I made a guide to help all the poor souls that has been struggling with this bug that Atlassian don't want to fix. I saw multiply tickets of bug reports that was just closed regarding this issue. so at least now its possible to import data to a free tier
This document outlines the limitations and workarounds associated with importing a Confluence space between two free tier instances.
Due to restrictions imposed by the free tier, directly importing a space from one free tier instance to another will result in the imported space being hidden due to permission issues. To successfully import and access the space, it is necessary to upgrade at least the importing instance to a paid premium tier or make use of the trial.
This document will provide detailed steps on how to perform the import, address the permission issue by upgrading to a premium tier, and subsequently recover the imported space.
To successfully import a Confluence space from one free tier instance to another, you will need three Confluence sites:
Source Confluence Site: The original Confluence instance containing the space to be imported.
Destination Confluence Site: The target Confluence instance where the space will be imported.
Temporary Confluence Site: A temporary Confluence instance used solely for activating the premium tier to resolve permission issues. This site will be deleted after the import process is complete.
Note: The temporary Confluence site is required because it is not possible to import a space from one free tier instance to another and maintain access to the imported space. Activating a premium tier on either the source or destination site is necessary to resolve permission-related issues. For cost-efficiency, using a temporary site for a trial period is recommended.
Access Space Settings:
Navigate to the desired space on your source Confluence site.
Click on the gear icon (space settings) located on the left sidebar.
Initiate Export:
In the space settings, find and select the "Export space" option.
Choose Export Format:
Select "CSV" as the export format.
Access Import Function:
Log in to your temporary Confluence site as an administrator.
Navigate to the administration section.
Locate and access the "Data management" or "Import spaces" function. This option might be under different menus depending on your Confluence version.
Initiate Import:
Browse for the exported CSV file you created in the previous step.
Click the "Import" button to start the import process.
Activate Premium Tier:
Ensure that your temporary Confluence site has an active premium tier. If not, activate a trial period.
Recover Space Permissions:
Once the premium tier is active, you should see a "Recover" button related to the imported space's permissions. Click this button to restore the space's visibility.
Adjust Space Permissions:
Navigate to the "Security" section of the space settings.
Access the "Space Permissions" configuration.
Grant appropriate permissions to users and groups to ensure correct access to the space.
These steps will make the permission be the same between the temp and destination and not require you to recover after import.
Export Space from Temporary Confluence Site:
Follow the same steps as outlined previously to export the space from the temporary Confluence site as a CSV file.
Import Space into Destination Confluence Site:
Use the same import process described earlier to import the CSV file into your destination Confluence site.
Verify Permissions: Before proceeding with the final import, double-check that the space permissions are configured correctly on the temporary Confluence site. Incorrect permissions could lead to access issues on the destination site and might require significant troubleshooting or even data loss if the space cannot be deleted.
Test on a Separate Instance: If this is your first time performing this process, it is highly recommended to test the entire procedure on a separate Confluence instance to avoid potential issues with your production environment.
Note: These steps are specific to cloud-based Confluence instances. If you're using a self-managed Confluence instance, the process will differ.
Access Billing and Subscriptions:
Log in to your Atlassian cloud account.
Navigate to Administration > Billing > Manage subscriptions.
Locate the Temporary Confluence Instance:
Identify the Confluence instance you want to delete from the list of subscriptions.
Initiate Deletion:
Click the three dots (ellipsis) next to the Confluence instance.
Select Delete.
Type the word "DELETE" in the confirmation field.
Confirm the deletion.
Danny Nilsson
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