ServiceNow provider

What are Integrations?

SquaredUp DS Integrations allow you to create your own providers. Each Integration has its own form to help you input the information required for different providers.

What is a provider?

Providers contain the connection details to external platforms. A provider only needs to be set up once and can then be used when creating tiles on a dashboard.

There are two types of integrations and therefore providers:

• generic Web API providers that can connect to any REST API
• dedicated providers that connect to a specific external platform or database (SQL, ServiceNow, Azure Active App Insights, Elasticsearch, etc.)

About ServiceNow providers

A ServiceNow provider is a dedicated provider that contains the connection details to your ServiceNow instance. You need to create a ServiceNow provider before you can use ServiceNow tiles..

Requirements for ServiceNow providers

• SquaredUp DS 4.4 or above.
• The SquaredUp server must have access to your ServiceNow instance on port 443 (HTTPS), since it is the server that connects to ServiceNow, and not your users' browser.
• If you use a proxy server you may need to configure the proxy How to configure SquaredUp DS to use a proxy.
• A ServiceNow account. It depends on the roles of the ServiceNow account you use for the ServiceNow provider what functions are available in the ServiceNow tile.

How the ServiceNow account affects the ServiceNow tile
The permissions of the ServiceNow account you are using for your ServiceNow providerplugin affect what you can see and do in the ServiceNow tile.

We recommend using a service account, which means you create an account specifically to use with the ServiceNow providerplugin. You have different options for setting up this service account:

• ServiceNow permissions assignment with roles
  Give the ServiceNow account the ITIL and rest_api_explorer roles.
• ServiceNow permissions assignment with ACLs, in place of roles
  If you don't want to use the ITIL role (for licensing or security reasons) give the ServiceNow account only the rest_api_explorer role and use ACLs to give the account more rights. This will limit the functionality of the ServiceNow tile.Using accounts without the ITIL role may cause data streams to error.
  How to add the necessary ACLs to your ServiceNow account

  When you are using an account without the roles specified in this article, then the functionality of the ServiceNow tileplugin is limited:.

  • You'll see an error if you used a scope for your tile
  • In the View dropdown, only the non-admin default view is available (contains a default set of columns)
  • Under Filter, default filters are not available, only user-created ones are visible

  You can grant the specific permissions required more granularly by creating a custom role and assigning the specific ACLs or assigning the ACLs themselves directly to a user account:

  ACLs can be added in two ways:

  • Adding them directly to a user account, meaning you are adding the ACLs to the service account you are using for the ServiceNow providerplugin.
  • Adding them to a role. We recommend that you create a new role specifically just for adding the ACLs to it. Then you need to assign the role to the service account you are using for the ServiceNow providerplugin.
    A benefit of adding the ACLs to a role is that it makes them easier to manage and you can assign the role to different users (in this case, service accounts) if you want to use different service accounts for different instances of the ServiceNow providersplugin.

  You need to add the following ACLs:

  sys_filter

  sys_dictionary.*

  sys_dictionary

  sys_db_object

  sys_ui_list

  sys_db_object.*

  sys_ui_list.*

  What tile functions do those ACLs add when I use a non-admin ServiceNow account?

  • The tile can be scoped
  • Under Filter, all default filters are visible
  • The ACLs don't affect the views. The View dropdown still shows only the non-admin default view. You need to use an admin Service account to see all the views.

Where can I use ServiceNow providers?

The ServiceNow provider can be used with either the dedicated ServiceNow tile or the Web API tile (when you are using the Web API tile for ServiceNow). See How to use the ServiceNow tile and How to use the Web API tile

Should you use the Web API tile or the dedicated ServiceNow tile?

The ServiceNow tile is available in SquaredUp DS v4.4 and above, and offers easier configuration than the Web API tile. You can display incidents and change request with the ServiceNow tile. If you want to use any other data from ServiceNow, you need to use the Web API tile.

The Web API tile can display other data in addition to incidents and change requests, it gives you more flexibility and advanced configurations.

Adding a ServiceNow provider

1. In SquaredUp DS navigate to the right-hand menu ☰ > system > Integrations

2. Under Integrations click on ServiceNow and type in a suitable name, e.g. ServiceNow.

   

3. instance url:
   The instance URL should look something like
   https://instancename.service-now.com/api/now/ where instancename is your instance. If /api/now/ is not included as part of the instance URL then it will be automatically appended to this URL when the provider is created. If ServiceNow is installed on-premises, this may be something different.
   Note: This URL is prepended to every request URL.
4. client id and secret:
   To get a client ID and secret from ServiceNow, you need to create an OAuth API endpoint for external clients in your ServiceNow account.
   Note: If you already are using ServiceNow in SquaredUp DS, you can re-use the client ID and secret you previously created. In this case, you can skip this step.
   How to get a client ID and secret from your ServiceNow account

   1. In your ServiceNow account in the Application Navigator (left-hand menu) go to System OAuth and click Application Registry.
   2. Click Create an OAuth API endpoint for external clients.
   3. Give it an easy to remember name like SquaredUp DS and leave the other default settings as they are.
   4. Once you've created the endpoint, open the entry to view the client ID and client secret. Click the padlock next to the client secret to see it.
   5. Copy client ID and client secret into a notepad for use later.

5. username and password of the ServiceNow account you want to use.
   Prerequisites for the ServiceNow account

   How the ServiceNow account affects the ServiceNow tile
   The permissions of the ServiceNow account you are using for your ServiceNow providerplugin affect what you can see and do in the ServiceNow tile.

   We recommend using a service account, which means you create an account specifically to use with the ServiceNow providerplugin. You have different options for setting up this service account:

   • ServiceNow permissions assignment with roles
     Give the ServiceNow account the ITIL and rest_api_explorer roles.
   • ServiceNow permissions assignment with ACLs, in place of roles
     If you don't want to use the ITIL role (for licensing or security reasons) give the ServiceNow account only the rest_api_explorer role and use ACLs to give the account more rights. This will limit the functionality of the ServiceNow tile.Using accounts without the ITIL role may cause data streams to error.
     How to add the necessary ACLs to your ServiceNow account

     When you are using an account without the roles specified in this article, then the functionality of the ServiceNow tileplugin is limited:.

     • You'll see an error if you used a scope for your tile
     • In the View dropdown, only the non-admin default view is available (contains a default set of columns)
     • Under Filter, default filters are not available, only user-created ones are visible

     You can grant the specific permissions required more granularly by creating a custom role and assigning the specific ACLs or assigning the ACLs themselves directly to a user account:

     ACLs can be added in two ways:

     • Adding them directly to a user account, meaning you are adding the ACLs to the service account you are using for the ServiceNow providerplugin.
     • Adding them to a role. We recommend that you create a new role specifically just for adding the ACLs to it. Then you need to assign the role to the service account you are using for the ServiceNow providerplugin.
       A benefit of adding the ACLs to a role is that it makes them easier to manage and you can assign the role to different users (in this case, service accounts) if you want to use different service accounts for different instances of the ServiceNow providersplugin.

     You need to add the following ACLs:

     sys_filter

     sys_dictionary.*

     sys_dictionary

     sys_db_object

     sys_ui_list

     sys_db_object.*

     sys_ui_list.*

     What tile functions do those ACLs add when I use a non-admin ServiceNow account?

     • The tile can be scoped
     • Under Filter, all default filters are visible
     • The ACLs don't affect the views. The View dropdown still shows only the non-admin default view. You need to use an admin Service account to see all the views.

6. Click Save.

If the configuration is correct you will see a green tick.

If the provider is not authorized it could be that some of the provider configuration is incorrect (for example the username, password, secret etc), or if you use a proxy it could be that the proxy is not configured. See How to configure SquaredUp DS to use a proxy.

Where can I use ServiceNow providers?

The ServiceNow provider can be used with either the dedicated ServiceNow tile or the Web API tile (when you are using the Web API tile for ServiceNow). See How to use the ServiceNow tile and How to use the Web API tile

Should you use the Web API tile or the dedicated ServiceNow tile?

The ServiceNow tile is available in SquaredUp DS v4.4 and above, and offers easier configuration than the Web API tile. You can display incidents and change request with the ServiceNow tile. If you want to use any other data from ServiceNow, you need to use the Web API tile.

The Web API tile can display other data in addition to incidents and change requests, it gives you more flexibility and advanced configurations.