Windows / Linux Server Build Date

[rerose]

Hi All,

I am attempting to discover the build date of Windows and Linux servers.  Is that at attribute that is captured out of box?  If not, has anyone created an extension to retrieve the information from the BIOS or perhaps interpret the information from the serial number?

I would also like to get this information for ESX servers.  We are only discovering ESX via VCenter discovery.  Any ideas how I can automatically capture this info?

Thanks,

Bob

[SwarnadeepNandy · Accepted solution]

Hello @rerose,

The build date of Windows and Linux servers is not an attribute that is captured out of the box by ServiceNow Discovery. However, you can create an extension to retrieve the information from the BIOS or the serial number .... A Discovery Pattern is a script that defines how to discover and identify a configuration item (CI) .... You can use the Pattern Designer to create and test your own patterns, or modify the existing ones.

To create a pattern to discover the server build date, you need to specify the following information:

• Name: A unique name for the pattern.
• Class: The CI class that the pattern applies to, such as Windows Server or Linux Server.
• Identification section: The section that defines how to identify a CI based on its attributes. You can use the Sensor step to execute a command or a script on the target CI and get the output. For example, you can use the wmic bios get command to get the BIOS information on a Windows server, or the dmidecode command to get the BIOS or serial number information on a Linux server. You can then use the Set Attribute step to assign the output value to a CI attribute, such as build_date.
• Horizontal Discovery section: The section that defines how to discover related CIs based on their dependencies. You can use the TCP Connection step to find other CIs that communicate with the target CI over TCP, or the Process step to find processes that run on the target CI. You can then use the Create Relation step to create a relationship between the CIs, such as Runs on::Runs or Depends on::Used by.

You can find more details and examples on how to create and use Discovery Patterns in these web pages that I found:

• Discovery Patterns - ServiceNow Docs
• Pattern Designer - ServiceNow Docs
• Create a pattern for horizontal discovery - ServiceNow Docs
• [Create a pattern for identification - ServiceNow Docs]

For ESX servers, you can also use a Discovery Pattern to discover the build date, but you need to use the VMware API step instead of the Sensor step. The VMware API step allows you to execute VMware API calls on the target ESX server and get the output. For example, you can use the config.product property to get the product name and version of the ESX server, or the hardware.systemInfo property to get the hardware information of the ESX server. You can then use the Set Attribute step to assign the output value to a CI attribute, such as build_date.

Hope this helps.

Kind Regards,

Swarnadeep Nandy