VMware vRealize Automation is a hybrid cloud automation platform that transforms IT service delivery. With vRealize Automation, customers can increase agility, productivity and efficiency through automation, by reducing the complexity of their IT environment, streamlining IT processes and delivering a DevOps-ready automation platform.
If you want to know more about the upcoming release of vRealize Automation 8, please check out our updated product page here.
In this blog we will be focusing on installing and configuring the new ITSM 7.6 Plug-in which was released and currently only available on the Service Now Store here for vRealize Automation 7.6, 7.5 and 7.4.
Summary
The vRealize Automation plugin 7.6 for ServiceNow provides an out of the box integration between the ServiceNow portal and vRealize Automation catalog and governance model. It enables ServiceNow users to deploy virtual machines and perform basic day 2 operations on their CMDB assets.
Once you install and configure the plug-in, vRealize Automation catalog items which are entitled to ServiceNow users will automatically appear in a special ServiceNow vRealize Automation portal.
When leveraging vRealize Automation’s ecosystem items via the ServiceNow portal, the vRealize Automation ServiceNow plugin will allow you to directly benefit from the extensibility and governance capabilities of vRealize Automation.
You can additionally leverage all vRealize Automation Event Broker integrations and include vRealize Automation approval policies.
Key Features
- The plugin enables integration between vRealize Automation with ServiceNow platform to provide the ability for ServiceNow users to access the vRealize Automation catalogs & resources within ServiceNow.
- The plugin allows ServiceNow users to request vRealize Automation catalog items from ServiceNow portal.
- The plugin extends ServiceNow functionality to be able to render vRealize Automation catalog items into ServiceNow dynamically and manage vRealize Automation resources.
- Day2 operations performed on the resources in ServiceNow CMDB will be synced back to vRealize Automation.
- The Plugin can support multiple vRealize Automation Instances within the same ServiceNow Instance
What’s New
- Resource Sharing and entitlements across ServiceNow users
- Resource visibility based on Entitlements within ServiceNow
- Header Rebranding where Global admin/plugin admin can apply changes based on his requirements.
- Footer Rebranding where Global admin/plugin admin can apply changes to images, logo, text, colors, based on his requirements.
- Two way checkout functionality for Catalog items
- Boolean Yes_No field type support
- Date/Time field support
- Hyperlink field type support
- Reconcile of CMDB
- Business group functionality
- Support for cross reference / Business group properties
- Custom property fields population based on Business group selection
Updates and Improvements
- Enhanced Documentation which you have to refer to.
- ITSM 7.6 supports London and Madrid version of ServiceNow.
- ITSM 7.6 support vRealize Automation 7.6, 7.5 and 7.4.
- UI Improvement for Category widget on Service Portal.
- UI improvement for browser Scrollbar on request and catalog item page on portal.
- Issue with Catalog client script (Regex Function support).
A few facts first!
Update ITSM Application for ServiceNow
If you have previously downloaded the vRealize Automation ITSM Application version 5.1 from the ServiceNow store portal, you can update it to version 7.6 in your instance using the same portal. More details around the actual update procedure can be found in the documentation.
If you have a deployment of 5.1 which was downloaded and installed from VMware Marketplace or any of the following :
- ITSM v5.1 Downloaded from VMware Marketplace
- ITSM v5.0 Downloaded from VMware Marketplace
- ITSM v4.1 Downloaded from VMware Marketplace
- ITSM v4.0 Downloaded from VMware Marketplace
- ITSM v3.0 Downloaded from VMware Marketplace
Before your deployment can be updated, the current version of the vRealize Automation ITSM Application must be uninstalled with the help of ServiceNow. Please open a ticket with ServiceNow at https://hi.service-now.com/hisp to remove the application ‘VMware vRealize Automation ITSM Application’.
Install a MID Server
- Use or Install a Management, Instrumentation, and Discovery (MID) Server to facilitate the communication between ServiceNow and vRealize Automation.
- Check my Pervious Blog here, on how to do that Or
- Check Video 2 below
Install ITSM Application for ServiceNow
I usually would have captured the entire process but unfortunately I don’t have access to the ServiceNow Store portal so I would have to install the plug-in similar to how I did in my pervious blog for the 5.0/5.1 Plug-in here.
Now assuming you have access, let’s follow the following steps :
- Log in to the ServiceNow Store portal https://store.servicenow.com/ and search for vRealize Automation ITSM Application
- Click on the application to view the details. On the top right corner of the form, you will see buttons to “Purchase” and “Manage Entitlements”
- The vRealize Automation ITSM Application for ServiceNow is free.
- Click “Manage Entitlements” and select the ServiceNow instances where the application should be installed. Click OK.
- The application should now be available on the ServiceNow instances selected in the previous step.
- Log in to the ServiceNow Instance as a ServiceNow system administrator.
- Select System Applications > All Available Applications > All.
- Search for the application “vRealize Automation ITSM Application for ServiceNow”
- Click Install. In the popup, please select Install with demo data and complete the installation.
This completes the installation of the Application.
Configure ITSM Plug-in for ServiceNow
After installation, you need to carry out the following configuration steps.
Enable Application Access on Tables
- You must enable application access to certain tables for the application to work.
- Check my Pervious Blog here, on how to do that in Step 1 Or
- Check Video 4 below.
Set up ServiceNow Users for managing the vRealize Automation ITSM Plug-in
Setup the ServiceNow users who will manage the vRealize Automation ITSM application configuration and enable end users to use the vRealize Automation User Portal.
The table below captured from the documentation describes the persona and necessary roles to enable the persona.
- vRealize Automation and ServiceNow may be backed by different Authentication Providers. It is important to setup the users in both systems with the same email address. This email address is used to match the user records across the Authentication Providers of the respective systems. The correlation is required to correctly assign the ownership of the deployments and machines.
- Authentication, Roles and Entitlements are defined and enforced by ServiceNow. They have no correspondence in vRealize Automation.
Set up ServiceNow Users for approval and support the vRealize Automation ITSM Plug-in
Setup the ServiceNow users who will approve the requests for deployments. Also, setup the users who will receive a support ticket on request failures.
The table below captured from the documentation describes the persona and the necessary groups to enable the approval and support notifications.
Note: The Support group is actually called “vRA ServiceNow Support Group” and not “vRealizeAutomation-Support“
Set up the integration user in vRealize Automation
You must set up a user in the vRealize Automation. The vRealize Automation ITSM Application connects to vRealize Automation using the credentials of this user to perform all actions including import of catalog items and categories, deployments and its resources, and requests for new deployments.
The integration user must be a business group manager within the business groups that you want ServiceNow to manage. The integration user does not require a role within ServiceNow.
- Check my Pervious Blog here, on how to do that in Step 5 Or
- Check Video 6 below.
All Catalog Item Requests from ServiceNow are serviced by this integration user in vRealize Automation. In vRealize Automation, the requests and corresponding deployments will show the integration user as the owner. However, in ServiceNow, the requests and corresponding deployments will show the ServiceNow user who initiated the request. This is achieved by correlating the Email address from the user records across two systems.
Now that we got that out of the way lets dive right in with this series of videos that will capture the integration workflow.
VMwareLab 
Hello Maher,
I’ve given Tenant administrator role to Service user in vRA. And given all roles for user in Servicenow too.
I see errors in App log : Exception caught inside VRASNRegisterVRA. updateAuthToken : Auth Token return NULL Check Mid Server.
We have our mid server connected to Servicenow (Using it for other applications too). It’s in same subject as vRA too. I get many such errors in vRA log
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Have you give him the business group manager role in terms of what business groups you want to make available in service now ?
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The mid server which is being used for this integration is used for other integration also. Ideally authentication error from the mid server shouldn’t happen. But I see the error : Exception caught inside VRASNRegisterVRA. updateAuthToken : Auth Token return NULL Check Mid Server.
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Its only a problem if you continuously see this error. I would suggest opening a GSS Support case if that is the case
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Yes. He has been made a business group manager for a group we want to show in Servicenow. He has tenant admin role too.
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Hi Maher,
In catalog item
Based on 3 field selection 4th field should autopopulate. This is not working in ServiceNow now even I have checked catalog client script is not updating when I click over import catalog item button in ServiceNow.
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Hi Maher,
In catalog item,
Based on 3 field selection 4th filed should get autopopulate, as it is not working, I have checked catalog client script which is not updating when I click to import catalog item.
What can be the reason for this.
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