ServiceNow Patching Program FAQsIssue The ServiceNow Patching Program (SPP) regularly updates customer instances, ensuring they have the latest patch versions. This initiative effectively tackles security, performance, and functional fixes throughout the year. Importantly, patching helps mitigate known security vulnerabilities and is a crucial aspect of any effective patch management process.ReleaseAllResolutionHere are some FAQS that answer the most common questions about the Patching Program ↪ How is the Patching Program scheduled? About 10 days before a quarter starts, ServiceNow notifies customers of the minimum patch version (the patch target) for supported releases and when patches will be applied. You can choose to upgrade to a higher patch version or apply the patch sooner.• In the second and third months, Servicenow patches security vulnerabilities, automatically updating instances to the security patch version, with changes created about one week in advance for non-production and three weeks for production instances. You can opt for a higher patch version or an earlier patch.• Security patches contain only security fixes, built incrementally on the patch target. For example, if the patch target is Tokyo Patch 6 and the security patch is Tokyo Patch 6a, the difference is the security fixes in 6a. Security patches typically contain fewer than five fixes, but more may be added as needed. • If an instance isn't on the minimum patch version, ServiceNow will schedule an additional update for that month. You can upgrade to a higher patch version or apply it sooner. ↪ How many times will a customer patch each quarter? ServiceNow will apply patches to all customer instances within the first month of each quarter, managing scheduling automatically. In the second and third months, we will apply security patches, resulting in one full patch and two incremental ones. If no patch is needed, you will be notified the month prior. Notifications about the quarterly patching program will be sent midway through the last month of a quarter, informing you of the next quarter's Patch Targets and scheduling a CHG for your instances. If a security patch is required, you will be notified, and a CHG will be created at least 10 days before your first scheduled patch. ↪ When will I be notified of the patching versions and schedule? ServiceNow sends notifications about the patching program midway through the final month of a quarter. You will be informed of the Patch Targets for the next quarter, and a CHG will be scheduled to patch your instances accordingly. If a security patch is needed, you will be notified, and a CHG will be created at least 10 days before your first scheduled patch, one week in advance for non-production and three weeks for production instances. ↪ Why am I not able to see the preferred time slot for rescheduling the Patching change? We have certain limitations in our environment that restrict the number of simultaneous activities. If you don’t see your preferred time slot, it means that the maximum capacity has already been reserved. The system automatically calculates available time slots by excluding those already occupied by scheduled changes and maintenance activities, allowing only unreserved slots for selection. Since overlapping patching/upgrades or internal maintenance may occur within the same database, your preferred time slots might not be available. Therefore, it is advisable to plan a patch and book your desired date and time as early as possible to avoid conflicts. ↪ Please cancel the Patching CHG as we are planning to upgrade our instance to a higher version. We do not recommend cancelling the automated CHGs unless they are really necessary; instead, we can modify them. If you schedule the upgrade to a higher version for an earlier date, any lower version CHGs will be cancelled. This happens because the higher version upgrade change will be executed first, and once your instance is upgraded to a higher version, any pending change requests for a lower version will be automatically cancelled on the scheduled date by our downgrade protection feature. This feature is designed to prevent your instance from being downgraded. ↪ Can I opt out of the Patching Program? All hosted customers are automatically enrolled in and scheduled for updates through the Patching Program. Participation is mandatory given our shared cloud environment. ↪ What is the difference between Patching and upgrades? The Patching Program updates instances from one patch level to another, within the same family. For example, Yokohama Patch 3 to Yokohama Patch 4; these updates contain security, performance, and functional fixes. An upgrade is a more comprehensive change, going from one release family to another, often including new features, performance, etc. For example, upgrading from Yokohama to Zurich. ↪ How will I receive notifications related to the Patching Program? ServiceNow sends notifications about the quarterly patching program midway through the final month of a quarter. You will be informed of the Patch Targets for the next quarter, and a CHG will be scheduled to patch your instances accordingly. If a security patch is needed, you will be notified, and a CHG will be created at least 10 days before your first scheduled patch.Update and maintain contacts listed in your company record to ensure that you receive important program-related notifications and that they are sent to the appropriate contacts. For more information on managing company contacts, see KB0547262: Managing company contacts on Now Support. ↪ What if I am on an unsupported release family – will I be part of the Patching Program? The Patching Program does not schedule patches on unsupported release families. ServiceNow maintains product support for supported release families only. Instances that remain on unsupported release families are scheduled for upgrade in accordance with our Unsupported Release Family Upgrades Program.For more information please visit KB0610454: Unsupported Release Family (End-Of-Life) Upgrades FAQ and KB0598977: Patching & Upgrades Program - Definition of Unsupported Release. ↪ How far can we push the patching scheduled CHG? Customers are allowed to reschedule the patching Change (CHG) until the end of the patching month (this may not apply for critical patches). For instance, if a patch is scheduled in the month of March, it can be rescheduled until March 31st. If you need to reschedule beyond that date, please go to the Manage Instance dashboard on Now Support (HI) and leave a comment on the Main Parent Program Record with the preferred rescheduled date. The Change team will assist you with the rescheduling process through the Parent Change. ↪ What happens if my scheduled patching is during a change freeze? You can move your patching date within the allotted timeframe, provided a reservation is available. ↪ How do I modify a ServiceNow patching change (CHG) to patch to a different version? Please note that the system does not allow you to use patching changes to apply an upgrade to a different family version. Patching changes are only meant to apply patches to the same family version. If you wish to modify to a different family version, you will need to do this using an Upgrade CHG.👉 KB2178880 – Modifying Target Version ↪ What is the latest patch, and where can I find information about this? Please refer to this KB1484881 : Available patches and hotfixes. If you need assistance with any of this information, please don't hesitate to reach out to us by updating the Parent Change if you have any with your request. We will assist you from there. ↪ Will the patch cause an outage or service disruption? No. Your instance remains online during patching. Some performance impacts may be observed, but there should be little to no impact after a patch has been applied. In case you encounter any issues during the update, we suggest you contact our support team contact ServiceNow Technical Support. We also recommend benchmarking and testing the upgrade using a non-production instance to understand the behaviour before upgrading the production instance. ↪ What if I am a customer with on-premise instances? For customers with an on-premise instance, ServiceNow will be sending notifications to your support contacts, listed in Now Support (HI), detailing the latest patch target and advising you to patch your instances as soon as possible. Update and maintain contacts listed in your company record to ensure that you receive important program-related notifications and that they are sent to the appropriate contacts.For more information on managing company contacts, see KB0547262: Managing company contacts on Now Support.