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Rule 10 - GCP Label (Tag) Synchronization

Labels in GCP are the logical equivilent to Tags in AWS and Azure.

The use of “labels (tags)” throughout our documentation is to provide similarity to the CI Sync feature across multiple of our connectors.

For certainty though, this content is referring to GCP Labels as distinct from GCP Security Tags.

Rule Synopsis

These are the rule/s that control whether one or more labels (tags) in GCP are synchronized to each CMDB CI record, and if so, how CI Sync matches the content of each label (tag) to master data in ServiceNow.

Rule Details and Default

  • By default, CI Sync does not synchronize any labels (tags) from GCP.

Override Options

Context

Customers may consider overriding the default rule to describe one or more labels (tags) to populate specific fields in ServiceNow (i.e. populate the value of a label (tag) against the specific field of a given CI in the CMDB).

CI Sync supports sophisticated RegEx expressions for the label (tag) matching rules allowing customers to significantly enirich their CIs based on labels (tags) being maintained against source system resources.

CI Sync’s rules cater for variations in label (tag) names even for the same intended use. That is, CI Sync RegEx expressions will deal with a “Cost Center” being described in multiple labels (tags) such as CostCenter, Cost Center, CostCenterTag and so on. This ensures customers with non-standardised use of labels (tags) within their environment can still create significantly enriched data in their CMDB.

Options

  1. The rule can be amended so that CI Sync does sync labels (tags) from GCP.

  2. Once label (tag) sync’ing is enabled, customers can identify one or more labels (tags) containing the values to be used for a given specific fields. Out of the box CI Sync caters for the following specific label (tag)/attribute use cases:

    1. Cost Center

    2. Environment

    3. Owned By

Additional label (tag) use cases (beyond the OOTB ones listed above) can also be added by Syncfish.

Overriding via Connection Settings

Customers can perform the override using a “Connection Setting” via the CI Sync User Interface (i.e. customers can perform the overrides themselves). Additional information for this is availabel via the following documentation:

  1. For a general overview of CI Sync Connection Settings please read Understanding the use of CI Sync Connection Settings.

  2. For the specific CI Sync Connection Setting/s related to the rule described on this page please read:

    1. Label (Tag) Synchronization for Cost Centre in GCP

    2. Label (Tag) Synchronization for Environment in GCP

    3. Label (Tag) Synchronization for Owned By in GCP

For documentation on all CI Sync Connection Settings please visit the page tree Connection Setting Guides.

Additional Information

Sync Behaviour and ServiceNow Data Explained

  1. If there are multiple labels (tags) that match the defined regEx for a field, the value within each label (tag) will be searched against the relevant destination table in ServiceNow (e.g. against the cmn_cost_center or other relevant table) and the first matching value is returned.

  2. If there are multiple values within a labels (tags) (including multiple tags), either comma or semi-colon separated, the individual values will be extracted and searched individually against the relevant destination table in ServiceNow (e.g. against the cmn_cost_center or other relevant table) with the first matching value returned.

  3. Once a match is returned, CI Sync will update the CI with a reference to the relevant reference data table). If not match is found, the attribute on the CI will be blank.

  4. Regardless of whether a match is found (or not), CI Sync will also populate the ServiceNow cmdb_key_value table with the raw label (tag) data (i.e. an entry will be created in cmdb_key_value for each tag and it’s raw value).

By populating both the specific field on the CI (e.g. the cost_center field) and the cmdb_key_value table (i.e. the related list against the CI), customers can identify CIs where the specific field is not populated but the related list of labels (tags) contains a near match.

This approach allows customers to identify data quality issues in the source system using simple reports, dashboards or workflows within ServiceNow.

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Support Model for Rule Overrides

Question: Can overrides be performed by customers without a Syncfish Extended Implementation and Support Plan?

Answer: Yes (via self-service in the CI Sync UI) for the OOTB tag use cases described in this page. For additional tag use cases customers must request support from Syncfish (and have an active Syncfish Extended Implementation and Support Plan)

Question: Which Syncfish Extended Implementation and Support Plan is required to obtain overrides of this rule

Answer: Either a Silver Plan or Gold Plan (for customers wanting Syncfish assistance to perform overrides of this rule beyond the OOTB tags covered in the self-service UI)