How to import data exported from an old Jira instance with Jira Command Line Interface (CLI)

To move data from one Jira instance to another instance, Jira Command Line Interface (CLI) provides the restoreExport action. Use the action to import data into the new instance that has been exported from an old Jira instance. This article explains how to achieve this use case.

Instructions

Use the exportSite action to export the complete site in the source instance into a backup zip file as shown:
```
--action exportSite --file "exportSite.zip"
```
The exported backup file is stored in the /home/export directory path of the source instance.
Move this backup file to the /home/import folder path of the target instance.
Restore the backup or import the zip file from the Jira home/import directory with the restoreExport action as shown:
```
--action restoreExport --file "exportSite.zip"
```

Please note that the above actions erases the entire data and projects in the target instance and replaces it with the new data and projects from the backup file.
Make sure to take a backup of both source and target instances to be able to perform any rollback changes.