SWIM Closed Loop Automation

About SWIM closed loop automation

You can use closed loop automation to manage software images (SWIM) between Catalyst Center and ServiceNow. With closed-loop automation, you configure the provisioning of software device images in Catalyst Center. This configuration information is communicated directly from Catalyst Center to ServiceNow as an immediate or scheduled change request. The ServiceNow administrator reviews the change request and approves or rejects it in ServiceNow. The acceptance or rejection of the change request is communicated back to Catalyst Center.

After receiving an approved change request from ServiceNow, Catalyst Center updates the software either immediately or at its scheduled time.

After Catalyst Center successfully performs the software update, it sends a task completion notification to ServiceNow. If the software update fails, it sends a task failure notification to ServiceNow. You can then perform the software update manually in Catalyst Center.


Note

If the SWIM provisioning is stopped by the user in Catalyst Center during this process, a task termination notification is sent to ServiceNow.

Ensure that the Cisco Catalyst app (version 2.2.0) is installed in the ServiceNow instance. Complete these steps to enable SWIM closed loop automation between Catalyst Center and ServiceNow:

  1. Review the requirements to ensure that the prerequisites for this feature have been met. See SWIM closed loop automation requirements.

  2. Review the SWIM closed loop automation workflow to ensure that the required Catalyst Center admin and ServiceNow admin tasks are done for this feature. See SWIM closed loop automation workflow.

SWIM closed loop automation requirements

This table lists the requirements for SWIM closed loop automation.

Table 1. SWIM closed loop automation requirements
Software product, app, or procedure Requirement

Catalyst Center

The latest Catalyst Center release.

ServiceNow

Any compatible version of ServiceNow mentioned on the ServiceNow Store website.

Go to the ServiceNow Store website:

https://store.servicenow.com/sn_appstore_store.do#!/store/application/03eb0f4ddbf6ba00f27978b5ae96197b/2.2.0

Cisco Catalyst app

Cisco Catalyst app (version 2.2.0)

This app is available through the ServiceNow website:

https://store.servicenow.com/sn_appstore_store.do#!/store/application/03eb0f4ddbf6ba00f27978b5ae96197b/2.2.0

The Cisco Catalyst app must be installed in your ServiceNow instance by a ServiceNow administrator. The Cisco Catalyst app versions 2.1.1 and 2.0.1 are compatible with the Tokyo and Utah releases of ServiceNow. To use the Vancouver release of ServiceNow, you must first upgrade the Cisco Catalyst app to the latest version, 2.2.0.

Catalyst Center-to-ServiceNow ITSM integration

See Catalyst Center integration with ServiceNow using the Cisco Catalyst app.

SWIM closed loop automation workflow

This table describes the SWIM closed loop automation workflow between Catalyst Center and ServiceNow.

Table 2. SWIM closed loop automation workflow
Step Description

Step 1

The Catalyst Center admin configures the Image Repository to prepare for the provisioning of devices in the network.

Note

 

See the Manage Software Images chapter in the Cisco Catalyst Center User Guide for information about setting up the Image Repository, as well as to review the software image provisioning process.

Step 2

The Catalyst Center admin distributes the software image to one or more devices at the present time or schedules this activity for a later time.

Note

 

Before this step is done, ensure that the Automation Events for ITSM (ServiceNow) bundle is configured and activated.

  • From the Catalyst Center home page, the admin clicks Provision> Inventory.

  • From the Focus drop-down list, the admin selects Software Images and selects the device with the image to upgrade.

  • From the Actions drop-down list, the admin chooses Software Images > Update Image and does these tasks:

    • Distribute: Clicks Now to start the distribution immediately or clicks Later to schedule the distribution at a specific time.

    • Clicks Next.

    • Activate: Clicks Now to start the activation immediately or clicks Later to schedule the activation at a specific time.

    • Confirm: Clicks Confirm to confirm the update.

    Figure 1. Cisco Catalyst Assurance provision
    Figure 27: Assurance provision paging, showing global inventory.

    Note

     

    See the "Manage Software Images" chapter in the Cisco Catalyst Center User Guide for detailed information about this step.

Step 3

After a software image distribution is created in Catalyst Center a SWIM event is generated and sent directly to the ServiceNow ITSM as a change request ticket. This process uses APIs from the Cisco Catalyst app. The initial status of the change request ticket is New.

The SWIM event appears in the ServiceNow GUI in the ServiceNow Change Requests table.

Figure 2. ServiceNow Change Requests
Figure 28: ServiceNow change requests

Step 4

In the Change Requests table, the ServiceNow admin clicks the change request number (identifier) to open and review its status and data. In the ServiceNow GUI, the admin can edit the change request. For example, the admin can change the State from 'New' to 'Scheduled' and enter 'Change Management' for the Assignment group. The ServiceNow admin can also identify the SWIM change request with information in the Short Description field.

Figure 3. Change Request
Figure 29: Change request on ServiceNow

Step 5

The ServiceNow admin now clicks the Cisco Catalyst tab in the change request. In this tab, you can view important additional data synchronized from Catalyst Center to ServiceNow.

Figure 4. Cisco Catalyst tab
Figure 30: Cisco DNA tab under change request

Step 6

The ServiceNow admin now either approves or rejects the change request ticket in the ServiceNow GUI.

In the Cisco Catalyst tab, the ServiceNow admin clicks the Approval Status field and then clicks either Approved to approve the request or Rejected to reject the request.

Note

 

Before the change request is executed, it must be approved in ServiceNow. Only after an approval in ServiceNow will the change request be executed in Catalyst Center.

Figure 5. Cisco Catalyst Approval Status field
Figure 31: Request change approval status field.

Step 7

After the ServiceNow admin approves the ticket and the status of the change request is changed to Implement, a notification is sent to Catalyst Center. If the ticket is rejected, the update is sent to Catalyst Center in Scheduled state and the ServiceNow ticket is automatically canceled.

Step 8

After a successful software image update in Catalyst Center, a notification (task completed) is sent back to ServiceNow. ServiceNow then closes the change request ticket. The change request ticket closure is done through the use of APIs from the Cisco Catalyst app.

Note

 

If a software update fails, ServiceNow reports the failure so that the ServiceNow admin can manually take action on the change request ticket. If a software update is terminated, the change request ticket is canceled in ServiceNow. Both failed and terminated software image updates are reported through APIs from the Cisco Catalyst app.

Step 9

The Catalyst Center admin can review the SWIM event by choosing Runtime Dashboard > Event Summary.

Note

 

By clicking the individual events in the GUI window, the admin accesses additional GUI windows that permit direct access to the event in ServiceNow.

Figure 6. Event Summary
Figure 32: Event summary page on runtime dashboard.

Step 10

The Catalyst Center admin clicks an event name (link) to view additional detailed data.

Figure 7. Event history
Figure 33: BGP Tunnel Connectivity event history page.

Step 11

The Catalyst Center admin clicks an event ID number (link) to view only data associated with that specific event.

Figure 8. Event ID data
Figure 34: Event ID data under BGP Tunnel Connectivity

Step 12

The Catalyst Center admin clicks the ITSM Link to return to the ServiceNow Service Management GUI and specific incident.

Figure 9. ServiceNow Incident
Figure 35: ServiceNow incident.