ADO.NET Provider for ServiceNow

Build 25.0.9539

Establishing a Connection

Connecting to ServiceNow

All connections require the URL property, which specifies the base URL of your ServiceNow instance (for example: https://MyInstance12345.service-now.com/).

Use the exact URL assigned to your ServiceNow instance when it was created. This must be included in the connection string to successfully connect to the driver.

Authenticating to ServiceNow

ServiceNow supports Basic authentication, authentication via the OAuth standard, OAuth authorization via the JWT Bearer flow, OAuth authentication via the PASSWORD grant type, and authentication via a Single Sign-On (SSO) identity provider.

Basic

To use Basic authentication, you must provide your ServiceNow User and Password.

After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

  1. AuthScheme: BASIC.
  2. User: The authenticating BASIC user.
  3. Password: The authenticating user's password.
  4. URL: The base URL of the ServiceNow instance site. For example: https://MyInstance12345.service-now.com/.
  5. InitiateOAuth: OFF, to avoid entering the OAuth Authorization process.

OAuth

ServiceNow supports OAuth authentication for all situations where the user is not logging in via SSO and not using Basic authentication. To enable this authentication from all OAuth flows, you must set AuthScheme to OAuth, and you must create a custom OAuth application. In addition to these OAuth values, you must also specify the URL, User, and Password.

The following subsections describe how to authenticate to ServiceNow from three common authentication flows. For information about how to create a custom OAuth application, see Creating a Custom OAuth Application.

For a complete list of connection string properties available in ServiceNow, see Connection.

Desktop Applications

To authenticate with the credentials for a custom OAuth application, you must get and refresh the OAuth access token. After you do that, you are ready to connect.

Get and refresh the OAuth access token:

When you connect, the provider opens ServiceNow's OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application.

After you grant permissions to the application, the provider completes the OAuth process:

  1. The provider obtains an access token from ServiceNow and uses it to request data.
  2. The OAuth values are saved in the path specified in OAuthSettingsLocation. These values persist across connections.

When the access token expires, the provider refreshes it automatically.

Web Applications

Authenticating via the web requires you to create and register a custom OAuth application with ServiceNow, as described in Creating a Custom OAuth Application. You can then use the provider to get and manage the OAuth token values.

This section describes how to get the OAuth access token, how to have the driver refresh the OAuth access token automatically, and how to refresh the OAuth access token manually.

Get the OAuth access token:

  1. To obtain the OAuthAccessToken, set the following connection properties:
    • OAuthClientId: The client Id that was assigned when you created your custom OAuth application.
    • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret that was assigned when you created your custom OAuth application.

  2. Call stored procedures to complete the OAuth exchange:
    • Call the GetOAuthAuthorizationURL stored procedure. Set the AuthMode input to WEB and the CallbackURL to the Redirect URI you specified when you configured your custom OAuth application. The stored procedure returns the URL to the OAuth endpoint.
    • Navigate to the URL that the stored procedure returned in Step 1. Log in and authorize the web application. You are redirected back to the callback URL.
    • Call the GetOAuthAccessToken stored procedure. Set the AuthMode input to WEB.
    • In the query string of the redirect URI, set the Verifier input to the code parameter.

After you obtain the access and refresh tokens, you can connect to data and refresh the OAuth access token automatically.

Automatic refresh of the OAuth access token:

To have the provider automatically refresh the OAuth access token, do the following:

  1. Before connecting to data for the first time, set the following connection parameters:
  2. On subsequent data connections, set the following:

Manual refresh of the OAuth access token:

The only value needed to manually refresh the OAuth access token is the OAuth refresh token.

  1. To manually refresh the OAuthAccessToken after the ExpiresIn period (returned by GetOAuthAccessToken) has elapsed, call the RefreshOAuthAccessToken stored procedure.
  2. Set the following connection properties:

    • OAuthClientId: The Client Id ithat was assigned when you created your custom OAuth application.
    • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret that was assigned when you created your custom OAuth application.

  3. Call RefreshOAuthAccessToken with OAuthRefreshToken set to the OAuth refresh token returned by GetOAuthAccessToken.
  4. After the new tokens have been retrieved, set the OAuthAccessToken property to the value returned by RefreshOAuthAccessToken. This opens a new connection.

Store the OAuth refresh token so that you can use it to manually refresh the OAuth access token after it has expired.

Headless Machines

If you need to log in to a resource that resides on a headless machine, you must authenticate on another device that has an internet browser. You can do this in either of the following ways:

  • Option 1: Obtain the OAuthVerifier value.
  • Option 2: Install the provider on a machine with an internet browser and transfer the OAuth authentication values after you authenticate through the usual browser-based flow.

After you execute either Option 1 or Option 2, configure the driver to automatically refresh the access token on the headless machine.

Option 1: Obtaining and Exchanging a Verifier Code

To obtain a verifier code, you must authenticate at the OAuth authorization URL. Do the following:

  1. Authenticate from the machine with an internet browser, and obtain the OAuthVerifier connection property.

    Set the following properties:

    • InitiateOAuth: OFF.
    • OAuthClientId: The client Id that was assigned when you created your custom OAuth application.
    • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret that was assigned when you created your custom OAuth application.

  2. Call the GetOAuthAuthorizationURL stored procedure. The stored procedure returns the CallbackURL established when the custom OAuth application was registered. (See Creating a Custom OAuth Application.)

    Copy this URL and paste it into a new browser tab.

  3. Log in and grant permissions to the provider. The OAuth application redirects you the redirect URI, with a parameter called code appended. Note the value of this parameter; you will need it later, to configure the OAuthVerifier connection property.

  4. Exchange the OAuth verifier code for OAuth refresh and access tokens. On the headless machine, set the following connection properties to obtain the OAuth authentication values:

    • InitiateOAuth: REFRESH.
    • OAuthVerifier: The noted verifier code (the value of the code parameter in the redirect URI).
    • OAuthSettingsLocation: Persist the encrypted OAuth authentication values to the specified file.
    • OAuthClientId: The client Id that was assigned when you created your custom OAuth application.
    • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret that was assigned when you created your custom OAuth application.

  5. Test the connection to generate the OAuth settings file.

  6. After you re-set the following properties, you are ready to connect:

    • InitiateOAuth: REFRESH.
    • OAuthSettingsLocation: The file containing the encrypted OAuth authentication values. To enable the automatic refreshing of the access token, be sure that this file gives read and write permissions to the provider.
    • OAuthClientId: The client Id that was assigned when you created your custom OAuth application.
    • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret that was assigned when you created your custom OAuth application.

Option 2: Transferring OAuth Settings

Prior to connecting on a headless machine, you must install and create a connection with the driver on a device that supports an internet browser. Set the connection properties as described above in "Desktop Applications".

After completing the instructions in "Desktop Applications", the resulting authentication values are encrypted and written to the path specified by OAuthSettingsLocation. The default filename is OAuthSettings.txt.

Test the connection to generate the OAuth settings file, then copy the OAuth settings file to your headless machine.

To connect to data via the headless machine, set the following connection properties:

  • InitiateOAuth: REFRESH
  • OAuthSettingsLocation: The path to the OAuth settings file you copied from the machine with the browser. To enable automatic refreshing of the access token, ensure that this file gives read and write permissions to the provider.
  • OAuthClientId: The client Id assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
  • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.

OAuth JWT (JWT Bearer)

The OAuth 2.0 JWT Bearer flow enables authentication via private user key. The provider signs a JWT with the user's private key and exchanges it for an access token at your instance's token endpoint.

To enable OAuth JWT, some configuration needs to be done at the ServiceNow server. Once that is complete, configuration properties are set for the provider.

ServiceNow Configuration
At the ServiceNow administration server, do the following:

  1. Create a JWT API endpoint and OAuth Application as described in ServiceNow Docs: Create a JWT API Endpoint.
  2. Upload your public key in ServiceNow and create a JWT verifier map that references the public key and associates it with the created OAuth App.
  3. Record the values you configure for issuer (iss), and subject (sub). The issuer claim is recomanded to match the value of the OAuthClientId, but if you have added a custom validation in your OAuth app set its value to the predefined value. The subject claim should be a user identifier, such as the user's mail that you want to associate the token with.
  4. (Optional:) To prevent replay attacks, enable JTI verification at the endpoint.

Driver configuration
When you connect, the provider builds and signs a JWT using your certificate and posts it to your instance's token endpoint (for example, https://MyInstance12345.service-now.com/oauth_token.do) with grant_type=urn:ietf:params:oauth:grant-type:jwt-bearer. The returned access token is then used for API requests. When the token expires, the provider automatically gets a new token.

Required properties:

  • AuthScheme: OAuthJWT
  • URL: The base URL of the ServiceNow instance site. For example: https://MyInstance12345.service-now.com/.
  • OAuthClientId: The clientId.
  • OAuthClientSecret: The clientSecret.
  • OAuthJWTCert: Supplies the name of the client certificate's JWT Certificate store or the certificate file path based on the value specified in OAuthJWTCertType property.
  • OAuthJWTSubject: The sub (subject) claim. Should be a user identifier, the value should depend on the field selected from the user (sys_user) table in the OAuth configuration.

Optional properties:

  • OAuthJWTCertType: Identifies the type of key store containing the JWT Certificate.
  • OAuthJWTCertPassword: If the certificate/key is password-protected, supply the password.
  • OAuthJWTCertSubject: Identifies the subject of the OAuth JWT certificate used to locate a matching certificate in the store.
  • OAuthJWTIssuer: The iss (issuer) claim. It must match the value of the OAuthClientId property if you haven't added a custom validation in your OAuth app.
  • OAuthJWTHeaders: A collection of extra headers to include in the JWT. Here you should include the value of the kid of the JWT verifier map as follows: kid=mZYYrKx0aIkHlkmegY6cXhxC7hjg605v_dev
  • JTIClaimName: Override the claim name used for JWT uniqueness if your instance does not use jti.
  • OAuthJWTEncryption: The encryption algorithm to be used in JWT authentication.
  • OAuthJWTEncryptionKey: The key used for HMAC signatures with JWT tokens.
  • OAuthJWTValidityTime: How long the JWT should remain valid, in seconds.

PASSWORD Grant Type

When there is a trust relationship between the user and the application, the user can authenticate from the Desktop of Web via the PASSWORD grant type.

To authenticate via the PASSWORD grant type, set these properties:

  • AuthScheme: OAuthPassword.
  • InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH. This avoids repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken connection property.
  • OAuthClientId: The clientId that was assigned when you created your custom OAuth application..
  • OAuthClientSecret: The client secret that was assigned when you created your custom OAuth application.
  • Username: The authenticating user's username.
  • Password: The authenticating user's password.
  • URL: The base URL of your ServiceNow instance site.

When you connect, the provider completes the OAuth process:

  1. Extracts the access token from the CallbackURL.
  2. Obtains a new access token when the old one expires.
  3. Saves OAuth values along with geolocation in OAuthSettingsLocation, which persists across connections.

Single Sign-On Identity Providers

ServiceNow supports single sign-on (SSO) authentication through ADFS, Okta, OneLogin, and PingFederate.

ADFS

To connect to ADFS, set these properties:

To authenticate to ADFS, set these SSOProperties:

  • RelyingParty: The value of the ADFS server's Relying Party Identifier.

Example connection string: 

AuthScheme=ADFS;User=username;Password=password;SSOLoginURL='https://sts.company.com';SSOProperties='RelyingParty=https://saml.service-now.com';Url=https://MyInstance12345.service-now.com/;

ADFS Integrated

The ADFS Integrated flow indicates you are connecting with the currently logged in Windows user credentials. To use the ADFS Integrated flow, do not specify the User and Password, but otherwise follow the same steps in the ADFS guide above.

Okta

To connect to Okta, set these properties:

If you are using a trusted application or proxy that overrides the Okta client request OR configuring MFA, you must use combinations of SSOProperties to authenticate using Okta. Set any of the following, as applicable:

  • APIToken: When authenticating a user via a trusted application or proxy that overrides the Okta client request context, set this to the API Token the customer created from the Okta organization.
  • MFAType: If you have configured the MFA flow, set this to one of the following supported types: OktaVerify, Email, or SMS.
  • MFAPassCode: If you have configured the MFA flow, set this to a valid passcode.
    If you set this to empty or an invalid value, the provider issues a one-time password challenge to your device or email. After the passcode is received, reopen the connection where the retrieved one-time password value is set to the MFAPassCode connection property.
  • MFARememberDevice: True by default. Okta supports remembering devices when MFA is required. If remembering devices is allowed according to the configured authentication policies, the provider sends a device token to extend MFA authentication lifetime. If you do not want MFA to be remembered, set this variable to False.

Example connection string: 

AuthScheme=Okta;SSOLoginURL='https://example.okta.com/home/appType/0bg4ivz6cJRZgCz5d6/46';User=oktaUserName;Password=oktaPassword;Url=https://MyInstance12345.service-now.com/;

OneLogin

To connect to OneLogin, set these properties:

  • AuthScheme: OneLogin.
  • User: The authenticating OneLogin user.
  • Password: The authenticating OneLogin user's password.

To authenticate to OneLogin, set these SSOProperties:

  • OAuthClientId: The OAuthClientId, which can be obtained by selecting Developers > API Credentials > Credential > ClientId.
  • OAuthClientSecret: The OAuthClientSecret, which can be obtained by selecting Developers > API Credentials > Credential > ClientSecret.
  • Subdomain: The subdomain of the OneLogin user accessing the SSO application. For example, if your OneLogin URL is splinkly.onelogin.com, splinkly is the subdomain value.
  • AppId: The Id of the SSO application.
  • Region (optional): The region your OneLogin account resides in. Legal values are US (default) or EU.

The following example connection string uses an API key to connect to OneLogin: 

AuthScheme=OneLogin;User=OneLoginUserName;Password=OneLoginPassword;SSOProperties='OAuthClientID=3fc8394584f153ce3b7924d9cd4f686443a52b;OAuthClientSecret=ca9257fd5cc3277abb5818cea28c06fe9b3b285d73d06;Subdomain=OneLoginSubDomain;AppId=1433920';Url=https://MyInstance12345.service-now.com/;

PingFederate

To connect to PingFederate, set these properties:

  • AuthScheme: PingFederate.
  • User: The authenticating PingFederate user.
  • Password: The authenticating PingFederate user's password.
  • SSOLoginURL: The SSO provider's login URL.
  • AWSRoleARN (optional): If you have multiple role ARNs, specify the one you want to use for authorization.
  • AWSPrincipalARN (optional): If you have multiple principal ARNs, specify the one you want to use for authorization.
  • SSOProperties (optional): To include your username and password as an authorization header in requests to Amazon S3, set RSBServiceNow_p_AuthScheme to Basic.

To enable mutual SSL authentication for SSOLoginURL, the WS-Trust STS endpoint, configure these SSOProperties:

Example connection string: 

AuthScheme=PingFederate;URL='https://dev103586.service-now.com';SSOLoginUrl='https://mycustomserver.com:9033/idp/sts.wst';User=admin;Password=PassValue123;

Copyright (c) 2026 CData Software, Inc. - All rights reserved.
Build 25.0.9539