Import JIRA workflow from one cloud instance to another

Rishab Bhatia

Please help:

I have a JIRA instance which is just about to expire. I am trying to move it to another instance (Already in use by my client).

 

Whilst moving, I realized I need to import the workflow from the old instance to the new instance, but i am unable to do so. 

 

I selected Export Workflow Option which mentioned that my workflow has been exported to the marketplace. But i am not able to search for this workflow in the new instance.

 

Also, there is no option for me to import the worflow in XML format.

 

Please help

Andy Heinzer

Hi Rishab,

I see you are looking for a means to import a workflow from one Cloud site into a different Jira Cloud site.   The steps to do this are not quite as straightforward in Jira Cloud as they are in Jira Server.

Importing a workflow from a backup (jwb or xml) is something that can be done in Jira Server, but the Cloud platform has never had the ability to import a single workflow from a workflow backup to the best of my knowledge.  There is an existing feature request for this ability over in JRACLOUD-32353.  I would recommend watching and voting on that issue for updates to this. 

I will try to explain the other possible work-arounds here:

1. You could attempt to manually recreate the work-flow.  Not ideal I know, but if you only have a single workflow to do this for it's possible it could work, it would like take a lot of time to do this, and I would try to use two different browsers (say one firefox and one chrome), this way you could stay signed into both session concurrently and try to navigate between sites to make sure each mirrors the other.  It can work, but it can be tedious for really complicated workflows and this approach doesn't really scale.
2. You could try to follow the KB titled: How to import a Workflow into a JIRA Cloud application However the drawback of this approach is that it requires you to migrate your Cloud site to a Server platform, then import that workflow, before then migrating back to Cloud.  If you've never done a migration like this it can be a considerable amount of work just to get a single workflow into Jira.
3. The documentation on Managing your Workflows does have a section for exporting to marketplace.  It sounds like you already have exported this, but until you create a marketplace account, and follow the steps to create a listing for this workflow, AND have this submission approved by our Marketplace team, the workflow won't appear as being available to be imported into other Cloud sites. 

More details on the exporting to marketplace in that document:

1. Create an account on Atlassian Marketplace.
2. Log in to the Atlassian Marketplace and choose Manage Add-ons. See Step-by-step Paid-via-Atlassian Listing for more information. 
3. Click Create new add-on.
4. Choose My add-on is not directly installable and make sure the add-on type is "not a plugin". 
5. Add information about where the workflow export can be accessed in the Binary URL section.
6. When you fill out the submission form, be sure to note the following:
   1. The Summary field contains the information that will be displayed to users searching the Marketplace. 
   2. The Category for your workflow must be Workflow Bundles to ensure that it's visible to other Jira application users.
   3. The Add-on Key, which becomes your application URL and identifies your application, must be unique.

You don't have to complete the form in one session. You can save your form and come back to it later. Once you accept the Atlassian Marketplace Vendor Agreement, the system submits your add-on for review by Atlassian's Developer Relations team.

Please note that for Option #3: you need to create an account in Marketplace, then create the listing, submit that listing, accept the vendor agreement, and then you await your submission to be reviewed.  Only after it has been approved will you be able to find that workflow in Marketplace.

Unfortunately, none of these methods are what I would call a quick process to complete, but all of them have at least some means to get this bit of data between Jira Cloud sites.

Sorry this is not easier to do today in Jira Cloud, but I hope this information helps.

Andy