Upgrade - Capturing repairs in an update set

[jpspurlin]

I have read several of the posts on upgrading and update sets and they don't address my specific question.

We have 3 environments.   We have started in our sandbox to upgrade from Geneva to Istanbul.   We are trying to get as much as possible back to OOB.   So, we are spending a good bit of time reviewing the skips and reverting back to OOB.  

1. Should we be capturing this in an update set?  
2. Can we apply this update set to our second environment (Dev) and not have to repeat this manual skip review process?
3. If we do apply the update set to our second environment - can we apply it before we do the upgrade?
   1. My thought is that if we have reverted many of the items to OOB before we do the upgrade, then we won't see those as skips when we do the upgrade.   But I'm not sure we can apply an update set done on an Instanbul instance to an instance that is still on Geneva.
4. If we have to apply the update set after we do the upgrade, I think I read that it will not update the skip log.   Is that correct?

Thanks,

Jan

[Jaspal Singh]

Hi Jan,

Kindly find my answers inline in red.

1. Should we be capturing this in an update set?

    Yes.

        2.   Can we apply this update set to our second environment (Dev) and not have to repeat this manual skip review process?

        Yes.

        3. If we do apply the update set to our second environment - can we apply it before we do the upgrade

1. My thought is that if we have reverted many of the items to OOB before we do the upgrade, then we won't see those as skips when we do the upgrade.   But I'm not sure we can apply an update set done on an Instanbul instance to an instance that is still on Geneva.

Yes, you can follow this approach but doing it after upgrade would be better option. Also, since you have already captured those stuffs in update set it won't be time consuming.

        4. If we have to apply the update set after we do the upgrade, I think I read that it will not update the skip log.   Is that correct?

        Yes, it will. But better to commit update set after upgrade.

Thanks,

Jaspal Singh

Hit Like or Correct on the impact of response.

[jpspurlin]

I want to make sure I understand your answer.

Why is it better to apply the update set(s) AFTER the Dev environment has been upgraded?   What is the advantage?

On the last question about updating the skip log - Yes the update set will update the skip log or no it will not?

Thanks,

Jan

[Jaspal Singh]

Hi Jan,

If you apply updates after upgrade it would pull in something that were lost because of upgrade.

Yes, it will skip logs only for the updates that does not exist.

Thanks,

Jaspal Singh

Hit Like or Correct on the impact of response.

[jpspurlin · Accepted solution]

I submitted this question to HI and got a slightly different answer.

Reverting a customization is not tracked in update sets. You must perform this procedure on each instance for which you want to revert your customizations. Additionally, committing update sets across ServiceNow versions is not advised. There can exist schema changes between versions that would cause issues during committing update sets.

Here are some useful articles that will help you to develop a solid plan for your upgrade:

  Upgrade Best PracticesReverting Customizations