Is Jira on demand compatable with 5.2 Jira

[Laura Hough]

Is Jira on demand compatable with 5.2 Jira?

We want to upgrade to Jira on Demand, but need to remain compatable with other clients who use 5.2, with will need to move data between the two. Is this possible?

Also we are currently on 4.4, and worried that moving to on demand my require an upgrade first: does anyone know if this is necessary?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

It depends on how you are moving the data around. Jira data is not backwards compatible if you're using XML - a file from 6.1 won't work with 5.2, and a file from 5.2 will need to be upgraded to 6.1 format.

If you're going over REST or via something that manipulates the data, then yes, you'll find you can continue to move it around, but it depends on the process you're using

Moving to OnDemand forces an upgrade - OnDemand is ALWAYS the latest version of Jira, never an older one, so you'll be jumping from 4.4 to 6.2

[Laura Hough]

Thanks for that. Presumably if the JIRA data is not backwards-compatible, it is forwards-compatible? So we will be able to export data from our 4.4 local installation and import into onDemand?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

It still depends on the mechanism.

If you are doing a flat import of everything, then importing a 4.4 xml file into 6.2 will probably work as Jira will upgrade it as it imports. If you're importing only projects/issues, then no, you need to export it from the same version of Jira that you're importing it into.