Redirecting from Legacy Portal to Employee Center (ESC) in ServiceNow
When moving from an older portal (like ESS) to the new Employee Center (ESC), you can redirect users seamlessly by making the old portal inactive and pointing it to an alternative portal. This avoids confusion and ensures users always land on the new portal.
Steps to Configure the Redirect
Log in as an Administrator
Make sure you have admin access in ServiceNow.Open the Portal Record
Navigate to All > Service Portal > Portals.
Select the portal you want to deactivate (e.g., ESS).
Expose Required Fields on the Form
Right-click the portal form header and choose Configure > Form Layout.
Add the Inactive and Alternative Portal fields to the form layout.
(These fields are not shown by default, so you need to bring them onto the form first.)
Update Portal Record
Open the same portal record again.
Check the Inactive box to deactivate the portal.
The Alternative Portal field will now appear.
From the dropdown, select the portal you want users redirected to (e.g., Employee Center).
Save Changes
Click Update.
Now, when users try to access the inactive portal, they’ll automatically be redirected to the chosen alternative portal with message appear on the top.
Tips
Communicate the change to users in advance.
Update bookmarks or intranet links pointing to the old portal.
Test the redirection thoroughly before rolling out.
