User Guide
- Olha Koloskova (Unlicensed)
- Liliia Ostrovska
- Yuliia Maidanova (Unlicensed)
Read a comprehensive step-by-step guide on how to use Power BI Connector for ServiceNow in our blog:
Before you start
To be able to use Power BI Connector for ServiceNow users should be assigned to specific roles by ServiceNow System Admin. If you don’t have access to the connector, please contact your System Admin and request to assign any of the following roles: Power BI Connector for ServiceNow: User roles.
Depending on roles assigned, users can access Power BI Connector from
Platform UI
Instance-Name.service-now.com/Service Portal main page
Instance-Name.service-now.com/spPower BI Connector page
Instance-Name.service-now.com/pbi_connector
How to create a data source in ServiceNow?
To create a Data Source, user should have PBI ADMIN or PBI EDITOR role.
From the Service Portal Instance-Name.service-now.com/sp:
Scroll down and find Data Sources table.
Click New button.
or
From the Power BI Connector pageInstance-Name.service-now.com/pbi_connector:
Click New button.
Fill in
Data Source name - any descriptive and short name
Descripton (optional) - any additional details about data source if needed
Set Rows limit - the numer of row imported into the Power BI, leave blank (by default) to export without limit
Set Use field labels for column names - set checkbox to allow change column Names in export results to Labels
Check the Disable editing for other users allows restricting data source editing for those who is not creator or not ServiceNow Admin.
Option is not selected by default and it means that any user can edit the data source.
If option is checked, but no Groups are selected it means that only Owner and ServiceNow Admin can edit the data source.
Selecting Group(s) of users will allow the editing of data source for all group members.
To add tables, click Add Source button and start to type the table name in the Select table field. Or alternatively, find the table from the list by scrolling the list down.
As soon as table is selected, click Add button. By default table fields are not selected, no filter is set and Use display value switchers (global and for each fields). Include any amount of tables and fields in your Data Source.
After adding the table, select the fields needed for the reports. Export any ServiceNow tables and fields (including Custom tables and fields).
Set Use display value as turn on if need export data in String format
To narrow down export results, a filter can be applied to the tables.
To configure a filter, click Filter icon and configure the conditions.
Add conditions and click on Run button. Filter is set.
In some cases, it can be a table that contains fields as a Reference type. Click on the “+“ icon and, in opened dialog, select referenced fields that need to be exported. Click OK to close the dialog.
NOTE: It became possible to export not only parent-field but also child fields from Power BI Connector version 1.3.0. For more details, navigate to Use a dot-walking mechanism to export Reference type data
To save the data source, click the Save button at the end of the page.
The Save button is inactive (during data source creation) if:
no *Name and Export config is entered
no *Name or Export config is entered
no fields are selected from at least one table
The Save button is inactive (during data source editing) if:
data source open but no edits have been made (it becomes active only when at least one change is made, such as changes in fields: add, remove referenced fields, check-uncheck use display value etc.)
The Save button is inactive (during data source creation from Report) if:
selected report doesn’t contain any fields
The Save button is inactive if a user doesn’t have permission for a table (yellow message indicates it).
Quick Action Panel
The Quick Actions panel has been recently updated for your convenience, and it now includes the following quick action options:
For PBI Admin users:
(1) Copy OData URL: copies the data source URL to the clipboard.
(2) Show Table(s) Schema Map: retrieves table(s) schema map for a specific data source.
(3) Preview: opens the preview dialog for a specific data source.
(4) Delete: permanently removes the data source from the data source list.
For PBI Non-Admin user:
(1) Copy OData URL: copies the data source URL to the clipboard.
(2) Copy Blank Query Template: copies a blank query template, including the access token.
(3) Preview: opens the preview dialog for a specific data source.
The Access column indicates whether you have access to all tables in the data sources. Exporting will fail unless permissions are granted.
How to import data into Microsoft Power BI?
From the Power BI Connector page Instance-Name.service-now.com/pbi_connector:
Scroll down and find Data Sources table.
Find the data source in the list using Search functionality. Pay attention that search is possible by Name or Description.
Select Actions (three dots) panel, and then select Copy OData URL.
In the Power BI Desktop
Click Get Data
Select OData feed
Insert copied URL
Click OK
In opened window
Switch to the Basic authentication
Enter your ServiceNow credentials
Click Connect
In Navigator preview
Select tables for loading by checking the checkboxes
Click Load
The import process will start. As soon as it’s done the user can start to build dashboards based on imported ServiceNow data.