One of the most popular platform integrations available to Ansible Automation Platform subscribers in Ansible automation hub is the Red Hat Ansible Certified Content Collection for ServiceNow ITSM. This collection helps you create new automation workflows faster based on ServiceNow ITSM while establishing a single source of truth in the ServiceNow configuration management database (CMDB). You can help free teams from hours of manual effort and have greater data integrity within your ServiceNow ITSM instance. 

For ServiceNow users, we’ve launched a new native ServiceNow application, the API for Red Hat® Ansible® Automation Platform Certified Content Collection, available exclusively through the ServiceNow store to enhance and support the integration between the two platforms.   

 

What is the Ansible API for ServiceNow ITSM?

The API for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Certified Content Collection integrates Ansible’s certified content with your ServiceNow instance. Prior to the launch of ServiceNow’s Rome API, Ansible users could download the Red Hat Ansible Certified Content Collection for ServiceNow ITSM from the Ansible automation hub and directly manage ServiceNow resources using their REST API. 

With the release of Rome, the REST API no longer provided all of the support needed to automate ServiceNow using Ansible. To remedy this problem, Red Hat and our partner, XLAB, developed this new API to enhance and restore that functionality. 

While the need to develop the Ansible API for ServiceNow ITSM was a result of the release of Rome, it’s also compatible with ServiceNow ITSM San Diego and Tokyo.

 

What can you automate in the ServiceNow ITSM?

Using both the API and the Certified Content Collection for ServiceNow ITSM, you can:

• Automate change requests. Use Ansible Playbooks to automate ServiceNow ITSM service requests, including reporting change results and all information related to those changes. Your service representatives can simply kick off an Ansible Playbook to resolve common requests and reduce rote, repetitive tasks.
• Automate incident response. Assets in the ServiceNow Certified Collection support automatic updates to incident tickets to provide a consistent audit trail. Your team can also streamline the required steps for issue remediation and apply them at scale.
• Enable full “closed loop” automation. Simplify the opening, advancement, and resolution of IT service management workflow items while keeping relevant and accurate information flowing into the CMDB across disparate users, teams, and assets. Ensure that infrastructure information is always up to date, actionable, and auditable while work is completed by cross-domain teams that may or may not have access to ServiceNow.

Getting started with the Ansible API for ServiceNow ITSM

To get started:

• Install the API for Red Hat Ansible Certified Content Collection for free from the ServiceNow store and consult the “Application Installation and Configuration Guide” for additional instructions. 
• Download the Ansible Content Collection for ServiceNow ITSM from Ansible automation hub on the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console. 

 

Additional resources

• AnsibleFest Session: Watch the virtual session, “Integrating automation into your ServiceNow ITSM” with Red Hat customer and long time ServiceNow ITSM user, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. 

• Brief: Take a closer look at what Ansible can automate in the ServiceNow ITSM
• Self-paced Lab: Get hands on with the ServiceNow Content Collection