Move JIRA 5.2 to a different server

Question

Goog morning,

we need to change the server in which we have installed JIRA (from Win2000 to Win2008).

For the db everithing can be done by using a dump of the db, but for the attachments that are sotred in a folder of the server what we have to do?

We just have to move the files under the same foled in the new server?

Thanks

Stefania

Mike Rathwell · Answer

Stefania,

I do this very thing regularly to get a snapshot of my production system onto a development system and it works reliably every time even when moving from one database server to another.

* Prep a target system, in your case a Win 2k8 server and DB of your choice. Install your target version of JIRA clean/empty on that server (don't migrate anything at this point; just make an empty, brand new JIRA install on your target server) with the same logical locations for the various JIRA_INSTALL and JIRA_HOME directories.
* Add any JAVA_OPTs you have on the production instance to this new one
* Shut down the fresh clean instance of JIRA
* Do an XML backup of the instance from the admin -> system -> backup function on the admin pages
* (This step isn't required but helpful if you can) - Stop the production JIRA and copy the JIRA_HOME (data directory) to the same logical path on the target server
* Start the new JIRA with the copied data directory in place (it still won't look like the duplicate yet)
* Go to the admin pages of the new instance and restore the XML backup
* Go get some coffee while you wait and ponder one's choice in career path
* When it's done it will be a faithful replica of the current production instance complete with screens, plugins, workflows, etc.

I really don't recommend the DB dump method in the JIRA case if you can avoid it. The XML variant i suggest here seems to be more consistent and (most important to me) simple.

mike

Arthur Gonçalves · Answer

Hello Stefania,

Yes, you'll need to move your attachments to the new $jira_home, however I recommend you to ensure you're following the guidelines described here to have a smooth migration.

-- Arthur Gonçalves