Migrating to Confluence Cloud
- Robert Alexander Marshall
- Comala Publishing
Overview
Comala Document Management for Confluence Cloud automates document review and approval workflows. To migrate from a hosted instance, use the Atlassian Confluence Cloud Migration Assistant (CCMA) to transfer spaces, users, and groups. It includes a migration pathway for Comala Document Management workflow-related data and your space workflows.
The supported migration pathway for Comala Document Management migrates the following:
The current workflow state
The current state-related data such as expiration date, approvers, and approvers status
Your space workflows, including linked global workflows in a space (migrated as space workflows), taking into account the following:
Labeled workflows
Labeled workflows with inverted labels (aka excluded labels)
Space-level workflows are translated into cloud-compatible equivalents. User and user group references (within any macro) are automatically replaced with the corresponding cloud IDs, preserving workflow functionality.
The values of workflow parameters defined at the space level
Page and blog post metadata when the Attach Metadata utility is run before the migration
The full workflow events and activity history for each page are not migrated, but you can include a record for audit purposes as a page and space attachment by running the Attach Activity utility before the migration.
After the migration, the workflow state is automatically applied when the workflow is activated in each space.
Page workflows will not be migrated now or in the future. To retain their functionality in the Cloud, use the page workflow consolidation feature to convert them into labeled workflows before migration.
Pre-requisites
Before you review the Confluence Cloud platform features and the apps needed in the cloud, ensure the following:
1. Install the latest app versions
You must update your Confluence Data Center instance with the latest Comala Document Management for Data Center app versions and the Atlassian Confluence Cloud Migration Assistant (CCMA).
The minimum Comala Document Management for the Data Center version required for a successful migration is 7.8.0.
2. Review app functionality in the Cloud
You can review the product comparison for our cloud and data center apps. We also recommend installing and exploring our app in Confluence Cloud.
3. Preserve workflow events and activities history
The migration does not include the workflow events and activity history for each page. You can use the Attach Activity utility in your data center app to add the workflow history as a page attachment to use as an auditable record of the workflow history.
The existing Attach Activity Precheck now verifies whether the Attach Activity Job has been run and if the Metadata Export Job has been completed. This ensures that all relevant metadata is properly stored and ready for migration.
4. Attach metadata
Page and blog post metadata can be included in your migration. You can use the Attach Metadata utility to store your page and blog post metadata and include it with the migrated document. It can be accessed in Confluence Cloud using the get-metadata macro.
Running the Metadata Export job ensures that key metadata is stored on the server as JSON Content Properties, allowing for automatic migration via Confluence Data Migration.
The exported metadata includes:
✅ Metadata from the Comala Metadata app (only from the “metadata” macro).
✅ Metadata set using the set-metadata workflow trigger action.
✅ Page-level Workflow Parameters.
Once migrated, these metadata values can be accessed in Confluence Cloud using the new "Get Metadata" macro. Any existing "get-metadata" macro used in Server/DC pages will function correctly in migrated Cloud pages.
5. Prepare your workflows
Existing space workflows are migrated, but the functionality of some features can differ in the cloud.
Before migration, in your data center app, you can use the Workflow Translator for Cloud tool to convert each hosted app workflow to a cloud-compatible workflow template and add it to Confluence Cloud to review workflow functionality.
Page workflows are not migrated, but you can consolidate these as a space workflow in each space before migration.
6. Remove page restrictions
Restricted pages can block migration. A pre-migration check in the Atlassian CCMA identifies these pages. You can then remove these page restrictions before the migration.
7. Set up your Confluence Cloud site
You must create a Confluence Cloud site and install Comala Document Management for Cloud and any other apps you need in the cloud. You must have administrator permission for the site when creating and running a migration.
Step 1 Assess and prepare your migration
The Confluence Cloud MIgration Assistant in global administration in your Confluence Data Center instance is used to assess and prepare your migration.
If you have previously undertaken a migration, the Migrations dashboard is displayed.
Step 2 Migrate your data
When you have assessed your apps and prepared the apps and users for migrating, you can Migrate your instance. Each migration can include one or more spaces.
The migration assistant takes you through the following steps:
You must be signed in as the Site Administrator for the Atlassian cloud site you're migrating to.
Step 3 - Post-migration
Edit workflows for cloud compatibility
If the translated migrated versions of the workflows were not fully cloud-compatible, they might not fully match the actions of their server counterparts. You must review them to ensure they work as expected.
Review enabled workflows
Review the order in which the enabled workflows are in the cloud side (the order logic differs from the server one).
Adjust workflow states
You can manually update any mismatched workflow states using the workflow state dialog box or initialize states for each active workflow using the app space settings.
After migration, all workflows transferred from the server will have access to their original server markup within the Cloud Workflow Builder. This information will be available in a dedicated section only for migrated workflows.
Server workflow markup view for migrated workflows
A new view has been added to the workflow builder that allows users to access the server workflow markup of a migrated workflow. This view can be accessed through a newly added button next to the existing two views (Visual builder editor and JSON code editor). The button is only visible for workflows that have been migrated from a DC/Server instance, providing better insight into the original server configuration post-migration.
Atlassian EAP Cloud-first migration
Atlassian is rolling out an EAP for creating migrations from the Data Center to the Cloud from your cloud organization. You must apply to opt into this Atlassian EAP. It lets you create migrations from your cloud organization and is currently designed for organizations with less than 10,000 users.
Migration of complex instances
Some things can increase the complexity of your migration, and you might need some help planning. For example, if the migration involves
a large amount of data or users
multiple products and apps
The Atlassian Migration Guide includes a range of resources and guides.
If you have any questions or require assistance, contact Appfire support.