How to Create an Update Set in ServiceNow

Enable the update set and application pickers

1. Click the System Settings gear icon in the top right corner of the ServiceNow interface.
2. Open the Developer tab within System Settings.
3. Enable the following toggles:
   • Show Application picker and header
   • Show update set picker and header

Turning on these options displays the current application and update set in the header, so you can always see which update set you are working in.

Verify the current update set

Check the header to confirm you are currently working in the Default [Global] update set. This is the state you want to avoid working in when making intentional changes.

Make a change in the wrong update set (demo)

1. Use the left navigation pane to open Incident under the Service Desk section.
2. On the Incident form, add a new string field named demo field.

This creates an update that is recorded in the currently active update set — in this case, the Default global update set.

Create a new update set

1. In the left navigation pane, open the Local Update Sets module under the System Update Sets application.
2. Click the green New button at the top of the list view to open a new update set form.

3. Fill in the update set details:
   • Name: New Field on the Incident Form
   • State: In progress
   • Application: Global
   • Leave Parent, Release date, and Description blank unless your requirements call for them.

4. Click Submit at the bottom left of the form to create the update set.
5. Confirm that New Field on the Incident Form now appears in the Local Update Sets list, with the state In progress and application Global.

Locate the updates in the default update set

1. In the Local Update Sets list, click the Default update set to open its details.
2. Scroll down to the Customer Updates related list, which shows all updates currently tracked in the Default update set (such as Dictionary, Form Layout, and Field Label entries).

3. Right-click the Update set = Default filter condition in the Customer Updates list.
4. Select Open new window from the context menu to view and filter the updates in a separate window.

Filter updates by user and date

In the new window, filter the list so it only shows updates relevant to your session:

• Use the Updated by column to enter your username (for example, admin).
• Use the Created column to filter for today's date.

This narrows the list down to only the updates you made during your session.

Move the updates to the new update set

1. Highlight the cells in the Update set column for the updates you want to move. Use Shift + Down Arrow to select multiple rows at once.
2. Change the value in the Update set column from Default to New Field on the Incident Form.

This reassigns the selected updates to your new update set.

Verify the updates moved correctly

1. In the Customer Updates list, confirm that the Update set column for the relevant updates now displays New Field on the Incident Form instead of Default.

2. Navigate back to the Local Update Sets list and open the New Field on the Incident Form update set.
3. Scroll down to the Customer Updates related list and verify that all the moved updates (such as Dictionary, Form Layout, and the Field Label for Incident.Demo field) are now listed under this update set.

Confirm the final update set details

Review the update set to make sure everything is correct:

• Name: New Field on the Incident Form
• State: In progress
• Application: Global
• Created by: admin
• Customer Updates tab lists all relevant updates.