The ServiceNow integration enables you to synchronize ServiceNow incidents with corresponding incidents in BigPanda. Incidents are kept up-to-date in both platforms allowing you to continue working in ServiceNow while benefitting from BigPanda’s tools.

Key Features

• Bidirectional updates: Changes in either BigPanda or ServiceNow are synchronized within the other platform. By default, information is updated every 15 seconds reducing latency synchronization to less than 5 minutes. As a result, you are provided with an up-to-date view of incidents in near real-time.

• On-premise support: The ServiceNow Application pulls updates from the cloud, simplifying integrations with on-premise ServiceNow servers.

• Incident resolution and reopening capabilities: You can configure settings so that when an incident is resolved in BigPanda, the corresponding incident is resolved in ServiceNow, and vice-versa. Additionally, you can enable that a reopened BigPanda incident reopens the corresponding ServiceNow incident or creates a new one.

• Customization options: Customize the transformation of shared data, and implement custom logic within the ServiceNow workflow. See a full list of optional logic and updating fields in the ServiceNow Incidents - Advanced Customization documentation.

• Retry logic: If a request to the ServiceNow API fails, BigPanda will retry up to 6 times with 15 minutes in between each attempt. After 5 attempts, the request is added to the DLQ. If the 6th attempt fails, BigPanda support will be notified. Status codes 501 and higher are supported, including the following error codes: ECONNRESET, EADDRINUSE, ECONNREFUSED, EPIPE, ENOTFOUND, ENETUNREACH, and EAI_AGAIN.

• Error response communication: If a request fails to reach ServiceNow or receives an error from the ServiceNow incidents API, a comment is sent back to BigPanda to display this error message to the end user. The servicenow_link incident tag is also updated with the value error to reflect this, which can help to filter incidents that failed to create a ticket. If you’ve changed the incident tag name for a ServiceNow ticket link, please be sure to add a custom header called x-bp-config-responseIncidentTag to the integration in order to leverage the same field for error communication. If this header is unspecified, the default incident tag name of servicenow_link will be used.

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The ServiceNow integration follows standard AutoShare rules for outbound shares.

Bi-directional sync is time based, and is in addition to the outbound sharing updates.

See Managing Incident Sharing for more information.

Install the Integration

Administrators can install the integration by following the on-screen instructions in BigPanda.

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Required Migration (October 2021)

If you are attempting to upgrade an installation of the ServiceNow application and your integration was set up before October 2021, you may need to migrate your installation to support future updates.

To verify your migration status, navigate to System Applications > My Company Applications, find and select BigPanda and, in the subsequent menu screen, pay attention to the top left part of the menu. If your screen says Store Application - BigPanda, please perform the migration linked above. If it says Custom Application - BigPanda or you do not have a BigPanda application installed, you are free to proceed with the installation.

Configure the Integration in BigPanda

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Ensure you complete step #4 or the integration will not work.

Skip step #3 if you are using ServiceNow on-premises.

1. Create a new ServiceNow integration in BigPanda and give it a name
2. Follow the instructions to create a BigPanda ServiceNow User.
3. In the BigPanda under the Configure Integration Webhook section add the headers below.
4. Click Configure Webhook.

Headers to Add

Configure the Integration in ServiceNow

Application architecture

Disable Polling Script

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Skip this section if you are using ServiceNow on-premises

1. In ServiceNow from the left sidebar navigate to BigPanda > Changes > Retrieve Incidents Scheduled Job.
2. Uncheck the Active box.
3. Click Update to save your settings.

Configure the Incidents Module in the BigPanda Application

1. In the ServiceNow application, navigate to BigPanda > Configuration.
2. In the General section, enter the appropriate keys provided in the BigPanda Console Integration instructions.

3. Configure the Incidents section.

For a complete list of available fields, see ServiceNow Advanced Customization.

If you have not been granted Administrator access to the ServiceNow integration system, you can modify the integration through custom headers. To learn more, see Custom Headers.

(Optional) Exclude Properties from Update Sets

If you want to exclude certain system properties in one instance from overwriting values in another, you’ll need to set those properties to “private” in ServiceNow. Here’s how:

1. Type sys_properties.list into the search bar to find the desired property.
2. Select and open the property.
3. Select the checkbox marked Private at the bottom of the screen.

This will prevent these properties from being exported when cloning or downloading an Update Set.

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Recommended Private Properties

We recommend making the following properties private:

• x_bip_panda.apiKey
• x_bip_panda.bearerToken
• x_bip_panda.changesAppKey
• x_bip_panda.incidentsAppKey

Update the BigPanda ServiceNow Application

The latest BigPanda ServiceNow integration includes support for recent ServiceNow versions and additional functionality. Upgrading your integration allows you to take advantage of the latest functionality.

Updating the BigPanda ServiceNow app may involve different steps depending upon the version that you are currently running. See the Update the BigPanda ServiceNow App documentation for detailed instructions.

Uninstall the Integration

Deleting an integration requires changes to both the integrated system and BigPanda. You must uninstall the integration on the integrated system and then delete the integration from BigPanda.

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When replacing an existing integration with a new tool or system, we recommend configuring the new integration first to ensure no data is lost.

Stop Sending Data to BigPanda

On the integrated system, disable any settings that send data to BigPanda.

Manually resolve any open alerts sent from the integration to remove the associated incidents from your incident feed. These incidents will not automatically resolve without an ok status from the original sending integration.

Stop Sending Data from BigPanda

In BigPanda, disable any settings that send data to the integrated system. This includes modifying or removing AutoShare rules or Environments that are tied to the integration.

Delete the Integration from BigPanda

1. In BigPanda, navigate to the Integrations tab and select the desired integration from the list.
2. In the integration details on the right, click Delete Integration. A support message opens, pre-populated with a request to delete the selected integration.
3. Press Enter to send the request.
4. The BigPanda support team will remove the integration from the UI.

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This procedure does not remove any data from BigPanda or the integrated system. As needed, remove data from each system before deleting the integration.