Introduction
- Install Exalate for ServiceNow on Exalate cloud
- Request an evaluation instance of Exalate for ServiceNow
- Deploy the Exalate Bridge app
- Set up Exalate in your ServiceNow instance using an update set
- Next steps to install Exalate for ServiceNow
- Configure Exalate for ServiceNow
- Install Exalate for ServiceNow on your own server
- Install Exalate for ServiceNow on Docker
- Verify your Exalate for ServiceNow
Install Exalate for ServiceNow on Exalate Cloud
This section describes how to request a ServiceNow integration for Exalate.
Request an Evaluation Instance of Exalate for ServiceNow
1. Go to the Exalate Integrations page: https://exalate.com/integrations/
2. Select ServiceNow
3. Enter your info
4. Press Submit
After you submit a request you will get the following email:
Deploy the Exalate Bridge app
Dev environments cannot install applications from the ServiceNow store - follow the next steps to deploy the Exalate bridge using an XML-based update set
Set up Exalate in your ServiceNow instance using an update set
What is the Bridge App?
The Exalate bridge app is a ServiceNow-certified app that allows connecting your ServiceNow environment with the Exalate app.
This bridge app is meant to simplify access to the Exalate for ServiceNow service. When deployed it will
- Create 2 Roles
- x_idnv_exa_bridge.admin
- x_idnv_exa_bridge.integration
- Creates 3 ACL on the sync_journal_field table
- read, create, write
- Add a link to the console in the exalate bridge application menu
To know more about the further steps visit the Deploy Exalate for ServiceNow guide.
Configure Exalate for ServiceNow
Once you've configured the Exalate app in the ServiceNow instance, you can proceed with the app configuration.
Follow the steps below to finish your first-time app setup:
1. Accept EULA
2. Configure General Settings
You need to specify your ServiceNow instance URL, the proxy user access details, and the evaluation license key.
The proxy user is a dedicated user in your ServiceNow instance. The proxy user must have permission to Create/Read/Update entities on ServiceNow. If you want to Create/Read/Update Incidents, Cases, Problems, or Change Requests in ServiceNow, the user needs to have roles for that.
In ServiceNow, proxy users can sync tables or attributes based on the access from their user role. Check Exalate for ServiceNow: Proxy user permissions for more information.
You can find the license key in the email along with your Exalate app URL.
3. Save the Configuration
You will be redirected to the log-in screen.
4. Log in to the Exalate Admin Console
Basic Auth
Use your ServiceNow instance admin access credentials.
We do not store ServiceNow instance access credentials. Exalate only checks if the admin user is valid.
OAuth Token
You need to have a ServiceNow endpoint to log in with an OAuth token.
Set Up OAuth Tokens in Exalate for ServiceNow
Here is the detailed procedure to set up the login with OAuth tokens in Exalate for ServiceNow.
Install Exalate for ServiceNow on Your Own Server
You can host Exalate for Servicenow on your own server. To do so, you need to install Exalate on Docker.
Check out Docker documentation for details on how to install Docker.
Here is a glimpse of the steps to do that.
- How to install Exalate for ServiceNow
- Preview
- 1. Create or download the docker-compose.yml
- 2. Ensure that a correct database is a setup using a createdb.sh
- 3. Set environment variables if necessary
- 4. Start the application
- Troubleshooting
Check the detailed procedure in our Install Exalate for ServiceNow on your own server guide.
Configuring Proxy User Permissions
To change the proxy user in Exalate for ServiceNow:
- Log in to the Exalate admin console.
- Navigate to General Settings.
- Input details:
- Servicenow instance URL.
- Proxy user name.
- Proxy user password.
Users and permissions
For security reasons, it is better to create a separate role with specific permissions for a proxy user instead of giving him an administrator role.
To integrate Exalate with ServiceNow you need 2 ServiceNow user accounts:
- Proxy User
- The ServiceNow user account that fetches information from the ServiceNow instance and updates the ServiceNow entities with incoming changes.
The proxy user can integrate various tables or attributes depending on the permissions defined by his user role in ServiceNow. - Exalate Console User
- The ServiceNow user is authorized to configure the Exalate app for ServiceNow. The Exalate console user must be an admin in your ServiceNow instance or the proxy user.
Exalate uses REST API to communicate with the ServiceNow issue tracker. By default, ServiceNow REST APIs use basic authentication or OAuth to authorize user access to REST APIs/endpoints. Therefore, the Exalate console users must have access to the ServiceNow instance admin configuration.
Role Management V2 REST API plugin must be installed and activated on your ServiceNow instance.
Starting from the New York version this plugin is included by default. But if you've recently updated your ServiceNow instance to the latest version you need to activate Role Management V2 REST API plugin manually. ServiceNow contextual security.
Configuring access on ServiceNow
You can access the ServiceNow instance in one of these ways:
- Basic Login
- In order to log in you use a Username and a Password. Exalate will not store the password in the database, but use the rest connection to attempt to log in to the ServiceNow node.
- OAuth Token
- Authentication with a Username and an OAuth token. Exalate will store the token and use it to access it. The token is refreshed every time the lifespan ends.
OAuth token can be used as long as the refresh token is valid. Read more about setting up the refresh token in the article Access the Exalate app in ServiceNow.
You need to generate a new refresh token after the old one is expired. We suggest setting a longer lifespan for the refresh token.