Migrating Flow execution from one instance to another

[SheltonT]

We are migrating from a legacy instance to a new greenfield instance and need to migrate in progress requests with their active flow executions.

What are all the tables we need to capture to migrate the full active flow executions?

[Ankur Bawiskar]

@SheltonT 

Would be challenging though since flow context has lot of internal other tables involved in it

If my response helped please mark it correct and close the thread so that it benefits future readers.

[SheltonT]

Yes, I understand it is challenging. That is the question in this thread of what are all of those tables that need to be migrated.
This reply does not answer the question and I will not be closing the thread based on this response. 

We cant go into thousands of records and manually move them all through the process to the stage they are currently in the current instance  

[Shruti43]

We are also in the same situation. Need to migrate requests with active flows. Please let us know if you have found any solution to this.

[connorlyons]

Hi @SheltonT,

To migrate in-progress requests with active Flow Designer executions from a legacy ServiceNow instance to a new greenfield instance, the key tables involved in active flow executions are as follows:

1. sys_flow_context
   • Represents the context of a Flow execution (one per Flow run).
   • Critical for tracking the execution state.
2. sys_flow_execution
   • Stores the runtime execution path, including which actions have executed and which are pending.
   • Tied to the sys_flow_context.
3. sys_flow_log
   • Contains logs of Flow execution steps.
   • Helpful for debugging or audit purposes.
4. sys_flow_queue
   • Stores items that are waiting to be processed in the flow engine.
5. sys_flow_timer
   • Contains timers for delays or wait conditions within a flow.
6. sys_flow_action_instance
   • Captures individual action instances within a flow (e.g., Create Record, Wait for Condition)

7. Trigger Table (e.g., sc_req_item, incident, etc.)

   • The actual record that initiated the flow. You’ll need to migrate these along with their sys_ids intact so the flow context remains valid.

A few important things to consider for your migration:

1. You must preserve sys_ids across instances, especially for:
   • Trigger records
   • Flow context
   • Action instances

2. Rebuilding flow state mid-execution is not officially supported, so this type of migration is complex and generally not recommended unless absolutely necessary.

3. Instead, consider pausing flows before migration or handling them via custom reconciliation logic in the new instance.

Best,

Connor Lyons

Consultant at Infocenter

CSA | CAD | 15x CIS

LinkedIn

Please mark answer correct and/or helpful for others reading this with the same issue/question.