Flows

The Itential Automation Services Application now includes Itential-built example Flows. These Flows provide an example of when you might want to trigger an Itential Automation within ServiceNow processes. They define the data that would be needed by the Itential actions. An advantage of considering the example Flows is seeing how Itential handles the different types of authentications within the Flows.

The Itential Flow examples also determine whether a MID Server has been defined for connectivity to Itential. If a MID Server has been provided, the Flow will use the Actions for using a MID Server and if a MID Server has not been provided the Flow will utilize the Action without the MID Server.

Since Flows are triggered within a business process, customers would need to create their own Flows which define when in their process they want to trigger Itential automations. They also need to define where in their data the necessary input to the Itential automation should come from.

Flow Designer

Flows contain business logic on when they are expected to run and what ServiceNow processes they should integrate with. As such, our expectation is that the Flows we provided are examples. These can be used to help you create new Flows that include your business logic and can pull the necessary data from the records within your process.

1. Click the All tab at the top left-hand corner, search for “Flow Designer”, and then select the Flow Designer option.
2. To see the example Flows that have been provided, click on Flows and then use the Search field to locate the application name starting with “Itential.”
3. To see the Actions that are available, click on Actions and then use the Search field for the application name starting with “Itential.”
   
   
   Figure 1: Flow Designer
   

Creating a New Flow

1. Click New in the Flow Designer and select Flow.
2. Define your Flow properties and click Submit.

Figure 2: Flow Properties

Add a Trigger

To define when your Flow will run, add a trigger. There are many ways to run a Flow within ServiceNow. Figure 3 shows how to set it up to run when a Change Request Record is Updated and the State is Implement, and the Short Description field starts with Itential.

Figure 3: Test Flow

Add Flow Variables

Itential Actions require certain input values. The Flow should provide these values. We found it easier to define and set these as Flow Variables.

Flow Variables need to be added to the flow before you can set them. Click the menu icon (3-dot ellipsis) at the top right and select Flow Variables.

Figure 4: Flow Variables

Add your Flow Variables using the “+” button. Provide the label, name, and type.

Figure 5: Flow Variable Input

Set Flow Variables

1. In the Actions section, click the “+” button to add an Action, Flow Logic, or Subflow.

2. Click Flow Logic and then select Set Flow Variables.

   Figure 6: Flow Logic
   

3. You can add the Flow Variables that you want to set. You can set some statically to values, and you can also set them to data from the Record that is running the Flow.

Figure 7: Set Flow Variables

Adding Actions

1. In the Actions section, you can click on the + to add an Action, Flow Logic, or Subflow.

2. Click Action, and then you can search for the Itential Automation Services to find all of the Itential Actions and select the Action that you want to use.

   Figure 8: Set Action
   

3. Once the Action is added, you should configure the input. Most Itential Actions take in similar inputs - and if you use the Itential Flows as examples, you will see that the Flow Variables are used as the source for the Action inputs.

Figure 9: Action Input

Returning Data to the ServiceNow Record

1. In the Actions section, you can click on the + to add an Action, Flow Logic, or Subflow.

2. Within Actions, there is a ServiceNow Core Action to Update Record. This Action updates a ServiceNow Record.

   Figure 10: Action Update
   

3. Configure this Action to update the fields you want in the ServiceNow Record that triggered the Flow.

Figure 11: Action Configuration