Best practices when statuses mismatch during Jira project migrations using CMJ

This article provides guidance on resolving a common issue faced during Jira migrations with the Configuration Manager for Jira (CMJ). Specifically, it addresses the challenge of status mismatches for issues already migrated between source and destination instances.

Problem Statement

1. Initial Migration: A project with 5000 issues is migrated from a source instance to a destination instance, e.g. the issues keys are from EX-1 to EX-5000.

2. Subsequent Migration: New issues (e.g., EX-5001 to EX-5500) are migrated using the "Merge" project option.

3. Issue: Updates made to the statuses of previously migrated issues (e.g., EXAMPLE-123) in the source instance are not reflected in the destination instance. This is because CMJ does not overwrite existing issues in the destination during a migration.

Understanding the Problem:

CMJ's Behavior: Configuration Manager for Jira does not modify or overwrite issues already existing in the target instance.

Result: Updates made to source instance issues post-migration are not reflected in the destination instance. Only new issues are migrated during subsequent migrations.

Proposed Solution:

To ensure the destination instance accurately reflects the current state of the source instance, the following approach is recommended:

Complete Project Re-deployment:

• Delete the entire project on the destination instance.

• Re-deploy the project from the source instance, ensuring all updates are applied.

Considerations:

• This process will overwrite all existing data in the destination instance.

• Downtime for stakeholders may be necessary during the re-deployment.

Steps to Delete and Re-deploy the Project:

1. Backup the Destination Instance:

• Export the existing project from the destination instance for safekeeping.

• Use Jira's built-in export functionality or a third-party tool.

2. Delete the Project in the Destination Instance:

• Navigate to Jira Administration > Projects

• Locate the project and delete it. Ensure that deletion is aligned with organizational policies.

3. Re-deploy the Project:

• Use CMJ to redeploy the project from the source instance.

• Confirm that all issues, including updated statuses, are correctly migrated.

4. Verify Data Consistency:

• Compare key issue fields between the source and destination instances to ensure the migration is successful.