Google Cloud Platform discovery

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Google Cloud Platform discovery

    Google Cloud Platform (GCP) discovery in ServiceNow enables automated identification and visibility of GCP resources and components across global and regional scopes. This discovery supports multiple ServiceNow products such as Cloud Provisioning and Governance by providing comprehensive data on GCP infrastructure. It leverages updated Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns to find cloud assets including IP addresses, load balancers, instance groups, disks, networks, and firewalls.

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    Key Features

    • Discoverable Resources: Includes global and regional static external IPs, load balancers, images, subnets, snapshots, instance groups, instance templates, persistent disks, VPC networks, and firewalls.
    • Pattern-Based Discovery: Uses multiple updated patterns requiring the latest Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application from the ServiceNow Store.
    • Tag-Based Service Mapping: Supports tag-based discovery to create detailed service instance maps and establish CI relationships for cloud components.
    • Cloud Logging Integration: Capable of collecting cloud logging events from native Google Cloud APIs to auto-update the CMDB.

    Prerequisites and Configuration

    • Application Versions: Ensure Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns (v1.8.0+), CMDB CI Class Models (v1.49.0+), and Visibility Content (v6.13.0+) are installed and up to date.
    • MID Server: Use a dedicated MID Server with 16 cores, 8 GB RAM, and 4 GB JVM memory, deployed with internet access for cloud discovery.
    • Google Cloud Permissions: Assign the Viewer role to the GCP member via IAM for appropriate access.
    • API Credentials and Service Accounts: Configure Google API credentials and create GCP service accounts following best practices for secure authentication.
    • BigQuery and Bigtable Discovery: Enable the specific MID Server property (snitompattern.googledbservicetablecollection) for discovering these services.
    • CI Relationships Activation: Enable cloud-related CI relationships for tag-based discovery starting from ServiceNow Store release 1.0.68.
    • Discovery Scheduling: Configure discovery schedules within the Cloud Discovery Workspace to automate discovery runs.
    • REST API Permissions: Review and assign required user permissions from the Cloud Discovery patterns spreadsheet, which is updated quarterly.

    Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    By implementing GCP discovery, customers gain enhanced visibility into their cloud infrastructure, enabling better governance, provisioning, and service mapping. Accurate discovery and up-to-date CI data improve operational insights and support efficient cloud management. Integration with logging events and tag-based discovery enables comprehensive and dynamic mapping of cloud resources to application services, facilitating streamlined IT operations and decision-making.

    Discovery finds Google Cloud Platform and its components. Discovering some of these resources may require updating to the latest version of the Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application from the ServiceNow Store.

    Request new or enhanced Patterns on the ServiceNow® Store

    Visit the ServiceNow Store to view all the available updates 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.

    Data discovered for the Google Cloud Platform components offers visibility for multiple ServiceNow products, including Cloud Provisioning and Governance.

    Discovery uses multiple patterns to find GCP components.

    You can discover global and regional resources.
    Table 1. Discoverable global and regional GCP resources
    Global Regional
    Global static external IP addresses Regional static external IP addresses
    Global Load Balancers (Global Http Load Balancers) Regional Load Balancers (Regional HTTP Load Balancers, TCP/UDP Load Balancers)
    Images Subnets
    Snapshots Regional managed instance groups
    Instance Templates Regional persistent disks
    VPC Network
    Firewalls

    Requirements for GCP discovery

    Verify that the applications are up to date.
    • Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns starting version 1.8.0 (September 2023)
    • CMDB CI Class Models starting version 1.49.0 (September 2023)
    • Visibility Content starting version 6.13.0 (September 2023)
    Verify the MID Server requirements
    • Use a dedicated MID Server for cloud discovery. The MID Server must have 16 Cores, 8 GB with 4 GB Java Memory Model (JVM) memory allocation. For information on verifying MID Server specifications, see KB article KB2156327.
    • Deploy and connect the dedicated MID Server with internet access.
    • For more information on the MID Server configurations, see Install and configure MID Servers to access cloud environments.
    Verify Google Cloud BigQuery and Google Cloud Bigtable requirements
    To discover Google Cloud BigQuery and Google Cloud Bigtable, navigate to All > Discovery > MID Server > Properties and ensure that the sn_itom_pattern.google_dbservice_table_collection property is set to True.
    Verify user role settings

    Set the user permission for the Google Cloud Platform member to Viewer:

    1. In the Google Cloud Platform console, navigate to IAM.
    2. Select the relevant member from the list and click the Edit icon.
    3. In the Edit permissions window, select Viewer from the Role list.
    4. Click Save.
    Configure Google API Credentials
    For more information, see Configure the Google API credentials for Cloud Discovery.
    Create a Google Cloud Platform service account
    For more information, see Create GCP service accounts.
    Enable collecting cloud logging events
    The Google Cloud Platform patterns can collect cloud logging events generated by the native Google Cloud APIs. Configure the Google Cloud Logging service to auto-update the CMDB.
    Activate the cloud-related CI relationships
    To include discovered components into application services, enable CI relationships used in tag-based discovery by Service Mapping. These CI relationships are available from the 1.0.68 release on the ServiceNow Store. For operational steps, see Tag-based discovery configuration.
    Verify that a Discovery schedule is configured
    For more information, see Create a discovery schedule in Cloud Discovery Workspace.

    Verify the REST API Permissions

    Download the Cloud Discovery patterns spreadsheet so you can grant user permissions required for running the Discovery patterns. In addition to permissions, the spreadsheet also includes useful information such as pattern names, types, CI Classes, and links to vendor documentation. New patterns are available quarterly, so check periodically to be sure you have the latest version of the spreadsheet.

    Data collected by Service Mapping during tag-based discovery

    Service Mapping uses tag-based discovery to create service instance maps including the Cloud components. The Service Mapping application comes with the following preconfigured CI relationships used for tag-based discovery. These CI relationships are available from the 1.0.68 release on the ServiceNow Store.
    CI Relationship CI
    Configuration Item [cmdb_ci] Hosted on::Hosts Logical Datacenter [cmdb_ci_logical_datacenter]
    Logical Datacenter [cmdb_ci_logical_datacenter] Hosted on::Hosts Cloud Service Account [cmdb_ci_cloud_service_account]