Migrate from JIRA Server to an existing JIRA Cloud

[Lior Pesoa]

Hello,

We have an existing JIRA Server which we would like to migrate into an existing JIRA Cloud.

The documentation i found are talking about migrating between 2 JIRA Cloud and not really what i am looking for.

I would like to know, when exporting from JIRA Server, does it also includes workflows, custom fields, and more?

Or, do i need to first re-create them in the Cloud ?

Is there a list of what i need to re-create?

thank you

[Petter Gonçalves · Accepted solution]

Hello Lior,

Thank you for reaching out.

You can check the following documentation to know how you can migrate from JIRA Server to JIRA Cloud application and all the pre-requisites you must accomplish before the migration:

Migrate from Jira Server to Jira Cloud 

The migration steps will definitely import workflows, custom fields, and all your data to JIRA Cloud, so there's no need to manually recreate anything. 

The only thing we need to worry about is if you have any data in your current JIRA Cloud instance that you want to keep. The import process will overwrite everything in your JIRA Cloud instance and, unfortunately, JIRA Cloud does not support the merging of instances, although we have some workaround options as described in that documentation:

Migrating only specific projects to cloud or merging with an existing cloud site aren't currently supported. However, we're working on new tools to support this. If either of these scenarios apply to your migration, we recommend watching the feature request to stay updated or signing up for the Early Access Program (EAP) for the new Jira Cloud Migration Assistant.

If the EAP isn't an option for you, there are a couple of workarounds you may want to consider, outlined here.

Please, let me know if that documentation helps and if you still have any questions.

[Lior Pesoa]

Hi Petter, 

thank you for your response!

we currently have JIRA Cloud account in use with data, BUT, we don't care about the data there and ok with override it.

So when we will import our server data to the existing cloud it will automatically override it and add workflows, custom fields, etc.. ?

[Petter Gonçalves]

Hello Lior,

Yes, you're correct. Following the conventional steps to migrate from Jira Server to Cloud as specified in the provided documentation will override all the current data from the target instance (JIRA Cloud).

Explaining better, all custom fields, workflows (Not system created) and Schemes will be deleted, while this same data will be imported from the Server instance.

Although you will find this information while following the documentation, I would like to point out some other important things:

1 - Migration of users:

When you run the import client in your JIRA Cloud site, you will be prompted with following options:

• Overwrite users - This will delete all existing users in your cloud site, including users with access to Confluence only.

• Merge Users - This might escalate the permissions of server users when they are imported, so be sure to check what groups they will be merged into on the cloud site. 

2 - Third-party apps:

As you may know, third-party apps are not included in the migration client of JIRA and some of them might be not available for JIRA Cloud yet.

That being said, I suggest you check if you have any third-party apps and study each of them to know how you can migrate its content, checking if they are available for Jira Cloud. If necessary, contact the vendor responsible for the app to know what options you have.

3 - Perform the migration before production:

This is the most important step. Try to perform the migration before the date you want to switch the key and move all your team from Server to Cloud, so you will have the time to test it and confirm that everything was imported as you expected.

Let me know if you have any questions.

[Lior Pesoa]

Thank you for the detailed answer!

the moment the users will be added, we will start to pay for them (65 users)?

or should i inactivate all of them until we officially move ?

[Petter Gonçalves]

Hey Lior,

Actually, you have 7 days of trial for a new JIRA Cloud subscription.

If you have already created your JIRA Cloud instance and exceeded the 7 trial days or will need more than seven days to test it, then you can deactivate your users for now to avoid the billing.

[Lior Pesoa]

thank you!

[Petter Gonçalves]

You are welcome, Lior.

Have a nice day. Let us know if you face any other questions during the migration process.