Cloud Migration Demo Q&A Follow-up: Part 2 (During the migration)

[#1]

Hi Community!

Thanks to all of you who have joined our ongoing bi-weekly cloud migration demo! We’ve received so many great questions, so we’ve broken the Q&A recap into two sections:

• Pre-migration: Cloud questions, the migration process and trials (click here!)

• During the migration: User migration, tooling, app and product-specific migrations (you are here!)

In each post, we’ll cover questions that get asked frequently (or those we couldn’t get to!) as well as highlight resources to bookmark.

The questions in this post are categorized by:

• Migration tooling

• User migration strategy

• Product specific migrations

• Apps and integrations

We’ll continue updating this post as new questions come through, so be sure to follow the post for updates. If you have more questions around cloud migration, comment below and we’ll get to them as soon as we can.

And lastly, if you’ve missed a demo or want to attend one in the future: register here for demos with live chat Q&A with Cloud Migrations Managers or watch the recording on-demand.

We also wanted to be sure you were all aware of the top cloud migration resources to bookmark if you’re planning for a cloud migration:

• Cloud Migration Center: central hub that includes a resources page, server to cloud migration guide, migration contact form, and more!

• Cloud migration trial: a great first step if you want to explore cloud or test your migration without double paying. And once you’ve migrated, the trial instance can become your cloud production instance. The trial lasts for the remaining duration of your server maintenance or a minimum of 60 days, whichever is longer. It’s completely free - no credit card required. Here’s a demo on how to claim it.

• Server to cloud migration guide: phase by phase info on how to migrate, with links out to more detailed documentation.

• Intro to migrations eBook: recommended reading for anyone starting a migration!

• Jira Cloud Migration Assistant and Confluence Cloud Migration Assistant: free apps that help you audit and assess your on-premise apps and migrate users, spaces, and projects. (Here’s a demo on how to use app assessment)

• Cloud Migration Toolkit: includes migration communication templates, a cloud migration checklist, and migration runbook template.

Thanks!
Elizabeth

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Migration tooling

Want to know more? Download the Cloud Migration Assistants or watch this demo on assessing your apps.

• Will the Cloud Migration Assistants work with Jira Service Management? What about plugins? Currently the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant does not support the migration of Jira Service Management data, but we are working to have this capability developed soon (see our cloud roadmap for details). If you’re interested in getting early access, sign up here. If you need migrate Jira Service Management now, we recommend the Jira Site Import method, which requires generating an XML backup of the server instance and restoring it in cloud. Automated app migrations within Cloud Migration Assistants are actively being worked on, but are not currently supported (see our cloud roadmap for details).

• Does the Cloud Migration Assistant work when users are stored in external directories (e.g. LDAP, AD)? If you’re using the Cloud Migration Assistants, users must be synced to the Jira and/or Confluence user directories (which are internal to the product) for them to be successfully migrated. Users do not need to be physically present in the Internal Directory. Learn more here.

• Will the Cloud Migration Assistant import filters and filter subscriptions, as well as project schemes and custom fields? Jira Cloud Migration Assitant only migrates filters for individual projects. Cross project boards filters are not yet supported but are coming soon. You can visit our documentation for specifics on what data the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant migrates here, and what Confluence Migration Assistant migrates here.

• How is the data exported and imported by the Cloud Migration Assistants? The CMA will use a mix of processes to export and import data, such as an individual and automatic XML export and import for spaces/projects, and an API for exporting and importing users.

• Do the migration assistants work for migrating from our own cloud to the Atlassian cloud? If your own cloud is a server/DC license running on something like AWS, we'd still consider that on-premise so the Cloud Migration Assistants would work in this case.

• If my Jira server license expires, will I lose access to the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant and Jira site import too? If you're on an unsupported server version and don't have active maintenance on your server license (which is needed to upgrade), you can use a free trial license via my.atlassian.com to upgrade in preparation for the migration. If you are on a supported version, but your license has expired, you will still have access to the Cloud Migration Assistant and Jira site import. Learn more here.

• What additional actions or measures have to be considered after migrating from Jira Server to Jira Cloud using Jira Cloud Migration Assistant? New links to bookmark, such as the link to your new cloud site; Directions on how end users will log in; Anything that users need to reset (i.e. avatars or, if you’re not using SSO, users will need to rest passwords; Changes to apps or functionality; What training will be provided; Who to contact for help. Please review our "Getting started in Cloud" documentation for more info.

• What URLs will my firewall need open to migrate to Cloud using the migration assistant? We do have a page that covers what domains and IP addresses you will need to allow access to here.

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User migration strategy

Want to know more? Check out this page on Atlassian Access and cloud migrations.

• How can we exclude users from our migration? When using Jira Cloud Migration Assistant, you won’t be able to exclude users and only migrate data. If you’re using the Jira Site Import method, you can have Atlassian Support assist with a manual CSV import of users where you can add a column to your CSV file that says whether a user should be active. If you've already migrated your users or synced your external directory to your cloud site, the Cloud Migration Assistants will not migrate these users but will instead just link their data from server to their cloud ID.

• If we are migrating two different server products on the same cloud site, do they need to have the same user count (ie do both Jira and Confluence need to have 200 users?) No, you can still have separate user counts per license. The only caveat is Marketplace apps, which have to be at the same user tier as the parent product.

• If my users have different email addresses between the on-premise instance and the new Cloud instance, is there a way to map those users prior to migration? In order for data to be migrated successfully (and because we link data to existing users in cloud), email addresses should be updated in server before migrating. If you’re using the Cloud Migration Assistants to migrate, they will look for email address errors.

• What is an Atlassian Organization and how do I create one to manage my team? When you create a new instance of an Atlassian cloud product, you’ll be able to manage your site and users from the Atlassian Organization that is automatically created. An Atlassian Organization is an umbrella over all of your Atlassian cloud sites and products. Jira and Confluence can be part of an Atlassian Organization but currently, Bitbucket cannot be associated with an organization.

• We're using a self-hosted LDAP as our user authentication method. Do we need to use Atlassian Access and Okta to integrate this into our cloud environment? Yes you must use Atlassian Access. Access is a separate product, which acts as the bridge between your identity provider and Atlassian cloud products. If you don’t have a supported identity provider, Atlassian offers a partnership with Okta for a free account. Visit Atlassian Access and cloud migrations and Configure user provisioning Active Directory or LDAP to learn more.

• Can we still use our on-premise Active Directory or do we need to enable it in cloud? Yes you can still use your on-premise Active Directory, but in order to connect it with your Atlassian cloud products, you will need to purchase Atlassian Access and a cloud identity provider. The cloud identity provider will work as the connection between your on-premise Active Directory and Access.

• Can we migrate projects with inactive users? Yes project data mapped to inactive users won't be lost and can be migrated.

• I need to migrate Jira and Confluence server licenses and I have an identity provider for SAML, so I’ll need Atlassian Access. Which product should I migrate first and which cloud migration trial should I activate first? If you are planning on setting up SCIM user provisioning, we recommend migrating Jira first or not connecting SCIM until after Jira is migrated. If not, then order doesn’t matter if you’re using the Jira and Confluence Cloud Migration Assistants. Visit determine your user migration strategy and Atlassian Access and cloud migrations to learn more.

• What is SCIM user provisioning? SCIM user provisioning integrates an external user directory with your Atlassian organization. This integration allows you to automatically update the users and groups in your Atlassian organization when you make updates in your identity provider. For example, with user provisioning, you can create, link, and deactivate managed Atlassian user accounts from your identity provider.

• We use Crowd to manage users and groups. We are integrated with Azure AD and have created accounts directly in Crowd as well. Is there a migration path for Crowd? You'll be able to migrate internal directories to cloud and integrate with Azure AD on cloud, but you'll need to set up Atlassian Access to do so. Crowd is not supported on cloud. Learn more.

• Does the cloud assistant setup the ldap/Azure ad link for passwords? With the Jira Cloud Migration assistant you'll be able to migrate internal and external users to your cloud site. Users will be directed to re-create a password upon their first login to the cloud site, but their data and permissions will not be lost.

• Can we do a migration via site import but without adding any users? You can perform a site backup without adding the users. You will need to determine your user migration strategy beforehand. You can also refer to this documentation regarding user migration strategy.

• Is Atlassian access mandatory for 2FA? Can i manage with Google SAML SSO to access Jira Cloud with 2FA? Yes, Atlassian Access subscription is mandatory for 2FA. But it's possible to Connect to G Suite to Atlassian Cloud as per this page which integrates your Atlassian Cloud site with your existing G Suite user directory. However, you will only be able to enable SSO for your users as this integration does not offer the other features of Atlassian Access.

• When is the right time to introduce Atlassian Access to leverage SSO? Before migration or post migration? We recommend setting up Atlassian Access before your user and data migration.

• Is there a way to delete all users that were already migrated to Cloud? Organization admins can delete or deactivate accounts they manage for users who no longer need to use Atlassian account services. Please see this page for more information. If you need to bulk delete them however, I recommend reaching out to our support team for assistance.
• Are there any instructions for migrating internal user directories from Jira? You can leverage our Jira Cloud Migration Assistant to migrate any user from either an internal or external directory.
• We are using a local active directory for user management. What are we seeing in the migration in that case? Would their user information also be migrated over to Cloud? Yes, they will also be migrated. When using our Cloud Migration Assistants, all of your users can be migrated either from an internal or external directory.

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Product-specific migrations

Want to know more? Visit the migration tooling section of the Cloud Roadmap.

• What are the steps for migrating Jira Service Desk (Server) to Jira Service Management (Cloud)? Currently the best way to migrate Jira Service Management (Former Service Desk) is to use Jira Site Import. We are actively working to add this feature to Jira Cloud Migration Assistant and it will move Jira Server Management projects in Q2 2021.

• Why is all-at-once approach recommended when using Jira Service Management? The migration of Jira Service Management is currently not supported by the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant (but will be soon). To migrate JSM data, you’ll need to use the Jira Site Import method, which only allows for an all-at-once approach. Keep in mind this method will delete any existing data on the cloud site. Learn more about different migration methods here.

• What are the plans to support Bamboo? We plan to make Bamboo Data Center available in the near future. Until further notice, you will still be able to purchase new licenses for Bamboo Server. Visit the Bamboo roadmap to learn more.

• Is it possible to keep Confluence Server connected with Jira Cloud or vice versa? Yes, if you want to move some products to cloud while leaving others self-managed or migrate in stages, you can create two-way links between your cloud and server or Data Center products.  Learn more about using app links here.

• I am planing to migrate both Jira and Confluence to the cloud. Will I have to worry about any Jira issues which are linked in Confluence or Confluence links in Jira issues? Links between Confluence pages and Jira issues will be updated automatically as long as the pages are linked using the ‘Link issue' or ‘Link Confluence page’ functionality in the application. If these are linked simply by typing in the URL for an issue in a comment or something similar, those links may break, and our support team's help may be indeed necessary. Additionally, for Confluence pages linked with Jira issues, you can run the Jira Macro Repair process from Confluence once the migration is completed. Running this will identify and fix all broken links from Confluence to Jira. We'd recommend testing your Cloud migration on a Trial site and see if all links work as expected.

• What happens with our FishEye and Crucible integrations after we migrate? You will still be able to purchase new licenses or renew existing licenses for Fisheye and Crucible. You can keep both Fisheye and Crucible on-premise and set up applinks to connect them to your cloud products.
  
  

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Apps and integrations

Want to know more? Watch this demo on completing an app assessment using the Jira and Confluence Cloud Migration Assistants.

• Are SVN integrations still supported after migration? The Svn Gateway - Subversion links in Jira app in the Atlassian Marketplace allows for an SVN integration in Jira Cloud.

• Is the cost of cloud products different from the cost of apps? Yes, your cloud apps will sit within your cloud site. You will need to purchase your apps separately from your cloud products.

• Do I need to purchase a new license for my Marketplace apps in the cloud while I run test migrations? You will have a 30-day trial period for your Marketplace apps. After the trial concludes for the app, you will need to purchase in order to continue using the product. You can also reach out to the Marketplace app vendor to request an extension of your trial.

• I have apps for my server products that are not available on cloud. I was told that the API functionality in cloud doesn't support a migration. How is this problem tackled? We are working actively with our Marketplace Partners to develop the cloud apps that are currently available in server today. We’re also building APIs (currently in early access) that make it possible for server apps to be automatically migrated to cloud using the Cloud Migration Assistants. We recommend asking the app developers if they plan to use this functionality once it’s widely available.

• Will app licenses automatically be extended to our cloud products? No, you will need to purchase a new cloud app license. You can install them as part of the prep phase.

• Is there a way to migrate all 3rd party app data with the Cloud Migration Assistants? Currently, additional steps will need to be taken to migrate 3rd party apps - learn more here. We are working on making 3rd party app data migration available in the Cloud Migration Assistants. Learn mmore and sign up for the EAP program from here.

• Can you migrate custom created apps to the cloud? Custom apps will need to be re-created, and you will not be able to upload the app via Manage apps for cloud environments. Refer to our documentation on Atlassian's framework for writing add-on's for cloud for more support.

• Are there port redirects in Atlassian cloud to redirect ports used for Atlassian apps? Please check all ports used by Atlassian apps here.  

• If we purchase Tempo 50 users for Jira, do we also need to purchase a separate Tempo licence for Jira Service Management? For info on this, please reach out to our Billing and Licensing team at via this page..
• Any guidance for integrating email functionality with Office 365? I would suggest taking a look at our Marketplace apps page for information about this integration.

[Jack Brickey]

@Elizabeth Howden , this is a ton of great info! Thanks for pulling it together.

[Alex Koxaras _Relational_]

I've got a lot of reading to do! Thank you @Elizabeth Howden

[Ansar Rezaei]

@Elizabeth Howden Thanks for providing this info. These days I'm working on the migration for our instances. Based on the documentation, many things won't migrate with the Atlassian Migration Assistant. It seems you design it for small businesses without any custom configuration. So what's their benefit for companies with a lot of projects and spaces and custom configuration?
After reading these two posts, I have to change the plan again based on the regular Jira and Confluence Restore procedure that I have done before for Server Instances.
One of the big headaches in my way is migrating Refined for Confluence. I can't believe there is any successful migration because lots of things changed in the cloud. I faced a completely different thing in the first test migration. It can't show the basic macros and contents in the confluence because of the change in Confluence Editor. They haven't provided enough tips for this way in their migration Hub.

I'm thinking about changing the Strategy from Lift and Shift to Start Fresh and won't use Refined in the cloud.

I'm so happy if someone else has the same concern/pain point to share our thought.

[Elizabeth Howden]

Hi @Ansar Rezaei - thanks for your comment and for sharing your experience. I'm sorry to hear that you've had trouble with the Cloud Migration Assistant and will pass your feedback along to the team. We're actively investing in CCMA and making it the go-to migration method for our customers. As part of that work, we're currently in an early access program for automated app migrations using the tool. 

In the meantime, I did want to pass along documentation for a manual migration path for Refined for Confluence, in case you hadn't seen it yet: https://migration.refined.com/space/MD/873168901/Refined+for+Confluence. I hope that's helpful!

[Ansar Rezaei]

@Elizabeth HowdenThanks, I already have seen and used that documentation. The issue here is I didn't get good results after the migration as they changed lots of things.

[G subramanyam]

Thank you for that migrations eBook link @Elizabeth Howden 

[Fede Baronti -Deiser-]

Thanks for this super useful info!

[John Pamplin]

@Elizabeth Howden I attended the cloud migration webinar yesterday but my question was not addressed directly or here in the summary.  Can you assist me or point me to who can?

We have invested a large sum into "perpetual" licenses for our Atlassian products - how does this affect billing of cloud services after migration?  Do we lose our entire investment?

[John O_Reilly]

Hi @Elizabeth Howden 

We're on Jira 6.2.7 and Confluence 5.5.6. We won't be upgrading because that demands Support & Maintenance, which we let lapse several years ago. According to Atlassian CustServ, we'll have to pay ~$200,000.00 to backdate our S&M. We won't be doing that, for obvious reasons.

What other options are best to migrate these 2 versions to Cloud?

[Elizabeth Howden]

Hi @John Pamplin

Because your Server license is perpetual, the license will continue to be yours. Plus, if you need a little more time to plan your migration, you can still renew your Server license through February 2024 until you’re ready to make the switch. After February 2022, the Server updates will be limited to security fixes, and after February 2024 there will no longer be updates, but your license will continue to be yours.

Your Server license won’t impact the billing of cloud services, but we do offer a cloud migration trial for free for all current Server customers. The free trial lasts for the duration of your active Server maintenance for up to 12 months, giving you up to a year of Cloud for free. That's plenty of time to explore, test, and migrate to Cloud without double paying. And the trial license can become your production instance after you've migrated!

[Amna Elabbas]

Hi @John O_Reilly ,

If you're on an unsupported version and don't have active maintenance on your server license (which is needed to upgrade), you can use a free trial license to upgrade in preparation for the migration. Go to my.atlassian.com and sign up for a free evaluation license for the product you're migrating. 

You can no longer create new server trial licenses, but you can use Data Center trial licenses, generated from my.atlassian.com, in server installations.

Note that server and Data Center evaluation licenses last for 30 days. If you need more time to complete your migration, no problem – they can be extended to 90 days upon request.

More details on this documentation: Migrate to cloud with an expired server license 

[John O_Reilly]

Hi @Amna Elabbas ,

Thanks! I'll follow those links to get a trial upgrade for our Datacenter Jira & Confluence. Do I need to step through 1 or 2 upgrades or can i jump straight from Jira 6.2.7 and Confluence 5.5.6 to the latest versions?

Also, what about database upgrades? What MySQL version should we be on to support the upgraded apps?

[Gonchik Tsymzhitov]

Thanks for that info @Elizabeth Howden , 

any plans to provide a workaround for the duplicated user key with LDAP and in Internal directory via JCMA instead of fixing on DB level? 

[Amna Elabbas]

Hi @John O_Reilly 

Happy New Year! Apologies for responding so late as I only saw your message. Have you found the answers to your queries? If not, the Jira Server Team would be the best to answer those , you can open a ticket with them on the support portal https://support.atlassian.com/ 

[Amna Elabbas]

Hi @Gonchik Tsymzhitov ,

You have the option of tombstoning invalid users and merging duplicate users via JCMA. You will need to set up a special feature flag. You can find the details on this demo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkKMQv36Lo8   

[Gonchik Tsymzhitov]

@Amna Elabbas Awesome, thanks! :) 

[Dave Mathijs]

@Elizabeth Howden Glad I found this article, it will surely help to answer some of the questions I have.

[John O_Reilly]

@Amna Elabbas @Elizabeth Howden I've searched but haven't found the answer - do we need to upgrade Crowd when upgrading Jira & Confluence to facilitate Cloud Migration?

If so, where are the downloads?

We're currently on Crowd v2.7, Jira 6.2.7 and Confluence 5.5.6

I have the upgrade installers for Jira 7.6 and Confluence 5.10

[FAAC IT]

Is there a guide to setup Jira Cloud and Perforce integration?

[FAAC IT]

If we decide to keep using Jira cloud and use the test cloud as production, how do we sync data again without duplicating so the the new data on our on-prem can be migrated to the cloud to finalize the migration.

[Bhagyashree Karale]

Hey, Myself Bhagyashree Karale from Pune, India. It's been 4 months that I've joined Natwest(RBS) as an intern. I need a little guidance on data validation post jira server to cloud migration.I'll explain it with a example.First we have to store all the data pre migration.For example we have 10 projects before migration.Then after migration we have to check are these projects present, If not which of them are missing?
We have to perform a checklist kind of  thing.Basically identifying lost data.
And this we have to do it using rest api with python requests module.
Will be grateful if anyone could guide me.
Thanks.

mail id- karaleb@rbos.co.uk(organization)
             karale.bhagyashree07@gmail.com(personal)

[acast2]

For Confluence Server it says in this article https://support.atlassian.com/migration/docs/what-migrates-with-the-confluence-cloud-migration-assistant/ that Spaces including personal spaces are migrated.

I can't find any documentation that says we can choose which personal spaces can be migrated as we can do with Site Spaces.

Any input would be appreciated, thanks.