ServiceNow is an IT service management platform for recording, tracking, and managing a company’s enterprise-level IT processes in a single location.
The Datadog ServiceNow integration is a two-way integration that allows you to:
Datadog integrates with the follow ServiceNow tools:
Note: You can use each of these features of the integration independently.
Install the latest Datadog Update Set on your ServiceNow instance to customize the data received in ServiceNow and make custom transformations to your tables. In detail, the Datadog Update Set creates:
In ServiceNow:
Datadog-SNow_Update_Set_vX.X.X.xml file.Import the Datadog XML Update Set provided.
Once you upload the XML file, it shows a state of Loaded. Click on the name of the Update Set to preview and commit the code to the system.
Preview the Update Set to ensure there are no errors:
Select Commit Update Set to merge the application into your system:
You should now be able to search for Datadog in the navigation menu and see tables appear:
Datadog must be added as a discovery source to be able to match and add CIs into the CMDB. Navigate to System Definition > Choice Lists and create a new entry with the following values: - Table: Configuration Item [cmdb_ci] - Element: discovery_source - Label: Datadog - Value: Datadog
Datadog provides Transform Maps that create incidents and CMDB Configuration Items. Since every CMDB can potentially be different, you should verify the default match required by your CMDB.
To navigate to the Transform Maps:
Transform Maps for the “Datadog Incident”, “Datadog Event” tables
The “Datadog Incident” and “Datadog Event” tables use a transform map to transform Datadog events to corresponding incidents and events in ServiceNow.
Transform Maps for the “Import hosts” table
The “Import hosts” table has two Transform Maps, one for each potential profile that can be created. If the operating system is Linux, then the cmdb_ci_linux_server profile is created (or matched with an existing CI). Otherwise the cmdb_ci_server profile is used as a fallback. Additional Transform Maps can be created to make sure the right Configuration profiles are being used.
For more details about how to modify or define additional mappings and transformations, see the ‘Defining custom mappings’ section.
To enable the CMDB portion of the integration, you must:
This enables Datadog to push configuration data to the ServiceNow CMDB. Tags can be added to hosts that have been matched with ServiceNow CMDB CIs within Datadog. Please note that the “Enable adding Datadog hosts into ServiceNow CMDB” option must be enabled in order for the tag syncing functionality to work.
By default, no tags are synced from ServiceNow to Datadog. There are 3 potential sources of data that can be used as tags:
In the example configuration below, the Label Tags and Business Services are added as tags. Further the sys_id and sys_class_name attributes will also be added as tags.
Datadog Import Host AutoFlush Rule
To prevent the “x_datad_datadog_import_host” import set table from accumulating too many rows, an AutoFlush Rule has been added to the Table Cleaner tool to keep only the last 24 hours of data. This configuration setting can be changed as needed by navigating to “sys_auto_flush_list.do” in the filter navigator and going into the rule for the “x_datad_datadog_import_host” table. The “Age in seconds” field can be updated accordingly.
Click on Datadog Incident Tables (for example) and navigate to the bottom of the record to see the link for the associated transform map:
Click on the name of the transform map to view the record:
At the top are two important fields on the Transform record - Source table and Target table:
Notes:
The source is the Import Set table you selected (Datadog Incident Tables) and the target is your actual Incident table (or Event table) where events are stored.
The field mappings are at the bottom of the record. Some basic mappings are included. This is where you select the fields to include, define the format, and select the target fields in your ServiceNow instance.
Click New:
Select the source and target fields for one to one mappings:
Or, check the Use source script box and define transformations:
Use Mapping Assist (under Related Links) to map several source and target fields:
The ServiceNow user needs x_datad_datadog.user, import_set_loader, and import_transformer roles so that it can access the import tables and properly apply the transform maps.
If you’re using the legacy way of sending notifications directly to either the Incident table or Event table, you need the itil and evt_mgmt_integration roles.
To validate the integration is set up correctly, add @servicenow in a monitor or event notification. The raw data populates rows in the interim table and is forwarded to the ServiceNow table specified in the mappings and transformations you created.
If you’re not seeing events in your ServiceNow tables:
Need additional help? Contact Datadog support.
After ServiceNow is connected to your Datadog account, alerts received can automatically create support tickets and send them to the ServiceNow ticketing queue. From there, your support team is notified of issues using the communication workflows that you have already established inside ServiceNow. Mention @servicenow in the alert message or add @servicenow to the notification list for that monitor.
Variables can be used in the body of your alerts or in field mappings to ensure details from the event are included in ServiceNow. For example, you can include the title and severity in the appropriate ServiceNow field or you can include a link back to the specific incident in Datadog right from the ServiceNow ticket.
Once the monitor state returns to normal, the associated support ticket is automatically marked as “resolved”.
In addition to automating ticket creation and resolution, you can also use Datadog to create ServiceNow tickets on an ad hoc basis whenever you see something in Datadog that needs your team’s attention. Click the camera icon to share a snapshot of any Timeboard graph, add some context in the comment box to help your colleagues interpret the graph, and @servicenow to send the graph and your comments to ServiceNow.
Additional helpful documentation, links, and articles:
