Can you restore your Jira/confluence data from system files?

[Michael Meloche]

My PC hardware hosting my Jira server has failed. I am able to get to the data on the hard drive but not sure if I can use the data files to restore my Jira instance and get my data back. My system is setup on quarterly backups and unfortunately my last backup was near the end of February and I would have recent work I would like to get back if possible.

Is it possible to copy my install from the bad machine to a new machine?

Thanks

[Daniel Borcherding · Accepted solution]

Speaking from a Confluence point of view you are going to need to ensure that you have your <confluence_home> directory intact. Unless you have been storing your attachments in your db (not really the best idea in the world) you are going to need the file system component to restore your attached data.

I might also recommend that you step up your backup strategy. Quartely backups are a great idea, especially if you are running on a VM. I ask that you take a look at our produciton backup strategy below. It is as simple as adding a chron job to run nightly database dumps and scp a copy of your <confluence_home> to a remote machine. This should ease the pain of another system failure.

https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/DOC/Production+Backup+Strategy

The document also contians links to refeneces on how to rebuild your instace from these files. Please let us know if you have questions.

[Theinvisibleman]

Hi Michael,

It could still be possible to salvage your instance if your database is still intact. You can actually connect a new instance to use the old database via editing it in either the config.bat/config.sh file, or with the dbconfig.xml file.

Please note, however, that trying to connect a new instance to the old database via the installation will erase your database data.

Also, I would recommend that you create a database dump before attempting this, just so that we have a backup in case anything happens.

[Michael Meloche]

Awsome so everything is stored into the database then. What about uploaded file attachement to tickets and confluence?

[AmandaA]

Hi Michael,

All your system data will be resotred inside your database, but not the JIRA/Confluence installation files. If you are still able to start your database, you can generate a database dump and import to your new JIRA machine.

Cheers