Compare XML files

Question

Is there a way to do a comparison of Jira backup XML files between two Jira environments that should be identical?  We would want to identify any differences in the two environments easily but only in terms of configurations (workflows, app links, access, etc).

Kristin Lyons · Answer

We are trying to avoid bugs when we deploy our changes from Dev -> QA -> Prod.  We have three environments and use Configuration Manager to move configs up, and we use ScriptRunner to create a custom JAR file for everything scripted.  While doing this we are still noticing the three environments have differences between them.  Ideally if we can script something that will give us a good comparison between the three environments (we do not care at all about the issue data or data within Jira).

Charlie Misonne · Answer

You could use diff, a tool to compare 2 text files line by line.

But those files are usually huge so it will be very difficult.
In my opnion those files are too complex to be compared.

example:

diff file1.xml file2.xml

If it returns nothing it means the files are identical.
But if the backups are from different times I doubt they will be.

Can I ask why you need to do this?