Connection Suggestions list

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Connection Suggestions list

    The Connection Suggestions list in ServiceNow Yokohama helps you review and manage potential connections between configuration items (CIs) for application services. This feature supports more accurate service mapping by providing detailed insights into which connections are relevant and should be included or excluded from your application services.

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    Key Features

    • From and To Fields: Identify the source and target CIs, including their classes, fingerprints, or processes, helping you understand the connection endpoints.
    • Target Host and VIP Indicator: Shows the host of the target CI and flags if it is a load balancer member, enabling automatic inclusion of load balancers and their members into the service.
    • IP and Port: Details the network address of the target CI, crucial for understanding connectivity.
    • Confidence Level: Indicates the likelihood that a connection is part of the service instance, ranging from High (internal component) to Very Low (central organizational services). This metric is only available if fingerprint-based discovery is enabled and after application fingerprint training completes.
    • Decision Field: Records your action on the suggestion—whether connections were added or excluded manually, automatically by rule, or remain undecided.
    • Rule and Decision Changed By: Identifies the connection rule applied and the user or MID Server user responsible for the last decision change, supporting audit and traceability.
    • Updated Timestamp: Shows when the connection last changed, helping track recent updates.

    Practical Use for ServiceNow Customers

    Using the Connection Suggestions list enables you to efficiently validate and curate the connections that define your application services, improving accuracy in service maps. It allows you to:

    • Confirm relevant internal and middleware connections based on confidence levels.
    • Include or exclude load balancer members automatically to reflect real service architecture.
    • Track decisions and changes made manually or by automation rules for governance.
    • Leverage predictive intelligence and fingerprint-based discovery to enhance mapping precision.

    Related Tasks

    • Add or remove CIs for individual or multiple application services using connection suggestions.
    • Monitor application fingerprint training status to ensure confidence levels are accurate.

    Review details of connection suggestions to decide which connections are relevant for application services.

    Table 1. Connection Suggestions list columns
    Column Description
    From The CI class or fingerprint process of the CI that is the connection source. This field appears only when you access connection suggestions by navigating to Service Mapping > Administration > Connection Suggestions.
    To The CI class, or fingerprint, or process of the CI that is the connection target.
    Target Host The host of the CI that is the connection target.

    If the VIP column shows true, the target host is a load balancer member. When you select such a target host, the system adds the load balancer and all its members as CIs in the application service.
    IP The IP of the CI that is the connection target.
    Port The port of the CI that is the connection target.
    Confidence
    The confidence level indicates the likelihood of this connection being part of the service instances.
    • High - This connection is likely to an internal component that is only used by this specific component or application.
    • Medium - This connection is likely to a middleware component used by multiple services, such as IBM MQ or Oracle WebLogic Server.
    • Low - This connection is likely to an application deployed on numerous servers in the organization, typically for monitoring purposes, such as Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Agents or MID Server.
    • Very low - This connection is likely to a central application used by the entire organization, for example, Microsoft Active Directory or Okta.
    If the confidence level appears as N/A, wait until the application fingerprints training is complete. See the Application fingerprint training status report.

    Confidence level is available only if fingerprint based discovery is enabled. See Discover applications based on fingerprints for more information.
    Decision This value indicates the outcome of the previous action taken on this connection suggestion:
    • Added manually - You added a connection based on this suggestion.
    • Excluded manually - You removed a connection based on this suggestion.
    • Undecided - You reset the previous decision to add or remove a connection based on this suggestion.
    • Added by rule - Service Mapping added a connection based on a connection rule.
    Rule The rule that Service Mapping applied to add a connection.
    VIP The target host is a load balancer member. The system shows this information only for load balancers that you previously discovered using horizontal discovery.

    This field appears only when you access connection suggestions by navigating to Service Mapping > Administration > Connection Suggestions.
    Decision changed by The user who changed the decision last time.

    If the decision was changed by a rule, this field shows the MID Server user. For more information about setting up MID Server user role, see Create the MID Server user and grant the role.

    This field appears only when you access connection suggestions by navigating to Service Mapping > Administration > Connection Suggestions.
    Updated The timestamp of when this connection last changed.