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ServiceNow Data Connector

The BigPanda Unified Data Connector (UDC) syncs data from ServiceNow to provide context and insights for AI Incident Assistant (Biggy), AI Incident Prevention, and AI Detection and Response. Ingested data is securely stored and made available in the IT Knowledge Graph, powering accurate answers, deep analytics, trend analysis, and advanced capabilities.

Not bi-directional and monitoring incident sync

The Data Connector does not enable incident sync and sharing from the BigPanda event monitoring incident feed. See the ServiceNow integration documentation for details on managing incidents with ServiceNow and BigPanda.

Authorization

Use either OAuth2 or basic HTTP auth to configure Unified Data Connector with ServiceNow. OAuth2 is recommended for production environments.

Create the required credentials for your chosen authorization method, then send them to your BigPanda account team who will finish the authorization process.

Time conversion

The Unified Data Connector will convert all date and time fields into UTC. This ensures consistent date handling across different environments and time zones.

The system also automatically combines the date format and time format for complete date/time parsing. (For example, YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss)

Configure UDC with OAuth2

OAuth2 enhances security and ease of use, and won’t store user passwords and automatically refreshes expired tokens.

To get started, configure the application registry on your ServiceNow instance. The steps are the same as the Splunk instructions found on the ServiceNow site. The Client ID and Client Secret should be saved so that you can send these to your BigPanda account team.

Once you’ve completed that step, provide the following credentials to your BigPanda team.

Field

Description

Instance

The name of your ServiceNow instance. (i.e. yourinstance.service-now.com)

Client ID

Client ID copied from your ServiceNow application registry.

Client secret

Client secret copied from your ServiceNow application registry.

Time zone

Time zone of your ServiceNow instance. (Used for incremental filtering.)

Configure UDC with HTTP basic auth

If you’re unable to use OAuth2, you can configure HTTP basic authentication to connect your data. We strongly recommend creating a unique user for BigPanda in ServiceNow to more clearly track activity and customize permissions.

Field

Description

Instance

The name of your ServiceNow instance. (i.e. yourinstance.service-now.com)

Username

Username of the account used to access ServiceNow.

Password

Password of the account used to access ServiceNow.

Timezone

Time zone of your ServiceNow instance. (Used for incremental filtering.)

The BigPanda team will use your ServiceNow credential information to set up the data connector. Certain fields and options are customizable depending upon your organization’s preferences and requirements.

(Optional) Configure mutual TLS certification

The ServiceNow data connector supports Mutual TLS (mTLS) authentication, providing an additional layer of security for organizations that require client certificate verification. You can use this in combination with either OAuth2 or basic HTTP authentication.

To enable mTLS, you must provide the following information to your BigPanda account team:

Parameter

Description

Certificate

Your client certificate in PEM format

Key

Your client private key in PEM format

Use the PEM format below when providing both the certificate and key. Certificates must include the -----BEGIN and -----END markers and each marker must be on its own line.

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
MIIDXTCCAkWgAwIBAgIJAJC1HiIAZAiU...
(base64 encoded certificate data)
...AQ8AMIIBCgKCAQEArXk
-----END CERTIFICATE-----

Sync preferences

Provide the following information about your sync preferences to BigPanda:

Required Configuration 

Option

Description

Mode

Determine whether you’d like to set up an incremental or historical sync. 

Most organizations will need to use both modes. See the Streaming Modes section for more information.Streaming Modes

Optional Table-level Configuration 

Option

Description

Related Tables

For each table, you can choose to include a related table. 

For example, if an incident has CIs, you can include the task_ci related table to collect them along with the incident.

See the Related Tables section below for a list of related tables and join fields.

Filter

You can apply query filters to specific tables to granularly choose what data is extracted. Each table’s filter is applied independently. Tables without a filter will load all records.

Filters use ServiceNow's encoded query syntax with ^ as AND and OR as OR. 

We recommend using ServiceNow's query builder to test filters before adding them to the configuration. See the ServiceNow documentation for more information. 

Fields

Determine which fields you’d like to include from each ServiceNow table. You can also choose to include all fields.

Optional Pipeline Configuration 

Option

Description

Start Date

If you’re setting up a historical sync, provide the date of when you’d like the sync to begin. If no start date is provided, all data will be synced.

We recommend syncing one year of data.

End Date

Used for historical syncs only. Provide an end date to backfill historical syncs.

Read Replica

ServiceNow supports read replicas through the sysparm_query_category parameter. This allows you to direct queries to specific database replicas within ServiceNow's infrastructure.

If you’d like to set this up, provide your replica name. 

Batch size

The sysparm_limit parameter defines the number of items requested from SNOW in a single call. The default is 1000.

Timeout

The request_timeout parameter defines how long the system will wait before timing out a request. The default is 100 seconds.

Performance-Related Configuration 

Option

Description

Query Limit

The maximum number of queries that can be sent per minute. The default is 60 queries per minute.  

Rate Limit Timeout (MS)

The timeout period in milliseconds after the query limit has been reached. The default is 1000 ms (1 second).

Data requirements for ServiceNow UDC configuration

To leverage all of the BigPanda features that integrate with ServiceNow, you must ensure that your UDC configuration includes all required tables and fields. You can also configure additional custom tables and fields for added functionality and more robust contextual enrichment.

Required fields

All tables must include specific required fields to be ingested successfully. As long as these minimum requirements are met, you can include as many additional custom fields as you want.

Related tables

In every table, you can choose to include one or more related tables. (For example, if an incident has CIs, you can include the task_ci related table to collect them along with the incident.)

While many related tables are optional, AI Incident Assistant requires the change_task and task_ci related tables for successful ingestion.

See our documentation on Related Tables for a list of common related tables and their join fields.

Required fields

All ServiceNow tables connected to the Unified Data Connector must include these minimum required fields.

  • sys_id

  • sys_created_on

  • sys_updated_on

  • sys_created_by

  • sys_updated_by

Some tables may have additional required or recommended fields, including fields necessary for related tables.

Required tables for ServiceNow UDC configurations

Some features require more tables than others, but we strongly recommend including all of these core tables for all features. Broader datasets allow BigPanda to provide comprehensive context, better analysis, and more accurate answers.

ServiceNow table

Required fields

Required for feature

change_request

sys_id

sys_created_on

sys_updated_on

sys_created_by

sys_updated_by

number

AI Incident Assistant

change_task

sys_id

sys_created_on

sys_updated_on

sys_created_by

sys_updated_by

change_request

AI Incident Assistant (required as related table)

cmdb_ci

sys_id 

sys_created_on 

sys_updated_on 

sys_created_by 

sys_updated_by 

name

AI Incident Assistant

incident

affected_service 

assigned_to 

assignment_group 

brand_category 

business_duration 

business_impact 

caller_id 

category 

caused_by 

close_code 

close_notes 

cmdb_ci 

contact_type 

impact 

knowledge 

location 

made_sla 

number 

opened_by 

parent_incident 

priority 

problem_id 

reassignment_count 

reopen_count 

resolved_at 

resolved_by 

short_description 

state 

subcategory 

sys_created_by 

sys_created_on 

sys_id 

sys_updated_by 

sys_updated_on 

urgency 

work_notes 

x_bip_panda_bigpanda_id

AI Incident Assistant

Service Desk Correlation

Historical Incidents

kb_knowledge

sys_id 

sys_created_on 

sys_updated_on 

sys_created_by 

sys_updated_by 

number

AI Incident Assistant

problem

sys_id 

sys_created_on 

sys_updated_on 

sys_created_by 

sys_updated_by 

number

AI Incident Assistant

task_ci

sys_id

sys_created_on 

sys_updated_on 

sys_created_by 

sys_updated_by 

task

AI Incident Assistant

Service Desk Correlation

(required as related table) 

Custom tables in ServiceNow UDC configurations

Additional and custom tables can be connected to deepen the context and performance of BigPanda features.

Custom tables must include the minimum required fields:

  • sys_id

  • sys_created_on

  • sys_updated_on

  • sys_created_by

  • sys_updated_by