res it store integration guide -...

1 RES IT Store Integration Guide: ServiceNow

RES IT Store Integration Guide: ServiceNow


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that this is not the case. RES Software provides the information "as is", without any warranty for its soundness, suitability for a different purpose or

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Copyright Notice

Copyright © on software and all Materials 1998-2014 Real Enterprise Solutions Development B.V., P.O. Box 33, 5201 AA `s-Hertogenbosch, The

Netherlands. RES and the RES Software Logo are either registered trademarks or service marks of Real Enterprise Solutions Nederland B.V. in

Europe, the United States and other countries. RES Automation Manager, RES Workspace Manager, RES Suite, RES Virtual Desktop Extender,

RES IT Store and RES VDX are trade names of Real Enterprise Solutions Nederland B.V. in Europe, the United States and other countries. All

other product and company names mentioned may be trademarks and/or service marks of their respective owners. Real Enterprise Solutions

Development B.V., The Netherlands has the following patents: U.S. Pat. "US 7,433,962", "US 7,565,652", "US 7,725,527", other patents pending or

granted..


TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 4

Use Case Overview ........................................................................................................................................ 5

Configuring RES IT Store Integration – Step by step ................................................................................ 6

Prerequisites .................................................................................................................................................... 7

Global Variables .............................................................................................................................................. 8

Modules ............................................................................................................................................................ 9

Run Books ...................................................................................................................................................... 11

Service Catalog ............................................................................................................................................. 14

More information............................................................................................................................................ 23


Introduction

This document describes how you can optimize ticket queue management in ServiceNow, by configuring

Incident Ticketing Integration with RES IT Store.

RES IT Store uses existing automation functionality in RES Automation Manager to make it possible for

users to open, close and update incident tickets in ServiceNow and for administrators to have this

information logged.

ServiceNow is a software platform that supports IT service management and automates common business

processes. This software as a service (SaaS) platform contains a number of modular applications that can

vary by instance and user.

The key benefits of the integration are:

Simplify user interaction with ServiceNow through a single point of interaction: the IT Store.

Reduce user-interaction with service desk. The user can create incident tickets, create accurate

reports on their ticket status and even close tickets from the IT Store.

CMDB automation to record configuration changes

This document assumes that you have basic knowledge of RES IT Store 2014, RES Automation Manager

2014 and ServiceNow (Berlin version and higher).


Use Case Overview

Use Case 1: Create a new incident ticket in ServiceNow

This RES IT Store service enables a user to create an incident in ServiceNow and to provide input for a

description of the incident, its impact and its priority.

When the incident ticket is successfully created, the incident ticket number is sent to the user via the RES

IT Storeweb portal and/or e-mail.

Use Case 2: Query open incident tickets in ServiceNow

This RES IT Store service enables a user to obtain a list of the current open incident tickets. From the open

incident tickets list, a user can enquire for further details about a selected ticket.

Further detailed information is sent to the user via the RES IT Storeweb portal and/or e-mail.

Use Case 3: Close incident tickets in ServiceNow

This RES IT Store service enables a user to obtain a list of the current open incident tickets. From the open

incident tickets list, a user can select a ticket and close it, while providing input for a closure note.

Detailed information about the closure note is sent to the user via the RES IT Storeweb portal and/or e-

mail.

Use Case 4: Record Configuration Changes in ServiceNow

Using this RES IT Store service, pre-approved changes can be logged by opening, updating and closing

incidents.

Incidents will be logged by ServiceNow, and can then be retrieved from the ServiceNow Reports table.


Configuring RES IT Store Integration – Step by step

In order to configure Incident Ticketing Integration of ServiceNow with RES IT Store, the following needs to

be configured:

In RES Automation Manager:

Global Variables

Modules

Run Books

In RES IT Store

Services


Prerequisites

RES IT Store 2014

RES Automation Manager 2014

Microsoft Windows PowerShell 3.0 installed on the RES Automation Manager Agent(s) that will

interact with ServiceNow

(http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=34595)

ServiceNow administrator level account

Administrative knowledge about ServiceNow

http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=34595


Global Variables

To save time it is recommended to use Global Variables in RES Automation Manager to store ServiceNow

details for each Module used in the integration.

For the first step of configuring the integration, 3 Global Variables should be created: ServiceNow Instance,

ServiceNow Username and ServiceNow Password.

Configuration

1. In the RES Automation Manager Console, click Infrastructure > Datastore > Settings > Global

Variables.

2. Right-click the window and click Add New Category.

3. In the Name field, specify ServiceNow.

4. Click OK.

5. Right-click the window and click Add New Variable. This opens the Add/Edit Global Variable

window.

6. In the Name field, specify ServiceNow Instance.

7. In the Category field, select ServiceNow.

8. In the Type field, select Text.

9. In the Value field, specify the URL to the customer’s ServiceNow Instance (e.g.

“https://demotest.service-now.com”).

10. Click OK.

11. Repeat the steps above to create a Global Variable ServiceNow Username. This is a Text variable

and has the value set to the ServiceNow Administrator account name or an account name with

equal permissions (e.g. “Michael.Bolton”).

12. Also create a Global Variable ServiceNow Password. This is a variable of type Password and has

the value set to the ServiceNow Administrator account password or the password of an account with

equal permissions.


Modules

For the second step of configuring the integration, four Modules need to be configured that contain the

ServiceNow Tasks we want to automate: Create ServiceNow Incident, Update ServiceNow Incident, Close

ServiceNow Incident and Query Status ServiceNow Incident.

Configuration

1. In the RES Automation Manager Console, click Repository > Modules.

2. Right-click the window and click Add Folder. This opens the Folder window.

3. In the Folder name field, specify ServiceNow.

4. Right-click the folder and click Add. This opens the Add/Edit Module window.

5. At the Properties tab, specify Create ServiceNow Incident in the Module name field.

6. At the Tasks tab, click Add. This opens the Select task window.

7. Open the folder Service Desk Integration.

8. Click ServiceNow Incident (Create). This opens the ServiceNow Incident (Create) window.

9. Click the Module Parameters tab, to create the module’s parameters.

10. Click the AutoCreate button and then Unused to create the parameters.

11. At this stage three ServiceNow Global Variables have been also created and linked in the module‘s

parameters.


12. Confirm the Task settings look as shown below and click OK.

Remaining Modules

For the remaining three Modules, Update ServiceNow Incident, Close ServiceNow Incident and Query

Status ServiceNow Incident, repeat the steps above to configure a Module with a Task Update ServiceNow

Incident, a Module with a Task Close ServiceNow Incident and a Module with a Task Query Status

ServiceNow Incident.


Run Books

In order to invoke the execution of the ServiceNow Modules from the IT Store, four Run Books need to be

configured: Create ServiceNow Incident, Update ServiceNow Incident, Close ServiceNow Incident and

Query Status ServiceNow Incident.

Configuration

1. In the RES Automation Manager Console, click Repository > Run Books.

2. Right-click the window and click Add Folder. This opens the Folder window.

3. As name of the folder, specify ServiceNow.

4. Right-click the window and click Add. This opens the Add/Edit Run Book window.

5. At the Jobs tab, click Add. This opens the Add/Edit Run Book Job window.

6. Click the What field. This opens the Select Project/Module window.

7. At the Modules tab, select the checkbox of the Create ServiceNow Incident module that you

created earlier and click OK. This returns you to the Add/Edit Run Book Job window.

8. In the Add/Edit Run Book Job window, click the Who field.

9. Select at least two Agents and click OK. This returns you to the Add/Edit Run Book Job window.

10. Select Run on one of the specified agents. This will provide redundancy in case one of the

Agents is offline, as well as spread the load when more than one Job is executed.

Note: Make sure each specified Agent has Microsoft Windows PowerShell 3.0 installed

(http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=34595).

http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=34595


11. Click OK. This returns you to the Add/Edit Run Book Job window.

12. At the Run Book Parameters tab, go to the Links tab. This tab shows an overview of all Module

parameters.

13. In the Create ServiceNow Incident Module, all parameters are input parameters, except for the

parameter Ticket Number, which is an output parameter. To control the input- and output flows

between Modules and Run Books, it is recommended to link Module parameters to Run Book

parameters automatically. Click the AutoLink button.

14. When prompted whether also to create Run Book parameters automatically, click Yes. This

automatically creates all necessary Run Book parameters and links the corresponding Module

parameters. By default, all Module parameters will be linked to the Run Book parameters as input

parameters.


15. Select the Module parameter Incident Number and click Action > Get final value. Notice that the

direction of the link arrow will change and now points to the left:

16. Click OK.

Remaining Run Books

For the remaining Run Books, Update ServiceNow Incident, Close ServiceNow Incident, Query Status

ServiceNow Incident and Query Incidents repeat the previous steps to configure a Run Book with a Module

Update ServiceNow Incident, a Run Book with a Module Close ServiceNow Incident and a Run Book with a

Module Query Status ServiceNow Incident. Link the input parameters in these Run Books in the same

manner as described above. The output parameters for the remaining Run Books are Incident Details and

Ticket List.


Service Catalog

Four services need to be configured in RES IT Store to support ServiceNow: Create ServiceNow Incident,

Update ServiceNow Incident, Close ServiceNow Incident and Query Status ServiceNow Incident.

Before you configure services, make sure RES Automation Manager Integration is enabled (in the RES

IT Store Console at Setup > RES Automation Manager).

Configuration

1. In the RES IT Store Console, click the Service Catalog section.

Before you configure services, it is recommended to create a category for it, to help users to easily

classify services within their RES IT Store portal page.

2. Click Add category. This opens the Category window.

3. In the Name field, specify ServiceNow.

4. Click OK.

5. Right-click the folder you just created and click Add service. This opens the Service window.

6. At the Properties tab, specify Create ServiceNow Incident in the Name field.

7. In the Description field, specify a description for the service.

8. Leave the other settings as they are. If necessary, you can always change these settings at a later

stage.


9. Optionally, add screenshots of the ServiceNow application on the Screenshots tab. These

screenshots allow you to provide more detailed information on the service in the IT Store.

10. At the Qualification tab, specify which criteria a person must meet before this person qualifies to

the service. In the example below, everyone has access to the service, but you can also give

specific people access, base access on classification in the organization or base it on subscription

to other services.

11. At the Attributes tab, add the following service attributes. These attributes are needed later on for

the Return Parameters in the Invoke Run Book workflow action:

Incident Number. Type: Text. No initial value.

Incident Impact. Type: List.

o Add three values: 1 with description High, 2 with description Medium, 3 with description

Low.

o In the Display field, select 1.

o In the Initial value field, select 1 – High.

Incident Urgency. Type: List.

o Add three values: 1 with description High, 2 with description Medium, 3 with description

Low.

o In the Display field, select 1.

o In the Initial value field, select 1 – High.


ServiceNow User Email Address. Type: Text. Base the initial value on People Identifier\Primary

e-mail address.

The Attributes tab should now contain the following:


Next, you need to configure the workflow of the service. The delivery or return of a service happens

according to a sequence of actions: the workflow. Each workflow starts with a trigger that specifies

when a service should be delivered or returned.

1. At the tab Workflow > Delivery, double-click the Start Delivery trigger. This opens the Delivery

triggers window.

2. Select the options that are relevant to your situation. In the example below, the trigger is set to self-

servicing only:

3. When you have configured the delivery trigger, click Add. This opens the Select action window.

4. Select Invoke Run Book and click OK. This opens the Action “Create ServiceNow

Incident\Invoke Run Book” window.

5. At the Properties tab, click the browse button in the Run Book field. This opens the Select RES

Automation Manager Run Book window.

6. Select the Run Book Create ServiceNow Incident and click OK.

7. At the Run Book Parameters tab, assign the service attributes Incident Impact and Incident

Urgency to the corresponding Run Book parameters.


8. Click AutoCreate Service Attributes > Unused. This automatically creates all necessary service

attributes and links them to the corresponding Run Book parameters. The Run Book Parameters

tab should now contain the following:

9. At the Run Book Results tab, assign the return value Incident Number to the Service attribute

Incident Number:

10. Click OK to close the Action “Invoke Run Book” window. Next, you need to add a Provide

Information action to the delivery workflow before the Invoke Run Book action.

11. Right-click the Start Delivery trigger and click Add. This opens the Select action window.

12. Select Provide Information and click OK. This opens the Action “Create Incident\Provide

Information” window.

13. At the Properties tab, leave all settings as they are and click the Service attributes tab.

14. Select the following service attributes Incident Impact, Incident Urgency, Short Description, Incident

Description. If desired, you can change the order in which the service attributes are shown in the IT

Store.

15. Click OK to close the Action “Provide Information” window. Next, you need to add a Send

Message and an End Workflow action within the Handle Exception of Invoke Run Book action.

16. Right-click the Invoke Run Book action Handle Exception and click Add. This opens the Select

action window.

17. Select Send Message and click OK. This opens the Action “Create ServiceNow Incident\Send

Message” window.

18. In the Actor field, select Requester.


19. In the Subject and the Description field, specify the contents of the message that will be send to

the user with information about the error. For example:

20. Click OK to close the Action “Create ServiceNow Incident\Send Message” window.

21. In the Handle Exception workflow, make sure the End Workflow action in the If False condition

sets the transaction state to Failed.

22. Next, you need to add a Send Message action after the Invoke Run Book action Handle

Exception section that is send to the user if workflow is succesful. This message contains the new

ticket number value.

23. Right-click the Compare Attributes action and click Add. This opens the Select action window.

24. Select Send Message and click OK. This opens the Action “Create ServiceNow Incident\Send

Message” window.

25. In the Actor field, select Requester.

26. In the Subject and the Description field, specify the contents of the message that will be send to

the user with the new incident ticket. Use the service attribute ticket_number in the message. For

example:


27. Click OK to close the Action “Create ServiceNow Incident\Send Message” window.

28. In the delivery workflow, make sure the End Workflow action below the Send Message action that

you just configured sets the transaction state to Completed. The delivery workflow should now

contain the following:


When you have configured the delivery workflow, you need to configure the return workflow.

1. On the tab Workflow > Return, double-click the Start Return trigger. This opens the Return

triggers window.

2. Select the options that are relevant to your situation. In the example below, the trigger is set to auto

deprovisioning only:

3. Click OK to close the Return triggers window.

4. Click OK to close the Service – “Create ServiceNow Incident” window.


Remaining Services

Repeat the previous steps to configure additional services such as, Update ServiceNow Incident, Close

ServiceNow Incident and Query Status ServiceNow Incident.

To download RES IT Store Building Blocks related to ServiceNow, please visit the RES Support portal at

http://support.ressoftware.com.

http://support.ressoftware.com/


More information

You can find more documentation at http://support.ressoftware.com at the Library section and at the

Downloads section. Useful reading includes:

RES Automation Manager 2014 Administration Guide: this document provides detailed

information about the installation and configuration of RES Automation Manager 2014 features and

components. The online version of this document can be accessed from the Help menu in the

Console, and is available at http://support.ressoftware.com/automationmanageradminguide2014.

RES IT Store 2014 Administration Guide: this document provides detailed information about the

installation and configuration of RES IT Store 2014 features and components. The online version of

this document is available at http://support.ressoftware.com/itstoreadminguide2014/.

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About RES Software

RES Software manages and secures the key elements of a user’s computing experience, independent of

work styles and devices. By automating how IT services are delivered to virtual workspaces and providing a

user-friendly “IT Store,” RES Software helps IT professionals master the impacts of IT consumerization,

increasingly sophisticated corporate users, bring-your-own-device initiatives and cloud technologies. RES

Software patented technologies are used by a global customer base, and include superior customer

support. For more information, follow updates on Twitter @ressoftware or visit http://www.ressoftware.com.


http://support.ressoftware.com/automationmanageradminguide2014

http://support.ressoftware.com/itstoreadminguide2014/

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