Using ServiceNow with IBM App Connect Enterprise

ServiceNow is a cloud-based platform that supports service management for all departments in your business including IT, human resources, facilities, and field services. IBM® App Connect Enterprise provides ServiceNow Input and ServiceNow Request nodes, which you can use to interact with ServiceNow applications.

1. In the IBM App Connect Enterprise Toolkit, create a flow containing a ServiceNow Request node.
2. Select the ServiceNow Request node in the flow to show the node properties in the editor.
3. On the Basic tab, click Launch Connector Discovery.
   A panel is displayed in which you specify the name of the policy project and vault details to be used during connector discovery.
4. Specify the details of the policy project and vault to be used during connector discovery:
   1. In the Policy Project field, specify the policy project that is used to store the policies that are created during connector discovery.
      Alternatively, you can create a new policy project by clicking New and then specifying the name of the new policy project. Then click Finish.
   2. Specify the vault to be used during connector discovery. By default, credentials that are used during connector discovery are stored in an external directory vault, which is an App Connect Enterprise vault that can be used by any integration server. Alternatively, you can store the credentials in an integration server vault, which is created in the integration server's work directory and can be used only by that specific integration server.
      To specify the vault to be used for storing the credentials, complete the steps in the Using the Connector Discovery wizard section of one of the following topics:

      • Configuring an external directory vault
      • Configuring an integration server vault
   3. In the Vault key field, enter the vault key that is used to access the credentials stored in the vault. The vault key must be at least 8 characters in length.
   4. Optional: By default, the specified vault location and vault key are saved as preferences in the Toolkit so that the values are preset when you launch Connector Discovery. If you do not want the preferences to be saved, deselect Save in vault preferences.
5. Click Launch Discovery to start the Connector Discovery wizard for the ServiceNow connector.
   The Connector Discovery window is displayed. If existing ServiceNow connections (accounts) are available, a list of those connections is displayed. If there are no existing connections, the status of the ServiceNow connector is shown as Not connected.
   • If one or more ServiceNow connections (accounts) are available, complete the following steps:
     1. Select the connection that you want to use by clicking it.
     2. Click the required object type and then select the action that you want to perform on the object. For example, click Assets and then Retrieve assets.
   • If there are no existing connections (accounts), complete the following steps:
     1. Click the required object type and then select the action that you want to perform on that object. For example, to retrieve assets from ServiceNow, click Assets and then Retrieve assets.
     2. Click Connect.
     3. Select the authorization method that you want to use for the connection to ServiceNow, by clicking one of the following options from the drop-down list:
        1. Provide a username, password, and client credentials (OAUTH 2.0 PASSWORD)
        2. Provide credentials for App Connect to use (BASIC)
     4. Click Continue.
     5. A window is displayed in which you enter the connection details for your account, according to the authentication method that you selected in the previous step (OAUTH 2.0 PASSWORD or BASIC):
        • If you selected OAUTH 2.0 PASSWORD authentication, enter the following details:
          • Endpoint URL: The URL of your ServiceNow instance, in the format https://<servicenow-id>.service-now.com
          • Username: The username for your ServiceNow account.
          • Password: The password for the specified username.
          • Client ID: The unique identifier of ServiceNow OAuth client application. For more information about obtaining a client ID, see http://ibm.biz/acservicenow.
          • Client secret: The client secret for the ServiceNow OAuth client application. For more information about obtaining a client secret, see http://ibm.biz/acservicenow.
          • Proxy name: If necessary, enter the name of the proxy that you want IBM App Connect Enterprise to use to pass the connector calls.
        • If you selected BASIC authentication, enter the following details:
          • Endpoint URL: The URL of your ServiceNow instance, in the format https://<servicenow-id>.service-now.com
          • Username: The username for your ServiceNow account
          • Password: The password for the specified username
          • Proxy name: If necessary, enter the name of the proxy that you want IBM App Connect Enterprise to use to pass the connector calls.
     6. Click Connect.

        The credential is then stored in the vault, and the other connection details are saved in the ServiceNow policy.

        For more information about connecting to ServiceNow, see How to use IBM App Connect with ServiceNow in the IBM App Connect Enterprise as a Service documentation.

6. Set the required connector properties in the wizard.
   You can add conditions for the retrieval of the data, by clicking Add condition and then selecting the property that you want to filter on. For example, you can specify assets that were billed under a particular invoice number by clicking Add condition, then Invoice number, and then specifying the required value. You can also set properties that specify the maximum number of records to retrieve and the action to be taken if that limit is exceeded.
7. When you have finished specifying the properties in the Connector Discovery wizard, click Save.
   The values of the properties that you set in the wizard are returned to the ServiceNow Request node in the IBM App Connect Enterprise Toolkit.
8. When you finish discovery and save the property values, exit the Connector Discovery wizard by clicking the X in the upper-right corner of the window.
9. Return to editing the ServiceNow Request node in the IBM App Connect Enterprise Toolkit.
   The connector properties that were set in the Connector Discovery wizard (in step 6) are now visible on the ServiceNow Request node. The Basic tab shows the values of the Action and Object properties that you set in the wizard. For example, if you selected Assets > Retrieve assets in the wizard, the following properties are visible on the Basic tab of the node:

   • Action - RETRIEVEALL
   • Object - alm_asset

   The values of the Action and Object properties are displayed in read-only format. If you want to change these values, you can do so by clicking Launch Connector Discovery again and setting new values in the Connector Discovery wizard. You can modify other properties by clicking Edit next to the property.

   The Schema base name property specifies the base name of the schema files that describe the format of the request and response messages that are sent and received from the ServiceNow connector. The schema base name is set automatically the first time that you run discovery for the node, and it is based on the current flow name and node name. If you set this property manually before you run discovery for the first time, the value that you set is used. If you rename the schemas after discovery, you must edit this property so that it matches the schema base name that is used by the renamed schemas in the project. If you change this property after discovery, you must either rename the schema names to match or run discovery again.

   Depending on the action that was selected during discovery, the Connector Discovery wizard generates either a request schema and a response schema, or a response schema only. A request schema is generated only if the selected action and object require a request message. The generated request schema is used for validation of the request message. If the action was RETRIEVE or DELETE, only the response schema is returned by the connector.

   The generated schema files are added to the project and can be used by a Mapping node for transforming input or output data. The full file name of the schema is derived from the schema base name, suffixed with either response.schema.json or request.schema.json. You can open the schema by clicking Open request schema or Open response schema.

10. Check that the property settings on the ServiceNow Request node are correct and then save the message flow.
11. On the Connection tab of the ServiceNow Request node, the Policy property shows the name of the policy that contains the details of the security identity to be used for the connection. The policy has a type of ServiceNow.
12. Optional: Set the Timeout property on the Connection tab to specify the time (in seconds) that the node waits for ServiceNow to process the operation.
13. The Filter tab of the ServiceNow Request node contains properties that control the way in which the message flow selects data. The initial values of these properties are taken from the property values that were set for the ServiceNow connector in the Connector Discovery wizard, including any conditions that were specified (as described in step 6). If you later return to the Connector Discovery wizard and change the values of any properties (by adding new conditions, for example) those updates are reflected in the properties set on the node.

    The Filter Options properties control which objects are to be operated upon when the ServiceNow Request node executes. The Filter Limit properties control the maximum number of items to be retrieved and the action to be taken if the limit is exceeded.

    You can modify the values by clicking Edit next to the value that you want to modify in the Filter Options section, and by changing the property values that have been set in the Filter Limit section.

    The property values can be either text values or ESQL or XPATH expressions that are resolved from the contents of the message that is passed to the ServiceNow Request node as it executes.

14. On the Request tab, set the Data location property to specify the location in the incoming message tree that contains the object data to be created in ServiceNow. This data forms the request that is sent from the ServiceNow Request node to the ServiceNow system.
15. On the Result tab, set the Output data location property to specify the location in the output message tree that will contain the data of the record that is created in ServiceNow.
16. By default, request messages are validated against the request schema that was generated during connector discovery. You can turn off request validation or change the validation settings by using the Validation properties of the ServiceNow Request node.
17. Save the message flow.