Skip to content
Release: Australia · Updated: 2026-03-12 · Official documentation · View source

AWS virtual server pattern-based discovery

Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns finds AWS EC2 virtual machine instances on your cloud environment. Discovering some of these resources may require updating to the latest version of the Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application from the ServiceNow Store.

Pattern-based discovery and mapping requirements

Verify the AWS discovery prerequisites section in AWS discovery using patterns.

Data collected by Discovery during horizontal discovery

Discovery populates the data in the CMDB when running the Amazon AWS - Virtual Server (LP) pattern.

FieldDescription
Name \[name\]Name of the instance. Possible values are the tag name, if available, or the instance ID.
Object ID \[object\_id\]Unique identifier for the instance.
State \[state\]Power state of the instance. Possible values: - On: Instance is running - Off: Instance is stopped
VM Instance ID \[vm\_inst\_id\]Instance identifier from AWS.
Memory \(MB\) \[memory\]Amount of memory allocated to the instance in megabytes \(MB\).
Network adapters \[nics\]Number of network interface cards \(NICs\) attached to the instance.
Disks \[disks\]Number of volumes attached to the instance.
CPUs \[cpus\]Total number of virtual CPUs \(vCPUs\).
IP Address \[ip\_address\]Private IP address assigned to the instance.
Fully qualified domain name \[fqdn\]Fully qualified domain name \(FQDN\) assigned to the instance.
Install Status \[install\_status\]Install status of the resource.For example: Installed or Retired.
Operational status \[operational\_status\]Operational status of the resource. For example: Operational, Non-Operational, or Retired.

Note:

If you have reactivated a retired virtual machine (VM) and want its active state to be accurately reflected in the Operational status and Install Status fields in the Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vm_instance] table, set the sn_itom_pattern.discover_aws_instance_statuses MID Server property to true. Note that this setting involves additional API calls—one for each page of the pattern execution—which may impact performance if you're managing a large number of VMs.

FieldDescription
Name \[name\]Unique identifier for the storage mapping.
Object ID \[object\_id\]Unique identifier for the storage mapping.
Mapping Type \[mapping\_type\]The root device type used by the Amazon Machine Image \(AMI\).The AMI can use an EBS volume or an instance store volume.
Mount Point \[mount\_point\]Device name where the volume is mounted.For example: `/dev/sda1`.
Host \[host\]Public IP address of the instance, if available.
Install Status \[install\_status\]Install status of the resource. Default value is Installed.
Operational status \[operational\_status\]Operational status of the resource. Default value is Operational.
FieldDescription
Object ID [object_id]Subnet identifier.
Name [name]Subnet identifier.
IP Address [ip_address]IP address associated with the subnet endpoint.
Region [region]AWS region where the subnet is located.
FieldDescription
Object ID [object_id]Subnet identifier.
FieldDescription
Name [name]Domain Name System (DNS) name assigned to the instance.
FieldDescription
Object ID \[object\_id\]AMI identifier.
Provider \[provider\]Cloud provider, which is AWS.This field is only populated in the Cloud Image [cmdb_ci_cloud_os_image] table.

Note: When using the Image [cmdb_ci_os_template] table to store Cloud OS images, you may notice an unusually large number of records. To avoid this issue, you can store the discovered OS images in the Cloud Image [cmdb_ci_cloud_os_image] table. For more information, see Enable Cloud OS Image discovery.

CI relationships

The Amazon AWS - Virtual Server (LP) pattern creates these relationships to support AWS virtual server discovery.

CIRelationshipCI
Availability Zone [cmdb_ci_availability_zone]Contains::Contained byVirtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vm_instance]
Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vm_instance]Contains::Contained byStorage Mapping [cmdb_ci_storage_mapping]
Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vm_instance]Hosted on::HostsAWS Datacenter [cmdb_ci_aws_datacenter]
DNS Name [cmdb_ci_dns_name]Hosted on::HostsAWS Datacenter [cmdb_ci_aws_datacenter]
Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vm_instance]Provisioned From::ProvisionedCompute Template [cmdb_ci_compute_template] or Cloud Hardware Type [cmdb_ci_cloud_hardware_type]
Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vm_instance]Provisioned From::ProvisionedImage [cmdb_ci_os_template] or Cloud Image [cmdb_ci_cloud_os_image]
Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vm_instance]Contains::Contained byDNS Name [cmdb_ci_dns_name]
Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vm_instance]Use End Point To::Use End Point FromSubnet Endpoint [cmdb_ci_endpoint_subnet]
Cloud Subnet [cmdb_ci_cloud_subnet]Implement End Point To::Implement End Point FromSubnet Endpoint [cmdb_ci_endpoint_subnet]
Network [cmdb_ci_network]Contains::Contained byCloud Subnet [cmdb_ci_cloud_subnet]
Image [cmdb_ci_os_template] or Cloud Image [cmdb_ci_cloud_os_image]Hosted on::HostsAWS Datacenter [cmdb_ci_aws_datacenter]
Key Value [cmdb_key_value]ReferencesVirtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vm_instance]

AWS Tag discovery

The Amazon AWS - Virtual Server (LP) pattern collects tags and populates them in the Key Value [cmdb_key_value] table.

FieldDescription
Key [key]Tag name.
Value [value]Tag value.
Configuration item [configuration_item]References the Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vm_instance] table.

AWS BYOL discovery

Starting with Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns version 1.30.2, the pattern extension section discovers the following license types for Windows and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) VMs:

  • Bring Your Own License (BYOL)
  • License included

The pattern stores the license type and model in the Key Value [cmdb_key_value] table.

FieldDescription
Key \[key\]The license type key, which is one of the following:- Windows\_OS\_License\_Type\_automatic - RHEL\_OS\_License\_Type\_automatic
Value \[value\]The license model, which is one of the following:- BYOL - License Included
Configuration item \[configuration\_item\]References the Virtual Machine Instance \[cmdb\_ci\_vm\_instance\] table.

Parent Topic:AWS discovery using patterns