Is there an out-of-the-box way to use a data source to import a file from an "internal" network?

[mholmes]

I have found various threads on this topic (e.g., Can a Data Source connect to a (non-public) FTP server using MID server?), and it is still not entirely clear to me.

Here is my situation:

• We have a MID Server.
• We have files that we would like to import into ServiceNow on a daily schedule.
• We do not want to put these files in any "publicly-accessible" location. (i.e., they are only accessible from the internal corporate network)

Given that the MID Server has access to the internal network, is there a straightforward, out-of-the-box (i.e., not using a solution such as SNGuru's Scheduled File Importer) way for ServiceNow to pull plain files from an "internal/corporate network" location into an Import Set?

There is a "yes" answer from a ServiceNow CSA in 2011 that states "The MID Server will grab the file and send it to the instance" and "the FTP server will need to be referenced in the data source from the perspective of the MID Server."

Another "yes" answer from 2014 states "Based on your type of file and type of server and the mode of communication you can import your files in service now using below link and select appropriate MID server." However, the person who asked the question correctly states that "the Use MID Server is not displayed when type-file is selected."

A response from 2016 asks "Is this a file accessed via MID Server?" (which implies to me that "accessing a file via MID Server" is possible), but then also states, "If I am not mistaken there is no baseline functionality to schedule a file based import via MID as of today."

Another answer from 2016 directs the questioner to the 2011 answer (above), but later on there is an additional response that suggests "A possible way forward is to arrange for a public IP for the ftp server - if it does not have one already. Then arrange for incoming traffic, from the possible source IPs of your instances, to pass through the Corporate firewall. if you can use a secure protocol such as sftp this would be helpful. As a plan B perhaps you could import the files into a db and then pull then via JDBC and a MID Server."

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Google reveals many other questions along these lines, which implies confusion on this matter. My overall impression is that there have been a few "yes" answers - but no documented cases of a successful implementation - and a lot of "implied no" answers in the form of suggested alternatives. (e.g., push files to ServiceNow via a web service, use JDBC over MID Server to pull data from an internal database, install SNGuru's Schedule File Import via MID Server on the MID Server to have it push files into ServiceNow)

My current working belief is that the "File" type data source bears no relationship whatsoever to the MID Server, and cannot be used to access sources within an "internal" corporate network. This would make sense in light of these statements: "The MID Server initiates all communications with the ServiceNow ® instance. The instance never initi..."

Is my belief correct?

[Abhinay Erra]

I have implemented this by using Remote file importer. You can download the xml from servicenow share. This will only pull the files from a location on the mid server. So I had a batch job that runs on the mid server to pull the files from an FTP location and put in to a folder on mid server where the remote file importer can pick them up

[mholmes]

Hi Abhinay,

It looks like Remote File Importer is a third-party integration. It does look relevant to my needs, so thank you for that. I will take a closer look at it.

However, should I take that as a "no, ServiceNow + MID Server cannot import files from an internal network 'out of the box'?"

Thanks,

Mike

[John Vo1]

Abhinay,

I implemented this on my dev instance and it's on Jarkata.  But when I execute it doesn't do anything.

Thanks,

John

[Abhinay Erra · Accepted solution]

That is correct!