Data collected for Amazon AWS Cloud Discovery

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Data collected for Amazon AWS Cloud Discovery

    Amazon AWS Cloud Discovery within ServiceNow enables automated collection of detailed information about AWS cloud resources. This process helps customers maintain an accurate, up-to-date Configuration Management Database (CMDB) by discovering various AWS components such as datacenters, virtual machines, networks, storage, databases, and Kubernetes clusters. To ensure comprehensive discovery, customers may need to update the Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application from the ServiceNow Store regularly.

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    Prerequisites and Setup

    • Keep Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns, CMDB CI Class Models, and Visibility Content applications updated.
    • Configure a discovery schedule via the Cloud Discovery Workspace to automate data collection.
    • Verify and grant necessary REST API permissions using the Cloud Discovery patterns spreadsheet, which details required permissions, pattern names, CI classes, and vendor documentation links.
    • Test AWS REST APIs with tools like Postman to validate connectivity before running discovery.

    Data Collected and CMDB Integration

    During AWS Cloud Discovery, ServiceNow collects data mapped to specific CMDB tables representing AWS resources. Key resource types and their captured attributes include:

    • AWS Datacenter: Name, region, and object ID.
    • Availability Zones: Name.
    • Virtual Machine Instances: Name, state, CPUs, memory, disks, network adapters, and VM instance ID.
    • Compute Security Groups: Name, state, and object ID.
    • Images (OS Templates): Name, guest OS, root device type, image source, and type.
    • Hardware Types: Name, vCPUs, memory, and local storage capacity.
    • Storage Volumes: Name, state, type, size, and object ID.
    • Cloud and VMware Networks: Name, state, and CIDR (except VMware networks).
    • Cloud Subnets: Name, status, and CIDR.
    • Management Network Interfaces: Name, netmask, MAC manufacturer, and status.
    • Load Balancers: Name, state, and object ID.
    • Resource Groups: Name, state, and object ID.
    • Public IP Addresses: Name, public IP, public DNS, and object ID.
    • Storage Accounts: Name, SKU, state, and object ID.
    • DNS Aliases and Names: Names, categories, statuses, and IP addresses.
    • Cloud Databases: Name, type, FQDN, state, TCP ports, category, and backup settings.
    • Cloud Web Servers: Name, install status, vendor, FQDN, operational status, and state.
    • Kubernetes Clusters: Name, port, unique cluster ID, vendor, and FQDN.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    By leveraging AWS Cloud Discovery, customers can automate the population and updating of their CMDB with critical AWS infrastructure data, enabling improved visibility, governance, and operational efficiency of cloud resources. The detailed data model supports accurate service mapping and dependency visualization, which are essential for effective IT service management and cloud resource optimization.

    Discovery collects information about cloud resources in AWS datacenters. Discovering some of these resources may require updating to the latest version of the Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application from the ServiceNow Store.

    Request apps on the Store

    Visit the ServiceNow Store to view all the available apps, and for information about submitting requests to the store. For cumulative release notes information for all released apps, see the ServiceNow Store version history release notes.

    Prerequisites

    Verify that the applications are up to date.
    • Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns.
    • CMDB CI Class Models.
    • Visibility Content.
    Configure a discovery schedule
    Create a discovery schedule in Cloud Discovery Workspace

    Verify the REST API Permissions

    Download the Cloud Discovery patterns spreadsheet so you can grant user permissions required for running the Discovery patterns. In addition to permissions, the spreadsheet also includes useful information such as pattern names, types, CI Classes, and links to vendor documentation. New patterns are available quarterly, so check periodically to be sure you have the latest version of the spreadsheet.

    Note:
    You can test the AWS REST APIs using Postman API platform. For more information, see the How to test AWS REST API using POSTMAN [KB0782183] article in the Now Support Knowledge Base.

    Data collected for AWS Cloud Discovery

    The following tables show examples of data collected during AWS Cloud Discovery.

    Table 1. AWS Datacenter [cmdb_ci_aws_datacenter]
    Label Field Name
    Name name
    Region region
    Object ID object_id
    Table 2. Availability Zone [cmdb_ci_availability_zone]
    Label Field Name
    Name name
    Table 3. Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vm_instance]
    Label Field Name
    Name name
    State state
    Object ID object_id
    CPUs cpus
    Disks disks
    Memory memory
    Network adapters nics
    VM Instance ID vm_inst_id
    Table 4. Compute Security Groups [cmdb_ci_compute_security_group]
    Label Field Name
    Name name
    Object ID object_id
    State state
    Table 5. Images [cmdb_ci_os_template]
    Label Field Name
    Name name
    Object ID object_id
    Guest OS guest_os
    Root device type root_device_type
    Image source image_source
    Image type image_type
    Table 6. Hardware Type [cmdb_ci_compute_template]
    Label Field Name
    Name name
    vCPUs vcpus
    Memory MB memory_mb
    Local Storage GB local_storage_gb
    Table 7. Storage Volume [cmdb_ci_storage_volume]
    Label Field Name
    Name name
    State state
    Object ID object_id
    Storage type storage_type
    Size size
    Table 8. Cloud Networks [cmdb_ci_network] and VMware vCenter Network [cmdb_ci_vcenter_network]
    Label Field Name
    Name name
    State* state
    CIDR* cidr
    *Not found on VMware vCenter networks.
    Table 9. Cloud Subnets [cmdb_ci_cloud_subnet]
    Label Field Name
    Name name
    Status status
    CIDR cidr
    Table 10. Cloud Management Network Interfaces [cmdb_ci_nic]
    Label Field Name
    Name name
    Netmask netmask
    MAC Manufacturer mac_manufacturer
    Status install_status
    Table 11. Cloud Load Balancers [cmdb_ci_cloud_load_balancer]
    Label Field Name
    Name name
    Object ID object_id
    State state
    Table 12. Resource Groups [cmdb_ci_resource_group]
    Label Field Name
    Name name
    Object ID object_id
    State state
    Table 13. Public IP Addresses [cmdb_ci_cloud_public_ipaddress]
    Label Field Name
    Name name
    Object ID object_id
    Public IP address public_ip_address
    Public DNS public_dns
    Table 14. Storage Accounts [cmdb_ci_cloud_storage_account]
    Label Field Name
    Name name
    Object ID object_id
    Sku Name sku_name
    State state
    Table 15. DNS Alias [cmdb_ci_dns_alias] and DNS name [cmdb_ci_dns_name]
    Label Field name
    DNS Alias [cmdb_ci_dns_alias]
    Name name
    Category category
    Status status
    DNS name [cmdb_ci_dns_name]
    Name name
    IP address ip_address
    Table 16. Cloud DataBases [cmdb_ci_cloud_database]
    Label Field Name Description
    Name name The name of the database that you created in AWS.
    Object ID object_id This is also the name of the database.
    Type Type The type of database you created.
    Fully qualified domain name fqdn The FQDN that AWS assigned to your database. An example format for AWS is as follows:

    database-name.{random-number}.{datacenter}.rds.amazonaws.com
    State state The state of the database: whether it is Available or Terminated.
    TCP port(s) tcp_port The TCP port that the database communicates through.
    Category category The instance class of the database, for example: db.t2.micro.
    Automated Backups automated_backup Indicates whether automated backups are enabled and the retention period.
    Table 17. Cloud WebServer [cmdb_ci_cloud_webserver]
    Label Field Name
    Name name
    Install status install_status
    Vendor vendor
    Fully qualified domain name fqdn
    Operational status operational_status
    State state
    Table 18. Kubernetes Clusters [cmdb_ci_kubernetes_cluster]
    Label Field Name Description
    Name name The name of the kube-controller-manager leader.
    Port port The identifier for the Kubernetes apiserver port.
    Kubernetes UID k8s_uid The unique identifier for the Kubernetes Cluster.
    Vendor vendor The vendor of the Kubernetes Cluster.
    Fully qualified domain name fqdn The fully qualified domain name of the Kubernetes apiserver.