ServiceNow Automation with Ansible

Welcome to the ServiceNow Automation with Ansible workshop. This hands-on lab will teach you how to integrate Ansible Automation Platform with ServiceNow ITSM to automate common IT service management tasks.

Table of Contents

Workshop Overview
- What You’ll Learn
- Workshop Modules
Lab Environment

Workshop Overview

In this workshop, you will learn how to use the servicenow.itsm certified collection to automate ServiceNow operations through Ansible playbooks and job templates. You’ll explore real-world scenarios that demonstrate the power of combining Ansible’s automation capabilities with ServiceNow’s ITSM platform.

What You’ll Learn

By the end of this workshop, you will be able to:

Create and manage ServiceNow incidents using Ansible
Implement automated problem management workflows
Automate change request processes
Query and update configuration items in the CMDB
Perform automated record cleanup and maintenance
Use ServiceNow as a dynamic inventory source for Ansible

Workshop Modules

This workshop is organized into six progressive modules:

Module	Title	Focus Area
1	Creating Incidents	Learn the basics of incident creation through automation
2	Problem Management	Attach problems to incidents and manage relationships
3	Change Management	Automate change request creation and approval workflows
4	CMDB Management	Query, create, and update configuration items
5	Record Cleanup	Implement automated record maintenance and cleanup
6	ServiceNow Inventory	Use ServiceNow CMDB as an Ansible inventory source

Module

Title

Focus Area

Creating Incidents

Learn the basics of incident creation through automation

Problem Management

Attach problems to incidents and manage relationships

Change Management

Automate change request creation and approval workflows

CMDB Management

Query, create, and update configuration items

Record Cleanup

Implement automated record maintenance and cleanup

ServiceNow Inventory

Use ServiceNow CMDB as an Ansible inventory source

Lab Environment

Prerequisites

Before starting this workshop, ensure you have:

Basic understanding of Ansible concepts and playbooks
Familiarity with ITIL/ITSM terminology
Access to the provided lab environment

Lab Access

The terminal window to your right is already logged into the lab environment as the devops user via SSH. All steps in this lab should be completed as the devops user.

You have access to the following components:

Automation Controller: Pre-configured with job templates and inventories
ServiceNow Instance: Developer instance with sample data
VS Code: Integrated development environment with sample playbooks
Command Line: Direct access to the control node

Getting Started

To begin the workshop:

Review the environment setup in the terminal
Familiarize yourself with the VS Code interface
Access the Automation Controller using the provided credentials
Navigate to Module 1 to start your learning journey

Keep the ServiceNow and Automation Controller tabs open throughout the workshop as you’ll be switching between them frequently to observe the results of your automation tasks.