Is it possible to restore Server zip Backup into Data Center

[M Amine]

With the urge to move the Data Center, I'm wondering if someone has tried to restore a Jira Core Server zip Backup into Jira Software Data Center ? 

Please share your thoughts and trials. 

[Daniel Eads · Accepted solution]

Yes, you can absolutely restore a Server backup into a Data Center instance. The caveat is that you'll need to paste your Data Center license on the Restore page, as the importer tries to use the license that's included in the export file (which would be a Server license in this case).

This is one of many possible routes for a move from Server to Data Center. If you need to do this as part of a migration, here are some options you may consider:

• Simply adding the Data Center license to your existing Server install on the Versions and Licenses page, as described in Migrate from Server to Data Center . This is the most straight-forward path if you are considering single-node Data Center with the same resources as your existing Server instance.
  

  It’s your Jira license that determines the type of Jira you have: Server or Data Center. Jira will auto-detect the license type when you enter your license key, and automatically unlock any license-specific features.

• XML backup / restore from a Server install to a Data Center node (this option)
  
  
• Using a Marketplace app that allows you to copy/migrate configurations and issues between two instances
  
  
• Connecting a Jira Data Center instance to the database previously used for a Jira Server instance (the Server instance must be shut off) and correcting the license; either directly or via database copy. The "database migration" method is faster than an XML export/import in most cases, but you will need to take care to ensure the plugins, attachments, and any other relevant file-system customizations are also copied in to the Data Center instance

Care will need to be taken for options that involve copying data between servers/databases. Some consideration around sizing is necessary also; it's possible a migration to single-node DC on the same instance might be the easiest now, with the option to expand to more nodes in the future as you need.

For future readers, I recommend asking a new question here on Community for specific guidance on your instance . This particular question is good for discussing the merits of this method, but if you need specific help for your own instance, please ask a new question so we have the best chance of keeping the questions and replies organized.

Cheers,
Daniel

[M Amine]

@Daniel Eads Copy/Pasting DC Licences works fine with Jira 8 in an environment where I have Jira Software Server installed. 

Lately I wanted to test this on a staging environnement having three products : Jira Service Desk Server 7.8, Jira Software Server 7.8 and Jira Core Server 7.8. 

Copy pasting Jira Software DC Licence didn't work. 

Any idea ?

[Daniel Eads]

@M Amine I'm assuming you got a mismatch error. You can get it switched over to Data Center by:

1. Removing the Service Desk and Core Server licenses while on the versions & licenses page
2. Switch the Software license from Server to your Data Center license and save it
3. Re-add licenses for Service Desk and Core (they need to be DC licenses)

[Matt Doar]

I would expect that to work but haven't tested it since we moved to Data Center a few years ago. It's easyish to check with a couple of eval installations. Though eval DC does need a real database even for a single node

I'd like to see this addressed in https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiraserver/migrate-from-server-to-data-center-993929572.html because other people have asked it

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

We (Adaptavist, not my squad personally), have done this a couple of times for smaller systems.  For bigger ones, we've used database restores rather than XML.

The method we've used with XML was not a direct restoration though - we imported the XML into an empty Server install, then converted it to be the first node in the DC install.

When we've done it with database restoration, it's worked fine as a direct import of the database into the DC clustered database.

In both cases, you do need to tinker with licences - the restored data from Server has a licence key for Server in it, so after restoration, the machine thinks it's a Server install. 

In older versions of Jira, this was a significant pain because the underlying installations are different.  For example, Server had a flat home directory with a load of sub-directories, but DC relocates some of the directories in there onto shared storage under "shared".  So a node set up for DC that thinks it's Server because of the licence, fell over when it was looking in the wrong place for the files.  Later versions of Jira Server and DC now expect the same directory structure, so less of a problem.