ServiceNow metrics output data format

The nowmetric output data format (serializer) outputs Telegraf metrics as ServiceNow Operational Intelligence format.

It can be used to write to a file using the File output plugin, or for sending metrics to a MID Server with Enable REST endpoint activated using the standard telegraf HTTP output. If you’re using the HTTP output plugin, this serializer knows how to batch the metrics so you don’t end up with an HTTP POST per metric.

An example event looks like:

[{
    "metric_type": "Disk C: % Free Space",
    "resource": "C:\\",
    "node": "lnux100",
    "value": 50,
    "timestamp": 1473183012000,
    "ci2metric_id": {
        "node": "lnux100"
    },
    "source": "Telegraf"
}]

Using with the HTTP output plugin

To send this data to a ServiceNow MID Server with Web Server extension activated, you can use the HTTP output plugin, there are some custom headers that you need to add to manage the MID Web Server authorization, here’s a sample config for an HTTP output:

[[outputs.http]]
  ## URL is the address to send metrics to
  url = "http://<mid server fqdn or ip address>:9082/api/mid/sa/metrics"

  ## Timeout for HTTP message
  # timeout = "5s"

  ## HTTP method, one of: "POST" or "PUT"
  method = "POST"

  ## HTTP Basic Auth credentials
  username = 'evt.integration'
  password = 'P@$$w0rd!'

  ## Optional TLS Config
  # tls_ca = "/etc/telegraf/ca.pem"
  # tls_cert = "/etc/telegraf/cert.pem"
  # tls_key = "/etc/telegraf/key.pem"
  ## Use TLS but skip chain & host verification
  # insecure_skip_verify = false

  ## Data format to output.
  ## Each data format has it's own unique set of configuration options, read
  ## more about them here:
  ## https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/blob/master/docs/DATA_FORMATS_OUTPUT.md
  data_format = "nowmetric"

  ## Format Type
  ## By default, the serializer returns an array of metrics matching the
  ## Now Metric Operational Intelligence format or with the option set to 'oi'.
  ## Optionally, if set to 'jsonv2' the output format will involve the newer
  ## JSON object based format.
  # nowmetric_format = "oi"

  ## Additional HTTP headers
  [outputs.http.headers]
  #   # Should be set manually to "application/json" for json data_format
  Content-Type = "application/json"
  Accept = "application/json"

Starting with the London release, you also need to explicitly create an event rule to allow binding of metric events to host CIs.

Metric format

The nowmetric_format option selects one of two payload formats:

  • oi (default): the Operational Intelligence format, used with the /api/mid/sa/metrics API endpoint. The payload is a JSON array of metrics. See ServiceNow KB0853084 for details on this format.
  • jsonv2: the JSON object-based format required by the ServiceNow JSONv2 web service.

Using with the File output plugin

You can use the File output plugin to output the payload in a file. In this case, just add the following section to your telegraf configuration file.

[[outputs.file]]
  ## Files to write to, "stdout" is a specially handled file.
  files = ["C:/Telegraf/metrics.out"]

  ## Data format to output.
  ## Each data format has its own unique set of configuration options, read
  ## more about them here:
  ## https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/blob/master/docs/DATA_FORMATS_OUTPUT.md
  data_format = "nowmetric"

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