Debug upgrade

  • Release version: Washingtondc
  • Updated February 1, 2024
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Debug Upgrade

    Debug Upgrade is a feature in the ServiceNow AI Platform that allows administrators to diagnose issues following a recent upgrade. By enabling this tool during a user session, you can analyze transaction details to identify artifacts that were skipped, customized, or modified during the upgrade process. This provides valuable insight alongside the Upgrade History and Upgrade Monitor modules.

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    Key Features

    • Expandable Sections: Debug Upgrade includes sections for artifacts that were skipped, customer customized, or modified by ServiceNow during the last upgrade.
    • Transaction Analysis: After enabling Debug Upgrade, you can process a transaction (e.g., loading a form) and review reported upgrade information.
    • Artifact Records: Each artifact lists update version history, showing its state at different times, which helps assess required user actions.

    Key Outcomes

    Utilizing Debug Upgrade enables you to:

    • Identify which artifacts have changed or not changed, and understand the implications of these changes.
    • Determine if any artifacts require user intervention to function as expected after an upgrade.
    • Choose to accept new functionality or modify artifacts based on upgrade findings.

    To enable and use Debug Upgrade, turn it on when analyzing post-upgrade issues and disable it after completing the session.

    Diagnose and resolve issues you suspect may have resulted from the most recent upgrade by enabling upgrade debugging during a user session. Each transaction lists whether an artifact was skipped, customized by the customer, or modified by ServiceNow during the last family-to-family or patch version upgrade.

    Administrators and technical personnel can use this output as an adjunct to the Upgrade History and Upgrade Monitor modules. Debug Upgrade is a component of standard ServiceNow session debugging. You enable Debug Upgrade, process a transaction (for example, load a form), then analyze the reported upgrade information. See .

    Reported debug information

    Debug Upgrade includes several expandable sections:
    • Skipped During Last Upgrade
    • Customer Customized
    • ServiceNow Modified During Last Upgrade
    These sections serve as a starting point for diagnosing when a function or artifact does not operate as expected after an upgrade. Each listing sorts by the dates the artifacts were processed, with the most recent appearing first. Expand the appropriate section, and click the name of a listed artifact to view the underlying artifact record. These records include update version history, which represents the state of a customizable object at specific times. See Version records.
    The listed artifacts may require some kind of possible user intervention or action. Using underlying artifact detail, you can determine:
    • what artifacts have changed?
    • what artifacts have not been changed that would or should have?
    • what changed artifacts were missed?
    • what artifacts operate differently than expected (if referencing something that has changed during last upgrade)?

    Depending on the answers to these questions, you may have to modify the selected artifact so it works in the way you expect. Conversely, you might simply accept the new updates made to the artifact, and its changed functionality.

    Skipped during last upgrade

    Lists artifact records that were skipped during the last upgrade that also ran during the last transaction. These records are standard objects that missed changes from ServiceNow because they were modified at some point by a user. See Resolve conflicts for an individual record.

    Customer customized

    Lists all artifact records that were customized at some point by users that also ran during the last transaction. This listing is not strictly related to the actual activities performed during the last upgrade session. The listing does include the records that appear under Skipped During Last Upgrade. However, not all records that appear in the Customer Customized list are included in Skipped During Last Upgrade.

    Note:
    Customizations that you designate for replacement during upgrades, by setting the Replace on Upgrade field in the customization record to true, do not appear on the Customer Customized section list.

    While this listing is not directly related to the activities performed during the last upgrade, it may be worthwhile to look at individual customization records listed on it. Some of the listed customization records may be referencing other records changed or skipped during upgrade. The activities performed during the last upgrade may have an impact on, or affect these relationships.

    ServiceNow modified during last upgrade

    Lists all standard (non-customized) artifact records modified by ServiceNow during the last upgrade that also ran during the last transaction.