Understanding PDIs

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Understanding PDIs

    Personal Developer Instances (PDIs) are specialized ServiceNow environments assigned to developers for building and testing applications. To maintain access, you must select a specific ServiceNow release and consistently use your PDI. Inactivity of ten days results in instance reclamation, where your PDI is reset and reassigned to another developer. This process ensures availability of free instances to active program members.

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    Maintaining Your PDI

    • Keep your PDI active by signing in regularly and performing development activities such as creating applications, tables, fields, or Script Includes.
    • Back up your work frequently by committing to source control or creating update sets, as unsaved work may be lost if your instance is reclaimed.
    • The Developer Site’s Account menu provides inactivity reminders, helping you track your usage.

    Hibernation and Reclamation

    To optimize resources, PDIs enter hibernation when idle, shutting down the database and application server but preserving data. You can reactivate a hibernating PDI by signing in, which resets the inactivity timer. Instances unused for ten days are reclaimed and reset to their original state before reassignment.

    Limitations of PDIs

    • PDIs cannot be used as clone sources or targets for customer or partner instances.
    • They cannot be linked via team development to customer or partner instances and do not support publishing to the ServiceNow Application Repository or Store.
    • Machine Learning, Instance Data Replication, MetricBase, and many ServiceNow Store applications are not supported on PDIs.

    Maintenance

    ServiceNow may perform maintenance on PDI infrastructure, including updates and hardware replacement, which can temporarily restrict access. Maintenance schedules and expected completion times may be visible on the My Instance page. Your data and work remain unaffected by planned maintenance.

    Release Management

    Use the release selector to match the documentation and content to your PDI’s release version, indicated by a server icon. Ensure your content aligns with your PDI release to avoid confusion. If your PDI uses an older release, follow the provided upgrade procedures to access the latest features and content.

    PDIs require you to select a specific release and maintain consistent usage to avoid hibernation.

    Sign in to the Developer Site to keep your PDI active. After a period of inactivity, your instance is reclaimed. Back up your work regularly to prevent data loss.

    Note:
    To save your work, commit your work to source control or create update sets. Work that is not saved may be lost due to instance reclamation.

    When a PDI is reclaimed, the instance is unassigned from you, reset to its original state, and reassigned to another Developer Program member. Reclaiming instances allows the Developer Program to support active program members with free instances. The Account menu on the Developer Site header includes a reminder in the Activity section that you have ten days of inactivity.

    PDI that could be reclaimed

    Keep your PDI active by signing in or performing developer-type activities on your instance such as:
    • Creating an application
    • Creating a table
    • Adding a field to a table
    • Creating a Script Include

    Hibernation

    To keep the developer program free and provide PDIs to everyone who wants one, instances hibernate when they are idle. When a PDI hibernates, the database and application server shut down to conserve computing resources. All your data is preserved when the PDI hibernates. You can wake up a hibernating instance by signing in to the Developer Site. Waking an instance from hibernation resets the ten-day inactivity countdown.

    In addition, you should also be aware of the following:
    • PDIs are returned to the pool of available instances if they go unused for ten days. Duration may change due to availability.
    • Availability is not guaranteed.
    • PDIs cannot be clone targets or clone sources for customer or partner instances.
    • PDIs cannot be linked via team development to customer or partner instances since they belong to ServiceNow®.
    • PDIs cannot publish to the ServiceNow Application Repository or the ServiceNow® Store.
    • PDIs cannot work with Machine Learning, Instance Data Replication, or MetricBase.
    • Many ServiceNow® Store applications cannot be installed on PDIs.

    Mainentance

    ServiceNow® occasionally needs to perform maintenance on the underlying infrastructure associated with PDIs. Maintenance includes updating and patching software, firmware, and replacing hardware. During maintenance, your PDI may not be accessible. The length of time required for maintenance depends on the type of maintenance. If available, the My Instance page indicates the expected completion time for planned maintenance. Your work and data on your PDI is unaffected by planned maintenance.

    PDIs and the release selector

    When content is available for different releases, use the release selector to select a release. The server icon next to the release name identifies the release of your PDI. The bar under the release name identifies the selected release. When working on your PDI, be sure the content matches your PDI.

    Select a release

    If the content does not match your PDI release, click the release with the server icon to view the content that matches the release of your PDI.

    Selected release

    The selector only shows releases for which the current page of content is available except when the content is not available for your PDI release. When the content is not available for your PDI release, the PDI release is grayed out and cannot be selected.

    Release content not available

    If your PDI is not on the latest release, follow the steps for upgrading your PDI to get the latest release.