How Agent Client Collector for Visibility Content works
Agent Client Collector for Visibility Content (ACC-VC) requires installation of ServiceNow Agent Client Collector (ACC) on the target host. ACC is a derivative of Sensu-Go, an open-source software.
ACC-VC use cases
ACC-VC applies Checks and Policies to schedule and collect host data. ACC-VC is triggered in the following cases:
- Periodic scheduling: A policy-based approach where Discovery is triggered on a periodic basis.
- On CI delete: When the computer or server CI record is deleted.
- MID Server cycle: When the MID Server goes down and comes back up.
- Target host cycle: When the target host goes down and comes back up.
- Network break: When there is a break in the network link to the target.
Note:
- Discovery is triggered for those agents whose hosts are already present. Agents whose hosts are not present are discovered through ACC-F.
- Agent Client Connector for AI Control Tower is available on the ServiceNow Store. This app is an ACC connector and adds an AI proxy capability that collects AI-based traffic from managed devices, supporting AI Control Tower shadow AI use cases.
ACC-VC checks and policies
The ACC-VC assets are stored as Agent plugins with the main entry point [acc_visibility_main] and other modules for OS families. There is one main system Discovery Check definition, called Enhanced Discovery, which is used by the Enhanced Discovery Policy. This ACC-VC policy runs off a schedule, which is defaulted to 24 hours (86,400 seconds). This policy configuration is synced to all agents as defined in the ACC-VC policy.
When the payload is returned from the MID Server to the instance, the ACC-VC Check Type, EnhancedDiscovery, delegates tasks to the EnhancedDiscoveryHandler script include provided by ACC-VC. The script contains logic to process the data from the check and handles tasks such as:
- Data transformation into an identification and reconciliation engine (IRE) compatible payload
- Non-CI data reconciliation (cmdb_running_processes, cmdb_tcp_connections, and so on)
The ACC-VC Check Definition, Enhanced Discovery, is initiated by the ServiceNow Instance. Then, an ECC Queue record with topic, MonitoringProbe, is created on the output queue with relevant Check information. The MID Server then processes the check by sending a message to the ACC via WebSocket over TLS.
During this time, the MID Server also serves any relevant Assets or Plugins that the ACC requests. The MID Server ensures the Assets and Plugins are relevant to the particular Operating System, platform, OS version, and architecture on which the ACC is running.
You can edit and modify all parts of the ACC-VC application including check type, policy, and check definition. See Checks and policies for more information.
Supported operating systems
ACC-VC collects the system attributes and related lists normally collected by the OS pattern. ACC-VC currently supports the following operating systems on x86_64 architecture:
- Linux
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Oracle Linux (OL) 7, 8, 9
- Centos 7, 8, 9
- SLES 12, 15
- Ubuntu 18, 20
- Amazon Linux 2
- Debian 9 and 10
- Microsoft Windows
- Windows Server 2012, 2012r2, 2016, 2019, 2022
- Windows 10 Enterprise Edition
- Windows 11 Enterprise and Professional Editions
- macOS (starting in ACC-VC version 1.3.0)
- 10.15 - Catalina
- 11 - Big Sur
- Monterey (x86)
- 13 - Ventura
- macOS Ventura on ARM64 - Apple Silicon M1/M2
- Sonoma
Virtual machines and cloud instances
ACC-VC associates a target, discovered via Discovery, with a pre-existing virtual machine (VM) Instance CIs. ACC-VC associates the discovered CI record with any pre-existing VM Instance record or Cloud Server Instance record with appropriate CMDB relationships.
The following variants of virtualization and cloud server vendors are supported for ACC-VC:
- vCenter
- Amazon AWS Cloud
- Google (GCP)
- Microsoft Azure
---
title: How Agent Client Collector for Visibility Content works
description: Agent Client Collector for Visibility Content \(ACC-VC\) requires installation of ServiceNow Agent Client Collector \(ACC\) on the target host. ACC is a derivative of Sensu-Go, an open-source software.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/it-operations-management/agent-client-collector/how-acc-v-works.html
release: australia
product: Agent Client Collector
classification: agent-client-collector
topic_type: concept
last_updated: "2026-10-16"
reading_time_minutes: 3
keywords: [Agent Client Collector, Agent Client Collector for Visibility, ACC for Visibility]
breadcrumb: [Exploring Agent Client Collector, Agent Client Collector, IT Operations Management]
---
# How Agent Client Collector for Visibility Content works
Agent Client Collector for Visibility Content \(ACC-VC\) requires installation of ServiceNow Agent Client Collector \(ACC\) on the target host. ACC is a derivative of Sensu-Go, an open-source software.
## ACC-VC use cases
ACC-VC applies Checks and Policies to schedule and collect host data. ACC-VC is triggered in the following cases:
- Periodic scheduling: A policy-based approach where Discovery is triggered on a periodic basis.
- On CI delete: When the computer or server CI record is deleted.
- MID Server cycle: When the MID Server goes down and comes back up.
- Target host cycle: When the target host goes down and comes back up.
- Network break: When there is a break in the network link to the target.
**Note:**
- Discovery is triggered for those agents whose hosts are already present. Agents whose hosts are not present are discovered through ACC-F.
- Agent Client Connector for AI Control Tower is available on the [ServiceNow Store](https://store.servicenow.com/store/app/b2797538939f8310a0f2fc1d6cba1075). This app is an ACC connector and adds an AI proxy capability that collects AI-based traffic from managed devices, supporting AI Control Tower shadow AI use cases.
## ACC-VC checks and policies
The ACC-VC assets are stored as Agent plugins with the main entry point \[acc\_visibility\_main\] and other modules for OS families. There is one main system Discovery Check definition, called **Enhanced Discovery**, which is used by the **Enhanced Discovery Policy**. This ACC-VC policy runs off a schedule, which is defaulted to 24 hours \(86,400 seconds\). This policy configuration is synced to all agents as defined in the ACC-VC policy.
When the payload is returned from the MID Server to the instance, the ACC-VC Check Type, **EnhancedDiscovery**, delegates tasks to the EnhancedDiscoveryHandler script include provided by ACC-VC. The script contains logic to process the data from the check and handles tasks such as:
- Data transformation into an identification and reconciliation engine \(IRE\) compatible payload
- Non-CI data reconciliation \(cmdb\_running\_processes, cmdb\_tcp\_connections, and so on\)
The ACC-VC Check Definition, **Enhanced Discovery**, is initiated by the ServiceNow Instance. Then, an ECC Queue record with topic, MonitoringProbe, is created on the output queue with relevant Check information. The MID Server then processes the check by sending a message to the ACC via WebSocket over TLS.
During this time, the MID Server also serves any relevant Assets or Plugins that the ACC requests. The MID Server ensures the Assets and Plugins are relevant to the particular Operating System, platform, OS version, and architecture on which the ACC is running.
You can edit and modify all parts of the ACC-VC application including check type, policy, and check definition. See [Checks and policies](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-operations-management/agent-client-collector/checks-policies.md) for more information.
## Supported operating systems
ACC-VC collects the system attributes and related lists normally collected by the OS pattern. ACC-VC currently supports the following operating systems on x86\_64 architecture:
- Linux
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux \(RHEL\) and Oracle Linux \(OL\) 7, 8, 9
- Centos 7, 8, 9
- SLES 12, 15
- Ubuntu 18, 20
- Amazon Linux 2
- Debian 9 and 10
- Microsoft Windows
- Windows Server 2012, 2012r2, 2016, 2019, 2022
- Windows 10 Enterprise Edition
- Windows 11 Enterprise and Professional Editions
- macOS \(starting in ACC-VC version 1.3.0\)
- 10.15 - Catalina
- 11 - Big Sur
- Monterey \(x86\)
- 13 - Ventura
- macOS Ventura on ARM64 - Apple Silicon M1/M2
- Sonoma
## Virtual machines and cloud instances
ACC-VC associates a target, discovered via Discovery, with a pre-existing virtual machine \(VM\) Instance CIs. ACC-VC associates the discovered CI record with any pre-existing VM Instance record or Cloud Server Instance record with appropriate CMDB relationships.
The following variants of virtualization and cloud server vendors are supported for ACC-VC:
- vCenter
- Amazon AWS Cloud
- Google \(GCP\)
- Microsoft Azure
| title | How Agent Client Collector for Visibility Content works |
| description | Agent Client Collector for Visibility Content \(ACC-VC\) requires installation of ServiceNow Agent Client Collector \(ACC\) on the target host. ACC is a derivative of Sensu-Go, an open-source software. |
| locale | en-US |
| canonical_url | https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/it-operations-management/agent-client-collector/how-acc-v-works.html |
| release | australia |
| product | Agent Client Collector |
| classification | agent-client-collector |
| topic_type | concept |
| last_updated | 2026-10-16 |
| reading_time_minutes | 3 |
| keywords | Agent Client CollectorAgent Client Collector for VisibilityACC for Visibility |
| breadcrumb | Exploring Agent Client CollectorAgent Client CollectorIT Operations Management |