Employee document management bulk imports

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 4 minutes to read
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    Summary of Employee Document Management Bulk Imports

    The Employee Document Management Bulk Imports feature enables ServiceNow customers to efficiently consolidate and manage employee documents by importing them from external third-party cloud storage or local network directories into HR Service Delivery. This centralizes document administration within the platform, improving convenience and reducing administrative overhead.

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    The feature supports integration with both local document storage solutions and third-party cloud-based repositories, enabling you to maintain employee documents consistently throughout their tenure.

    Configuring Local Document Storage

    • Requires activation of the Orchestration plugin (com.snc.runbookautomation) and Java JRE 6 or later.
    • Needs a configured MID Server to facilitate communication between ServiceNow and the local file repository.
    • Supports file servers running UNIX operating systems; non-UNIX servers require customization.
    • Only Secure Shell Protocol (SSH) credentials are supported for authentication.
    • Configuration steps include setting up SSH credentials, verifying the connection to the source directory, defining import sources, staging documents in the system, and capturing the documents into Employee Document Management.
    • A simple directory structure and consistent file naming conventions are strongly recommended to minimize errors.

    Configuring Third-Party Cloud-Based Document Storage

    • Requires activation of the ServiceNow IntegrationHub Installer plugin (com.glide.hub.integrations).
    • Integration with third-party cloud storage is considered a custom implementation; consulting a ServiceNow Solution Consultant may be necessary.
    • Configuration involves setting up the repository URL and credentials, verifying the connection, defining directory and file import sources, staging documents, and capturing them into Employee Document Management.
    • Following best practices for directory structure and file naming helps reduce errors during import.

    File Size Limitations

    The system supports importing employee documents up to 30 megabytes by default. This limit can be adjusted using the snhref.maxfilesize property in the Employee Document Management application settings. Be aware that increasing the maximum file size may impact system performance.

    Import Mapping and Staging

    • Import mapping is essential to locate and transform source employee documents correctly for import into Employee Document Management.
    • The Employee Document Import Configuration interface is used to set up communication with the source document repository.
    • After staging jobs run, employee documents are saved in the Employee Document Staging table where you can review and correct any errors before final import.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Streamlines consolidation of employee documents from various storage locations into HR Service Delivery.
    • Enables centralized, consistent document management throughout employee tenure.
    • Supports secure and automated bulk imports with verification and error correction workflows.
    • Flexible integration options with local UNIX-based servers or cloud-based repositories to fit diverse IT environments.

    Use the Employee Document Management Bulk Imports feature to copy your employee documents from an external third-party cloud-based storage or a local network directory to Employee Document Management. Having your employee documents within HR Service Delivery makes administration efficient and convenient.

    Note:
    • You can use the Stage local files workflow in Employee document management to import files using the SSH protocol through MID server.
    • The Stage local files workflow will be available only if you have installed the Orchestration plugin (com.snc.runbook_automation). The SSH related activities in this workflow are available as part of the Orchestration plugin only.

    If you currently store your employee documents outside of HR Service Delivery, you can consolidate and maintain these documents over the duration of your employees tenure.

    Your current document repository

    Where you currently store your employee documents determines bulk import configuration. The Employee Document Management bulk imports feature provides integration with:
    • Local document storage solution.
    • Third-party, cloud-based document storage solutions.

    Configuring local document storage

    Activating the Orchestration [com.snc.runbook_automation] plugin is required for importing employee documents from a local document repository.
    Note:
    Java JRE 6 or later is also required.

    EDM — Local directory diagram

    The process for configuring HR Service Delivery with a local document repository is:
    1. Configure HR Service Delivery to communicate with the source location from Employee Document Import Configuration.
      Before you can configure a local document storage, ensure that a MID Server is configured and available. A MID server is required to facilitate communication and movement of data between a ServiceNow instance and applications, data sources, and services.
      Important:
      By default, this feature expects the file server to be UNIX. If the file server is any OS other than UNIX, then you must customize the solution.
      • Only Secure Shell Protocol (SSH) credentials are supported.
      • The MID server can be on a Windows or Linux server. The server that hosts the files to be imported must be non-windows.
        Note:
        Other methods of configuring your local document storage requires custom development.
      Create a credential to use for authentication with the local document storage. See Set up SSH credentials to the MID Server.
      Note:
      When connecting to a local document repository, you may need to grant admin rights.
    2. Create or edit the Verify source step. This step creates a source step required to validate the connection between your local directory and Employee Document Management.
      Note:
      Having your source employee documents in a central repository, simple directory structure, and consistent file naming convention is highly recommended and reduces errors.
    3. Run the Start verify source job to verify the connection and validate source employee documents are identified and located.
    4. Create or edit the Employee Document Import Sources. This step identifies the source documents you want to import from your local document storage to Employee Document Management.
    5. Run the staging job. This step saves information about your source employee documents into the Employee Document Staging [sn_hr_ef_import_staging] table. All required information to import the employee document is contained in this record.
    6. Verify that steps 3 and 4 are correct by viewing your staging records. You can fix errors in the staging table.
    7. Create or edit the Capture Source step. This source step imports the staging records and source employee documents to Employee Document Management.
    8. Start the Capture job that processes the staging records that have a state of Ready and pulls or looks up the source employee documents. Your source employee documents are copied to Employee Document Management.

    Configuring third-party, cloud-based document storage

    Activating the ServiceNow IntegrationHub Installer [com.glide.hub.integrations] plugin is required for importing employee documents from a third-party, cloud-based document repository.
    Note:
    Integrating with a third-party, cloud-based document storage is considered a custom implementation. Employee document management bulk imports provides a basic framework to integrate with third-party, cloud-based document storage. You may need to consult with your ServiceNow Solution Consultant.
    EDM — Cloud diagram

    You need the following to configure with your third-party cloud-based (source) document repository:

    • The URL to your source document repository.
    • Credential alias.

    The process for configuring HR Service Delivery with a third-party cloud-based document storage is:

    1. Configure HR Service Delivery to communicate with the third-party, cloud-based source document repository.
    2. Create or edit the Verify source step. This step creates a source step required to validate the connection between your third-party, cloud-based document repository and Employee Document Management.
      Note:
      Having your source employee documents in a simple directory structure and consistent file naming convention is highly recommended and reduces errors.
    3. Run the Start verify source job to verify your connection from your third-party, cloud-based document repository is communicating with Employee Document Management.
    4. Create or edit the Directory import sources step. This step identifies the directory your source documents are located in your third-party, cloud-based document storage.
    5. Create or edit the File import sources step. This step identifies the source documents you want to import from your third-party, cloud-based document storage to Employee Document Management.
    6. Run the staging job. This step saves information about your source employee documents into the Employee Document Staging [sn_hr_ef_import_staging] table. All required information to import the employee document is contained in this record.
    7. Verify that steps 3 and 4 are correct by viewing your staging records. You can fix errors in the staging table.
    8. Create or edit the Capture Source step. This source step imports the staging records and source employee documents to Employee Document Management.
    9. Start the Capture job that processes the staging records that have a state of Ready and pulls or looks up the source employee documents. Your source employee documents are copied to Employee Document Management.

    File size limitations

    The base system allows you to import employee documents that are 30 megabytes or smaller.

    Use the sn_hr_ef.max_file_size field in the Properties for Employee Document Management Application to set the maximum file size allowed.
    Note:
    Increasing the maximum size can affect system performance.

    For more information, see Properties for Employee Document Management application.