VMware NSX-T cluster pattern-based discovery

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated May 7, 2026
  • 7 minutes to read
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    Summary of VMware NSX-T cluster pattern-based discovery

    The VMware NSX-T cluster pattern in ServiceNow’s Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application enables automated discovery of VMware NSX-T infrastructure components, populating the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) with detailed cluster data. This pattern supports comprehensive visibility into NSX-T management clusters and their associated resources such as transport nodes, edge clusters, gateways, segments, transport zones, and virtual switches. It requires the latest version of the Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns app from the ServiceNow Store.

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    Prerequisites

    • Ensure CMDB CI Class Models, Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns, and Visibility Content applications are up to date.
    • Create an applicative credential alias with appropriate NSX-T API access and permissions to authenticate discovery calls.
    • Verify credentials can execute key NSX-T API calls like session creation, cluster and node status retrieval, and queries for segments, gateways, transport nodes, and zones.
    • Configure a serverless discovery schedule to automate the discovery process against NSX-T management clusters.

    Data Collected and CMDB Impact

    Discovery populates multiple specialized CMDB tables representing NSX-T resources:

    • NSX Management Cluster: IP, cluster status, operational and install status.
    • NSX Management Cluster Node: Node identifiers, FQDN, node status, operational status.
    • Node Groups, Transport Nodes, Transport Zones, Edge Clusters, Virtual Switches, Gateways, and Segments: Details including unique identifiers, host types, forwarding modes, HA modes, and user-provided descriptions.
    • IP Addresses: Linked to transport nodes to maintain network context.

    Operational and install statuses are standardized, mostly defaulting to “Operational” and “Installed”.

    Dependency Views and Relationships

    The pattern builds CI relationships reflecting the NSX-T architecture, such as:

    • Cluster nodes belonging to management clusters.
    • Gateways managing clusters and connecting to segments or other gateways (tier 0 and tier 1).
    • Transport nodes managed by clusters and owning IP addresses.
    • Node groups managing nodes and being managed by clusters.
    • Transport zones containing transport nodes.
    • Edge cluster groups managing transport nodes.

    These relationships support clear visualization of NSX-T infrastructure dependencies within the ServiceNow CMDB Dependency Views.

    Tag and Metadata Collection

    The discovery collects resource tags and external system metadata, storing them in dedicated CMDB tables:

    • Tags: Stored in cmdbkeyvalue table, linked to NSX resources.
    • External system metadata: Stored in cmdbkeyvaluev2 table, capturing metadata properties and values linked to NSX resource records.

    Configuration Essentials

    • Create applicative credential alias: Configure credentials to authenticate NSX-T cluster discovery securely.
    • Create serverless discovery schedule: Automate recurring discovery runs to keep CMDB data current for NSX-T clusters.

    Key Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Automated, accurate discovery of VMware NSX-T components enhances CMDB completeness and reliability.
    • Detailed resource data and relationships enable improved infrastructure visibility and impact analysis.
    • Integration with ServiceNow’s Dependency Views facilitates troubleshooting, change management, and service mapping.
    • Tag and metadata collection enriches CMDB records with valuable context for asset and configuration management.

    Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns uses the NSX Cluster pattern to find VMware NSX-T infrastructure. Discovering some of these resources may require updating to the latest version of the Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application from the ServiceNow Store.

    Request new or enhanced Patterns on the ServiceNow® Store

    Visit the ServiceNow Store to view all the available updates 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.

    NSX Cluster data model

    The following diagram illustrates the tables and relationships that the Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application creates when discovering NSX-T infrastructure resources.

    Figure 1. Tables and relationships populated during NSX-T cluster discovery
    NSX Cluster data model

    Prerequisites

    Verify that the following applications are up to date
    • CMDB CI Class Models
    • Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns
    • Visibility Content
    Configure a credential alias
    For more information, see Create an applicative credential alias for NSX-T cluster discovery.
    Verify NSX-T API access and permissions

    Verify that the credential has sufficient permissions to execute the following NSX-T API calls:

    • POST /api/session/create
    • GET /api/v1/cluster/status
    • GET /api/v1/node
    • GET /policy/api/v1/infra/segments
    • GET /policy/api/v1/infra/tier-0s
    • GET /policy/api/v1/infra/tier-1s
    • GET /api/v1/transport-nodes
    • GET /api/v1/transport-zones
    • GET /api/v1/fabric/virtual-switches/
    • GET /api/v1/edge-clusters
    Create a serverless discovery schedule
    For more information, see Create a serverless schedule for NSX-T cluster discovery.

    Data collected by Discovery during horizontal discovery

    Discovery populates the data in the CMDB when running the NSX Cluster pattern.

    Table 1. NSX Management Cluster [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster]
    Field Description
    Name [name] IP address of the NSX Management Cluster.
    IP Address [ip_address] IP address of the NSX Management Cluster.
    Cluster Status [cluster_status] Status of the management cluster as reported by the NSX-T API.
    Operational status [operational_status] Operational status of the resource, derived from the cluster status.
    Install Status [install_status] Install status of the resource. Default value is Installed.
    Table 2. NSX Management Cluster Node [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster_node]
    Field Description
    Name [name] Display name of the cluster node, derived from the node's fully qualified domain name (FQDN).
    ID [nsx_node_id] Unique identifier of the NSX Manager node.
    Fully qualified domain name [fqdn] FQDN of the node.
    Node Status [node_status] Status of the node as reported by the NSX-T API.
    Operational status [operational_status] Operational status of the resource, derived from the node status.
    Install Status [install_status] Install status of the resource. Default value is Installed.
    Table 3. NSX Management Cluster Node Group [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster_node_group]
    Field Description
    Name [name] Concatenation of the cluster IP address and the group type.

    For example: 10.0.0.1 MANAGER.
    Object ID [object_id] Group ID assigned by NSX-T.
    Operational status [operational_status] Operational status of the resource, derived from the group status.
    Install Status [install_status] Install status of the resource. Default value is Installed.
    Table 4. NSX Transport Node Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_transport_node_resource]
    Field Description
    Name [name] Display name of the transport node, derived from the host FQDN or virtual machine (VM) display name.
    Object ID [object_id] Unique identifier of the transport node.
    Host Type [host_type] Type of the transport node host.

    For example: ESXi, KVM, or Edge.
    Host Name [host_name] Host name of the transport node.
    Host ID [host_id] Identifier of the host running the transport node.
    Fully qualified domain name [fqdn] FQDN of the transport node.
    IP Address [ip_address] IP address of the transport node.
    Operational status [operational_status] Operational status of the resource. Default value is Operational.
    Install Status [install_status] Install status of the resource. Default value is Installed.
    Description [short_description] User-provided description of the transport node.
    Table 5. NSX Transport Zone Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_transport_zone_resource]
    Field Description
    Name [name] Display name of the transport zone.
    Object ID [object_id] Unique identifier of the transport zone.
    Transport Type [transport_type] Transport type of the zone. For example: OVERLAY or VLAN.
    Forwarding Mode [forwarding_mode] Forwarding mode of the transport zone.
    Is Default [is_default] Indicates whether this is the default transport zone.
    Operational status [operational_status] Operational status of the resource. The value is set to Operational.
    Install Status [install_status] Install status of the resource. The value is set to Installed.
    Description [short_description] User-provided description of the transport zone.
    Table 6. NSX Edge Cluster Group [cmdb_ci_nsx_edge_cluster_group]
    Field Description
    Name [name] Display name of the edge cluster group.
    Object ID [object_id] Unique identifier of the edge cluster.
    Node Type [node_type] Type of edge node in the cluster.
    Inter Site Forwarding [enable_inter_site_forwarding] Indicates whether inter-site forwarding is enabled for this edge cluster.
    Table 7. NSX Virtual Switch Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_virtual_switch_resource]
    Field Description
    Name [name] Display name of the virtual switch.
    Object ID [object_id] Unique identifier of the virtual switch.
    CM Local ID [cm_local_id] Local identifier assigned by the compute manager.
    Origin ID [origin_id] Origin identifier of the virtual switch resource.
    Operational status [operational_status] Operational status of the resource. Default value is Operational.
    Install Status [install_status] Install status of the resource. Default value is Installed.
    Table 8. NSX Gateway Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_gateway_resource]
    Field Description
    Name [name] Display name of the gateway.
    Object ID [object_id] Unique identifier of the gateway.
    Tier Type [tier_type] Tier type of the gateway: Tier-0 or Tier-1.
    HA Mode [ha_mode] High-availability mode of the gateway.
    Failover Mode [failover_mode] Failover mode of the gateway.
    Operational status [operational_status] Operational status of the resource. Default value is Operational.
    Install Status [install_status] Install status of the resource. Default value is Installed.
    Description [short_description] User-provided description of the gateway resource.
    Table 9. NSX Segment Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_segment_resource]
    Field Description
    Name [name] Display name of the segment.
    Object ID [object_id] Unique identifier of the segment.
    Operational status [operational_status] Operational status of the resource, derived from the resource state.
    Install Status [install_status] Install status of the resource. Default value is Installed.
    Description [short_description] User-provided description of the segment resource.
    Table 10. IP Address [cmdb_ci_ip_address]
    Field Description
    IP Address [ip_address] IP address of the transport node.

    Dependency Views map

    On the Dependency Views map, you can view discovered NSX-T cluster resources and the relationships between them.

    Figure 2. NSX Management Cluster CI dependency view
    NSX Management Cluster CI and connection on a Dependency Views map

    CI relationships

    The NSX Cluster pattern creates the following relationships and references to support NSX-T cluster discovery. References link to records in other tables and don't appear in the CI Relationship [cmdb_rel_ci] table.

    Table 11. CI relationships
    CI Relationship CI
    NSX Management Cluster Node [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster_node] Members::Member of NSX Management Cluster [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster]
    NSX Gateway Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_gateway_resource] Managed by::Manages NSX Management Cluster [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster]
    NSX Gateway Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_gateway_resource] Connects to::Connected by NSX Segment Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_segment_resource]
    NSX Gateway Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_gateway_resource] (Tier 1) Connects to::Connected by NSX Gateway Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_gateway_resource] (Tier 0)
    NSX Transport Node Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_transport_node_resource] Managed by::Manages NSX Management Cluster [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster]
    NSX Transport Node Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_transport_node_resource] Owns::Owned by IP Address [cmdb_ci_ip_address]
    NSX Management Cluster Node Group [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster_node_group] Managed by::Manages NSX Management Cluster [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster]
    NSX Management Cluster Node Group [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster_node_group] Uses::Used by NSX Management Cluster Node [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster_node]
    NSX Segment Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_segment_resource] Managed by::Manages NSX Management Cluster [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster]
    NSX Transport Zone Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_transport_zone_resource] Managed by::Manages NSX Management Cluster [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster]
    NSX Transport Zone Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_transport_zone_resource] Contains::Contained by NSX Transport Node Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_transport_node_resource]
    NSX Virtual Switch Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_virtual_switch_resource] Managed by::Manages NSX Management Cluster [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster]
    NSX Edge Cluster Group [cmdb_ci_nsx_edge_cluster_group] Managed by::Manages NSX Management Cluster [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster]
    NSX Edge Cluster Group [cmdb_ci_nsx_edge_cluster_group] Uses::Used by NSX Transport Node Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_transport_node_resource]
    Table 12. CI references
    CI Field Referenced CI
    NSX Management Cluster Node [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster_node] Cluster [cluster] NSX Management Cluster [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster]
    NSX Management Cluster Node Group [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster_node_group] Cluster [cluster] NSX Management Cluster [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster]
    NSX Segment Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_segment_resource] Cluster [cluster] NSX Management Cluster [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster]
    NSX Gateway Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_gateway_resource] Cluster [cluster] NSX Management Cluster [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster]
    NSX Transport Node Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_transport_node_resource] Cluster [cluster] NSX Management Cluster [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster]
    NSX Transport Zone Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_transport_zone_resource] Cluster [cluster] NSX Management Cluster [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster]
    NSX Virtual Switch Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_virtual_switch_resource] Cluster [cluster] NSX Management Cluster [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster]
    NSX Edge Cluster Group [cmdb_ci_nsx_edge_cluster_group] Cluster [cluster] NSX Management Cluster [cmdb_ci_nsx_management_cluster]
    Key Value [cmdb_key_value] Configuration item [configuration_item] References one of the following NSX resource tables:
    • NSX Segment Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_segment_resource]
    • NSX Gateway Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_gateway_resource]
    • NSX Transport Node Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_transport_node_resource]
    • NSX Edge Cluster Group [cmdb_ci_nsx_edge_cluster_group]
    External system metadata [cmdb_key_value_v2] Configuration item [configuration_item] References one of the following NSX resource tables:
    • NSX Segment Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_segment_resource]
    • NSX Gateway Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_gateway_resource]
    • NSX Transport Node Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_transport_node_resource]
    • NSX Edge Cluster Group [cmdb_ci_nsx_edge_cluster_group]
    • NSX Transport Zone Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_transport_zone_resource]
    • NSX Virtual Switch Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_virtual_switch_resource]

    Tag discovery and external system metadata

    The NSX Cluster pattern collects resource tags and external system metadata. Tags are stored in the Key Value [cmdb_key_value] table. External system metadata is stored in the External system metadata [cmdb_key_value_v2] table.

    Table 13. Key Value [cmdb_key_value]
    Field Description
    Key [key] Tag name.
    Value [value] Tag value.
    Configuration item [configuration_item] References the NSX resource table associated with the tag. Possible tables:
    • NSX Segment Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_segment_resource]
    • NSX Gateway Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_gateway_resource]
    • NSX Transport Node Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_transport_node_resource]
    • NSX Edge Cluster Group [cmdb_ci_nsx_edge_cluster_group]
    Table 14. External system metadata [cmdb_key_value_v2]
    Field Description
    Key [key] Metadata property name.
    String value [string_value] Value of the metadata property.
    Value type [value_type] Data type of the metadata value.
    Configuration item [configuration_item] References the NSX resource table associated with the metadata entry. Possible tables:
    • NSX Segment Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_segment_resource]
    • NSX Gateway Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_gateway_resource]
    • NSX Transport Node Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_transport_node_resource]
    • NSX Edge Cluster Group [cmdb_ci_nsx_edge_cluster_group]
    • NSX Transport Zone Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_transport_zone_resource]
    • NSX Virtual Switch Resource [cmdb_ci_nsx_virtual_switch_resource]