Configuring FlexNet Manager Suite for Export

FlexNet Manager Suite 2022 R2 (On-Premises)

You need to complete this configuration once to commence operations. Repeat if your ServiceNow details change at any time in the future. You may also use this same page to trigger an immediate export from FlexNet Manager Suite to ServiceNow.

To configure export from FlexNet Manager Suite:

1. Ensure that you are (still) logged into FlexNet Manager Suite with an account that is a member of the Administrator role, and that this account has the Configure access right.
2. In the web interface, navigate to the system menu ( in the top right corner) > System Settings, select the Integrations tab, and expand the ServiceNow accordion.
   Tip: The Integrations tab is only visible when your account has the access rights described above.
3. In Instance URL, enter the protocol and path to your ServiceNow website (for example, https://YOUR-INSTANCE.service-now.com).
4. In Username, enter the account you use to access ServiceNow. This must exactly match the User ID value shown in the ServiceNow interface (see Creating a ServiceNow Integration User).
5. Paste the Token value from ServiceNow into the Token field on this page (see Configuring ServiceNow for Import).
   Tip: The Username is mandatory for FlexNet Manager Suite to commence the export process, but it is not transferred back to ServiceNow, as the Token value alone is now sufficient for authentication.

   Note: In future, if you wish to temporarily disable these data exports from FlexNet Manager Suite, you can either disable the Windows scheduled task Export to ServiceNow or remove any one or more values from Instance URL, Username, or Token.
6. If necessary, change the default selection of data types to export to ServiceNow. It is best practice to export all available data types.
   Warning: Hardware inventory details are critical to the ServiceNow data set. Contracts and installed applications both have dependencies on assets in that system. If you clear the Hardware inventory check box, you may produce gaps in the contract and software records imported into ServiceNow.
7. Click Save.
   When details are complete, the export from FlexNet Manager Suite to ServiceNow is triggered weekly at 3am on Sunday mornings by default (if required, you may edit the Windows scheduled task Export to ServiceNow to modify the schedule). If you need to trigger an additional export (for example, when commencing integrated operations), continue with the rest of this process.

   Tip: While the first export of any given data type is always a full export of all active records, subsequent data transfers from FlexNet Manager Suite to ServiceNow are differential (that is, only data that is new or changed since the last successful export of the same type is included). If you wish to transfer all available active data (rather than the differential data set), select the Perform full export check box before continuing.
8. Click Export to trigger an immediate export using the settings saved in the fields displayed above.
   The Export button, and the scheduled task, trigger the command-line executable fnmp_servicenow_export.exe, which:

   • Extracts the required data of the first data type from your operations database (the normal order when all are selected is hardware inventory, contracts, installed applications)
   • Segments the data for easier transmission across the Internet, minimizing time-out risks with ServiceNow
   • Reassembles the data into staging tables in ServiceNow
   • Repeats the process for the next selected data type.

   Separate transforms on your ServiceNow instance then map each data type from the staging tables to your operational ServiceNow tables.

   Tip: It is also possible to run the executable from the command line, provided you have a copy of the ServiceNow token available (see Command-Line Tool for Export to ServiceNow).

To verify progress of a test run:

1. In the ServiceNow navigation bar, for integration application 5.x, go to Flexera Integration > Import History > Import Transactions (or for service integration application v4.x, go FlexNet Manager Suite > Integration History > Import Transactions. Each of these transactions represents a data chunk* or segment transferred to ServiceNow. The segmentation is necessary because of the large number of records that may need to be transferred. When the data is received by ServiceNow, the integration application separately schedules each transaction for import into the operational database tables in ServiceNow. As each transaction is completely imported, its State column value is set to Succeeded.
2. Similarly, access FlexNet Manager Suite > Integration History > Import Runs. Each data type exported from FlexNet Manager Suite creates a separate entry here for import into ServiceNow. For each data type, when all its individual transactions have succeeded, the State value on the overall Import Run is also set to Succeeded.
3. Finally, when all the transferred data types have been successfully imported, a status report is sent to FlexNet Manager Suite. On the System Settings page in the Integrations tab, the status is displayed under Last completed export.

* The default configuration for data transfers from FlexNet Manager Suite to ServiceNow uses these values:

• The number of database records included in each transferred segment: 2000
• The number of retries if ServiceNow returns a connection failure: 2
• The length of time to wait for ServiceNow to respond before timing out: 2 seconds
• The maximum number of records of each data type to be included in the transfer, by type:
  • Hardware inventory: 500,000
  • Contracts: 500,000
  • Installed applications: 500,000.

For details of configuring these additional elements in an on-premises implementation, see Configuring the Utility for Export from FlexNet Manager Suite.