Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Cloud discovery using Patterns

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Cloud discovery using Patterns

    ServiceNow’s Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application uses predefined patterns to discover various components within your Google Cloud Platform (GCP) environment during horizontal discovery. This enables comprehensive visibility and management of your GCP resources by populating the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) with accurate cloud configuration items (CIs).

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    To utilize these capabilities effectively, customers must ensure they have the latest versions of key ServiceNow applications, proper MID Server configuration, and appropriate GCP permissions and credentials.

    Key prerequisites and configuration steps

    • Application versions: Use Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns version 1.8.0 or later, CMDB CI Class Models 1.49.0 or later, and Visibility Content 6.13.0 or later (all released September 2023 or later).
    • MID Server: Deploy a dedicated MID Server with internet access, configured with at least 16 cores, 8 GB RAM, and 4 GB JVM memory. This dedicated MID Server is essential for cloud discovery tasks.
    • Google Cloud permissions: Assign the Viewer role to the ServiceNow GCP member account in the IAM console to enable read access for discovery.
    • Google API credentials: Configure appropriate Google API credentials and create a GCP service account to authenticate discovery operations.
    • Cloud logging integration: Enable Google Cloud Logging to allow near real-time updates of cloud components in the CMDB based on native GCP events.
    • Activate CI relationships: Enable cloud-related CI relationships from Service Mapping (available since version 1.0.68 on the ServiceNow Store) to integrate discovered components into service instances effectively.
    • Discovery schedule: Configure a recurring discovery schedule in the Discovery Admin Workspace to automate GCP environment discovery.
    • Optional performance enhancement: Populate Service Account and Logical Datacenter fields directly in cloud CIs (starting with version 1.30.2) to improve query performance.
    • REST API permissions: Refer to the Cloud Discovery patterns spreadsheet for detailed user permissions required to run discovery patterns, including pattern names, CI classes, and vendor documentation links.

    Key discovery capabilities

    The Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application supports pattern-based discovery for a broad set of GCP resources, including but not limited to:

    • BigQuery datasets and tables
    • Bigtable instances
    • Cloud Firestore databases
    • Cloud SQL instances and databases
    • Disk Types
    • Cloud event data for near real-time updates
    • External IP addresses
    • Firebase Realtime Database instances
    • Load Balancers
    • Networking resources
    • Spanner instances and databases
    • SSH keys stored in project metadata
    • Persistent disks and snapshots
    • Virtual Machine (VM) instances and related resources

    Each resource type may require updating to the latest Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application version available from the ServiceNow Store to ensure compatibility and access to new patterns released quarterly.

    Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns uses patterns to discover components of the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) deployment during horizontal discovery. 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 apps on the Store

    Visit the ServiceNow Store website to view all the available apps 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.

    Prerequisites

    Verify that the applications are up to date.
    • Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns starting version 1.8.0 (September 2023)
    • CMDB CI Class Models starting version 1.49.0 (September 2023)
    • Visibility Content starting version 6.13.0 (September 2023)
    Verify the MID Server requirements
    • Use a dedicated MID Server for cloud discovery. The MID Server must have 16 Cores, 8 GB with 4 GB Java Virtual Machine (JVM) memory allocation. For information on verifying MID Server specifications, see KB article KB2156327.
    • Deploy and connect the dedicated MID Server with internet access.
    • For more information on the MID Server configurations, see Install and configure MID Servers to access cloud environments.
    Verify Google Cloud BigQuery and Google Cloud Bigtable requirements
    To discover Google Cloud BigQuery and Google Cloud Bigtable, navigate to All > Discovery > MID Server > Properties and ensure that the sn_itom_pattern.google_dbservice_table_collection property is set to True.
    Verify user role settings

    Set the user permission for the Google Cloud Platform member to Viewer:

    1. In the Google Cloud Platform console, navigate to IAM.
    2. Select the relevant member from the list and click the Edit icon.
    3. In the Edit permissions window, select Viewer from the Role list.
    4. Click Save.
    Configure Google API Credentials
    For more information, see Configure the Google API credentials for Cloud Discovery.
    Create a Google Cloud Platform service account
    For more information, see Create GCP service accounts.
    Enable collecting cloud logging events
    The Google Cloud Platform patterns can collect cloud logging events generated by the native Google Cloud APIs. Configure the Google Cloud Logging service to auto-update the CMDB.
    Activate the cloud-related CI relationships
    To include discovered components into service instances, enable CI relationships used in tag-based discovery by Service Mapping. These CI relationships are available from the 1.0.68 release on the ServiceNow Store. For operational steps, see Tag-based discovery configuration.
    Verify that a Discovery schedule is configured
    For more information, see Create a GCP Discovery schedule in Discovery Admin Workspace.
    (Optional) Populate Service Account and Logical Datacenter fields in cloud CIs
    Starting with Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns version 1.30.2, you can improve query performance by populating Service Account and Logical Datacenter fields directly in cloud CIs. For more information, see Improved query performance with direct field population in CI tables.

    Verify the REST API Permissions

    Download the Cloud Discovery patterns spreadsheet so you can grant user permissions required for running the Discovery patterns. In addition to permissions, the spreadsheet also includes useful information such as pattern names, types, CI Classes, and links to vendor documentation. New patterns are available quarterly, so check periodically to be sure you have the latest version of the spreadsheet.