Activating, Deactivating & Managing Plugins in ServiceNow

Managing plugins properly is very important. As these plugins are either predefined or dependent, they affect the system functions. Managing which plugins to activate and deactivate at the right times is important. 

Also, plugins can stop working due to being an older version or getting old, which requires proper updates and repairs. These are the things we will focus on in this section.  

Activating and Deactivating Plugins

Activating Plugins

Activating plugins in ServiceNow makes a plugin’s features available. The following is a step-by-step breakdown of activating a plugin: 

Step 1: Navigate via Table Name. In Application navigator → Type “v_plugin.LIST”, Press enter.

Step 2: Search for the Inactive Plugin in the list using the plugin ID and name. Add a filter to the Status column to show Inactive plugins. 

Step 3: Open the Plugin Record you wish to activate. 

Step 4: Activate the plugin by scrolling down the form via Related Links, then click Activate/Repair.

Step 5: The Activation Popup window will appear, showing the plugin and its dependent plugins. 

1. Load Demo Data: You will see a checkbox for “Load Demo Data”.

• Check this if you are in a Sandbox/Dev environment and want example data (fake users, fake incidents) to test with.
• Uncheck this if you are in Production.

2. Click the Activate button.

Deactivating Plugins

Once a Plugin is activated, it cannot be deactivated. An active plugin creates tables, fields, and scripts in the database, and removing it can cause data corruption.

Note: If you enable a plugin by mistake in Production, you usually have to restore the instance from a backup to remove it.

EXCEPTION: On Personal Developer Instances (PDIs), certain plugins can be deactivated using the HI/Now Support portal. This restriction primarily applies to production instances

Upgrading Plugins

Upgrading a plugin is just like updating an application on your phone. It means when you move from an older version of a plugin to a new version, as per ServiceNow updates. The upgrades are intended to provide the latest features and functionality. 

The steps to upgrade a plugin are as follows: 

1. Navigate to System Definition → Plugins → Application Manager. In the application manager, click the updates tab under available, update, and installed.

2. Select the plugin you want to upgrade, then open the details by clicking on the plugin name.

3. In the plugin, you will see the current Version and the available version of a plugin. Click update and confirm when a popup appears with proceed to update message.

Note: Always check the changes before updating a plugin. So you do not remove any feature that you work with. Also, always upgrade in the Development instance. 

Repair Plugins

You have noticed that your plugins are working strangely, even when they are active. It can happen if fields are missing, scripts are broken, or tables are deleted. 

Repairing plugins in ServiceNow allows you to download and reapply plugin files without deleting the data stored in the tables. There are two different ways to do so. Here we have explained the Classic List method:

Step 1: In the Table, type v_plugin.LIST in the Application Navigator filter and press Enter.

Step 2: Search for the broken plugin from the raw list of system plugins that you suspect are broken. Click the name to open the record.

Note: Make sure the Status is Active. You cannot repair an inactive plugin; you would just “Activate” it.

Step 3: Scroll to the bottom Related Links section and click the link labeled Activate/Repair.

Step 4: A pop-up window appears, and click the Repair button.

Remember: Always export your update sets before repairing, and do not close the window until a repair is finished. 

What’s Next? 

Now that you understand the plugins and how they are activated and repaired. In the next section, we will discover the ways to request plugins and who can actually request them. 

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