Copy Project in Jira from Prod to Staging

[Monica]

I am running into this issue when I try to copy my project from our Production environment to our Staging environment. I get the following below, I have checked the email channel but was informed that we don't add the email channel to stage since we don't send emails from stage.

[Prasanna Ravichandran · Accepted solution]

Hi,

This error usually occurs because the project snapshot includes a **JSM email channel**, and the restore/import process tries to recreate it in the target environment. If email isn’t configured (or allowed) in staging, the channel creation fails and blocks the deployment.

Common ways to resolve this:

* Temporarily configure a dummy/test email channel in staging so the import can complete
* Exclude email channel configuration from the snapshot (if your tool allows selective restore)
* Disable or remove the email channel in the source project before creating the snapshot
* Ensure mail server settings are defined in staging, even if outbound mail is disabled

Even if you don’t intend to send emails from staging, the configuration must exist for the restore to succeed.

If the issue persists, check application logs or contact Atlassian/vendor support, as it may require cleanup of partially created channel data.

Hope this helps 👍

[Monica]

Hi @Prasanna Ravichandran thank you so much for replying, I was trying to do the approach of dummy/test email channel in staging but I just could not get it to work. Then when I asked our Admin for assistance they said they don't do that in STG. I also can't disable it in the source.

When you say "Ensure mail server settings are defined in staging" how do I check that, I am going thru so many KB articles and I just can't make anything work. I been at this for two days :-(

[Prasanna Ravichandran]

Hi,

In Jira Service Management (Data Center/Server), the email channel depends on the global mail server configuration, not just the project settings. If no mail server is defined in staging, the channel cannot be created during import — even if you don’t plan to send emails.

To check this, an admin should go to:

⚙️ Administration → System → Mail → Incoming Mail / Outgoing Mail

Verify that at least one mail server is configured (it can be a test or non-functional one if emails are disabled at network level).

If staging does not allow email setup

You can try one of these alternatives:

Ask an admin to temporarily configure a test mail server just for the restore

Disable mail handling globally (if policy requires no email traffic) but still keep server entries defined

Use a project export/import method that excludes service desk channels (if available)

Have an admin perform the restore with elevated permissions

Why your dummy channel attempt failed

Creating a channel inside the project UI is not enough if the system-level mail server is missing, because the backend cannot store the configuration.

If your organization restricts mail configuration in STG, you may need admin assistance or Atlassian support to complete the copy without the email channel.

Hope this helps 👍