Cache flush required: stale cache causing unexpected behavior

Recent system property changes or updates to cached configuration data that haven't been propagated to all application nodes in a clustered environment. (high likelihood)

Application scope changes, plugin activation/deactivation, or update set commits that modified cached application metadata without proper cache invalidation. (high likelihood)

Business rule, script include, or UI policy modifications that are cached at the application level but haven't been refreshed across all server instances. (medium likelihood)

Database dictionary changes or table schema modifications that require cache synchronization to reflect the updated data structure. (medium likelihood)

Memory pressure or garbage collection issues preventing proper cache eviction and renewal processes from executing normally. (low likelihood)

Step 1: Navigate to System Diagnostics > Cache Statistics to identify which specific caches are stale and review cache hit ratios and last refresh timestamps.

Step 2: Check System Log at System Diagnostics > Log > Application Log for related cache warnings and note any recent configuration changes that coincide with the error timing.

Step 3: Navigate to System Definition > Cache Administration and identify the specific cache types experiencing issues, such as GlideSystem properties or application-level caches.

Step 4: Perform a targeted cache flush by going to System Diagnostics > Cache Flush and selecting the specific cache types identified in step 3, rather than flushing all caches.

Step 5: If in a clustered environment, execute cache flush on each node individually or use the 'Flush Cache on All Nodes' option to ensure consistency across the cluster.

Step 6: Monitor System Diagnostics > Stats for 10-15 minutes after cache flush to verify that cache refresh rates have normalized and error messages have ceased.

Step 7: Test the specific functionality that was experiencing issues to confirm that the stale cache behavior has been resolved and operations are working as expected.

Step 8: If errors persist, restart the affected ServiceNow application nodes to force complete cache reinitialization and check for underlying memory or configuration issues.