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Plugin Activation Overview - Support and Troubleshooting
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KB0695388

Plugin Activation Overview


56435 Views Last updated : Jul 9, 2025 public Copy Permalink English (Original)
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KB Summary by Now Assist

Issue

The ServiceNow Enterprise platform offers enhanced application functionality via plugins with each release. Plugins are software components that add functionality to installed applications on ServiceNow instances. Below you'll find steps on how to request, activate, and purchase a plugin.

After reviewing this article, if you still have questions, please review Plugin FAQs for answers to specific questions.

Plugins may be added 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. For more information, View the applications and plugins that are included with a subscription.
 Note: After a plugin is active, you cannot disable or deactivate it.

Requesting Plugin Activation

Some plugins, including all plugins on production instances, must be activated by NOW Support. These plugins do not appear in the System Definition > Plugins list. The following procedure and video show how to request this kind of plugin activation. For self-service plugin activation on non-production instances, see the next section, Activate a Plugin.

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

If a plugin is not listed in the System Definition > Plugins module, the following procedure shows how to request an activation through NOW Customer Support. 

  1. Navigate to Now Support > Automation Store > Service Catalog.
  2. Click Activate Plugin.
  3. Enter your instance where you want to activate the plugin and the name of the plugin to activate in What is your target instance and Which plugin would you like to activate, respectively.
  4. 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 in the list and it's unsearchable on ServiceNow Store.
      • 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.

        5. Click Submit.

Use the checkbox at the bottom of the Activate Plugin form if any of the scenarios listed under step 4 apply

Activate a Plugin

Customers can activate some plugins on their non-production instances. Some plugins require a purchased subscription before activation. Some plugins, including all plugins activated on production instances must be activated by Now Support.

To purchase a subscription, contact your ServiceNow account manager.

To activate a plugin on a non-production instance:

  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: 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 an 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.

Confirming Plugin Activation

You can confirm plugin activation via the steps found in KB0678767 - How to check if a plugin has been successfully activated in an instance and when it was activated.

Purchasing a Plugin

Some features are not included in the ServiceNow platform and require a separate subscription. To purchase a subscription or to find plugin costs, customers can contact the ServiceNow account manager in their company. ServiceNow Customer Support is unable to provide information about what subscriptions (licenses) a company purchased. You can, however, see what plugins have been activated on your instances. You can also see a List of plugins (latest release) your company can purchase.

In general, the account manager will arrange to have plugins activated on your organization's production and non-production instances within a few days. In some cases, customers can activate plugins on non-production instances.

Plugins or Plugin Features Aren't Working

If you see a grayed-out plugin upgrade button or receive a message that an upgrade is unavailable, the following could apply:

  • Customers can't activate plugins on production instances. Instead, they have to request plugin activation by ServiceNow through NOW Support. See Requesting Plugin Activation below. Customers can activate some plugins on their non-production instances. See Activate a Plugin below.
    • To activate the plugin on production instances, you must purchase the subscription. To purchase a subscription, contact your ServiceNow account manager. Every company using ServiceNow has an internal account manager.
  • 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.

Release

  N/A

Resolution

   N/A

Related Links

  • List of plugins you can activate with the admin role
  • KB0716626 - Instance Plugins FAQs
  • KB1558107 - Unable to view the Service Catalog "Activate Plugin"
     


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