Does and don’ts on upgrading JIRA from 7.2.8 to 7.6.x version

[Krishna]

Hi Team,

Happy new year !

Currently we are on jira version 7.2.8. Have gone through the KB's but couldnt find much up-to my expectation

Need a brief step by step doc regarding the does and donts when upgrading jira from 7.2.8 to 7.6

We are upgrading on Linux.

[somethingblue]

Hi Krishna,

The upgrade from 7.2.8 to 7.6 shouldn't be too daunting.  Here is what I would do to ensure a successful upgrade

1. Backup your current instance using the XML backup or your native DB tools.
2. Backup your JIRA home folder as that's where customizations take place.
3. Verify that your license is still valid and if not renew before upgrading.
4. Verify the database you're using is in the Supported Platform list for 7.6. 

5. Check the compatibility of your add-ons for the version you want to upgrade to.

6. Review the upgrade notes for JIRA 7.3, JIRA 7.4 , JIRA 7.5 and JIRA 7.6 as well as the Release Notes for JIRA 7.3, JIRA 7.4, JIRA 7.5 and  JIRA 7.6 as these contain features that were added along the way, things that were removed and bug fixes that may impact your environment.

Once you have performed the above steps you should be good to go.  One caveat is JIRA Service Desk:

If you are using JIRA Service Desk and you are upgrading from a version earlier than 3.0 - Please consult the Migration hub as it contains information on important user management, application access and log in changes. You must upgrade to JIRA Service Desk 3.0 before upgrading to JIRA Service Desk 3.3.

If you are indeed running Service Desk and have to upgrade to Service Desk 3.0 first this would necessitate an incremental upgrade of JIRA to 7.3 first, an upgrade of Service Desk to 3.0 and then you can proceed to upgrade to 7.6 and the latest version of Service Desk. 

If you are not using JIRA Service Desk you should be fine to upgrade to JIRA 7.6 from 7.2.8.

Hopefully that helps!

Cheers,

Branden