How to Migrate Standard Change Templates Between ServiceNow Instances

Vinodkp93 · ‎07-23-2025

After reviewing multiple community blogs and articles, I have consolidated and finalized the content below.
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Migrating Standard Change Templates across instances requires more than just an Update Set, as these templates are not captured by default. However, with a structured approach using XML export/import and temporary ACL adjustments, the process becomes manageable and reliable.

Step 1: Resolve Permission Denied Errors

During import, you may encounter errors like:

Skipping record for table std_change_template and ID – permission denied  
Skipping record for table std_change_record_producer and ID – permission denied

To address this:

Temporarily enable the admin override option for the following ACLs on tables where the 'create' operation mentioned
- std_change_template
  https://YourInstanceName.service-now.com/nav_to.do?uri=sys_security_acl.do?sys_id=b32e8182ffb00200b18affffffffff55
- std_change_record_producer
  https://YourInstanceName.service-now.com/nav_to.do?uri=sys_security_acl.do?sys_id=c8bf0982ffb00200b1...
Alternative (Recommended for Best Practices):
Instead of modifying Out-of-Box ACLs, create temporary custom ACLs with admin override enabled. Remove them after the migration is complete.

Step 2: Export Records from the Source Instance

Export the following tables in the specified order to maintain data integrity:

std_change_template
std_change_record_producer
std_change_proposal
std_change_producer_version
sc_cat_item_catalog
sc_cat_item_category

Step 3: Import Records into the Target Instance

In the destination (non-production) instance:

Navigate to each corresponding table.
Right-click on the list header → Import XML.
Upload the previously exported XML files.

Step 4: Post-Migration Cleanup

After successful import and validation:

Remove or disable any temporary ACLs created.
Perform functional testing to ensure:
- Standard Change Templates behave as expected.
- Associated catalog items and categories are correctly linked and functional.

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Please mark if you find it helpful!

Brian Lancaster · ‎07-23-2025

Why would you need migrate Standard Change templates? Standard change templates can be created by anybody with the ITIL role are not something that needs to be configured by an admin. I have been working on ServiceNow since 2014 and have yet to migrate a standard change template.