Upgrade tools and resources

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Upgrade Tools and Resources

    The Upgrade Tools and Resources for ServiceNow, particularly in the Xanadu release, are designed to enhance your upgrade experience by providing automation, management, and best practices for your upgrades. These tools help ensure that your instance functions correctly post-upgrade and streamline the upgrade process.

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    Key Features

    • Automated Test Framework (ATF): Create and execute automated tests to verify your instance's functionality after changes. It's essential to run these tests only in non-production environments to avoid data loss.
    • Upgrade Center: Centralize upgrade planning and management, explore available release versions, monitor ongoing upgrades, and review past upgrades through various modules like Upgrade Preview and Upgrade Monitor.
    • Now Support Upgrade Assist: Automate upgrade scheduling tasks to keep your system current.
    • Known Error Portal: Access a list of known issues related to specific patch release versions.
    • Sample Upgrade Project Plans: Utilize downloadable project plans in various formats (PDF, Excel, MPP) for tracking upgrade progress.

    Key Outcomes

    By utilizing these tools and resources, you can enhance the efficiency of your upgrade process, minimize risks associated with system changes, and ensure your ServiceNow instance remains up-to-date. Additionally, resources like the Upgrade Value Calculator and expert services can help you understand the benefits of staying current and applying best practices for successful upgrades.

    Learn about ServiceNow products and tools that can improve your upgrade experience.

    Products

    Use these ServiceNow products to automate parts of your upgrade testing and manage your upgrades from one central place.

    Automated Test Framework
    The Automated Test Framework (ATF) enables you to create and run automated tests to confirm that your instance works after making a change. For example, after an upgrade, during application development, or when deploying instance configurations with update sets. Review failed test results to identify the changes that caused the failure and the changes that you should review.
    Note:
    By default, the system property to run automated tests is disabled to prevent you from accidentally running them on a production system. Run tests only on development, test, and other non-production instances to avoid data corruption and outage.
    Automated Test Framework test steps
    Upgrade Center

    Use ServiceNow® Upgrade Center to plan and manage your upgrades. Use the Upgrade Preview module to explore different release versions available to you and gain insights about the experience of an upgrade without actually upgrading your instance. You can also monitor the status of any ongoing upgrade and view the summary of your latest upgrade with the new Upgrade Monitor module. The Upgrade Center also features an Upgrade visual task board (VTB) to manage post-upgrade skips. A separate Upgrade History module can be used to view all your past upgrades.

    Upgrade Center

    Upgrade tools

    In addition to upgrade-related products, you can also use ServiceNow's upgrade tools.

    Now Support upgrade assist
    Stay current by automating your ServiceNow upgrades. Use an automated service to offload upgrade scheduling tasks.
    Known Error portal
    Review a list of known issues in selected patch release versions.
    Sample upgrade project plans
    The Upgrade planning checklist provides a quick look at the steps in an upgrade. If you'd like to track your upgrade progress in Excel, PDF, or Microsoft Project, you can download these sample project plans to get started.

    Best practices

    Visit the ServiceNow Customer Success Center website for information on upgrade value and best practices.

    Upgrade value calculator
    Determine the potential business value of staying current with ServiceNow upgrades.
    Playbook: Upgrade quickly and maintain platform health
    Use upgrade processes and tools to conduct your upgrades, and learn how to make changes to your baseline system when required.
    Balance value and risk with platform customizations

    Learn when and how to customize your instance to maximize value and minimize upgrade impact.

    Resources

    ServiceNow Customer Success Center
    Browse prescriptive content and tools such as playbooks, checklists, and quick answers to gain more value from your ServiceNow implementation.
    Expert services
    Connect with a ServiceNow expert who will help you apply best practices and tools to upgrade to the most recent ServiceNow innovations.