Upgrade Progress

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Upgrade Progress Release version: Zurich

    The Upgrade Progress feature in ServiceNow provides a detailed, real-time view of the stages and status during an instance upgrade. It helps customers monitor the entire upgrade process, ensuring transparency and control over each phase from start to finish. This feature is particularly useful when upgrading to the Zurich release version.

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    Key Features

    • Progress Bars and Status Indicators: Visual progress bars display the current stage of the upgrade, though section lengths do not correspond to time duration.
    • Stage Breakdown: The upgrade is divided into four main stages:
      • Upgrading Platform: Core platform elements are upgraded.
      • Updating Schema: The system identifies tables requiring upgrades by scanning plugins to avoid redundant updates.
      • Loading Plugins: Both core and optional plugins are loaded; the count may exceed the number of optional features due to dependencies.
      • Completing: Final component upgrades occur after earlier stages finish.
    • Detailed Activity Information: Displays the current activity name, a progress bar for that activity, and the specific file being updated.
    • Node Upgrade Status: Icons indicate each node’s status (Pending, Running, Successful, Failed, or Down). Users can select nodes via mouse hover to view detailed information.
    • Node Details: For the selected node, the interface shows running time, current build version, and uptime or downtime duration.
    • Integration with ATF Test Generator and Cloud Runner: If these applications are installed and the SNATFTG plugin is active (and the instance is neither federated nor self-hosted), users can schedule test runs directly from the Upgrade Monitor page, enabling confidence in upgrade quality.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Clear visibility into each upgrade phase helps in proactive monitoring and issue detection.
    • Node-level insights assist in pinpointing specific components or nodes that may experience delays or failures.
    • Integration with testing tools supports automated validation during upgrades, reducing risk.
    • Understanding upgrade stages and progress details prepares administrators for better planning and communication.

    When an upgrade is underway, Upgrade Progress displays progress bars and other information to help you monitor the process.

    You can view the status of every stage during the upgrade process, to determine which stage you're at.

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    If you have the ATF Test Generator and Cloud Runner store application installed, you can schedule test generation runs from the Upgrade Monitor page. The above message shows up during an upgrade process when the following conditions are met.
    • The SN_ATF_TG plugin is not active.
    • The instance is not a fed instance.
    • The instance is not a self-hosted instance.
    Note:
    You can now confidently upgrade your instance by using the ATF Test Generator and Cloud Runner store app. See Exploring ATF Test Generator and Cloud Runner for more information.
    Once the database upgrade starts, the following details show up. Status of an in-progress upgrade
    Table 1. Upgrade Progress details
    Field Input Value
    Current version Current version of the instance
    Target version Target upgrade version of the instance
    Upgrade Progress A progress bar depicting where the upgrade is in the overall process. The length of a section in the bar does not indicate the relative duration of that process.
    Upgrade Progress: Upgrading Platform The system is applying upgrades to elements that form the foundation of the platform.
    Upgrade Progress: Updating Schema The system is scanning the plugins to create a list of tables that require upgrading. This prevents the system from upgrading the same table multiple times.
    Upgrade Progress: Loading Plugins The system is loading both core and optional plugins. Some features require more than one plugin, so the number of plugins listed may not match the number of optional features installed.
    Upgrade Progress: Completing The system is upgrading components that need to be completed after the previous three stages are done.
    Details Shows the current activity, a progress bar for the current activity, and the file currently being updated.
    Node Upgrades The color of the icons represents the status of each node during this upgrade: Pending, Running, Successful, Failed, or Down.
    Node The selected node indicated by the arrow. To change the selection, position the mouse cursor over the icon for the node to select.
    Running time How long the selected node (indicated by the arrow) has been running. If the selected node is offline, this value stops updating and shows how long a node was online before going offline.
    Version The current build for the selected node (indicated by the arrow).
    Successful upgrade When the selected node is online, shows how long the node has been online. If the selected node is offline, shows how long the node has been offline.