Question 1

What causes Attachment Size Limit Being Hit in ServiceNow?

Accepted Answer

System attachment size limit too low — Navigate to System Properties > All and filter for 'com.glide.attachment.max_size'. Check if the value in bytes is smaller than the files users are trying to upload. Also check the syslog table for 'attachment size exceeds maximum' errors. Service Portal widget attachment limit — If users are uploading through Service Portal, check the sp-attachment widget configuration. Go to Service Portal > Widgets and search for 'sp-attachment-freeform' or similar widgets to verify their maxSize property. File extension blocked by security policy — Check the 'glide.attachment.extensions' system property to see if the file type is in the allowed list. Also verify 'glide.ui.security.allow_codetag' if uploading code files. Web server or load balancer limits — Large files may be blocked at the infrastructure level before reaching ServiceNow. Check with your system administrator about nginx, Apache, or load balancer upload limits if ServiceNow limits are correctly configured. Browser timeout on large uploads — For very large files, the browser may timeout before the upload completes. Check browser developer tools network tab for failed requests or timeout errors during upload attempts.

Question 2

How do you fix Attachment Size Limit Being Hit in ServiceNow?

Accepted Answer

How to fix it Navigate to System Properties > All and search for com.glide.attachment.max_size. Check the current value in bytes. Default is often 1073741824 (1GB). If users need larger files, increase this value. For example, set to 2147483648 for 2GB limit. Verify allowed file extensions by searching for glide.attachment.extensions system property. Add any missing file extensions to the comma-separated list. For Service Portal issues, navigate to Service Portal > Widgets and search for attachment widgets like sp-attachment-freeform. Open the widget and check the maxSize property in the widget options or client script. Update if it's lower than needed. Check recent errors by navigating to System Logs > System Log > All and filtering for 'attachment' to confirm the root cause. If using custom attachment handling, check any Business Rules or Script Includes that process attachments for additional size validations. Test the fix by having a user upload a file that previously failed. Monitor the system log during the test for any new errors.

Question 3

How do you prevent Attachment Size Limit Being Hit in ServiceNow?

Accepted Answer

Set up a notification or alert when attachment-related errors spike in the system log to catch limit issues early. Document your organization's standard attachment size limits and file type policies in your ServiceNow governance documentation. Create a custom system property category for attachment settings to group all related properties together for easier management. Include attachment limit testing in your Service Portal widget regression testing when making portal updates. Set the com.glide.attachment.max_size property 20-30% higher than your typical largest file needs to provide buffer for occasional larger uploads.

Attachment Size Limit Being Hit in ServiceNow

Symptom

Possible Causes

Debugging this in a real instance?

Solution

How to fix it

Prevention Tips

Test Your Knowledge