Update Sets are a crucial feature in ServiceNow that allow administrators and developers to group and track customizations made to an instance, enabling the organized transfer of changes between different environments such as Development, Test, and Production. When you modify configurations like bu…Update Sets are a crucial feature in ServiceNow that allow administrators and developers to group and track customizations made to an instance, enabling the organized transfer of changes between different environments such as Development, Test, and Production. When you modify configurations like business rules, UI policies, client scripts, or other application files, ServiceNow automatically captures these changes in the currently selected Update Set. By default, all changes go into the Default update set, but best practice recommends creating custom Update Sets for specific projects or features to maintain organized change management. To create an Update Set, navigate to System Update Sets and select Local Update Sets, then click New. Give it a meaningful name that describes the changes it will contain. Once created, you must set it as your current Update Set before making modifications. The system tracks insertions, updates, and deletions of records in tables that are flagged for update set tracking. After completing your customizations, you close the Update Set to prevent further modifications. The closed Update Set can then be exported as an XML file and imported into target instances. On the target instance, you preview the Update Set to identify potential conflicts or issues before committing the changes. The preview process compares incoming changes with existing configurations and highlights problems that need resolution. Common issues include missing parent records or version conflicts with existing customizations. After resolving any preview problems, you commit the Update Set to apply all changes to the target instance permanently. Update Sets support collision detection, allowing administrators to identify when multiple developers modify the same record. This feature is essential for maintaining system integrity across environments and ensuring consistent deployments. Understanding Update Sets is fundamental for any ServiceNow administrator managing multiple instances and implementing proper change management procedures throughout the application lifecycle.
Update Sets in ServiceNow: Complete Guide for CSA Exam
What are Update Sets?
Update Sets are a mechanism in ServiceNow that groups customization changes made to an instance, allowing them to be moved from one instance to another. They act as containers that capture and track configuration changes, making it possible to migrate developments from development to test to production environments.
Why are Update Sets Important?
Update Sets are essential for several reasons:
• Change Tracking: They provide a complete record of all customizations made to an instance • Migration Management: They enable controlled movement of changes between instances • Version Control: They help maintain consistency across development, test, and production environments • Rollback Capability: Changes can be backed out if issues arise • Collaboration: Multiple developers can work on separate update sets simultaneously
How Update Sets Work
1. Creation: An administrator creates a new update set and sets it as the current update set
2. Capturing Changes: Any configuration changes made while the update set is current are automatically recorded in it
3. Completion: Once all changes are finished, the update set is marked as Complete
4. Export: The completed update set is exported as an XML file
5. Import: The XML file is imported into the target instance
6. Preview: The system previews the update set to identify potential conflicts
7. Commit: After resolving any issues, the update set is committed to apply changes
Key Concepts to Remember
• Local Update Sets: Created and stored on your current instance • Retrieved Update Sets: Update sets that have been imported from another instance • Default Update Set: The system-provided update set that captures changes when no custom update set is selected • Current Update Set: The active update set where changes are being recorded • Batch Update Sets: Parent update sets that contain multiple child update sets
Update Set States
• In Progress: Currently being used to capture changes • Complete: Ready for export and migration • Ignore: Will not be committed to the target instance
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Update Sets
1. Know the Workflow: Understand the complete lifecycle from creation to commit. Questions often test your knowledge of the correct sequence of steps.
2. Understand Preview and Commit: Remember that preview identifies conflicts BEFORE commit applies changes. This distinction is frequently tested.
3. Default Update Set Usage: Know that using the Default update set is not recommended for production changes because it makes tracking and migration difficult.
4. Conflict Resolution: Be familiar with how to handle update set conflicts during preview, including options to skip, accept remote, or accept local changes.
5. What Gets Captured: Understand that update sets capture configuration changes but NOT data changes. Business rules, UI policies, and forms are captured, but record data in tables like Incidents is not.
6. Backing Out Changes: Know that backing out an update set reverses the committed changes on the target instance.
7. Read Questions Carefully: Pay attention to whether questions ask about local or retrieved update sets, as the available actions differ.
8. Instance Migration Path: Remember the typical path is Development to Test to Production. Questions may test your understanding of this promotion process.
9. Completeness Before Export: An update set must be marked Complete before it can be exported. This is a common test point.
10. Multiple Update Sets: Only one update set can be current at a time for a user, but multiple update sets can exist in progress simultaneously.