Migrate from Rich Filters Server/Data Center to Server/Data Center

Please use the same Rich Filters for Jira Dashboards version when performing data migrations between two Server/Data Center Jira instances. Using different Rich Filters for Jira Dashboards versions on the source and target instances, might cause data incompatibility problems.

On this page:

  1. Introduction
  2. Migrating Rich Filters for Jira Dashboards app data

    1. Exporting data

      1. Selectively including or excluding rich filters from the snapshot
    2. Deploying data

1. Introduction

In order to migrate Rich Filters for Jira Dashboards app data between two Jira Server/Data Center instances, the Server/Data Center version of Rich Filters for Jira Dashboards integrates with Configuration Manager for Jira (CMJ). Configuration Manager for Jira (CMJ) is a powerful change management and data migration solution for Jira which allows users to migrate data between Jira instances. The migrated data includes Jira issues, projects, configuration and also data of 3rd party apps which are integrated with CMJ.

The Rich Filters for Jira Dashboards app uses two different types of data that need to be migrated:

  1. The configuration of the rich filters defined on your Jira instance
  2. The configuration of the rich filter gadgets used in dashboards on your Jira instance

Configuration Manager for Jira (CMJ) allows you to automatically migrate both types of data: rich filters and dashboards containing rich filter gadgets

The integration with Configuration Manager for Jira (CMJ) is available starting with Rich Filters for Jira Dashboards version 1.24.0. The functionality described below was tested with Configuration Manager for Jira (CMJ) version 6.10.7.

2. Migrating Rich Filters for Jira Dashboards app data

Before migrating your data, you should first become familiar to the way Configuration Manager for Jira (CMJ) works. The documentation of Configuration Manager for Jira (CMJ) is available here

Migrating your data between two Jira Server/Data Center instances requires a number of configuration steps – these are detailed in the documentation of Configuration Manager for Jira (CMJ). Below, we refer only to the migration details that are relevant for the migration of the Rich Filters for Jira Dashboards app data.

2.a. Exporting data

In order to export data from a Jira Sever/Data Center source instance, Configuration Manager for Jira (CMJ) allows users to create three types of snapshots: System configuration snapshot, Project configuration snapshot, or Project snapshot with issues. The exact data contained in each type of snapshot is detailed in the relevant Configuration Manager for Jira (CMJ) documentation.

Each type of snapshot may include Rich Filters for Jira Dashboards app data, depending on the selected configuration at snapshot creation. More precisely:

  • The System configuration snapshots will contain:
    • the rich filters from the source Jira instance if the "Include Global App Data" checkbox is selected in the snapshot creation configuration screen
    • all the dashboards from the source instance (including dashboards that might contain rich filter gadgets) if the "Include all Dashboards" checkbox is selected in the snapshot creation configuration screen
  • The Project configuration snapshots and Project snapshots with issues will contain:
    • the rich filters from the source Jira instance if the Rich Filters for Jira Dashboards app is selected in the Select Apps configuration screen
    • those dashboards from the source instance (some of which might contain rich filter gadgets) which are selected in the Select Dashboards configuration screen.

Things to keep in mind

  • The rich filters are based on Jira filters. All Jira filters which are used in the configuration of at least one rich filter will automatically be added to the snapshot, even if the snapshot was not explicitly configured to contain these Jira filters.
  • If the snapshot is configured to not contain rich filters but if the snapshot is configured to contain dashboards which use rich filter gadgets, then at destination these gadgets will be added as unconfigured.

2.a.i. Selectively including or excluding rich filters from the snapshot

By default, when creating a new snapshot, if the users choose to export Rich Filters app data, then all the rich filters existing on the source Jira instance are included in the snapshot. However, Jira administrators have the flexibility to refine this process and specify whether certain rich filters should be included or excluded from the snapshot. This can be achieved through the App migration page available in Jira’s Manage apps administration menu, under the Rich Filters section. This page offers the following choices:  

  1. Include all rich filters – This option is the default selection. It ensures that all rich filters available on the source instance are included in the snapshot.
  2. Include only the specified rich filters – Selecting this option allows Jira administrators to define a specific set of rich filters to be included in the snapshot. The list of rich filters is indicated by their respective IDs, separated by commas. All rich filters not included in the list will be excluded from the snapshot.
  3. Include all rich filters except the specified rich filters – When this option is selected, Jira administrators can designate a list of specific rich filters to be excluded from the snapshot. As above, the list is provided as comma-separated rich filter IDs. All rich filters not listed are automatically included in the snapshot.


Things to keep in mind

  • Regardless of the selected options for filter inclusion or exclusion, the snapshot deploy procedure, which is described in the following section, remains the same.
  • If the snapshot is configured to contain dashboards which use rich filter gadgets pointing to rich filters which are not included in the snapshot, then at destination, these gadgets will be added as unconfigured.

2.b. Deploying data

Snapshots can be deployed on Jira Server/Data Center target instances. There are two snapshot deployment modes:

  • Merge Configuration – the configuration in the snapshot is "merged" with the existing configuration on the target Jira instance
  • Restore Configuration – the configuration in the snapshot "replaces" the existing configuration on the target Jira instance 

More details about the deployment modes are available in the relevant Configuration Manager for Jira (CMJ) documentation

For System configuration snapshots, the user may chose between the two deployment modes. For Project configuration snapshots and Project snapshots with issues, the deployment strategy is always Merge Configuration.

Depending on which of the two deployment modes is used, the Rich Filters for Jira Dashboards app data is deployed as follows:

  • If the deployment mode is Merge Configuration:
    • No existing rich filter on the target instance is modified in any way.
    • If the snapshot contains a rich filter which does not exist on the target instance, then the rich filter is deployed on the target instance.
    • If the snapshot contains a rich filter and if the target instance also contains a rich filter which was created as part of a previous deployment and based on the same source filter as the one in the snapshot, then the existing rich filter on the target instance is kept as is and the rich filter in the snapshot is skipped from the deployment; if the user wishes to deploy the rich filter version which is stored in the snapshot, then he needs to manually delete the existing rich filter on the target instance, prior to deploying the snapshot.
    • If a snapshot contains a Jira dashboard (which might contain rich filter gadgets) and if the same dashboard does not already exist on the target instance, then the dashboard is deployed on the target instance.
    • If a snapshot contains a Jira dashboard (which might contain rich filter gadgets) and if the same dashboard already exists on the target instance as part of a previous deployment, then the existing dashboard configuration on the target is overwritten by the dashboard configuration in the snapshot.
  • If the deployment mode is Restore Configuration:
    • All rich filters on the target instance are deleted and replaced by the ones contained in the snapshot.
    • If a snapshot contains a Jira dashboard (which might contain rich filter gadgets) and if the same dashboard does not already exist on the target instance, then the dashboard is deployed on the target instance.
    • If a snapshot contains a Jira dashboard (which might contain rich filter gadgets) and if the same dashboard already exists on the target instance as part of a previous deployment, then the existing dashboard configuration on the target is overwritten by the dashboard configuration in the snapshot.