Cloning options with Instance Data Replication

Release version: Zurich

Updated July 31, 2025

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Summary of Cloning options with Instance Data Replication

Instance Data Replication (IDR) allows ServiceNow customers to clone database instances while managing replication configurations carefully. Cloning involves copying data and configuration from one instance to another, with options to preserve or exclude IDR settings depending on your cloning goals. Proper handling of IDR tables during cloning ensures replication integrity and system consistency across instances.

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Cloning Methods

Update Sets: Capture and move IDR configuration (fields, filters, transformations) without replicating data. Use the Track in Update Set feature to transfer replication settings between instances.
Clone Profiles: Clone the entire database, including data and replication configuration. Profiles can be adjusted to preserve or exclude IDR tables based on cloning use cases.

IDR Cloning Use Cases

Recurring Clone: Regularly clone the source instance to another while excluding the source’s IDR configuration to avoid impacting the target instance’s existing replication setup. Use preserve and exclude lists in the clone profile as per guidelines. Post-clone, configurations can be copied via update sets if needed.
True Clone: Clone the source instance including the complete IDR replication configuration. The target inherits all source replication settings and requires resubscribing consumer instances to ensure proper data flow. Clone profile settings must reflect this inclusion.
Migration Clone: Combine a true clone with preservation of the target instance’s replication setup. Before cloning, capture the target’s replication sets in an update set. After cloning, import this update set to restore the target’s replication configuration alongside the source’s cloned configuration.

Practical Considerations

Verify IDR configuration and replication success on source and target instances before cloning.
Adjust clone profiles’ preserve and exclude tables according to the intended cloning approach.
After a true or migration clone, re-create replication sets and resubscribe consumers on the target instance to maintain replication continuity.
Recurring clones maintain the target’s existing IDR configuration without disruption.

Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

This approach enables customers to maintain robust data replication across multiple instances, whether cloning for regular updates, environment provisioning, or migration. It ensures data integrity, reduces replication errors, and provides flexibility in managing replication configurations across cloned instances.

Ensure that certain tables are preserved or excluded to clone your database from one instance to another successfully with Instance Data Replication (IDR).

There are multiple methods for copying an IDR configuration from one instance to another.

Capture the configuration in an update set

An update set captures a group of configuration changes that you can move from one instance to another but doesn’t include data that a producer replicates to a consumer. You can capture a snapshot of an IDR replication configuration, including selected fields, filters, or data transformations using the Track in Update Set option, and then copy it to another instance using an update set. See Deploying a replication configuration from one instance to another in Instance Data Replication.

Copy the configuration using a clone profile

Cloning your instance copies everything in the database from one instance to another, including the data and the IDR replication configuration.

Before you clone your instance, you must determine whether to exclude or include your IDR replication configuration.

For details on cloning, see .

IDR cloning use cases

You must preserve and exclude different sets of IDR tables in your cloning profile depending on your cloning use case.

Recurring clone

In this use case, you clone your source instance regularly without affecting the existing IDR configuration on the target instance.

For example, you configure IDR to replicate data from instance A to instance B. You determine that you must clone the database from instance A to another instance called instance C. Instance A and instance C both have IDR configured with different replication configurations. When you clone the database from instance A to instance C, you don’t want to clone any of the IDR replication configuration from A to C.

Note:

If you regularly clone data from your source instance to your target instance, and find that you need to copy the IDR replication configuration from the source instance to the target instance, use the Track in update set feature to copy the IDR to the target instance.

To clone your database from one instance to another without affecting the IDR configuration on the target instance, you must update the preserve and exclude lists in your cloning profile according to the Recurring Clone use case described in KB0965218.

True clone

In this use case, you clone your source instance to your target instance and include the complete IDR replication configuration. The target instance inherits everything from the source. After the clone is finished, you must resubscribe all consumer instances to the target instance.

For example, you decide to provision a new production instance from a non-production instance that already has IDR configured. When you clone the non-production instance, the new production instance inherits everything from the non-production instance. To ensure that data replicates from the production instance and not the non-production instance, you resubscribe all consumer instances to the new production instance.

To clone your database and copy the current IDR configuration to the target instance, you must update the preserve and exclude lists in your cloning profile according to the True Clone use case described in KB0965218.

Migration clone

In this use case, you clone your source instance to the target instance, including the complete IDR replication configuration from the source instance, while preserving the target instance’s replication configuration.

The migration clone involves performing a true clone, but with additional steps.

On the target instance, you create an update set and use the Track in update set feature to upload the existing replication sets on the target instance into the update set.
Perform a true clone.
After performing the true clone, you import the update set to the target instances, and you set up replication sets using entry sets to preserve the configuration.

Table 1. Comparing IDR cloning use cases
Use case	Description	Prerequisites	Post requisites
Recurring clone	Clone your source instance to your target instance regularly but exclude your IDR replication configuration. When complete,replication sets on the target instance should not be changed.	Verify that IDR is configured correctly, and that replication is successful on both the source and target instances.	After performing a recurring clone, you can copy the IDR replication configuration from the source instance to the target instance using the Track in update set feature.
True clone	Clone your source instance to your target instance and copy your IDR configuration to the target instance. When complete, entry sets from the source instance should be cloned to the target instance.	Verify that IDR is configured correctly, and that replication is successful on the source instance.	After performing a true clone, you must perform the following actions on the target instance: Re-create the replication sets using the cloned entry sets from the source instance. Resubscribe each consumer to the newly-provisioned producer.
Migration clone	Clone your source instance to your target instance and copy your IDR configuration to the target instance, while preserving the target instance’s replication configuration. When complete, entry sets from the source instance should be cloned to the target instance.	Capture the existing replication sets on the target instance in an update set using the Track in update set feature. Perform a true clone.	After performing the true clone, you must perform the following actions on the target instance: Import the update set. Re-create the target replication sets using the entry sets captured in the update set. Re-create the source replication sets using the cloned entry sets from the source instance.