Before you migrate, check your cloud organization
We’re currently rolling out changes that may affect your migration experience. From your organization at admin.atlassian.com, if the Users list and Groups list are under the Directory tab, you have the improved user management experience. This means that the users and groups across sites will be merged under the organization. Read more about how groups and permissions are migrated. If you have any concerns, contact support.
This guide outlines the best method to migrate your users from Jira or Confluence Server (or Data Center) to cloud.
The best way to import your users and groups will depend on:
- What products you’re migrating and whether you’ve users from external directories
- Which migration method you're using
- If you plan to use Atlassian Access for SCIM (user provisioning)
Before you begin
Before you decide how to migrate your users, make sure you:
Read our other documentation on user management in cloud and server and what user management set up you need in cloud.
Review how users, groups and permissions are migrated if you plan to use either the Jira or Confluence Cloud Migration Assistant to migrate.
Read the section on Atlassian Access recommendations if you plan to use an external identity provider.
It's not currently possible to migrate a subset of users and groups using Confluence Cloud Migration Assistant or Jira site import. If you use these methods, you will need to import all users and groups. Read the information below for more details.
Jira user migration strategies
Depending on the Jira products you’re migrating and whether you’ve external directories, use this table to decide the migration method you should opt for.
Jira products you want to migrate | Have users from external directories? | Use this method | |
|---|---|---|---|
Jira Software/ | Jira Service Management/Advanced Roadmaps | ||
Yes | No | No | |
Yes | No | Yes | Use the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant |
No | Yes | No | |
Yes | Yes | No | Use Site Import |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Perform these steps:
|
No | Yes | Yes | Perform these steps:
|
When migrating Jira users with Jira Cloud Migration Assistant
See the table above to check whether the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant is a suitable method for you.
Using the migration assistant, you’ll able to:
Migrate users related to the projects you select to migrate, or
Migrate all users from active internal and external directories without any project data
If you have external directory users, you must first sync the external users to Jira’s internal active directory before migrating.
Jira Cloud Migration Assistant migrates users from inactive directories if they’re referenced in projects. These users will be migrated without personal information and will appear as Former user.
Jira Cloud Migration Assistant creates a new Atlassian account for each user and associates them to your cloud site. They will also be assigned a password, so your users will need to reset their password the first time they sign in. All your users' history and content will be linked to their new Atlassian account. Learn more about migrating users and groups with the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant.
Jira Cloud Migration Assistant doesn’t migrate Jira Service Management (formerly, Jira Service Desk) customers. Use Jira site import to migrate all Jira Service Management data.
If you can't use the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant to migrate all data, consider using it to migrate users only. For example, you can migrate all your Jira users with the migration assistant first and then import your projects through Jira Site import later.
Migrate Jira users with Jira Cloud site import
See the table above to check whether site import is a suitable method for you.
Jira cloud site import migrates only users managed in Jira’s internal directory. If users are managed by external directories such as LDAP, ADFS, or Crowd, you’ll need to:
Use the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant, or
Migrate your external users to Jira’s internal directory before migrating to cloud. See migrate users between directories or migrate from an external directory to the Jira internal user directory for more details.
If you’re unable to migrate to external directory users to Jira’s internal user directory, our technical support team can help you. Get in touch
Perform these steps:
Run the following SQL queries from your Jira Server and/or Confluence database to create CSV files of your users and groups:
Users:
SELECT email_address AS "email", user_name AS "username", display_name AS "displayname", active AS "active" FROM cwd_userGroups:
SELECT DISTINCT parent_name AS group, child_name AS username FROM cwd_membership;2. Provide Atlassian's migration support team with the two CSV files to have the users and groups imported into Jira Cloud.
Confluence user migration strategies
Using the Confluence Cloud Migration Assistant to migrate your Confluence users.
Using the Confluence Cloud Migration Assistant, you’ll able to:
Migrate users related to the spaces you select to migrate, or
Migrate all users from active internal and external directories without any migrating any spaces
If you have external directory users, you must first sync the external users to Confluence’s internal active directory before migrating.
The Confluence Cloud Migration Assistant creates a new Atlassian account for each user and associates them to your cloud site. They will also be assigned a password, so your users will need to reset their password the first time they sign in. All your users' history and content will be linked to their new Atlassian account, and space permissions will remain the same. See the Users and groups section in the Confluence Cloud Migration Assistant page to learn more about migrating users and groups.
Migrate both Jira and Confluence
When migrating both Jira and Confluence, we recommend that you use the Jira and Confluence cloud migration assistants to migrate your users either before, or along with, your data.
Depending on the Jira products or external directories you’ve, you may need to use the Jira cloud site import. Check the Jira user migration strategies section to see which method is suitable for you. If you use site import, you’ll need to migrate Jira first to avoid this issue:
- ACCESS-653 - Migrating from Atlassian Server products where SCIM was enabled to Atlassian Cloud and then using Atlassian Access SCIM causes users to be given GUID usernames IN PROGRESS
We recommend that you migrate all Jira users and data using the most suitable methods mentioned above, and then migrate your Confluence uses and spaces.
If you plan to use an external identity provider for SCIM user provisioning, we also recommend migrating Jira first. See our Atlassian Access recommendations below for more details.
Atlassian Access recommendations
If you're planning to subscribe to Atlassian Access for advanced user management features, including SAML single sign-on (SSO) and System for Cross-domain Identity Management (SCIM) there are a few recommendations to be aware of.
SAML SSO
If you’re planning to use SAML SSO in cloud, set this up prior to migrating. That way, users won't have to switch login experiences.
SCIM user provisioning
The process for setting up SCIM user provisioning will depend on what you’re migrating and when.
Confluence only
If you’re migrating Confluence only (and you don’t have Jira at all), we recommend that you set up SCIM before migrating your data and users with the Confluence Cloud Migration Assistant.
Jira only / Jira and Confluence
If you’re migrating Jira only (and don’t have Confluence at all), we recommend setting up SCIM after manually importing your users and before migrating your data. This is to avoid some known issues (listed below).
If you're planning to migrate both Jira and Confluence and you need to connect SCIM, we recommend migrating Jira first or not connecting SCIM until after Jira is migrated. You may encounter issues if you migrate Confluence with SCIM first and then choose to migrate Jira later. Follow the instructions below.
You will need to:
Manually import your users. To manually import your users, you will need to get in touch with our technical support team so they can do it for you. See the instructions on “How to bulk import your users before migrating” below.
Set up SCIM. After all your users are successfully imported to cloud, you can start syncing via user provisioning. The existing users you've already imported can become managed by your external identity provider, and you’ll be able to activate and deactivate users and sync groups from your external identity provider.
Resolve group conflicts before syncing. You may run into group conflicts when syncing your external identity provider with your Atlassian organization. When you sync, we’ll warn you about duplicate group names between your external identity provider and your Atlassian organization. You’ll be able to accept or reject changes to group members before you sync those groups. Learn more about resolving group conflicts before syncing.
Migrate your data. You can then choose to migrate your data using either of the methods above.
Troubleshooting user migration
If you've run into a problem during your migration, we're here to help. You can start by searching for known issues in our public issue tracker. There, you can find information about some of the common issues we see with Jira migrations, including their status and suggested workarounds.
A currently known issue is ACCESS-653 - Getting issue details... STATUS
More information and support
We have a number of channels available to help you with your migration.
For more migration planning information and FAQs, visit the Atlassian Cloud Migration Center.
Have a technical issue or need more support with strategy and best practices? Get in touch.
Looking for peer advice? Ask the Atlassian Community.
Want expert guidance? Work with an Atlassian Partner.