Is there a proper way to back-up unfinished update sets?

[Anastasia Ty-Ch]

Hi everyone!

We are planning to upgrade to UTAH version however, we still have some unfinished update sets. May I ask if there is a proper way to back-up those update sets? What I did was, I set the update sets to COMPLETE and at the RELATED LINKS, I clicked the EXPORT TO XML. I downloaded the XML files and import it to the upgraded instance.

But when I checked if all my previous work from the unfinished update sets was transferred to the UTAH version, it wasn't there. I might have missed something or probably didn't back-up the update sets properly. 

Please let me know if there is a correct way to do it. Thank you

[Saurabh Bhoi]

Yes, in ServiceNow, there is a recommended approach for backing up unfinished update sets. An update set is a container for capturing and managing a group of customization changes that can be moved between instances. To back up an unfinished update set, you can follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the "System Update Sets" module in the navigator.
2. Open the update set you want to back up by clicking on its name.
3. In the update set form, click on the "Export XML" button located at the top-right corner of the form.
4. Save the XML file to a secure location on your local machine or a designated backup folder.

By exporting the update set as an XML file, you create a backup of the current state of the unfinished update set. This XML file can later be imported into ServiceNow to restore the update set if needed. It is recommended to regularly export and save backups of unfinished update sets to ensure data protection and prevent accidental loss of work.

Note that this backup process is specific to the unfinished update set. Once an update set is completed and moved to production or another instance, it is generally considered best practice to create a new update set for further changes instead of modifying an already deployed update set.