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ServiceNow Incidents

The ServiceNow Incidents Integration allows you to automatically create ServiceNow incidents based on high-level BigPanda incidents.

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Supported VersionsTypeAuthentication Type
San Diego (v2.3+), Rome (v2.3+), Quebec, Paris, Orlando, New York, Madrid, London, Kingston, Jakarta, IstanbulAPIAPI Key and Bearer Token

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 at 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. If the 6th attempt fails, BigPanda support will be notified.

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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

KeyValue
x-bp-config-servicenowUrlYour ServiceNow dashboard URL, eg. https://bigpanda.service-now.com
x-bp-api-keyAn authorized User API Key
x-bp-config-servicenowUsernameUsername of the BigPanda account created in ServiceNow, eg. bigpanda
x-bp-config-servicenowPasswordPassword of the BigPanda account created in ServiceNow

Configure the Integration in ServiceNow

Create a BigPanda ServiceNow User

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Skip this section if you are using ServiceNow on-premises

  1. In ServiceNow, under User Administration > Users, click on New.
  2. Fill out the New User form (make sure to include the following fields):
    • User ID - bigpanda
    • First name - BigPanda
    • Password - create a password of your choosing and save for later
  3. Make sure that the Active checkbox is checked.
  4. Click on Submit.
  5. Find the user by writing bigpanda in the filter box above the User ID column.
  6. Go to Roles section (the first section) and click on Edit.
  7. Filter for x_bip_panda_user on the left table and then double-click it to move it to the right table.
  8. Click Save.

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 > Incidents > 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.
FieldDescription
Bearer TokenEnter the BigPanda organization key here.
API KeyEnter the BigPanda API key here.
Incidents App KeyEnter the ServiceNow Incidents App Key here. You can obtain it from the BigPanda ServiceNow Incidents integration module.
Change APIEnter the BigPanda Change API here.
Telemetry EnabledSelect this checkbox to enable exporting logging data in the integration and to receive troubleshooting and diagnostic assistance by BigPanda.
Telemetry EndpointProvide a URL for the telemetry option.
  1. Configure the Incidents section.

Parameter

Description

Active

Select this checkbox to enable configuring the integration settings.

Assignment Group

A group to which BigPanda assigns new ServiceNow incidents. For example, define “DevOps” as the assignment group.

Caller ID Email

A default email associated with a ServiceNow user calling in the incident. BigPanda searches for the caller’s details and populates the Caller ID field.

Opened By Email

A default email associated with a ServiceNow user who created the incident.

BigPanda searches for the user's details and populates the Opened By field.

CMDB CI Field

Provide an alert tag representing the physical server of your system, such as host, hostID, hostname. BigPanda searches for this tag in the payload and defines it as your configuration item.

For example, if you define the CMDB CI field as “host” then every time a new BigPanda incident is created, BigPanda searches for the host tag and populates this value in the configuration item field.

Resolved By Email

The email address of the ServiceNow user that resolved the incident.

Primary Alert

A single alert can be defined as the Primary Alert of the BigPanda incident. Provide a list of criteria for the alert you wish to be defined as the Primary Alert. BigPanda searches all alerts according to these values, in an order of preference from left to right, to find the Primary Alert.
For example, the following default values:
“status=critical, startedOn” classifies the Primary Alert as being the oldest alert having a critical status.

By default, values are sorted in ascending order, specifying the oldest alerts. If you want the Primary Alert to be the newest alert negate the field name to: “-startedOn.”
Equality sorting criteria may use wildcards (*) when searching for matching values.
Alerts are sorted in an order of preference. The values: “Status=critical, status=warning, startedOn” places all critical status alerts first followed by warning status.

Resolve ServiceNow Incident

Select this checkbox to automatically resolve ServiceNow incident when a corresponding incident is resolved in BigPanda.

Resolve BigPanda Incident

Select this checkbox to automatically resolve the corresponding BigPanda incident when a ServiceNow incident is resolved.

Send Closure Code

Select this checkbox if you want to send closure information about a resolved ServiceNow incident as a comment in the BigPanda incident.

Re-open Resolved

Select this checkbox to enable a ServiceNow incident to be reopened when a BigPanda incident is reopened.
Disable if you want to create a new ServiceNow incident when a BigPanda incident is reopened.

Re-open Window

If you enabled the Re-open Resolved field, you can set the timeframe during which the ServiceNow incident can be reopened. Default time window is 30 minutes.

Update Fields

Provide a list of all ServiceNow fields you want to be updated when a ServiceNow incident is created in BigPanda. For example, list the description field as an update field in ServiceNow in order to see the description information provided by BigPanda.

Retrieval Count

The number of BigPanda incidents you want to retrieve at once can be adjusted. Default Retrieval Count is 20.

Retrieval Endpoint

Provide a URL where ServiceNow can retrieve BigPanda incidents.

Callback Endpoint

Provide a URL where ServiceNow can respond to a corresponding BigPanda incident.

Incident Tag Mapping

A table of BigPanda Incident Tags and ServiceNow Incident fields to sync

Note: For the ServiceNow Incident Fields, make sure to use the underlying field name and not the field label

Ex: assignment_group

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.

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.

Updated 12 days ago

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