How to clone all the production projects into a Sandbox without any of the data they contain.

[Jan Farrell]

I have been assigned a task that I'm not even sure is possible to fulfil based on this: https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/CLOUD-12075

I have been requested to make an exact replica of all our Production Jira Projects and Confluence Spaces into a Sandbox, but without any of the "Production data" they contain.

Is that possible (preferably without an add-on), and if so how would you do it?

[Trudy Claspill]

Hello @Jan Farrell 

Welcome to the Atlassian community.

Can you clarify what that means exactly? What is the definition of "production data" to the people who have made the request?

What problem are they trying to solve by asking for this?

For Jira, is the request to get all the project configuration information but none of the issues, releases, sprints, agile boards, dashboards, ...?

For Confluence what is the expectation about what would be present for the spaces if none of the Production data is copied?

For Jira one might create projects that use all the same configurations as existing projects, add one issue to each of the new projects, and then use Copy Data (cloud to cloud migration) to copy just those new projects. That would bring across the configuration data and the content of the new projects while leaving the "production" projects untouched. But that would not include agile boards and dashboards unless you created copies of all those and their underlying filters, but modified the filters to reference the new projects instead of the production projects.

[Jan Farrell]

Hi @Trudy Claspill 

Thanks for your response, and apologies that I was vague. 

I mainly use the JSM and am new to Atlassian administration. My BUA responsibilities don't require me to access any data contained in projects/spaces usually as there is sensitive information and personally identifiable information in some of our Jira projects & Confluence spaces. 

A request was assigned to me to enable an Atlassian consultant to access all Projects & Spaces to "Optimise" our instance. They have requested either full or app Admin access as part of that request. I want to avoid allowing them access to information we don't want shared, but as an Admin that potentially isn't possible without removing it.

My previous experience is with Salesforce administration. It allows for the creation of Sandboxes as "shells" with just the configurations, no data and was hoping to achieve something similar. 

I realise this isn't the "usual" development use case for an Atlassian sandbox and therefore the functionality may not be required often. I've searched the forums, posted a support request (the AI "bot" wasn't very helpful) and googled for a solution. Add-ons appeared to be the favoured option, but for a once off scenario, I was trying to find another way.

I've since become aware (via support) that there is functionality without add-ons that would allow me to remove all the data after a copy but it is effort and time consuming as it needs to be done individually to each project or space after you just added them all.

My preference is to do it like Salesforce via a blank sandbox clone with all the configs but without any data, at least initially. With either "dummy" or production data added afterwards/selectively if necessary.

I don't think it is possible without add-ons, though I would be interested in knowing how anyone has done it without if it is possible.

Kind Regards,

Jan 

PS. I found this https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/CLOUD-12075, so if anyone else wants/needs this functionality, please indicate your interest by upvoting on that ticket.

[Trudy Claspill]

The method I suggested would work for getting Jira configuration information for Company Managed projects to the sandbox. It would not include third party app configurations. It would include

1. Permission schemes
2. Notification schemes
3. Issue security schemes
4. Statuses
5. Resolutions
6. Field Configurations and Schemes
7. Screens, Screen Schemes
8. Issue types and Schemes and Issue Type Screen Schemes
9. Workflows and Schemes
10. etc.

When you execute a Copy Data plan (native Organization Admin functionality) you can elect which projects you want to copy. For each project you elect to copy the data and related configuration information is copied. If you create one new project that shares the configuration of an existing project, creating one such new project for each unique project configuration, and create one issue in each new project, then you could use the Copy Data option to move just the new projects. That would copy across the configuration information without copying the data in your Production projects.

It would not include Agile boards, Dashboards, filters, or Plans associated with the Production projects. It would not include the configurations for any Team Managed projects.

Since this process doesn't necessarily copy third party data or configurations, if you use such apps it may not be a full copy.

Refer to

https://support.atlassian.com/organization-administration/docs/copy-product-data/

I'm still unclear what you are considering as optimizable elements for a Confluence site, so I don't have any recommendations for that.

[Jan Farrell]

@Trudy Claspill 

Thankyou for taking the time to write such a detailed explanation.

Having outlined the possibilities and the effort involved as per your suggestions and Atlassian support's suggestions, the requestor is now considering the options. 

I'm not sure there is any optimization to be had with Confluence either, the concern there is what information "might" be published there.

If I do use your suggestion I will post back here with how it went.

[John Funk]

Hi Jan - Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

I suggest using the Revyz Data Manager for Jira app in the Atlassian Marketplace. You can get a free 30-day trial which should be plenty of time for you to clone the projects. 

[Jan Farrell]

@John Funk  - Thanks for the suggestion.

TBH this does look to be the most sensible/easiest option to achieve what I want, even though I was trying to avoid add-ons.

To use add-ons, I need to jump through different procedural hoops, but I suspect doing so will take less time and effort than using the native options Atlassian offers.

[John Funk]

Yes, I tend to agree. But the tool offers a lot more than just that function and in the long run I think will be super helpful for you.