--- sourceDocument: Australia ServiceNow AI Platform Administration sourceDocumentLink: https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/r/platform-administration Release : - australia ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Australia ServiceNow AI Platform Administration ft:clusterId : - platadm bundleId : - platadm workflow : - Platform --- # Create connector # Create a ManageEngine external content connector {#ariaid-title1} Release version: Australia Updated March 12, 2026 ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 4 minutes to read Create an external content connector to retrieve searchable content from your ManageEngine source system. ## Before you begin A source system administrator must have already configured your ManageEngine source system to allow access by the ManageEngine external content connector. For the required source system configuration steps, see [Configure ManageEngine for external content indexing](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/zdLNNeusKyfYU9Iy31HVvA "Create a server-based OAuth 2.0 client application in the Zoho API console to allow the ManageEngine external content connector to access your ManageEngine source system."). Role required: sn_ext_conn.xcc_admin ## Procedure 1. Navigate to AllExternal Content ConnectorsExternal Content Admin Home. 2. If prompted, select Switch scope to switch to the External Content Connectors Admin scope. You must be in this scope to create or edit external content connectors. 3. In the Connectors section, select New. 4. On the Choose source page, select the ManageEngine tile, then select Next. 5. On the Connection settings page, fill in the connection settings. {#create-ext-cont-connector-manageengine__table_uvz_jrv_sdc__entry__2} | Connection setting | Description | |-|-| | Connector name | Unique name for this ManageEngine external content connector. | | Portal URL | URL for your ManageEngine instance. This is typically https://\.manageengine.com, where \ is the name of your organization. If you don't have the portal URL, ask your ManageEngine administrator for it. | | Client ID | Client ID for the server-based OAuth 2.0 client application that grants the connector access to your ManageEngine instance. If you don't have the client ID for this application, ask your ManageEngine administrator for it. | | Client Secret | Client secret for the server-based OAuth 2.0 client application that grants the connector access to your ManageEngine instance. If you don't have the client secret for this application, ask your ManageEngine administrator for it. | [Table 1. Connection settings] {#create-ext-cont-connector-manageengine__table_uvz_jrv_sdc} 6. Save and validate your connection settings. 1. Select Validate Connection. A Zoho Accounts window reports that the server-based OAuth 2.0 client application is requesting access to information from your ManageEngine instance. 2. In the Zoho Accounts window, select the option to allow the OAuth 2.0 client application to access your Zoho account information, then select Accept. You're redirected to the connector creation page for connection setting validation. {#create-ext-cont-connector-manageengine__substeps_o5l_1tx_vgc} Note: If validation of your connection settings fails, the system shows an error message. Verify your connection settings to ensure they're correct. If permissions required by the connector are missing or incorrectly configured in the source system, a warning message appears showing the permissions that must be corrected. Provide the information from this message to your source system administrator. 7. After your connection settings are validated, select Next. 8. On the Crawl settings page, modify any default crawl settings that you want to override for this connector, then select Next. If you want to skip this step for now, select Skip instead of Next. You can modify the crawl settings for this connector from the External Content Admin Home page. For details on this procedure and the available crawl settings, see [Configure crawl settings for a ManageEngine external content connector](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/78UYll8i671ow1FATePQLQ "Delimit the set of knowledge articles you want your ManageEngine external content connector to retrieve. Define inclusion or exclusion filters to specify which articles the crawl retrieves and feeds to AI Search for indexing."). {#create-ext-cont-connector-manageengine__crawl-settings} {#create-ext-cont-connector-manageengine__crawl-settings} 9. On the Create crawl page, create a content crawl for this connector by selecting a crawl scope (if supported) and any desired options, then select Next. If you want to skip this step for now, select Skip instead of Next. You can create and run crawls for this connector from the External Content Admin Home page. For details on creating content crawls, see [Create a content crawl for an external content connector](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/fFJ92ZYif96fkc2JA4HtyQ "Retrieve searchable content and metadata from your source system with a content crawl. Run the crawl as a one-time task or schedule it to run on a recurring basis."). 10. On the Connect search profile page, use the Connect to search profile field and Add button to add any search profiles that you want to connect this external content connector's default search source to, then select Save. If you want to skip this step for now, select Skip instead of Next. You can connect search sources for this connector to search profiles from the External Content Admin Home page. For details on connecting an external content connector to search profiles, see [Connect an external content connector to a search profile](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/O1_d0dPqWANwyTUPT43BrA "Make results from an external content connector searchable in your portals and search applications by connecting its search sources to your existing search profiles."). When you link a connector search source to a search profile in this step, the system automatically publishes the search profile to make the new link take effect. ## Result Your new external content connector appears in the Connectors list on the External Content Admin Home page. ## What to do next To retrieve searchable content with your new connector, you must configure and run content crawls for it. You can modify your new connector's crawl settings and create crawls for it from the External Content Admin Home page even if you skipped these steps during connector creation. * To learn how to configure your new connector's crawl settings, see [Configure crawl settings for a ManageEngine external content connector](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/78UYll8i671ow1FATePQLQ "Delimit the set of knowledge articles you want your ManageEngine external content connector to retrieve. Define inclusion or exclusion filters to specify which articles the crawl retrieves and feeds to AI Search for indexing."). * For details on creating crawls for your new connector, see [Create a content crawl for an external content connector](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/fFJ92ZYif96fkc2JA4HtyQ "Retrieve searchable content and metadata from your source system with a content crawl. Run the crawl as a one-time task or schedule it to run on a recurring basis."). {#create-ext-cont-connector-manageengine__ul_zkt_3qj_4fc} To make content crawled by your new connector searchable in portals and search applications, you must link one of its search sources to the search profile used by each portal or search application. You can use the connector's default search source or create your own custom search sources. Default search source : By default, the system creates a search source that includes all content from your external content connector's indexed source. Custom search sources : You can create your own search sources with filters to specify which content from the connector's indexed source is searchable. To view the connector's indexed source, navigate to AllAI SearchAI Search IndexIndexed Sources. For information about creating search sources, see [Search sources in AI Search](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/BzYQ0BGXWlEpJrmmvXanyw "Define search sources to make your searchable content available in search experiences. Choose an indexed source and configure optional filter conditions to limit the content that users can search."). You can link connector search sources to search profiles from the External Content Admin Home page. For details on this procedure, see [Connect an external content connector to a search profile](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/O1_d0dPqWANwyTUPT43BrA "Make results from an external content connector searchable in your portals and search applications by connecting its search sources to your existing search profiles."). *[\>]: and then