How does Delete Job works in the background?

[Facundo Alves]

Hello Everyone,

Can someone help to understand how the Delete Job works in the background?

We're trying to delete a big amount of data, but we won't use the table cleaner since we need a backup, so as the delete job offers a backup after all the data is deleted, we are trying to use this feature.

I'm concerned about the performance of ServiceNow when the delete job is running, so I need to know how it works in the background.

Also, I need to know if we schedule a delete job, this will affect the other queued scheduled jobs?

We don't want to block all the other scheduled jobs if the delete job takes too much time to process.

I find official documentation related to the creation and use of the delete job, but ServiceNow doesn't explain how it works in the background.

[Tushar · Accepted solution]

Hi @Facundo Alves 

The Delete Job is a background job that is used to delete data from ServiceNow.

It works by first creating a backup of the data that is being deleted. Once the backup is created, the data is deleted from the database.

The Delete Job is a queue-based job, which means that it is processed in the order in which it is received. This means that if you schedule a Delete Job, it will not affect the other queued scheduled jobs.

The Delete Job does not block other scheduled jobs, but it can have an impact on the performance of ServiceNow. The amount of impact will depend on the amount of data that is being deleted and the resources that are available on the system.

If you are concerned about the performance impact, you can run the Delete Job during off-peak hours.

• The Delete Job can only delete data from tables that are not in use.
• The Delete Job cannot delete data from tables that are being used by other jobs.
• The Delete Job cannot delete data from tables that are protected by a retention policy.

Please, don't forget to mark my answer as correct if it solves your issue or mark it as helpful if it is relevant for you!

Regards,
Tushar