How does archiving works?

[gazalagrawa]

We have a requirement to archive accounts (customer_account) and all related cases and contacts. To achieve this I was trying to create an archive rule but the account table is not available for selection. How does this archiving process works? Do I need to enable some property to have this table for selection? Is there some other step which need to be performed before creating archive rule

[SohamTipnis]

Hi @gazalagrawa,

This is actually expected behavior in ServiceNow; nothing is “wrong” on your side.

The reason you’re not seeing the customer_account table while creating an archive rule is because not all tables are archive-enabled by default. ServiceNow only allows archiving on tables that are explicitly configured for it, and business-critical tables like accounts (especially in CSM) are usually not exposed out of the box.

To make this work, you first need to ensure that archiving is enabled for that table. This involves checking the table definition and making sure it supports archiving, and then creating an archive strategy for it. Until a strategy is defined, the table won’t show up in archive rule selection.

Also, one important thing to understand is that archiving in ServiceNow does not automatically handle related records like deleting does. So even if you archive customer_account, it won’t automatically archive related cases and contacts. You’ll need to either:

• Create separate archive rules for those tables, or
• Design the logic carefully to maintain data consistency

Before all this, make sure the Data Archiving plugin (com.glide.archiving) is active; otherwise, none of this will work as expected.

You can also refer to the below documents:

https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/zurich/acct-lifecycle-events/account-lifecycle-events-landing.html

https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/zurich/acct-lifecycle-events/account-lifecycle-events-landing-page...

https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/zurich/source-to-pay-operations/accounts-payable-operations/acc-pa...

https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/zurich/customer-service-management/import-create-csm-accounts.html

Let me know if this helps!!!!😀

If you find my answer useful, please mark it as Helpful and Correct. ‌‌😊

Regards,
Soham Tipnis
ServiceNow Developer || Technical Consultant
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sohamtipnis10

[Tanushree Maiti]

Hi @gazalagrawa 

To archive customer_account data , 

You can define and access archive rules for a table by navigating to All > System Data Management > Data Management Policies and selecting the data management policy for the table.

https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/zurich/platform-administration/c_ArchiveData.html

Also you can refer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDkfGJIzov8

https://www.servicenow.com/community/developer-blog/archiving-with-servicenow/ba-p/3124895

[yashkamde]

Hello @gazalagrawa ,

Try modifying its dictionary entry:

> Navigate to the Dictionary record for the customer_account table (Type: Collection).

> Add the attribute: archive_restriction=false.

> Once saved, the table will appear in the Archive Rule "Table" dropdown.

Note : Archiving is one-way by design. While there is a "Restore" button, restoring thousands of records and their relationships can be a nightmare and can impact performance. Always run your rule in "Estimate" mode first to see how many records you're about to move.

Refer this :

Data Archiving Walkthrough 

https://www.servicenow.com/community/cmdb-forum/how-to-set-an-archive-related-record-for-case-tasks-... 

If my response helped mark as helpful and accept the solution.