Migrate Jira Server or Data Center to Jira Cloud

This article provides an overview of Jira Cloud migrations options for Jira Align users. When migrating your connected Jira instance from Server or Data Center to Cloud, there are currently two options, each with different considerations and levels of effort. 

On this page:

• Roles involved
• Migration options
• Migrate with the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant (JCMA): Project by project (PbP)
• Migrate with the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant (JCMA): Migrate all data at once (MAO)
• Things to know

Roles involved

Depending on the method used, one or more individuals and teams may assist with your migration request:

Migration options

You may choose one of the following methods to migrate your Jira site to the cloud:

1. Jira Cloud Migration Assistant (JCMA)- Project by project (PbP), also known as "Choose what to migrate": Atlassian recommends this method in most situations. Note that for Jira Align users, this method requires some work from your staff and Jira Align teams, as the ID values and custom field names are not preserved when moving a Jira Server / Data Center instance to Jira Cloud. This includes ProjectID, BoardID, IssueID, SprintID, and more.
2. Jira Cloud Migration Assistant (JCMA)- Migrate all data at once (MAO): With this method, the underlying ID values are preserved in most cases. Please confirm with your Jira Cloud migrations manager your exact use case specifically if you are migrating to an existing Jira Cloud instance for your organization.

   The option to ‘Migrate all data at once’ will be discontinued

   In September 2024, we’ll discontinue the migration option to 'Migrate all data at once'. For migrators who are actively using this option, we'll continue to support it and maintain its current functionality until September 2024. For more information on this announcement, read our Community post.

   We recommend that all customers use the ‘Choose what to migrate’ option. This option is designed to be flexible to meet the unique needs of scaling organizations.
   How to choose what Jira data to migrate

3. Custom: APIs and 3rd party apps are available, but will not involve the Cloud Migrations team.

Migrate with the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant (JCMA) - Project by project (PbP)

To migrate using JCMA PbP, complete the following steps for pre-migration, migration, and post-migration:

Pre-migration

1. Contact the Cloud Migrations team, your Enterprise Solutions Strategist (ESS), or Solutions Architect (SA) to review your requirements, and submit a ticket to Jira Align Support. Your CMM, ESS, or SA should include:
   1. The desired migration timeline
   2. A link from the request to the MOVE tickets, to ensure both activities are included in migration tests.
2. Schedule a test environment migration with Jira Align Support to ensure they are available and involved in the required Jira Align backend work.
3. Schedule a production environment migration with Jira Align Support.
4. Set up a new connector for Jira Cloud inside Jira Align. Jira Align Support can assist with the following:
   1. The new connector service for Jira Cloud needs to be enabled by support. Note that the connector remains deactivated at this stage.
   2. Verify that the connector service account is set up on Jira Cloud and has the proper permissions for all projects and boards designated for integration with Jira Align.
   3. Confirm the connector connectivity with Jira Cloud is established. Please refer to this article to learn more about Jira Cloud connectivity. Keep the connector deactivated.
5. Provide the Jira Connector IDs in scope for migration to Jira Align Support, i.e the source (connector pointed to Jira Server / DC) and destination (Jira Cloud connector created in step #4 above).
6. Confirm that Jira user email addresses are not changing as part of the Jira migration. If addresses are changing, please make sure Jira Align emails match with Jira Cloud emails. 
7. Deactivate the Jira Connector in Jira Align for the old Jira Server or Data Center connection.

Migration

1. Before the migration is kicked off, provide data from your Jira Server/DC instance, specifically ProjectIDs, BoardIDs, IssueIDs, and StateIDs. Jira Align Support will share SQL queries required for these entities. This data is needed in a CSV format.
2. Begin the migration in Jira.
3. Let Jira Align Support team know once the Jira migration is complete.
4. Jira Align Support will query your Jira Cloud data to gather Jira Cloud ProjectIDs, BoardIDs, IssueIDs, etc.
5. Jira Align support will generate mapping validation files for review and request your sign-off before handing over to the Jira Align engineering team for backend updates
6. Jira Align engineering will perform backend work (backups, updates etc.)
7. Jira Align engineering runs data migration scripts.
8. Jira Align Support runs a script to clear old Jira Align - Jira user mapping.

Post-migration

1. Perform validation steps with test cases provided by Jira Align Support.
2. Activate the newly-created Jira Connector for the Cloud instance. 

Migrate with the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant (JCMA) - Migrate all data at once (MAO)

To migrate using JCMA MAO, complete the following steps for pre-migration, migration, and post-migration:

Pre-migration

1. Contact the Cloud Migrations team, your Enterprise Solutions Strategist (ESS), or Solutions Architect (SA) to review your requirements, and submit a ticket to Jira Align Support. Your CMM, ESS, or SA should include:
   1. The desired migration timeline
   2. A link from the request to the MOVE tickets, to ensure both activities are included in migration tests.
2. Schedule a test environment migration with Jira Align Support to ensure they are available and involved in the required Jira Align backend work.
3. Schedule a production environment migration with Jira Align Support.
4. Confirm that Jira user email addresses are not changing as part of the Jira migration. If addresses are changing, please make sure Jira Align emails match with Jira Cloud emails. 
5. Deactivate the Jira Connector in scope for migration in Jira Align. 
   Note: For the MAO migration approach, we'll be utilizing the existing Jira Server/Data Center connector and will not create an new connector. 

Migration

1. Perform the migration in Jira using the MAO method, in coordination with the Jira Migration team.
2. Jira Align Support runs a script to clear old Jira Align - Jira user mapping.

Post-migration

1. Update the Jira Connector connection details in Jira Align.
   1. Update existing connector connection details to point to Jira Cloud. If the original service account is not migrating to Jira Cloud, please plan for a service account with the same permissions on Jira Cloud.
   2. Confirm the connector connectivity is established to Jira Cloud. Please refer to this article to learn more about Jira Cloud connectivity.
   3. Confirm configuration settings and update as required.
   4. Confirm and if necessary update State mappings (Global and project-specific) as required
   5. If there are custom fields that are integrated but do not exist in Jira Cloud, they will need to be created in Jira Cloud.
2. Activate the connector.

Things to know

To ensure your migration runs smoothly with any method, please be aware of the following:

• It is important to plan your Jira migration in conjunction with Jira Align. We can proceed with the migration of a Jira Align connector, only once your Jira instance has been successfully migrated to Cloud. 
• Preferably, migrations are scheduled with Jira Align teams at least 1-2 months in advance.
• Our teams will try to avoid scheduling migrations during feature release weekends. 
• The Jira Connector does not support rich-text when syncing with Jira Cloud. If you are using Jira Data Center and currently syncing rich-text bidirectionally, we recommend using the Jira to Jira Align only sync direction after migration. If you want to sync bidirectionally with Jira Cloud, plain text must be used in work item fields.
• Before performing test migration, it is recommended to perform a test environment refresh from production data for both the systems - Jira Server/DC and Jira Align to closely mimic production environments. If your Jira Align instance is with Atlassian Cloud, please reach out to the Jira Align support team to have it refreshed with production data.
  
  Note: Please perform a test environment refresh for Jira Align and Jira in the same timeframe, to minimize data mismatches between the two systems. 
• When Jira Align Support provides mapping validation files, note the following:
  • Projects: The project(s) listed within the files will not be migrated to the Jira Cloud instance.
  • Issues: The issue(s) listed within the files are likely a result of not running the Jira Deleted issues report in Jira Align, prior to migration. These issues exist in Jira Align, and no longer exist in Jira. A solution to fix these issues is to run the Jira Deleted issues report prior to migration.