Import from Bugzilla creates new custom fields

[Shinjani Gaur]

I have been importing data from Bugzilla into Jira via the import plugin bundled with Jira. Every time I import, the Bugzilla specific fields get created as custom fields in Jira. As a result, I have multiple custom fields of the same name/kind. How can I avoid this creation of custom fileds during each import?

[pborkowski · Accepted solution]

This is a common problem across all of our importers. JIM does not extend the context of existing Custom Fields, just creates a new one when needed. To avoid this you need to extend your Custom Field's context before the import. To do so you have two possibilities:

1. Create Custom Field (or use exisitng one) and Configure it To Global Context (so it will be visible for all Projects in your JIRA)

2. First create Project, then create Custom Field (or use existing one) and configure its context to be applicable to the created project. Import Bugzilla to the created Project (In this scenario you won't have globally visible Custom Field)

[Shinjani Gaur]

If a custom field has been created multiple times and each time it is associated with a different Project, is it possible to merge the multiple custom fields?

[pborkowski]

Both of my ideas can be applied only before the import. If you didn't made already too many customizations to your projects, you can delete them and import again with Global Custom Fields.

If you don't want reimport everyting, there's also a possibility to migrate your Custom Field values from one field to the other. There's already a discussion about it here:

https://answers.atlassian.com/questions/164578/migrate-data-from-one-custom-field-to-new-one