ServiceNow is a cloud software solution that offers a comprehensive suite of IT management software in the areas of IT service, IT operations, and IT business. We connect to ServiceNow using Workato, a third-party tool that gives use a secure means of accessing learner attributes.

API version

The ServiceNow connector uses the ServiceNow REST API v2.

Supported editions and versions

The ServiceNow connector works with ServiceNow and ServiceNow Express editions.

All versions of ServiceNow are supported. However, only Istanbul and later versions support OAuth 2.0 connection.

How to connect to ServiceNow on Workato

The ServiceNow connector supports three authentication types:

• Username/Password (Basic authentication)

• OAuth 2.0 (Authorization code grant)

• Password grant

Username/Password

Select Username/Password authentication type to connect to your ServiceNow instance with your login credentials.

Username/Password connection

OAuth 2.0

Select the OAuth 2.0 authentication type to connect to your ServiceNow instance without using your login credentials. This authentication type allows you to grant access to Workato by obtaining a token rather than disclosing your login credentials.

Only Istanbul and later versions of ServiceNow support OAuth 2.0 connection with authorization code grant flow. Make sure that your ServiceNow version supports this when selecting this authentication type.

OAuth 2.0 connection

Password grant

Select the Password grant authentication type to connect to your ServiceNow instance. This authentication type allows you to grant Workato access by providing your login credentials, which are used to obtain an access token.

Password grant connection

Set up an OAuth 2.0 client

You must have an admin role to set up an OAuth 2.0 client.

Complete the following steps to set up an OAuth 2.0 client:

1

Activate the OAuth 2.0 (com.snc.platform.security.oauth) plugin. Refer to the ServiceNow documentation for more information on how to activate OAuth 2.0(opens new window)

Activate OAuth plugin

2

Create an endpoint for a client application to gain access to your ServiceNow instance. Use https://www.workato.com/oauth/callback as the Redirect URL. Refer to the ServiceNow documentation for more information on how to create an endpoint for external clients(opens new window).

OAuth 2.0 client

3

Use the Client ID and Client secret to create a ServiceNow connection in Workato. This triggers an OAuth authorization code grant flow that opens a new browser window requesting authorization.

Roles and permissions required to connect

To use the ServiceNow connector, you must establish the connection with a user that has roles with access control to the following tables:

Some Base system roles(opens new window) (such as admin) include access control to these tables. However, if you plan to grant only the minimum required access control for using the ServiceNow connector, consider creating a custom role tailored to these access controls.

In addition to their base system role, the user must have access control to the tables required in the integration use case. For example, to create an integration user that can perform standard ITIL helpdesk actions (open, update, close incidents, problems, changes, configuration management items), you must assign them the itil role. To grant access only to specific tables or tables besides those available in the base system roles, we recommend that you create a custom role and assign the appropriate access control as needed.

Create a custom role

You can create a custom role with sufficient access control for the tables you plan to work with if you don't plan to use a Base system role(opens new window) to connect to Workato.

Complete the following steps to create a custom role:

1

Create a role in your ServiceNow instance and assign it a name that reflects its association with the Workato connector, such as Workato Integrator. Refer to the ServiceNow documentation for more information on creating roles(opens new window).

2

Give your new role the following access control rules to use the ServiceNow connector:

SECURITY ADMIN ROLE REQUIRED FOR ACCESS CONTROL

Only a user with security_admin role can edit or create access control. Confirm your permissions with your ServiceNow administrator. Read more about Elevated privilege roles(opens new window).

Elevate to privilege role

3

Assign the relevant access control to use the triggers/actions you plan to use in your integration use case. For example, you must have a custom role that includes access control to read and write to the incident table for a workflow that requires triggering closed incident events.

Granting access control rule for incident table to custom role

Real-time triggers

The ServiceNow connector features a set of real-time triggers for new and updated records in a selected table. This trigger uses the sys_script table to send HTTP requests to Workato's webhook gateway when the specified event (new or new and updated records) occurs in your ServiceNow instance.

A record is automatically created in the sys_script table that points to a webhook URL unique to your recipe when you start a recipe with one of these triggers. Similarly, the same record in the sys_script table is deleted when you stop the recipe.

The account you use to establish the ServiceNow connection must be assigned roles with the following access control rules to enable this feature: