Overview
Balbix provides bidirectional integration with external ticketing systems including Jira, and ServiceNow. This help article explains how data flows between systems, how ticket states are managed, and what permissions control access to ticketing operations.
Flow Diagram
Detailed Process Explanation
1. Create Ticket
When you create a ticket in Balbix, the system submits the ticket creation request to your configured external ticketing system (Jira or ServiceNow). This is an asynchronous operation, meaning Balbix doesn't wait for an immediate response but continues processing while the external system handles the request in the background.
RBAC Requirements: To create tickets, you must have either (Exposure Management/Full access to the page + Create Project/Ticket permission) OR be a Balbix Admin.
2. Ticket Creation Response - Ticket ID + Metadata
The external ticketing system processes your request and responds asynchronously (meaning the response comes later, not immediately) with essential information including the unique ticket ID and other metadata such as initial status, priority, and system-specific fields. Balbix stores this information in its internal database to maintain the connection between the Balbix ticket and its external counterpart.
This asynchronous approach ensures that Balbix remains responsive even when external systems experience delays or high load. Note that when the ticket is created within the external ticketing system, the ticket state within Balbix is set to "Open"
3. Upload Attachments Automatically
When integrated with an external ticketing system, Balbix automatically creates one initial ticket with an attachment during the first run, including all instance-level exposure and remediation details. If there’s an automation configured , Balbix automatically uploads new attachments to the same existing ticket—no additional configuration or "Automation" setup is required by the customer for this attachment upload process to occur. These attachments are always additive—Balbix never replaces existing attachments, only adds new ones to provide a complete historical record of remediation activities.
This automatic scheduled attachment process ensures that stakeholders in the external ticketing system always have access to the latest remediation data and progress reports.
4. Daily Polling + On-Demand Updates
Balbix automatically polls the external ticketing system daily to check for updates. Additionally, users can trigger on-demand polling to get immediate updates when needed. During these polling operations, Balbix only retrieves changes made directly in the external ticketing system and only pulls updates for fields that were configured at the time of ticket creation.
It’s important to note that Balbix will update ticket metadata such as state changes (including closure status) but maintains strict field-level control based on the initial configuration. This ensures data integrity and prevents unexpected changes to critical ticket information. Balbix never pushes field edits back to the external system after the ticket is created; all post-creation updates flow into Balbix only.
When remediation teams close a ticket in the external system, Balbix picks up the state change on the next poll (or on-demand check) and sets the ticket status to Closed.
5. Read Operations (Internal Only)
All ticket read operations in Balbix pull data exclusively from the internal Balbix database. The system never queries the external ticketing system directly when displaying ticket information to users. This design choice ensures fast response times and reduces load on external systems while maintaining data consistency through the scheduled polling mechanism.
RBAC Requirements: Users need View access to the Tickets page to read ticket information.
6. Delete Operations (Internal Only)
Ticket deletion in Balbix only removes the ticket record from the internal Balbix database. The system never deletes tickets from external ticketing systems, preserving the audit trail and preventing accidental data loss in your organization's primary ticketing system.
RBAC Requirements: Users must have Create Ticket permissions + Full access to the Tickets page to delete tickets.
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
Ticket Permissions
Create Ticket: Requires (Exposure Management/Full access + Create Project/Ticket permission) OR Admin role
Delete Ticket: Requires Create Ticket permissions + Full access to Tickets page
View Ticket: Requires View access to Tickets page
Integration Benefits
The bidirectional nature of Balbix ticketing integrations provides several key advantages:
Seamless Workflow: Security teams can work within Balbix while maintaining integration with existing ITSM processes
Audit Trail: Complete history maintained in both systems with automatic synchronization
Flexibility: Support for multiple ticketing platforms (Jira, ServiceNow RITM, ServiceNow Incident)
Automation: Scheduled updates and attachment uploads reduce manual overhead
Data Integrity: Controlled field updates and one-way deletion policies prevent data corruption
See Also:
ServiceNow Ticketing Connector Guide
Jira Ticketing Connector Guide