Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets (VMSS) Instance discovery

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 4 minutes to read
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    Summary of Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets (VMSS) Instance Discovery

    ServiceNow’s Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application supports discovering Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets (VMSS) using two key patterns:Azure - VM Scale Set (LP)andAzure VM Instance - Uniform Scale Set. VMSS allow customers to create and manage groups of load-balanced virtual machines that can scale automatically based on demand or schedules. Understanding and discovering VMSS resources in your Azure environment enables accurate Configuration Management Database (CMDB) population and effective cloud infrastructure management.

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    Key Features

    • Orchestration Modes: Supports both Flexible and Uniform orchestration modes of VMSS. Flexible orchestration allows high availability at scale with different VM types, while Uniform orchestration is optimized for large-scale, stateless workloads with identical VM instances.
    • Discovery Without IP Scanning: From version 1.31.0 onward, Server Configuration Items (CIs) can be created during cloud discovery without IP-based discovery, streamlining the process.
    • Comprehensive CMDB Population: Discovery populates detailed data across multiple CMDB tables, including instance scale sets, VM instances, storage volumes, network interfaces, VNIC endpoints, OS images, and hardware types.
    • Tag Collection: Both patterns collect Azure tags and store them in the Key Value [cmdbkeyvalue] table for enhanced metadata management.
    • Relationship Mapping: The discovery process establishes critical CI relationships such as hosting, provisioning, management, and endpoint implementations, enabling clear visibility into resource dependencies.
    • Handling Large Records: To avoid large numbers of records in OS images and hardware types tables, discovered data can alternatively be stored in Cloud-specific tables designed for scalability.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Accurate CMDB Data: Automatically discover and maintain up-to-date records of Azure VMSS and related resources, supporting better asset and service management.
    • Improved Cloud Visibility: Understand the structure and state of your VMSS deployments, including provisioning status, operational status, and resource associations.
    • Support for Scalable Architectures: Discover both uniform and flexible VMSS setups, accommodating a wide range of Azure scaling scenarios.
    • Simplified Discovery Process: Create Server CIs without IP discovery, reducing complexity and discovery time in cloud environments.
    • Enhanced Tag Management: Utilize Azure tags collected during discovery for better classification, filtering, and reporting within the CMDB.
    • Robust Relationship Mapping: Visualize dependencies and hosting relationships among resources, facilitating impact analysis and change management.

    Getting Started and Considerations

    • Ensure you have the latest version of the Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application from the ServiceNow Store to support VMSS discovery.
    • Verify Microsoft Azure discovery prerequisites are met to enable successful cloud discovery.
    • Refer to the Detailed information on products discovered by ITOM Visibility for supported VMSS versions and capabilities.

    The Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application uses the Azure - VM Scale Set (LP) and the Azure VM Instance - Uniform Scale Set patterns to find Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets (VMSS). Discovering some of these resources may require updating to the latest version of the Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application from the ServiceNow Store.

    VMSS let you create and manage a group of load balanced virtual machines (VMs). The number of VM instances can automatically increase or decrease in response to demand or a defined schedule. There Uniform Orchestration modes Flexible and achieve.
    • VMSS with Flexible Orchestration achieves high availability at scale with identical or multiple virtual machine types. With Flexible orchestration, Azure provides a unified experience across the Azure VM ecosystem.
    • VMSS with Uniform Orchestration optimized for large-scale stateless workloads with identical instances. VMSS with Uniform orchestration use a virtual machine profile or template to scale up to desired capacity. While there is some ability to manage or customize individual virtual machine instances, Uniform uses identical VM instances.

    Request apps on the Store

    Visit the ServiceNow Store 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.

    To learn about VMSS and their versions that you can discover, refer to Detailed information on products discovered by ITOM Visibility.

    Prerequisites

    Data collected by Discovery during horizontal discovery

    Discovery populates the data in the CMDB when running the Azure - VM Scale Set (LP) Pattern.

    Table 1. Instance Scale Set [cmdb_ci_instance_scale_set]
    Field Description
    Install Status [install_status] Install status of the instance scale set. Default value is Installed.
    State [state] Provisioning state of the instance scale set. Possible values are Available or Terminated.
    Object ID [object_id] A unique identifier for the instance scale set.
    Name [name] Name of the instance scale set.

    Discovery populates the data in the CMDB when running the Azure VM Instance - Uniform Scale Set pattern.

    Table 2. Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vm_instance]
    Field Description
    Network adapters [nics] Number of Network Interface Cards (NICs) attached to the virtual machine (VM) instance.
    State [state] Current state of the instance. For example: On, Off, or Terminated.
    Install Status [install_status] Install status of the instance. Default value is Installed.
    Operational status [operational_status] Operational status of the instance. Default value is Operational.
    Disks [disks] Number of disks attached to the instance.
    Disks size (GB) [disk_size] Total storage capacity of all disks attached to the VM, in gigabytes (GB).
    Table 3. Storage Volume [cmdb_ci_storage_volume]
    Field Description
    Name [name] Name or ID for the storage volume.
    Object ID [object_id] A unique identifier, allocated by Microsoft Azure for this resource.
    Install Status [install_status] Install status of the storage volume. Default value is Installed.
    Operational status [operational_status] Operational status of the storage volume. Default value is Operational.
    Table 4. Cloud Mgmt Network Interface [cmdb_ci_nic]
    Field Description
    Name [name] Name or ID for the network interface.
    Object ID [object_id] A unique identifier, allocated by Microsoft Azure for this resource.
    Install Status [install_status] Install status of the network interface. Default status is Installed.
    Operational status [operational_status] Operational status of the network interface. Default status is Operational.
    Table 5. VNIC Endpoint [cmdb_ci_endpoint_vnic]
    Field Description
    Name [name] Name or ID for the endpoint.
    Object ID [object_id] A unique identifier, allocated by Microsoft Azure for this resource.
    Table 6. Image [cmdb_ci_os_template]
    Field Description
    Name [name] Name or ID for the image.
    Object ID [object_id] A unique identifier, allocated by Microsoft Azure for this resource.
    Install Status [install_status] Install status of the image. Default value is Installed.
    Operational status [operational_status] Operational status of the image. Default value is operational.
    Note:
    When using the Image [cmdb_ci_os_template] table to store Cloud OS images, you may notice an unusually large number of records. To avoid this issue, you can store the discovered OS images in the Cloud Image [cmdb_ci_cloud_os_image] table. For more information, see Enable Cloud OS Image discovery.
    Table 7. Hardware Type [cmdb_ci_compute_template]
    Field Description
    Name [name] Name of the hardware type.
    Note:
    When using the Hardware Type [cmdb_ci_compute_template] table to store the hardware types, you may notice an unusually large number of records. To avoid this issue, you can store the discovered hardware types in the Cloud Hardware Type [cmdb_ci_cloud_hardware_type] table. For more information, see Enable the Cloud Hardware Type class extension.

    CI relationships

    Discovery creates these relationships to support the VMSS discovery, when running the Azure - VM Scale Set (LP) pattern.

    CI Relationship CI
    Resource Group [cmdb_ci_resource_group] Contains::Contained by Instance Scale Set [cmdb_ci_instance_scale_set]
    Instance Scale Set [cmdb_ci_instance_scale_set] Hosted on::Hosts Azure Datacenter [cmdb_ci_azure_datacenter]
    Instance Scale Set [cmdb_ci_instance_scale_set] Consumes::Consumed by Load Balancer Pool [cmdb_ci_lb_pool]

    Discovery creates these relationships to support the VMSS discovery, when running the when running the Azure - VM Scale Set (LP) pattern.

    CI Relationship CI
    Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vm_instance] Managed by::Manages Instance Scale Set [cmdb_ci_instance_scale_set]
    Storage Volume [cmdb_ci_storage_volume] Hosted on::Hosts Azure Datacenter [cmdb_ci_azure_datacenter]
    Block Endpoint [cmdb_ci_endpoint_block] Implement End Point To::Implement End Point From Storage Volume [cmdb_ci_storage_volume]
    Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vm_instance] Use End Point To::Use End Point From Block Endpoint [cmdb_ci_endpoint_block]
    Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vm_instance] Hosted on::Hosts Azure Datacenter [cmdb_ci_azure_datacenter]
    Hardware Type [cmdb_ci_compute_template] Hosted on::Hosts Azure Datacenter [cmdb_ci_azure_datacenter]
    Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vm_instance] Provisioned From::Provisioned Hardware Type [cmdb_ci_compute_template]
    Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vm_instance] Provisioned From::Provisioned Cloud Hardware Type [cmdb_ci_cloud_hardware_type]
    Cloud Mgmt Network Interface [cmdb_ci_nic] Hosted on::Hosts Azure Datacenter [cmdb_ci_azure_datacenter]
    Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vm_instance] Implement End Point To::Implement End Point From Cloud Mgmt Network Interface [cmdb_ci_nic]
    Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vm_instance] Use End Point To::Use End Point From VNIC Endpoint [cmdb_ci_endpoint_vnic]
    Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vm_instance] Provisioned From::Provisioned Image [cmdb_ci_os_template]
    Image [cmdb_ci_os_template] Hosted on::Hosts Azure Datacenter [cmdb_ci_azure_datacenter]

    Tags discovery

    Both the Azure - VM Scale Set (LP) and the Azure VM Instance - Uniform Scale Set patterns collect tags and populate them in the Key Value [cmdb_key_value] table.
    Table 8. Key Value [cmdb_key_value]
    Field Description
    Key [key] Tag name.
    Value [value] Tag value.