ServiceNow Connector

Connect ServiceNow and Incorta

Using ServiceNow and the Incorta ServiceNow Connector, you can easily create a ServiceNow schema and load ServiceNow data for analysis into Incorta. You can connect to ServiceNow with an Administrative account or Non-Administrative account. Incorta uses the ServiceNow REST API to discovery tables and extract data.

NOTE: Using the REST API Explorer in ServiceNow, you can browse available APIs, API versions, and methods for each API. In ServiceNow, navigate to System Web Services and then select REST API Explorer. To access the REST API Explorer, you must belong to the rest_api_explorer role.

Configure Account Security for the ServiceNow REST API

By default, the ServiceNow REST API uses basic authentication or OAuth to enforce access controls to web resources. The REST API enforces data access restrictions using a table’s Access Control Lists (ACLs). If not using a user account that belongs to Admin role or Administrative roles for the ServiceNow data source, you must grant the following roles to the ServiceNow user:

REST_API_EXPLORER
REST_SERVICE
SOAP_CREATE
SOAP_DELETE
SOAP_ECC
SOAP_QUERY
SOAP_QUERY_UPDATE
SOAP_SCRIPT
SOAP_UPDATE

ServiceNow REST API Timeout Requirements

The REST API default timeout settings of the ServiceNow instance may prevent Incorta from successfully extracting data, especially from very large tables. The default timeout setting is 60 seconds.

In ServiceNow, transaction quotas allow administrators to define individual quota policies for different types of transactions. Typically, ServiecNow administrators set transaction quotas to prevent poorly performing queries and scripts from overconsuming system resources. A transaction quota ensures that no transaction consumes too many resources, preventing other transactions from running.

NOTE: Before setting transaction quotas, sign in to your ServiceNow instance and review the normal transaction activities for your instance by navigating to User Administration and then selecting Active Transactions.

The REST Table API request Timeout prevents inbound REST Table API transactions from running for longer than 60 seconds. As needed, increase the REST table API request timeout transaction quota rule. To make the necessary changes, enter /sysrule_quota_list.do?sysparm_query=nameLIKEREST on the navigator text field, and then modify the maximum duration (seconds) attribute. A value of 600 seconds should be enough for most instances to allow queries to complete, although large values may be needed in some cases. You can also deactivate the rule or enter 0 for unlimited.

ServiceNow Table Types

The REST API exposes two types of tables in ServiceNow for consumption:

• System Tables: System defined tables created by ServiceNow.
• User-Defined Tables: A table that a ServiceNow developer or administrator defines for custom data.

Create a ServiceNow Data Source

The ServiceNow Connector for Incorta requires the following:

• Instance Name: The name of the ServiceNow instance
• User name and Password: The User name and Password for the ServiceNow account
• Is Administrative Credentials: Specifies that the user belongs to the Admin role or has Administrative access rights
• Table Names: The ServiceNow entities that the user can query via the REST API
• Default Page Size: The number of records in a page request
• Proxy Enabled: Enable to specify the Proxy IP and Proxy Port

Here are the steps to create a ServiceNow data source:

• Sign in to the Incorta Unified Data Analytics Platform.
• In the Navigation bar, select Data.
• In the Actions bar, select + New, then select Add Data.
• In the Choose a Data Source dialog, in Application, select ServiceNow.

• In the New Data Source dialog, specify the:

  • Data Source Name
  • Instance name
  • User name
  • Password
  • Is Administrative Credential
  • Table Names
  • Default Page Size
  • Proxy Enabled
  • Specify the Proxy IP and Proxy Port
• To test, select Test Connection.
• Select Ok to save your changes.

Page Size

When creating a data source, define the number of records in a page for the REST API request. You can override this setting on a specific table in a schema by editing the table’s Data Source properties. The default setting is 5,000 records per page.

Create a ServiceNow Schema

Here are the steps to create a ServiceNow schema using the Schema Wizard:

• Sign in to the Incorta Unified Data Analytics Platform.
• In the Navigation bar, select Schema.
• In the Actions bar, select + New, then select Schema Wizard.

• In (1) Choose a Source…

  • In Enter a name, specify the schema name.
  • In Select a Datasource, select the ServiceNow data source.
  • In Enter a description, optionally specify a description.
• In the Schema Wizard footer, select Next.
• In (2) Manage Tables, in the Data Panel, first select the Instance name and the select one or more Tables.
• In the Schema Wizard footer, select Next.
• In (3) Finalize, in the Schema Wizard footer, select Create Schema.

Create ServiceNow table

Here are the steps to create a ServiceNow Table in a given schema:

• In the Navigation bar, select Schema.
• In the Schema Manager, select a schema.
• In the Schema Designer, in the Action bar, select + New.
• In the Add New Menu, first select Table and then select ServiceNow.

• In the Data Source dialog, specify the following:

  • ServiceNow DataSource
  • Query
  • Page size
  • Show foreign keys

• In the Data Source dialog, optionally specify the following:

  • Incremental and Update query
  • Callback and Callback URL
• To save your Data Source changes, select Add.
• To save your Schema changes, in the Action bar, select Done.

NOTE: When selecting Display Value for the Show foreign key as property, you must manually change the column types for the Foreign Key columns to String.

Edit a ServiceNow table

• In the Navigation bar, select Schema.
• In the Schema Manager, select a schema.
• In the Schema Designer, select a table.
• In the Table Editor, in the Table Summary, select the ServiceNow icon.

• In the Data Source dialog, edit any of the following:

  • ServiceNow DataSource
  • Query
  • Page size
  • Show foreign keys

• In the Data Source dialog, optionally specify the following:

  • Incremental and Update query
  • Callback and Callback URL
• To save you Data Source changes, select Save.
• To save your Table changes, in the Action bar, select Done.

Load the ServiceNow Schema

With a ServiceNow schema successfully created, you can now perform a Full Load of the schema. Here are the steps to perform a Full Load of the ServiceNowschema.

• Sign in to the Incorta Unified Data Analytics Platform.
• In the Navigation bar, select Schema.
• In the list of schemas, select the ServiceNow schema.
• In the Schema Designer, in the Action bar, select Load → Load Now → Full.
• To review the load status, in Last Load Status, select the date.

Explore the ServiceNow Schema

With the full load of the ServiceNow schema complete, you can now create dashboards using the Analyzer. To open the Analyzer from the schema, follow these steps:

• In the Navigation bar, select Schema.
• In the list of schemas, select the ServiceNow schema.
• In the Schema Designer, in the Action bar, select Explore Data.