ServiceNow SolarWinds ITOM Integration Guide

Architecture Overview

Implementation Steps

var SolarWindsDiscovery = Class.create();
SolarWindsDiscovery.prototype = {
    initialize: function() {
        this.restMessage = new sn_ws.RESTMessageV2('SolarWinds SWIS API', 'Query');
    },
    
    discoverNodes: function() {
        var swqlQuery = "SELECT NodeID, Caption, IPAddress, NodeDescription, Status FROM Orion.Nodes WHERE Status = 1";
        this.restMessage.setRequestBody(JSON.stringify({query: swqlQuery}));
        
        var response = this.restMessage.execute();
        if (response.getStatusCode() == 200) {
            var nodes = JSON.parse(response.getBody()).results;
            nodes.forEach(function(node) {
                this._createOrUpdateCI(node);
            }, this);
        }
    },
    
    _createOrUpdateCI: function(nodeData) {
        var ci = new GlideRecord('cmdb_ci_server');
        ci.addQuery('ip_address', nodeData.IPAddress);
        ci.query();
        
        if (!ci.next()) {
            ci.initialize();
            ci.ip_address = nodeData.IPAddress;
        }
        
        ci.name = nodeData.Caption;
        ci.short_description = nodeData.NodeDescription;
        ci.operational_status = nodeData.Status == 1 ? 1 : 4;
        ci.correlation_id = 'solarwinds_' + nodeData.NodeID;
        ci.update();
    },
    
    type: 'SolarWindsDiscovery'
};

(function process(request, response) {
    var alertData = request.body.data;
    var incident = new GlideRecord('incident');
    
    incident.initialize();
    incident.short_description = 'SolarWinds Alert: ' + alertData.AlertName;
    incident.description = alertData.AlertMessage + '\nNode: ' + alertData.NodeName + '\nIP: ' + alertData.NodeIP;
    incident.urgency = this._mapSeverityToUrgency(alertData.Severity);
    incident.impact = this._mapSeverityToImpact(alertData.Severity);
    incident.source = 'SolarWinds';
    incident.correlation_id = 'sw_alert_' + alertData.AlertObjectID;
    
    // Link to affected CI
    var ci = new GlideRecord('cmdb_ci');
    if (ci.get('correlation_id', 'solarwinds_' + alertData.NodeID)) {
        incident.cmdb_ci = ci.sys_id;
    }
    
    var incidentSysId = incident.insert();
    
    response.setStatus(200);
    response.setBody({success: true, incident: incidentSysId});
    
})(request, response);

var discovery = new SolarWindsDiscovery();
try {
    discovery.discoverNodes();
    gs.info('SolarWinds node synchronization completed successfully');
} catch (error) {
    gs.error('SolarWinds sync failed: ' + error.message);
    
    // Create event for monitoring
    var event = new GlideRecord('sysevent');
    event.initialize();
    event.name = 'solarwinds.sync.failure';
    event.description = 'SolarWinds synchronization job failed: ' + error.message;
    event.severity = '2';
    event.insert();
}

Common Use Cases

Troubleshooting

Pro Tips

• →Implement custom CI identification rules that combine SolarWinds NodeID with instance-specific prefixes to prevent correlation_id conflicts when integrating multiple SolarWinds environments with a single ServiceNow instance. Use Transform Maps for complex data transformations instead of inline scripting to improve maintainability and leverage ServiceNow's built-in data validation and error handling capabilities.
• →Configure SolarWinds custom properties to store ServiceNow sys_id values for true bi-directional reference tracking, enabling more efficient updates and reducing API query overhead when synchronizing changes between systems. This approach also supports advanced use cases like automated change scheduling based on SolarWinds maintenance windows.
• →Leverage SolarWinds SWQL query optimization techniques like selective column retrieval and WHERE clause filtering to minimize API response payload sizes and improve synchronization performance. Create indexed views in SolarWinds for frequently accessed node collections to reduce query execution time and API rate limit consumption.
• →Implement circuit breaker patterns in your integration scripts to automatically suspend synchronization when SolarWinds API becomes unavailable or returns excessive errors, preventing unnecessary MID Server resource consumption and alert noise. Include automatic retry logic with exponential backoff for transient network issues.
• →Use ServiceNow's Event Management alert intelligence features to create correlation rules specific to SolarWinds network topology, automatically grouping related alerts from connected network segments and reducing incident volume during large-scale outages. Configure parent-child alert suppression based on SolarWinds device dependencies.
• →Create custom SolarWinds application templates that include ServiceNow-specific custom properties for CI classification, assignment group mapping, and priority calculation to streamline the integration configuration and ensure consistent data mapping across your environment.

Known Limitations

• —The SolarWinds SWIS REST API enforces rate limiting of approximately 100 requests per minute per connection, which can significantly impact large-scale synchronization operations and require careful batch processing and scheduling to avoid API throttling. Complex SWQL queries involving multiple table joins may timeout or consume excessive API quota, requiring query optimization and pagination strategies.
• —SolarWinds webhook delivery does not include built-in retry mechanisms or guaranteed delivery confirmation, making it possible to lose alert notifications during network outages or ServiceNow maintenance windows. Organizations must implement custom queuing and acknowledgment systems if guaranteed alert delivery is critical for their operations.
• —The integration requires ServiceNow Integration Hub Professional licensing for access to the official SolarWinds spoke and advanced orchestration capabilities, which may not be available in all ServiceNow licensing tiers. Custom REST Message implementations can provide similar functionality but require additional development and maintenance overhead.
• —SolarWinds network topology data synchronization becomes increasingly complex with large enterprise networks containing thousands of devices, potentially requiring custom optimization techniques and selective synchronization strategies to maintain acceptable performance. Real-time topology changes may not be immediately reflected in ServiceNow without frequent synchronization polling.
• —Bi-directional status synchronization requires careful coordination to prevent infinite update loops between systems, particularly when both SolarWinds and ServiceNow operators are actively managing the same alerts and incidents. Custom logic must handle conflict resolution and audit trail maintenance for dual-system update scenarios.

Frequently Asked Questions