service Catalog > Data Disk Size Selections and click New.
2. In the Data disk size label field, enter the name to be displayed in the service catalog.
This field typically includes a number and size abbreviation, such as 20GB.
3. In the Value field, enter the number of megabytes of disk space this option represents.
In this examples the data disk would have a value of 20,480. ServiceNow calculates the cost for the disk size
selected based on the configured price per unit.
4. Click Submit.
Lease Duration
The default setting for a lease period and the maximum allowed duration of a virtual server lease are controlled by
the following properties found in Cloud Provisioning > Management > Properties (Calgary release). For
instructions on configuring lease start and end times for individual virtual machines, see Requesting a VMware
Instance in Cloud Provisioning.
Default lease duration: This property (glide.vm.lease_duration) controls the length of the lease period
automatically configured for a virtual server request. The default duration is 60 days from the lease start time,
which always begins on the current date and time.
Max lease duration: This property (glide.vm.max_lease_duration) controls the maximum length of
the lease period permitted for a virtual server. The default maximum duration is 90 days from the lease start time.
This property prevents virtual resources that have been ignored from running indefinitely.
Note: ServiceNow applies the same values to both Amazon EC2 and VMware lease durations.
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Grace Period
A configurable grace period enables an administrator to delay the termination of a virtual machine when the lease
end date expires. When the lease ends, the virtual machine is powered off, but is available for use until the end of the
grace period. To change the default grace period of 7 days, navigate to Cloud Provisioning > Management >
Properties and edit the value in the Grace period after lease end until VM termination property
(glide.vm.grace_period).
When the lease ends, the platform runs the VMware End of Lease workflow, which notifies the requestor that the
lease has expired, and then powers off the virtual machine. The VMware End of Lease workflow evaluates the
glide.vm.grace_period property to determine when the VMware Termination workflow should run. The
requestor is notified when the virtual machine is terminated, or if termination failed.
To configure a different workflow to run when a lease is terminated.
1. In the application navigation filter, enter task_action_workflow.list.
2. Select the end_of_lease action for the VMware Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vmware_instance] table.
3. Select a different workflow to run in the Workflow field.

4. Click Update.
Managing Datastores
Datastores represent storage locations for virtual machine files. The VM vCenter Datastores form shows the most
recent datastore availability and capacity information for the the datastores, and allows you to manage how storage
space is handled when provisioning VMs. Using this form you can make most efficient use of space, reducing the
amount of wasted space. This section describes datastore functionality available starting with the Eureka release.
How Datastore Space Is Allocated

By allocating reserved space when a VM is requested and accounting for recently provisioned space, the user can be
assured that sufficient space will still be available for provisioning when the request is fulfilled. To accomplish this,
space on the datastore is processed as follows:
When a VM is requested, the amount of reserved space is incremented to account for the requested disk size
(template size plus additional disk size). If the reserve space request fails because of insufficient space after
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discovery, a task to fix the issue is created for the cloud operator. If the VM request is canceled, the reserved
space is decremented to remove requested disk space.
For automated provisioning, the datastore with the least disk space, but sufficient for the VM request, is
automatically selected.
When the VM is provisioned, the reserved space is decremented to remove provisioned disk size, and recently
provisioned space is updated to provisioned disk size.
Whenever a datastore is rediscovered and updated accordingly, the amount of recently provisioned space is reset
to 0. When a VM provisioned from a ServiceNow instance is terminated, the provisioned space is released and the
free space is incremented. If the workflow is canceled before the VM is provisioned, the reserved space is updated
to remove not provisioned disk size.
When a VM is modified, the requested amount of space is reserved, and the reserved space field is updated. When
the Modify VM workflow finishes, the reserved space is updated to decrease the disk size added and the recently
provisioned space is increased. When the VM is terminated (Terminate VM), the recently provisioned space in all
affected datastores is released.
When a catalog task is created and a cloud operator chooses a datastore, only those datastores with the enough space
to continue are shown in the choice list.
Configuring Datastores
The Datastores module allows cloud administrators to configure the VMware vCenter datastores. Cloud
administrators can modify recently provisioned space and reserved space fields to manually adjust space usage, and
can block VM provisioned space or reserve extra space for specified datastores.
To manage datastores:
1. Navigate to VMware > Datastores.
Current information on each datastore is displayed in the table.
2. To set availability for a datastore, double-click the Availability for provisioning field and select Include or
Exclude.
Datastore configuration
Field
Description
Name
The name of the datastore.
Capacity
The total storage capacity of the datastore.
Free space (GB)
The free space available for VM provisioning on the datastore.
Recently
provisioned space
(GB)
The space requested by recent VM provisioning requests since the most recent discovery. Whenever a datastore is
rediscovered and updated accordingly, the amount of recently provisioned space is reset to 0. If a VM was terminated, the
provisioned space may be a negative number.
Reserved space
(GB)
The amount of space reserved on the datastore for scheduled VM provision requests and extra disk space requests for modify
VM requests. The Reserved space for the requested VM must be less than Free space - (Recently provisioned space +
Reserved space) - Minimum free space' in order for that datastore to be used by the VM.
Availability for
provisioning
Indicates whether the datastore is available (Include) or unavailable (Exclude) for provisioning. For newly discovered
datastores, the default value is Include. Running Discovery does not change this field.
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Setting the Minimum Free Disk Space

The minimum free disk space property allows you to set the amount of free disk space on a datastore to ensure the
vCenter functions correctly. To set the property, navigate to Cloud Provisioning > Management > Properties.
This property is available starting with the Eureka release. If you are using an earlier release, see previous version
information.
Property
Description
Minimum free disk space on each VMware datastore (MB)

[glide.vmware.provisioning.datastore.reserved_space]
The amount of free disk space required on a datastore.

The default value is 1024 MB.

To view datastore information, navigate to VMware > Datastores. The Datastore
form shows the following for each datastore:
Field
Description
Name
The name of the datastore.
Capacity
The total storage capacity of the datastore.
Free space (GB) The free space available for VM provisioning on the datastore.
VMware Networks
Overview
vCenter contains VMware networks that Discovery and the Discover vCenter Data utility add to the CMDB as
VMware CIs. A VMware network record names the network and identifies one or more IP pools assigned to it. An
IP pool is a collection of IP addresses that are available for provisioning virtual machines.
When you provision a new virtual machine (VM) through vCenter, select a VMware network (see the Select
Datacenter, Network, and Folder Orchestration activity for details). Orchestration assigns an available IP address
from the VMware network's IP pool to the new virtual machine. If the VMware network contains multiple IP pools,
Orchestration selects an IP address from the pool with the most available addresses.
Adding IP Pools to VMware Networks

If your organization does not use ServiceNow Discovery, run the Discover vCenter Data utility to collect network
data from vCenter. Create the IP Pools for your system before attempting this procedure.
1. Navigate to VMware > Configuration > Networks.
2. Select a network from the list.
3. In the IP Pools related list, click Edit to add an existing IP network to the network.
VMware Networks
Each VMware network must contain at least one IP pool.

4. Add additional IP Pools to the list.
5. Click Save.
The new IP Pool appears in the related list in the VMware vCenter Network form.
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VMware Networks
VMware Templates and Offerings for Cloud

Provisioning
Overview
VMware templates are created on the ESX Server and linked with ServiceNow catalog offerings to fulfill virtual
machine requests. Orchestration clones these templates to create virtual machines automatically from a system
managed by vCenter. Template records describe computer hardware features, such as hard disk size and RAM.
ServiceNow automatically populates the VMware Virtual Machine Template [cmdb_ci_vmware_template] table
with available templates when you run Discovery or the Discover vCenter Details utility on the vCenter machine.
Linking Offerings to Templates

After you run Discovery on vCenter, link each template to a service catalog offering that users can choose when
requesting a virtual machine. Make sure the appropriate offerings are configured in ServiceNow before attempting
this procedure. Members of the Virtual Provisioning Cloud Administrators group can assign catalog offerings to
VMware templates. See Cloud Administration for VMware for instructions on setting up ServiceNow catalog items
and for other configuration procedures.
1. Navigate to VMware > Configuration > Templates.
2. Select a template from the list.
3. Select the operating system for this template in the Catalog Offering field.
When you create a catalog item from a VMware template, the system attaches the value in the Catalog
Offering field to the service catalog item. Cloud provisioning uses the same template for a precofigured class
for the selected offering that it uses for a custom configuration by replacing the specified components with
those selected by the user.
4. Click Update.
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VMware Templates and Offerings for Cloud Provisioning
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Creating Catalog Items from VMware Templates

Overview
An administrator can create catalog items for virtual servers from VMware templates and present the items to users
in the service catalog. These catalog items minimize a requester's involvement by simplifying the process of
selecting the appropriate virtual server. An administrator can create virtual machines with different specifications
that are built from the same template and presented to users in the service catalog by size. The ability to create
catalog items from VMware templates is available with the Calgary release.
Tables
The following tables are used for this feature.
Table
Description
Virtual Machine Template

[cmdb_ci_vm_template]
Contains virtual machine templates from Amazon EC2 and VMware. This table is available starting with
the Calgary release.
VM Catalog Item [sc_vm_cat_item]
Contains virtual machine catalog items created from VMware templates. This table extends the Catalog
Item [sc_cat_item] table.
VMware Size Definition [vmware_size]
Contains size definitions (specifications) for the VMware offerings. This is the parent table to the
Catalog VM Class Selection [sc_vm_class_selection] table.
Configuration
Before you create a catalog item from a VMware template, configure the categories in the service catalog, determine
the appropriate setting for the check-out redirect property, and define the virtual machines sizes.
Categories
See Service Catalog Categories for instructions on creating categories and sub-categories for organizing catalog
items.
Checkout Redirect Property

A property called One-step checkout redirect (glide.vm.checkout_redirect) controls the view presented
to virtual machine requesters in the service catalog. By default, this property is set to false, which redirects the view
to the Order Status form when the requester clicks Order Now. When this property is set to true, ServiceNow
redirects the requester to his or her My Virtual Assets portal. This property is located in Cloud Provisioning >
Management > Properties and is available starting with the Calgary release.
Size Definitions
Create virtual machine offerings with different specifications, or sizes, based on a single VMware template. For
example, a CentOS 5.3 Linux template might come in three sizes (large, medium, or small) based on the number of
CPUs, memory, and disk space offered. The requester then selects the operating system for the item and the size
required from the service catalog.
To create size definitions:
1. Navigate to VMware > Service Catalog > Sizes.
2. Click New.
3. Complete the form with the following considerations:
Enter a Name that contains some indication of the size, such as Large or Standard.
Enter the label for each element that appears in the service catalog. For example, enter 2 GB for the Memory
label or 15 GB for the Data disk size label.
Enter the Value in megabytes (MB) for each element. For example, a data disk size with a label of 15 GB has
a Value of 15,360 (in MB).
4. Click Submit.
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Creating a Catalog Item

1. Navigate to VMware > Configuration > Templates.
2. Select the template to use as a catalog item.
3. Under Related Links, click Create Catalog Item to create a new item from this template.
The VM Catalog Item form opens with the following fields pre-populated based on the default size.
Name: VMware Instance - <size> - template name

Catalog Offering: The operating system for this catalog item.
Short description: A brief description of the item. By default, this value is the same as the name.
Description: The description of the VM size.
Price: The price of the VM size. Sizes and prices of demonstration data are arbitrary and not the result of
any calculation.
VM template: The template from which this catalog item was created.
VM size: The smallest available size for the VM template.
4. Complete the form as described in Defining Catalog Items.
5. Select the virtual server size in the VM size field.
By default, the price is determined by the selection in the VM size field. If the size changes, or the price of the
size changes, the system recalculates the item's price automatically.
6. To override the price calculation manually, clear the Calculate check box and enter a new price for this item.
7. Select Skip approval to allow requests for this item to bypass an approval from the VMware Approvers group.
Other approvals that apply to requests through the service catalog are still required.
8. Select the appropriate Task automation mode:
Fully automatic: [Default] Provisioning happens automatically based on selections made by the provisioning
rules. No catalog task is assigned to the VMware Operators group unless the rules could not determine all the
necessary provisioning inputs automatically.
Semi automatic: The system assigns a catalog task for specifying provisioning information to the VMware
Operators group with selections determined by the provisioning rules. The VMware Operators group can
verify the selections before closing the task that provisions the instance.
Manual: A catalog task for specifying provisioning information is assigned to the VMware Operators group
with no automatic selections. The VMware operator must supply all the necessary information for provisioning
to proceed.
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9. Select Guest customization if any operating system-specific customizations will be applied to the newly
provisioned virtual machine. This option is only allowed for Linux and Windows virtual resources and not for
custom templates with other offerings.
10. Select a Customization specification that contains all the settings to be applied to the newly provisioned virtual
resource. This option is only available if Guest customization is selected.
11. Click Update.
By default the new catalog item
is placed into the Virtual
Resources catalog category.
Catalog items created from
VMware templates are listed in
VMware > Service Catalog >
Maintain Items.
Field Dependencies for

Image Sizes
VM Catalog Item from template
Values in these pre-populated fields

are based on the size of the image you
selected.
Name
Short description
Price
Description
If you change the image size, but no other values, the pre-populated data adjusts according to the parameters of the
new size. However, if you change a value in a pre-populated field before selecting the new size, the field value you
changed is not updated when the size changes. This behavior allows you to change the price, name, or description of
specific sized images.
Example
The default name of a service catalog item is VMware Instance - Small - Red Hat 6 Server. You change the size to
Medium without modifying the Name field. The system changes the name to VMware Instance - Medium - Red
Hat 6 Server. If you change the Name field to Dev Red Hat 6 Server - Small before changing the size, the name of
the item is not changed.
Each of the four pre-populated fields behaves the same and is independent of the others. For example, if you change
the name of the item but not the short description before selecting a new size, the name value is unaffected, but the
short description adjusts to match the requirements of the new size.
Approving and Provisioning VMware Requests

for Cloud Provisioning
Overview
Some service catalog requests for virtual servers that are not using task automation must be approved and then
provisioned by members of designated approval and provisioning groups. Upon approval of the request,
Orchestration automatically creates the virtual server and powers it up on the network, using one of the IP addresses
supplied. When Orchestration fulfills a virtual server request and creates a VMware configuration item (CI),
ServiceNow creates a new asset in Asset Management. This new asset appears in the requesters My Assets portal.
Workflow
The approval and provisioning process for each virtual server request in the base system is controlled by a workflow
(Workflow > Workflow Editor) called Virtual Server. This workflow performs the following tasks:
Creates approval tasks for the approval group.
Collects the provisioning information when the request is approved. (If the request is rejected, the workflow
ends.) The workflow determines if the request is for a Windows or Linux virtual machine.
Creates a catalog task to select the proper virtual server template and supply it with the necessary requirements,
including the appropriate ESX resource pool.
Sets the variables and provisions the virtual server. Using the template selected, Orchestration clones the virtual
server, attaches the IP address to the new virtual machine if guest customization is configured.
Powers up the virtual server.
Notifies the requester that the virtual machine has been created successfully.
Approving VMware Requests

Requests for virtual servers in the base system can be approved or rejected by one member in either of the following
approval groups:
VMware approvers
When a virtual server is requested through the service catalog, the workflow creates an approval task in each group
member's Service Desk approval queue.
To approve or reject a VMware request:
1. Navigate to Service Desk > My Approvals.
2. Open the approval request.
3. Change the state of the request to Approved or Rejected.
After any member of the approval group approves the request, the workflow creates the provisioning task. The
approval request is updated in the queues of other approval group members.
4. Click the arrow by virtual machine in the Description list to display the feature summary.
82
Provisioning Virtual Servers

The provisioning task is assigned to a user who is a member of the VMware Operators group.
To complete the provisioning task:
1. Navigate to Service Desk > My Groups Work.
2. Open the provisioning task.
3. Provide the appropriate information (see table).
Some information is pre-populated from the catalog request.
4. Click Close Task.
Options
Description
Template
Select an operating system template to be cloned for this virtual machine.
Destination
folder
Each template belongs to a vCenter datacenter, which contains folders of virtual machines. Select a folder from the datacenter
that contains the provisioned virtual machine. If no folder is selected, the resulting cloned instance is placed in the folder
containing the template that was used to create the clone.
Clone name
Provide the name of the virtual machine as it should appear in VMware vCenter. This name must be unique on the ESX Server (or
the cluster) on which it is being provisioned.
Cluster
Clusters appearing in the list are those from the datacenter in which the selected destination folder resides. If the virtual machine
is not being attached to a cluster, choose None. In this case, make sure to select a non-clustered Host.
ESX Host
Select the ESX Server on which to deploy the virtual machine. If you selected None in the Cluster field, only those hosts that are
not part of a cluster are available. If you did select a cluster for this virtual server, then the available hosts all belong to the
selected cluster.
Resource pool
Select the ESX resource pool to use for this virtual machine. If a cluster was chosen, the available resource pools belong to that
cluster. If a host was selected (and no cluster), the available resource pools belong to the selected host. Resource pools define the
maximum amount of resources that templates using that pool can consume. An ESX Server property enables resource pools to
expand when necessary if the ESX Server has additional resources to spare. If you select the Resources pool, the ESX Server
creates a virtual machine for use under a normal load.
Datastore
Select the datastore on which to provision the virtual server and any data disks. To put the virtual server on the datastore where
the template is located, select None. The available datastores are for the selected host.
Network
Select the network that the virtual server will use. Available networks are those from the datacenter in which the selected
destination folder resides.
83
Guest
customizations
If guest customizations are configured for this virtual server, select one of the following:
VM's host name: [Required] Name of the server hosting the virtual machine being provisioned. Check the Notes in the
request form for the name designated by the requester.
Windows/Linux configuration: [Required] Specifics for Windows or Linux virtual machines configured in VMware >
Customization Specifications. Configuration information includes DNS for Linux and the product key and domain
credentials for Windows.
Network configuration: [Required] Select the network and the network configuration for the virtual server. The IP address
allocated to the virtual server is selected from a list of available addresses configured in the network record.
If you choose not to apply guest customizations to the virtual server, Orchestration provisions the server directly from the
template, using only the configuration available to that template.
Provisioning Rules
Provisioning rules enable an administrator to select which vCenter resources (datacenter, network, and folder) are
used to provision virtual machines for a specific virtual machine category (such as Dev, QA, or Prod) or for any
category if the Category field in the rule is left empty.
Rule Order
Each rule has an Order field that defines the sequence for evaluating the rules. The rules are evaluated by the Select
Datacenter, Network, and Folder activity. When that activity runs, it finds all the provisioning rules that apply to a
particular vCenter instance and category (rules with a blank category match any category), and then uses the
provisioning rule with the lowest order value. By carefully choosing order values for provisioning rules, you can
ensure that rules for specific categories are evaluated before (low order values) provisioning rules for any category
(high order values).
84
Weight
You might want more than one datacenter, network, or folder to be used for virtual machines on a particular vCenter
instance and category. For example, you have a vCenter containing two datacenters, and you'd like to provision 75%
of the virtual machines to one datacenter, and 25% to the other. You can do this by creating two provisioning rules
for the particular vCenter and category with the same order value for each. Multiple rules with the same vCenter,
Category, and Order values trigger this special behavior. Give each provisioning rule a Weight value proportional
to the percentage of the time you want the rule to be used. For this example, you might choose Weight values of 300
and 100. Any other numbers in the same proportion would also work, like 3 and 1. To check the percentage for any
given rule, calculate the Weight value of that rule divided by the sum of the Weight values for all the rules with the
same vCenter, category, and order value. In the example, the calculations would be 300 / (300 + 100) = 75%, and
100 / (300 + 100) = 25%, which meets the goal.
Creating a Provisioning Rule

1.
2.
3.
4.
Navigate to VMware > Rules > Provisioning Rules.

Click New.
Create a unique Name for this rule.
Select a Category.
If you do not select a category, the rule applies to any category.

5. Select the vCenter to use for this category.
The Datacenter field appears.
6. Select a datacenter from the list of datacenters available for this vCenter.
The Network and Folder fields appear.
7. Select an appropriate network and a folder.
8. Enter an Order value to establish the order in which this rule is evaluated.
9. If you create multiple rules with the same Category, vCenter, and Order, select an appropriate Weight to
determine which virtual machines, by proportion, are provisioned with this rule.
10. Click Submit.
85
Requesting a VMware Instance in Cloud Provisioning
86
Requesting a VMware Instance in Cloud

Provisioning
Overview
Users with the cloud_user role (Cloud Users group) can request a VMware virtual server from the ServiceNow
service catalog. Requested virtual servers are subject to normal approvals and some special provisioning tasks. A
workflow enables a user to make a service catalog request to terminate a virtual machine. Any virtual server created
from a ServiceNow instance can be destroyed from that instance. This functionality requires the Orchestration VMware Support plugin.
For role-based information about configuring and managing virtual machines in ServiceCenter, see Cloud
Provisioning.
Note: If you are using a version of ServiceNow earlier than Calgary, see previous version information in Requesting a Virtual Server
- Versions Prior to Calgary.
Administrators
For details about the tasks and roles required for provisioning virtual machines, see Cloud Operations.
Requesting a VMware Instance

Users requesting a VMware instance from the service catalog must have the cloud_user role.
1. Navigate to Self-Service > Service Catalog > Virtual Resources.
2. Select VMware Instance from the
Virtual Resources category.
The VMware Instance request
form appears. By default the
Quantity field does not appear
on the service catalog form for
VMware instances. ServiceNow
does not support ordering
multiple VMware instances in a
single catalog request.
Service Catalog
3. In the Catalog Item form for this

virtual server, complete the
following fields:
Business purpose: Enter a brief description of how this virtual server will be used.
Start and End: Select the start and end times for this virtual machine lease. The lease start time is set
automatically for the current date and time. In the base ServiceNow system, the lease end time is set to 60 days
after the start time, and the maximum lease duration is limited to 90 days. The system does not allow
requesters to set a lease end time beyond the configured limit. The lease duration is calculated from the time
the virtual machine is actually provisioned, which occurs after the request is approved. If you request a virtual
machine for now (the current date), and there is a delay in approval, the end date is reset according to the
configured lease duration time.

Business Service: Select the business service that depends on this virtual machine. When Orchestration creates
the virtual server, it also creates the relationships to this business service in the CMDB.
Application: Select the principal application that depends on this virtual machine, such as an exchange server
or SQL Server database. When Orchestration creates the virtual machine, it also creates the relationships to
this application in the CMDB.
Used for: Select the purpose of this virtual machine. The categories in this choice list are found in the
Business Service [cmdb_ci_service] table and also are used to define the categories in the VM provisioning
rules. With the Dublin Release, ServiceNow does not automatically end the lease for virtual machines marked
as Production. Instead, ServiceNow renews the lease on Production virtual machines automatically for the
default lease duration and sends a notification to the requestor each time the lease is renewed.
Offering: Select the offeringsuch as the operating system, database server, or web serverfor the virtual
machine you are requesting.
Use predefined size: Select Yes to accept the default specifications for the operating system and size. Select
No to define custom specifications for this virtual machine.
Size: Select the predefined size for this offering that has the desired features (memory, storage, CPU speed).
Notes: Add any information that the provisioners should know, such as the virtual machine's network name.
The VMware order form looks like this:
4. Click Order Now.

The view changes either to the My Virtual Assets portal or to the Order Status form, depending on how the
service catalog is configured. The portal shows the various gauges associated with the logged in user's virtual
assets and requests. To view the current request, click the request number in the My Virtual Asset Requests
list or expand the Stage column to determine where the request is in the provisioning process.
87
5. Bookmark this page and return to it to track the status of this request.
You are notified by email of the results of your request. (Eureka) If the provisioning request fails for any
reason, an incident is automatically created and assigned to the Cloud Administrators group (if the
glide.vm.create_incident system property is enabled).
Terminating a Virtual Server

You can request the termination of a running VMware instance provisioned for you at any time during the lease by
using the My Virtual Assets portal in the service catalog. When the virtual machine reaches the end of its lease or
grace period, ServiceNow automatically terminates the instance without notice. With the Dublin release, virtual
machines marked with a Used for value of Production do not automatically expire. You must manually terminate
these virtual machines.
88
Approving and Provisioning VMware Requests

for Cloud Provisioning
Overview
Some service catalog requests for virtual servers that are not using task automation must be approved and then
provisioned by members of designated approval and provisioning groups. Upon approval of the request,
Orchestration automatically creates the virtual server and powers it up on the network, using one of the IP addresses
supplied. When Orchestration fulfills a virtual server request and creates a VMware configuration item (CI),
ServiceNow creates a new asset in Asset Management. This new asset appears in the requesters My Assets portal.
Workflow
The approval and provisioning process for each virtual server request in the base system is controlled by a workflow
(Workflow > Workflow Editor) called Virtual Server. This workflow performs the following tasks:
Creates approval tasks for the approval group.
Collects the provisioning information when the request is approved. (If the request is rejected, the workflow
ends.) The workflow determines if the request is for a Windows or Linux virtual machine.
Creates a catalog task to select the proper virtual server template and supply it with the necessary requirements,
including the appropriate ESX resource pool.
Sets the variables and provisions the virtual server. Using the template selected, Orchestration clones the virtual
server, attaches the IP address to the new virtual machine if guest customization is configured.
Powers up the virtual server.
Notifies the requester that the virtual machine has been created successfully.
Approving VMware Requests

Requests for virtual servers in the base system can be approved or rejected by one member in either of the following
approval groups:
VMware approvers
When a virtual server is requested through the service catalog, the workflow creates an approval task in each group
member's Service Desk approval queue.
To approve or reject a VMware request:
1. Navigate to Service Desk > My Approvals.
2. Open the approval request.
3. Change the state of the request to Approved or Rejected.
After any member of the approval group approves the request, the workflow creates the provisioning task. The
approval request is updated in the queues of other approval group members.
4. Click the arrow by virtual machine in the Description list to display the feature summary.
89
Provisioning Virtual Servers

The provisioning task is assigned to a user who is a member of the VMware Operators group.
To complete the provisioning task:
1. Navigate to Service Desk > My Groups Work.
2. Open the provisioning task.
3. Provide the appropriate information (see table).
Some information is pre-populated from the catalog request.
4. Click Close Task.
Options
Description
Template
Select an operating system template to be cloned for this virtual machine.
Destination
folder
Each template belongs to a vCenter datacenter, which contains folders of virtual machines. Select a folder from the datacenter
that contains the provisioned virtual machine. If no folder is selected, the resulting cloned instance is placed in the folder
containing the template that was used to create the clone.
Clone name
Provide the name of the virtual machine as it should appear in VMware vCenter. This name must be unique on the ESX Server (or
the cluster) on which it is being provisioned.
Cluster
Clusters appearing in the list are those from the datacenter in which the selected destination folder resides. If the virtual machine
is not being attached to a cluster, choose None. In this case, make sure to select a non-clustered Host.
ESX Host
Select the ESX Server on which to deploy the virtual machine. If you selected None in the Cluster field, only those hosts that are
not part of a cluster are available. If you did select a cluster for this virtual server, then the available hosts all belong to the
selected cluster.
Resource pool
Select the ESX resource pool to use for this virtual machine. If a cluster was chosen, the available resource pools belong to that
cluster. If a host was selected (and no cluster), the available resource pools belong to the selected host. Resource pools define the
maximum amount of resources that templates using that pool can consume. An ESX Server property enables resource pools to
expand when necessary if the ESX Server has additional resources to spare. If you select the Resources pool, the ESX Server
creates a virtual machine for use under a normal load.
Datastore
Select the datastore on which to provision the virtual server and any data disks. To put the virtual server on the datastore where
the template is located, select None. The available datastores are for the selected host.
Network
Select the network that the virtual server will use. Available networks are those from the datacenter in which the selected
destination folder resides.
90
Guest
customizations
If guest customizations are configured for this virtual server, select one of the following:
VM's host name: [Required] Name of the server hosting the virtual machine being provisioned. Check the Notes in the
request form for the name designated by the requester.
Windows/Linux configuration: [Required] Specifics for Windows or Linux virtual machines configured in VMware >
Customization Specifications. Configuration information includes DNS for Linux and the product key and domain
credentials for Windows.
Network configuration: [Required] Select the network and the network configuration for the virtual server. The IP address
allocated to the virtual server is selected from a list of available addresses configured in the network record.
If you choose not to apply guest customizations to the virtual server, Orchestration provisions the server directly from the
template, using only the configuration available to that template.
Provisioning Rules
Provisioning rules enable an administrator to select which vCenter resources (datacenter, network, and folder) are
used to provision virtual machines for a specific virtual machine category (such as Dev, QA, or Prod) or for any
category if the Category field in the rule is left empty.
Rule Order
Each rule has an Order field that defines the sequence for evaluating the rules. The rules are evaluated by the Select
Datacenter, Network, and Folder activity. When that activity runs, it finds all the provisioning rules that apply to a
particular vCenter instance and category (rules with a blank category match any category), and then uses the
provisioning rule with the lowest order value. By carefully choosing order values for provisioning rules, you can
ensure that rules for specific categories are evaluated before (low order values) provisioning rules for any category
(high order values).
91
Weight
You might want more than one datacenter, network, or folder to be used for virtual machines on a particular vCenter
instance and category. For example, you have a vCenter containing two datacenters, and you'd like to provision 75%
of the virtual machines to one datacenter, and 25% to the other. You can do this by creating two provisioning rules
for the particular vCenter and category with the same order value for each. Multiple rules with the same vCenter,
Category, and Order values trigger this special behavior. Give each provisioning rule a Weight value proportional
to the percentage of the time you want the rule to be used. For this example, you might choose Weight values of 300
and 100. Any other numbers in the same proportion would also work, like 3 and 1. To check the percentage for any
given rule, calculate the Weight value of that rule divided by the sum of the Weight values for all the rules with the
same vCenter, category, and order value. In the example, the calculations would be 300 / (300 + 100) = 75%, and
100 / (300 + 100) = 25%, which meets the goal.
Creating a Provisioning Rule

1.
2.
3.
4.
Navigate to VMware > Rules > Provisioning Rules.

Click New.
Create a unique Name for this rule.
Select a Category.
If you do not select a category, the rule applies to any category.

5. Select the vCenter to use for this category.
The Datacenter field appears.
6. Select a datacenter from the list of datacenters available for this vCenter.
The Network and Folder fields appear.
7. Select an appropriate network and a folder.
8. Enter an Order value to establish the order in which this rule is evaluated.
9. If you create multiple rules with the same Category, vCenter, and Order, select an appropriate Weight to
determine which virtual machines, by proportion, are provisioned with this rule.
10. Click Submit.
92
Cloud Provisioning Error Handling
93

Overview
The configuration of the virtual resources in the instance can produce errors, such as IP pools containing invalid
addresses or excessively large CPU count offerings. Errors also can occur from issues within the vCenter
configuration itself or from network issues.
When VMware vCenter detects a cloud provisioning error, it sends the error description to ServiceNow, which
pauses the provisioning workflow and creates a task to correct the error. The provisioner to whom this task is
assigned reads the error description in the task and opens the request item to correct the configuration. When the
provisioner closes the task, the workflow checks the condition that produced the error and continues if the
configuration is accepted.
Some problems cannot be resolved from within ServiceNow. For problems in vCenter, consult your VMware
documentation [1].
Activities in Which Errors Can Occur

Provisioning errors can occur in the following workflow activities:
Activity
Possible Errors
Clone
Duplicate name, datastore out of space
Reconfigure
Excessive CPU and memory values
Change Network
Network does not exist
Add Disk
Size problems: not enough space
Change State
Virtual machine deleted by another user
Select IP Address
Out of space in the IP pool or problems configuring the IP pool. Incorrect guest customization
specifications.
Configure Windows
Incorrect guest customization specifications
Configure Linux
VMWare - Wait for VM to Start

(Workflow)
Example - Duplicate Clone Name

A provisioner has given a name to a VMware clone that is already in use.
1. vCenter detects the error and sends the contents of the error message to ServiceNow.
2. ServiceNow stops the workflow and creates a catalog task for the provisioner in the Cloud Operations Portal.
This task shows that a requested instance named global-by-1 has generated an error.
3. The provisioner opens the task and attempts to identify the error.

The description shows that global-by-1 is a duplicate name.
4. The provisioner then opens the original request by clicking the link in the Request item field.
5. The provisioner enters a unique name for the virtual machine and clicks Update.
The catalog task appears.
94

6. The provisioner clicks Close Task and the Cloud Operations Portal appears.
The task now shows a state of Closed.
7. The workflow resumes and checks the new clone name with vCenter.
8. vCenter approves the name, and provisioning continues.
References
[1] http:/ / www. vmware. com/ support/ pubs/
95
96
Reference
vCenter API User Privileges for Cloud
Provisioning
Overview
ServiceNow VMware Orchestration activities require specific user privileges to access the vCenter APIs necessary to
run workflows for VMware support. These login privileges are not for use within the ServiceNow platform, but are
configured for the VMware activities on the vCenter instance. Refer to the vCenter documentation [1] for assistance.
Note: If you are using a version of ServiceNow earlier than Calgary, see previous version information in Accessing the vCenter API
- Versions Prior to Calgary.
Determining Privileges
To determine the user privileges required by the VMware activity that logs into vCenter:
1. Navigate to the VMware API documentation [1].
2. In the vCenter API page, select All Types in the left navigation menu.
3. Click U-Z in the API index that appears.
vCenter API User Privileges for Cloud Provisioning
4. Select VirtualMachine in the index.

Information appears about a VirtualMachine object in the API.
5. Select Local Methods from the navigation menu at the top of the page.
6. Click the following methods to see the required vCenter login privileges:
CloneVM_Task: No privileges are required.
CustomizeVM_Task: Requires VirtualMachine.Provisioning.Customize
PowerOnVM_Task: Requires VirtualMachine.Interact.PowerOn
References
[1] http:/ / www. vmware. com/ support/ developer/ vc-sdk/ visdk41pubs/ ApiReference/ index. html
97
Article Sources and Contributors
Article Sources and Contributors

Cloud Provisioning Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=245851 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, Fuji.publishing.user, George.rawlins, Joseph.messerschmidt, Phillip.salzman,
Steven.wood
Cloud Operations Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=224856 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, George.rawlins, Rachel.sienko, Steven.wood
Cloud Users Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=161957 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, Joseph.messerschmidt, Steven.wood
Cloud Provisioning Security Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=243748 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, Fuji.publishing.user, George.rawlins, Joseph.messerschmidt,
Steven.wood
My Assets Portal Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=162052 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, Joseph.messerschmidt, Steven.wood
Virtual Assets Management Portals Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=243740 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, Fuji.publishing.user, George.rawlins, Joseph.messerschmidt,
Phillip.salzman, Steven.wood
Managing Virtual Assets Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=248262 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, Fuji.publishing.user, George.rawlins, Joseph.messerschmidt, Neil.narvaez,
Roy.lagemann, Steven.wood
Change Control Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=224855 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, David.Bailey, George.rawlins, Joseph.messerschmidt, Steven.wood
Cloud Administration for Amazon EC2 Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=245853 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, Joseph.messerschmidt, Steven.wood
Configuring Amazon EC2 Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=240052 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, Fuji.publishing.user, Joseph.messerschmidt, Neil.narvaez, Rachel.sienko,
Steven.wood
Creating Catalog Items from EC2 Images Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=240216 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, Fuji.publishing.user, Jennifer.ball, Joseph.messerschmidt,
Steven.wood
Amazon EC2 Approvals and Provisioning Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=239788 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, David.Bailey, Fuji.publishing.user,
Joseph.messerschmidt, Neil.narvaez, Steven.wood
Requesting an Amazon EC Instance Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=241477 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, Fuji.publishing.user, George.rawlins, Jennifer.ball,
Joseph.messerschmidt, Steven.wood
Amazon EC2 Integration for Training Partners Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=153921 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, Joseph.messerschmidt, Steven.wood
VMware for Cloud Provisioning Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=247201 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, David.Bailey, Joseph.messerschmidt, Roy.lagemann, Steven.wood
Cloud Administration for VMware VMware Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=245853 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, Joseph.messerschmidt, Steven.wood
Configuring VMware for Cloud Provisioning Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=229667 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, David.Bailey, George.rawlins, Joseph.messerschmidt,
Steven.wood
VMware Networks Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=191769 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, David.Bailey, Joseph.messerschmidt, Steven.wood
VMware Templates and Offerings for Cloud Provisioning Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=245656 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, David.Bailey, Joseph.messerschmidt,
Steven.wood
Creating Catalog Items from VMware Templates Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=239447 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, David.Bailey, George.rawlins, Publishing.user,
Steven.wood
Approving and Provisioning VMware Requests for Cloud Provisioning Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=239832 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, David.Bailey,
Fuji.publishing.user, Jennifer.ball, Joseph.messerschmidt, Steven.wood
Requesting a VMware Instance in Cloud Provisioning Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=158311 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, David.Bailey, George.rawlins,
Approving and Provisioning VMware Requests for Cloud Provisioning Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=239832 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, David.Bailey,
Fuji.publishing.user, Jennifer.ball, Joseph.messerschmidt, Steven.wood
Cloud Provisioning Error Handling Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=152241 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, Steven.wood
vCenter API User Privileges for Cloud Provisioning Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?oldid=191757 Contributors: Cheryl.dolan, Joseph.messerschmidt, Steven.wood
98
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

File:Cloud_Provisioning_Diagram2.png Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?title=File:Cloud_Provisioning_Diagram2.png License: unknown Contributors: Steven.wood
Image:Warning.gif Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?title=File:Warning.gif License: unknown Contributors: CapaJC
File:MyCompanyAssets.png Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?title=File:MyCompanyAssets.png License: unknown Contributors: Byukich, Steven.wood
File:VM_Service_Catalog_Calgary3.png Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?title=File:VM_Service_Catalog_Calgary3.png License: unknown Contributors: Steven.wood
Image:CloudAdminPortal.png Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?title=File:CloudAdminPortal.png License: unknown Contributors: Fuji.publishing.user
File:VirtualAdministrationPortal.png Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?title=File:VirtualAdministrationPortal.png License: unknown Contributors: Byukich,
File:VirtualProvisioningPortal.png Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?title=File:VirtualProvisioningPortal.png License: unknown Contributors: Byukich, Steven.wood
File:VM_Portal_View_Context_Menu.png Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?title=File:VM_Portal_View_Context_Menu.png License: unknown Contributors: Steven.wood
File:RBA_Team_Services_Form.png Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?title=File:RBA_Team_Services_Form.png License: unknown Contributors: Steven.wood
File:VM_Modify.png Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?title=File:VM_Modify.png License: unknown Contributors: Steven.wood
File:VM_Change_Specs_Dialog.png Source: http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?title=File:VM_Change_Specs_Dialog.png License: unknown Contributors: Steven.wood
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Cloud Provisioning

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Cloud Provisioning

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Cloud Provisioning

How Cloud Provisioning Works

Getting Started with Cloud Provisioning

Cloud Administration for VMware

Use these links to quickly set up VMware or Amazon EC2 provisioning.

Activating Cloud Provisioning

Upgrading with Cloud Provisioning

For Both VMware and Amazon EC2

For Amazon EC2 Only

Cloud Operations Tasks

Cloud Users Tasks

Cloud Provisioning Security

Cloud Provisioning Security

Specific Provisioning Actions

Modify VM (VMware only)

Snapshots are available starting with the Eureka release.

Using the Portal

Virtual Assets Management Portals

Virtual Assets Management Portals

My Team's Virtual Assets

Virtual Assets Management Portals

Cloud Admin Portal

Virtual Resource Request Metrics: Requests for virtual resources.

Cloud Operations Portal

Virtual Assets Management Portals

Service Monitoring Portal for Eureka and Previous Releases

Virtual Assets Management Portals

Managing Virtual Assets

Managing Virtual Assets

Updating a Virtual Machine

Managing Virtual Assets

Modifying the Specifications of a Virtual Machine

Managing Virtual Assets

Updating the Lease

Managing Virtual Assets

No changes are permitted when a virtual machine is in transition between states

No changes are permitted when a virtual machine is in transition between states

No state changes are possible

No state changes are possible

No changes are permitted when a virtual machine is in transition between states

Starting or Stopping a Virtual Machine

Managing Virtual Assets

ServiceNow runs the VMware Start-Stop workflow to provision the request.

Pausing a Virtual Machine

Managing Virtual Assets

Cancelling a Virtual Machine

Terminating a Virtual Machine

Managing Virtual Assets

This is an example of a VMware virtual machine to terminate.

Managing Virtual Assets

Deleting a Virtual Machine

Restoring from a Snapshot

Navigate to Cloud Provisioning > Management > Cloud Operations Portal.

Managing Virtual Assets

Activates (selected) or deactivates (cleared) the configuration.

Specifies the VMs that are subject to this configuration.

Managing Virtual Assets

Extend the duration of a lease

Change Request Conditions

Records that define the conditions for creating a change request.

VM Instance Action [vm_instance_action]

A user requests a snapshot for a virtual machine.

A user attempts to pause a virtual machine running a production instance.