Default update set

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Default update set

    In ServiceNow, only one update set can be designated as the default for each application scope. Setting an update set as the default ensures that all changes made within that scope are captured in it. The system enforces this by automatically marking all other update sets in the same scope as non-default when a new default is assigned.

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    Key Features

    • Default Set Field: Setting this field to true makes an update set the default for its application scope, ensuring uniqueness per scope.
    • Global Default Update Set: This special update set (with scope set to global and Default set = true) is used for instance-wide changes that are not associated with user-created update sets. It provides essential system functionality and should not be altered, deleted, or transferred between instances.
    • Auto-Generated Default Update Sets: The system automatically generates a default update set if none exists or if the existing default is marked as Ignored or Completed. This guarantees that changes are always captured and not lost.

    Practical Behavior and Use Cases

    • When an admin logs in for the first time, the system assigns the global default update set as their update set and sets the application scope to global.
    • If the global default update set is missing or inactive, the system creates a new update set, names it based on the previous default with an appended number, and assigns it as the default.
    • If a user marks the default update set as Ignored or Completed (which is discouraged), the system immediately creates a new default update set for that scope.
    • Changing application scope triggers the system to generate a new default update set if the user's preferred update set for the new scope is not In-Progress.

    Why This Matters for ServiceNow Customers

    Understanding how default update sets operate helps ensure that your configuration changes are properly tracked and managed within the correct scope. The automatic generation and enforcement of a single default update set per scope prevent loss of changes and maintain consistency across development and deployment processes. Avoid marking default update sets as Ignored or Completed to prevent unintended creation of new update sets and maintain a clean update set workflow.

    Only one update set can be the default set for any application scope.

    To set an update set to be the default set, you set the Default set field to true. When you set Default set = true, the following actions occur:
    • The update set becomes the default update set for its scope.
    • The system sets Default set = false for all other update sets with the same scope. This ensures that there is only one default update set for each scope.

    Global default set

    Use the global default update set to make changes to an instance without adding the changes to any user-created update sets. The global default update set is the set where Default set = true and application scope is global. The global default set (regardless of the Name of the set) provides system functionality and should not be changed, deleted, or moved between systems. Use this update set to make changes to an instance without adding the changes to any user-created update sets.

    Auto-generated default set

    At all times, to ensure that no updates to an instance are lost, the system ensures that there is a default set for the user’s current scope. If the system finds that a default update set does not exist (or is marked Ignored or Completed) for the current scope, then the system auto-generates an update set and sets Default set = true.

    These are some common cases where the system auto-generates a default update set.
    • The very first time that an admin logs in, the system sets the system’s global default update set as the administrator’s update set. In addition, the application picker sets the administrator’s application scope to global.
      If a global default update set does not exist (or is marked Ignored or Completed), the system creates a new update set for the global application scope and performs the following actions:
      • The system sets Default set = true for the new set.
      • The system sets the name of the new set to start with the name of the former default set and appends the next numeral (in the sequence SetName, SetName 1, SetName 2, …, SetName n).
      • The system sets the newly created set as the administrator’s update set.
    • When a user marks the default set for a scope as Ignored or Completed (not a recommended practice), the system immediately auto-generates a new default set for the scope.
    • The system auto-generates a new default update set for a scope when all the following conditions occur:
      • You change application scope.
      • Your preferred update set is Complete or Ignored.
      • There is no In-Progress default update set for the new scope.