Plugin Overview

The ServiceNow Enterprise platform offers enhanced functionality via plugins, and new plugins become available with each new release. Plugins are software components that provide specific features and functionalities within a ServiceNow instance.

Plugins may be added to the base platform in one of the following ways.

• Activated by default in the base ServiceNow system
• Activated by an admin user (not by default)
• Requested from ServiceNow before activating. This may be the case when a plugin is new, is appropriate for only certain deployments, and/or can only be activated by ServiceNow personnel.
• Plugins that are associated with a for-fee subscription to an application or suite can be activated only after your organization has purchased the subscription. See View the applications and plugins that are included with a subscription.

Note: After a plugin is active, you cannot disable or deactivate it.

Some plugins depend on other plugins being activated.

In some cases, a plugin cannot work at all unless one or more other plugins are installed. When you ask to activate a plugin in this category, the system notifies you of the dependencies before it completes the activation. If you ask to continue, the system automatically activates all the plugins required.

In some cases, the plugin works, but certain features that do not apply to your system are not installed. When you ask to activate a plugin in this category, the system notifies you of the dependencies before it completes the captivation. If you ask to continue, the system activates the requested plugin but does not include the features that depend on other plugins.

Requesting a Plugin

Some plugins must be activated by ServiceNow Customer Support. These plugins do not appear in the System Definition > Plugins list.

DISCLAIMER: For Subscription based plugins (such as Performance Analytics) please go to "Activating a plugin included in your Subscription".

Requesting Plugin Activation

1. Navigate to [HI] > Service Catalog.
2. Click Activate Plugin - https://hi.service-now.com/hisp?id=hisp_sc_item&sys_id=891f088e465667e234a3cb52ffa1d299
   
   • [Required] In What is your target instance, select the instance on which to activate the plugin.
   • [Required] In Which plugin would you like to activate, enter the name of the plugin to activate. If any of the following scenarios apply, please select the checkbox Plugin I'm looking for is not listed:
     
     • You don't see the plugin you are trying to activate in the list
     • The system is saying that you do not have the required subscription
     • The system is saying that the requested plugin is already active in the instance
   • [Required] Select the preferred date/time that the plugin activation should begin. Please note, you will not be able to select a date/time sooner than 2 business days. ServiceNow teams require 2 business days to process plugin activation requests. Once a plugin has been approved, customers or anyone in Support will be able to reschedule to an earlier or later planned start date.
   • [Optional] In Reason/Comments, provide any information that would be helpful for the ServiceNow personnel activating the plugin. For example, if you need the plugin activated at a specific time instead of during one of the default activation windows.
3. Click Submit.

Activate a Plugin

Customers can activate most plugins on their non-production instance, otherwise, they will have to request to get that plugin activated via the Now Support (HI). Some features require a separate subscription from the rest of the ServiceNow Platform. Some plugins require a purchased subscription before activation. Some plugins must be activated by ServiceNow Customer Support.

For evaluation, you can activate the plugin for an application that requires a purchased subscription on a non-production instance. To activate the plugin on production instances, you must purchase the subscription. To purchase a subscription, contact your ServiceNow account manager.

Activating a Plugin

1. Navigate to System Definition > Plugins.
2. Find and click the plugin name.
3. On the System Plugin form, review the plugin details and then click the Activate/Upgrade related link.

   If the plugin depends on other plugins, these plugins are listed along with their activation status.

   If the plugin has optional features that depend on other plugins, those plugins are listed under Some files will not be loaded because these plugins are inactive. The optional features are not installed until the listed plugins are installed (before or after the installation of the current plugin).

4. (Optional) If available, select the Load demo data check box.

   Some plugins include demo data—Sample records that are designed to illustrate plugin features for common use cases. Loading demo data is a good practice when you first activate the plugin on a development or test instance.

   You can also load demo data after the plugin is activated by clicking the Load Demo Data Only related link on the System Plugin form.

5. Click Activate.

See documentation topic (New York): Activate a plugin

Activating a plugin included in your Subscription

For Production instance, you can activate plugins that are provided with your subscription(s) using your Subscription Management module using the following steps:

1. Access the instance as admin
2. Go to Subscription Management
3. Click on Subscriptions
4. Select one of the related Subscriptions
5. Under Subscription Applications, click on the related Product. There you will see the related plugins and their status being (Active/ inactive).
6. Click on the desired plugin and click on Activate/ repair.

Purchasing a Plugin

Some features require a separate subscription from the rest of the ServiceNow platform.

To purchase a subscription, customers can contact their ServiceNow account manager. In most cases, the account manager will arrange to have the plugin activated on your organization's production and non-production instances, generally within a few days. In some cases, customers can activate the plugin within the instance.

If you do decide to delay activation after purchase or want to evaluate the feature on a non-production instance before purchase, follow the steps to activate a plugin. If the plugin is not listed in the System Definition > Plugins module, make a request through HI.

Keep in mind that customers can activate a plugin on their non-production instance for evaluation purposes but must be licensed for a paid plugin for their production instance(s).

All information regarding the costs associated with plugins should be directed to the customer's account manager, licensing is out of Customer Support's scope.

In summary, for evaluation, you can activate the plugin for an application that requires a purchased subscription on a sub-production instance. To activate the plugin on production instances, you must purchase the subscription.

Additional information

List of all plugins that you can activate if you have the admin role. (NOT all plugins)

• List of plugins (New York)
• List of plugins (Madrid)
• List of plugins (London)
• List of plugins (Kingston)
• List of plugins (Jakarta)