Updating Connection Center

Updating in SCOM

The System Center Operations Manager components are distributed in Management Pack Bundles allowing for a natural update path for SCOM administrators by importing the updated management pack.

General

All ServiceNow Connector updates are cumulative. So you can update from any older version to any newer version, skipping over versions if the opportunity exists. Any settings configured by previous versions will remain in place unless specifically noted below (some version upgrades require configuration is re-implemented), so you may find that you need to enable new functionality brought in by the update.

From versions prior to 3.1.2.0 to version 3.1.2.0 or later

V. 3.1.2.0 introduced a number of performance and capacity improvements to the SCOM side of the connector. This increases the default outbound alert capacity to 60 from 20. If you are upgrading from a prior version of Connection Center you will need to modify each outbound connection to make use of the new default capacity (you can simply disable/enable the connection, as long as at least one of these actions is performed from the modify menu). If you have already made manual changes to the connection you may wish to also make this change manually to preserve your edits (or ignore this step if you have made changes to the batch size already).

ServiceNow

The ServiceNow application components are distributed via Store Applications allowing for in-place upgrades for ServiceNow administrators by updating the application from the 'System Applications' menu.

General

All ServiceNow Connector updates are cumulative. So you can update from any older version to any newer version, skipping over versions if the opportunity exists. Where customization has been put into the application, you may need to review the ‘Upgrade History’ and review any skipped changes. Where customizations have been made you can then merge the customizations into the incoming updates.

Connection Center vs ServiceNow Connector

Connection Center is the next evolution of our ServiceNow Connector product. It brings all of the ServiceNow Connector features and builds upon them. Using our know-how you can bring SCOM data to your organization via our code-free integrations.

With updates to our core ServiceNow integration and expanding on this with the new connection targets, you should be using Connection Center rather than the ServiceNow Connector moving forward.

Updating from Alert Sync

The process of updating from Alert Sync to Connection Center is covered under the 'Updating Alert Sync' page. This can be an in-depth process so please do contact support if you have any questions about upgrading.

From ‘ServiceNow Connector - Discovery' to Connection Center 'Objects’

V. 4.0.0.0 introduced ‘object connections’ which allows for the population of the ServiceNow Configuration Management Database (CMDB) with Configuration Items (CIs) derived from SCOM objects. The configurations are very similar, and whilst this upgrade includes a number of Connection Center improvements, this should make for a straightforward side-by-side upgrade. ‘Payloads’ for example remain identical.

If you haven’t done so already update the ServiceNow Connector to at least v. 2.2.0.27 and Licensing to at least v 1.2.0.5. Please contact support for the download links if you do not have them available. Then ensure that you have Connection Center installed and licensed as normal.

You should now have both ServiceNow Discovery and Connection Center Objects available for use. From there you can copy your payloads from the main discovery UI (don’t forget the EA/DA payloads if in use) and copy them into new connections in Connection Center.

We would suggest that you disable your old connections for a period before deleting them to ensure that the new connections are acceptable. Once happy with your migration you can then proceed to uninstall the ServiceNow Connector Management Pack.