NGINX web server discovery

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of NGINX web server discovery

    NGINX web server discovery in ServiceNow identifies NGINX web server software and related load balancer information on Linux and Windows servers. It detects running NGINX processes and collects configuration and version details to populate the Configuration Management Database (CMDB). This enables accurate tracking and management of NGINX servers and their components within your IT infrastructure.

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    Key Features

    • Process Detection: The NGINX Process Classifier detects processes with names starting with "nginx" and containing "master" during server exploration.
    • Automatic CMDB Record Creation: Upon detection, records are created in the cmdbcinginxwebserver (or cmdbciwebserver) table, with relationships to the hosting Linux server established in cmdbrelci.
    • Probes Triggered:
      • NGINX – Version Probe: Runs a Bourne shell script to determine the NGINX version and updates the CMDB record accordingly.
      • NGINX – Get Configuration Probe: Uses a shell script with configurable path (default /etc/nginx/nginx.conf) to extract configuration parameters. This data is parsed by a sensor and used to populate multiple CMDB tables related to load balancer applications, pool members, and services.
    • Requirements: NGINX must be installed and running; the MID Server requires SSH access and execute privileges to the NGINX configuration file and commands used in the probes.
    • Command Execution: Probes execute commands such as nginx, echo, sed, httpd, cut, grep, and egrep within scripts to gather data.
    • Top-Down Discovery Compatibility: Supports integration with Service Mapping for top-down discovery of NGINX web servers on both Linux and Windows platforms.

    Data Collected and CMDB Population

    Discovery collects detailed information for various load balancer and web server CI tables, including:

    • Load Balancer Application (cmdbcilbappl): Name, IP address, version, and last discovered timestamp.
    • Load Balancer Pool Member (cmdbcilbpoolmember): Name, IP address, FQDN, port, load balancer association, and last discovered timestamp.
    • Load Balancer Service (cmdbcilbservice): Name, IP address, input URL, load balancer association, and last discovered timestamp.

    The discovery process also establishes key relationships in the cmdbrelci table, such as:

    • Applications running on web servers.
    • Services using load balancer pools.
    • Pool membership of pool members.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    This discovery capability ensures accurate, automated identification and documentation of NGINX web servers and their load balancing configurations. It helps maintain an up-to-date CMDB, supports impact analysis, and improves operational visibility for IT teams managing NGINX environments. By meeting the prerequisites and configuring the MID Server accordingly, customers can leverage this feature to enhance their service mapping and infrastructure management workflows.

    NGINX is an open source web server with a load balancer. Discovery identifies the web server and information related to the load balancer.

    Discovery identifies NGINX server software using the following process:
    1. The NGINX Process Classifier detects a running process that matches the following criteria during the exploration of a Linux server:
      • Name starts with nginx
      • Name contains master
    2. If there is a match:
      • A record is created in the NGINX Web Server [cmdb_ci_nginx_web_server] table.
      • A Runs on relationship is created in the CI Relationship [cmdb_rel_ci] table for a Linux server (Linux Server [cmdb_ci_linux_server]) and for an NGINX web server (NGINX Web Server [cmdb_ci_nginx_web_server]).
        The following two probes are triggered:
        • NGINX – Version: This probe contains a Bourne shell script. It determines the version of NGINX and populates the NGINX Web Server [cmdb_ci_nginx_web_server] table.
        • NGINX – Get Configuration: This probe contains a Bourne shell script and an argument that determines the path of the NGINX configuration file. The probe identifies configuration parameters based on keywords within the configuration file and returns them as a single payload result.
        The sensor on the ServiceNow instance parses the payload result and populates the CMDB.
    You must have the following requirements to discover an NGINX webserver:
    • NGINX is installed and running on the server.
    • The MID Server has access to the NGINX configuration file, which is /etc/nginx/nginx.conf by default.

    Requirements

    For NGINIX servers:
    • Ensure that the NGINX software is installed and running on the server.
    • Grant the MID Server has access to the NGINX configuration file, which is /etc/nginx/nginx.conf by default.
    • Enable secure shell (SSH) commands to identify the following associated elements:
      • NGINX Version
      • NGINX Get Configuration
    The following probes require execute privileges to run commands:
    Table 1. Commands
    Probe Commands
    Nginx – Version nginx
    Nginx – Get Configuration echo, sed, httpd, cut, grep, egrep (within the Bourne shell script)
    Note:
    The Nginx pattern performs top-down discovery on both Windows and Linux servers. For information on prerequisites for top-down discovery for NGINX web servers, see Prerequisites for performing top-down discovery using Service Mapping.

    Probes and Sensors

    Discovery identifies NGINX server software using the following process:
    1. The Nginx Process Classifier detects a running process that matches the following criteria during the exploration of a UNIX server:
      • The name of the process starts with nginx.
      • The name of the process contains master.
    2. If there is a match:
      • A record is created in the Web Server [cmdb_ci_web_server] table.
      • A Runs on relationship is created in the CI Relationship [cmdb_rel_ci] table for the Linux Server [cmdb_ci_linux_server] table and the Web Server [cmdb_ci_web_server] table.
    3. The following two probes are triggered:
      • Nginx – Version: this probe contains a Bourne shell script. It determines the version of NGINX and populates the Web Server [cmdb_ci_web_server] table.
      • Nginx – Get Configuration: this probe contains a Bourne shell script and an argument that determines the path of the NGINX configuration file. The probe identifies configuration parameters based on keywords within the configuration file and returns them as a single payload result.
    4. The sensor on the ServiceNow instance processes the payload and populates the CMDB.

    Data Collected

    Discovery creates or updates CMDB records when it detects a running NGINX process. The following data is collected.
    Table 2. Data Collected by Discovery for NGINX
    Table Name Field and Label Name Probe
    Name cmdb_ci_lb_appl [name] Nginx– Get Configuration
    IP Address cmdb_ci_lb_appl [ip_address] Nginx– Get Configuration
    Last Discovered cmdb_ci_lb_appl [last_discovered] Nginx– Get Configuration
    Version cmdb_ci_lb_appl [version] Nginx– Version
    Name cmdb_ci_lb_pool_member [name] Nginx– Get Configuration
    Last Discovered cmdb_ci_lb_pool_member [last_discovered] Nginx– Get Configuration
    IP Address cmdb_ci_lb_pool_member [ip_address] Nginx– Get Configuration
    Load Balancer cmdb_ci_lb_pool_member [load_balancer] Nginx– Get Configuration
    Fully Qualified Domain Name cmdb_ci_lb_pool_member [fqdn] Nginx– Get Configuration
    Port cmdb_ci_lb_pool_member [port] Nginx– Get Configuration
    Last Discovered cmdb_ci_lb_service [last_discovered] Nginx– Get Configuration
    IP Address cmdb_ci_lb_service [ip_address] Nginx– Get Configuration
    Name cmdb_ci_lb_service [name] Nginx– Get Configuration
    Load Balancer cmdb_ci_lb_service [load_balancer] Nginx– Get Configuration
    Input URL cmdb_ci_lb_service [input_url] NGINX – Get Configuration

    Relationships

    In the table [cmdb_rel_ci] the following relationships are populated:
    • The records in the cmdb_ci_lb_appl table run on the cmdb_ci_web_server table records.
    • The records in the cmdb_ci_lb_service table use the cmdb_ci_lb_pool table records.
    • The records in the cmdb_ci_pool table are used by the cmdb_ci_service table records.
    • The records in the cmdb_ci_pool table are members of the cmdb_ci_pool_member table.
    • The records in the cmdb_ci_pool_member table are members of cmdb_ci_pool table.