The Jira Cloud Migration Assistant is coming soon!

[Jason Wong]

Update on March 10th 2020

We are very pleased to announce that the app is now live!

Please head over to the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant on Atlassian Marketplace to download the latest version, links to documentation and release notes going forward.

Back in late August 2019, we announced the the early access program (EAP) for the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant, a free app that can be installed on Jira Server 7.6 and above. The app enables Customers to easily migrate projects (including the necessary configuration, issues and attachments) to Jira Cloud.

We are incredibly grateful for the time and effort put in by participating Customers and Partners, not just in the early access program but also in remote and onsite interviews.

The feedback on features, usability and bugs have enabled us to make a lot of headway into providing the functionality you need to move to cloud as seamlessly as possible.

If you are interested in the EAP, it’s not too late to sign up for the EAP. Once you sign up we’ll be sure to give you a copy of the app via an Atlassian MOVE support ticket.

The Early Access Program (EAP) is nearly complete

Since announcing the EAP, we’ve come a long way. We've performed 3 releases, gradually increasing data migration capabilities and accordingly, participation from Customers and Partners who are ready to test the app.

The 4th and final EAP release will be in early March (JCMA Version 1.0)

Here’s what you can expect to see improved over previous releases:

Usability improvements

• Improved project selection - to help selecting which projects to prioritise, we’ve added the ability to sort by project lead, last updated (issue in a project) and filter by project type (software or business) or project category.

• Downloadable error report - the EAP program has taught us to expect data corruption and inconsistencies. For example, we discovered NULL values in priority fields that somehow made their way into some Jira Server instances, most likely due to direct database operations outside of the Jira Server UI. Other examples might simply be due to inconsistency between project configuration and the data. When such problems occur this feature will provide you with ability to download a detailed error report to assist with troubleshooting incomplete or failed migrations.

Improved orchestration & scale

• Incremental user migration - In this latest release, each migration, after the first one, will only add new users (rather than migrating them all every time). This will reduce downtime for subsequent migrations.

• Attachments in the background: we will be making a change to the sequencing of data migration by deferring the attachments to happen last, and in the background. You can start using the migrated projects in Jira Cloud without having to wait for attachments.

• Project size: when we first launched the app, the largest project supported was 10,000 issues. We have now tested this to support projects with up to 100,000 issues.

• Database compatibility: in previous releases only Postgres Databases were supported. We are now increasing support to all databases supported by Jira Server 7.6 and above.

New data migration capabilities

• Jira Software boards (including board settings):

  • column names

  • column status mappings

  • quick filters

  • swim lanes

  • card colours

  • sprint permissions

  • board admins

  • working days

  • card layout

  • detail view

  • JQL filters

• Additional custom fields:

  • group custom field values (single & multiple)

  • user picker (single & multiple)

  • multi-line text

  • environment

  • radio button

• Work log

• Timespent

• Workflow Post-function - Update Issue Field Function for Resolutions

Overall data migration capabilities of upcoming JCMA Version 1.0

Data that is migrated

Data that isn’t migrated

Basic Jira Project setup Project details name key project type project category description project lead default assignee project roles issue types issue type scheme issue type screen scheme workflows scheme field configuration scheme workflows - basic links to the correctly migrated workflow scheme with status and transitions workflow functions Validator: permission, Condition: permission, allow only reporter Post Function: update resolution field, assign to current user, assign to reporter, assign to lead screens schemes screens status category permission schemes issue security custom fields single & multi-line text Select list (single & multiple) number date picker date time picker user picker (single & multiple) checkbox Labels Group custom field values (single & multiple) Environment Radio button Issues - basic fields only summary description issue type status priority resolution labels reporter assignee due date subtasks some custom fields text date number time labels dropdown checkbox user picker (single/multiple) @mentions watchers / votes issue links (including link types) attachments comments comments with security issue history Jira Software Projects epics (including colour, Epic Link, Epic Name and Epic Status) versions (affects versions, Fix versions) sprints components flagged issues issue rank Jira Software specific custom fields and custom field values in issues story points estimated & remaining time Time spent environment Users and groups Users and groups will be migrated each time. In the tool, you will have an option to choose whether you want to give your users Jira access or not.

Project setup Custom fields Cascading select list URL Version picker (single) Version picker (multiple) Project picker workflow functions Validator: required field, field changed Condition: user in group, in project role, field value, subtask blocking Post Function: clear field value, update custom field, copy value from other field, delegating project avatars Jira global entities general configuration (timezone, language, etc) dashboards cross-project boards filters App data App data is not migrated

How we migrate configuration that is shared between projects

In interviews, many of you have asked about how the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant handles configuration that is shared between projects.

We have built a feature that keeps track of the relationships between projects and shared configuration that the migration assistant has already migrated. We primarily use this tracking capability to reunite the projects in cloud so that they retain the same configuration structure as they did back in server, even if the projects are migrated at different times.

Because we are keeping track of what has been migrated, we know what to do when we encounter situations where cloud already has the same kind of data with the same name - a name clash. In such cases, we will know that the actual data is not the same, and instead of merging we will migrate and rename. The only exception is that we will not automatically rename your projects or project keys as these need to be kept unique.

If you have further questions about how the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant works or suggestions for other features we should build, please start a conversation by commenting on this post.

Get involved

If you are interested in the 4th and final release, but haven’t signed up, it’s not too late!

Sign up to the early access program

Once you sign up we’ll be sure to give you a copy of the app via an Atlassian MOVE support ticket.

[Jason Wong]

Update on March 2nd 2020: The 4th and final EAP release has arrived!

We’re pleased to announce that the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant Version 1.0 is now available to all customers and partners who have signed up for the early access program!

Link to download the app & docs have been provided via your MOVE ticket. 

Release notes:

This is the initial public release of the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant, allowing you to migrate individual projects from Jira Server to Jira Cloud. 

This version is compatible with Jira Software and Core on server only and is not compatible with Jira Service Desk or Jira Data Center. You can install it on Jira Server version 7.6 or later.

Usability improvements

• Improved project selection with sorting and filtering to help customers select which projects to migrate

• Downloadable error report for troubleshooting incomplete or failed migrations

Improved orchestration & scale

• Attachments in the background so that you can see the results in Cloud as soon as the projects, configuration and issue migration is complete without having to wait for attachments to arrive.

• Max supported project size has increased from 10,000 issues per project, to 100,000

• Full Jira Server database compatibility increased to all production databases supported by Jira Server 7.6 and above.

• Deleted user support only deleted users who participate in projects selected for migration are migrated.

• [Coming soon] Incremental user migration to reduce migration time for the 2nd plan onwards (this feature is planned for release sometime in mid-late March 2020 and will not require an update to the migration assistant).

Added data migration capabilities

• Jira Software fields (epics, sprints, versions, issue rank, estimation)

• Jira Software Boards (including the board’s JQL filter and its settings)

• Additional Custom field support
  • group custom field values (single & multiple)
  • user picker (single & multiple)
  • multi-line text
  • environment
  • radio button

• work log

• additional Workflow function: update resolution field^

For the full details on what data is and isn't migrated, visit this blog post on Atlassian Community or learn more about how the migration assistant works.

[Jason Wong]

Update on March 10th 2020

We are very pleased to announce that the app is now live!

Please head over to the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant on Atlassian Marketplace to download the latest version, links to documentation and release notes going forward.

Huge thanks to all who participated in the Early Access Program. Your feedback and testing of early versions have assisted us greatly with priortizing and implementing features you've told us you need to move project-by-project to Jira Cloud.

This is not the end of the road - we will be improving the app, so if you have suggestions please head over to the Migration Platform Project to create new feature requests.

[Michael Faster]

@Jason Wong the documentation link from the marketplace just goes to the generic "Plan your Migration" page here:  https://confluence.atlassian.com/cloud/plan-your-cloud-migration-972349846.html

I couldn't find any specific documentation for how the migration assistant works?  Can you point me to some?

[Jason Wong]

Hi @Michael Faster

Thanks for letting us know! We'll take this onboard and see what we can do to improve this.

For now - I think this is the document you're looking for

https://confluence.atlassian.com/cloud/use-the-jira-cloud-migration-assistant-to-migrate-from-server-to-cloud-993925215.html

If it's not the document you're looking for or if you have any other questions, please reach out!