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sourceDocument: Australia IT Operations Management
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/it-operations-management

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ft:publication_title :

    - Australia IT Operations Management

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---

# How ACC-VC works

# How Agent Client Collector for Visibility Content works {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Australia  
Updated October 16, 2026  
![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 2 minutes to read
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## Summary of How Agent Client Collector for Visibility Content works

Agent Client Collector for Visibility Content (ACC-VC) is a ServiceNow solution that requires the installation of the Agent Client Collector (ACC) on target hosts.
ACC is based on Sensu-Go, an open-source monitoring tool.
ACC-VC automates data collection from hosts by applying checks and policies, enabling effective discovery and monitoring of Configuration Items (CIs) in your environment.
Show full answer Show less  

## Key Features

* **Triggering Events:** ACC-VC initiates data collection in scenarios such as periodic schedules (default every 24 hours), CI deletion, MID Server restarts, target host restarts, and network interruptions to ensure continuous and accurate visibility.
* **Checks and Policies:** ACC-VC uses an Enhanced Discovery check definition and policy that are synchronized to all agents. These checks transform collected data into payloads compatible with the Identification and Reconciliation Engine (IRE), and handle reconciliation of non-CI data like running processes and TCP connections.
* **Data Flow:** The ServiceNow instance initiates the Enhanced Discovery check, creating an ECC Queue record that the MID Server processes. The MID Server communicates securely with the ACC on the target host using WebSocket over TLS and delivers relevant assets and plugins based on the host's OS and architecture.
* **Extensibility:** Customers can customize all components of the ACC-VC application including check types, policies, and check definitions to tailor data collection to their needs.
* **Supported Operating Systems:** ACC-VC supports multiple OS families on x8664 architecture including Linux distributions (RHEL, Oracle Linux, CentOS, SLES, Ubuntu, Amazon Linux, Debian), Microsoft Windows Server and Enterprise editions, and macOS (from version 1.3.0 onward, including both Intel and ARM64 Apple Silicon).
* **Virtualization and Cloud Support:** ACC-VC associates discovered targets with existing VM and cloud server CIs, supporting environments such as VMware vCenter, Amazon AWS, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure.

## What This Enables for ServiceNow Customers

* Automated, policy-driven discovery and data collection from a wide range of hosts and platforms to maintain accurate CMDB records.
* Improved visibility into infrastructure health through timely detection of changes, restarts, and network issues impacting monitored systems.
* Seamless integration with ServiceNow MID Server architecture ensuring secure and efficient communication and data transfer.
* Flexibility to customize monitoring policies and checks to align with specific organizational requirements and environments.
* Enhanced reconciliation capabilities, including non-CI data, to provide comprehensive operational insight.
* Support for hybrid environments including on-premises, virtualized, and cloud-based infrastructure, aiding comprehensive asset management.  
Agent Client Collector for Visibility Content (ACC-VC) requires installation of ServiceNow
Agent Client Collector (ACC) on the target host. ACC is a derivative of Sensu-Go, an open-source software.

## ACC-VC use cases {#how-acc-v-works__section_fj2_1lm_lbc}

ACC-VC applies Checks and Policies to schedule and collect host data. ACC-VC is triggered in the following cases:

* Periodic scheduling: A policy-based approach where Discovery is triggered on a periodic basis.
* On CI delete: When the computer or server CI record is deleted.
* MID Server cycle: When the MID Server goes down and comes back up.
* Target host cycle: When the target host goes down and comes back up.
* Network break: When there is a break in the network link to the target.
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Note:  
Discovery is triggered for those agents whose hosts are already present. Agents whose hosts are not present are discovered through ACC-F.

## ACC-VC checks and policies {#how-acc-v-works__section_br2_clm_lbc}

The ACC-VC assets are stored as Agent plugins with the main entry point \[acc_visibility_main\] and other modules for OS families. There is one main system Discovery Check definition, called Enhanced Discovery, which is used by the Enhanced Discovery Policy. This ACC-VC policy runs off a schedule, which is defaulted to 24 hours
(86,400 seconds). This policy configuration is synced to all agents as defined in the ACC-VC policy.  
When the payload is returned from the MID Server to the instance, the ACC-VC Check Type, EnhancedDiscovery, delegates tasks to the EnhancedDiscoveryHandler script include provided by ACC-VC. The script contains logic to process the data from the check and handles tasks such as:

* Data transformation into an identification and reconciliation engine (IRE) compatible payload
* Non-CI data reconciliation (cmdb_running_processes, cmdb_tcp_connections, and so on)
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The ACC-VC Check Definition, Enhanced Discovery, is initiated by the ServiceNow Instance. Then, an ECC Queue record with topic, MonitoringProbe, is created on the output queue with relevant Check information. The MID Server then processes the check by sending a message to the ACC via WebSocket over TLS.

During this time, the MID Server also serves any relevant Assets or Plugins that the ACC requests. The MID Server ensures the Assets and Plugins are relevant to the particular Operating System, platform, OS version, and architecture on which the ACC is running.

You can edit and modify all parts of the ACC-VC application including check type, policy, and check definition. See [Checks and policies](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/sQMAhnl2PqLHoSgSvIkQYg "A check is a combination of a command and its configuration. The check is executed on the Agent Client Collector's devices to gather data from those devices.") for more information.

## Supported operating systems {#how-acc-v-works__section_lqc_j3m_lbc}

ACC-VC collects the system attributes and related lists normally collected by the OS pattern. ACC-VC currently supports the following operating systems on x86_64 architecture:

* Linux
  * Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Oracle Linux (OL) 7, 8, 9
  * Centos 7, 8, 9
  * SLES 12, 15
  * Ubuntu 18, 20
  * Amazon Linux 2
  * Debian 9 and 10
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* Microsoft Windows
  * Windows Server 2012, 2012r2, 2016, 2019, 2022
  * Windows 10 Enterprise Edition
  * Windows 11 Enterprise and Professional Editions
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* macOS (starting in ACC-VC version 1.3.0)
  * 10.15 - Catalina
  * 11 - Big Sur
  * Monterey (x86)
  * 13 - Ventura
  * macOS Ventura on ARM64 - Apple Silicon M1/M2
  * Sonoma
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## Virtual machines and cloud instances {#how-acc-v-works__section_x4d_qjz_z4b}

ACC-VC associates a target, discovered via Discovery, with a pre-existing virtual machine (VM) Instance CIs. ACC-VC associates the discovered CI record with any pre-existing VM Instance record or Cloud Server Instance record with appropriate CMDB
relationships.  
The following variants of virtualization and cloud server vendors are supported for ACC-VC:

* vCenter
* Amazon AWS Cloud
* Google (GCP)
* Microsoft Azure
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