SN Plugins

[cgedney]

We have been getting SN Plugin update emails recently and I noticed how far off we are from the version they are saying is available. 

1. How can we determine if a plugin update is due to a bug?

2. Is there a place in SN Documentation that describes the plugin and the changes available for the version coming out?

3. What is SNs best practice on upgrading plugins? Do they recommend upgrading during a release schedule so proper testing can be completed?

I had upgraded several plugins in the beginning without testing them. Did not have any issues, but now they want us to test everything.

Any feedback is very welcome.

Thank you, Charles

[DrewW]

1 - Not entirely sure what you are asking here but as long as the code is still OOB if its not working in a way that is documented then ask the community or log a case and see what support says.

2 - They document the new stuff to a point, but I have found over the years that you cannot count on ServiceNow documenting all of the changes they make for new versions.  So buyer beware.

3 - ServiceNow will upgrade some plugins automatically and other times they will not.  Its based on compatibility or minimum versions they want you to have.  We usually upgrade all of our plugins to the latest version when we do version upgrades since everyone is going to have to allocate testing time then anyway.  Occasionally we will upgrade a plugin "out of band" but only if there is an issue we need to get around or the team using that part of the system does not want to wait for new things.  I would suggest, if at all possible, you setup ATF or use another tool that does the same thing if you are being asked to test every little thing.  A lot of it is going to depend on your team size.  I have always been on small teams, so we have always had to enlist the business to help test the parts they use.

Check these out.

https://www.servicenow.com/content/dam/servicenow-assets/public/en-us/doc-type/success/workbook/upgr...

https://www.servicenow.com/content/dam/servicenow-assets/public/en-us/doc-type/success/playbook/upgr...

[cgedney]

Excellent feedback, Thank you DrewW. 

What management was asking in the first question... they wanted to know if the plugin updates are from bugs in the code. If so, is that information specified somewhere. Hope that makes better sense?

I understand the "buyer beware" too well. The issue management is dealing with is spending resources on testing out each of these plugins when they come out and are not part of a release. Do you all test them in batches? Or test them when they come out? Or ??? Based on what you wrote in the third answer, it sounds like you test them only if there is an issue. 

I've been wanting to learn ATF, but haven't had the time. That would make life oh so much easier.

Thanks again, 

Charles

[DrewW]

In the release notes they will usually list the issues that are fixed but some patches/updates do have new functionality.  So you have to read the notes for each plugin version to know.

So we update all of the plugins when we upgrade and rely on the teams that use the different pieces to test things for the version upgrades for the whole system.  So when we installed Xanadu we also installed the latest version of all of the plugins.  This reduces the number of times we have to do testing.  We also do not have the staff for patch testing that ServiceNow does every month.  So we rely on our Devs to notice issues in the subprods and we do not ask everyone to test because they would not and do not have the time to do testing every month.  So we just hope for no issues.  And so far I don't think we have had any that I can think of.

Outside of that we install plugin updates only when we find a problem and its fixed in a new version.

[Beth Milliner]

In regard to your statement "ServiceNow will upgrade some plugins automatically and other times they will not.  Its based on compatibility or minimum versions they want you to have."

That is definitely a true statement and has resulted in some functionality concerns with our past two upgrades. I heard at one point there was a way to determine the minimum upgrade version based on the version numbering, however, I don't recall the decipher ring secret. This document (https://www.servicenow.com/docs/bundle/xanadu-release-notes/page/release-notes/upgrades/reference/up...) doesn't help me in clearly understanding ahead of movement to a specific family patch. 

Am I missing something obvious? 

We've seen some go from v23.  to v26., while others go based on the 2nd or 3rd number in the version.

Any secrets or suggestions you can offer?