Evaluating Servicenow - cloning not possible

[snow2p]

Hi,

I'm running a number of tests to evaluate Servicenow, and one of them is clone/backup. I.e. never use/purchase a system if you can't restore it or clone an instance before the first upgrade.

That said, I am not able to test cloning on the PDI I'm customizing and testing. Other systems I'm evaluating do allow cloning. This is not a new problem, but most of the answers I've found make sense if I was already a paying customer. Namely, glide.db.clone.allow_clone_target seems to be permanently set to "false", with banner "This item is read-only based on its protection policy." Elevating privs from admin to security admin does not solve the problem. I also don't want to talk to a sales person yet. I already have a technology integration partner I can contact at Servicenow, but that would be for a discussion at the end of my evaluation, as cloning and backup are 2 of a long list of items I'm working through.

Is there a way to test it, or is this just a "no/can't test" type question?

Thx.

[Dr Atul G- LNG · Accepted solution]

Hi @snow2p 

We can Clone the PDI , as for cloning we require another instance.

Clone is only possible in client instance only.

2nd point about backup  as per SN docs, SN take delta backup every day and full backup after 7days. 

To restore your instance you need to raise the Now Support team and team will help you.

But again back up possible only in official instances not on PDI.

[snow2p]

Thanks. While not the answer I was looking for, it was clear and concise. 

I'll mark down that cloning and recovering is NOT testable w/o purchase for my evaluation and that it will need to immediately need to verify if ServiceNow is selected.

[Mark Roethof]

Hi there,

To answer:
"Is there a way to test it, or is this just a "no/can't test" type question?"

No, you can't test this yourself with a Personal Developer Instance. For any company subproduction/demo instances you can. 

In my experience the cloning within ServiceNow for subproduction instances can work pretty. Lots of good configurable options, when more advanced things needed you can write post clone cleanup scripts, etc.. When you got good people in house, they can even help you reduce the number of manual actions after a clone to ZERO.

Backups is a different thing. ServiceNow automatically takes backups of your instance, you don't do anything for this. I wrote a minor related article on this recently:
- 2024-06-10 - Article - List of available Instance backups