Should JIRA be backed up prior to installing a new add-on?

Thomas Hardin

Hello all,

While, I believe this question is a bit foolish, I am asking because my organization does not have a strong background with JIRA and would feel better having more information from other experts.

They are trying to develop an Add-On evaluation process and feel that the target JIRA instance should be backed up prior to installing a new on. These are marketplace add-ons from reputable vendors. What are your thoughts?

Nic Brough -Adaptavist-

Short answer is an unreserved yes.  Always backup before big change.

That said, I rarely do it.  I've only seen one add-on break a system badly enough to start considering going to a backup, and we should have caught that well before it was rolled out (the admin did not go through a test cycle, which really would have spotted it instantly).

I would be a bad person for saying "no, don't back up", because there's always a small chance you'll need it.  But in my experience, you probably don't need to.