Nutanix Acropolis discovery

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 9 minutes to read
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    Summary of Nutanix Acropolis discovery

    The ServiceNow Discovery application enables comprehensive identification and mapping of Nutanix Acropolis components, including Nutanix Prism Central (version 2024.3.1.8 or higher) and Prism Element (7.0.1.6 or higher). It uses the Nutanix Components pattern, leveraging REST APIs, to gather detailed information about the Nutanix environment. Additionally, the Nutanix VM Event pattern monitors virtual machine events every five minutes, triggering rediscovery when state changes occur. This discovery supports both Nutanix API versions v1-3 and the newer v4, with v4 discovery available starting from Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns version 1.29.0.

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    Prerequisites and Setup

    • Ensure the Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns, Visibility Content, and CMDB CI Class Models applications are up to date.
    • Deploy a dedicated MID Server with network access to Prism Element and Prism Central. The MID Server must have the capability set to "All" or "Nutanix" to discover VM events.
    • Install Nutanix endpoint SSL certificates into the MID Server Java Runtime Environment (JRE) keystore to enable secure API communication.
    • Verify read-only API permissions for the user account accessing Nutanix APIs—different endpoints apply for v1-3 and v4 APIs. Prism Central must be at least version 7.3 to support v4 APIs.
    • Configure basic authentication credentials for discovery and set the MID Server property to enable Nutanix v4 discovery by specifying the exact v4 version.
    • Create a serverless discovery schedule for targeted Nutanix component discovery.

    Discovery Configuration and Best Practices

    • Run VMware probe discovery before Nutanix discovery if Nutanix components are hosted on ESX clusters; this links Nutanix components to their respective ESX clusters for accurate mapping.
    • Optionally disable CI tag discovery within the Nutanix Components pattern if the environment has numerous tags that could degrade discovery performance.
    • Adjust the batch size for removing redundant relationship data between Nutanix Virtual Machine Instances and Hosts by configuring the snitompattern.nutanixrelationsdeletionbatchsize property.

    Data and Configuration Items (CIs) Collected

    Discovery populates the CMDB with detailed records of Nutanix infrastructure components, which vary slightly between API versions. Key CI types include:

    • Nutanix Controller VM: Identified by UUID, memory, power state, and hypervisor type.
    • Nutanix Cluster: Includes IP addresses, cluster ID, version, subnet details, hypervisor types, NTP servers, node count, and serial numbers.
    • Nutanix Host: Details CPU cores, threads, speed, RAM, and (for v1-3) serial number.
    • Nutanix Storage Pool and Storage Container: Include IDs, names, sizes, replication, deduplication, compression, and erasure code status.
    • Nutanix Virtual Machine Instance: Captures CPU count, memory, power state, and descriptions.
    • Nutanix Prism Central: Represents the multi-cluster manager, identified by name and object ID.

    CI Relationships

    The discovery process establishes relationships among Nutanix components to reflect infrastructure topology, supporting both AHV and ESX hypervisors:

    • Cluster membership of hosts and VMs
    • Hosting and registration links between hosts, VMs, and clusters
    • Storage pools and containers containment
    • Server instantiation by VMs
    • Management links from clusters to Prism Central
    • Special relationships for Nutanix Controller VMs running on AHV or VMware infrastructure

    Tag Discovery and Dashboard

    The Nutanix Components pattern collects tags for Nutanix hosts and VMs, storing them in the CMDB Key Value table. Tags can be disabled if needed to improve performance.

    After discovery runs, customers can view Nutanix infrastructure insights via the provided dashboard under Self-Service > Dashboards > All > Nutanix or use the enhanced Discovery Admin Workspace dashboard for advanced reporting.

    Key Benefits

    • Automated, comprehensive discovery of Nutanix Acropolis components integrated into the CMDB for better infrastructure visibility and management.
    • Support for modern Nutanix API versions (v4) alongside legacy APIs, enabling up-to-date discovery aligned with Nutanix platform evolution.
    • Integration with VMware discovery for accurate mapping when Nutanix components run on ESX hypervisors.
    • Configurable options to optimize discovery performance and tailor data collection to customer needs.

    The ServiceNow Discovery application uses the Nutanix Components pattern to find components of the Nutanix Acropolis solution containing Nutanix Prism Central version 2024.3.1.8 or Nutanix Prism Element 7.0.1.6. The Nutanix VM Event pattern finds events created for virtual machines (VMs) in the Nutanix deployment. Discovering some of these resources may require updating to the latest version of the Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application from the ServiceNow Store.

    The Nutanix Components pattern uses REST APIs to collect information about the Acropolis deployment components.

    The Nutanix VM Event pattern runs every five minutes. If there are events that indicate the change of state in one of the Nutanix components, it triggers rediscovery of Nutanix components using the Nutanix Components Pattern.

    Starting with version 1.29.0, Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns supports Nutanix v4 discovery. When you switch to v4, Discovery creates new pool and container records, while existing records stop being updated.

    Request apps on the Store

    Visit the ServiceNow Store website 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 following applications are up to date
    • Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns
    • Visibility Content
    • CMDB CI Class Models
    Verify MID Server requirements
    Deploy and connect a dedicated MID Server with network access to Prism Element and Prism Central.
    To discover events related to VMs in the Nutanix deployment, set the MID Server capability to All or to Nutanix.
    Install Nutanix end-point SSL certificates for the MID Server JRE
    1. Collect the certificates by browsing the Nutanix Prism console on internet Explorer.
    2. Add SSL certificates for the MID Server, as described in Add SSL certificates for the MID Server.
    3. Use the following JRE keytool command to import the SSL certificates in the MID Server's keystore: <MID Installation>/jre/bin/keytool -import -v -keystore <MID Installation>jre/lib/security/cacerts.

      If you must enter a password, enter the custom password or the default password- "changeit".

    4. Install Nutanix end-point SSL certificates for the MID Server JRE.
    Verify API permissions for v1-3
    Verify that the user has read-only access to the following API requests:
    • /PrismGateway/services/rest/v1/vms
    • /PrismGateway/services/rest/v1/storage_pools
    • /PrismGateway/services/rest/v2.0/tasks/list
    • /PrismGateway/services/rest/v2.0/hosts
    • /PrismGateway/services/rest/v2.0/clusters
    • /PrismGateway/services/rest/v2.0/vms
    • /PrismGateway/services/rest/v2.0/storage_containers
    • /api/nutanix/v3/clusters/list
    • /api/nutanix/v3/categories/list
    • /api/nutanix/v3/categories/{category_keys}/list
    • /api/nutanix/v3/category/query
    Verify API permissions for v4
    Verify that the user has read-only access to the following GET APIs. Note that the API call referencing /PrismGateway/services/rest/v1/vms uses a legacy endpoint because it's not available yet in the newer API.
    • /api/clustermgmt/v4/config/clusters
    • /api/clustermgmt/v4/config/clusters/{clusters_ID}/hosts​
    • /api/clustermgmt/v4/config/storage-containers
    • /api/vmm/v4/ahv/config/vms
    • /PrismGateway/services/rest/v1/vms
    • /api/prism/v4/config/categories?$expand=associations​
    • /api/prism/v4/config/categories/{categories_ID}?$limit=extId&$expand=detailedAssociations
    Verify Prism Central version for v4 API
    Ensure that Prism Central is at least version 7.3 to use the v4 API.
    Set MID Server property to discover v4
    Enable Nutanix v4 discovery by setting MID Server property value to the exact v4 version. For more information, see Enable Nutanix v4 discovery.
    Configure basic authentication credentials
    For more information, see Basic authentication credentials.
    Create a serverless discovery schedule
    Create a discovery schedule to perform targeted discovery of Nutanix components. For more information, see Create a serverless schedule for Nutanix Acropolis discovery.
    Link Nutanix components to ESX clusters
    The Nutanix Components pattern can discover Nutanix components hosted on ESX clusters, like storage pools, storage containers, and Controller Virtual Machine (CVM), but not ESX clusters themselves. Run VMware probe discovery before the Nutanix pattern discovery to link the Nutanix components to their ESX clusters. If you don't, the Nutanix components are linked to Nutanix Prism instead. For more information on VMware probe discovery, see VMware discovery.
    (Optional) Disable CI tag discovery
    The Nutanix Components pattern discovers tags for Nutanix hosts and virtual machines. If you have dozens of tags in your deployment, it might slow down the discovery causing performance issues. You can disable the CI tag discovery by performing the following steps:
    1. Navigate to Pattern Designer > Discovery Patterns.
    2. Select the Nutanix Components pattern.
    3. Under Extension Section, select the check box for Categories (Tags) and select Remove.
    4. Select Save.
    Adjust the batch size for removing redundant relationship data
    The sn_itom_pattern.nutanix_relations_deletion_batch_size property sets the batch size for deleting relations between Nutanix Virtual Machine Instance and Nutanix Host. The default value is 1000; you can adjust this batch size as needed.

    Data collected by Discovery during horizontal discovery

    Discovery populates the data in the CMDB when running the Nutanix Components pattern.

    Note:
    API v4 calls might retrieve or populate different values compared to v1-3. For more information, search the Nutanix documentation for the "API Reference v4 Introduction" article.
    Table 1. Nutanix Controller VM [cmdb_ci_nutanix_controller_vm]
    Field Description
    Name [name] The name of the Nutanix Controller VM.
    VM ID [vm_id] The universally unique identifier (UUID) of the Nutanix Controller VM.
    Object ID [object_id] The ID of the Nutanix Controller VM.
    Memory (MB) [memory] The memory size of the Nutanix Controller VM in Megabytes (MB).
    State [state] The power state of the Nutanix Controller VM (on/off).
    Hypervisor Type [hypervisor_type] The type of the hypervisor used for the Nutanix Controller VM.
    Description [short_description] The description defined for the virtual machine in the Nutanix console: Prism Central or Prism Element.
    Table 2. Nutanix Cluster [cmdb_ci_nutanix_cluster]
    Field Description
    Name [name] The name of the Nutanix Cluster.
    IP Address [ip_address] The IP address of the Nutanix Cluster.
    Cluster ID [cluster_id] The ID of the Nutanix Cluster.
    Object ID [object_id] The object ID of the Nutanix Cluster.
    Version [version] The Nutanix Cluster version.
    Full Version [full_version] The full version of the Nutanix Cluster.
    Internal Subnet [internal_subnet] The subnet of the internal IP address of the Nutanix Cluster.
    External Subnet [external_subnet] The subnet of the external IP address of the Nutanix Cluster.
    Timezone [timezone] The time zone of the Nutanix Cluster.
    Hypervisor Types [hypervisor_types] The type of the hypervisor used for the Nutanix Cluster.
    NTP Servers [ntp_servers] The Network Time Protocol (NTP) servers that are related to the Nutanix Cluster.
    Number of Nodes [num_nodes] The number of nodes connected to the Nutanix Cluster.
    NCC Version [ncc_version] The Nutanix Cluster Check (NCC) version.
    Block Serial Numbers [block_serial_numbers] The serial numbers of blocks of data connected to the Nutanix Cluster.
    Table 3. Nutanix Host [cmdb_ci_nutanix_host]
    Field Description
    Name [name] The name of the Nutanix host.
    Object ID [object_id] The ID of the Nutanix host.
    CPU core count [cpu_core_count] The number of Nutanix host cores.
    CPU core thread [cpu_core_thread] The number of threads of the Nutanix host.
    CPU speed (MHz) [cpu_speed] The CPU speed of the Nutanix host in MHz.
    CPU count [cpu_count] The number of CPU sockets of the Nutanix host.
    RAM (MB) [ram] The memory of the host in Megabites (MB).
    Serial number [serial_number] Serial number of the Nutanix host.

    This field is not applicable for v4.
    Table 4. Nutanix Storage Pool [cmdb_ci_nutanix_storage_pool]
    Field Description
    Name [name]
    • v1-3: The name of the Nutanix storage pool.
    • v4: Cluster name.
    Pool ID [pool_id]
    • v1-3: The UUID of the Nutanix storage pool.
    • v4: The external ID (extId) of the pool retrieved from the Nutanix Storage Container.
    Object ID [object_id]
    • v1-3: The ID of the Nutanix storage pool.
    • v4: The external ID (extId) of the pool retrieved from the Nutanix Storage Container.
    Size [size] The size of the Nutanix storage pool.

    This field is not applicable for v4.
    Table 5. Nutanix Storage Container [cmdb_ci_nutanix_storage_container]
    Field Description
    Object ID [object_id] The ID of the Nutanix container.
    Container ID [container_id] The UUID of the Nutanix container.
    Name [name] The name of the Nutanix container.
    Replication Factor [replication_factor] The number of copies created for the data stored on this Nutanix storage container.
    Deduplication [deduplication] The deduplication is enabled or disabled for the Nutanix container.
    Compression [compression] The compression is enabled or disabled for the Nutanix container.
    Erasure Code [erasure_code] The erasure of code is enabled or disabled for the Nutanix container.
    Size [size] The Nutanix container size calculated dynamically during discovery.
    Table 6. Nutanix Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_nutanix_vm_instance]
    Field Description
    Name [name] The name of the Nutanix Controller VM.
    VM Instance ID [vm_inst_id] The universally unique identifier (UUID) of the Nutanix Controller VM.
    Object ID [object_id] The ID of the Nutanix Controller VM.
    CPUs [cpus] The number of CPUs that the VM has.
    Memory (MB) [memory] The memory size of the Nutanix Controller VM in Megabytes (MB).
    State [state] The power state of the Nutanix Controller VM (on/off).
    Description [short_description] The description defined for the virtual machine in the Nutanix console: Prism Central or Prism Element.
    Table 7. Nutanix Prism Central [cmdb_ci_nutanix_prism_central]
    Field Description
    Name [name] The name of the Nutanix Prism Central multi-cluster manager.
    • PrismCentral@<IP_ADDRESS>: When the IP address is associated with the Prism Central instance, in the following scenarios:
      • During quick discovery using HTTP classification.
      • During serverless discovery if IP address was entered in PRISM_Address parameter value.
    • PrismCentral@<DNS_NAME>: When the DNS name is associated with the Prism Central instance and was entered in PRISM_Address parameter value during serverless discovery.
    Object ID [object_id] The ID of the Nutanix Prism Central. This field has the same value as the Name field.
    • PrismCentral@<IP_ADDRESS>: When the IP address is associated with the Prism Central instance, in the following scenarios:
      • During quick discovery using HTTP classification.
      • During serverless discovery if IP address was entered in PRISM_Address parameter value.
    • PrismCentral@<DNS_NAME>: When the DNS name is associated with the Prism Central instance and was entered in PRISM_Address parameter value during serverless discovery.
    The graphic illustrates CIs that are part of the Acropolis discovery in deployments that use Nutanix AHV for virtualization.
    Figure 1. Nutanix components

    Nutanix components
    The graphic illustrates CIs that are part of the Acropolis discovery in deployments that use VMware software for virtualization.
    Figure 2. Nutanix components in deployments using VMware software

    Nutanix components in deployments using VMware software
    The graphic illustrates the Server and Nutanix VM Instance relationship.
    Server and Nutanix VM Instance relationship

    CI relationships

    These relationships are created to support all Nutanix discovery, regardless of hypervisor.

    CI Relationship CI
    Nutanix Cluster [cmdb_ci_nutanix_cluster] Members::Member of Nutanix Host [cmdb_ci_nutanix_host]
    Nutanix Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_nutanix_vm_instance] Registered::Has registered Nutanix Host [cmdb_ci_nutanix_host]
    Nutanix Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_nutanix_vm_instance] Hosted on::Hosts Nutanix Cluster [cmdb_ci_nutanix_cluster]
    Nutanix Storage Pool [cmdb_ci_nutanix_storage_pool] Contains::Contained by Nutanix Storage Container [cmdb_ci_nutanix_storage_container]
    Servers [cmdb_ci_server] Instantiates::Instantiated by Nutanix Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_nutanix_vm_instance]
    Nutanix Cluster [cmdb_ci_nutanix_cluster] Managed by::Manages Nutanix Prism Central [cmdb_ci_nutanix_prism_central]

    These relationships are created to support Nutanix discovery for components hosted on AHV clusters.

    CI Relationship CI
    Nutanix Controller VM [cmdb_ci_nutanix_controller_vm] Runs on::Runs Nutanix Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_nutanix_vm_instance]
    Nutanix Cluster [cmdb_ci_nutanix_cluster] Defines resources for::Gets resources from Nutanix Storage Pool [cmdb_ci_nutanix_storage_pool]

    These relationships are created to support Nutanix discovery for components hosted on ESX clusters if you ran a VMware discovery.

    CI Relationship CI
    Nutanix Controller VM [cmdb_ci_nutanix_controller_vm] Runs on::Runs VMware Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vmware_instance]
    VMware Cluster [cmdb_ci_vmware_cluster] Defines resources for::Gets resources from Nutanix Storage Pool [cmdb_ci_nutanix_storage_pool]

    These relationships are created to support Nutanix discovery for components hosted on ESX clusters if you didn't run a VMware discovery.

    CI Relationship CI
    Nutanix Controller VM [cmdb_ci_nutanix_controller_vm] Hosted on::Hosts Nutanix Prism Central [cmdb_ci_nutanix_prism_central]
    Nutanix Storage Pool [cmdb_ci_nutanix_storage_pool] Hosted on::Hosts Nutanix Prism Central [cmdb_ci_nutanix_prism_central]

    Tag discovery

    The Nutanix Components pattern collects tags and populates them in the Key Value [cmdb_key_value] table.

    Table 8. Key Value [cmdb_key_value]
    Field Description
    Key [key] The category key.
    Value [value] The category value.
    Configuration item [configuration_item] References the Nutanix Host [cmdb_ci_nutanix_host] table.

    Dashboard

    The dashboard contains reports that query the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) and display the results. The information is displayed only after the pattern has discovered the infrastructure.

    To display the dashboard, navigate to Self-Service > Dashboards > All > Nutanix.

    After upgrading to Discovery Admin Workspace version 1.3.1 (August 2024 Store), you can navigate to Workspaces > Discovery Admin Workspace > Insights and use the enhanced dashboard.