INTEGRATION METHODS

INTEGRATING INTO… AND POPULATING YOUR #CMDB

USING DISCOVERY & OPERATIONAL SOLUTIONS

Hichem Guemiri Maxime Carrier

SERVICENOW ARCHITECT SERVICENOW IMPLEMENTATION SPECIALIST
HICHEM@HGConcept.com MCARRIER@HGConcept.com
+1 (514) 247-0825 +1 (514) 962-6136

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AGENDA

• Introduction

• Architecture

• Integration use cases

• Methods & Interfaces

• Other Resources…

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AT THE HEART OF YOUR SERVICE MANAGEMENT! THE CMDB…

BUSINESS
CONTINUITY

FACILITIES SDLC TRAINING

FINANCIAL SOFTWARE
PROCUREMENT CONFIGURATION
MANAGEMENT LICENSING MANAGEMENT
EMPLOYEE BUSINESS
PORTAL HR
MANAGEMENT

I.T RISKS & ASSET VENDOR REQUEST SERVICE

PLANNING CAPACITY
COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT MANAGEMENT FULFILLMENT CATALOG MANAGEMENT
BUSINESS
LEGAL
STRATEGY GRC

CLIENT SERVICE CHANGE

ACQUISITION
PORTFOLIO
INCIDENT SERVICE MANAGEMENT
MANAGEMENT MANAGEMENT MANAGEMENT

ROADMAP SERVICE PROBLEM AVAILABILITY ORCHESTRATION

I.T GOVERNANCE
STRATEGY DESIGN MANAGEMENT MANAGEMENT

STORAGE
MANAGEMENT PROCESS ENTERPRISE PROCESS CONFIGURATION
DESIGN ARCHITECTURE
CMDB WORKFLOWS AUTOMATION AUTOMATION

CLOUD SYSTEMS &

DATA CENTER PROCESS SERVICE
MANAGEMENT NETWORK SYSTEMS PROVISIONING
AUTOMATION ASSESSMENT MAPPING &
MANAGEMENT INTEGRATION
DESIGN

SECURITY
ALERTS VIRTUALIZATION DATABASE
MANAGEMENT MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS APPLICATION DATA
MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT MIGRATION

BACKUP
MANAGEMENT SERVICE
DEPENDENCY EVENT
DISCOVERY
MANAGEMENT CUSTOM APPLICATION
INTEGRATION MANAGEMENT

SERVICE
MAPPING

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 SERVICENOW… A SHARED ARCHITECTURE
SERVICE
CATALOG MANAGEMENT

SERVICES
SERVICE REQUEST
CONSUMERS FULFILLMENT

PROBLEM APPLICATIONS
CUSTOMERS MANAGEMENT

STAFF SERVICE
RECEIVING END POINT CHANGE
SERVICE
SERVICE MANAGEMENT DATABASE
CATALOG
REQUEST

SERVICE ASSET &

CONFIGURATION
SERVICE MANAGEMENT SERVERS
SUPPORT
SERVICE PORTAL Identify CI s & Dependencies
WEB ACCESS BASED ON ROLE Manage Service Models

WEB PORTAL
SERVICE DESK INCIDENT
VIRTUALIZATION
FUNCTION DATA
PROVIDED BY
MANAGEMENT
RESPOND TO INCIDENTS / RESTORE SERVICE
SERVICE
DELIVERY
DATA CENTER

SERVICE EVENT
PRODUCING MANAGEMENT
SYSTEMS SERVICE
SUPPORT
SUPPORTS
EVENT PROCESSING
INTEGRATES WITH TELECOM
SERVICENOW EVENT RESPONSE
EVENT INTEGRATIONS
CMDB EVENT CORRELATION
EVENT ANALYTICS
SERVICE NETWORK
PROVIDERS
SERVICE SUPPORTS SUPPORTS SUPPORTS
ADMINISTRATION
STORAGE
BACKUP
REPORT SERVICE LEVEL KNOWLEDGE
MANAGEMENT MANAGEMENT MANAGEMENT
SCRIPTS WEB SYSLOGS NETWORK WMI SNMP
SERVICES FLOW TRAPS

IT ANALYSTS
SYSTEMS
ADMINISTRATORS

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POPULATING THE CMDB

INVENTORY CONSOLIDATED DISCOVERY

CMDB INTEGRATIONS
ASSETS & CONFIGURATION ITEMS

CUSTOMERS

BUSINESS
SERVICE

CI RELATIONSHIPS
APPLICATION
SERVICE SERVICES SLA

APPLICATIONS
OWNERSHIP
DBMS

STORAGE GROUP

SERVERS
ANALYST
TELECOM

POPULATING THE CMDB

NETWORK PEOPLE

TECHNOLOGY DATA
ORGANIZATION
SERVICE CENTER

LOCATION

BUILDING

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CMDB POPULATION APPROACH

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INTEGRATION USE CASES
• AUTHENTICATION
• BULK DATA IMPORT
• BULK DATA EXPORT
• TRANSACTIONAL DATA EXCHANGE

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USE CASE 1: AUTHENTICATION

WHAT HOW
• Leverage external system for authentication • LDAP
 Listener
• Leverage authentication of other systems  Import via MID Server
 Authentication (LDAPS and not via MID Server)
• Multiple authentication stores
• Digest Token w/ nonce

• SAML (2.0)

• Multi-Provider SSO

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USE CASE 2: BULK DATA IMPORT
WHAT HOW
• Importing bulk data from 3rd party systems • Load Import Sets
 FILE
• One time import o Tabular data retrieval
o FTP
• Scheduled import at regular intervals from o SFTP
multiple locations o SCP
o FTPS
o POST (HTTPS) to instance
o CSV
o Excel
o XML
o MID Server - Scheduled File Importer
 JDBC
 LDAP
• Transform into target
 Field maps / scripts
 Transform Maps

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USE CASE 3: BULK DATA EXPORT
WHAT HOW
• Exporting bulk data to 3rd party systems • ODBC Driver

• One time export • Email as attachment

• Scheduled export at regular intervals • Data Processors via HTTP Request

 XML
• Data Archiving / Warehousing  CSV
 XLS
• 3rd party reporting
• Web Service batching
• Sharing data across multiple instances  SOAP
 REST
 JSON

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USE CASE 4: TRANSACTIONAL DATA EXCHANGE
WHAT HOW
• Send and receive data based on event • Inbound Web Services
triggers  Direct Web Services (REST/SOAP)
 Ticket, Incident, Problem integrations...  Import Set Web Services (REST/SOAP)
 Scripted Web Services (SOAP)
• Building remote client to interact w/  Custom Processor (HTTPS/REST)
ServiceNow
• Inbound Email Actions (Event Management)
• Custom Web UI
• Outbound Web Services
• Orchestration  RESTMessageV2
 SOAPMessageV2

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INTEGRATIONS BEST-PRACTICE
 Tables vs. File For Import Sets
 SOAP & REST APIs provide complete access to instance data
 Export based web services allows for fast, easy pull of data

1. Inventory all data sources for each CI Class

2. Review Documents provided by Project Team
• Integration methods and data sources
• CI Classifications and table structure
• Common Attributes security related attributes
• Data Dictionary

3. Extract Data from operational toolsets

4. Enable integrations

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INTEGRATION METHODS
• MID SERVER
• IMPORT SETS
• TRANSFORM MAPS
• REST API EXPLORER
• REST MESSAGES
• PROCESSOR
• WEB SERVICE
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INTEGRATIONS METHODS

MID SERVER

WEB SERVICE IMPORT SETS

SNOW
INTEGRATIONS
TRANSFORM
PROCESSOR
MAPS

REST REST API

MESSAGES EXPLORER

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 INTEGRATION METHODS: MID SERVER
Integration with monitoring tools, for receiving messages (traps, soap calls, web services) internally to ServiceNow

• Discovery
• Orchestration
• Import Sets
– JDBC
– File
– LDAP
• Microsoft SCCM
• Microsoft System Center Operations Manager

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INTEGRATION METHODS: IMPORT SETS
GOOD FOR CONSIDERATIONS

• Importing bulk data from external files • Web service import sets allow you to restrict direct web service
• Application-specific web services access to an application table.
• Web service import sets automatically apply transform maps

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INTEGRATION METHODS: TRANSFORM MAPS
GOOD FOR CONSIDERATIONS

• Data transformation and clean up • Identify the fields that make a record unique and use them to
• Identification of and updates to existing records coalesce.
• There are several existing transform maps you can use as
templates.
• Filter out first – Do not import data that has not changed
• Coalescing on non-indexed fields

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INTEGRATION METHODS: REST API EXPLORER
GOOD FOR CONSIDERATIONS

• Proper formatting of REST requests • Can eliminate the need for web service client tools.
• Table API
• Retrieve records from a table (GET) • Use to reduce the complexity of scripting REST calls.
• Create a record (POST)
• Retrieve a record (GET) • Calls bypass application access settings.
• Modify a record (PUT)
• Delete a record (DELETE)
• Update a record (PATCH)
• Aggregate API
• Retrieve statistical calculations for a table (GET)
• Import Set API
• Create a record in an Import Set staging table (POST)
• Retrieve an Import Set record (GET)

• Testing inbound REST requests

• Generating sample code

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INTEGRATION METHODS: REST MESSAGES

GOOD FOR CONSIDERATIONS

• Communicating with external applications • Use Preview Script Usage to see how to code a REST message.
• Automatically including record values by using variables • REST messages require asynchronous business rules.

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INTEGRATION METHODS: PROCESSORS
GOOD FOR CONSIDERATIONS

• Running arbitrary code from a URL • Creating processors requires using the application scope’s
• Applying an operation to multiple tables namespace identifier in the URL.
• Consider whether web services can accomplish the same goal.
• There are many existing processors to use.

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INTEGRATION METHOD: WEB SERVICES
• INBOUND: Inbound web services allow you to access and modify ServiceNow data using a client application.
– Direct Web Services: query tables and records directly using SOAP, REST, or other web service formats.
– ODBC Driver: report on ServiceNow data using an ODBC client, such as Microsoft Excel.
– Import Set: access the import set tables and import data through a web service interface.
– Scripted Web Services: define custom web service endpoints using JavaScript.
• OUTBOUND: Outbound web services allow you to send SOAP and REST messages to external web service providers.
– Outbound REST
– Outbound SOAP

• EXPORT WEB SERVICES

• Excel
• PDF
• RSS

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SOAP COMMUNICATION FLOW

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WEB SERVICES: DIRECT vs. IMPORT SET

ServiceNow supports multiple APIs for direct web services.

 SOAP https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOAP
 REST https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REST#Applied_to_web_services
 CSV https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma-separated_values
 EXCEL https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Excel_file_format#File_formats  Direct: Query
 Import Set: Create, Update, Delete
 JSONv2 http://json.org/
 PDF https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_Document_Format
 RSS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS
 XML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XML
 ODBC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Database_Connectivity

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INTEGRATION INTERFACES
• EMAIL
• JDBC
• ODBC
• SOAP
• REST
• DATA EXPORT

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SUPPORTED INTEGRATIONS INTERFACES

EMAIL

DATA
JDBC
EXPORT

INTEGRATION
INTERFACES

ODBC JSON

REST SOAP

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 INTERFACE: EMAIL

Inbound email actions enable an administrator to define the actions ServiceNow

takes when receiving email
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INTERFACE: JDBC

• A JDBC probe runs on the MID Server to query an external database via [JDBC] and returns results to ServiceNow. Probes
interact with the MID Server via the ECC Queue.
• To query a table using a direct JDBC probe, requires the following parameters
• JDBC driver class name
• JDBC connection string
• Database server
• Database name
• User name
• User password
• You can configure a JDBC data source to use the ID of the user configured for the Windows MID Server service for SQL Server
authentication.

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INTERFACE: SOAP
• ServiceNow publishes its underlying table structures and associated data with the following Web Service methods:
• Direct Web Services: Use a URL query to request a ServiceNow table's WSDL.
• Web Service Import Sets: Use import tables and transform maps to automate Web Service requests to ServiceNow
tables.
• Scripted Web Services: Use custom JavaScript to execute Web Services requests.

• You can get a WSDL format by issuing a URL targeting a ServiceNow table with the WSDL parameter, for example:
 https://myinstance.service-now.com/incident.do?WSDL

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INTERFACE: JSON
• JSON format is a natural extension to the JavaScript language.
• JSON web service is triggered by a standalone JSONv2 URL parameter
 https://<instance name>.service-now.com/mytable.do?JSONv2
• Data Retrieval
METHOD DESCRIPTION
getKeys Query the targeted table using an encoded query string and return a comma delimited list of sys_id values.

getRecords Query the targeted table using an encoded query string and return all matching records and their fields.

get Query a single record from the targeted table by specifying the sys_id in the sysparm_sys_id URL parameter,
and return the record and its fields.

• Data Modification
METHOD DESCRIPTION
insert Create one or more new records for the table targeted in the URL.
insertMultiple Create multiple new records for the table targeted in the URL.
update Update existing records in the targeted table in the URL, filtered by an encoded query string.

deleteRecord Delete a record from the table targeted in the URL by specifying its sys_id in the sysparm_sys_id URL
parameter.

deleteMultiple Delete multiple records from the table targeted in the URL, filtered by an encoded query string.

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INTERFACE: REST
• Outbound REST functionality allows to retrieve, create, update, or delete data on a web server
• Send REST messages from a MID Server, which allows access an internal network
• ServiceNow sends requests to a REST endpoint using a REST message.
• A REST message contains the following elements:
• ENDPOINT: The URL of the data to be retrieved, updated, or deleted.
• HEADERS: The HTTP headers in REST messages carry the information about the data format. They apply to all methods
in that message unless the header is overridden in the method definitions.
• METHODS: The HTTP methods — PUT, POST, GET, DELETE — interact with the data at the endpoint.

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INTERFACE: ODBC
• The ServiceNow ODBC driver allows an ODBC client to connect to the ServiceNow platform for reporting
• The ODBC driver supports only SELECT statements or read-only functions, and does not modify the instance data.
• There is no supported way to use the ODBC driver with a Java client application or with a Java JDBC-ODBC bridge

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INTERFACE: DATA EXPORT

ServiceNow offers a variety of ways for administrators and users with the itil role to export data:
• Form export: Export an individual record from the user interface. Choose PDF or XML format directly from a form.
• List export: Export multiple records from the user interface. Choose CSV, Excel, PDF, or XML format directly from a list.
• Scheduled export with reports: Automatically export multiple records from a table on a set schedule. Create a scheduled job to
regularly export data as a report.
• Direct URL access: Export multiple records from a table using the ServiceNow CSV, Excel, PDF, or XML processor. Specify the table
form or list you want to export in the URL.
• Web services/SOAP: Export multiple records from a table when an external client makes a web services request. Create an external
application or process to automate the retrieval of data from an instance via web services or SOAP.

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WEB SERVICE: INTEGRATION TESTING TOOLS
• cURL
– Command line tool for making HTTP requests. Allows complete configuration of HTTP requests and verbose logging of request and response.
• Runscope
– Web based API testing tool that allow for capturing HTTP requests to debug as well as acts as a proxy for requests to APIs that allows you to
see both the HTTP request and response. Also provides ability to use script automated API test cases via Javascript and schedule them to run.
• ReadyAPI (formerly known as SOAPUI):
– Web service testing tool (SOAP & REST) providing the ability to generate sample requests by parsing WSDL.
• Hurl.it(hurl.it)
– Web based testing tool providing ability to make simple HTTP requests against an API from web and see response.
• Httpbin (httpbin.org)
– Web based HTTP client testing service. Allows you to make HTTP requests against httpbin and see the response in the browser.
• Google DevTools

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SERVICENOW INTEGRATION RESOURCES

 ServiceNow Developer Portal

 ServiceNow Developer Community
 StackOverflow
 ServiceNow Integration Video Series
• Integration Interfaces Overview
• Outbound Web Service
• Inbound Web Service
• Import Sets
• The Application Menu

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SERVICENOW BOOKS BY HGCONCEPT

Hichem Guemiri Maxime Carrier

SERVICENOW ARCHITECT SERVICENOW IMPLEMENTATION SPECIALIST
HICHEM@HGConcept.com MCARRIER@HGConcept.com
+1 (514) 247-0825 +1 (514) 962-6136

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