There are a couple different options here. You could use the installer to upgrade your existing installation directory. OR you could use that same installer to create a new installation directory and then copy your settings/changes to it. Either can work here. And as long as you have a backup of your data before you start, you should be safe.
I think though that what has happened in your case, is that you actually selected the option for 'new installation' when you thought that you selected the upgrade option. It's a common misunderstanding because the text based menu for selecting this in the installing has been noted as confusing because the number options appear after the options instead of before. Since you saw the error of
"It appears that JIRA is already installed in the directory you selected. Please choose a different directory."
That's a clear indication that the upgrade option in the installer was not actually selected. There have been other users that have hit this same problem, please see https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRASERVER-65909 for details. I believe that in this case, to upgrade an existing install, you would need to select option #3, and then be prompted to select the $JIRAINSTALL directory.
Please let us know if you run into any problems.
You must be a registered user to add a comment. If you've already registered, sign in. Otherwise, register and sign in.