Gitlab Integration with Servicenow

in GitLab 18.x Cloud, you can absolutely integrate with ServiceNow to support:

• ✅ Change Management workflows
• ✅ Incident Management
• ✅ Automated Service Request Fulfillment

However, this requires the use of GitLab’s ServiceNow DevOps Integration App, available via the Atlassian Marketplace and ServiceNow Store.

✅ GitLab ↔ ServiceNow Integration (as of GitLab 18.x)

GitLab provides official, bi-directional integration with ServiceNow DevOps for enterprise-level DevSecOps automation.

🔹 1. Change Management Workflow Integration

✅ What You Can Do:

• Automatically create Change Requests (CRs) in ServiceNow when a pipeline runs or code is merged in GitLab.
• Require ServiceNow approval before deployment.

🧠 Example Use Case:

• MR merged to main → triggers Pre-approved Change Request in ServiceNow → waits for approval → continues deployment.

✅ How to Set Up:

1. In ServiceNow:
   • Install ServiceNow DevOps plugin
   • Install GitLab Integration App from ServiceNow Store
2. In GitLab:
   • Configure a WebHook or use Custom GitLab CI Job to send pipeline events to ServiceNow.
   • Optionally configure via GitLab Compliance Center → Pipeline Execution Policies
3. You can also configure a change control gate in .gitlab-ci.yml:

approve_change_request:
  stage: deploy
  script:
    - curl -X POST https://servicenow/api/trigger-change
  rules:
    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == "main"'
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

🔹 2. Incident Management Integration

✅ What You Can Do:

• Auto-create incidents in ServiceNow when pipelines or deployments fail.
• Link GitLab issues/MRs to ServiceNow incident records.

🔧 Setup:

• Use ServiceNow DevOps Events API
• Configure a GitLab WebHook or CI job to send failure events to ServiceNow
• Tag ServiceNow incidents with commit/MR metadata for traceability

🔹 3. Automate Service Request Fulfillment

✅ What You Can Do:

• Use GitLab pipelines to fulfill service catalog requests (e.g., provision infra, deploy apps)
• ServiceNow → GitLab triggers via MID server or API connector
• GitLab → ServiceNow updates back with logs/status

🔧 Setup:

• Define catalog workflows in ServiceNow
• Trigger GitLab pipelines via:
  • API calls (POST /projects/:id/trigger/pipeline)
  • Custom catalog items with Flow Designer

✅ Summary Table (GitLab 18.x Cloud)

🚀 Official Resources

• GitLab + ServiceNow Docs
• ServiceNow DevOps Store App

Here’s a complete, production-ready .gitlab-ci.yml example that integrates with ServiceNow to:

1. 🔧 Create a Change Request via API
2. 🕒 Wait for ServiceNow approval
3. 🚀 Proceed with deployment only if approved

✅ Prerequisites

• You have a ServiceNow DevOps integration set up.
• You have a ServiceNow API endpoint to:
  • Create Change Requests (/api/devops/create-change)
  • Poll status (/api/devops/change-status)
• You have a valid bearer token (stored as GitLab CI variable: SERVICENOW_TOKEN)

Rajesh Kumar

I’m Rajesh Kumar, a DevOps, SRE, DevSecOps, Cloud, and Platform Engineering expert passionate about sharing practical knowledge, real-world experiences, and industry best practices. I have worked at Cotocus and regularly write about technology, travel, investing, health, product reviews, and digital marketing through my various platforms.

I publish technical articles at DevOps School, travel stories at Holiday Landmark, stock market insights at Stocks Mantra, health and fitness guidance at My Medic Plus, product reviews at TrueReviewNow, and SEO and digital marketing strategies at Wizbrand.