Upgrade tools and resources

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated April 7, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Upgrade tools and resources

    ServiceNow provides a suite of products and tools designed to streamline and improve the upgrade experience for your instance. These resources help automate testing, manage upgrade processes centrally, and provide expert guidance to ensure smooth, risk-mitigated upgrades.

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    Key Features

    • Automated Test Framework (ATF): Enables creation and execution of automated tests to verify instance functionality after upgrades or changes. It helps identify failures and areas requiring review. Note that automated tests should only run on non-production instances to avoid data risks.
    • Upgrade Center: Central hub to plan, monitor, and manage upgrades. Includes the Upgrade Preview module to explore new release versions without upgrading, an Upgrade Monitor to track ongoing upgrades, and a visual task board for managing post-upgrade skips. The Upgrade History module provides access to past upgrade records.
    • Now Support Upgrade Assist: An automated service to simplify scheduling and keep your instance current with minimal manual effort.
    • Known Error Portal: Provides a curated list of known issues in patch releases to help anticipate and mitigate problems.
    • Sample Upgrade Project Plans: Downloadable checklists and project plan templates in PDF, Excel, and Microsoft Project formats to help plan and track your upgrade milestones effectively.
    • Best Practices: Access expert-curated best practices to accelerate upgrade outcomes, maintain platform health, and optimize the balance between customizations and upgrade stability.

    Key Outcomes

    • Execute upgrades efficiently with reduced risk and downtime.
    • Maintain platform health and adopt new ServiceNow features faster.
    • Gain visibility and control over upgrade activities through centralized tools.
    • Leverage expert guidance and long-term support with Impact success plans and professional services.
    • Make informed customization decisions to maximize value while minimizing upgrade impact.

    Learn about ServiceNow products and tools that can improve your upgrade experience.

    Products

    Use these ServiceNow products to automate parts of your upgrade testing and manage your upgrades from one central place.

    Automated Test Framework
    The Automated Test Framework (ATF) enables you to create and run automated tests to confirm that your instance works after making a change. For example, after an upgrade, during application development, or when deploying instance configurations with update sets. Review failed test results to identify the changes that caused the failure and the changes that you should review.
    Note:
    By default, the system property to run automated tests is disabled to prevent you from accidentally running them on a production system. Run tests only on development, test, and other non-production instances to avoid data corruption and outage.
    Automated Test Framework test steps
    Upgrade Center

    Use ServiceNow® Upgrade Center to plan and manage your upgrades. Use the Upgrade Preview module to explore different release versions available to you and gain insights about the experience of an upgrade without actually upgrading your instance. You can also monitor the status of any ongoing upgrade and view the summary of your latest upgrade with the new Upgrade Monitor module. The Upgrade Center also features an Upgrade visual task board (VTB) to manage post-upgrade skips. A separate Upgrade History module can be used to view all your past upgrades.

    Upgrade Center

    Upgrade tools

    In addition to upgrade-related products, you can also use ServiceNow's upgrade tools.

    Now Support upgrade assist
    Stay current by automating your ServiceNow upgrades. Use an automated service to offload upgrade scheduling tasks.
    Known Error portal
    Review a list of known issues in selected patch release versions.
    Sample upgrade project plans
    The Upgrade planning checklist provides a quick look at the steps in an upgrade. If you'd like to track your upgrade progress in Excel, PDF, or Microsoft Project, you can download these sample project plans to get started.

    Best practices

    Visit the ServiceNow Best Practices website for more information on how to accelerate outcomes with expert-curated best practices.

    Upgrade quickly and maintain platform health
    Plan and execute smooth ServiceNow AI Platform upgrades, reduce risk, cut costs, and adopt new features faster across your ServiceNow instance.
    Balance value and risk with platform customizations

    Learn when and how to customize your instance to maximize value and minimize upgrade impact.

    Resources

    ServiceNow Impact success plans
    Receive long-term adoption guidance and support with an Impact success plan tailored to you.
    Expert services
    Connect with a ServiceNow expert who will help you apply best practices and tools to upgrade to the most recent ServiceNow innovations.