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S8 - Run a small first Sync (then run more)

Extended Page Title

Step 8 - Run a small first Sync Job using CI Sync, then run more Sync Jobs by expanding the scope of assets/records being synchronized

Task List

Task #

Task

Performed by

1

Review the relevant CI Sync Default Guide (to understand how the default CI Sync rules deliver data to your CMDB)

ServiceNow Admin
Source System Admin/s

2

Perform a small initial synchronization

CI Sync Admin
ServiceNow Admin
Source System Admin/s

3

Progressively perform more (and more) synchronizations

CI Sync Admin
ServiceNow Admin
Source System Admin/s

The CI Sync User Interface was designed with simplicity and ease of use in mind.  As such, getting up and running with initial and ongoing synchronizations should be quick and easy. If not, please let us know!

The tasks in this section are not intended to be a screen-by-screen guide to using the CI Sync UI.  Instead, this section provides general pointers for performing an initial sync (using a small number of records) so you can assess the results in your CMDB before moving on to further/larger synchronization jobs.

Validating the source data (in the relevant source system), and the resulting data in ServiceNow is an important part of thoroughly testing CI Sync in your environment as you progressively increase the scale, complexity and frequency of your synchronization jobs in CI Sync.


Important Information about Non-Production vs Production Synchronization

  1. The tasks in this section are applicable to either a Non-Production or Production ServiceNow CMDB.

  2. Data sync’d into a CMDB can have a significant implication on the business processes and workflows that depend on the underlying CMDB. Therefore, customers should throughly test and validate the results of sync’ing into a Non-Production CMDB before considering any form of sync’ing into a Production CMDB.

  3. Before sync’ing to production we recommend you inform the Syncfish Team. This ensures Syncfish are aware in case you need extra assistance and also means Syncfish can advise how to check whether any specific CI Sync configuration settings need to be promoted from your CI Sync Test Config to your CI Sync Prod Config.

Task 1: Read the relevant CI Sync Default Configuration Guide

Syncfish publish “Default Configuration Guides” specific to a given Source and Destination System.  The guides are located here: Default Configuration Guides

These guides cover various topics about the CI Sync Default Configuration rules, and in particular how the configuration rules will read, map, transform and interact with data and objects between a given Source System and Destination System.

Syncfish strongly recommend the default configuration guide is read in advance of performing your first synchronization.

In addition to the Default Configuration Guides, Syncfish Syncfish highly recommend reading the following page before your first sync:

FAQ - What are the Top Tips when first synchronizing data to my non-PROD CMDB?

Task 2: Perform a small initial synchronization

  1. Login to the CI Sync UI and navigate to the Run page

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  1. Select the Environment first.  You can select either Test or Production.  The selection you make here will filter the list of available Source and Destination connections you can select in the subsequent drop-down boxes.

  2. Select the source and destination from the drop-down lists.  Your source is any one of your CI Sync Agents/Connections (which represent the given source asset repository) and the destination is your ServiceNow CMDB. Of Note:

    1. The drop-down lists are populated from the connections defined in the Settings page.

    2. The drop-down lists are filtered based on the Environment you set against each source and destination connection using the Settings page.

    3. Make sure you are aware of the destination you are synchronizing to, in particular if the destination is production!

  3. Select either Delta Asset Sync or Full Asset Sync as the job type, then click Next.

For initial/first time synchronizations a Delta sync (i.e. what’s changed since the previous sync) will be the same as a Full sync (because there has never been a “previous” sync).  As such you can select either Delta or Full sync and the result will be the same.  For ongoing sync jobs, you should use Delta syncs in the vast majority of cases.

  1. On the (2) Selections page tick one (maybe two) asset types that you know contain a small number of records (e.g. Switches).  The idea is to create a small sync job as a basic end-to-end test. When ready, click Next

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  1. Depending on the asset types you ticked on the (2) Selections page you will see all possible relationships presented on the (3) Relationships page. Use the defaults which have been selected and then click Next

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  1. Ensure the “Run now” option is selected on the (4) Schedule Job page, cand then click Next

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  1. Review the details on the (5) Confirmation page and when ready click “Start job”. 

  2. The job will take a few moments to begin, and you will see various metrics and visual indicators of the job progress. 

  3. Upon completion you see if the job completed successfully or not.

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  1. Depending on the results presented by CI Sync, you can/should also review the CIs in your ServiceNow CMDB to confirm the expected data has been sent across.

  2. You can also use the Jobs page in the CI Sync User Interface to drill down into the Job Logs at varying levels of detail.

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The Job Logs can be a bit overwhelming on first review as they contain a great deal of information to assist Syncfish diagnosing issues. If your first job has errors which aren’t immediately obvious, please contact the Syncfish team for assistance.

  1. Once you are comfortable with the CI Sync and you have successfully sync’d a small number of records without error (or with explainable error/s), proceed to the next task to synchronize more records and to create one or more Scheduled Jobs.

Task 3: Progressively perform more (and more) synchronizations

  1. Use the (2) Selections page in the CI Sync UI to increase the number of asset types you are selecting for synchronization.  Use the “Select all” and “Select none” links at the very top of the page or in each asset type section to make selections.  Also tick/untick any of the related records such as displays, disks, etc.

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  1. Syncfish recommend you continue to use the “Run now” option as you build up/select to more and more asset types (and relationships) being synchronized.  Ensure you are frequently checking the resulting CIs in your ServiceNow CMDB and comparing to the source data in Lansweeper.

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  1. Once you’ve executed and verified enough synchronizations to be confident about the results, use the (4) Schedule Job page to create one or more scheduled jobs based on the selections you’ve made on the previous pages.  Scroll the entire page to see all of the options and the schedule detail which aim to demystify time zone and time of day topics from your choices.  When ready click the “Set schedule” button in the bottom right of the page.

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Extra Details about Scheduling Jobs

You can modify and delete scheduled jobs after they have been created.

Please also review FAQ - How often to schedule Delta Sync and Full Sync Jobs