ServiceNow audit logs

Supported in:

Google secops SIEM

This document explains how to ingest ServiceNow audit logs to Google Security Operations using multiple methods.

Option A: GCS with Cloud Run function

This method uses a Cloud Run function to periodically query the ServiceNow REST API for audit logs and store them in a GCS bucket. Google Security Operations then collects the logs from the GCS bucket.

Before you begin

Ensure that you have the following prerequisites:

A Google SecOps instance
Privileged access to ServiceNow tenant or API with appropriate roles (typically admin or user with read access to sys_audit table)
A GCP project with Cloud Storage API enabled
Permissions to create and manage GCS buckets
Permissions to manage IAM policies on GCS buckets
Permissions to create Cloud Run services, Pub/Sub topics, and Cloud Scheduler jobs

Collect ServiceNow prerequisites (IDs, API keys, org IDs, tokens)

Sign in to the ServiceNow Admin Console.
Go to System Security > Users and Groups > Users.
Create a new user or select an existing user with appropriate permissions to access audit logs.
Copy and save in a secure location the following details:
- Username
- Password
- Instance URL(for example, https://instance.service-now.com )
Note: The user must have read access to the sys_audit table. By default, this requires the admin role. For non-admin users, you must create custom ACLs to grant read access to sys_audit.

Configure ACL for non-admin users

If you want to use a non-admin user account, you must create a custom Access Control List (ACL) to grant read access to the sys_audit table:

Sign in to the ServiceNow Admin Consoleas an administrator.
Go to System Security > Access Control (ACL).
Click New.
Provide the following configuration details:
- Type: Select record.
- Operation: Select read.
- Name: Enter sys_audit .
- Description: Enter Allow read access to sys_audit table for Chronicle integration .
In the Requires rolefield, add the role assigned to your integration user (for example, chronicle_reader ).
Click Submit.
Verify the ACL is active and the user can query the sys_audit table.

Create Google Cloud Storage bucket

Go to the Google Cloud Console .
Select your project or create a new one.
In the navigation menu, go to Cloud Storage > Buckets.
Click Create bucket.

Provide the following configuration details:

Setting	Value
Name your bucket	Enter a globally unique name (for example, `servicenow-audit-logs` )
Location type	Choose based on your needs (Region, Dual-region, Multi-region)
Location	Select the location (for example, `us-central1` )
Storage class	Standard (recommended for frequently accessed logs)
Access control	Uniform (recommended)
Protection tools	Optional: Enable object versioning or retention policy

Click Create.

Create service account for Cloud Run function

The Cloud Run function needs a service account with permissions to write to GCS bucket and be invoked by Pub/Sub.

Create service account

In the GCP Console, go to IAM & Admin > Service Accounts.
Click Create Service Account.
Provide the following configuration details:
- Service account name: Enter servicenow-audit-collector-sa .
- Service account description: Enter Service account for Cloud Run function to collect ServiceNow audit logs .
Click Create and Continue.
In the Grant this service account access to projectsection, add the following roles:
1. Click Select a role.
2. Search for and select Storage Object Admin.
3. Click + Add another role.
4. Search for and select Cloud Run Invoker.
5. Click + Add another role.
6. Search for and select Cloud Functions Invoker.
Click Continue.
Click Done.

These roles are required for:

Storage Object Admin: Write logs to GCS bucket and manage state files
Cloud Run Invoker: Allow Pub/Sub to invoke the function
Cloud Functions Invoker: Allow function invocation

Grant IAM permissions on GCS bucket

Grant the service account write permissions on the GCS bucket:

Go to Cloud Storage > Buckets.
Click your bucket name.
Go to the Permissionstab.
Click Grant access.
Provide the following configuration details:
- Add principals: Enter the service account email (for example, servicenow-audit-collector-sa@PROJECT_ID.iam.gserviceaccount.com ).
- Assign roles: Select Storage Object Admin.
Click Save.

Create Pub/Sub topic

Create a Pub/Sub topic that Cloud Scheduler will publish to and the Cloud Run function will subscribe to.

In the GCP Console, go to Pub/Sub > Topics.
Click Create topic.
Provide the following configuration details:
- Topic ID: Enter servicenow-audit-trigger .
- Leave other settings as default.
Click Create.

Create Cloud Run function to collect logs

The Cloud Run function is triggered by Pub/Sub messages from Cloud Scheduler to fetch logs from ServiceNow API and writes them to GCS.

In the GCP Console, go to Cloud Run.
Click Create service.
Select Function(use an inline editor to create a function).

In the Configuresection, provide the following configuration details:

Setting	Value
Service name	`servicenow-audit-collector`
Region	Select region matching your GCS bucket (for example, `us-central1` )
Runtime	Select Python 3.12or later

In the Trigger (optional)section:
1. Click + Add trigger.
2. Select Cloud Pub/Sub.
3. In Select a Cloud Pub/Sub topic, choose the Pub/Sub topic ( servicenow-audit-trigger ).
4. Click Save.
In the Authenticationsection:
1. Select Require authentication.
2. Check Identity and Access Management (IAM).
Note: Pub/Sub automatically handles authentication when invoking the function.
Scroll down and expand Containers, Networking, Security.
Go to the Securitytab:
- Service account: Select the service account ( servicenow-audit-collector-sa ).

Go to the Containerstab:

Click Variables & Secrets.
Click + Add variablefor each environment variable:

Variable Name	Example Value	Description
`GCS_BUCKET`	`servicenow-audit-logs`	GCS bucket name
`GCS_PREFIX`	`audit-logs`	Prefix for log files
`STATE_KEY`	`audit-logs/state.json`	State file path
`API_BASE_URL`	`https://instance.service-now.com`	ServiceNow instance URL
`API_USERNAME`	`your-username`	ServiceNow username
`API_PASSWORD`	`your-password`	ServiceNow password
`PAGE_SIZE`	`1000`	Records per page
`MAX_PAGES`	`1000`	Maximum pages to fetch

In the Variables & Secretssection, scroll down to Requests:
- Request timeout: Enter 600 seconds (10 minutes).
Go to the Settingstab:
- In the Resourcessection:
  - Memory: Select 512 MiBor higher.
  - CPU: Select 1.
In the Revision scalingsection:
- Minimum number of instances: Enter 0 .
- Maximum number of instances: Enter 100 (or adjust based on expected load).
Click Create.
Wait for the service to be created (1-2 minutes).
After the service is created, the inline code editoropens automatically.

Add function code

Enter mainin the Entry pointfield.

In the inline code editor, create two files:

First file: main.py:

  import 
  
 functions_framework 
 from 
  
 google.cloud 
  
 import 
  storage 
 
 import 
  
 json 
 import 
  
 os 
 import 
  
 urllib3 
 from 
  
 datetime 
  
 import 
 datetime 
 , 
 timezone 
 , 
 timedelta 
 import 
  
 time 
 import 
  
 base64 
 # Initialize HTTP client with timeouts 
 http 
 = 
 urllib3 
 . 
 PoolManager 
 ( 
 timeout 
 = 
 urllib3 
 . 
 Timeout 
 ( 
 connect 
 = 
 5.0 
 , 
 read 
 = 
 30.0 
 ), 
 retries 
 = 
 False 
 , 
 ) 
 # Initialize Storage client 
 storage_client 
 = 
  storage 
 
 . 
  Client 
 
 () 
 # Environment variables 
 GCS_BUCKET 
 = 
 os 
 . 
 environ 
 . 
 get 
 ( 
 'GCS_BUCKET' 
 ) 
 GCS_PREFIX 
 = 
 os 
 . 
 environ 
 . 
 get 
 ( 
 'GCS_PREFIX' 
 , 
 'audit-logs' 
 ) 
 STATE_KEY 
 = 
 os 
 . 
 environ 
 . 
 get 
 ( 
 'STATE_KEY' 
 , 
 'audit-logs/state.json' 
 ) 
 API_BASE 
 = 
 os 
 . 
 environ 
 . 
 get 
 ( 
 'API_BASE_URL' 
 ) 
 USERNAME 
 = 
 os 
 . 
 environ 
 . 
 get 
 ( 
 'API_USERNAME' 
 ) 
 PASSWORD 
 = 
 os 
 . 
 environ 
 . 
 get 
 ( 
 'API_PASSWORD' 
 ) 
 PAGE_SIZE 
 = 
 int 
 ( 
 os 
 . 
 environ 
 . 
 get 
 ( 
 'PAGE_SIZE' 
 , 
 '1000' 
 )) 
 MAX_PAGES 
 = 
 int 
 ( 
 os 
 . 
 environ 
 . 
 get 
 ( 
 'MAX_PAGES' 
 , 
 '1000' 
 )) 
 def 
  
 parse_datetime 
 ( 
 value 
 : 
 str 
 ) 
 - 
> datetime 
 : 
  
 """Parse ServiceNow datetime string to datetime object.""" 
 # ServiceNow format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS 
 try 
 : 
 return 
 datetime 
 . 
 strptime 
 ( 
 value 
 , 
 '%Y-%m- 
 %d 
 %H:%M:%S' 
 ) 
 . 
 replace 
 ( 
 tzinfo 
 = 
 timezone 
 . 
 utc 
 ) 
 except 
 ValueError 
 : 
 # Try ISO format as fallback 
 if 
 value 
 . 
 endswith 
 ( 
 "Z" 
 ): 
 value 
 = 
 value 
 [: 
 - 
 1 
 ] 
 + 
 "+00:00" 
 return 
 datetime 
 . 
 fromisoformat 
 ( 
 value 
 ) 
 @functions_framework 
 . 
 cloud_event 
 def 
  
 main 
 ( 
 cloud_event 
 ): 
  
 """ 
 Cloud Run function triggered by Pub/Sub to fetch ServiceNow audit logs and write to GCS. 
 Args: 
 cloud_event: CloudEvent object containing Pub/Sub message 
 """ 
 if 
 not 
 all 
 ([ 
 GCS_BUCKET 
 , 
 API_BASE 
 , 
 USERNAME 
 , 
 PASSWORD 
 ]): 
 print 
 ( 
 'Error: Missing required environment variables' 
 ) 
 return 
 try 
 : 
 # Get GCS bucket 
 bucket 
 = 
 storage_client 
 . 
  bucket 
 
 ( 
 GCS_BUCKET 
 ) 
 # Load state 
 state 
 = 
 load_state 
 ( 
 bucket 
 , 
 STATE_KEY 
 ) 
 # Determine time window 
 now 
 = 
 datetime 
 . 
 now 
 ( 
 timezone 
 . 
 utc 
 ) 
 last_time 
 = 
 None 
 if 
 isinstance 
 ( 
 state 
 , 
 dict 
 ) 
 and 
  state 
 
 . 
 get 
 ( 
 "last_event_time" 
 ): 
 try 
 : 
 last_time 
 = 
 parse_datetime 
 ( 
 state 
 [ 
 "last_event_time" 
 ]) 
 # Overlap by 2 minutes to catch any delayed events 
 last_time 
 = 
 last_time 
 - 
 timedelta 
 ( 
 minutes 
 = 
 2 
 ) 
 except 
 Exception 
 as 
 e 
 : 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 "Warning: Could not parse last_event_time: 
 { 
 e 
 } 
 " 
 ) 
 if 
 last_time 
 is 
 None 
 : 
 last_time 
 = 
 now 
 - 
 timedelta 
 ( 
 hours 
 = 
 24 
 ) 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 "Fetching logs from 
 { 
 last_time 
 . 
 strftime 
 ( 
 '%Y-%m- 
 %d 
 %H:%M:%S' 
 ) 
 } 
 to 
 { 
 now 
 . 
 strftime 
 ( 
 '%Y-%m- 
 %d 
 %H:%M:%S' 
 ) 
 } 
 " 
 ) 
 # Fetch logs 
 records 
 , 
 newest_event_time 
 = 
 fetch_logs 
 ( 
 api_base 
 = 
 API_BASE 
 , 
 username 
 = 
 USERNAME 
 , 
 password 
 = 
 PASSWORD 
 , 
 start_time 
 = 
 last_time 
 , 
 end_time 
 = 
 now 
 , 
 page_size 
 = 
 PAGE_SIZE 
 , 
 max_pages 
 = 
 MAX_PAGES 
 , 
 ) 
 if 
 not 
 records 
 : 
 print 
 ( 
 "No new log records found." 
 ) 
 save_state 
 ( 
 bucket 
 , 
 STATE_KEY 
 , 
 now 
 . 
 strftime 
 ( 
 '%Y-%m- 
 %d 
 %H:%M:%S' 
 )) 
 return 
 # Write to GCS as NDJSON 
 timestamp 
 = 
 now 
 . 
 strftime 
 ( 
 '%Y%m 
 %d 
 _%H%M%S' 
 ) 
 object_key 
 = 
 f 
 " 
 { 
 GCS_PREFIX 
 } 
 /logs_ 
 { 
 timestamp 
 } 
 .ndjson" 
 blob 
 = 
 bucket 
 . 
 blob 
 ( 
 object_key 
 ) 
 ndjson 
 = 
 ' 
 \n 
 ' 
 . 
 join 
 ([ 
 json 
 . 
 dumps 
 ( 
 record 
 , 
 ensure_ascii 
 = 
 False 
 ) 
 for 
 record 
 in 
 records 
 ]) 
 + 
 ' 
 \n 
 ' 
 blob 
 . 
  upload_from_string 
 
 ( 
 ndjson 
 , 
 content_type 
 = 
 'application/x-ndjson' 
 ) 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 "Wrote 
 { 
 len 
 ( 
 records 
 ) 
 } 
 records to gs:// 
 { 
 GCS_BUCKET 
 } 
 / 
 { 
 object_key 
 } 
 " 
 ) 
 # Update state with newest event time 
 if 
 newest_event_time 
 : 
 save_state 
 ( 
 bucket 
 , 
 STATE_KEY 
 , 
 newest_event_time 
 ) 
 else 
 : 
 save_state 
 ( 
 bucket 
 , 
 STATE_KEY 
 , 
 now 
 . 
 strftime 
 ( 
 '%Y-%m- 
 %d 
 %H:%M:%S' 
 )) 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 "Successfully processed 
 { 
 len 
 ( 
 records 
 ) 
 } 
 records" 
 ) 
 except 
 Exception 
 as 
 e 
 : 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 'Error processing logs: 
 { 
 str 
 ( 
 e 
 ) 
 } 
 ' 
 ) 
 raise 
 def 
  
 load_state 
 ( 
 bucket 
 , 
 key 
 ): 
  
 """Load state from GCS.""" 
 try 
 : 
 blob 
 = 
 bucket 
 . 
 blob 
 ( 
 key 
 ) 
 if 
 blob 
 . 
 exists 
 (): 
 state_data 
 = 
 blob 
 . 
  download_as_text 
 
 () 
 return 
 json 
 . 
 loads 
 ( 
 state_data 
 ) 
 except 
 Exception 
 as 
 e 
 : 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 "Warning: Could not load state: 
 { 
 e 
 } 
 " 
 ) 
 return 
 {} 
 def 
  
 save_state 
 ( 
 bucket 
 , 
 key 
 , 
 last_event_time 
 : 
 str 
 ): 
  
 """Save the last event timestamp to GCS state file.""" 
 try 
 : 
 state 
 = 
 { 
 'last_event_time' 
 : 
 last_event_time 
 } 
 blob 
 = 
 bucket 
 . 
 blob 
 ( 
 key 
 ) 
 blob 
 . 
  upload_from_string 
 
 ( 
 json 
 . 
 dumps 
 ( 
 state 
 , 
 indent 
 = 
 2 
 ), 
 content_type 
 = 
 'application/json' 
 ) 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 "Saved state: last_event_time= 
 { 
 last_event_time 
 } 
 " 
 ) 
 except 
 Exception 
 as 
 e 
 : 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 "Warning: Could not save state: 
 { 
 e 
 } 
 " 
 ) 
 def 
  
 fetch_logs 
 ( 
 api_base 
 : 
 str 
 , 
 username 
 : 
 str 
 , 
 password 
 : 
 str 
 , 
 start_time 
 : 
 datetime 
 , 
 end_time 
 : 
 datetime 
 , 
 page_size 
 : 
 int 
 , 
 max_pages 
 : 
 int 
 ): 
  
 """ 
 Fetch logs from ServiceNow sys_audit table with pagination and rate limiting. 
 Args: 
 api_base: ServiceNow instance URL 
 username: ServiceNow username 
 password: ServiceNow password 
 start_time: Start time for log query 
 end_time: End time for log query 
 page_size: Number of records per page 
 max_pages: Maximum total pages to fetch 
 Returns: 
 Tuple of (records list, newest_event_time string) 
 """ 
 # Clean up base URL 
 base_url 
 = 
 api_base 
 . 
 rstrip 
 ( 
 '/' 
 ) 
 endpoint 
 = 
 f 
 " 
 { 
 base_url 
 } 
 /api/now/table/sys_audit" 
 # Encode credentials using UTF-8 
 auth_string 
 = 
 f 
 " 
 { 
 username 
 } 
 : 
 { 
 password 
 } 
 " 
 auth_bytes 
 = 
 auth_string 
 . 
 encode 
 ( 
 'utf-8' 
 ) 
 auth_b64 
 = 
 base64 
 . 
 b64encode 
 ( 
 auth_bytes 
 ) 
 . 
 decode 
 ( 
 'utf-8' 
 ) 
 headers 
 = 
 { 
 'Authorization' 
 : 
 f 
 'Basic 
 { 
 auth_b64 
 } 
 ' 
 , 
 'Accept' 
 : 
 'application/json' 
 , 
 'Content-Type' 
 : 
 'application/json' 
 , 
 'User-Agent' 
 : 
 'GoogleSecOps-ServiceNowCollector/1.0' 
 } 
 records 
 = 
 [] 
 newest_time 
 = 
 None 
 page_num 
 = 
 0 
 backoff 
 = 
 1.0 
 offset 
 = 
 0 
 # Format timestamps for ServiceNow (YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS) 
 start_time_str 
 = 
 start_time 
 . 
 strftime 
 ( 
 '%Y-%m- 
 %d 
 %H:%M:%S' 
 ) 
 while 
 True 
 : 
 page_num 
 += 
 1 
 if 
 len 
 ( 
 records 
 ) 
> = 
 page_size 
 * 
 max_pages 
 : 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 "Reached max_pages limit ( 
 { 
 max_pages 
 } 
 )" 
 ) 
 break 
 # Build query parameters 
 # Use >= operator for sys_created_on field (on or after) 
 params 
 = 
 [] 
 params 
 . 
 append 
 ( 
 f 
 "sysparm_query=sys_created_on>= 
 { 
 start_time_str 
 } 
 " 
 ) 
 params 
 . 
 append 
 ( 
 f 
 "sysparm_display_value=true" 
 ) 
 params 
 . 
 append 
 ( 
 f 
 "sysparm_limit= 
 { 
 page_size 
 } 
 " 
 ) 
 params 
 . 
 append 
 ( 
 f 
 "sysparm_offset= 
 { 
 offset 
 } 
 " 
 ) 
 url 
 = 
 f 
 " 
 { 
 endpoint 
 } 
 ? 
 { 
 '&' 
 . 
 join 
 ( 
 params 
 ) 
 } 
 " 
 try 
 : 
 response 
 = 
 http 
 . 
 request 
 ( 
 'GET' 
 , 
 url 
 , 
 headers 
 = 
 headers 
 ) 
 # Handle rate limiting with exponential backoff 
 if 
 response 
 . 
 status 
 == 
 429 
 : 
 retry_after 
 = 
 int 
 ( 
 response 
 . 
 headers 
 . 
 get 
 ( 
 'Retry-After' 
 , 
 str 
 ( 
 int 
 ( 
 backoff 
 )))) 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 "Rate limited (429). Retrying after 
 { 
 retry_after 
 } 
 s..." 
 ) 
 time 
 . 
 sleep 
 ( 
 retry_after 
 ) 
 backoff 
 = 
 min 
 ( 
 backoff 
 * 
 2 
 , 
 30.0 
 ) 
 continue 
 backoff 
 = 
 1.0 
 if 
 response 
 . 
 status 
 != 
 200 
 : 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 "HTTP Error: 
 { 
 response 
 . 
 status 
 } 
 " 
 ) 
 response_text 
 = 
 response 
 . 
 data 
 . 
 decode 
 ( 
 'utf-8' 
 ) 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 "Response body: 
 { 
 response_text 
 } 
 " 
 ) 
 return 
 [], 
 None 
 data 
 = 
 json 
 . 
 loads 
 ( 
 response 
 . 
 data 
 . 
 decode 
 ( 
 'utf-8' 
 )) 
 page_results 
 = 
 data 
 . 
 get 
 ( 
 'result' 
 , 
 []) 
 if 
 not 
 page_results 
 : 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 "No more results (empty page)" 
 ) 
 break 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 "Page 
 { 
 page_num 
 } 
 : Retrieved 
 { 
 len 
 ( 
 page_results 
 ) 
 } 
 events" 
 ) 
 records 
 . 
 extend 
 ( 
 page_results 
 ) 
 # Track newest event time 
 for 
 event 
 in 
 page_results 
 : 
 try 
 : 
 event_time 
 = 
 event 
 . 
 get 
 ( 
 'sys_created_on' 
 ) 
 if 
 event_time 
 : 
 if 
 newest_time 
 is 
 None 
 or 
 parse_datetime 
 ( 
 event_time 
 ) 
> parse_datetime 
 ( 
 newest_time 
 ): 
 newest_time 
 = 
 event_time 
 except 
 Exception 
 as 
 e 
 : 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 "Warning: Could not parse event time: 
 { 
 e 
 } 
 " 
 ) 
 # Check for more results 
 if 
 len 
 ( 
 page_results 
 ) 
< page_size 
 : 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 "Reached last page (size= 
 { 
 len 
 ( 
 page_results 
 ) 
 } 
 < limit= 
 { 
 page_size 
 } 
 )" 
 ) 
 break 
 # Move to next page 
 offset 
 += 
 page_size 
 # Small delay to avoid rate limiting 
 time 
 . 
 sleep 
 ( 
 0.1 
 ) 
 except 
 Exception 
 as 
 e 
 : 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 "Error fetching logs: 
 { 
 e 
 } 
 " 
 ) 
 return 
 [], 
 None 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 "Retrieved 
 { 
 len 
 ( 
 records 
 ) 
 } 
 total records from 
 { 
 page_num 
 } 
 pages" 
 ) 
 return 
 records 
 , 
 newest_time 
 ```

Second file: requirements.txt:

  ``` 
functions-framework==3.*
google-cloud-storage==2.*
urllib3>=2.0.0 ```

Click Deployto save and deploy the function.
Wait for deployment to complete (2-3 minutes).

Create Cloud Scheduler job

Cloud scheduler publishes messages to the Pub/Sub topic at regular intervals, triggering the Cloud Run function.

In the GCP Console, go to Cloud Scheduler.
Click Create Job.

Provide the following configuration details:

Setting	Value
Name	`servicenow-audit-collector-hourly`
Region	Select same region as Cloud Run function
Frequency	`0 * * * *` (every hour, on the hour)
Timezone	Select timezone (UTC recommended)
Target type	Pub/Sub
Topic	Select the Pub/Sub topic ( `servicenow-audit-trigger` )
Message body	`{}` (empty JSON object)

Click Create.

Schedule frequency options

Choose frequency based on log volume and latency requirements:

Frequency	Cron Expression	Use Case
Every 5 minutes	`/5 * * *`	High-volume, low-latency
Every 15 minutes	`/15 * * *`	Medium volume
Every hour	`0 * * * *`	Standard (recommended)
Every 6 hours	`0 /6 * *`	Low volume, batch processing
Daily	`0 0 * * *`	Historical data collection

Test the integration

In the Cloud Schedulerconsole, find your job.
Click Force runto trigger the job manually.
Wait a few seconds.
Go to Cloud Run > Services.
Click on your function name ( servicenow-audit-collector ).
Click the Logstab.

Verify the function executed successfully. Look for the following:

 Fetching logs from YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS to YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS
Page 1: Retrieved X events
Wrote X records to gs://bucket-name/audit-logs/logs_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.ndjson
Successfully processed X records

Go to Cloud Storage > Buckets.
Click your bucket name.
Navigate to the prefix folder ( audit-logs/ ).
Verify that a new .ndjson file was created with the current timestamp.

If you see errors in the logs:

HTTP 401: Check API credentials in environment variables
HTTP 403: Verify account has required permissions (admin role or custom ACL for sys_audit)
HTTP 429: Rate limiting - function will automatically retry with backoff
Missing environment variables: Check all required variables are set

Retrieve the Google SecOps service account

Google SecOps uses a unique service account to read data from your GCS bucket. You must grant this service account access to your bucket.

Get the service account email

Go to SIEM Settings > Feeds.
Click Add New Feed.
Click Configure a single feed.
In the Feed namefield, enter a name for the feed (for example, ServiceNow Audit logs ).
Select Google Cloud Storage V2as the Source type.
Select ServiceNow Auditas the Log type.

Click Get Service Account. A unique service account email is displayed, for example:

  chronicle 
 - 
 12345678 
 @chronicle 
 - 
 gcp 
 - 
 prod 
 . 
 iam 
 . 
 gserviceaccount 
 . 
 com

Copy this email address for use in the next step.

Note: Each Google SecOps instance has a unique service account. Do not use service accounts from other documentation or examples.

Grant IAM permissions to the Google SecOps service account

The Google SecOps service account needs Storage Object Viewerrole on your GCS bucket.

Go to Cloud Storage > Buckets.
Click your bucket name.
Go to the Permissionstab.
Click Grant access.
Provide the following configuration details:
- Add principals: Paste the Google SecOps service account email.
- Assign roles: Select Storage Object Viewer.
Click Save.

Note: If you plan to use the deletion option "Delete transferred files" or "Delete transferred files and empty directories," grant Storage Object Adminrole instead of Storage Object Viewer.

Configure a feed in Google SecOps to ingest ServiceNow Audit logs

Go to SIEM Settings > Feeds.
Click Add New Feed.
Click Configure a single feed.
In the Feed namefield, enter a name for the feed (for example, ServiceNow Audit logs ).
Select Google Cloud Storage V2as the Source type.
Select ServiceNow Auditas the Log type.
Click Next.
Specify values for the following input parameters:
- Storage bucket URL: Enter the GCS bucket URI with the prefix path:
```
 gs://servicenow-audit-logs/audit-logs/ 
```
  - Replace:
    - servicenow-audit-logs : Your GCS bucket name.
    - audit-logs : Prefix/folder path where logs are stored.
  Note: Always include the trailing slash (/) at the end of the URI.
- Source deletion option: Select the deletion option according to your preference:
  - Never: Never deletes any files after transfers (recommended for testing).
  - Delete transferred files: Deletes files after successful transfer.
  - Delete transferred files and empty directories: Deletes files and empty directories after successful transfer.
    
    Note: If you select a deletion option, the service account must have Storage Object Adminrole instead of Storage Object Viewer. Update IAM permissions accordingly.
- Maximum File Age: Include files modified in the last number of days. Default is 180 days.
- Asset namespace: The asset namespace .
- Ingestion labels: The label to be applied to the events from this feed.
Click Next.
Review your new feed configuration in the Finalizescreen, and then click Submit.

Option B: Bindplane agent with syslog

This method uses a Bindplane agent to collect ServiceNow Audit logs and forward them to Google Security Operations. Since ServiceNow doesn't natively support syslog for audit logs, we'll use a script to query the ServiceNow REST API and forward the logs to the Bindplane agent via syslog.

Before you begin

Make sure you have the following prerequisites:

A Google SecOps instance
Windows Server 2016 or later, or Linux host with systemd
Network connectivity between Bindplane agent and ServiceNow
If running behind a proxy, ensure firewall ports are open per the Bindplane agent requirements
Privileged access to the ServiceNow management console or appliance with appropriate roles (typically admin or user with read access to sys_audit table)

Get Google SecOps ingestion authentication file

Sign in to the Google SecOps console.
Go to SIEM Settings > Collection Agent.
Click Downloadto download the ingestion authentication file.
Save the file securely on the system where Bindplane will be installed.

Note: This JSON file contains credentials for authenticating the Bindplane agent to Google SecOps.

Get Google SecOps customer ID

Sign in to the Google SecOps console.
Go to SIEM Settings > Profile.
Copy and save the Customer IDfrom the Organization Detailssection.

Note: The customer ID is required for configuring the Bindplane agent exporter.

Install Bindplane agent

Install the Bindplane agent on your Windows or Linux operating system according to the following instructions.

Windows installation

Open Command Promptor PowerShellas an administrator.

Run the following command:

  msiexec 
  
 / 
 i 
  
 "https://github.com/observIQ/bindplane-agent/releases/latest/download/observiq-otel-collector.msi" 
  
 / 
 quiet

Wait for the installation to complete.
Verify the installation by running:
```
 sc query observiq-otel-collector 
```

The service should show as RUNNING.

Linux installation

Open a terminal with root or sudo privileges.

Run the following command:

 sudo  
sh  
-c  
 " 
 $( 
curl  
-fsSlL  
https://github.com/observiq/bindplane-agent/releases/latest/download/install_unix.sh ) 
 " 
  
install_unix.sh

Wait for the installation to complete.

Verify the installation by running:

 sudo  
systemctl  
status  
observiq-otel-collector

The service should show as active (running).

Additional installation resources

For additional installation options and troubleshooting, see Bindplane agent installation guide .

Configure Bindplane agent to ingest syslog and send to Google SecOps

Locate the configuration file

Linux: bash sudo nano /etc/bindplane-agent/config.yaml

Windows: cmd notepad "C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\config.yaml"

Edit the configuration file

Replace the entire contents of config.yaml with the following configuration:

  ``` 
 yaml 
 receivers 
 : 
  
 udplog 
 : 
  
 listen_address 
 : 
  
 "0.0.0.0:514" 
 exporters 
 : 
  
 chronicle 
 / 
 servicenow_audit 
 : 
  
 compression 
 : 
  
 gzip 
  
 creds_file_path 
 : 
  
 ' 
 / 
 path 
 / 
 to 
 / 
 ingestion 
 - 
 authentication 
 - 
 file 
 . 
 json 
 ' 
  
 customer_id 
 : 
  
 ' 
< YOUR_CUSTOMER_ID 
> ' 
  
 endpoint 
 : 
  
< CUSTOMER_REGION_ENDPOINT 
>  
 log_type 
 : 
  
 ' 
 SERVICENOW_AUDIT 
 ' 
  
 raw_log_field 
 : 
  
 body 
  
 ingestion_labels 
 : 
  
 service 
 : 
  
 servicenow 
 service 
 : 
  
 pipelines 
 : 
  
 logs 
 / 
 servicenow_to_chronicle 
 : 
  
 receivers 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 udplog 
  
 exporters 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 chronicle 
 / 
 servicenow_audit 
 ```

Configuration parameters

Replace the following placeholders:

listen_address : IP address and port to listen on. Use 0.0.0.0:514 to listen on all interfaces on port 514.
creds_file_path : Full path to ingestion authentication file:
- Linux: /etc/bindplane-agent/ingestion-auth.json
- Windows: C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\ingestion-auth.json
<YOUR_CUSTOMER_ID> : Customer ID from the previous step.
<CUSTOMER_REGION_ENDPOINT> : Regional endpoint URL:
- US: malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
- Europe: europe-malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
- Asia: asia-southeast1-malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
- See Regional Endpoints for complete list.

Save the configuration file

After editing, save the file: * Linux: Press Ctrl+O , then Enter , then Ctrl+X * Windows: Click File > Save

Restart the Bindplane agent to apply the changes

To restart the Bindplane agent in Linux, run the following command:

 sudo  
systemctl  
restart  
observiq-otel-collector

Verify the service is running:

 sudo  
systemctl  
status  
observiq-otel-collector

Check logs for errors:

 sudo  
journalctl  
-u  
observiq-otel-collector  
-f

To restart the Bindplane agent in Windows, choose one of the following options:
- Using Command Prompt or PowerShell as administrator:
```
 net stop observiq-otel-collector && net start observiq-otel-collector 
```
- Using Services console:
1. Press Win+R , type services.msc , and press Enter.
2. Locate observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector.
3. Right-click and select Restart.
4. Verify the service is running:
```
 sc query observiq-otel-collector 
```
5. Check logs for errors:
```
  type 
  
 "C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\log\collector.log" 
 
```

Create a script to forward ServiceNow Audit logs to syslog

Since ServiceNow doesn't natively support syslog for audit logs, we'll create a script that queries the ServiceNow REST API and forwards the logs to syslog. This script can be scheduled to run periodically.

Python Script Example (Linux)

Create a file named servicenow_audit_to_syslog.py with the following content:

  import 
  
 urllib3 
 import 
  
 json 
 import 
  
 datetime 
 import 
  
 base64 
 import 
  
 socket 
 import 
  
 time 
 import 
  
 os 
 # ServiceNow API details 
 BASE_URL 
 = 
 'https://instance.service-now.com' 
 # Replace with your ServiceNow instance URL 
 USERNAME 
 = 
 'admin' 
 # Replace with your ServiceNow username 
 PASSWORD 
 = 
 'password' 
 # Replace with your ServiceNow password 
 # Syslog details 
 SYSLOG_SERVER 
 = 
 '127.0.0.1' 
 # Replace with your Bindplane agent IP 
 SYSLOG_PORT 
 = 
 514 
 # Replace with your Bindplane agent port 
 # State file to keep track of last run 
 STATE_FILE 
 = 
 '/tmp/servicenow_audit_last_run.txt' 
 # Pagination settings 
 PAGE_SIZE 
 = 
 1000 
 MAX_PAGES 
 = 
 1000 
 def 
  
 get_last_run_timestamp 
 (): 
 try 
 : 
 with 
 open 
 ( 
 STATE_FILE 
 , 
 'r' 
 ) 
 as 
 f 
 : 
 return 
 f 
 . 
 read 
 () 
 . 
 strip 
 () 
 except 
 : 
 return 
 '1970-01-01 00:00:00' 
 def 
  
 update_state_file 
 ( 
 timestamp 
 ): 
 with 
 open 
 ( 
 STATE_FILE 
 , 
 'w' 
 ) 
 as 
 f 
 : 
 f 
 . 
 write 
 ( 
 timestamp 
 ) 
 def 
  
 send_to_syslog 
 ( 
 message 
 ): 
 sock 
 = 
 socket 
 . 
 socket 
 ( 
 socket 
 . 
 AF_INET 
 , 
 socket 
 . 
 SOCK_DGRAM 
 ) 
 sock 
 . 
 sendto 
 ( 
 message 
 . 
 encode 
 (), 
 ( 
 SYSLOG_SERVER 
 , 
 SYSLOG_PORT 
 )) 
 sock 
 . 
 close 
 () 
 def 
  
 get_audit_logs 
 ( 
 last_run_timestamp 
 ): 
  
 """ 
 Query ServiceNow sys_audit table with proper pagination. 
 Uses sys_created_on field for timestamp filtering. 
 """ 
 # Encode credentials using UTF-8 
 auth_string 
 = 
 f 
 " 
 { 
 USERNAME 
 } 
 : 
 { 
 PASSWORD 
 } 
 " 
 auth_bytes 
 = 
 auth_string 
 . 
 encode 
 ( 
 'utf-8' 
 ) 
 auth_encoded 
 = 
 base64 
 . 
 b64encode 
 ( 
 auth_bytes 
 ) 
 . 
 decode 
 ( 
 'utf-8' 
 ) 
 # Setup HTTP client 
 http 
 = 
 urllib3 
 . 
 PoolManager 
 () 
 headers 
 = 
 { 
 'Authorization' 
 : 
 f 
 'Basic 
 { 
 auth_encoded 
 } 
 ' 
 , 
 'Accept' 
 : 
 'application/json' 
 } 
 results 
 = 
 [] 
 offset 
 = 
 0 
 # Format timestamp for ServiceNow (YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS format) 
 # Convert ISO format to ServiceNow format if needed 
 if 
 'T' 
 in 
 last_run_timestamp 
 : 
 last_run_timestamp 
 = 
 last_run_timestamp 
 . 
 replace 
 ( 
 'T' 
 , 
 ' ' 
 ) 
 . 
 split 
 ( 
 '.' 
 )[ 
 0 
 ] 
 for 
 page 
 in 
 range 
 ( 
 MAX_PAGES 
 ): 
 # Build query with pagination 
 # Use >= operator for sys_created_on field (on or after) 
 query_params 
 = 
 ( 
 f 
 "sysparm_query=sys_created_on>= 
 { 
 last_run_timestamp 
 } 
 " 
 f 
 "&sysparm_display_value=true" 
 f 
 "&sysparm_limit= 
 { 
 PAGE_SIZE 
 } 
 " 
 f 
 "&sysparm_offset= 
 { 
 offset 
 } 
 " 
 ) 
 url 
 = 
 f 
 " 
 { 
 BASE_URL 
 } 
 /api/now/table/sys_audit? 
 { 
 query_params 
 } 
 " 
 try 
 : 
 response 
 = 
 http 
 . 
 request 
 ( 
 'GET' 
 , 
 url 
 , 
 headers 
 = 
 headers 
 ) 
 if 
 response 
 . 
 status 
 == 
 200 
 : 
 data 
 = 
 json 
 . 
 loads 
 ( 
 response 
 . 
 data 
 . 
 decode 
 ( 
 'utf-8' 
 )) 
 chunk 
 = 
 data 
 . 
 get 
 ( 
 'result' 
 , 
 []) 
 results 
 . 
 extend 
 ( 
 chunk 
 ) 
 # Stop if we got fewer records than PAGE_SIZE (last page) 
 if 
 len 
 ( 
 chunk 
 ) 
< PAGE_SIZE 
 : 
 break 
 # Move to next page 
 offset 
 += 
 PAGE_SIZE 
 else 
 : 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 "Error querying ServiceNow API: 
 { 
 response 
 . 
 status 
 } 
 - 
 { 
 response 
 . 
 data 
 . 
 decode 
 ( 
 'utf-8' 
 ) 
 } 
 " 
 ) 
 break 
 except 
 Exception 
 as 
 e 
 : 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 "Exception querying ServiceNow API: 
 { 
 str 
 ( 
 e 
 ) 
 } 
 " 
 ) 
 break 
 return 
 results 
 def 
  
 main 
 (): 
 # Get last run timestamp 
 last_run_timestamp 
 = 
 get_last_run_timestamp 
 () 
 # Current timestamp for this run 
 current_timestamp 
 = 
 datetime 
 . 
 datetime 
 . 
 now 
 () 
 . 
 strftime 
 ( 
 '%Y-%m- 
 %d 
 %H:%M:%S' 
 ) 
 # Query ServiceNow API for audit logs 
 audit_logs 
 = 
 get_audit_logs 
 ( 
 last_run_timestamp 
 ) 
 if 
 audit_logs 
 : 
 # Send each log to syslog 
 for 
 log 
 in 
 audit_logs 
 : 
 # Format the log as JSON 
 log_json 
 = 
 json 
 . 
 dumps 
 ( 
 log 
 ) 
 # Send to syslog 
 send_to_syslog 
 ( 
 log_json 
 ) 
 # Sleep briefly to avoid flooding 
 time 
 . 
 sleep 
 ( 
 0.01 
 ) 
 # Update state file 
 update_state_file 
 ( 
 current_timestamp 
 ) 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 "Successfully forwarded 
 { 
 len 
 ( 
 audit_logs 
 ) 
 } 
 audit logs to syslog" 
 ) 
 else 
 : 
 print 
 ( 
 "No new audit logs to forward" 
 ) 
 if 
 __name__ 
 == 
 "__main__" 
 : 
 main 
 ()

Set Up Scheduled Execution (Linux)

Make the script executable:

 chmod  
+x  
servicenow_audit_to_syslog.py

Create a cron job to run the script every hour:
```
 crontab  
-e 
```

Add the following line:

  0 
  
 * 
  
 * 
  
 * 
  
 * 
  
 / 
 usr 
 / 
 bin 
 / 
 python3 
  
 / 
 path 
 / 
 to 
 / 
 servicenow_audit_to_syslog 
 . 
 py 
 >> 
 / 
 tmp 
 / 
 servicenow_audit_to_syslog 
 . 
 log 
  
 2>&1

PowerShell Script Example (Windows)

Create a file named ServiceNow-Audit-To-Syslog.ps1 with the following content:

  # ServiceNow API details 
 $BaseUrl 
 = 
 'https://instance.service-now.com' 
 # Replace with your ServiceNow instance URL 
 $Username 
 = 
 'admin' 
 # Replace with your ServiceNow username 
 $Password 
 = 
 'password' 
 # Replace with your ServiceNow password 
 # Syslog details 
 $SyslogServer 
 = 
 '127.0.0.1' 
 # Replace with your Bindplane agent IP 
 $SyslogPort 
 = 
 514 
 # Replace with your Bindplane agent port 
 # State file to keep track of last run 
 $StateFile 
 = 
 "$env:TEMP\ServiceNowAuditLastRun.txt" 
 # Pagination settings 
 $PageSize 
 = 
 1000 
 $MaxPages 
 = 
 1000 
 function 
 Get-LastRunTimestamp 
 { 
 try 
 { 
 if 
 ( 
 Test-Path 
 $StateFile 
 ) 
 { 
 return 
 Get-Content 
 $StateFile 
 } 
 else 
 { 
 return 
 '1970-01-01 00:00:00' 
 } 
 } 
 catch 
 { 
 return 
 '1970-01-01 00:00:00' 
 } 
 } 
 function 
 Update-StateFile 
 { 
 param 
 ( 
 [string] 
 $Timestamp 
 ) 
 Set-Content 
 -Path 
 $StateFile 
 -Value 
 $Timestamp 
 } 
 function 
 Send-ToSyslog 
 { 
 param 
 ( 
 [string] 
 $Message 
 ) 
 $UdpClient 
 = 
 New-Object 
 System 
 . 
 Net 
 . 
 Sockets 
 . 
 UdpClient 
 $UdpClient 
 . 
 Connect 
 ( 
 $SyslogServer 
 , 
 $SyslogPort 
 ) 
 $Encoding 
 = 
 [System.Text.Encoding] 
 :: 
 ASCII 
 $Bytes 
 = 
 $Encoding 
 . 
 GetBytes 
 ( 
 $Message 
 ) 
 $UdpClient 
 . 
 Send 
 ( 
 $Bytes 
 , 
 $Bytes 
 . 
 Length 
 ) 
 $UdpClient 
 . 
 Close 
 () 
 } 
 function 
 Get-AuditLogs 
 { 
 param 
 ( 
 [string] 
 $LastRunTimestamp 
 ) 
 # Create auth header using UTF-8 encoding 
 $Auth 
 = 
 [System.Convert] 
 :: 
 ToBase64String 
 ( 
 [System.Text.Encoding] 
 :: 
 UTF8 
 . 
 GetBytes 
 ( 
 "${Username}:${Password}" 
 )) 
 $Headers 
 = 
 @{ 
 Authorization 
 = 
 "Basic ${Auth}" 
 Accept 
 = 
 'application/json' 
 } 
 $Results 
 = 
 @() 
 $Offset 
 = 
 0 
 # Format timestamp for ServiceNow (YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS format) 
 # Convert ISO format to ServiceNow format if needed 
 if 
 ( 
 $LastRunTimestamp 
 -match 
 'T' 
 ) 
 { 
 $LastRunTimestamp 
 = 
 $LastRunTimestamp 
 -replace 
 'T' 
 , 
 ' ' 
 $LastRunTimestamp 
 = 
 $LastRunTimestamp 
 -replace 
 '\.\d+' 
 , 
 '' 
 } 
 for 
 ( 
 $page 
 = 
 0 
 ; 
 $page 
 -lt 
 $MaxPages 
 ; 
 $page 
 ++) 
 { 
 # Build query with pagination 
 # Use >= operator for sys_created_on field (on or after) 
 $QueryParams 
 = 
 "sysparm_query=sys_created_on>=${LastRunTimestamp}&sysparm_display_value=true&sysparm_limit=${PageSize}&sysparm_offset=${Offset}" 
 $Url 
 = 
 "${BaseUrl}/api/now/table/sys_audit?${QueryParams}" 
 try 
 { 
 $Response 
 = 
 Invoke-RestMethod 
 -Uri 
 $Url 
 -Headers 
 $Headers 
 -Method 
 Get 
 $Chunk 
 = 
 $Response 
 . 
 result 
 $Results 
 += 
 $Chunk 
 # Stop if we got fewer records than PageSize (last page) 
 if 
 ( 
 $Chunk 
 . 
 Count 
 -lt 
 $PageSize 
 ) 
 { 
 break 
 } 
 # Move to next page 
 $Offset 
 += 
 $PageSize 
 } 
 catch 
 { 
 Write-Error 
 "Error querying ServiceNow API: $_" 
 break 
 } 
 } 
 return 
 $Results 
 } 
 # Main execution 
 $LastRunTimestamp 
 = 
 Get-LastRunTimestamp 
 $CurrentTimestamp 
 = 
 ( 
 Get-Date 
 ). 
 ToString 
 ( 
 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss' 
 ) 
 $AuditLogs 
 = 
 Get-AuditLogs 
 -LastRunTimestamp 
 $LastRunTimestamp 
 if 
 ( 
 $AuditLogs 
 -and 
 $AuditLogs 
 . 
 Count 
 -gt 
 0 
 ) 
 { 
 # Send each log to syslog 
 foreach 
 ( 
 $Log 
 in 
 $AuditLogs 
 ) 
 { 
 # Format the log as JSON 
 $LogJson 
 = 
 $Log 
 | 
 ConvertTo-Json 
 -Compress 
 # Send to syslog 
 Send-ToSyslog 
 -Message 
 $LogJson 
 # Sleep briefly to avoid flooding 
 Start-Sleep 
 -Milliseconds 
 10 
 } 
 # Update state file 
 Update-StateFile 
 -Timestamp 
 $CurrentTimestamp 
 Write-Output 
 "Successfully forwarded 
 $( 
 $AuditLogs 
 . 
 Count 
 ) 
 audit logs to syslog" 
 } 
 else 
 { 
 Write-Output 
 "No new audit logs to forward" 
 }

Set Up Scheduled Execution (Windows)

Open Task Scheduler.
Click Create Task.
Provide the following configuration:
- Name: ServiceNowAuditToSyslog
- Security options: Run whether user is logged on or not
Go to the Triggerstab.
Click Newand set it to run hourly.
Go to the Actionstab.
Click Newand set:
- Action: Start a program
- Program/script: powershell.exe
- Arguments: -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "C:\path\to\ServiceNow-Audit-To-Syslog.ps1"
Click OKto save the task.

Need more help? Get answers from Community members and Google SecOps professionals.