I merged three Jira Service projects in a sandbox but face challenges moving to production. The prod project has many tickets; I need rollback and reliable plugins. Advice?
As someone who’s been through the Jira merge wringer, I can tell you it’s no walk in the park. Here’s what worked for me:
First, document everything. I mean everything. Every custom field, workflow, board setup - the works. It’ll save your bacon if things go sideways.
Next, invest time in a solid staging environment. I once skimped on this and regretted it big time. Make it as close to prod as humanly possible.
For the actual merge, I’d strongly advise doing it in chunks. Start with one project, iron out the kinks, then move to the next. It’s slower, but way safer.
And whatever you do, don’t skimp on testing. Get your power users involved. They’ll spot issues you’d never dream of.
Lastly, have a rock-solid rollback plan. Not just backups, but a step-by-step guide on how to revert if things go south. Trust me, you’ll sleep better at night.
Having handled similar Jira merges, I’d recommend a phased approach. Start by creating a detailed backup of your production environment - this is crucial for rollback. Then, test your merge process thoroughly in a staging environment that mirrors production as closely as possible.
Use Jira’s built-in project archiving feature for the projects you’re merging, rather than deleting them outright. This preserves data and allows easier rollback if needed.
For plugins, stick to well-maintained, Atlassian-verified ones. The ‘Project Configurator for Jira’ plugin has been reliable in my experience for complex merges.
Lastly, schedule the merge during off-peak hours and communicate extensively with stakeholders. Be prepared for some post-merge cleanup and tweaking - it’s almost always necessary.
been there, done that. big tip: use the jira configurator plugin. lifesaver for merges. backup everything first tho. and i mean EVERYTHING. test in staging till ur blue in the face. do it off-hours, trust me. and have a solid rollback plan - youll thank me later. good luck!