Grandfathered and exempted tables
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Summary of Grandfathered and exempted tables
Grandfathered and exempted tables in ServiceNow are special categories of custom tables handled differently from standard custom tables. Their treatment depends on your organization’s legacy entitlements and current subscription contracts. Understanding these distinctions helps you manage custom table entitlements effectively without impacting your overall license usage.
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Grandfathered tables
- Grandfathered tables preserve previous custom table entitlements through a one-time license migration process, ensuring existing custom tables on your instance do not count against new custom table subscription limits.
- They cannot be transferred, reused, or reclassified once assigned.
- If a grandfathered table is deleted, its entitlement slot is not reusable for other tables.
- Grandfathered tables remain listed in the
uacustomtableinventoryeven if deleted. - When an application includes both grandfathered and standard custom tables, grandfathered tables must be mapped to a grandfathered subscription, and other custom tables mapped to separate subscriptions.
- Mapping grandfathered tables requires coordination with ServiceNow Customer Service and Support.
- Example scenario: If your organization has 25 grandfathered tables plus new subscriptions totaling 55 custom tables, your total entitlement would be 80 tables. Once assigned, grandfathered status cannot be reversed.
Exempted tables
- Exempted tables are custom tables that do not count against subscription entitlements.
- They typically include custom extensions of certain system-related tables (e.g.,
sysportalpage,sysuserpreference) used for operational improvements. - You can view exempted tables using the list
uaexemptedtableinventory.list. - The Custom Table Guide legal schedule provides the official definitions and details on exempted tables, with enforcement tied to contract execution dates.
Grandfathered and exempted custom tables are treated differently than other custom tables on your instance. Refer to your organization’s ServiceNow® contract for additional information.
Grandfathered tables
Depending on your organization’s legacy subscription entitlements and contractual migration, grandfathered tables might be allotted to your production instance. Grandfathered table entitlements enable preservation of your organization's previous custom table entitlements through license migration. This one-time process ensures that custom tables that currently exist in a production instance don't count against your new custom table entitlements.
Grandfathered custom tables can't be transferred, reused, or otherwise classified as another custom table type. If you delete a grandfathered custom table, you can't classify any other custom table as a grandfathered custom table to take its place. Once a custom table has been associated with a grandfathered table subscription, it remains in the Custom Table Inventory even if the table is deleted from the instance.
To view your grandfathered tables, enter ua_custom_table_inventory.list in the filter navigator, and then add a filter with the condition [Allotment type] [is] [Grandfather].
If you have a combination of custom tables and grandfathered tables in one application, the grandfathered tables must be mapped to a grandfathered table subscription and the remaining custom tables to one other subscription. Reach out to Customer Service and Support for help mapping a grandfathered table to a grandfather table subscription.
Grandfathered tables on an instance
Scenario: Your organization purchases three new subscriptions with entitlements for a total of 55 App Engine Starter custom tables (formerly Bundled Custom Tables). To ensure your organization doesn't lose the previous custom table entitlements, a grandfather subscription with an entitlement for 25 grandfathered tables is allotted to your instance. This subscription requires the admin to identify and map the existing 25 tables. These subscriptions result in a total custom table entitlement of 80. Once a custom table has been assigned to the grandfather subscription there is no option to revert this.
| Subscription | Number of custom table entitlements | Number of mappable tables |
|---|---|---|
| Grandfathered subscription | 25 | 25 |
| New Subscription 1 | 25 | 25 |
| New Subscription 2 | 25 | 25 |
| New Subscription 3 | 5 | 5 |
Exempted tables
Exempted tables are custom tables that do not count towards your subscription entitlements. These tables consist mostly of custom extensions of certain system-related tables, such as sys_portal_page and sys_user_preference, that you extend for operational improvements in your production instance.
To view a list of exempted tables, enter ua_exempted_table_inventory.list in the filter navigator.