Upgrade Path for Confluence Server 7.13.20 to 8.5.6

[Steve Preston]

We are still on a server license and are looking at whether we want to go to Data Center or the Cloud. During our analysis, we found some security vulnerabilities in our current Confluence version (7.13.20). We are not ready to go to the cloud or data center yet, so we are just upgrading to the last supported Server version (8.5.6) to secure the vulnerability ASAP.

What is the proper upgrade path for Confluence Server 7.13.13 to 8.5.6?

[Shawn Doyle - ReleaseTEAM]

There are two paths to consider when upgrading.

My preferred path is to set up a new server on the latest OS and patches, install the latest Confluence version you are comfortable with, and then migrate the data over from the older server. There are pros and cons to this approach and I wouldn't recommend it to a novice.

However, if you need to upgrade in place, then this will be able to guide you through the proper paths needed.  https://confluence.atlassian.com/doc/confluence-release-notes-327.html