Jira and Confluence Upgrade to Latest Version

[Navadeep M]

Hello All,

We want to upgrade our existing JIRA(6.3.12) and Confluence(5.4) to the latest versions in Linux environment. Can anyone please share step by step documentation if available. Also, is it fine that we can directly upgrade to latest version ? or do we need to upgrade to a version prior to latest version and then to latest(for ex. 6.3.12 to 7 and from 7 to 7.3.4). Appreciate your help. Thank you in advance.

Thanks

Nav

[Sam Hall]

Do these help?:

JIRA: 

https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiraserver073/upgrading-jira-applications-861253088.html

https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiraserver073/skipping-major-versions-when-upgrading-jira-applications-861253103.html

Read up about JIRA 7 in the migration hub: https://confluence.atlassian.com/migration/jira-7

Pick the products you have, then look at upgrade task list in the docs. For example: https://confluence.atlassian.com/migration/jira-7/server_jira+agile_upgrade

Confluence: 

https://confluence.atlassian.com/doc/upgrading-confluence-4578.html

[Navadeep M]

Thank you Sam. I have found below options for upgrading JIRA Applications from the link you shared.

Upgrading JIRA applications manually
Upgrading JIRA applications with a fallback method
Upgrading JIRA applications using a rapid upgrade method
Skipping major versions when upgrading JIRA applications

How can we choose which would be a better method to follow from the above ?

Thanks,

Nav

[Sam Hall]

Hi Nav - It'll depend on your environment and requirements.

If you take some time to read the introduction on each of the pages, you'll see Atlassian give a good description of when you might use each of the methods.

Here are some relevant extracts from the docs.

Upgrading JIRA applications manually says:
"This page describes how to upgrade JIRA installations that don't support the rapid upgrade method or fallback method. You should use this method to upgrade JIRA if you meet any of the following criteria:

You use JIRA 4.0.0 or later on Solaris.
You use JIRA 4.0.0 – 4.2.x on Windows or Linux."

You say you have JIRA version 6.3.12, so unless you are on Solaris, then you don't need to use the manual method.

Upgrading JIRA applications with a fallback method says:
"This page describes how to upgrade JIRA 4.4.x or later in a way that allows you to safely roll back to your previous system if the upgrade process takes longer than expected, or if you encounter issues. This method is especially useful for enterprise environments and for organizations where JIRA is mission-critical for the business...

Because this process is designed to provide the safest possible upgrade method, it requires advanced knowledge of database administration tasks."

Upgrading JIRA applications using a rapid upgrade method says:
"This page describes how to upgrade the JIRA platform version 4.3.0 or later in the quickest way possible. This method can save you time since it does not require you to set up a separate test instance before you upgrade (that is, you upgrade JIRA applications "in-place"). However, it does assume that your JIRA applications are not mission critical and that users or the business won't be negatively affected when JIRA applications are unavailable during the upgrade."

So it's really up to you to choose which method is best for you. 

As all the docs say, I would recommend performing your upgrade in a test environment first and only upgrade your production JIRA server when you are satisfied that your test environment upgrade has been successful.

[Sam Hall]

Read the Skipping major versions when upgrading JIRA applications page to see if any of it applies to you.

For example, it says: 

"JIRA Software specific notes
If you plan to upgrade from JIRA and JIRA Agile less than 6.4.x and 6.3.5 respectively, you must upgrade to JIRA Software 7.0 as an interim version before upgrading further."

[Navadeep M]

Thank you so much for the valuable information Sam. 

[Navadeep M]

Hi Sam,

When I checked this link below,

https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiraserver073/upgrading-jira-applications-861253088.html

I have found this point.

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If you're upgrading from a version of JIRA earlier than 7.0, you should consult the Migration hub. The release of JIRA 7.0 contained functionality that affects your user management, application access and log in permissions, and your JIRA installations setup, and it's very important that you understand the requirements and the implications before you upgrade. The Migration hub has all this information in one handy space.

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Could you please let me know whether we need to contact Migration Hub for this process ? Or the fallback mechanism will workout ? Please suggest.

Thanks,

Nav

[Sam Hall]

The migration hub is just a website which tells you about upgrading to JIRA 7 and some thing to consider.

You should read it before you migrate:

https://confluence.atlassian.com/migration/jira-7

Pick the products you have, then look at upgrade task list in the docs. For example: https://confluence.atlassian.com/migration/jira-7/server_jira+agile_upgrade