Upgrading Jira Questions

[Jared Kupidura]

We are current on Jira 7.9 and would like to upgrade to the current version. Couple of questions about the process.

1. If we were to stand up a separate server with the new software, is there an easy way to just move all of our configuration and databases over to that one? Would we need to licenses to do this?

1a? If we need another license, then we would do the upgrade in place. Is there a document on doing an upgrade in place for linux?

2. Is there a tool that will scan our plugins for upgrade compatibility issues or a list of plugins that are not compatible with the newest version?

[Matt Doar · Accepted solution]

A good place to start is https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiraserver/upgrading-jira-applications-938846936.html

1.  Yes, db backup or XML if small. Copy file attachments too.

2. The Jira plugin manager can do that if you can reach marketplace.atlassian.com from your Jira server.

Most importantly, do all this in staging Jira first!

[Jared Kupidura]

Thanks for the response! That link is super useful that that will get me going. Question though, do you know if you can reference the same database on the upgraded Jira and the old one? The reason I ask is that we would like to stand up the new version and test with out database, then just simply do a DNS redirect to the new one once we know its working properly.

[Matt Doar]

Sure, but do it with a copy of the database on your staging server. Don't touch prod until you know you've got all the steps right

[Joe Pitt]

1. You can backup the current system (use JIRA backup) and import into new instance. It will set everything up

1a. I've never done it that way, but you should be able to use same license. Check with Atlassian

2. You should have a list of all the plugins you have installed. You can also find it in system settings. Check the vendor for them to see if they have a version for the 7.9 

I suggest you do a test run to see how long it takes and make sure all the plugins work. 

[Jared Kupidura]

Thanks for the tips, question though, do you know if you can reference the same database on the upgraded Jira and the old one? The reason I ask is that we would like to stand up the new version and test with out database, then just simply do a DNS redirect to the new one once we know its working properly.