Palo Alto Networks firewall discovery

  • Release version: Zurich
  • 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, which enables automated discovery of Palo Alto Networks firewalls using SNMP. This pattern runs as part of horizontal discovery to populate detailed firewall information into the CMDB, enhancing your configuration management and network visibility.

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    To leverage this functionality, customers must ensure their Palo Alto firewall devices have SNMP access configured and that SNMP credentials and system OID records for Palo Alto Networks are properly set up within the ServiceNow instance.

    Key Features

    • Discovery Pattern: Uses SNMP calls to identify and gather data about Palo Alto Networks firewalls.
    • New CMDB Classes: Introduces the cmdbcifirewalldevicepaloalto class extending the Firewall Device class for accurate representation of Palo Alto firewalls.
    • Data Model: Collects key attributes including IP address, serial number, FQDN, manufacturer, model ID, operational status, hardware OS/version, description, and firmware version.
    • Network Component Mapping: Discovers associated network adapters, IP addresses, and DNS names with relevant attributes and links them to the firewall CI.
    • CI Relationships and References: Establishes ownership and usage relationships among firewalls, network adapters, IP addresses, and router interfaces to provide a comprehensive network topology.
    • Integration with MID Server: Requires syncing the discovery pattern with an appropriate MID Server for executing the discovery process within your network environment.

    Implementation Steps

    • Configure SNMP credentials and add the Palo Alto Networks SNMP system OID record in your ServiceNow instance.
    • Download and install the Firewall extension classes and the Palo Alto Networks discovery pattern from the ServiceNow Store.
    • Deploy the discovery pattern and sync it with your MID Server.
    • Run horizontal discovery to populate the CMDB with Palo Alto firewall data and associated network components.

    Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    By implementing the Palo Alto Networks firewall discovery pattern, customers gain automated and accurate discovery of their Palo Alto firewalls, ensuring up-to-date and detailed configuration data within the CMDB. This improves network visibility, supports compliance and auditing, and enhances operational efficiency in managing firewall infrastructure.

    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 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.

    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 SNMP credentials.
    • 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]