Azure Cloud Discovery :Relationship between Cloud Service account and VM and Key Values

NiviPrust
Tera Contributor

Tuesday

Please help me in understanding :

  1. Is there a way to directly establish a relationship between the VM and related Cloud Service Account? 
    • I could only see that the account id of the Cloud Service Account is a part of the Object Id of the VM and there is no relationship record in the cmdb_rel_ci table.
  2. Reason for Mismatch in Key Values in ServiceNow as I have below 2 findings :
    •  Azure tags stored in cmdb_key_value are linked to Cloud Service Accounts in ServiceNow and also to the related Virtual Machine Instances, however count does not match .
      • For example , if a VM A is related to a Cloud Service Account B, (which i could only find by querying the account id of the service account in the object id of the VM (*query is object id contains account id*) , I could see that  Service Account B has 16 key values , however the related VM has only 12 .
    • Some key values are linked to only Cloud Service Accounts and not the VM's, why is this ?
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sivasankari
Tera Guru

yesterday

Hi @NiviPrust ,

1. Establishing the VM to Service Account Relationship
You are correct that ServiceNow often stores the account_id within the object_id, but relying on a string query isn't ideal for reporting.

In a standard ServiceNow Discovery setup, there is usually no direct relationship record in cmdb_rel_ci between a cmdb_ci_vm_instance and a cmdb_ci_cloud_service_account. Instead, they are linked via a Logical Datacenter (LDC).

The Relationship Chain:
VM Instance (Child) Instantiated Off VM Image

VM Instance (Child) Hosted on Logical Datacenter (e.g., Azure East US)

Logical Datacenter (Child) Hosted on Cloud Service Account

How to find it directly: If you need a direct view, you typically have to "walk the tree" via the LDC. However, if your organization requires a direct relationship for simplified reporting,  you  may implement a Discovery Post-Processor script or a Business Rule to create a "Used by" or "Defines" relationship directly between the VM and the Service Account in the cmdb_rel_ci table.

 

2. Why the Tag (Key Value) Count Mismatches
Inheritance Gap: Azure tags do not automatically "flow down" from a Subscription to a VM. The extra tags on your Service Account are likely Governance tags (like ContractType or BillingID) that exist only at the subscription level for high-level management.

 

Targeted Metadata: In the cmdb_key_value table, ServiceNow treats the Service Account and the VM as separate entities. If a tag (like SubscriptionOwner) is applied to the account but not explicitly copied to the VM in Azure, it will only appear on the account record in ServiceNow.

 

 

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