MID Server capabilities

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of MID Server capabilities

    MID Server capabilities specify the functions a MID Server can perform within a given IP address range. These capabilities help ServiceNow applications select the most suitable MID Server for tasks such as Discovery, Orchestration, Cloud Management, and Service Mapping by matching required protocols and values.

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    Key Features

    • Nmap Capability: Automatically assigned to MID Servers with the Network Mapper (Nmap) scanner installed for credential-less Discovery. This capability cannot be manually modified.
    • Capability Values: Capabilities may have no value, a specific value, or a wildcard (). A blank value allows the MID Server to manage any device using that protocol, while a specific value restricts the MID Server to matching devices. The wildcard matches any non-blank request value.
    • Capability Selection Algorithm: MID Servers are selected based on server status, installed applications, IP address range, and capabilities. The selection prioritizes exact name/value matches, then wildcard value matches, and finally the special ALL capability that ignores values.
    • Scripted Capability Value Matching: Custom scripts can define how capability values match devices, enabling partial or domain-specific matching. For example, the Resolve DNS capability uses a script to resolve DNS names based on domain suffixes, supporting flexible device identification.
    • Capability Visibility: Since Madrid release, capability name and value pairs appear together in selection lists, clarifying which specific capabilities and values are available on MID Servers.

    How to Use and Configure

    Configure MID Server capabilities to align with your operational needs by defining the functions and value constraints for each MID Server. This enables ServiceNow applications to efficiently route tasks to the best-suited MID Server based on capability matching. Capabilities are particularly important for applications like Orchestration, Cloud Management, and Service Mapping that require precise MID Server function allocation.

    MID Server capabilities define the specific functions of a MID Server within an IP address range.

    Nmap capability

    The Nmap capability is only assigned to MID Servers for which the Network Mapper (Nmap) scanner has been installed for credential-less Discovery. This capability cannot be added to or removed from any MID Server manually. For instructions on installing or uninstalling Nmap, see Install and uninstall Nmap on a MID Server

    MID Server capability values

    Capabilities provided in the base system do not have a defined value string. The capability value can be blank, a single value, or a * (wildcard). A MID Server configured to use a capability that has no value can locate any device using that capability's protocol. If a capability has a defined value, the MID Server using that capability finds only those devices using that protocol that match the value string exactly. The exception to this is the Resolve DNS capability, which is configured to resolve any DNS name into an IP address using a partial string match. The * (wildcard) will match a request capability specifying any non-blank value.

    Starting with the Madrid release, the [capability name]:[value] combination appears in the slushbucket when you add a capability to a MID Server. This combination allows you to see all the capabilities that have different values, even if the capability name is the same. For example, if you are using the Cloud Management capability, and you use the value field to specify the us-west logical datacenter on one of the capability records, you can see the combination in the Collection list.

    Capability name and value combination

    MID Server selection

    The MID Server is selected using an algorithm based on the capabilities available. The selector produces a list of suitable MIDs using filters in the following order: server status > applications > IP range > capabilities. The algorithm searches the capabilities in the following sequence and, if a step finds at least one MID server, the remaining steps are skipped:
    1. Exact value match: Find each MID Server containing capabilities with name/value pairs with an exact match to all requested capability name/value pairs. Blank is a valid value. * (wildcard) values are ignored.
    2. Wildcard value match: The same as an exact value match, but also allows a non-blank request value to match MID server capability records containing value *.
    3. Special capability name ALL: Find each MID Server containing the special capability name ALL, ignoring capability's value field.
    Note:
    If the requested capability name does not exist in the ecc_agent_capability table, BadArgumentException is thrown rather than falling back to the ALL capability.

    Scripted MID Server capability value matching

    You can use value tests to create capabilities that find devices using values without requiring exact string matching. Action on these values is controlled by a user-defined script.

    The Resolve DNS capability is provided in the base system and is configured to resolve DNS names into IP addresses for devices whose names end with a specified domain name. The capability Value entered is automatically prefaced with a dot during processing to match domain syntax. This value can contain one or more sub-domains, but must include the end of the domain string. Matching devices must end with the identical syntax. The script for the Resolve DNS capability determines if a device name matches the criteria defined by Value. If a match exists, the platform performs the address resolution automatically. For example, if the value for the Resolve DNS capability is service-now.com, the MID Server with this capability finds lnxlab01.sandiego.service-now.com and dbsrv101.sanjose.service-now.com. If the value is changed to sandiego.service-now.com, then the MID Server finds only lnxlab01.

    Note:
    If Value in the Resolve DNS capability is blank, then all domains match.

    To view the script for evaluating this capability, navigate to MID Server > Capability Value Tests and select Resolve DNS from the list.

    MID capabilities