Hey everyone! I need some help moving my JIRA project from my local server to the cloud platform. I managed to export all my project data as an XML file from the server installation. The problem is that when I try to import this XML file into JIRA cloud, I can’t find any import option that accepts XML format. It seems like the cloud version has different import requirements than the server version. Has anyone successfully moved their projects from server to cloud? What’s the proper way to do this migration? I don’t want to lose any of my existing issues, workflows, or project history. Any suggestions would be really helpful!
xml exports dont work with cloud - learned this the hard way. you need atlassians migration wizard, which is buried in server admin settings under migrations. it creates a special backup file that works with cloud import. test everything after migrating since some stuff wont transfer exactly the same.
You’re hitting the same wall most of us hit during migration. XML export doesn’t work - cloud’s built completely different from server installs. Here’s what actually worked for our team: use Atlassian’s official migration path in the admin console. Go to Administration > System > Import & Export in your server instance, but skip the standard export. Look for the cloud migration option instead. It creates a backup format that cloud can actually handle and keeps your workflows and issue history intact way better than forcing XML to work. Heads up though - check if your custom fields and third-party plugins are supported in cloud first. We lost some customizations and had to rebuild them from scratch.
Had this exact problem last year when we moved to cloud. Don’t bother with XML export - cloud uses a totally different import system than server versions. Use the Atlassian Migration Assistant instead. It’s built specifically for server-to-cloud moves and handles all the data conversion automatically. You’ll find it in your Atlassian account under migration. The tool creates a backup that cloud can actually import. Heads up though - some server apps and customizations won’t transfer perfectly, so double-check everything after you’re done. Took us two days for a medium project, but all our issues and history made it through fine.