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Issue contents are not migrated properly during CMJ Migration from Data Center to Data Center

Issue contents are not migrated properly during CMJ Migration from Data Center to Data Center

Summary

This article addresses common issues encountered when migrating Jira projects from one Data Center instance to another Data Center instance using Configuration Manager for Jira (CMJ). It covers missing custom field values, subtasks, issue links, and dashboard gadgets, and provides root causes and step-by-step solutions.

Problem

During a migration from one Data Center instance to another Data Center instance using CMJ, the following issues may be observed in the Destination instance:

  1. Sub-Type custom field values missing: Custom field values for "Sub-Type" are not transferred.
    Example
    After deploying a projectWithIssues snapshot from Source DC to Destination DC, issues in project PROJA lose their Sub-Type value.
    Before migration (Source)

    • Issue key: PROJA-123

    • Summary: “Add FIX tag for new venue”

    • Sub-Type: Regulatory

    After migration (Destination)

    • Issue key: PROJA-123

    • Summary: “Add FIX tag for new venue”

    • Sub-Type: (empty)

    The field itself exists on the Destination, but the option values are not populated on migrated issues. This breaks reporting that relies on the Sub-Type dimension (e.g., gadgets or JQL like cf[Sub-Type] = Regulatory).

    Solution/Workaround
    1. Verify that the "Sub-Type" custom field exists in the Destination Data Center instance with the same field type as the source.
    2. If absent or mismatched, manually recreate the field in the Destination instance.
    3. Run CMJ Integrity Check before redeployment to catch unmapped fields.
    4. Redeploy the snapshot once field alignment is confirmed.

    Resolve custom field conflicts

  2. Sub-tasks missing: Sub-task issues linked to parent issues are not migrated.
    Example
    After migrating project PROJA from Source to Destination using a projectWithIssues snapshot in Configuration Manager for Jira (CMJ), some parent issues arrive in the Destination instance without their sub-tasks.
    Before migration (Source)
    • Parent issue key: PROJA-200
    • Summary: “Migrate FIX gateway configuration.”
    • Issue Type: Story
    • Sub-tasks (under the parent):
    PROJA-201 – “Prepare connectivity test plan” (Issue Type: Sub-task)
    PROJA-202 – “Execute connectivity tests” (Issue Type: Sub-task)
    After migration (Destination)
    Parent issue key: PROJA-200
    Summary: “Migrate FIX gateway configuration”
    Issue Type: Story
    Sub-tasks section: (no sub-tasks listed)
    The Sub-task issue type exists in Source, and the sub-tasks are visible there, but in Destination, the parent issue is migrated without its child issues. This breaks the task hierarchy and makes work appear incomplete in the Destination project.

    Solution/Workaround
    1. Confirm that the "Sub-task" issue type exists in the Destination instance.
    2. Check that the Issue Type Scheme matches the source environment.
    3. Ensure you are using projectWithIssues snapshots (not just configuration).
    4. Re-run deployment with both parent and sub-task issues in scope.

    Project with issues snapshot

  3. Dashboard gadgets not migrated: Gadgets in dashboards do not appear or function after migration.
    Example
    After migrating the configuration from the Source DC to the Destination DC using a system configuration snapshot in Configuration Manager for Jira (CMJ), a Jira dashboard is present on the Destination, but some gadgets are missing or appear unconfigured.
    Before migration (Source DC)
    • Dashboard: Trading – Operational Overview
    • Owner: ops.manager
    • Gadgets on the dashboard:
    “Filter Results” (native Jira) – based on filter Open Trading Incidents
    “Rich Filter Results” (3rd‑party gadget) – based on rich filter TRD – Incidents
    “Rich Filter Statistics” (3rd‑party gadget) – grouped by Priority
    After migration (Destination DC)
    • Dashboard: Trading – Operational Overview
    • Owner: ops.manager (or migrated equivalent)
    • Gadgets on the dashboard:
    “Filter Results” – migrated correctly
    Slot where “Rich Filter Results” was: empty or shows an unconfigured gadget placeholder
    Slot where “Rich Filter Statistics” was: missing or shows a gadget error
    The dashboard itself exists on the Destination instance (with the same name and layout), but the 3rd‑party gadgets did not migrate. Common causes include:

    • The app providing the gadget (e.g., Rich Filters for Jira Dashboards) is not installed or not integrated with CMJ on the Destination.

    • The snapshot was created without including the app’s global data or without selecting the required dashboards in the CMJ UI.

    • Only some dashboards/filters were included in the migration scope, so gadgets that depend on unmigrated dashboards/filters appear blank or unconfigured.

Solution/Workaround
1. Verify if the same add-ons that provided gadgets in the source are installed in the Destination.
2. Check that filters/boards used by native Jira gadgets are also migrated.
3. Manually recreate unsupported gadgets as needed.

Configuration support