Migration of JIRA to JIRA

Nivetha Ganapathy

1. How will be the xml backup file strucure, Will it be single file holding all the project and issue information or folder structure for each project or issue wise. Will it create a folder as project wise or issue wise? 

2. Difference between CSV import/export and xml backup/restore which is better for migrating one jira instance to other jira and time saving?

3. If i am performing xml backup / restore will it overwrite the existing data in target instance?

Daniel Eads

Hi Nivetha, here is some information regarding your questions:

1. How will be the xml backup file strucure, Will it be single file holding all the project and issue information or folder structure for each project or issue wise. Will it create a folder as project wise or issue wise? 

The backup utility creates a zip file with a couple XML files inside - activeobjects.xml and entities.xml. These hold all the project information together; there are not separate files for each project/issue.

It's worth noting that the attachments need to be backed up separately from the XML file. The attachments are stored by project/issue on the filesystem where Jira is running in the attachments directory of its home folder.

2. Difference between CSV import/export and xml backup/restore which is better for migrating one jira instance to other jira and time saving?

When moving between two Jira instances, you should use XML format. Additionally there are some plugins on the Marketplace that provide finer-grain control over migrating data between Jira instance if you need such things.

3. If i am performing xml backup / restore will it overwrite the existing data in target instance?

There are a couple methods you can use to import from an XML file:

1. Restore system - this will overwrite existing data - typically you should only do this on a fresh install or on a test instance.
2. Restoring a project from backup - this is a more complicated method that creates new projects in a target instance from a backup. It's done one-at-a-time and has some considerations such as all the custom fields needing to exist on the target instance before import can occur. Since there are many considerations, it's important to read the entire document before starting.

I'll note again here that there are some marketplace add-ons that are designed to help move data between two Jira instances. The two I'm familiar with do some of the leg-work for you like creating the custom fields that need to exist before a project can be imported. It's worth checking out the options on the marketplace!

Cheers,
Daniel