Applicative credentials

Release version: Australia

Updated March 12, 2026

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Summary of Applicative Credentials

Applicative credentials are additional authentication details required for accessing specific applications beyond the standard host machine credentials. These typically include a username and password necessary for logging into applications, enhancing security by separating credentials for hosts and applications. For instance, the ABAP SAP Central Services (ASCS) requires both SSH or Windows host credentials and applicative credentials.

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Key Features

Credential Assignment: Applicative credentials are assigned to MID Servers based on the configuration items (CIs) they access, such as the SAP ASCS Application.
Credential Configuration: Each applicative credential must be configured with a descriptive name, active status, username, password, CI type, and optional credential alias.
Discovery Process: During the discovery process, if multiple credentials are configured for a CI type, the MID Server will attempt them in a predefined order until a successful login is achieved.
Applicative Credentials Use: Credentials can be applied to all MID Servers or specific ones, allowing for tailored security management across the network.
Order of Credentials: The order in which credentials are attempted can be defined, which is crucial in environments with strict security policies to avoid lockouts after failed attempts.

Key Outcomes

By properly configuring applicative credentials, ServiceNow customers can ensure secure and efficient access to critical applications and services. Understanding the requirements for applicative credentials helps in streamlining the discovery process and maintaining security compliance within their IT infrastructure.

Some applications require credentials in addition to the credentials the that host machine requires. Credentials required to access these applications are referred to as applicative credentials.

A typical credential contains a user name and a password for logging in to a device or application. While most applications require only one credential for accessing them, sometimes hosts and applications have separate credentials for extra security. For example, ABAP SAP Central Services (ASCS) requires applicative credentials in addition to the SSH or Windows host credentials for the server that hosts ASCS.

Note:

ServiceNow applications refer to devices and applications that comprise a service instance as configuration items (CIs).

As with host credentials, you assign applicative credentials to MID Servers.

You create applicative credentials per CI type, for example, the CI type for ASCS is SAP ASCS Application [cmdb_ci_appl_sap_ascs]. The preconfigured pattern for discovering CIs belonging to this CI type contains commands that require a MID Server to use the applicative credential for this CI type. If there’s more than one credential configured for this CI type, the MID Server tries using these credentials in the order you define until it finds the credential that fits.

Check the Discovery requirements information in the ServiceNow documentation to determine if you need to configure applicative credentials for specific application CIs. There’s no need to configure applicative credentials, if Discovery prerequisites don’t mention it.

Table 1. Applicative credentials form fields
Field	Description
Name	Name of the credential. Use a descriptive name like Oracle DB or London Oracle DB (for an Oracle database). Don’t use spaces or special characters for the credential name.
Active	Select the check box to use the credential.
User name	Enter the actual user name of the applicative credential.
Password	Enter the actual password of the applicative credential. Don’t use spaces or special characters for the credential name.
CI type	Select a CI type to which the CI belongs.
Credential Alias	Create an alias to assign specific credentials for specific discovery schedules. When assigning an alias, you must identify the table name for the CI type whose applicative credentials the application uses. Applications may use applicative credentials of a CI type different from their own. For a specific application, see the list for the appropriate table: ABAP SAP Central Services (ASCS): cmdb_ci_appl_sap_ascs IBM Security Access Manager appliance: cmdb_ci_app_server_webseal SAP Central Instance: cmdb_ci_appl_sap_ascs SAP Central Services (SCS): cmdb_ci_appl_sap_ascs SAP Evaluated Receipt Settlement (ERS): cmdb_ci_appl_sap_ascs SAP Java Cluster: cmdb_ci_appl_sap_ascs SAP NetWeaver Dialog Instance: cmdb_ci_appl_sap_ascs Microsoft Exchange Mailbox (for Microsoft Exchange): cmdb_ci_exchange_mailbox Microsoft SQL Database: cmdb_ci_db_mssql_instance MySQL Server: cmdb_ci_db_mysql_instance Oracle Advanced Queue Queue: cmdb_ci_db_ora_instance Oracle Database: cmdb_ci_db_ora_instance Oracle E-Business Suite: cmdb_ci_db_ora_instance Oracle WebLogic Module: cmdb_ci_app_server_weblogic Tibco Enterprise Message Service (EMS): cmdb_ci_appl_tibco_message
Applies to	Select whether to apply these credentials to All MID servers in your network, or to one or more Specific MID servers. Specify the MID Servers that should use these credentials in the MID servers field.
Order	Order (sequence) in which Discovery tries this credential as it attempts to log on to devices. The smaller the number, the higher in the list this credential appears. Establish credential order when using large numbers of credentials or when security locks out users after three failed login attempts. If all the credentials have the same order number (or none), the instance tries the credentials in a random order.