Do I need to back up the entire home directory for Jira/Confluence/Bitbucket upgrades (rollback scen

[jyh0226_kicco_com]

Hi,

I’m preparing an upgrade for Jira, Confluence, and Bitbucket (Server/Data Center) and I’d like to clarify the backup scope for rollback in case the upgrade fails.

My current plan is:

• Database: Take a full backup before the upgrade

• Install directory: Back up via server image/snapshot (e.g. AMI)

• Home directory: This is where I’m unsure how much we really need to back up for rollback

I understand that backing up the entire home directory is the safest option for rollback, but in our environment the home directories are quite large, and a full backup consumes a lot of time and resources.

I have a few specific questions:

1. For the purpose of rollback after a failed upgrade, is it strictly required to back up the entire home directory?

2. For large folders like attachments that are not expected to change much between just-before and just-after the upgrade:

   • Is it safe to keep using the existing attachments folder as-is,

   • and only restore the DB + the rest of the home/install directories when rolling back?

3. I’m planning to back up plugin-related directories (e.g. plugins) so that I can restore them to the pre-upgrade state.

   • Besides plugin folders, which subdirectories in the home directory are “must-have” for rollback?

   • Are there any folders that are generally safe to skip in the backup because they can be regenerated or re-downloaded?

4. For Jira/Confluence/Bitbucket individually, are there any official Atlassian documents or best practices that describe the minimal set of home directory folders that should be backed up for rollback?

It would be very helpful if you could share, based on your experience or Atlassian’s recommendations:

• Which directories you always include in backups for upgrades/rollbacks

• And which directories you consider optional or safe to exclude because they can be recreated

Thanks in advance for any guidance! 🙇‍♂️

[Victor Law - Ricksoft · Accepted solution]

Hi @jyh0226_kicco_com

For the purpose of rollback after a failed upgrade, is it strictly required to back up the entire home directory?

For large folders like attachments that are not expected to change much between just-before and just-after the upgrade:

Is it safe to keep using the existing attachments folder as-is,

and only restore the DB + the rest of the home/install directories when rolling back?

It is highly dependent on the targeted version of the environment, and I strongly recommend checking the upgrade notes and executing a test upgrade in the Staging or Development environments before executing it in the Production environment.

It is recommended to create a complete snapshot of the environment, if possible, as different version upgrades may introduce structural changes, including modifications to the attachment directory structure, which have been made in the past. 

• Example upgrade note from Atlaissian: https://confluence.atlassian.com/jirasoftware/jira-software-11-1-x-upgrade-notes-1627193825.html

I’m planning to back up plugin-related directories (e.g. plugins) so that I can restore them to the pre-upgrade state.

Besides plugin folders, which subdirectories in the home directory are “must-have” for rollback?

Are there any folders that are generally safe to skip in the backup because they can be regenerated or re-downloaded?

The following plugin cache directories will be re-generated after the restart, and they can be excluded as part of the backup process if needed:

• JIRA_HOME/plugins/.bundled-plugins
• JIRA_HOME/plugins/.osgi-plugins

As a side note, you may need to understand that other apps or plugins might have created different directories in the Jira Home directories as well.

For Jira/Confluence/Bitbucket individually, are there any official Atlassian documents or best practices that describe the minimal set of home directory folders that should be backed up for rollback?

You may refer to the following official documents for the important directories in Jira and Confluence:

• Jira: https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiraserver/important-directories-and-files-938847744.html
• Confluence: https://confluence.atlassian.com/doc/confluence-home-and-other-important-directories-590259707.html

Thank you.

[Rajat Pratap Singh · Accepted solution]

Hello @jyh0226_kicco_com 

I think it is always good to backup the entire home directory, shared home directory, install directory and DB.
It might look cumbersome but will be the biggest relief when things go wrong 😊

In my case, we had the servers hosted on linux. For the first time we would just backup all the files.
Next, when we are close to the upgrade activity, we would just run a rsync -a to copy the delta.
This would be much quicker than the entire copy operation.

Hope this helps!

Regards
Rajat