ServiceNow Service Graph Connector is now GA

We are excited to announce the general availability of ServiceNow Service Graph Connector for Terraform Cloud and Terraform Enterprise, which automatically and securely updates the ServiceNow Configuration Management Database (CMDB) with the infrastructure state and resources provisioned by Terraform. Initially launched as a private beta at HashiConf 2022, the ServiceNow Service Graph Connector is a cloud-based single system of record for IT infrastructure. Users can now leverage this integration for full visibility on cloud resource tracking, with the ability to see which resources have been provisioned with timestamps. This post reviews the details and benefits of this feature that provides new visibility and allows organizations to scale their usage of Terraform to provision and manage their infrastructure.

»Features in GA

During the beta period, we collected feedback from customers, which led to new features that accompany the GA of ServiceNow Service Graph Connector, including:

• Built-in support for resources from the AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and vSphere providers
• Extensibility to customize mappings for additional resource types
• Terraform Cloud organization and workspace association
• Support for cloud tags
• Secure webhook integration from Terraform Cloud

»Provider support for AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and vSphere

The ServiceNow Service Graph connector captures resource information from the Terraform state file and sends the information to the ServiceNow CMDB. It is important to automatically and periodically enrich the CMDB with accurate and clear information so that users can leverage that information to build their best workflows. Now ServiceNow admins will be able to map data from major cloud providers and vSphere, increasing reporting accuracy.

In addition to supporting selected resources from major cloud providers, ServiceNow Service Graph Connector can work with HashiCorp’s entire Terraform ecosystem, made up of over 3,000 providers. The mapping interface of the application is designed to be easily updated, and ServiceNow administrators have the flexibility to extend support for new resources that are not covered by default.

»Organization, workspace, and cloud resource tags

Previously, there was no way to tell which workspace originally provisioned a given resource. Users could have two Amazon ECS clusters created by two different workspaces in two different Terraform Cloud organizations with no clear difference showing in the ServiceNow CMDB. Now, the application allows you to import the Terraform tags associated with your resource into the CMDB. Along with the cloud tags assigned in your Terraform code. The integration also includes organization and workspace tags, which indicate where the resource was provisioned.

»Secure webhook

ServiceNow Service Graph Connector offers a custom solution allowing users to establish a connection between their ServiceNow instance and their Terraform Cloud or Terraform Enterprise organization and pull Terraform resources into the ServiceNow CMDB. There are two ways to import resources from Terraform Cloud or Terraform Enterprise into the CMDB.

The first approach is schedule-based; users can configure a polling mechanism to pull resources from all workspaces in their organization at regular intervals. The second approach is event-based; users can choose to configure a webhook for any workspace, which will send a notification to ServiceNow upon successful completion of a Terraform run, prompting it to pull resources provisioned in that workspace. Both options may be enabled, or users may choose to enable only the webhook or scheduled import.

Previously users only had the option to schedule polling. The scheduled job makes a request to Terraform Cloud to obtain all organizations corresponding to the Terraform Cloud API token provided to the application. It will attempt to import all relevant resources from all workspaces within each of those organizations. The processing time depends on the number of organizations and workspaces in your organization's Terraform Cloud environment, as well as the general performance of the ServiceNow instance.

Now users can take advantage of webhooks — an event-based approach to importing resources. The import is triggered as soon as a Terraform run is successfully completed in Terraform Cloud. Each webhook request includes an HMAC token, and the endpoint validates the signature using the secret you provide. You can activate it, configure it, and view the history of all webhook imports by navigating to Scheduled Imports and selecting SG-Terraform Scheduled Process State.

»Key benefits

The general availability of ServiceNow Service Graph Connector on Terraform Cloud and Terraform Enterprise provides users the ability to capture resource and infrastructure information from Terraform and send that information to the ServiceNow CMDB. Here are three of the main benefits of this new integration:

• Minimize risk: The Service Graph Connector for Terraform automatically and securely updates the CMDB with the infrastructure state and resources provisioned by Terraform Cloud and Terraform Enterprise. ServiceNow admins can rely on the ServiceNow CMDB for evaluating security and compliance across DevOps and IT workstreams.
• Improve efficiency: Importing cloud infrastructure resources managed by Terraform Cloud or Terraform Enterprise state into your ServiceNow CMDB enables you to maintain a clean, complete system of record for your resources and services. By connecting Terraform to the ServiceNow CMDB, platform teams can manage and search Terraform-provisioned resources alongside the rest of the company's infrastructure.
• Consistent management: Previously Terraform users found that the state file updates that kept track of resources were not automatically added to the ServiceNow CMDB, resulting in gaps in visibility and management. Platform teams can now have their state file changes automatically updated securely in the ServiceNow CMDB, ensuring consistent current state documentation for all technical resources. Platform teams can leverage this clear and accurate information to build their best workflows.

»Get started and try Terraform Cloud

The ability to leverage the ServiceNow Service Graph Connector integration for full visibility on cloud resource tracking is now generally available in Terraform Cloud and Terraform Enterprise. Learn more about ServiceNow Service Graph Connector in the documentation, get hands-on with the Configure ServiceNow Service Graph Connector tutorial, and watch this demo video:

If you haven’t already, get started for free on Terraform Cloud to provision and manage all your infrastructure.