Streamline VCF Automation 9 and ServiceNow CMDB Integration

Introduction

Integrating VMware Aria Automation with ServiceNow enables automated lifecycle management for compute resources, synchronizing changes directly into the ServiceNow CMDB. Leveraging Orchestrator (vRO) workflows, this integration ensures ITSM compliance, tracks configuration items (CIs), and supports both provisioning and decommissioning scenarios for VMs. This article summarizes key aspects and presents a stepwise explanation of the full flow based on official documentation and reference architecture (links in References section).

This article is relevant for VCF Automation 9 – both All Apps and VM Apps. However, for All Apps, the Event topics will be different.

High-Level Integration Process

Extensibility in Assembler: Assembler offers workflow based event subscriptions that trigger vRO workflows for complex integrations like ServiceNow CMDB updates.
Orchestrator Workflows: Custom vRO workflows interact with ServiceNow APIs to create, update, or retire CIs, as well as log change requests and also add a new custom Property to the provisioned VM (serviceNowSysId) to be used during decommissioning phase.
ITSM Compliance Integration: Ensures that all provisioning actions (add & retire) are tracked and auditable within ServiceNow, aligning with ITIL processes. Modification is not covered here but existing code can be used to modify assets as required.

Aria Automation Template

I have used this basic VM template for demo purposes. You can use any template you like. Just make sure to add a custom property enable_servicenow: true that will be used by the Event Subscription as a trigger condition.

formatVersion: 1
inputs:
  vmName:
    type: string
resources:
  Cloud_Machine_1:
    type: Cloud.Machine
    properties:
      name: ${input.vmName}
      image: rockylinux
      flavor: small
      networks:
        - network: ${resource.Cloud_Network_1.id}
      enable_servicenow: true
  Cloud_Network_1:
    type: Cloud.Network
    properties:
      networkType: existing

formatVersion: 1
inputs:
  vmName:
    type: string
resources:
  Cloud_Machine_1:
    type: Cloud.Machine
    properties:
      name: ${input.vmName}
      image: rockylinux
      flavor: small
      networks:
        - network: ${resource.Cloud_Network_1.id}
      enable_servicenow: true
  Cloud_Network_1:
    type: Cloud.Network
    properties:
      networkType: existing

Event Subscriptions

Create 2 subscriptions and make sure to add condition event.data["customProperties"]["enable_servicenow"] === "true" to both subscriptions.

Stage	Event Topic	Attached Workflow
Provisioning	Compute Post Provision	Create ServiceNow CMDB objects
Decommissioning	Compute Post Removal	Retire ServiceNow CMDB CI

Orchestrator Workflows

In this solution, there are 2 workflows (see diagram to get more details):

Create ServiceNow CMDB objects
Retire ServiceNow CMDB CI

Provisioning Flow: “Create ServiceNow CMDB objects”

This process is triggered by a Compute Post Provision Event in Assembler after VM creation. The flow matches the left section of the above diagram:

Get VM Details: The workflow retrieves VM-specific details from Assembler (hostname, IP, OS, owner, disks, nics, etc.), forming the foundation for subsequent CMDB population.
Create ServiceNow CMDB CI: Using a workflow, the system creates a Configuration Item (CI) in the ServiceNow CMDB (cmdb_ci_vmware_instance), representing the new VM with all relevant properties.
Create ServiceNow Change Request: A workflow task logs a Change Request in ServiceNow CR table (change_request), capturing the provisioning event for ITSM traceability.
Update customProperties: The workflow will add a new custom property (serviceNowSysId) in Assembler, to store the ServiceNow CI sys_id for future synchronization.

Decommissioning Flow: “Retire ServiceNow CMDB CI”

Triggered by a Compute Post Removal Event, this workflow handles the retirement stage:

Update CI State to Retired: The corresponding workflow updates the CI’s state in ServiceNow to “Retired” ensuring the CMDB reflects the resource’s lifecycle accurately.

This final update supports audit readiness and maintains CMDB hygiene by reflecting decommissioned assets promptly.