Cisco Intersight ServiceNow Integration

Abstract

Learn how to add the Cisco Intersight plugin to ServiceNow for hardware/support discovery.

Problem statement

Many customers today struggle to include accurate hardware and support end date information in their ServiceNow CMDB. The Cisco Intersight ServiceNow Plugin makes this process much easier.

Background

Recently, we were discussing ServiceNow reporting with a customer. Some of the reports business users were requesting were not currently available. Two of these report topics were "Hardware Support End Date" and "Firmware Version." ServiceNow was collecting virtual machine and ESXi inventory information from virtual hosts through vCenter but did not have access to OEM-specific hardware information. 

After some research, we explained to the customer that Cisco Intersight could provide this OEM-specific information to ServiceNow. The customer was excited to hear this, so we built a proof of concept in the ATC on their behalf.

Solution

Installing the Intersight ServiceNow Plugin was pretty simple. (I had assistance from the brilliant Stephen Hey, ServiceNow SME, but the process was straightforward.) Download the installation guide.

Get the Intersight plugin

Go to store.servicenow.com and search for Intersight.

Select the Plugin and then select Get.

Login to your ServiceNow instance.

Choose System Applications > Applications. 

In the Not Installed tab, the Cisco Intersight ITSM plugin is listed. 

Click the Install button for the listed Cisco Intersight ITSM plugin application. 

The Cisco Intersight ITSM plugin is installed and the available workflows are listed in the ServiceNow left navigation pane for the instance.

Configure the Intersight plugin

Choose Cisco Intersight > Configuration > Intersight Configuration from the left pane. 

The Intersight Authentication form is displayed. 

Fill out the form.

You can find your Intersight API Key in Intersight.com by going to "Gear" > Settings.

Select your API Key and then select Show Selected to see your API Key. Your Secret Key was displayed when you created the API Key initially. If you have misplaced the Secret Key, you can generate a new API Key with a new Secret Key

Back in ServiceNow, once the Intersight Plugin form is filled out, select Save and Import. Your Intersight credentials will be validated, new ServiceNow tables will be created and data will be synched. This will take a few minutes.

View the Intersight Portal in ServiceNow

From ServiceNow search for Intersight and select the Cisco Intersight Portal. You will be able to view the Intersight dashboard, alarms, incidents and hardware information.

Create an Intersight Asset Report in ServiceNow

From the ServiceNow Homepage, select Reporting and Analytics.

Select Create Report.

Enter a Report Name, search for "Cisco" tables, choose the Intersight table source that you want and select Next.

Choose a report type and select Next.

Choose columns and select OK, then Next.

Select Save, then Run.

Optionally, select Share to add this report to a dashboard or download as a PDF.

Conclusion

Importing accurate OEM hardware/support information into a CMDB like ServiceNow can be very difficult. The Cisco Intersight Plugin for ServiceNow makes this process easier.

References

ServiceNow for Intersight Plugin: ServiceNow Store  

Cisco for Intersight Plugin: Intersight ServiceNow Plugin - Cisco Community