Upgrade Instance version.

[daiva]

Hello Community,

I need to upgrade my Client instance from Vancouver to Washington DC. How can i achieve that 
Props an Cons. And what security measure has to take before upgrade.

Thanks,
Daiva.

[Dr Atul G- LNG · Accepted solution]

Hi @daiva 

Upgrades are critical for any org/ client and it is good to see what is required before upgrade.

There is no specific list of plus or minus but you can have a look at checklist provided by SN.

https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/washingtondc-release-notes/page/release-notes/upgrades/upgrades-p...

https://youtu.be/8eluSioUSzM

[JohnnySnow · Accepted solution]

Hi Daiva,

I recently upgraded our dev instance from Vancouver to Washington.

What help are you looking for ?

Its always better to be on latest version or at least N-1 version. If SN support for Vancouver is ending soon then upgrading is the best option.

Your upgrade plan would be specific to your client and the modules they are using. 

1. As an initial start, go through the release notes, to see the latest features, changes etc.

https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/washingtondc-release-notes/page/release-notes/release-notes-summa...

2. Learn about cloning the instance from prod to dev.

https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/washingtondc-platform-administration/page/administer/managing-dat...

https://support.servicenow.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0715621

https://support.servicenow.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB1214608

3. Learn on how to Request upgrade from HI portal

4. Once the instance is upgraded next would be to work on skipped logs. Learn about it below.

https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/washingtondc-platform-administration/page/administer/platform-upg...

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

5. While working on skipped logs, capture the changes in update set.

6. Verify if the dev instance is working fine as per clients requirement.

if yes, proceed to do the steps 2, 3, in UAT.

then move the update sets from dev to UAT.

Test UAT instance

Proceed to upgrade Prod

Move update sets from UAT to Dev.

This would be a good learning experience, and if any concerns raise in our SN community.

[JohnnySnow · Accepted solution]

Hey Daiva,

How many instances does the client have? Generally it is Dev/UAT/Prod.

This is the approach we have been using for the upgrade.

1. Clone Production instance to Dev instance - This is done so that we have the latest replica of production instance and running upgrade on Dev will let us know the potential issues that we might face and the actions we can take on those.

Note: Before cloning make sure all updatesets are pushed to Prod instance (if for some reason you are not ready to push it to prod then taking XML backup is essential)

2. Upgrade Dev instance, capture skipped logs changes in update set.

3. Clone Prod to UAT instance

4. Upgrade UAT instance, move skipped logs update set to UAT from DEV

5. Upgrade Prod, move skipped logs to Prod from UAT.

these are high level upgrade steps, like I said in my previous post, please go through all the docs.

Your query

When we clone InstanceA - InstanceB
A has Vanc
B has Vanc
I cloned A to B and then A is upgraded to Washington then i clone back B - A >> This is an incorrect approach, here you are cloning back Vancouver version to Washington.

Ideally if you have just 2 instances then 

Instance A (Dev) - Vancouver

Instance B (Prod) - Vancouver

1. Clone B to A

2. Upgrade A to Washington

3. Capture skipped logs of A in an update set and then test all your functionalities in A.

4. Upgrade B

5. Move update set to B from A

6. Test B (if possible)

[Dr Atul G- LNG · Accepted solution]

Hi @daiva 

Upgrades are critical for any org/ client and it is good to see what is required before upgrade.

There is no specific list of plus or minus but you can have a look at checklist provided by SN.

https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/washingtondc-release-notes/page/release-notes/upgrades/upgrades-p...

https://youtu.be/8eluSioUSzM

[JohnnySnow · Accepted solution]

Hi Daiva,

I recently upgraded our dev instance from Vancouver to Washington.

What help are you looking for ?

Its always better to be on latest version or at least N-1 version. If SN support for Vancouver is ending soon then upgrading is the best option.

Your upgrade plan would be specific to your client and the modules they are using. 

1. As an initial start, go through the release notes, to see the latest features, changes etc.

https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/washingtondc-release-notes/page/release-notes/release-notes-summa...

2. Learn about cloning the instance from prod to dev.

https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/washingtondc-platform-administration/page/administer/managing-dat...

https://support.servicenow.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0715621

https://support.servicenow.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB1214608

3. Learn on how to Request upgrade from HI portal

4. Once the instance is upgraded next would be to work on skipped logs. Learn about it below.

https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/washingtondc-platform-administration/page/administer/platform-upg...

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

5. While working on skipped logs, capture the changes in update set.

6. Verify if the dev instance is working fine as per clients requirement.

if yes, proceed to do the steps 2, 3, in UAT.

then move the update sets from dev to UAT.

Test UAT instance

Proceed to upgrade Prod

Move update sets from UAT to Dev.

This would be a good learning experience, and if any concerns raise in our SN community.

[daiva]

Thanks @JohnnySnow @Dr Atul G- LNG 

For the insights. 
i'm not clear about cloning.
When we clone InstanceA - InstanceB
A has Vanc
B has Vanc
I cloned A to B and then
A is upgraded to Washington then i clone back B - A 
What about the data present in B(before cloning) will i able to get it or i loose?
Can i use Rollback Functionality instead of Cloning?

Cz we need to Upgrade all 3 Instances to Washington From Vanc.

Thanks,
Daiva

[JohnnySnow · Accepted solution]

Hey Daiva,

How many instances does the client have? Generally it is Dev/UAT/Prod.

This is the approach we have been using for the upgrade.

1. Clone Production instance to Dev instance - This is done so that we have the latest replica of production instance and running upgrade on Dev will let us know the potential issues that we might face and the actions we can take on those.

Note: Before cloning make sure all updatesets are pushed to Prod instance (if for some reason you are not ready to push it to prod then taking XML backup is essential)

2. Upgrade Dev instance, capture skipped logs changes in update set.

3. Clone Prod to UAT instance

4. Upgrade UAT instance, move skipped logs update set to UAT from DEV

5. Upgrade Prod, move skipped logs to Prod from UAT.

these are high level upgrade steps, like I said in my previous post, please go through all the docs.

Your query

When we clone InstanceA - InstanceB
A has Vanc
B has Vanc
I cloned A to B and then A is upgraded to Washington then i clone back B - A >> This is an incorrect approach, here you are cloning back Vancouver version to Washington.

Ideally if you have just 2 instances then 

Instance A (Dev) - Vancouver

Instance B (Prod) - Vancouver

1. Clone B to A

2. Upgrade A to Washington

3. Capture skipped logs of A in an update set and then test all your functionalities in A.

4. Upgrade B

5. Move update set to B from A

6. Test B (if possible)