Amazon EC2 Amazon EBS Snapshot pattern-based discovery

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated June 16, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Amazon EC2 Amazon EBS Snapshot pattern-based discovery

    The Amazon EC2 Amazon EBS Snapshot pattern-based discovery in ServiceNow enables automated detection and mapping of AWS Elastic Block Store (EBS) snapshots within your cloud environment. This discovery leverages the Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application, which must be kept current from the ServiceNow Store to ensure compatibility and access to the latest AWS resources.

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    Key Features

    • Pattern Activation: The EBS Snapshot discovery pattern is disabled by default. Enabling it is straightforward and does not count as a customization, allowing patterns to update automatically with new releases.
    • Discovery Prerequisites: Requires verifying AWS discovery prerequisites and removing any duplicate resources from the Resource Inclusion List to avoid redundant discoveries.
    • GovCloud Support: Discovery schedules can be configured to support AWS GovCloud accounts by specifying the appropriate datacenter URL during AWS service account setup.
    • CMDB Integration: Discovered EBS snapshots populate the Configuration Management Database (CMDB), specifically in the cmdbcistoragevolsnapshot table, capturing detailed attributes including the unique Amazon Resource Name (ARN), state, encryption status, size, and related volume information.
    • CI Relationships: The pattern establishes relationships linking EBS snapshots to AWS datacenters for comprehensive asset and relationship mapping.
    • AWS Tag Discovery: Tags associated with EBS snapshots are collected and stored in the cmdbkeyvalue table, enabling enhanced filtering and categorization based on tag data.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Automates the discovery and inventory of EBS snapshots, reducing manual tracking efforts.
    • Ensures accurate and up-to-date visibility into AWS storage snapshots within the CMDB.
    • Supports compliance and governance by detecting encrypted snapshots and operational status.
    • Facilitates cloud resource management and optimization by providing detailed snapshot metadata and relationships.
    • Enables tagging information capture for better resource classification and reporting.
    • Supports AWS GovCloud environments, expanding discovery capabilities to specialized regions.

    Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns finds AWS services on your cloud environment. Discovering some of these resources may require updating to the latest version of the Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application from the ServiceNow Store.

    Pattern-based discovery and mapping requirements

    Verify the AWS discovery prerequisites
    For more information, see the prerequisites section in Amazon AWS Cloud components discovery using patterns.
    Remove resources from the Resource Inclusion List table
    Verify that the relevant resource isn't listed in the Resource Inclusion List [sa_cloud_inventory_resource_whitelist] table to avoid duplicate discovery. For more information on removing resources from the Resource Inclusion List, see Amazon Web Services (AWS) Resource Inventory.
    Enable the relevant pattern
    The pattern for this service is disabled by default. Starting with Visibility Content version 6.28.0, activating or deactivating a pattern won't be considered a customization, and it will continue to receive updates. Patterns that were previously activated or deactivated will reset to the latest predefined version after upgrading while retaining the last active field value. For more information on enabling patterns, see Activate a disabled pattern.
    Configure the Discovery schedule to support GovCloud
    Discovering AWS GovCloud (US) accounts requires using a datacenter URL when setting up an AWS service account. For more information, see Create AWS service accounts.

    Data stored in CMDB tables

    Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application populates data in the CMDB when running the Amazon AWS - Elastic Compute Cloud EBS Snapshot - Extended Inventory (LP) pattern.

    Table 1. Storage Volume Snapshot [cmdb_ci_storage_vol_snapshot]
    Field Description
    Object ID [object_id] The Amazon Resource Name (ARN) uniquely identifying the EBS Snapshot.

    The ARN consists of the AWS region, account ID, and snapshot ID in the following format: arn:aws:ec2:<region>:<accountId>:snapshot/<snapshot_id>.
    Name [name] The unique identifier for the EC2 snapshot.
    State [state] The current state of the snapshot. For example: pending or completed.
    Install Status [install_status] Install status of the resource. Default value is Installed.
    Encrypted [is_encrypted] Indicates whether the snapshot is encrypted.
    Operational status [operational_status] Operational status of the resource. Default value is Operational.
    Description [short_description] Type of resource. The value is set to AWS::Elastic Compute Cloud::EBS Snapshot.
    Size (GB) [size] The size of the resource expressed in gigabytes (GB).
    Size bytes [size_bytes] The size of the snapshot in bytes.
    Volume Name [volume_name] The identifier of the volume associated with the snapshot.

    CI relationships

    The Amazon AWS - Elastic Compute Cloud EBS Snapshot - Extended Inventory (LP) pattern creates these relationships to support Amazon EC2 Amazon EBS Snapshot discovery.

    CI Relationship CI
    Storage Volume Snapshot [cmdb_ci_storage_vol_snapshot] Hosted on::Hosts AWS Datacenter [cmdb_ci_aws_datacenter]

    AWS tag discovery

    The pattern collects tags and populates them in the Key Value [cmdb_key_value] table.
    Table 2. Key Value [cmdb_key_value]
    Field Description
    Key [key] Tag name.
    Value [value] Tag value.