How Far Can I Upgrade Jira 6.3.3 (server)

Question

I have Jira 6.3.3 (server) and I want to upgrade but which version can I upgrade to?  I don't find the instructions in the JIRA Software migration portal and I don't find any documentation that gives me any idea of what direct upgrades can be made from which previous versions, so I would like some help with this.  Do I have to do a complete new install and, if so, how does that affect my licensing?

Nic Brough -Adaptavist- · Answer

Always a good question!  In some cases, yes, it works fine.  But we've stumbled across problems on other upgrades.  In most of these cases, just going via 6.4 has got rid of the faults and the handful of others are a case of going into admin screens and re-iterating the information.

Frankly, almost all of them are down to add-ons - 6.3 to 7.x seems to work find when you've only got off-the-shelf JIRA

Rob Horan · Answer

Just out of curiosity, why is the jump from 6.4 to 7 easier than 6.3?  Doesn't the installer just upgrade everything in place?

Nic Brough -Adaptavist- · Answer

The technical answer is that you can upgrade to any version you want.  Your licence may limit it - you can only upgrade to versions released before the end of your licence.  (So if it's still in-date, you can go to the very latest version)

I'd recommend 6.4, then 7.latest in this case, the jump from 6.4 to 7 is easier than 6.3 to 7