Discovery for VMware vCenter

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated July 6, 2026
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Discovery for VMware vCenter

    ServiceNow Discovery for VMware vCenter enables you to explore and map VMware vCenter environments, whether running on Windows, Linux hosts, or dedicated vCenter appliances. It supports IPv6 and vCenter API versions 4.0 and higher, with tested compatibility up to vCenter version 9.0 and vCenter appliance version 6.7. This discovery process creates configuration items (CIs) in the CMDB and establishes relationships between vCenter components and their hosts.

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    Key Features

    • Comprehensive Discovery: Identifies vCenter datacenters, ESX hosts, virtual machines, and related objects using targeted probes launched after classifying vCenter.
    • Relationship Mapping: Creates "Runs on" relationships between vCenter CIs and the Windows or Linux servers hosting vCenter applications, except when using dedicated vCenter appliances.
    • Credential Requirements: VMware credentials with read-only access are required, with additional License Admin privileges for Software Asset Management tracking. Windows credentials are not required when VMware credentials are valid.
    • vCenter Event Collector: An optional MID Server extension that updates the CMDB in real-time based on vCenter events, reducing the need for full rediscovery and enabling quicker updates on VM state changes.
    • Stale CI Management: Automatically marks removed or deleted vCenter CIs as stale in the CMDB, with configurable system properties to control stale reporting and support remediation workflows.
    • Support for vCenter Appliances: For appliance-based installations, server CIs are created with key attributes like Name, IP address, MAC address, and Discovery Source.

    Practical Guidance for ServiceNow Customers

    • Run vCenter discovery before discovering server CIs to ensure accurate relationship mapping between servers and vCenter-managed infrastructure.
    • Use domain-qualified VMware credentials in the format Domain\UserName or username@domain for successful authentication.
    • Leverage the vCenter event collector to keep the CMDB current without full rediscovery, especially for frequent VM state changes.
    • Configure stale CI handling and remediation rules to maintain CMDB accuracy and prevent outdated CIs from affecting service maps and health indicators.

    Expected Outcomes

    By implementing VMware vCenter Discovery, you can maintain a detailed, up-to-date CMDB reflecting your VMware infrastructure. This enables better visibility into virtual environments, accurate dependency mapping, and improved asset and license management. The event-driven updates minimize discovery overhead and ensure timely CI status changes, supporting operational efficiency and CMDB health.

    Discovery can explore the VMware vCenter process running on a Windows or Linux host. IPv6 is supported for discovery in VMware vCenter.

    Note:

    If a Windows or Linux server is running vCenter application, after creating the vCenter CI, a "Runs on" relationship to the Windows or Linux server host is created.

    When a vCenter application is running on a dedicated vCenter appliance, a "Runs on" relationship to the vCenter CI isn’t created.

    Tested vCenter versions

    The ServiceNow® platform supports vCenter API versions 4.0 and higher. The following versions were tested with the Australia release:
    • vCenter versions 9.0 and earlier
    • vCenter appliance version 6.7 and earlier
    For installations based on the vCenter appliance, a server CI is created for the vCenter appliance and the following fields are populated:
    • NameIP
    • AddressMAC
    • AddressDiscovery
    • Source
    Note:
    If you're discovering SUSE Linux hosts for vCenter appliances, version 6.0 and earlier, observe these SSH restrictions.

    See Data collected for VMware Cloud Discovery for a description of the VMware architecture and component relationships.

    vCenter discovery process

    After classifying vCenter, Discovery launches the VMware - vCenter Datacenters probe, which in turn launches specific probes that return information about ESX machines, virtual machines, and other vCenter objects. The vmapp port probe is also configured to launch the VMware - vCenter Datacenters probe.
    Note:
    For accurate relationship mapping between server CIs and vCenter resources (such as ESX hosts and datastores), you should initiate discovery of the vCenter environment before discovering Server CIs. This approach helps Discovery associate servers with their corresponding vCenter-managed infrastructure more effectively.

    VMWare credentials

    To access vCenter with a domain account, specify the domain with the user name in the credential record using a supported format, such as Domain\UserName or username@domain. The VMware credentials must have a read-only role in vCenter. For Software Asset Management (SAM) tracking, the credentials also require the "Assign license" privilege in vCenter, also known as the License Admin privilege.
    Important:
    Windows credentials aren't necessary for vCenter Discovery when valid VMware credentials are used.

    Updating the CMDB with vCenter event collector

    In addition to finding vCenter data through the standard discovery process, Discovery can also update the CMDB by detecting vCenter events through a MID Server extension called the vCenter event collector.

    The event collector allows the CMDB to be updated with changes to virtual machines (VMs), in addition to the updates detected by Discovery. A change to a VM is sent as an event from the vCenter server to the vCenter event collector. When an event is received, the CMDB is updated accordingly. Full vCenter Discovery does not need to rerun. For some events, such as powered on and powered off events, Discovery does not need to run again at all. For most events, Discovery runs only on the necessary vCenter resource.

    For instructions on configuring vCenter events, see Configure and run the vCenter event collector extension.

    VM deleted from vCenter

    If the VM is deleted from vCenter, the cmdb_ci_vm_instance state changes to terminated and the Status field changes to retired.

    CIs removed from vCenter

    When a vCenter CI, such as a virtual machine, is removed, the ServiceNow instance marks it as "stale" in the CMDB, using either of these procedures:
    • When Discovery runs, it creates an audit record in the Components installed with CMDB Health table for the missing CI and marks the CI "stale".
    • If the instance is configured to collect vCenter events, the system can also create a "stale" audit record for the CI in the CMDB Health Result [cmdb_health_result] table from the VmRemovedEvent event, without having to run Discovery.
    Note:
    When the Staleness setting is configured, the dependency view (BSM map) grays out stale CIs in its relationship diagram to indicate that they were removed from vCenter.

    To avoid stale CI health indicators from being generated during VMware discovery, set the system property glide.cmdb.health.src.cmdb_health_audit_only to true. This disables stale CI reporting from the VMware discovery source, enabling you to manage the CI life cycle through other means. For more information, see CMDB Health system properties.

    You have the option of creating a CMDB remediation rule to automatically execute a remediation workflow that can, for example, delete stale CIs. For more information on stale CIs, see CMDB Health Metrics.

    vCenter Discovery on Windows host

    Windows credentials aren't necessary for vCenter Discovery, when valid VMware credentials are used.