ServiceNow Connection Details

Advanced Configurations Properties

The advanced configurations properties are the various options that can be used to establish a connection. This section provides a complete list of the options you can configure. Click the links for further details.

For more information on establishing a connection, see ServiceNow Connection.

Authentication

SSO

OAuth

SSL

Firewall

Proxy

Schema

Caching

Miscellaneous

Authentication

This section provides a complete list of authentication properties you can configure.

AuthScheme

The authorization scheme to be used when server authorization is to be performed.

Possible Values

Auto, Basic, OAuth, OKTA, ADFS, OneLogin, PingFederate

Data Type

string

Default Value

"Auto"

Remarks

This property specifies the type of authentication to perform. Possible values are:

• Auto: Lets the connector decide automatically based on the other connection properties you have set.
• Basic: Set this to use BASIC authentication.
• OAuth: Set this to perform OAuth authentication.

By default, AuthScheme is Auto, and if the User and Password properties are set, the connector will attempt basic authentication.

The connector will perform OAuth authentication if AuthScheme is set to OAuth, or OAuthAccessToken property is set.

The following options are available for SSO:

• OKTA: Set to use a single sign on connection with OKTA as the identify provider.
• ADFS: Set to use a single sign on connection with ADFS as the identify provider.
• OneLogin: Set to use a single sign on connection with OneLogin as the identify provider.
• PingFederate: Set to use a single sign on connection with PingFederate as the identity provider.

URL

The base URL of your ServiceNow instance.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

Set the base URL of your ServiceNow instance site. For example: https://dev47813.service-now.com/.

User

The ServiceNow user account used to authenticate.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

Together with Password, this field is used to authenticate against the ServiceNow server.

Password

The password used to authenticate the user.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

The User and Password are together used to authenticate with the server.

SSO

This section provides a complete list of SSO properties you can configure.

SSOLoginURL

The identity provider's login URL.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

The identity provider's login URL.

SSOProperties

Additional properties required to connect to the identity provider in a semicolon-separated list.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

Additional properties required to connect to the identity provider in a semicolon-separated list. is used in conjunction with the SSOLoginURL.

SSO configuration is discussed further in Establishing a Connection.

OAuth

This section provides a complete list of OAuth properties you can configure.

InitiateOAuth

Set this property to initiate the process to obtain or refresh the OAuth access token when you connect.

Possible Values

OFF, GETANDREFRESH, REFRESH

Data Type

string

Default Value

"OFF"

Remarks

The following options are available:

1. OFF: Indicates that the OAuth flow will be handled entirely by the user. An OAuthAccessToken will be required to authenticate.
2. GETANDREFRESH: Indicates that the entire OAuth Flow will be handled by the connector. If no token currently exists, it will be obtained by prompting the user via the browser. If a token exists, it will be refreshed when applicable.
3. REFRESH: Indicates that the connector will only handle refreshing the OAuthAccessToken. The user will never be prompted by the connector to authenticate via the browser. The user must handle obtaining the OAuthAccessToken and OAuthRefreshToken initially.

OAuthClientId

The client ID assigned when you register your application with an OAuth authorization server.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

As part of registering an OAuth application, you will receive the OAuthClientId value, sometimes also called a consumer key, and a client secret, the OAuthClientSecret.

OAuthClientSecret

The client secret assigned when you register your application with an OAuth authorization server.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

As part of registering an OAuth application, you will receive the OAuthClientId, also called a consumer key. You will also receive a client secret, also called a consumer secret. Set the client secret in the OAuthClientSecret property.

OAuthAccessToken

The access token for connecting using OAuth.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

The OAuthAccessToken property is used to connect using OAuth. The OAuthAccessToken is retrieved from the OAuth server as part of the authentication process. It has a server-dependent timeout and can be reused between requests.

The access token is used in place of your user name and password. The access token protects your credentials by keeping them on the server.

OAuthSettingsLocation

The location of the settings file where OAuth values are saved when InitiateOAuth is set to GETANDREFRESH or REFRESH. Alternatively, this can be held in memory by specifying a value starting with memory://.

Data Type

string

Default Value

"%APPDATA%\ServiceNow Data Provider\OAuthSettings.txt"

Remarks

When InitiateOAuth is set to GETANDREFRESH or REFRESH, the connector saves OAuth values to avoid requiring the user to manually enter OAuth connection properties and allowing the credentials to be shared across connections or processes.

Alternatively to specifying a file path, memory storage can be used instead. Memory locations are specified by using a value starting with 'memory://' followed by a unique identifier for that set of credentials (ex: memory://user1). The identifier can be anything you choose but should be unique to the user. Unlike with the file based storage, you must manually store the credentials when closing the connection with memory storage to be able to set them in the connection when the process is started again. The OAuth property values can be retrieved with a query to the sys_connection_props system table. If there are multiple connections using the same credentials, the properties should be read from the last connection to be closed.

If left unspecified, the default location is "%APPDATA%\ServiceNow Data Provider\OAuthSettings.txt" with %APPDATA% being set to the user's configuration directory:

CallbackURL

The OAuth callback URL to return to when authenticating. This value must match the callback URL you specify in your app settings.

Data Type

string

Default Value

http://localhost:33333

Remarks

During the authentication process, the OAuth authorization server redirects the user to this URL. This value must match the callback URL you specify in your app settings.

OAuthGrantType

The grant type for the OAuth flow.

Possible Values

CODE, PASSWORD

Data Type

string

Default Value

"PASSWORD"

Remarks

The grant type for the OAuth flow. The following options are available: CODE,PASSWORD

OAuthVerifier

The verifier code returned from the OAuth authorization URL.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

The verifier code returned from the OAuth authorization URL. This can be used on systems where a browser cannot be launched such as headless systems.

Authentication on Headless Machines

See Establishing a Connection to obtain the OAuthVerifier value.

Set OAuthSettingsLocation along with OAuthVerifier. When you connect, the connector exchanges the OAuthVerifier for the OAuth authentication tokens and saves them, encrypted, to the specified file. Set InitiateOAuth to GETANDREFRESH automate the exchange.

Once the OAuth settings file has been generated, you can remove OAuthVerifier from the connection properties and connect with OAuthSettingsLocation set.

To automatically refresh the OAuth token values, set OAuthSettingsLocation and additionally set InitiateOAuth to REFRESH.

OAuthRefreshToken

The OAuth refresh token for the corresponding OAuth access token.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

The OAuthRefreshToken property is used to refresh the OAuthAccessToken when using OAuth authentication.

OAuthExpiresIn

The lifetime in seconds of the OAuth AccessToken.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

Pair with OAuthTokenTimestamp to determine when the AccessToken will expire.

OAuthTokenTimestamp

The Unix epoch timestamp in milliseconds when the current Access Token was created.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

Pair with OAuthExpiresIn to determine when the AccessToken will expire.

SSL

This section provides a complete list of SSL properties you can configure.

SSLServerCert

The certificate to be accepted from the server when connecting using TLS/SSL.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

If using a TLS/SSL connection, this property can be used to specify the TLS/SSL certificate to be accepted from the server. Any other certificate that is not trusted by the machine is rejected.

This property can take the following forms:

If not specified, any certificate trusted by the machine is accepted.

Certificates are validated as trusted by the machine based on the System's trust store. The trust store used is the 'javax.net.ssl.trustStore' value specified for the system. If no value is specified for this property, Java's default trust store is used (for example, JAVA_HOME\lib\security\cacerts).

Use '*' to signify to accept all certificates. Note that this is not recommended due to security concerns.

Firewall

This section provides a complete list of the Firewall properties you can configure.

FirewallType

The protocol used by a proxy-based firewall.

Possible Values

NONE, TUNNEL, SOCKS4, SOCKS5

Data Type

string

Default Value

"NONE"

Remarks

This property specifies the protocol that the connector will use to tunnel traffic through the FirewallServer proxy. Note that by default, the connector connects to the system proxy; to disable this behavior and connect to one of the following proxy types, set ProxyAutoDetect to false.

To connect to HTTP proxies, use ProxyServer and ProxyPort. To authenticate to HTTP proxies, use ProxyAuthScheme, ProxyUser, and ProxyPassword.

FirewallServer

The name or IP address of a proxy-based firewall.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property specifies the IP address, DNS name, or host name of a proxy allowing traversal of a firewall. The protocol is specified by FirewallType: Use FirewallServer with this property to connect through SOCKS or do tunneling. Use ProxyServer to connect to an HTTP proxy.

Note that the connector uses the system proxy by default. To use a different proxy, set ProxyAutoDetect to false.

FirewallPort

The TCP port for a proxy-based firewall.

Data Type

int

Default Value

0

Remarks

This specifies the TCP port for a proxy allowing traversal of a firewall. Use FirewallServer to specify the name or IP address. Specify the protocol with FirewallType.

FirewallUser

The user name to use to authenticate with a proxy-based firewall.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

The FirewallUser and FirewallPassword properties are used to authenticate against the proxy specified in FirewallServer and FirewallPort, following the authentication method specified in FirewallType.

FirewallPassword

A password used to authenticate to a proxy-based firewall.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property is passed to the proxy specified by FirewallServer and FirewallPort, following the authentication method specified by FirewallType.

Proxy

This section provides a complete list of the Proxy properties you can configure.

ProxyAutoDetect

This indicates whether to use the system proxy settings or not. This takes precedence over other proxy settings, so you'll need to set ProxyAutoDetect to FALSE in order use custom proxy settings.

Data Type

bool

Default Value

false

Remarks

This takes precedence over other proxy settings, so you'll need to set ProxyAutoDetect to FALSE in order use custom proxy settings. NOTE: When this property is set to True, the proxy used is determined as follows:

• A search from the JVM properties (http.proxy, https.proxy, socksProxy, etc.) is performed.
• In the case that the JVM properties don't exist, a search from java.home/lib/net.properties is performed.
• In the case that java.net.useSystemProxies is set to True, a search from the SystemProxy is performed.
• In Windows only, an attempt is made to retrieve these properties from the Internet Options in the registry.

To connect to an HTTP proxy, see ProxyServer. For other proxies, such as SOCKS or tunneling, see FirewallType.

ProxyServer

The hostname or IP address of a proxy to route HTTP traffic through.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

The hostname or IP address of a proxy to route HTTP traffic through. The connector can use the HTTP, Windows (NTLM), or Kerberos authentication types to authenticate to an HTTP proxy.

If you need to connect through a SOCKS proxy or tunnel the connection, see FirewallType.

By default, the connector uses the system proxy. If you need to use another proxy, set ProxyAutoDetect to false.

ProxyPort

The TCP port the ProxyServer proxy is running on.

Data Type

int

Default Value

80

Remarks

The port the HTTP proxy is running on that you want to redirect HTTP traffic through. Specify the HTTP proxy in ProxyServer. For other proxy types, see FirewallType.

ProxyAuthScheme

The authentication type to use to authenticate to the ProxyServer proxy.

Possible Values

BASIC, DIGEST, NONE, NEGOTIATE, NTLM, PROPRIETARY

Data Type

string

Default Value

"BASIC"

Remarks

This value specifies the authentication type to use to authenticate to the HTTP proxy specified by ProxyServer and ProxyPort.

Note that the connector will use the system proxy settings by default, without further configuration needed; if you want to connect to another proxy, you will need to set ProxyAutoDetect to false, in addition to ProxyServer and ProxyPort. To authenticate, set ProxyAuthScheme and set ProxyUser and ProxyPassword, if needed.

The authentication type can be one of the following:

• BASIC: The connector performs HTTP BASIC authentication.
• DIGEST: The connector performs HTTP DIGEST authentication.
• NEGOTIATE: The connector retrieves an NTLM or Kerberos token based on the applicable protocol for authentication.
• PROPRIETARY: The connector does not generate an NTLM or Kerberos token. You must supply this token in the Authorization header of the HTTP request.

If you need to use another authentication type, such as SOCKS 5 authentication, see FirewallType.

ProxyUser

A user name to be used to authenticate to the ProxyServer proxy.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

The ProxyUser and ProxyPassword options are used to connect and authenticate against the HTTP proxy specified in ProxyServer.

You can select one of the available authentication types in ProxyAuthScheme. If you are using HTTP authentication, set this to the user name of a user recognized by the HTTP proxy. If you are using Windows or Kerberos authentication, set this property to a user name in one of the following formats:

user@domain
domain\user

ProxyPassword

A password to be used to authenticate to the ProxyServer proxy.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property is used to authenticate to an HTTP proxy server that supports NTLM (Windows), Kerberos, or HTTP authentication. To specify the HTTP proxy, you can set ProxyServer and ProxyPort. To specify the authentication type, set ProxyAuthScheme.

If you are using HTTP authentication, additionally set ProxyUser and ProxyPassword to HTTP proxy.

If you are using NTLM authentication, set ProxyUser and ProxyPassword to your Windows password. You may also need these to complete Kerberos authentication.

For SOCKS 5 authentication or tunneling, see FirewallType.

By default, the connector uses the system proxy. If you want to connect to another proxy, set ProxyAutoDetect to false.

ProxySSLType

The SSL type to use when connecting to the ProxyServer proxy.

Possible Values

AUTO, ALWAYS, NEVER, TUNNEL

Data Type

string

Default Value

"AUTO"

Remarks

This property determines when to use SSL for the connection to an HTTP proxy specified by ProxyServer. This value can be AUTO, ALWAYS, NEVER, or TUNNEL. The applicable values are the following:

ProxyExceptions

A semicolon separated list of destination hostnames or IPs that are exempt from connecting through the ProxyServer .

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

The ProxyServer is used for all addresses, except for addresses defined in this property. Use semicolons to separate entries.

Note that the connector uses the system proxy settings by default, without further configuration needed; if you want to explicitly configure proxy exceptions for this connection, you need to set ProxyAutoDetect = false, and configure ProxyServer and ProxyPort. To authenticate, set ProxyAuthScheme and set ProxyUser and ProxyPassword, if needed.

Schema

This section provides a complete list of schema properties you can configure.

Location

A path to the directory that contains the schema files defining tables, views, and stored procedures.

Data Type

string

Default Value

"%APPDATA%\ServiceNow Data Provider\Schema"

Remarks

The path to a directory which contains the schema files for the connector (.rsd files for tables and views, .rsb files for stored procedures). The folder location can be a relative path from the location of the executable. The Location property is only needed if you want to customize definitions (for example, change a column name, ignore a column, and so on) or extend the data model with new tables, views, or stored procedures.

If left unspecified, the default location is "%APPDATA%\ServiceNow Data Provider\Schema" with %APPDATA% being set to the user's configuration directory:

BrowsableSchemas

This property restricts the schemas reported to a subset of the available schemas. For example, BrowsableSchemas=SchemaA,SchemaB,SchemaC.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

Listing the schemas from databases can be expensive. Providing a list of schemas in the connection string improves the performance.

Tables

This property restricts the tables reported to a subset of the available tables. For example, Tables=TableA,TableB,TableC.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

Listing the tables from some databases can be expensive. Providing a list of tables in the connection string improves the performance of the connector.

This property can also be used as an alternative to automatically listing views if you already know which ones you want to work with and there would otherwise be too many to work with.

Specify the tables you want in a comma-separated list. Each table should be a valid SQL identifier with any special characters escaped using square brackets, double-quotes or backticks. For example, Tables=TableA,[TableB/WithSlash],WithCatalog.WithSchema.`TableC With Space`.

Note that when connecting to a data source with multiple schemas or catalogs, you will need to provide the fully qualified name of the table in this property, as in the last example here, to avoid ambiguity between tables that exist in multiple catalogs or schemas.

Views

Restricts the views reported to a subset of the available tables. For example, Views=ViewA,ViewB,ViewC.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

Listing the views from some databases can be expensive. Providing a list of views in the connection string improves the performance of the connector.

This property can also be used as an alternative to automatically listing views if you already know which ones you want to work with and there would otherwise be too many to work with.

Specify the views you want in a comma-separated list. Each view should be a valid SQL identifier with any special characters escaped using square brackets, double-quotes or backticks. For example, Views=ViewA,[ViewB/WithSlash],WithCatalog.WithSchema.`ViewC With Space`.

Note that when connecting to a data source with multiple schemas or catalogs, you will need to provide the fully qualified name of the table in this property, as in the last example here, to avoid ambiguity between tables that exist in multiple catalogs or schemas.

IncludeDatabaseViews

Controls whether to expose the Database Views or not.

Data Type

bool

Default Value

false

Remarks

Controls whether to expose the Database Views or not. If 'True', the connector will send several additional metadata calls to get the metadata of the Database Views.

IncludeSystemTables

Controls whether to expose the system tables or not.

Data Type

bool

Default Value

true

Remarks

Controls whether to expose the system tables or not. Usually only admin-role users have access to these tables. Setting this property to false will make them to not be listed on metadata calls.

Caching

This section provides a complete list of the Caching properties you can configure.

AutoCache

Automatically caches the results of SELECT queries into a cache database specified by either CacheLocation or both of CacheConnection and CacheProvider .

Data Type

bool

Default Value

false

Remarks

When AutoCache = true, the connector automatically maintains a cache of your table's data in the database of your choice. By default, the connector incrementally updates the cache, retrieving only changes since the last SELECT query was run if the length of time since the last run has exceeded the CacheTolerance. After the cache is updated, the query is executed against the cached data.

Setting the Caching Database

When AutoCache = true, the connector caches to a simple, file-based cache. You can configure its location or cache to a different database with the following properties:

• CacheLocation: Specifies the path to the file store.
• CacheDriver and CacheConnection: Specifies a driver to a database and the connection string.

See Also

• CacheTolerance: This property controls the tolerance for stale data in the cache.
• CacheMetadata: This property reduces the amount of metadata that crosses the network by persisting table schemas retrieved from the ServiceNow metadata. Metadata then needs to be retrieved only once instead of every connection.
• REPLICATE Statements: When you execute a SELECT statement with AutoCache = true, the connector internally calls the REPLICATE statement. The REPLICATE statement enables incremental updates instead of first dropping the cached table.
• Explicitly Caching Data: This section provides more examples of using AutoCache in Offline mode.
• CACHE Statements: You can use the CACHE statement to persist any SELECT query, as well as manage the cache; for example, refreshing schemas.

CacheDriver

The database driver to be used to cache data.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

You can cache to any database for which you have a JDBC driver, including JDBC drivers.

The cache database is determined based on the CacheDriver and CacheConnection properties. The CacheDriver is the name of the JDBC driver class that you want to use to cache data.

Note that you must also add the CacheDriver JAR file to the classpath.

The following examples show how to cache to several major databases. Refer to CacheConnection for more information on the JDBC URL syntax and typical connection properties.

Derby and Java DB

The driver simplifies Derby configuration. Java DB is the Oracle distribution of Derby. The JAR file is shipped in the JDK. You can find the JAR file, derby.jar, in the db subfolder of the JDK installation. In most caching scenarios, you need to specify only the following, after adding derby.jar to the classpath:

jdbc:servicenow:CacheLocation='c:/Temp/cachedir';InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=MyClientId;OAuthClientSecret=MyClientSecret;User=MyUser;Password=MyPassword;Url=https://MyInstance12345.service-now.com/;

To customize the Derby JDBC URL, use CacheDriver and CacheConnection. For example, to cache to an in-memory database, use a JDBC URL like the following:

jdbc:servicenow:CacheDriver=org.apache.derby.jdbc.EmbeddedDriver;CacheConnection='jdbc:derby:memory';InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=MyClientId;OAuthClientSecret=MyClientSecret;User=MyUser;Password=MyPassword;Url=https://MyInstance12345.service-now.com/;

SQLite

The following is a JDBC URL for the SQLite JDBC driver:

jdbc:servicenow:CacheDriver=org.sqlite.JDBC;CacheConnection='jdbc:sqlite:C:/Temp/sqlite.db';InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=MyClientId;OAuthClientSecret=MyClientSecret;User=MyUser;Password=MyPassword;Url=https://MyInstance12345.service-now.com/;

MySQL

The following is a JDBC URL for the included JDBC Driver for MySQL:

jdbc:servicenow:Cache Driver=cdata.jdbc.mysql.MySQLDriver;Cache Connection='jdbc:mysql:Server=localhost;Port=3306;Database=cache;User=root;Password=123456';InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=MyClientId;OAuthClientSecret=MyClientSecret;User=MyUser;Password=MyPassword;Url=https://MyInstance12345.service-now.com/;

SQL Server

The following JDBC URL uses the Microsoft JDBC Driver for SQL Server:

jdbc:servicenow:Cache Driver=com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver;Cache Connection='jdbc:sqlserver://localhost\sqlexpress:7437;user=sa;password=123456;databaseName=Cache';InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=MyClientId;OAuthClientSecret=MyClientSecret;User=MyUser;Password=MyPassword;Url=https://MyInstance12345.service-now.com/;

Oracle

The following is a JDBC URL for the Oracle Thin Client:

jdbc:servicenow:Cache Driver=oracle.jdbc.OracleDriver;CacheConnection='jdbc:oracle:thin:scott/tiger@localhost:1521:orcldb';InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=MyClientId;OAuthClientSecret=MyClientSecret;User=MyUser;Password=MyPassword;Url=https://MyInstance12345.service-now.com/;

NOTE: If using a version of Oracle older than 9i, the cache driver will instead be oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleDriver .

PostgreSQL

The following JDBC URL uses the official PostgreSQL JDBC driver:

jdbc:servicenow:CacheDriver=cdata.jdbc.postgresql.PostgreSQLDriver;CacheConnection='jdbc:postgresql:User=postgres;Password=admin;Database=postgres;Server=localhost;Port=5432;';InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=MyClientId;OAuthClientSecret=MyClientSecret;User=MyUser;Password=MyPassword;Url=https://MyInstance12345.service-now.com/;

CacheConnection

The connection string for the cache database. This property is always used in conjunction with CacheProvider . Setting both properties will override the value set for CacheLocation for caching data.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

The cache database is determined based on the CacheDriver and CacheConnection properties. Both properties are required to use the cache database. Examples of common cache database settings can be found below. For more information on setting the caching database's driver, refer to CacheDriver.

The connection string specified in the CacheConnection property is passed directly to the underlying CacheDriver. Consult the documentation for the specific JDBC driver for more information on the available properties. Make sure to include the JDBC driver in your application's classpath.

Derby and Java DB

The driver simplifies caching to Derby, only requiring you to set the CacheLocation property to make a basic connection.

Alternatively, you can configure the connection to Derby manually using CacheDriver and CacheConnection. The following is the Derby JDBC URL syntax:

jdbc:derby:[subsubprotocol:][databaseName][;attribute=value[;attribute=value] ... ]

For example, to cache to an in-memory database, use the following:

jdbc:derby:memory

SQLite

To cache to SQLite, you can use the SQLite JDBC driver. The following is the syntax of the JDBC URL:

jdbc:sqlite:dataSource

• Data Source: The path to an SQLite database file. Or, use a value of :memory to cache in memory.

MySQL

The installation includes the JDBC Driver for MySQL. The following is an example JDBC URL:

jdbc:mysql:User=root;Password=root;Server=localhost;Port=3306;Database=cache

The following are typical connection properties:

• Server: The IP address or domain name of the server you want to connect to.
• Port: The port that the server is running on.
• User: The user name provided for authentication to the database.
• Password: The password provided for authentication to the database.
• Database: The name of the database.

SQL Server

The JDBC URL for the Microsoft JDBC Driver for SQL Server has the following syntax:

jdbc:sqlserver://[serverName[\instance][:port]][;database=databaseName][;property=value[;property=value] ... ]

For example:

jdbc:sqlserver://localhost\sqlexpress:1433;integratedSecurity=true

The following are typical SQL Server connection properties:

• Server: The name or network address of the computer running SQL Server. To connect to a named instance instead of the default instance, this property can be used to specify the host name and the instance, separated by a backslash.

• Port: The port SQL Server is running on.

• Database: The name of the SQL Server database.

• Integrated Security: Set this option to true to use the current Windows account for authentication. Set this option to false if you are setting the User and Password in the connection.

  To use integrated security, you will also need to add sqljdbc_auth.dll to a folder on the Windows system path. This file is located in the auth subfolder of the Microsoft JDBC Driver for SQL Server installation. The bitness of the assembly must match the bitness of your JVM.

• User ID: The user name provided for authentication with SQL Server. This property is only needed if you are not using integrated security.

• Password: The password provided for authentication with SQL Server. This property is only needed if you are not using integrated security.

Oracle

The following is the conventional JDBC URL syntax for the Oracle JDBC Thin driver:

jdbc:oracle:thin:[userId/password]@[//]host[[:port][:sid]]

For example:

jdbc:oracle:thin:scott/tiger@myhost:1521:orcl

The following are typical connection properties:

• Data Source: The connect descriptor that identifies the Oracle database. This can be a TNS connect descriptor, an Oracle Net Services name that resolves to a connect descriptor, or, after version 11g, an Easy Connect naming (the host name of the Oracle server with an optional port and service name).

• Password: The password provided for authentication with the Oracle database.

• User Id: The user ID provided for authentication with the Oracle database.

PostgreSQL

The following is the JDBC URL syntax for the official PostgreSQL JDBC driver:

jdbc:postgresql:[//[host[:port]]/]database[[?option=value][[&option=value][&option=value] ... ]]

For example, the following connection string connects to a database on the default host (localhost) and port (5432):

jdbc:postgresql:postgres

The following are typical connection properties:

• Host: The address of the server hosting the PostgreSQL database.
• Port: The port used to connect to the server hosting the PostgreSQL database.
• Database: The name of the database.
• User name: The user ID provided for authentication with the PostgreSQL database. You can specify this in the JDBC URL with the "user" parameter.
• Password: The password provided for authentication with the PostgreSQL database.

CacheLocation

Specifies the path to the cache when caching to a file.

Data Type

string

Default Value

"%APPDATA%\ServiceNow Data Provider"

Remarks

The CacheLocation is a simple, file-based cache. The connector uses Java DB, Oracle's distribution of the Derby database. To cache to Java DB, you will need to add the Java DB JAR file to the classpath. The JAR file, derby.jar, is shipped in the JDK and located in the db subfolder of the JDK installation.

If left unspecified, the default location is "%APPDATA%\ServiceNow Data Provider" with %APPDATA% being set to the user's configuration directory:

See Also

• AutoCache: Set to implicitly create and maintain a cache for later offline use.
• CacheMetadata: Set to persist the ServiceNow catalog in CacheLocation.

CacheTolerance

The tolerance for stale data in the cache specified in seconds when using AutoCache .

Data Type

int

Default Value

600

Remarks

The tolerance for stale data in the cache specified in seconds. This only applies when AutoCache is used. The connector checks with the data source for newer records after the tolerance interval has expired. Otherwise, it returns the data directly from the cache.

Offline

Use offline mode to get the data from the cache instead of the live source.

Data Type

bool

Default Value

false

Remarks

When Offline = true, all queries execute against the cache as opposed to the live data source. In this mode, certain queries like INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, and CACHE are not allowed.

CacheMetadata

This property determines whether or not to cache the table metadata to a file store.

Data Type

bool

Default Value

false

Remarks

As you execute queries with this property set, table metadata in the ServiceNow catalog are cached to the file store specified by CacheLocation if set or the user's home directory otherwise. A table's metadata will be retrieved only once, when the table is queried for the first time.

When to Use CacheMetadata

The connector automatically persists metadata in memory for up to two hours when you first discover the metadata for a table or view and therefore, CacheMetadata is generally not required. CacheMetadata becomes useful when metadata operations are expensive such as when you are working with large amounts of metadata or when you have many short-lived connections.

When Not to Use CacheMetadata

• When you are working with volatile metadata: Metadata for a table is only retrieved the first time the connection to the table is made. To pick up new, changed, or deleted columns, you would need to delete and rebuild the metadata cache. Therefore, it is best to rely on the in-memory caching for cases where metadata changes often.
• When you are caching to a database: CacheMetadata can only be used with CacheLocation. If you are caching to another database with the CacheDriver and CacheConnection properties, use AutoCache to cache implicitly. Or, use REPLICATE Statements or CACHE Statements to cache explicitly.

Miscellaneous

This section provides a complete list of miscellaneous properties you can configure.

BatchSize

The maximum size of each batch operation to submit.

Data Type

int

Default Value

0

Remarks

When BatchSize is set to a value greater than 0, the batch operation will split the entire batch into separate batches of size BatchSize. The split batches will then be submitted to the server individually. This is useful when the server has limitations on the size of the request that can be submitted.

Setting BatchSize to 0 will submit the entire batch as specified.

ConnectionLifeTime

The maximum lifetime of a connection in seconds. Once the time has elapsed, the connection object is disposed.

Data Type

int

Default Value

0

Remarks

The maximum lifetime of a connection in seconds. Once the time has elapsed, the connection object is disposed. The default is 0 which indicates there is no limit to the connection lifetime.

ConnectOnOpen

This property species whether to connect to the ServiceNow when the connection is opened.

Data Type

bool

Default Value

false

Remarks

When set to true, a connection will be made to ServiceNow when the connection is opened. This property enables the Test Connection feature available in various database tools.

This feature acts as a NOOP command as it is used to verify a connection can be made to ServiceNow and nothing from this initial connection is maintained.

Setting this property to false may provide performance improvements (depending upon the number of times a connection is opened).

DisplayValue

Based on this value, the provider retrieves the display value or the actual value from the database.

Possible Values

TRUE, FALSE, ALL

Data Type

string

Default Value

"FALSE"

Remarks

Note: If you decide to set this connection property to "true", then all the returned fields will be of type "String" due to API limitations.

• TRUE: returns display values for all fields.
• FALSE: returns actual values from the database.
• ALL: returns both actual and display values.

ExcludeReferenceLink

Based on this value, the additional information provided for reference fields will be suppressed or not.

Data Type

bool

Default Value

false

Remarks

Based on this value, the additional information provided for reference fields will be suppressed or not.

GetColumnsMetadata

Indicates the user preference as to when and how the provider should get the columns metadata.

Possible Values

OnStart, OnUse

Data Type

string

Default Value

"OnUse"

Remarks

Available settings are the following:

• OnStart: The connector will execute the metadata calls to discover and cache all columns for every table, prior to executing the first statement.
• OnUse: The connector will execute the table specific metadata calls the first time the table is referenced, provided the metadata for the table is not already cached.

MaxRows

Limits the number of rows returned rows when no aggregation or group by is used in the query. This helps avoid performance issues at design time.

Data Type

int

Default Value

-1

Remarks

Limits the number of rows returned rows when no aggregation or group by is used in the query. This helps avoid performance issues at design time.

Other

These hidden properties are used only in specific use cases.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

The properties listed below are available for specific use cases. Normal connector use cases and functionality should not require these properties.

Specify multiple properties in a semicolon-separated list.

Caching Configuration

Integration and Formatting

Pagesize

The maximum number of results to return per page from ServiceNow.

Data Type

int

Default Value

5000

Remarks

The Pagesize property affects the maximum number of results to return per page from ServiceNow. Setting a higher value may result in better performance at the cost of additional memory eaten up per page consumed.

PoolIdleTimeout

The allowed idle time for a connection before it is closed.

Data Type

int

Default Value

60

Remarks

The allowed idle time a connection can remain in the pool until the connection is closed. The default is 60 seconds.

PoolMaxSize

The maximum connections in the pool.

Data Type

int

Default Value

100

Remarks

The maximum connections in the pool. The default is 100. To disable this property, set the property value to 0 or less.

PoolMinSize

The minimum number of connections in the pool.

Data Type

int

Default Value

1

Remarks

The minimum number of connections in the pool. The default is 1.

PoolWaitTime

The max seconds to wait for an available connection.

Data Type

int

Default Value

60

Remarks

The max seconds to wait for a connection to become available. If a new connection request is waiting for an available connection and exceeds this time, an error is thrown. By default, new requests wait forever for an available connection.

PseudoColumns

This property indicates whether or not to include pseudo columns as columns to the table.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

This setting is particularly helpful in Entity Framework, which does not allow you to set a value for a pseudo column unless it is a table column. The value of this connection setting is of the format "Table1=Column1, Table1=Column2, Table2=Column3". You can use the "*" character to include all tables and all columns; for example, "*=*".

Readonly

You can use this property to enforce read-only access to ServiceNow from the provider.

Data Type

bool

Default Value

false

Remarks

If this property is set to true, the connector will allow only SELECT queries. INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, and stored procedure* queries will cause an error to be thrown.

RTK

The runtime key used for licensing.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

The RTK property may be used to license a build. See the included licensing file to see how to set this property. The runtime key is only available if you purchased an OEM license.

ShowDescriptions

Controls whether column and table descriptions are returned via the sys_documentation and sys_db_object API endpoints.

Possible Values

NONE, TableLabels, ColumnLabels, TableAndColumnLabels, ColumnComments

Data Type

string

Default Value

"NONE"

Remarks

Note: By default, it is set to NONE and the descriptions for the tables and their respective columns are not shown. Extra API calls will be executed if this property is set to a value other than NONE. Set the value of this property to TableLabels if you want to retrieve the Labels (Display Names) for every table from the sys_db_object API endpoint. Set the value of this property to ColumnLabels if you want to retrieve the Labels (Display Names) for every column from the sys_documentation API endpoint. Set the value of this property to TableAndColumnLabels if you want to retrieve the Labels (Display Names) for every table and their respective columns from the sys_db_object and sys_documentation API endpoints. Set the value of this property to ColumnComments if you want to retrieve the Comments for every column from the sys_dictionary API endpoint.

SupportEnhancedSQL

This property enhances SQL functionality beyond what can be supported through the API directly, by enabling in-memory client-side processing.

Data Type

bool

Default Value

true

Remarks

When SupportEnhancedSQL = true, the connector offloads as much of the SELECT statement processing as possible to ServiceNow and then processes the rest of the query in memory. In this way, the connector can execute unsupported predicates, joins, and aggregation.

When SupportEnhancedSQL = false, the connector limits SQL execution to what is supported by the ServiceNow API.

Execution of Predicates

The connector determines which of the clauses are supported by the data source and then pushes them to the source to get the smallest superset of rows that would satisfy the query. It then filters the rest of the rows locally. The filter operation is streamed, which enables the connector to filter effectively for even very large datasets.

Execution of Joins

The connector uses various techniques to join in memory. The connector trades off memory utilization against the requirement of reading the same table more than once.

Execution of Aggregates

The connector retrieves all rows necessary to process the aggregation in memory.

Timeout

The value in seconds until the timeout error is thrown, canceling the operation.

Data Type

int

Default Value

60

Remarks

If Timeout = 0, operations do not time out. The operations run until they complete successfully or until they encounter an error condition.

If Timeout expires and the operation is not yet complete, the connector throws an exception.

UseConnectionPooling

This property enables connection pooling.

Data Type

bool

Default Value

false

Remarks

This property enables connection pooling. The default is false. See Connection Pooling for information on using connection pools.

UseDisplayTableNames

Boolean determining if the display names for the table should be used instead of the API names.

Data Type

bool

Default Value

false

Remarks

By default, the tables are exposed using the Internal Table Names.

If this property is set to true, the provider will expose the tables using the ServiceNow GUI Display Names.