Rename your ServiceNow non-production instance through the Service Catalog

[april_mcgehee]

If you've recently had a company name change or maybe another company has just acquired your company, you'll probably be looking to rename your ServiceNow instance soon. This can now easily be done through a Service Catalog request in the Customer Self-Service Portal for all non-production instances. An instance rename is still available for production instances but due to the higher risk involved we have those instances managed through customer support.

Users with the following roles can request that their instance be renamed:

• business_customer
• business_customer_admin
• customer
• customer_admin
• partner
• partner_admin
• neebula_customer_admin/ neebula_customer roles.

Before requesting to rename your instance there are a few naming requirements that have to be followed that you've probably forgot about because it's been a while since you originally named your instance.

• Production and/or sub-production instances cannot contain the word 'demo' or 'pop' or 'pic' as a suffix.
• Instance names can be alphanumeric.
• Instance names cannot contain special characters (e.g. $, %, &, -, *),
• For instance names 3 characters or below, additional review and approval is required.

Now that you've decided on your instances new name, maybe you want it to match your companies new domain name and it meets the requirements above, you can request the rename through the CSS Portal's Service Catalog.

To rename your instance:

1. Navigate to hi.service-now.com.
2. Do one of the following:
   • Enterprise customers, click Service Catalog > Instance Management > Rename an Instance.
   • ServiceWatch customers, click Self-Service > Rename an Instance.
3. In Please select the Instance, specify the instance to rename from the filtered reference field.
   1. If you are having trouble finding your instance, use "*" for a "contains" query.
4. Specify the expected date for renamed instance to be available.
   Note: Add the date you would like the cutover to happen. This date MUST be at least 3 days from the day you are opening your rename ticket.
5. Specify how long the old URL should be active after renaming.
6. Click Submit.
   1. A new change request is created for the rename request, and the request is displayed automatically. As needed, add people to the Watch list and any Additional comments as necessary.
7. Click Update.

ServiceNow retains the old URL for two business days, but it can retain the old URL for up to seven days. This can be useful if you have some links you need to update elsewhere before the new instance name goes live. It would be better not to rely on that grace period, but do keep in mind that if you forgot to change some URLs there is a chance that you still have time.