Project Configurator for Jira - When exporting a project with a problematic custom field

Owned by Sudhir Kv
Last updated: Aug 11, 2023
2 min read

 Problem

When exporting a project using Project Configurator for Jira(PCJ), the XML file contains all custom field contexts of the projects and not just the specific project which is to be exported.

Cause

These fields contain sensitive information. When the project import is performed, the values ​​"disappear", but since they are in the XML file, there is a concern that they may appear on the server.

Functionality

Custom fields are matched by name in Project Configurator for Jira(PCJ). The options/values are also matched by the option/value name. It is expected that missing options/values on target are added. If these options are missing in the snapshot but are available on target, they are disabled but not deleted.

 Solution

During the import, you can choose the option “Adapt Custom Field Context”. This limits the changes to custom field configuration contexts to only those projects being imported. More info here:

Also, it is highly recommended to run a simulation import before doing an actual import. This will show all the configuration changes that will be applied to the target instance and they can be reviewed. No additional changes are applied. Please refer to for more details.

PCJ adds contexts to the same tables that Jira stores them. The data is not stored in unknown tables.

When uploaded, the import file is kept in <Jira Home Directory>/import/projectconfigurator. After the import, this directory contains the files with the import result. Upon uploading, the export zip is kept temporarily at <Jira Installation Directory>/temp. It is unzipped in that directory. One can delete the files in these two directories after a successful import. The instructions work for both Linux and Windows platform servers