Amazon EC2 VPC Peering Connection pattern-based discovery

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated June 16, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Amazon EC2 VPC Peering Connection pattern-based discovery

    The Amazon EC2 VPC Peering Connection pattern-based discovery enables ServiceNow customers to identify and map VPC peering connections within their AWS cloud environments. This functionality is part of the Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application, which detects AWS services and populates data into both CMDB and non-CMDB tables to provide comprehensive visibility of cloud resources.

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    This discovery supports detailed tracking of VPC peering connections, including their status, configuration, and relationships, facilitating effective cloud infrastructure management and integration with ServiceNow’s CMDB.

    Key Features

    • Pattern Activation: The VPC Peering Connection discovery pattern is disabled by default. Customers must enable it to start discovering these resources. Starting with Visibility Content version 6.28.0, enabling or disabling patterns is no longer considered a customization and will be preserved during upgrades.
    • AWS Prerequisites: Customers need to verify AWS discovery prerequisites, remove duplicate resources from the Resource Inclusion List to avoid redundant discovery, and configure discovery schedules properly—especially for AWS GovCloud (US) environments, which require specific datacenter URLs.
    • Data Storage: Discovery populates information in:
      - Non-CMDB tables: For extended inventory details, accessible via ServiceNow’s AWS configuration modules.
      - CMDB tables: Key VPC peering connection details are stored in standard CMDB tables such as cmdbcicloudgateway and cmdbawselasticcomputecloudvpcpeeringconnection.
    • Key Data Fields: Includes the Amazon Resource Name (ARN) uniquely identifying the peering connection, VPC identifiers, status, install and operational status, and resource descriptions.
    • CI Relationships: The pattern automatically creates relationships between the VPC peering connection CIs, Cloud Gateway CIs, and AWS Datacenter CIs, enabling accurate service mapping and impact analysis.
    • AWS Tag Discovery: Tags associated with VPC peering connections are collected and stored in the cmdbkeyvalue table, supporting enhanced categorization and filtering.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Gain automated, up-to-date visibility of AWS VPC peering connections within the ServiceNow CMDB, improving cloud asset management.
    • Leverage established CI relationships to understand dependencies and impacts across cloud and on-premises resources.
    • Use AWS tag data within ServiceNow to apply governance, reporting, and compliance policies effectively.
    • Ensure discovery accuracy by following prerequisites such as removing duplicates and configuring discovery schedules appropriately, including support for AWS GovCloud.
    • Maintain discovery configuration easily through pattern activation management that persists through application upgrades.

    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 AWS 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 AWS Resource Inventory discovery with Patterns.
    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.

    Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application populates data in both CMDB and non-CMDB tables.

    Data stored in non-CMDB tables

    Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application populates data in the non-CMDB table when running the Amazon AWS - Elastic Compute Cloud VPC Peering Connection - Extended Inventory (LP) pattern.

    You can review the non-CMDB AWS tables by navigating to All > Configuration > AWS. You can also search the navigation filter for the specific pattern name.

    Table 1. AWS Elastic Compute Cloud - VPC Peering Connection [cmdb_aws_elastic_compute_cloud_vpc_peering_connection]
    Field Description
    Object Id [object_id] The Amazon Resource Name (ARN) uniquely identifying the VPC Peering Connection.

    The ARN consists of the region, account ID, and VPC ID in the following format: arn:aws:ec2:<region>:<accountId>:vpc-peering-connection/<vpc_id>.
    Name [name] The unique identifier of the VPC involved in the peering connection.
    Status [status] The current status of the VPC peering connection.
    Configuration Item [configuration_item] References the Cloud Gateway [cmdb_ci_cloud_gateway] table.

    Data stored in CMDB tables

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

    Table 2. Cloud Gateway [cmdb_ci_cloud_gateway]
    Field Description
    Object ID [object_id] The ARN uniquely identifying the VPC Peering Connection.

    The ARN consists of the region, account ID, and VPC ID in the following format: arn:aws:ec2:<region>:<accountId>:vpc-peering-connection/<vpc_id>.
    Name [name] The unique identifier of the VPC involved in the peering connection.
    Install Status [install_status] Install status of the resource. Default value is Installed.
    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::EC2::VPCPeeringConnection.

    CI relationships

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

    CI Relationship CI
    Cloud Gateway [cmdb_ci_cloud_gateway] Hosted on::Hosts AWS Datacenter [cmdb_ci_aws_datacenter]
    AWS Elastic Compute Cloud - VPC Peering Connection [cmdb_aws_elastic_compute_cloud_vpc_peering_connection] References Cloud Gateway [cmdb_ci_cloud_gateway]

    AWS tag discovery

    The pattern collects tags and populates them in the Key Value [cmdb_key_value] table.
    Table 3. Key Value [cmdb_key_value]
    Field Description
    Key [key] Tag name.
    Value [value] Tag value.