Salesforce ServiceNow integration
Integrating Salesforce and ServiceNow
Connecting Salesforce with ServiceNow links customer records with IT service management records, keeping sales, support, and service desk teams aligned. Cases raised by customers reach the right incident queue without manual re-entry, and the resolution work carried out by service teams flows back to the people who own the customer relationship. Follow this guide to set up bidirectional synchronization between your Salesforce org and your ServiceNow instance.
Salesforce ServiceNow Licensing Model
The Getint licensing model for Salesforce and ServiceNow covers different integration needs. Here is an overview:
Standard Licensing
For non-Jira connectors, we offer a simple license tied to a fixed fee depending on the apps you are syncing.
This license covers the integration between 1 instance A (Salesforce) and 1 instance B (ServiceNow).
No hidden costs. You can sync an unlimited number of records and work items between these instances.
You can find more information about our pricing structure here: Getint Pricing.
Network License
For managed services companies or organizations integrating three or more instances (whether the tools are the same or different), Getint offers a Network License. This custom license covers a specific number of connections (for example, up to 10 instances) and imposes no restrictions on the tools involved. You can also swap the integrated tools while the license remains active.
For more details on licensing, visit our Licensing Page.
Salesforce API Requirements
Salesforce requires API access for integration. API access is enabled by default in the following editions:
Enterprise Edition
Unlimited Edition
Performance Edition
Developer Edition
API access is NOT enabled by default in:
Group Edition
Essentials Edition
Professional Edition
If you are using a Salesforce edition without API access enabled, contact Salesforce support or refer to the Salesforce Help & Training Community.
Requirements to Build Your Integration
Deployment Options: Getint provides two ways to host your integration, a managed SaaS platform or a self-hosted On-premise version. More information about Getint On-premise here.
Authentication: Salesforce requires OAuth credentials (
client_idandclient_secret), and ServiceNow requires a dedicated user with the instance URL, username, and password. You can find the steps to generate credentials for both connectors here: Connection Guide.Service Accounts: Comments are attributed to the user who created the connection on both platforms, so we recommend using dedicated Service Accounts on both sides to keep automated updates distinct from individual user activity.
Setting Up Your Salesforce ServiceNow Integration
1. Access the Getint App
Log in at app.live.getint.io. If you do not have an account, click Sign up to create one.
Enter your details, select the apps you want to connect, and click Create new workspace.
After you create the workspace, go to it to launch Getint.
2. Create an Integration
Go to Workflows (lightning bolt icon) and click Create Integration. From this menu, select Continuous Sync or Data Migration.
3. Generate Salesforce Credentials
Salesforce uses OAuth authentication. You grant permissions to Getint through an External Client App, and the resulting credentials are stored in a dedicated Getint database for use by that user only.
Sign in to Salesforce, click the Cog icon in the upper-right corner, and select Setup.
Go to Platform Tools > Apps > External Client Apps, then open the External Client App Manager.
Select New External Client App and enter a unique name, your email address, and the API name.
Enable OAuth:
Scroll down and turn on OAuth.
Enter the Callback URL:
https://login.salesforce.com/services/oauth2/callback.Select the OAuth scope Manage user data via APIs (API).
In the Flow Enablement section, activate Client Credentials Flow, then turn off all other options in the Security section.
Click Create at the bottom of the page. Once the app exists, go back into its settings to continue.
Select Edit, open OAuth Policies, enable Client Credentials Flow, and enter the username shown under Personal Information in your profile. Click Save.
Open the Settings tab, select Consumer Key and Secret, complete the verification screen, and copy the Consumer Key (
client_id) and Consumer Secret (client_secret).
4. Creating a ServiceNow User for Getint
Rather than using Admin credentials, the recommended approach is to create a dedicated ServiceNow user with specific, scoped permissions. Follow these steps:
Create the user: In ServiceNow, go to All > User Administration > Users, click New, fill in the user details, and click Submit. Make sure to uncheck Password needs reset, or Getint will block the connection with a misleading permissions error. Then click Set Password to generate credentials.
Create a custom role: Go to System Security > Users and Groups > Roles, click New, name your role (for example,
getint), and click Submit.Elevate to Security Admin: Click your profile image, select Elevate Role, choose security_admin, and click Update. This is required to modify ACL settings.
Create 6 ACL records: Go to System Security > Access Control (ACL) and create the following permission records, adding your custom role to the Requires Role section of each:
Record
Table
Field
Operation
1
Dictionary Entry (sys_dictionary)
*(Asterisk)
Read
2
Dictionary Entry (sys_dictionary)
None
Read
3
Field Class (sys_glide_object)
*(Asterisk)
Read
4
Choice (sys_choice)
*(Asterisk)
Read
5
Field Class (sys_glide_object)
None
Read
6
Journal Entry (sys_journal_field)
None
Read
Assign roles to the user: Go back to User Administration > Users, find your user, open the Roles tab, click Edit, and add both the itil permission and your custom role. Click Save, then Update.
The user is now ready to establish the ServiceNow connection.
5. Connect to Salesforce
In Getint, click Connect App and choose Salesforce. Enter your Salesforce instance URL in the URL field and click Next.
Assign a name to the connection and enter the client_id and client_secret credentials.
Add the connection and select it.
6. Connect to ServiceNow
Click Connect App and choose ServiceNow. Enter the URL of your ServiceNow instance and click Next.
On the next screen, provide a name for the connection, along with the username and password of the ServiceNow account you created in step 4.
Click Add to create the connection, and then select it.
You will get an insufficient permissions or user cannot be authenticated error if the ServiceNow user has not been created with the roles and ACL records listed above.
7. Configure Type Mapping
Quick Build: Automatically map fields and types between applications with this feature.
Manual Mapping: Use this option for full control over the integration. Click + Add Type Mapping to define how your types map between systems. This could include:
Salesforce Case to ServiceNow Incident.
Salesforce Account to ServiceNow Task.
8. Field Mapping
Review or manually map fields within mapped types. Common pairings include Salesforce Subject to ServiceNow Short description, Salesforce Description to ServiceNow Description, and Priority on both sides.
Define the synchronization flow for each field, using the arrows in the middle and selecting Apply.
Custom fields are supported on both connectors. Salesforce covers Date/Time, Email, Number, Phone, Picklist, and Text fields, while ServiceNow covers Date, Dropdown, Text, Reference, and URL fields.
Inline images are not supported for the Description field.
9. Assignee Mapping
Use the Assignee mapping option to match Salesforce users with the ServiceNow Assigned to field. This step means that when a case or incident syncs between the two systems, it is assigned to the right person in each tool.
This mapping matters most when usernames or email formats differ between platforms. By defining these relationships once, you prevent mismatches and avoid manual reassignment later.
10. Status Mapping
Use the Status tab to align workflow states between Salesforce and ServiceNow. Each platform uses its own terminology for record progress, so mapping keeps updates consistent when items sync in either direction.
For example, you might map:
New in Salesforce to New in ServiceNow
Working in Salesforce to In Progress in ServiceNow
Escalated in Salesforce to On Hold in ServiceNow
Closed in Salesforce to Closed in ServiceNow
You can also configure the status direction to support unidirectional transitions instead of bidirectional updates.
11. How to Manage Comments & Attachments:
Check the Comments & Attachments tab. These settings are active by default, but you can modify them to fit your specific requirements.
Synchronization Directions
The platform supports three distinct logic flows for these items:
Bidirectional: Updates to comments or attachments in either Salesforce or ServiceNow reflect in the other platform.
Unidirectional to Salesforce: Data flows exclusively from ServiceNow to Salesforce. Changes made in Salesforce do not sync back to ServiceNow.
Unidirectional to ServiceNow: Data flows exclusively from Salesforce to ServiceNow. Changes made in ServiceNow do not sync back to Salesforce.
Disabling Sync
If your organization has strict data privacy policies, or if these items are not relevant to a specific integration, you can disable comments and attachments entirely. This prevents any data transfer for these items while keeping other mapped fields active.
Use the Customize comments creation setting to manage how comments are processed. You can set comments to Public or Private, or choose to skip them entirely.
To sync files between both systems, turn on the Synchronize attachments option. Once enabled, you can choose the sync direction for attachments, deciding whether they flow from ServiceNow to Salesforce, from Salesforce to ServiceNow, or both ways.
Comments created by Getint appear under the account used to build the connection on both platforms. The original author is shown in the comment footer. For a full overview of filtering logic, AND/OR conditions, and date-based filtering, refer to the Comments Filtering documentation.
12. Advanced Tab
Enable Customize create/update actions to manage item synchronization. This allows for specific rules, such as one-way creation for the left application combined with bidirectional updates.
13. Filtering:
It is possible to filter the synchronization to customize it for your needs and requirements. Please see the doc Items Filtering for more details.
UI Filtering Option:
Click on the filtering icon near the app icon in your integration. This will apply to that side of the integration.
Select whether the filtering applies to All, New, and Synced items.
Note that if the option New items is selected, the filtering will apply only to the new items, and the already synced items will continue to sync and update. If the option Synced items is selected, only the already synced items will be updated based on that filter.
Choose the options and add the value for the filter. It is possible to filter more than one option for each field.
Select Apply after creating the filters and Save the integration.
The Salesforce matches operator evaluates values as regular expressions. If your filter value contains parentheses, escape them with a backslash, for example \(FOP/TA\), or the filter fails to compile. The escaping applies to the filter only and does not affect the value copied to ServiceNow.
14. Test the Integration
Create test cases in Salesforce and test incidents in ServiceNow, then observe how they synchronize.
Confirm that mapped fields, statuses, comments, and attachments are correctly synced in both directions.
Monitor the integration status and the logs in Getint to verify that everything functions as expected.
Getint cannot integrate the history of changes in either Salesforce or ServiceNow. Only the current values of mapped fields are synchronized.
Conclusion
Following this guide lets you set up the Salesforce-ServiceNow integration with Getint. This configuration synchronizes cases, incidents, comments, and status changes across your CRM and your service management platform, so customer-facing teams and service desk teams work from the same information.
For further assistance, please contact us at the Support Center or Schedule a Demo.
Last updated
Was this helpful?