Need Production Similar data in my Dev Box (JIRA 4.2.4 Data from PROD needed on JIRA 5 DEV )

[Sandeep Nagaraja]

Hello AA

Presently we have JIRA 4.2.4 version which is installed on a Windows 2003 box, as per validation strategy I have installed JIRA 5 on my DEV box to test and if things look good i will install JIRA 5 on a new 2008 box make it production - retire 4.2.4 box. Now I want to see production similar data in my JIRA 5 box, I have read some of the documents available and listed the steps which I have to take to see Production similar data in my DEV box.

Kindly review the same and let me know if my approach is correct or needs any corrections,

1) Login to Administration Tab of JIRA 4.2.4 Production server and click on “Backup Data to XML” and backup as PROD_BACKUP.zip of the available data.

2) Login to JIRA 4.2.4 Production server and take the backup of attachments folder “<Jira Install Directory>\data\attachments”

3) Login to JIRA 5 server and place the PROD_BACKUP.zip file to “D:\Program Files\Atlassian\Application Data\JIRA\import” and attachments to “D:\Program Files\Atlassian\Application Data\JIRA\import\attachments”

4) Login to Administration Tab of JIRA 5 Dev instance and click on ‘Project Import’ under System tab and import the projects.

[Sandeep Nagaraja · Accepted solution]

1. Install JIRA 5.x from scratch (without customize any file), according to this documentation using a clean HOME and INSTALL directory;
2. Install the needed plugins;
3. Shutdown your JIRA 5.x instance;
4. Copy the attachments directory from the old JIRA home (from 4.2) to the new JIRA 5.x home folder (JIRA_HOME/data/attachments);
5. Create a new XML backup in your 4.2.4 instance and copy it to the <JIRA_5.x_HOME>/import folder;
6. If you have a LDAP or other external user management integrated to your instance, please copy the osuser.xml file located on <JIRA_4.2.4_INSTALL>/atlassian-jira/WEB-INF/classes folder to the <JIRA_5.x_INSTALL>/atlassian-jira/WEB-INF/classesfolder;
   1. And if you have Crowd as an user management, you also need to copy the crowd.properties file located on <JIRA_4.2.4_INSTALL>/atlassian-jira/WEB-INF/classes folder to the <JIRA_5.x_INSTALL>/atlassian-jira/WEB-INF/classes folder;
7. Start JIRA 5.x;
8. Restore the XML backup of JIRA 4.2.4 in your new JIRA by going to Administration > System > Import & Export > Restore System;

[Sandeep Nagaraja]

I tried performing the above 4 steps but Step 4 failed because "JIRA 4.2.4 Project will not get imported to JIRA 5.1" , we should be having same versions to import it seems.

So the migration steps is the only way i think to have production similar data. I will read the migration documents and write steps now ..

[Mark Symons]

There's one extra thing that you might be able to do.

If you have started to create custom fields, custom workflows, etc, on your JIRA 5 DEV system then you will lose all that work when you perform the XML import from your Production server. The import will be data AND configuration, overwriting what already exists.

Well, some of this can be preserved. You can use the new Workflow Sharing Plugin to export your development workflows from DEV before you perform your XML import. The workflow export will include custom fields, statuses, workflow layout, and even the plugins required for the workflow.

After importing your XML to DEV it should be very easy to re-install the Workflow Sharing Plugin and then import the workflows that you have previously exported... thus recreating all those custom fields, etc.

Now, this won't take care of stuff like custom event configuration, etc. But it can still save hours (days) of work.

[Sandeep Nagaraja]

Thanks Nic and Mark

Since my JIRA 5 is plain box and doesnt have any data i will go with the 4 Steps mentioned above.

But Nic says Project Import doesnt work as per Step 4 , I need all the projects from my production.

So are all the 4 steps correct ?

[Mark Symons]

The complete XML import wlll take care of all your projects. After the import, your DEV server will have all the projects and all the issues from your Production server... and all the configuration too. Thus, after import you might want to do something to stop notifications & subscriptions.

One extra thing about XML import... if you are connecting an external system to JIRA using SOAP (example, the Mylyn Plugin for Eclipse) then check your system logs. If you get an Exception "PasswordEncoderNotFoundException" then it will necessary to restart JIRA. See: JRA-25757.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Project import only imports the issue data for a project - it won't work if you want everything, and if you really do only want a couple of projects, you'll need to set up their fields, workflows, and so-on before importing the issues.

The full import imports everything, all the config, all the project data, all the users, all the issues, ... , everything except attachments (which you've already covered correctly)

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Point 4 is wrong - project import won't work, you need to import everything. Other than that, it's all correct.