Most Popular NowSupport knowledge base articles solving cases - week ending 12/09!

[jaimehonaker]

Below you'll find a list of our most popular customer and public facing NowSupport knowledge base content, based on usage over the last month. We'll be updating this list the second week of every month to bring you this content. We want you to have access to content that is creating and solving cases, before you need it! 

• How to manage and schedule instance upgrades – KB0541128
  • You can upgrade and patch your instance in the Now Support portal by request, as described below, or be automatically upgraded or patched by ServiceNow. For additional information about the ServiceNow Patching Program, see ServiceNow Patching Program FAQs.
• Plugin Activation Overview - KB0695388
  • The ServiceNow Enterprise platform offers enhanced functionality via plugins, available with each new release. Plugins are software components that provide specific features and functionalities within a ServiceNow instance. Find steps on how to request, activate, and purchase a plugin.
• Performance Troubleshooting Guide – KB0516495
  • Performance issues can manifest anywhere in the product. Instead of knowing everything there is to know about the ServiceNow platform, applications, how our customers use it, and so on, a technician will have to spend a considerate amount of time digging into new concepts. Performance troubleshooting can be time-consuming and while asking a lot of questions helps, ultimately everyone must direct and focus on their learning path as well as make a conscious effort to continue to learn in order to be successful. This reviews some abstract concepts that provide a good foundation for thinking about the performance of the ServiceNow platform.
• How to request default admin password reset via Now Support Service Catalog - KB1122424
  • ServiceNow has created an automated workflow to support the default instance admin password reset process. Customers request default instance admin password reset via a Service Catalog item to create a Change, which is completed using end-to-end automation.
• Creating and managing Now Support users, granting and revoking access, editing user roles – KB0547279
  • Customer administrators can view a list of the Now Support users they manage, create new users, and edit existing user information. For access to Now Support, a user must have the customer role. Customer administrators can grant and revoke the customer and customer_admin role to other users.
• Managing Company Contacts on NowSupport - KB0547262
  • Customer and Partner administrators are responsible for keeping their company contact information accurate and up to date on Now Support. Company contacts are critical for communications with ServiceNow. For example, company contacts are notified by email if there is a mass outage or an issue affecting the company instance. The customer administrator should specify an alternative, temporary primary support contact in case they are unavailable.
• Upgrade FAQ - Frequently asked questions – KB0678054
  • A common list of questions on upgrading your instance. Since customizations on your instance can affect behaviors, this article applies to features from an out-of-box perspective.
• Restoring an instance with the Now Support Service Catalog - KB0791676 – must be logged into NowSupport to view
  • ServiceNow has created an automated workflow to support the instance restore process. Customers request an instance restore via a Service Catalog item to create a Change, which is completed using end-to-end automation.
• Now Learning - KB0787267
  • Now Learning (https://nowlearning.service-now.com/) provides a central repository of ServiceNow training content and certifications. It is ServiceNow’s learning and recognition experience and gives those users access to our full range of training content, certifications and badges, and hands-on practices to learn, improve their skills, and share their accomplishments. 
• Clone - FAQ – KB0715621 – must be logged into NowSupport to view
  • A list of Clone Frequently asked questions.
• Configure SMTP and IMAP email accounts with Microsoft Office365 using OAuth2 - KB0816072

  • An instance can be configured to connect to email accounts using  for providers who support it.

    This focuses on setting up the OAuth Provider for use with a Microsoft Office365 account. Once configured, you will be able to retrieve access and refresh tokens from the Microsoft Azure OAuth Server using the OAuth2 Authorization Grant Type.

• Configuring Subscription Management with Groups (Quebec+) - KB0993966 – must be logged into NowSupport to view
  • This article introduces how to get started configuring Groups with Subscription Management.  This is required for Quebec and beyond.  
• Requesting a temporary instance - KB0830706 - must be logged into NowSupport to view 
  • This article explains the ServiceNow policy and scenarios regarding temporary instance requests.
• Instance Backup and Recovery – KB0547654 – must be logged into NowSupport to view
  • ServiceNow has created an automated workflow to support the instance restore process. Customers can request an instance restore via a Service Catalog Item to create a Change, which is completed using end-to-end automation.
• ServiceNow Store App installation - KB0748910
  • Find out what to do if you are unable to install applications in your instance. Request apps from the ServiceNow Store and follow the directions receive in your email shortly after. If you still do not see the app in your instance after following this process, please contact the app vendor via the page where you request the app.
• Requesting an instance rename - KB0550695
  • ServiceNow has created an automated workflow to support the instance rename process. Users with the customer_admin role can request an instance rename via a Service Catalog item to create a Change, which is completed using end-to-end automation.
• Reference | Commercial TLS and Cipher Remediation - October 2022 - KB1123711 - must be logged into NowSupport to view 
  

  • The purpose of this article is to provide information about the Commercial TLS and Cipher Remediation - what you can expect, when to expect it, and how to know if you will be affected by the change on October 12, 2022.

• End-of-Life - Unsupported release family upgrades FAQ - KB0610454
• Instance Rename Policy for Customers - KB0550841
  • Production and/or sub-production instances cannot contain the word 'demo' or 'pov' or 'poc' as a suffix, Instance names can be alphanumeric, Instance renames cannot be submitted for demonstration, self-hosted (on-premise), Developer, Jumpstart  or Temp instances, For the OEM instance naming convention, it requires to have “oem” in the name to differentiate from enterprise instance, Instance names cannot contain special characters (e.g. $, %, &, -, *), If the new instance name has 3 characters or below, additional review and approval is required
• NowSupport Portal - KB0955555 - must be logged into NowSupport to view
• ServiceNow Partners - How to request access to customer instances - KB0519074 - must be logged into ...
  • As a Partner, you may have a need to request clones, plugin activation, access to customer instances, etc., on behalf of customers when you have a consulting agreement to do work at the customer site. It is important for ServiceNow to verify that you are authorized to act on the customer's behalf.
  • Partners must provide a copy of their Statement of Work (SOW) signature page and details about the engagement by submitting a Partner Deployment Request.
• Support for Developer (devXXXXX) Instances - KB0714543 - must be logged into NowSupport to view.
  
  • Developer instances are part of Developer Program to allow developers to create and integrate applications and expose them within Developer community.
• How to resolve Skipped changes with Disposition - Skipped Error - KB0786212 
  • After upgrade you see some Skipped Changes records with Disposition 'Skipped Error' and unable to compare the record to the OOB record to review. Skipped Errors are usually thrown for records that were attempted to be loaded but skipped, due to the record already existing in the system in a different scope. Usually, this means the record is already in the system brought in by another plugin. 
• Customer Instance Administration Password Reset for Sub-Production Instances - KB0596436 – must be logged into NowSupport to view
  • The Admin Password Reset catalog item in the Now Support (HI) is for standard customer administrators (not self-hosted or Federal) to reset their sub-production instance admin password. The customer enters a temporary password which is only synced to their instance, and not stored anywhere in HI. They are then required to reset the password on first login as an additional security measure. This is available for the roles admin, customer_admin, partner_admin. 
• ServiceNow Health Scan - KB0829125 - must be logged into NowSupport to view

  • HealthScan is ServiceNow's automated instance scanning system. It is a "full-body" assessment of your instance health that analyzes your system configuration and provides insights and recommendations for what you should continue doing and where you might be able to improve.

    With a healthy ServiceNow® instance, you can realize maximum value from the platform and your applications. You can also reduce technical debt - the cost of additional future rework caused by choosing an easier or more limited solution today.