Project import from XML backup fails with error "import was aborted because too many errors"

Summary

Project import using XML backup fails abruptly with below error on the UI:

Environment

Jira 8.x or 9.x

Cause and diagnosis

There could be multiple reasons for the failure and some are listed below and you will need to check the log file <JIRA_HOME>/log/atlassian-jira.log for more details.

Root Cause 1 - Number Format Exception while parsing version history data

If you see the error below in the Jira log file, then this root cause is relevant:

Root Cause 2 - Nullpointer exception while parsing version data

If you see the error below in the Jira log file, then this root cause is relevant:

Solution

Solution for Root Cause 1

Please refer to the workaround section from the bug JRASERVER-65494 - ChangeItem data of Version custom field cause exception during project import

Solution for Root Cause 2

Please upgrade to Jira 9.11.0 (or later). If that is not feasible refer to the workaround section from the bug JSWSERVER-21769 - Project Import Using XML back-up fails with NullPointerException

1. Check if you have the correct field context available on both target and source env for all the version-type custom fields. Validation for the field and its availability will be checked during the import validation step however if it is missing on the target, the chances of running into NPE (Null Pointer Exception) is high.

2. Check if all issue types and projects are available for the field context on both target and source env.

3. The version value itself is not available on the target. You can run below query to find if there are any such stale version data part of the XML back-up. If that's the case, that data needs to be either deleted or fixed:

   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 SELECT jiraissue.id as issue_id, jiraissue.issuetype, project.id as project_id, customfield.id as custom_field_id, customfield.cfname, customfieldvalue.numbervalue FROM jiraissue JOIN customfieldvalue ON customfieldvalue.issue = jiraissue.id JOIN customfield ON customfield.id = customfieldvalue.customfield JOIN project ON project.id = jiraissue.project WHERE project.pkey = 'XYZ-PROJ' AND customfield.customfieldtypekey = 'com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.customfieldtypes:version' AND customfieldvalue.numbervalue NOT IN (SELECT id from projectversion WHERE projectversion.project = project.id);

In both cases, after fixing the data, you will need to regenerate XML back-up from the source Jira instance.

⚠️ If you are unsure about the steps, please reach out to Atlassian Support as the steps involve DB manipulation operations.