Citrix NetScaler SDX discovery

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Citrix NetScaler SDX discovery

    The ServiceNow Discovery application enables discovery of Citrix NetScaler SDX devices using a dedicated pattern available from the Quebec release onward. This pattern leverages a new classification mechanism to improve discovery reliability by isolating probe failures and uses SSH protocol for communication. To fully utilize this capability, customers must ensure they have the latest Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application from the ServiceNow Store.

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    Prerequisites

    • Install the following applications:
      • CMDB CI Class Models (version 1.0.20)
      • Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns (version 1.0.72)
    • Create SSH credentials for accessing Citrix NetScaler SDX devices.
    • Verify that the Discovery user has permission to run specific commands on the device, including:
      • show vmdevice – to retrieve virtual machine instances
      • show hardware – to gather hardware configuration details

    Key Features

    • Discovery populates the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) with detailed information about Citrix NetScaler SDX devices and associated Citrix NetScaler load balancers.
    • The pattern supports multi-probe classification to avoid total probe failure when partial failures occur.
    • Discovered data includes device name, serial number, IP address, OS version, and descriptive information.
    • Relationship mapping between Citrix NetScaler SDX devices and registered Citrix NetScaler load balancers is automatically created to provide visibility in Dependency Views maps.

    Data Collected During Discovery

    The discovery process populates key fields for Citrix NetScaler SDX devices in the CMDB, such as:

    • Name – device name
    • Serial number
    • IP address
    • Object ID – a unique identifier combining serial number and IP address
    • Description
    • OS version

    Similarly, it captures name, serial number, and IP address for Citrix NetScaler load balancers.

    Key Outcomes

    • Comprehensive discovery and accurate inventory of Citrix NetScaler SDX devices within your environment.
    • Automatic creation of relationships between SDX devices and their registered load balancers, enhancing impact analysis and service mapping.
    • Improved discovery reliability through the new classification mechanism, reducing probe failure risks.
    • Updated and enriched CMDB data to support IT operations, asset management, and compliance efforts.

    The ServiceNow Discovery application can discover Citrix NetScaler SDX devices using the Citrix NetScaler SDX pattern. Discovering some of these resources may require updating to the latest version of the Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application from the ServiceNow Store.

    You can use this pattern on the ServiceNow AI Platform® starting from the Quebec release.

    The new classification mechanism introduced in Quebec triggers the pattern. The classification mechanism prevents the whole probe from failing if a sub probe in a multi-probe fails.​

    The classification mechanism includes a new trigger_probe_m2m table, which defines which classification probe to trigger in relation to the relevant protocol. For this pattern, it triggers the Interactive Probe Shell over the ssh protocol.​

    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 following applications are installed
    • CMDB CI Class Models (version 1.0.20)
    • Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns (version 1.0.72)
    Create SSH credentials
    Create SSH credentials for the Citrix NetScaler SDX device. For more information, see SSH credentials.
    Verify permissions for the following commands
    Verify that the Discovery user added in the ServiceNow AI Platform instance can run the following commands:
    Command Description
    show vmdevice Get virtual machine (VM) instances.
    show hardware Provides a quick overview of all configurable settings for the Citrix NetScaler SDX devices.

    Data collected by Discovery during horizontal discovery

    Discovery populates the data in the CMDB when running the Citrix NetScaler SDX pattern.

    Table 1. Citrix NetScaler SDX [cmdb_ci_citrix_netscaler_sdx]
    Field Description
    Name [name] The name of the Citrix NetScaler SDX device.
    Serial number [serial_number] The serial number of the Citrix NetScaler SDX device.
    IP Address [ip_address] The IP address of the Citrix NetScaler SDX device.
    Object ID [object_id] The CI identifier of the Citrix NetScaler SDX device, which includes the serial_number and ip_address​.
    Description [short_description] The description of the Citrix NetScaler SDX device.
    OS Version [os_version] The version of the Citrix NetScaler SDX device.​
    Table 2. Citrix Netscaler [cmdb_ci_lb_netscaler]
    Field Description
    Name [name] The name of the Citrix NetScaler load balancer​.
    Serial number [serial_number] The serial number of the Citrix NetScaler load balancer.
    IP Address [ip_address] The IP address of the Citrix NetScaler load balancer​.

    On the Dependency Views map you can see all discovered Citrix NetScaler SDX resources in your organization, and the relationships between them.

    Citrix NetScaler SDX dependency

    CI relationships

    These relationships are created to support Citrix NetScaler SDX discovery:

    CI Relationship CI
    Citrix Netscaler [cmdb_ci_lb_netscaler] Registered on::Has registered Citrix NetScaler SDX [cmdb_ci_citrix_netscaler_sdx]