Issue
The ServiceNow release cycle is designed to provide optimal stability and quality, with the flexibility to quickly address problems and deliver new features.
Customer customizations are typically preserved throughout all upgrades. ServiceNow uses the concept of a family for a given feature set. For example, Quebec Patch 1 Hotfix 2 is in the Quebec family. A family contains:
- A feature release that contains new functionality and fixes to existing functionality.
- Patch releases and hotfixes that provide problem fixes and are released as needed.
Feature release notes are available in the product documentation for all releases.
For information about the ServiceNow upgrade process, see ServiceNow upgrades.
For information about the ServiceNow Patching Program (SPP), refer to the Patching Program FAQ.
For information about Early Releases, please see Early Release Program and FAQs.
For more information about the general upgrade process, see How to upgrade a ServiceNow instance and manage scheduled upgrades.
Release terminology
Release type
This table defines the types of releases that may be available in a family.
Type | Scope |
Feature release |
|
Patch release |
|
Hotfix |
|
Release Distribution Phases
Feature releases
Feature releases move through two phases of distribution for customers and partners:
- Phase 1: Early access
- Phase 2: On-demand or auto-upgrade scheduled based on available dates
The following table provides a brief summary:
Phase | How do I obtain a new feature release? | Is the feature release visible when requesting an upgrade on Now Support (HI)? | Is there a maximum number of customers that can upgrade per week? |
Phase 1 | Register for the early release program to access the latest family | Yes, for registered customers | No |
Phase 2 | Request and receive the version at any time or be auto-upgraded | Yes, for all customers | No |
Patches and hotfixes
- Access to patches and public hotfixes are available as soon as they are released
-
Entitlements are provided to specific customers for Hot Fixes released for Controlled Availability
Release cycle examples
Quebec was a feature release, thus the Quebec family includes:
- Quebec feature release
- Quebec patches
- Hotfixes
- Limited distribution hotfixes
- Public hotfixes
For example:
- Quebec = New features + a collection of fixes
- Quebec Patch 1 (IP1) = Quebec + a collection of problem fixes
- Quebec Patch 1 Hotfix 1 (QP1HF1) = Quebec + QP1 + a fix for a problem in QP1
- Quebec Patch 1 Hotfix 2 (QP1HF2) = Quebec + QP1 + QP1HF1 + a fix for a different QP1 problem
- Quebec Patch 2 (IP2) = Quebec + QP1 + a collection of problem fixes that may or may not include QP1HF1-QP1HF2, depending on if these hotfixes have been adopted by the official patch, or discarded with the official patch development.