Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) pattern-based discovery

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) pattern-based discovery

    The Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) pattern-based discovery enables the identification and mapping of AWS services within your cloud environment through the Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application. This capability is crucial for keeping your resource inventory up to date and requires specific prerequisites and configurations to function correctly.

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    Key Features

    • Prerequisites: Ensure that the AWS discovery prerequisites are verified and that the relevant resource is not listed in the Resource Inclusion List to prevent duplicate discovery.
    • Pattern Activation: The EFS service pattern is disabled by default, but starting from Visibility Content version 6.28.0, activation is straightforward and will not be considered a customization.
    • Discovery Configuration: For AWS GovCloud accounts, a specific datacenter URL must be used when setting up the AWS service account.
    • Data Population: The application populates both CMDB and non-CMDB tables, with different data fields being stored for each type.

    Key Outcomes

    By utilizing the Amazon EFS discovery patterns, ServiceNow customers can effectively manage and track their AWS resources, ensuring accurate inventory and operational status reporting. This leads to improved visibility and management of cloud infrastructure, facilitating better decision-making and resource allocation.

    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 File System - 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 File System [cmdb_aws_elastic_file_system_file_system]
    Field Description
    Object Id [object_id] The Amazon Resource Name (ARN) for the file system.
    Name [name] The assigned name of the Amazon EFS file system.
    Configuration Item [configuration_item] References the Cloud Directory [cmdb_ci_cloud_directory] table.
    File System ID [file_system_id] The unique identifier of the Amazon EFS file system.

    Data stored in CMDB tables

    Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application populates data in the CMDB when running the Amazon AWS - Elastic File System - Extended Inventory (LP) pattern.

    Table 2. Cloud Directory [cmdb_ci_cloud_directory]
    Field Description
    Object ID [object_id] The ARN for the file system.
    Name [name] The assigned name of the Amazon EFS file system.
    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::Elastic File System::File System.

    CI relationships

    The Amazon AWS - Elastic File System - Extended Inventory (LP) pattern creates these relationships to support Amazon EFS discovery.

    CI Relationship CI
    Cloud Directory [cmdb_ci_cloud_directory] Hosted on::Hosts AWS Datacenter [cmdb_ci_aws_datacenter]
    AWS Elastic File System [cmdb_aws_elastic_file_system_file_system] References Cloud Directory [cmdb_ci_cloud_directory]

    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.