ServiceNow app integration for Release

ServiceNow app for integration with the Release plugin

Since Release 8.6, a ServiceNow certified app is optional for integration. This app can be found in the ServiceNow Store. The app should be installed in your ServiceNow console, and it will create a new menu item with all the required configuration areas. For more information on the installation process see Install an application.

The table below shows which version of the Release plugin requires a ServiceNow app version:

Release version	No ServiceNow app	ServiceNow app 1.0.2	ServiceNow app 1.2.x
pre-8.5	☑	☒	☒
8.5	☒	☑	☑
8.6 and above	☑	☒	☑

Using design templates from Release

All design templates can be retrieved by ServiceNow and can be used to initiate a release from ServiceNow. If you want to use record information from the ServiceNow record that was used to initiate the release, you will need to create two template variables which will be entered by ServiceNow upon creation:

• ${id}: the sys_id of the record the release was initiated from
• ${number}: the number of the record the release was initiated from

Connect the Release server from ServiceNow

To set up a connection to a Release server from within the ServiceNow app:

1. Navigate to Release > properties
2. In the endpoint field, enter the URL of the Release server (with api/v1/ appended to the URL).
3. In the Username field, enter the username to connect with the Release server.
4. In the Password field, enter a password to connect with the Release server.
5. Optionally set the Language ISO code if a different language is used in ServiceNow from your instance of Release.
6. Optionally set the “Autostart on true/false” value to specify if the release should immediately start in Release.
7. Optionally set the “Fetch the release templates from XLR on a nightly basis” value to true/false depending on your requirements.

The next step is to retrieve the possible templates from Release. Follow these steps:

1. In the ServiceNow console, navigate to Release > Release templates
2. Press the Get Templates button.

This will retrieve all design templates from Release and display them in a list.

Tip: This is also a quick way to test your connection to the Release server.

Set up trigger rules in ServiceNow

Trigger rules in ServiceNow need to be set up to initiate actions on change events in communications between ServiceNow and Release. There are three communication options that can be used from ServiceNow:

• Create Release: initiate a release in Release
• Comment: leave a comment in Release
• Complete Task: complete a task in Release

To set up a trigger rule, in the ServiceNow app:

1. Navigate to Release > Trigger Rules and click New.

   • A few samples have been set up for you to review. You can either reuse these or create your own.
2. Add a Name for the rule and select a Type from the list.
3. In the Table list on the right side, select a table to apply the rule to. This will populate the available fields.
4. The Previous State and Current State tabs are used to compare the state of the release prior to and after the change event, and run the trigger rules if the conditions are met.

Available fields and field mappings exist next to the trigger rules. If you want to send different field information such as variables, from ServiceNow to Release, you must configure these mappings.

Information on tasks in ServiceNow

Four fields are used in ServiceNow for communicating with Release:

• Release Template: the template to use when creating a release from ServiceNow
• XLR Identifier: the identifier of a release in Release. This field is created from ServiceNow.
• XLR State: the state of the release in Release
• Correlation id: the Release task ID for which the last communication was done.

Next to these fields:

• A Get XLR info button is available to retrieve the latest status of the release in Release
• A Navigate to Release related link navigates to the release in the Release user interface.