What is the best way to take a production Jira server and over lay a Dev Jira server

[Orazio Pensabene]

What is the best way to take a production Jira server and over lay a Dev Jira server. I have tried exporting and several tools, but I am looking for this discussion to find what is truly the easiest and most robust way of completing this task, especially if we do it on a quarterly basis.

[Sebastien Jacques]

@Orazio Pensabene,

I would suggest that you make a copy of the database and connect to the copy from a 'new' dev installation. You will also need a copy of your 'application data' directory. There may be some config files to watch out for (and restore if overwritten).

I recommend establishing a process to test system configuration changes (including add-ons) in the lower environments (e.g. 'dev') and then apply to production. This is the best way to ensure that your configuration remains in sync.

Once this is setup, you can refresh the database with a snapshot and attachments directory every quarter.