Cloud migration methods for Jira

Depending on your needs, you may need to use one or more of the following methods to migrate to Jira Cloud. Read Choose a Cloud migration method for advice on how to choose the migration method that meets your needs.

Jira Cloud Migration Assistant (recommended)

Upgrade to Jira Cloud Migration Assistant 1.7.3 or higher

To give you a more stable and reliable migration experience, we’ve improved the way attachments and other media files are migrated.

Starting September 19, 2022, we recommend you upgrade to Jira Cloud Migration Assistant 1.7.3 or higher for all your migration needs in future.

Starting January 31, 2023, you won’t be able to use 1.7.1 and lower of the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant.

Learn more about this announcement and how to upgrade.

For any further details or technical concerns, contact us.

The Jira Cloud Migration Assistant is a free Atlassian app that can be installed on your Jira Server or Data Center instance. The migration assistant is the easiest and most reliable way to move from Server or Data Center to Jira Cloud.

Use this method to migrate:

some projects to Cloud
everything to a new Cloud site
to a new or existing Cloud site
your data all at once or in phases

Learn more about what's migrated with the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant

Benefits	Limitations
Assess and migrate your apps The assistant will not overwrite existing data in your Cloud site Choose what projects you want to migrate Choose to migrate only users and groups. You can also migrate users managed by external directories. Choose to migrate only users related to the projects you want to migrate Migrate Jira Service Management customer accounts Migrate Advanced Roadmaps Be guided through the migration with an easy-to-use interface Identify any problems with your data before you migrate Migrate in phases if needed Download pre- and post-migration reports	You need to be on a supported self-managed version of Jira

Benefits

Limitations

Assess and migrate your apps
The assistant will not overwrite existing data in your Cloud site
Choose what projects you want to migrate
Choose to migrate only users and groups. You can also migrate users managed by external directories.
Choose to migrate only users related to the projects you want to migrate
Migrate Jira Service Management customer accounts
Migrate Advanced Roadmaps
Be guided through the migration with an easy-to-use interface
Identify any problems with your data before you migrate
Migrate in phases if needed
Download pre- and post-migration reports

You need to be on a supported self-managed version of Jira

Jira Cloud Site Import

Site Import will no longer be available for Server to Cloud migrations

From February 1, 2022, we’ll discontinue Server to Cloud migrations using Site Import depending on the number of users you’re looking to migrate.

If you’re looking to migrate:

1-10 users - Site Import will be available until Jan 31, 2022
11 - 100 users - Site Import will be available until Feb 28, 2022
101-250 users - Site Import will be available until Mar 31, 2022
251 - 1000 users - Site Import will be available until Apr 30, 2022
More than 1000 users - Site Import will continue to be available until further notice.

To view the number of licensed users in Jira Server or Data Center, go to Administration > Applications > Versions & licenses.

We recommend you use the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant for all your migration needs. The Migration Assistant offers several benefits including Apps and Jira Service Management migrations. We’ll soon support Advanced Roadmaps migrations.

For more information on this announcement, read our Community post. For any technical or compatibility concerns with this change, contact us.

Jira Cloud Migration Assistant now supports ‘all data at once’ migrations

Jira Cloud Migration Assistant 1.7.7 allows you to migrate all data at once, in addition to the existing project-by-project migration capability.

With this first release (Alpha), the migrate all data at once feature in the Migration Assistant will migrate the same types of data that Site Import currently supports.

Future Migration Assistant releases will increase the reliability and performance of migrating all data at once, as well as the types of data migrated.

For more information on this announcement, read our Community post.

Using Jira Site Import to migrate from Server to Cloud involves using a Jira Server or Cloud XML backup to import everything from one site into Cloud. This method will overwrite any existing data in your Cloud site, so is only recommended when you’re moving to a new Cloud site.

Learn how to use Jira Site Import

Benefits	Limitations
Migrate Advanced Roadmaps	App data won’t be migrated The migration will overwrite any existing data in your Cloud site (except users and groups) You may need to import users separately Users from external directories won’t be migrated You need to be on a supported self-managed version of Jira You can’t choose what you do and don’t want to migrate (for example, selecting specific projects to migrate) Attachments need to be split into 2-5 GB chunks to avoid timeout errors This method is all or nothing, so large amounts of data can result in longer downtimes

Benefits

Limitations

Migrate Advanced Roadmaps

App data won’t be migrated
The migration will overwrite any existing data in your Cloud site (except users and groups)
You may need to import users separately
Users from external directories won’t be migrated
You need to be on a supported self-managed version of Jira
You can’t choose what you do and don’t want to migrate (for example, selecting specific projects to migrate)
Attachments need to be split into 2-5 GB chunks to avoid timeout errors
This method is all or nothing, so large amounts of data can result in longer downtimes

Jira Cloud CSV import

This isn’t a recommended migration method due to its limitations. Only use it when Jira Cloud Migration Assistant or Jira Site Import are not options for your needs.

This method allows you to import issues from Jira Server or Cloud into a Cloud site. Learn more about using CSV import

Merge in Jira Server

If you manage multiple Server or Data Center instances, merging them might be a prerequisite step to your migration to Cloud. However, you may be able to skip this step depending on which migration method you choose. For example, if you’re using the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant, you don’t need to consolidate Server instances before importing issues to Cloud.

Learn more about merging instances in Jira Server

Use this method when you need to:

merge multiple Jira Cloud sites
merge multiple Jira Server instances
import only specific projects from one Cloud site to another

Benefits	Limitations
Jira Service Management (formerly Jira Service Desk) can be migrated	Apps and app data won’t be migrated. This means you'll need to reinstall apps, and you’ll lose data from apps that were installed in the source site. Learn more about assessing apps Users won’t be migrated. Learn about options for user migration Knowledge of how to install and set up a server application is required Merging sites usually takes time to complete, especially for large sites

More information and support

We have a number of channels available to help you with your migration.

For migration planning information, visit the Atlassian Migration Program website.
For technical issues or support with strategy and best practices, get in touch with our support team.
For peer advice, ask the Atlassian Community.
For expert guidance, work with an Atlassian Partner.
For more help, check out the Cloud migration guide or register for our Cloud migration demos with live chat Q&A.

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