Palo Alto Networks firewall discovery

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Palo Alto Networks firewall discovery

    The ServiceNow Discovery application includes the Next-Generation Palo Alto Firewall pattern designed to discover Palo Alto Networks firewalls through SNMP calls. It requires the latest Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application from the ServiceNow Store for optimal functionality. This discovery runs horizontal discovery processes to populate the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) with detailed firewall information.

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    Prerequisites

    • Ensure SNMP access is enabled on your Palo Alto firewall devices.
    • Configure SNMP credentials within your ServiceNow instance.
    • Add the SNMP system OID record specific to Palo Alto Networks devices in ServiceNow.
    • Update the classifier and class to recognize Palo Alto Firewall devices.
    • Download and install the firewall extension classes and discovery pattern apps from the ServiceNow Store.
    • Synchronize the discovery pattern with the appropriate MID Server.

    Data Model and Collected Data

    The pattern introduces a new CI class, Palo Alto Firewall Device [cmdbcifirewalldevicepaloalto], extending the existing firewall device classes. Discovery populates key attributes in the CMDB, including:

    • IP address, serial number, FQDN, manufacturer, and model ID
    • Operational status, hardware OS and version, firmware version
    • Short device description

    Additional related CIs collected include:

    • Network Adapter: IP address, alias, netmask, MAC address, and name linked to the Palo Alto firewall device
    • IP Address: IP address and netmask linked to network adapters
    • DNS Name: DNS names and host IP addresses associated with the firewall device

    CI Relationships and References

    The discovery pattern establishes key relationships to model the firewall environment accurately:

    • Palo Alto Firewall Device owns Network Adapters and IP Addresses
    • Palo Alto Firewall Device uses Router Interfaces
    • Network Adapters own IP Addresses

    References are maintained to link serial numbers, configuration items, network adapters, router interfaces, and IP addresses, ensuring comprehensive and structured data representation in the CMDB.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    By implementing this discovery pattern, customers can:

    • Automate and maintain accurate inventory of Palo Alto Networks firewall devices in their CMDB
    • Gain detailed insights into device configurations, firmware, and operational status
    • Establish clear relationships between firewalls, network adapters, IPs, and router interfaces for better network management and impact analysis
    • Leverage up-to-date ServiceNow Store apps to ensure compatibility and feature enhancements

    The ServiceNow Discovery application uses the Next-Generation Palo Alto Firewall pattern to find Palo Alto Networks firewalls. Discovering some of these resources may require updating to the latest version of the Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application from the ServiceNow Store.

    The discovery pattern uses a set of SNMP calls to find the Palo Alto Networks firewalls. Discovery uses the pattern to run horizontal discovery.

    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.

    Palo Alto Networks firewall data model

    The Next-Generation Palo Alto Firewall pattern introduces the following CI class that extends an existing CMDB class.

    Table 1. CI class introduced by this pattern
    CI class Extends from
    Palo Alto Firewall Device [cmdb_ci_firewall_device_palo_alto] Firewall Device [cmdb_ci_firewall_device]

    Prerequisites

    • Ensure that your network firewall device has SNMP access.
    • On the ServiceNow instance, configure SNMP credentials. For more information, see .
    • Add the SNMP system OID record for the Palo Alto Networks device to the ServiceNow instance. Update the following:
      • Classifier: Palo Alto Firewall
      • Class: Palo Alto Firewall Device
    • Deploy the pattern as follows:
      1. Download and install Firewall extension classes from the ServiceNow Store. The app adds the new CMDB classes required for network firewall discovery.
      2. Download and install the discovery pattern from the ServiceNow Store.
      3. Sync the pattern with the appropriate MID Server.

    Data collected by Discovery during horizontal discovery

    Discovery populates the data in the CMDB when running the Next-Generation Palo Alto Firewall Pattern.

    Table 2. Palo Alto Firewall Device [cmdb_ci_firewall_device_palo_alto]
    Field Description
    IP Address [ip_address] IP address of the Palo Alto device.
    Serial number [serial_number] Serial number of the Palo Alto device.
    Fully qualified domain name [fqdn] Fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the Palo Alto device.
    Manufacturer [manufacturer] Palo Alto device manufacturer.
    Model ID [model_id] Model ID of the Palo Alto device.
    Operational status [operational_status] Indicates whether the Palo Alto device is in active state.
    Hardware OS [hardware_os] OS running on the hardware.
    Hardware OS Version [hardware_os_version] OS version running on the hardware.
    Description [short_description] Short description of the Palo Alto device.
    Firmware version [firmware_version] Palo Alto device firmware version.
    Table 3. Network Adapter [cmdb_ci_network_adapter]
    Field Description
    IP Address [ip_address] IP address of the network adapter.
    Alias [alias] The user-assigned name for the network adapter.
    Netmask [netmask] Netmask of the network adapter.
    MAC address [mac_address] MAC address of the network adapter.
    Name [name] Name of the network adapter.
    Configuration Item [cmdb_ci] References the Palo Alto Firewall Device [cmdb_ci_firewall_device_palo_alto] table.
    Table 4. IP Address [cmdb_ci_ip_address]
    Field Description
    IP Address [ip_address] IP address of the Palo Alto firewall.
    Netmask [netmask] Netmask of the Palo Alto firewall.
    Nic [nic] References the Network Adapter [cmdb_ci_network_adapter] table.
    Table 5. DNS Name [cmdb_ci_dns_name]
    Field Description
    Name [name] Domain Name System (DNS) name of the Palo Alto firewall device.
    IP Address [ip_address] Host IP address.

    CI relationships

    The Next-Generation Palo Alto Firewall pattern creates the following relationships and references to support Palo Alto Networks firewall discovery. References link to records in other tables and don't appear in the CI Relationship [cmdb_rel_ci] table.

    Table 6. CI relationships
    CI Relationship CI
    Palo Alto Firewall Device [cmdb_ci_firewall_device_palo_alto] Owns::Owned by Network Adapter [cmdb_ci_network_adapter]
    Palo Alto Firewall Device [cmdb_ci_firewall_device_palo_alto] Owns::Owned by IP Address [cmdb_ci_ip_address]
    Palo Alto Firewall Device [cmdb_ci_firewall_device_palo_alto] Uses::Used by Router Interface [dscy_router_interface]
    Network Adapter [cmdb_ci_network_adapter] Owns::Owned by IP Address [cmdb_ci_ip_address]
    Table 7. CI references
    CI Field Referenced CI
    Serial Number [cmdb_serial_number] Configuration item [configuration_item] Palo Alto Firewall Device [cmdb_ci_firewall_device_palo_alto]
    Network Adapter [cmdb_ci_network_adapter] Configuration Item [cmdb_ci] Palo Alto Firewall Device [cmdb_ci_firewall_device_palo_alto]
    Router Interface [dscy_router_interface] Configuration Item [cmdb_ci] Palo Alto Firewall Device [cmdb_ci_firewall_device_palo_alto]
    IP Address [cmdb_ci_ip_address] Nic [nic] Network Adapter [cmdb_ci_network_adapter]