Oracle database discovery

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated June 7, 2026
  • 8 minutes to read
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    Summary of Oracle database discovery

    Oracle database discovery in ServiceNow identifies Oracle database instances running on UNIX or Windows, including Oracle clusterware supporting Real Application Clusters (RAC). It leverages discovery patterns instead of multiple probes to detect Oracle installations, with the option to revert to probes if needed. The discovery process collects detailed configuration and version data, cluster information, and Oracle options, populating the CMDB with comprehensive Oracle database instance records.

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    Credentials and Permissions

    • Applicative credentials: Mandatory for executing SQL queries and connecting to database links. The database user must have access to the tnsnames.ora file and permission to run SQLPlus and SELECT queries on specific Oracle tables.
    • Oracle Wallet authentication: Supported on UNIX as an alternative to applicative credentials.
    • Windows credentials: Required for Windows targets with read access to tnsnames.ora.
    • SSH credentials: Required for UNIX targets with read permissions on oratab and system parameter files.
    • Sudo permissions: Needed for certain Oracle clusterware commands that read cluster and resource status.

    Discovery Process and Requirements

    • Oracle instances on UNIX are identified by the orapmon process; on Windows by oracle.exe.
    • Discovery collects data from Oracle system files and commands, including clusterware information using specific commands to retrieve cluster nodes, status, resources, and VIP configurations.
    • Patterns replace probes for new instance discovery, triggered by a Horizontal discovery probe configured on classifiers.

    Data Collected

    • Oracle Instances: Details such as SID, install directory, version, parameter files, Oracle Home, edition, hostname, and TCP ports are gathered for both UNIX and Windows instances.
    • Oracle clusterware: Information about clusters, nodes, resources, virtual IPs, and statuses is collected and stored in corresponding CMDB tables.
    • Oracle options: Enabled options on instances are discovered using a legacy pattern extension requiring the Software Asset Management Professional for Oracle plugin, with data including usage statistics and licensing information.
    • Extended instance attributes: Additional attributes like container database status, database unique name, and replication status can be collected via an extension included in the Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application.

    Managing Oracle Instances on Virtual Machines and Cloud

    When Oracle instances run on virtual machines, relationships are created connecting Oracle instances to their host computers or servers, indicating virtualized environments. For instances hosted on AWS or Azure clouds, ServiceNow tracks the virtualization chain from the Oracle instance to virtual machines and datacenters, capturing vCPU counts and hosting details.

    Key Practical Considerations for ServiceNow Customers

    • Ensure applicative, SSH, and Windows credentials have required permissions on target hosts and Oracle files to enable successful discovery.
    • Verify the tnsnames.ora file is correctly configured and accessible by discovery credentials.
    • Configure the Horizontal discovery probe properly on classifiers to trigger Oracle discovery patterns.
    • Install necessary plugins such as Software Asset Management Professional for Oracle to discover Oracle options.
    • For Oracle clusterware discovery, confirm sudo permissions for required commands and ensure processes like crsd.bin are running.
    • Use the Extend Oracle instance extension to enrich CMDB data with additional Oracle attributes.
    • Be aware that RAC single-node discovery is not supported by the Oracle DB on Unix and Windows patterns.

    Additional Resources

    Customers can refer to related ServiceNow documentation for configuring horizontal pattern probes, Oracle catalog discovery, and pluggable database/container database discovery. Oracle's official documentation is also recommended for detailed understanding of Oracle options and usage scripts.

    Discovery can identify an Oracle database instance that is running on UNIX or Windows operating systems. It can also find Oracle clusterware, which runs Real Application Clusters (RAC).

    Patterns perform the discovery of Oracle installations. These patterns replace several probes for new instances. If you want to continue to use probes, you can deactivate the Horizontal discovery probe, which launches the pattern, and then activate the necessary probes.
    Note:
    Oracle DB on Unix and Oracle DB on Windows do not support RAC single-node discovery.
    The Oracle DB on Unix and Oracle DB on Windows patterns discover Oracle catalog objects through the pattern extension Get Catalog info. For more information, see Oracle Catalog discovery. For general information about database catalog discovery, see database catalogs.
    Note:
    For information on Probe to Pattern migration see the knowledge article KB0694477.

    Credentials

    Configure these credentials:
    Credential type Additional information

    Applicative credentials
    Applicative credentials are mandatory for two use cases:
    • Executing SQL queries against the remote Oracle DB Instance
    • Creating connections to database links
    • Software Asset Management activated
    You must add the database user you configured during Oracle database installation. Specify Oracle instance [cmdb_ci_db_ora_instance] as the CI type.

    The user must also have access to the tnsnames.ora parameters file. Make sure that the tnsnames.ora is configured correctly and exists in the Oracle path on the target Windows host. Also, verify that the utilized Discovery Credentials can read tnsnames.ora file.

    The user needs permissions for the SQL*Plus command line tool and permissions to execute SELECT queries against the following tables:
    • PRODUCT_COMPONENT_VERSION
    • V$VERSION
    • V$DATABASE
    • V$PARAMETER
    Oracle Wallet authentication You can use Oracle Wallet instead of applicative credentials (for UNIX only).
    Windows credentials Required for Windows targets. The user must have read permissions to the tnsnames.ora file.

    For a list of privileged commands that you need for Discovery and Service Mapping, see Service Mapping commands requiring a privileged user. This list includes commands that require elevated rights to discover and map Unix-based hosts in your organization.
    SSH credentials Required for UNIX targets. The user must have read permission to the oratab file and read permission to the System Parameter file.

    For a list of privileged commands that you need for Discovery and Service Mapping, see Service Mapping commands requiring a privileged user. This list includes commands that require elevated rights to discover and map Unix-based hosts in your organization.

    Additional requirements

    Discovery identifies a running instance of an Oracle database on UNIX from the process that starts with ora_pmon_. Ensure this process is running in the IP range you designate for Discovery. Discovery identifies a running instance of an Oracle database on Windows from the oracle.exe process. Ensure this process is running in the IP range you designate.

    For Oracle clusterware, you also need permissions to read the /etc/hosts/ file, which associates host names with IP addresses.

    The following commands are run for Oracle clusterware:
    Command Description

    ps -ef | grep 'crsd.bin' |grep -v grep

    		 Verifies if Oracle CRS process is running.

    ps -ef |grep LISTENER | grep -v $$ | head -1 | awk '{print $8}'

    		 Gets Oracle home from the listener process path. Used when the ORACLE_HOME environment variable is unavailable.

    ps -ef | grep 'd.bin' | grep -v grep | grep -v bash | awk '{print $8}'

    		 Gets Oracle Grid home from the CRS daemon process path.

    /u01/app/12.1.0.2/grid/bin/olsnodes -c | egrep -v 'error|return code'

    		 Gets Oracle CRS cluster name.

    sudo /u01/app/12.1.0.2/grid/bin/ocrcheck | egrep -v 'error|return code'

    		 Gets Oracle CRS cluster ID.

    /u01/app/12.1.0.2/grid/bin/crsctl query crs softwareversion| egrep -v 'error|return code'

    		 Gets Oracle CRS version.

    /u01/app/12.1.0.2/grid/bin/olsnodes | egrep -v 'error|return code'

    		 Gets Oracle CRS nodes.

    /u01/app/12.1.0.2/grid/bin/crsctl status server | egrep -v 'error|return code'

    		 Gets Oracle CRS node status.

    /u01/app/12.1.0.2/grid/bin/crsctl stat res -f | tr '\n' '#'

    		 Gets Oracle CRS resources.
    /u01/app/12.1.0.2/grid/bin/crsctl stat res -p | grep -v CHECK_R |grep -v error |grep -v failed Gets Oracle CRS VIP resources.

    /u01/app/12.1.0.2/grid/bin/srvctl config scan | tr '\n' ‘ '

    		 Gets Oracle RAC SCAN VIP configurations.

    /u01/app/12.1.0.2/grid/bin/srvctl config vip -node ol7-121-rac1| egrep ' Name' | awk '{print $3}'

    		 Gets Oracle CRS VIPs name.

    /u01/app/12.1.0.2/grid/bin/srvctl config vip -node ol7-121-rac1| grep ' IPv4 Address:' | awk '{print $4}'

    		 Get Oracle CRS VIPs ip_address.
    Important:
    Sudo permission are required to run sudo /u01/app/12.1.0.2/grid/bin/ocrcheck | egrep -v 'error|return code'.

    Classifiers, patterns, and probes

    Discovery uses these classifiers, probes, and patterns for Oracle database discovery:
    Classifier Trigger probes Pattern
    Oracle Instance
    • Horizontal discovery probe: launches patterns
    • Powershell-Oracle - Instance PFile (for Windows)*
    • Powershell-Oracle - Instance Version (for Windows)*
    • SSHCommand-Oracle - Instance Details (for Linux)*
    Application patterns:
    • Oracle DB On Windows Pattern
    • Oracle DB on UNIX Pattern

    This shared library pattern used by the Linux Server pattern:

    UNIX Cluster - ORACLE Clusterware
    Note:
    This shared library pattern is triggered if the crsd.bin process is running on the Oracle database server.
    Oracle Listener SSHCommand-Oracle - Listener Details none
    *Probes inactive for new instances.

    To use patterns, verify that the correct pattern is specified in the horizontal pattern probe on the classifier. See Add the Horizontal Pattern probe to a classifier for instructions.

    Data collected

    The following data is collected on the Oracle Instances [cmdb_ci_db_ora_instance] table for both UNIX and Windows:
    Table 1. Data collected on UNIX machines
    Label Field name Additional information
    SID sid Obtained from the name of the process that starts with ora_pmon_
    Install directory install_directory Obtained from the path of ORA_HOME
    Version version Obtained in this order:
    • From the output of the ORA_HOME/bin/sqlplus /NOLOG command
    • From the output of the ORA_HOME/bin/lsnrctl status command
    • From the path of ORA_HOME
    Parameter file pfile The following locations are explored for the location of the System Parameter File. If this file does not exist in one of the explored locations, Discovery does not find the file and reports an error.
    • oracle_home/dbs/spfileSID.ora
    • oracle_home/dbs/spfile.ora
    • oracle_home/dbs/initSID.ora
    Oracle Home oracle_home Obtained from the ORATAB file.
    Edition edition Obtained from the context.xml file.
    Name name Combination of SID name Host name in the format SID@HOST_NAME.
    TCP port(s) tcp_port Obtained from the tnsnames.ora file, or lsnrctl status command. If no valid information is retrieved, the default port 1521 is assigned.
    Note:
    See Oracle options for pattern extensions and additional information collected.
    Table 2. Data collected on Windows machines
    Label Field name Additional information
    SID sid Obtained from the process parameter that is passed to the oracle.exe process.
    Install directory install_directory
    Version version Obtained from the output of the ORA_HOME/bin/sqlplus.exe -V command.
    Parameter file pfile The following locations are explored for the location of the System Parameter File. If this file does not exist in one of the explored locations, Discovery does not find the file and reports an error.
    • oracle_home\database\spfileSID.ora
    • oracle_home\database\spfile.ora
    • oracle_home\database\initSID.ora
    Oracle Home oracle_home Parsed from the path of oracle.exe
    Edition edition
    Note:
    See Oracle options for pattern extensions and additional information collected.

    Oracle options

    For general information on Oracle options, see https://docs.oracle.com/en/.

    Discovery can also find the Oracle options that you enable on the instance using the legacy pattern extension, Oracle option extension for Windows/Unix. Note that to discover Oracle options, the Software Asset Management Professional for Oracle (com.snc.samp.oracle) plugin is required.

    Table 3. Oracle Options [samp_oracle_options]
    Label Field name
    Instance instance
    Option option
    Licensable licensable
    Currently used currently_used
    First usage date first_usage
    Last usage date last_usage
    Last sample date last_sample
    Detected usage detected_usage
    Sample interval sample_interval
    Table privileges needed Additional information
    The following tables are accessed as part of the Oracle option extension for UNIX and Windows:
    • DBA_FEATURE_USAGE_STATISTICS
    • CDB_FEATURE_USAGE_STATISTICS
    • V$DATABASE
    • V$VERSION
    • GV$PARAMETER
    • V$CONTAINERS
    • V$INSTANCE
    		 The following pattern extensions use the Oracle script: options_packs_usage_statistics.sql. This sql script is for DB Server version 11.2 and later. You need the Select any dictionary privilege to execute the script. See the support document ID13172651.1 on https://support.oracle.com/portal/ for more information about usage scripts.
    • Oracle option extensions for UNIX
    • Oracle option extensions for Windows
    Table 4. Data collected on clusterware
    Table Labels and field names
    Unix Cluster [cmdb_ci_unix_cluster]

    Name [name]

    Cluster status [cluster_status]

    Cluster type [cluster_type]

    IP address [ip_address]

    Short description [short_description]

    Cluster ID [cluster_id]

    Cluster version [cluster_version]
    cmdb_ci_unix_cluster_node

    Name [name]

    Node state [node_state]

    IP address [ip_address]

    Node status [node_status]
    cmdb_ci_unix_cluster_resource

    Name [name]

    Resource type [resource_type]

    Resource status [resource_status]

    Properties [properties]
    cmdb_ci_cluster_vip

    Name [name]

    IP address [ip_address]

    Cluster name [cluster_name]

    Cluster ID [cluster_id]

    On the dependency view, a +1 on an Oracle database server signifies that it is part of a cluster.

    Extend Oracle instance extension

    Note:
    Discovery can also find additional attributes for the instance using the Extend Oracle instance extension. See the Oracle website for more information on options https://docs.oracle.com/en/. Discovery saves these attributes to the Oracle Instances [cmdb_ci_db_ora_instance] table.
    Label Field name
    Instance instance
    Host Name host_name
    IS_CDB cdb_yn
    DB Unique Name db_unique_name
    DB Name database_name
    Replication Enabled replication_enabled
    Table privileges needed Additional information
    The following tables are accessed as part of the Extend Oracle Instance extension for UNIX and Windows:
    • V$DATABASE
    • V$INSTANCE
    		 The Extend Oracle Instance extension needs to be installed. This extension is included in the Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application, version 1.0.72 or higher, which can be downloaded from the ServiceNow Store.

    Oracle instances on virtual machines

    When Oracle instances are hosted on virtual machines, the system creates relationships between CIs.
    CI Relationship CI
    Oracle instance Hosted on Computer [cmdb_ci_computer] or Server [cmdb_ci_server]
    Note:
    This is a virtual machine. The Is virtual field is true.
    Computer [cmdb_ci_computer] or Server [cmdb_ci_server]
    Note:
    This is a virtual machine. The Is virtual field is true.
    		 Virtualized by Computer [cmdb_ci_computer] or Server [cmdb_ci_server]
    Note:
    This is not a virtual machine.

    Oracle instances on virtual machines that are hosted on AWS or Azure clouds

    Base class Relationship Dependent class
    Oracle instance Hosted on Computer [cmdb_ci_computer]
    Note:
    This is a virtual machine. The Is virtual field is true.
    Computer [cmdb_ci_computer]
    Note:
    This is a virtual machine. The Is virtual field is true.
    		 Virtualized by Computer [cmdb_ci_computer]
    Note:
    This is not a virtual machine.
    Computer [cmdb_ci_computer]
    Note:
    This is a virtual machine. The Is virtual field is true.
    		 Virtualized by Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vm_instance]
    Note:
    The vCPU count is populated in this table.
    Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vm_instance] Hosted on AWS Datacenter [cmdb_ci_aws_datacenter] or Azure Datacenter [cmdb_ci_azure_datacenter]

    Relationships for clusterware

    CI Relationship CI
    Unix Cluster [cmdb_ci_unix_cluster] Virtualizes::Virtualized by Cluster Virtual IP [cmdb_ci_cluster_vip]
    Unix Cluster Resource [cmdb_ci_unix_cluster_resource] Defines resources for::Gets resources from Unix Cluster Node [cmdb_ci_unix_cluster_node]
    Cluster Virtual IP [cmdb_ci_cluster_vip] Uses::Used by Unix Cluster Node [cmdb_ci_unix_cluster_node]
    Unix Cluster Node [cmdb_ci_unix_cluster_node] Cluster of::Cluster Unix Cluster [cmdb_ci_unix_cluster]
    Unix Cluster Node [cmdb_ci_unix_cluster_node] Hosted on:Hosts Unix Cluster [cmdb_ci_unix_cluster]
    Unix Cluster Resource [cmdb_ci_unix_cluster_resource] Defines resources for::Gets resources from Unix Cluster [cmdb_ci_unix_cluster]

    Unix Cluster [cmdb_ci_unix_cluster]

    		 Hosts::Hosted on Linux Server [cmdb_ci_linux_server]
    Unix Cluster Node [cmdb_ci_unix_cluster_node] Hosted on::Hosts Linux Server [cmdb_ci_linux_server]