Jira Project import fails with "Unexpected Import Failure"

Question

When trying to import a project using the System>project import tool, it fails with only the following error. Anyone got any advice on what to look for on either the destination or source instance to resolve the problem?

2016-03-08 12:44:25,961 JiraTaskExectionThread-13 ERROR james.fox 764x9395x1 16k1btg 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 /secure/admin/ProjectImportSummary.jspa [c.a.j.imports.xml.DefaultBackupXmlParser] Unexpected import failure
java.lang.NullPointerException
 at com.atlassian.greenhopper.customfield.sprint.SprintCFType$SprintCustomFieldImporter.getMappedImportValue(SprintCFType.java:600)
 at com.atlassian.jira.imports.project.transformer.CustomFieldValueTransformerImpl.transform(CustomFieldValueTransformerImpl.java:56)
 at com.atlassian.jira.imports.project.handler.CustomFieldValuePersisterHandler.handleEntity(CustomFieldValuePersisterHandler.java:53)
 at com.atlassian.jira.imports.project.handler.ChainedOfBizSaxHandler.endTopLevelElement(ChainedOfBizSaxHandler.java:219)
 at com.atlassian.jira.imports.project.handler.ChainedOfBizSaxHandler.endElement(ChainedOfBizSaxHandler.java:167)
 at com.atlassian.jira.imports.project.handler.ChainedOfBizSaxHandler.endElement(ChainedOfBizSaxHandler.java:134)
 at org.apache.xerces.parsers.AbstractSAXParser.endElement(Unknown Source)
 at org.apache.xerces.parsers.AbstractXMLDocumentParser.emptyElement(Unknown Source)
 at org.apache.xerces.impl.XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl.scanStartElement(Unknown Source)
 at org.apache.xerces.impl.XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl$FragmentContentDispatcher.dispatch(Unknown Source)
 at org.apache.xerces.impl.XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl.scanDocument(Unknown Source)
 at org.apache.xerces.parsers.XML11Configuration.parse(Unknown Source)
 at org.apache.xerces.parsers.XML11Configuration.parse(Unknown Source)
 at org.apache.xerces.parsers.XMLParser.parse(Unknown Source)
 at org.apache.xerces.parsers.AbstractSAXParser.parse(Unknown Source)
 at org.apache.xerces.jaxp.SAXParserImpl$JAXPSAXParser.parse(Unknown Source)
 at com.atlassian.security.xml.RestrictedXMLReader.parse(RestrictedXMLReader.java:103)
 at com.atlassian.jira.imports.xml.DefaultBackupXmlParser$XmlParser.parseXml(DefaultBackupXmlParser.java:115)
 at com.atlassian.jira.imports.xml.DefaultBackupXmlParser.parse(DefaultBackupXmlParser.java:64)
 at com.atlassian.jira.imports.xml.DefaultBackupXmlParser.parseXml(DefaultBackupXmlParser.java:52)
 at com.atlassian.jira.imports.xml.DefaultBackupXmlParser.parseOfBizBackupXml(DefaultBackupXmlParser.java:41)
 at com.atlassian.jira.imports.project.DefaultProjectImportManager.importCustomFieldValues(DefaultProjectImportManager.java:944)
 at com.atlassian.jira.imports.project.DefaultProjectImportManager.doImport(DefaultProjectImportManager.java:644)
 at com.atlassian.jira.bc.imports.project.DefaultProjectImportService.doImport(DefaultProjectImportService.java:416)
 at com.atlassian.jira.web.action.admin.importer.project.ProjectImportSummary$ProjectImportCallable.call(ProjectImportSummary.java:285)
 at com.atlassian.jira.web.action.admin.importer.project.ProjectImportSummary$ProjectImportCallable.call(ProjectImportSummary.java:236)
 at com.atlassian.jira.task.TaskManagerImpl$TaskCallableDecorator.call(TaskManagerImpl.java:458)
 at com.atlassian.jira.task.TaskManagerImpl$TaskCallableDecorator.call(TaskManagerImpl.java:426)
 at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:266)
 at java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call(Executors.java:511)
 at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:266)
 at com.atlassian.jira.task.ForkedThreadExecutor$ForkedRunnableDecorator.run(ForkedThreadExecutor.java:216)
 at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)

Ferry Chia [Akeles] · Answer

Hi James,

Do you have a fix/rootcause for the error you encountered?

I have a workaround which is to restart the target instance and import went in perfectly.

{code:java}test{code}

James Fox · Answer

Thanks for the link. Sadly the build numbers match so that is not the resolution

Elifcan Cakmak · Answer

hi,

this link may help you: https://confluence.atlassian.com/jirakb/error-importing-data-java-lang-nullpointerexception-during-migration-to-jira-5-2-11-346325923.html