MID Server capabilities

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of MID Server capabilities

    MID Server capabilities specify the distinct functions a MID Server can perform within a given IP address range. These capabilities enable ServiceNow applications, such as Orchestration, Cloud Management, and Service Mapping, to select the most suitable MID Server for their tasks based on available functions and network scope.

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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 added or removed.
    • Capability Values: A capability can have no value, a specific value string, or a wildcard (). MID Servers with blank values can discover any device using that protocol, whereas those with specific values only find devices matching that exact value. The Resolve DNS capability uniquely supports partial string matching to resolve DNS names to IP addresses.
    • Capability Selection Algorithm: MID Servers are selected based on status, applications, IP range, and capabilities. The search prioritizes exact matches of capability name-value pairs, then wildcard matches, and lastly a special "ALL" capability which ignores values. If a requested capability name is not defined, an error is thrown instead of falling back to "ALL."
    • Scripted Capability Matching: Some capabilities, like Resolve DNS, use scripts to enable flexible matching beyond exact strings. For example, Resolve DNS matches device names ending with a specified domain or sub-domain. An empty value matches all domains.
    • Visibility Enhancements: Since the Madrid release, capability name-value pairs appear in selection lists, helping administrators distinguish capabilities by their values, such as differentiating logical datacenters in Cloud Management.

    Practical Application for ServiceNow Customers

    Configuring capabilities on MID Servers allows you to optimize workload distribution and discovery processes by ensuring that each MID Server is responsible for tasks it can perform effectively within designated network segments. Understanding how capability values and matching rules work helps you tailor MID Server assignments to meet your organizational needs, improving efficiency in service mapping, orchestration, and cloud operations.

    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