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Please note : This help page is not for the latest version of Enterprise Architect. The latest help can be found here.

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Walkthrough: ServiceNow Integration

This walkthrough helps you to set up and use the integration capability of Pro Cloud Server to integrate your Enterprise Architect models with the corresponding ServiceNow tables.

Using the integration with ServiceNow you can:

  • Link Enterprise Architect elements with their counterparts in ServiceNow
  • Create Enterprise Architect elements based on ServiceNow items, and vice-versa
  • Perform a traceability analysis

Prerequisites

In order to set up integration between ServiceNow and Enterprise Architect, you must first:

  • Be using a licensed installation of Pro Cloud Server with the Integration Plug-ins component
  • Select the 'Enable Pro Features (OSLC, WebEA and Integration)' option in the Pro Cloud Server configuration for each Database Management System hosting your Enterprise Architect models
  • Have network access between the PCS server and ServiceNow
  • Have user credentials to access the external data
  • Be using Enterprise Architect Corporate, Unified or Ultimate edition v14 or later

We will assume that the Integration Server and the ServiceNow Integration Plug-in are to run on the same machine as the Pro Cloud Server.

Minimum required permissions

Read access is required on these tables:

  • sys_filter - lists the custom filters that determine what is displayed in Enterprise Architect
  • sys_db_object - list of tables to group the filters by the main base table used
  • sys_dictionary - for the display name of table fields
  • Any table that the custom filter uses

To enable 'push' synchronization, the user will require write access to the tables as well.

Read access can be enabled by adding an Access Control (ACL) rule on the table.

A second rule will be required to enable read access on all fields in the table (e.g. table.*).

The Access Control rules should have a required Role assigned, and then that role can be given to a group or individual user.

Note: On some tables it is required to 'Elevate role' from a System Administrator to a 'Security Administrator - security_admin' to be able to edit Access Controls.

Define ServiceNow table filters

The ServiceNow integration allows access to items via saved table filters. By default ServiceNow typically includes a number of predefined global filters. You can browse all your defined filters in ServiceNow using the 'System Definition | Filters' option.

You can create new filters in ServiceNow by following these steps:

  1. Locate the relevant data within ServiceNow (e.g. Incidents)
  2. Show the filter bar.
  3. Adjust the filter options.
  4. Save the filter.
  5. This filter (and the items it returns) will now be accessible to the Pro Cloud Server's ServiceNow integration.

Identify ServiceNow to Pro Cloud Server and Enterprise Architect

Work through these steps:

  1. Double-click on the 'Pro Cloud Config' Desktop icon to open the Pro Cloud Config Client window.
  2. Select the 'Integration' tab and select the 'Enable Integrations' checkbox. In the 'Port' field type the number of the Port the Integration Server is listening on for requests from the Pro Cloud Server.
  3. Click on the Add button. The 'Add Data Provider' dialog displays.
  4. Select the 'Enabled' checkbox.
  5. In the 'Name' field, type an appropriate connection name, such as 'ServiceNow'.
  6. In the 'Provider' field, click on the drop-down arrow and select 'Service Now'; this automatically adds 'now' to the 'Prefix' field as well.
  7. In the 'Integration Plugin' panel, in the 'Port' field, type the number of the Port that the Integration Server will use to communicate with the ServiceNow Plug-in.
  8. In the 'Protocol' field, click on the drop-down arrow and select 'https'.
  9. In the 'Server Name/IP' field, type the server name or IP address that the ServiceNow Plug-in will use to communicate with ServiceNow.
  10. In the 'Port' field enter '443'.
  11. Leave the 'Base URL' field blank for a default ServiceNow configuration. The field might be required for non-default ServiceNow Server configurations.
    Note that the fields in steps 8 to 11 are concatenated to make a web address; that is: <protocol>://<server>:<port>/baseURL (baseURL included if the field is not blank).
  12. If you leave the 'User' and 'Password' fields blank, then each Enterprise Architect user will be prompted for their personal ServiceNow credentials, which can give a better usability.
  13. If you prefer to set values in the 'User Name' and 'Password' fields, the values will be used in combination to access the data within ServiceNow. All current Enterprise Architect users of the ServiceNow installation will use the same set of credentials to read the external data.
  14. Select the 'Create Items' and/or 'Modify Items' checkboxes as necessary, to allow users of the ServiceNow Plug-in to create and/or update items in ServiceNow using Enterprise Architect.
  15. Leave the 'Ignore SSL Errors' option unchecked.
  16. You can leave other fields blank or set to their default values. Click on the OK button to complete the configuration. This returns you to the 'Integration' tab of the Pro Cloud Server Configuration Client window.

Identify Enterprise Architect models to ServiceNow

On the 'Integration' tab of the Pro Cloud Server Configuration Client window, you will now see:

  • On the lower left of the screen, the 'Data Providers' panel listing ServiceNow as a Data Provider
  • On the lower right of the screen, the ''ServiceNow' is bound to:' panel displaying a check list of the Enterprise Architect models from your Pro-enabled Database Manager(s)

You can either click on the checkbox against each Enterprise Architect model you want to bind to ServiceNow, or click on the to select all of them at once.

Click on the Exit button.

Restart the PCS Service to apply the changes you have made.

You can now go into one of your Enterprise Architect models and check the integration with ServiceNow.

Test the Integration

In Enterprise Architect open one of the models you have identified as being bound to ServiceNow.

  1. Select the ribbon option 'Specialize > Tools > System Integration'.
  2. In the toolbar of the External Data window, click on the drop-down arrow to the right of the 'globe' icon.
  3. Select 'Service Now' from the list; this adds the provider to the breadcrumb trail in the toolbar.
  4. Click on 'ServiceNow' in the breadcrumb trail to display a list of ServiceNow providers that have been configured and bound to this model. If nothing is listed then no provider has been bound to this model.
  5. Click the Provider that was set up and bound to this model, to display a list of ServiceNow tables that are now available for selection to work with in this Enterprise Architect model.
  6. Select the ServiceNow table to display its list of User filters.

    If nothing shows here then you might not have sufficient privileges to view the tables. However, if you have not had any User filters created for you the list just contains '[ ]' or an information message.

(If you cannot see ServiceNow or a list of ServiceNow tables, check through the procedures in this topic, or the broader and more detailed topics in the Integration Plug-ins section to see if there is a step you have missed or a prerequisite that is not satisfied. You can also check the Troubleshooting Help topic.)

Data Mapping

In order for ServiceNow and Enterprise Architect to smoothly exchange data items, you have to review and - where necessary - edit:

  • What type of ServiceNow item corresponds to which type of Enterprise Architect element, and
  • What property of a ServiceNow item corresponds to which property of an Enterprise Architect element

These tasks are fully explained in the Configuration Help topic.

Review ServiceNow Data

When you tested the communication between Enterprise Architect and ServiceNow, on the External Data window, you opened the breadcrumb trail to show a list of ServiceNow projects.

When you select one of the projects, you again click on the drop-down arrow and select one of the filters from the list, which then lists the items from that filter in the body of the window.

If this list is too long, you can click on the 'Hamburger' icon in the window toolbar and select options such as:

  • 'Linked Items' to show only those ServiceNow items that are linked to Enterprise Architect elements
  • 'Items Linked to Current Context' to show only the ServiceNow items that are linked to the currently selected Enterprise Architect element or
  • 'Unlinked items' to show only those ServiceNow items that have not yet been linked to Enterprise Architect elements

Select the appropriate option, if necessary, and then explore the content of selected ServiceNow items. Each of the Properties window, Notes window and Inspector window have separate tabs or versions of the window to display any properties, notes and features (respectively) of the selected item. These are illustrated in the External Item Details Help topic.

Working with ServiceNow items and Enterprise Architect elements

Having created a working communication between Enterprise Architect and ServiceNow, you can:

  • Create a new element in Enterprise Architect linked to a ServiceNow item
  • Create a new ServiceNow item linked to an element in Enterprise Architect
  • Link an existing element in Enterprise Architect to a ServiceNow item
  • Update the ServiceNow item with changes to the Enterprise Architect element
  • Update the Enterprise Architect element with changes to the ServiceNow item
  • Update all linked Enterprise Architect elements with any changes to the ServiceNow items

These actions are all explained in the Linking Items Help topic.

Learn More

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