Prerequisites

1. Establish parity between LDI and ServiceNow Platforms.
   

A physical device like laptop, desktop, server, etc. is referred to as a Device in LDI application and as an Asset in the ServiceNow application.

1. The name of the LDI device must be the same as the name of the Asset in the ServiceNow application
   
2. The Serial number of the LDI device and Asset serial number must be the same.

1. Requisite Roles and Rights required for LDI and ServiceNow accounts.
   

Disclaimer – The LDI ServiceNow plugin was developed and tested in a clear and empty ServiceNow Instance. Any change done by ServiceNow in their platform can affect the LDI ServiceNow plugin.

Import and Install Lenovo XML File in ServiceNow 

1. Sign in to the ServiceNow dashboard. 
   
   
2. Enter update in the search box. The System Update Sets menu appears.
3. Click Retrieved Update Sets. In the Related Links, Import Update Set from XML link appears.
   
   
4. Click Import Update Set from XML.
   
   
5. Click Choose file, and then click Upload. After the file is imported, the LDI  application appears in the list.
   
   
6. Click LDI. The LDI record appears in the ServiceNow application. 
   
   
1. Note: You can update, delete, or get a preview of the LDI update sets.
7. Click Preview Update Set.
1. Note: The preview fails if there are errors during import of LDI XML file.
   
    
   
8. To resolve the errors, select all errors in the tab, click Update Set Preview Problems.
   
   
9. Click Accept remote update.
   
   
10. Click Commit. The update set is successfully commited.
    

Authenticate LDI API Credentials in ServiceNow

1. In the search box, enter LDI Config. The LDI Config tab appears.
   
   
2. Click LDI Config. The Properties page appears. In this page, enter credentials of LDI API to establish connection between ServiceNow and LDI platform.
   
   
3. Enter LDI API Client ID.  
   

To generate LDI API credetials, refer to Get API Credentials.

Synchronize Assets in ServiceNow and LDI 

1. Log in to ServiceNow instance. 
2. In the search box, enter computer. The Computer tab appears in the navigation menu.
   
   
3. Click Computer in the navigation menu. The list of Assets appears in the pane.
   
   
4. Click the Settings icon. The Personalize List Columns window appears.
   
   

The checkboxes shown in the screenshot are marked by default.

1. Name of the Asset. For example, EPUAKYIW0FCA
2. Model ID of the Asset – HP EliteBook 850G7 Notebook
3. Serial Number of the Asset – 5CG1092
1. You can search an asset by the Name, Model ID, or Serial Number. Choose assets you want to synchronize by using filters. 
2. Important Note: Do not apply filter if you want to synchronize all.
4. Mark the checkboxes to select Assets(s) that you want to synchronize with LDI platform.
   
   
5. Right-click the Export tab. A side menu appears. In the context menu, choose Export → CSV. 
   
   
6. Select the type of format of the file to be exported. For example, CSV.
   
   
7. Click Download. The file is downloaded on the device.
   

Mandatory Requirements for LDI CSV Format 

Only underscore (_) and dash (-) symbols are allowed.

To upgrade DEVICE NAME automatically, MACHINE TYPE must be model_id, and SERIAL NUMBER must be equal to serial_number.

Update Asset Information from ServiceNow to LDI Account 

1. Log in to LDI account.
2. Click Devices in the navigation menu. The Devices pane appears.
3. Click More. The drop-down window appears.
4. Click Import Device Changes. 
   
   
5. Select the file. For example, the CSV file of Assets exported from ServiceNow.
6. Click Verify. The file is verified.
   
   
7. Click Yes. The device information is updated in LDI, and you receive a confirmation email at your registered email ID. ServiceNow receives data of specific device(s) and renders it in the Plugin tab. The LDI ServiceNow plugin is set up.
   
   
   

Integrate ServiceNow into LDI Tool

This feature allows the system to raise a ticket and assign it to the LDI Support team when an incident occurs. It includes tasks such as configuring connection to ServiceNow portal, creating rules that includes sensor management, etc.

Communication between servicenow-integration-service and ServiceNow API occurs using basic authentication. Thus, ServiceNow user credentials are stored in the servicenow-integration-service database and provided each time the API is called.

There is a possibility to use a more secure mechanism - OAuth authentication, when a limited-time token is obtained from OAuth API by credentials and is used in the API calls.

Follow this procedure to support the OAuth authentication:

1. Log in to the ServiceNow portal.
2. Fill-in Instance URL.
3. Enter the values for these fields:
1. User ID or Admin Credentials
2. Password
3. Client ID
4. Client Secret
1. The Organization Admin must create a user in ServiceNow for User ID and Password and a client for Client ID and Client Secret.
2. The roles must be specified: Admin, Asset, App_service_user, etc. With this set of roles, there is an issue with setting high impact and urgency through the API. When High is requested, Medium is set in the incident.
4. Click Connect to ServiceNow. All the filled-in credentials are stores in the database afterward. This way it’s possible to receive tokens whenever it’s needed.
   

This option requires saving user and password, but this user can be controlled at ServiceNow side.

You must have an LDI Admin access privileges to configure and create a rule.

1. Log in to LDI portal.
2. Select Configuration -> Insights & Automations -> ServiceNow Incident Rules. The SNOW Incident Rules page appears.
3. Click the Config Status drop-down on top-right in the page.
4. Select Edit Configuration. The Configure Connection to ServiceNow page appears.
5. In the Add Instance Credentials section, enter the ServiceNow Instance URL, ServiceNow User ID, and ServiceNow Password.
6. In the Add Client Credentials section, enter the ServiceNow Client ID and ServiceNow Client Secret.
1. All are mandatory fields.
7. Click Connect ServiceNow. 
   

Create a ServiceNow Incident Rule

You need to configure ServiceNow in LDI before creating an incident rule. Refer to Integrate ServiceNow Into LDI Tool for more details. 

The following table displays the fields in the SNOW Incident Rules page:

You can also click the   toggle button on top of the page to display all the active rules for the ServiceNow devices.

1. In the SNOW Incident Rules page, click the  icon. The New Rules page appears.
2. Enter the name you want to give to a new rule.
3. Select the conditions from the dropdowns. 
   
   
4. Enter the device name or label to which the new rule is applicable.
   
5. Click Save Rules.    
   

Handle an Incident in ServiceNow

 

When you create an incident, the details are updated in the LDI Diagnostics tab. You can see this tab at the bottom of page. This tab helps you to take appropriate actions.