SharePoint Online Search Connector prerequisites

Release version: Xanadu

Updated February 1, 2024

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Summary of SharePoint Online Search Connector Prerequisites

The ServiceNow SharePoint Online Search Connector (SPOC) allows organizations to enhance their search capabilities within Microsoft SharePoint, facilitating improved information discovery for employees. Please note that with the Yokohama release, SPOC is in preparation for future deprecation, being hidden and unsupported in new instances while still receiving support. For detailed guidance on engaging with External Content Connectors, refer to the relevant documentation.

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Key Features

Facilitates seamless search and discovery experiences across multiple channels including Employee Service Management, Service Portal, Now Mobile app, and Virtual Agent.
Integrates with the ServiceNow® AI Search for enhanced search relevance and personalization.
Compatible with various content types and supports file sizes up to 25 MB.
Admin controls for flexible permissions and selective indexing to manage content access and governance effectively.

Key Outcomes

To successfully use the SharePoint Online Search Connector, ensure the following plugins are activated: Employee Center Pro, Microsoft SharePoint spoke, AI Search spoke, and Microsoft Entra ID spoke. Additionally, the AI Search engine must be enabled, and the External Content for the AI Search plugin requires a ServiceNow subscription. The connector is only compatible with the AI Search engine and supports specific file types and languages.

For optimal performance, you can configure permissions to manage access levels among SharePoint groups (Members, Owners, Visitors) and selectively index sites to control what content is searchable. Keep in mind that only one SharePoint instance can connect to a ServiceNow instance at a time.

The ServiceNow SharePoint Online Search Connector offers a consumer-grade search configuration to manage your information resources.

Important:

Starting with the Yokohama release, SharePoint Online Search Connector is being prepared for future deprecation. It is hidden and no longer activated on new instances but continue to be supported. For deprecation details, see the Deprecation Process [KB0867184] article in the Now Support knowledge base.

For detailed instructions on how to get started with External Content Connectors, see

As search is the key to productivity, SharePoint Online Search Connector (SPOC) helps your employees to search and discover content from the ServiceNow employee experience.

How SharePoint Online Search Connector works

Here’s an overview of how SharePoint Online Search Connector works:

SharePoint Online Search Connector flow — Figure 1. SPOC overview

Use the SharePoint Online Search Connector to:

Create better search and discovery experiences for the Microsoft SharePoint content, confirming that your employees can quickly find the information they need.
Enable support across multiple channels like Employee Service Management, Service Portal, Now Mobile app, and Virtual Agent.
Integrate with the ServiceNow® AI Search for improved relevance and personalization.
Search and find relevant information and drive business outcomes.

Required plugins

Activate the following plugins and apps:

Employee Center Pro
Microsoft SharePoint spoke
AI Search spoke
Microsoft Entra ID spoke

Verify that the AI Search engine is enabled. External Content for the AI Search plugin (com.glide.ais.external_content) must have a ServiceNow subscription.

For more information, see Setting up SharePoint Online Search Connector.

Things to remember

The SharePoint Online Search Connector is only compatible with the AI Search engine, not with the Zing search engine.
The content types supported by the AI Search engine, such as, DOTX, HTM, XLSX, DOT, PPTM, DOCX, PPTX, TXT, PDF, POT, PPT, POTX, DOC, HTML, and XLS are supported in SharePoint Online Search Connector along with ASPX.
The AI Search file size up to 25 MB is applicable.
The languages supported are English, Spanish, French, Japanese, and German.
SharePoint Online Search Connector supports SharePoint groups The groups are Members, Owners, and Visitors. The groups have different permission levels.
- Members: Can edit a document residing in the site.
- Owners: Can create, edit, and delete documents residing in the site.
- Visitors: Can read a document residing in the site.
SharePoint Online Search Connector is enabled to read users from the Microsoft 365 groups.
Note:
It only reads and pulls data from the Microsoft 365 Members group.
SharePoint Online Search Connector doesn’t read users from your Active directory.
SharePoint Online Search Connector supports Everyone except external users site permissions.
As an admin, you can use the following enhancements for more flexibility and control:
- Flexible permissions: Select the Sites.FullControl.All, Sites.Read.All, or Sites.Selected permissions while configuring the connector.
- Selective indexing: Index sites and subsites selectively by excluding some URLs and subsites, which have confidential information.
- Index published versions: Control and limit the indexing only to the published files, confirming employees access the verified and finalized versions and not the drafts or unfinished documents.
  Note:
  If you have an existing connector without these enhancements, delete the existing connector, create a new connector, specify the URLs for indexing and exclusion, and define the site permissions for more effective content control and governance.
Two SharePoint instances cannot be connected to one ServiceNow instance simultaneously.
The Microsoft Entra ID spoke setup is required along with the Graph and REST connection setups to connect your ServiceNow instance to a Microsoft SharePoint tenant.