Preserving data from target instances during clones

Release version: Australia

Updated March 12, 2026

2 minutes to read

Summarize

Summarized using AI

Summary of Preserving Data from Target Instances During Clones

This guide provides essential information on using data preservers to protect specific data on target instances during cloning operations in ServiceNow. Data preservers help ensure that system settings and preferences are not overwritten during the cloning process.

Show full answer Show less

Key Features

Data Preservers: Enable the protection of critical data such as instance-specific authentication settings and user preferences. Remember to define data preservers on the source instance, as doing so on the target instance will not have any effect.
Multi-SSO Integration: Automatically creates necessary data preservers when Multiple Provider Single Sign-On is activated. Specific tables and conditions are predefined for optimal preservation.
Preservation of Unpublished Applications: Data preservers do not support unpublished applications. Developers must manually preserve their content as the cloning process only copies the version of the application from the source instance.

Key Outcomes

By utilizing data preservers, you can ensure a smooth cloning process without losing vital configurations and settings. This practice safeguards your instance's integrity and provides a reliable backup strategy. However, be cautious with unpublished applications and avoid using data preservers for large data sets, opting instead for export and import methods for substantial records like user groups.

You can use data preservers to protect data on the target instance from being overwritten. If you have custom applications, you must also manually preserve unpublished application content.

Data preservers

Sometimes, it is necessary to preserve some data on an instance targeted for cloning. For example, if the target is a MID Server, you must not overwrite the MID Server [ecc_agent] table. Preserved data is reapplied to the target instance after exclusions are completed.

Warning:

You must define data preservers on the source instance. Defining them on the target instance does not preserve the data.

Data preservers typically preserve system settings and themes, such as:

Instance-specific authentication settings
Bookmark [sys_ui_bookmark]
Recent Selection [sys_ui_recent_selection]
User Preference [sys_user_preference]

Note:

A clone does not support preserving data from a database view.

Don't use data preservers to transfer large sets of data, such as user groups. If you must preserve table data, such as users, groups, and roles, consider exporting the records to a file and importing them after cloning.

Data preservers for Multi-SSO

The system automatically creates the necessary data preservers for cloning when you activate Multiple Provider Single Sign-On integration.


Name	Table	Conditions
Certificate	X.509 Certificates [sys_certificate]	None
Core Instance Properties	System Property [sys_properties]	[OR] [Name] [is one of] [glide.authenticate.external, glide.authenticate.external.logout_redirect] [OR] [Name] [starts with] [com.snc.integration.saml_esig] [OR] [Name] [is one of] [glide.smtp.port, glide.smtp.auth, glide.smtp.encryption] [OR] [Name] [starts with] [glide.authenticate.multisso] [OR] [Name] [is] [glide.authenticate.sso.redirect.idp] Note: The properties glide.smtp.port, glide.smtp.auth, and glide.smtp.encryption are deprecated.
Digest Properties	Digest Properties [digest_properties]	None
Identity Providers	Identity Providers [sso_properties]	None
SAML2 Update1 Properties	SAML2 Update1 Properties [saml2_update1_properties]	None

Note:

Although you can modify these data preservers, it is good practice not to. The Digest Properties [digest_properties], Identity Providers [sso_properties], and SAML2 Update1 Properties [saml2_update1_properties] tables are required for multiple source, single sign-on (SSO) to function properly. If multiple source, single sign-on is disabled on the target instance, you can safely remove all three data preservers. Remove them at the same time, as the system terminates the clone with an error message when you attempt to clone with one or two of these tables being preserved.

Preservation of unpublished applications

You can't use data preservers to save unpublished applications. Instead, application developers must choose how they want to preserve unpublished applications.

The cloning process does not preserve version differences for applications in development. Instead, the system clone only copies the application version installed on the source instance onto the target instance. If the target instance had a development version of the same application, the application is editable after the clone, but maintains the version installed on the source instance. If the application was missing from the source instance, the cloning process deletes the application from the target instance.