When is the best moment to import back update sets that we have exported for upgrade purposes?

[Smith Johnson]

Hello,

we would like to upgrade our instance to Zurich. For this purpose, we plan to first clone prod to dev. Here the crucial part is that we should not lose our development work that didn't reach prod.

For this reason, we have completed our update sets (in dev) and exported them.

So, now we are wondering, when is the best moment to import them back in dev?
1) After the cloning has been completed, but before the upgrade starts?
2) After the cloning has been completed, and after the upgrade has been completed, but before reviewing skipped records?
3) After both cloning and upgrade have been completed, and after we have reviewed skipped records?
Or??

Which is the best practice and why?

Your experience would be extremely helpful.

Thank you,
Smith.

[Dr Atul G- LNG · Accepted solution]

Hi @Smith Johnson 

We just completed the upgrade.

Here’s what we followed:

• Took an Update Set backup

• Cloned the instance

• Performed the Upgrade

• Fixed Skipped Records

• Updated Plugins

• Retrieved the Update Set

• Ran ATF (Automated Test Framework)

[Smith Johnson]

Hi @Dr Atul G- LNG ,

thanks a lot for your reply.

Could you please elaborate why you updated the plugins?
Isn't it possible to preserve the plugins during the cloning?

What's the best practice regarding plugins? Should we define a table exclusion or data preservation for plugins during the cloning?

Thank you,
Smith.

[Dr Atul G- LNG]

Hi @Smith Johnson 

Once the clone and updates are completed, the new version might not be compatible with the older version of the plugin. Additionally, ServiceNow periodically introduces new features and fixes in plugins. Therefore, updating the plugin as part of this activity is necessary to ensure compatibility and take advantage of the latest improvements.