Preview predicted changes

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Preview predicted changes

    The Preview predicted changes feature in the Zurich release helps ServiceNow customers anticipate the total records that may change during an upgrade. This includes records predicted to be skipped, particularly those with customizations, to avoid overwriting them during the upgrade process.

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    Key Features

    • Predicted Skips: The system identifies records likely to be skipped due to customizations or other complex scenarios, helping to safeguard your custom work.
    • Upgrade Preview Form: Accessible via the "View preview details" link, this form displays detailed information about predicted changes and skips.
    • Predicted Disposition Actions: Records are categorized by the upgrade action expected, such as Insert, Update, Reverted, or various types of Skip (Manual Merge, Apply Once).
    • Priority Levels: Skipped records are prioritized from 1 (highest) to 5 (lowest) based on file type importance, helping customers focus on the most critical conflicts first.
    • Resolution Status: Tracks whether conflicts have been reviewed and the actions taken, such as retaining customizations or reverting to upgrade versions.

    Practical Application for ServiceNow Customers

    By using the Upgrade Preview, customers can proactively identify and address predicted customization conflicts before upgrading. This enables smoother upgrades by reducing surprises and manual conflict resolution after the upgrade. Prioritization helps focus efforts on critical components like UI pages and business rules, ensuring essential customizations are preserved or appropriately handled.

    Details Provided in Upgrade Preview

    • File Name: Identifies the record flagged for reconciliation.
    • Predicted Disposition: Indicates the upgrade action to be performed on each record.
    • Priority: Shows the importance level of the conflict for resolution planning.
    • Resolution: Status and decisions made regarding conflict handling.
    • Plugin: Specifies the plugin associated with the record.
    • Related Record: Links the changelist entry to the affected record.

    Use the previewed changes table to view the list of total records that are predicted to change when the upgrade occurs.

    Preview skipped list prediction

    The Total record changes also includes records that are predicted to be skipped due to various reasons. The most common reason is due to customization. The reason an upgrade skips customizations is to avoid overwriting your customizations. Upgrade Preview attempts to predict which records will be skipped when the actual upgrade occurs. It predicts skips due to customizations, and some of the other more complex scenarios as well. It is possible to use Upgrade Preview to address these predicted customization skips before the upgrade occurs, which can prevent that skip from happening.

    Click View preview details link on the Previewing version card. The Upgrade Preview form appears along with the following related lists details.

    Table 1. Related lists details
    Field Description
    File name Record that has been flagged for reconciliation.
    Predicted Disposition Action predicted to be performed on this file during the selected upgrade:
    • Predicted Insert: The system is predicted to insert a new record.
    • Predicted Update: The system is predicted to update this record.
    • Reverted: This record was reverted to the base version, and won’t be skipped on the next upgrade.
    • Predicted Skip: The system won't change this record in order to preserve customizations.
    • Predicted Skip (Manual Merge): The system won't change this record because updating it requires manual intervention.
    • Predicted Skip (Apply Once): The system is predicted to skip this record because it had already applied an update from an xml file in the apply once folder.
    Priority Priority that has been assigned to resolve the conflict. Values range from one to five, with one representing the highest priority.
    Note:
    ServiceNow prioritizes the skipped records based on the importance of the file types. The prioritization is done as follows:
    • Priority 1 (highest priority): UI pages, UI macros, and more
    • Priority 2: Business Rules, Security ACLs, and more
    • Priority 3: Reports and more
    • Priority 4: Form Sections, Choice Sets, and more
    • Priority 5 (lowest priority): other
    Resolution Ways to resolve a conflict.
    • Not reviewed: Conflicted files that have not been reviewed yet
    • Reviewed: Reviewed but no action has been taken yet
    • Review not needed: Review of the skipped files are not required
    • Reviewed and Retained: Left customizations in place without update from upgrade
    • Reviewed and Reverted: Customizations discarded, record updated according to the upgrade version
    Plugin Plugin containing the record
    Related record Record that the changelist entry applies to