Can I connect a new instance of JIRA to an existing database?

[Haani_Niyaz]

We currently have an instance of JIRA running in our model environment and we'd like to spin up an instance of JIRA in production but import the data from the model instance.

Are there any constraint? 

Something to keep in mind is that our model instance points to a model version CROWD and our production instance will point to a new instance of CROWD. 

Would this cause issues?

Are there any other items we need to be aware of when considering importing an existing database to a new instance of an app - i.e: JIRA, Bamboo and Stash.

Thanks.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

This sounds like you're creating a copy of the existing server.

Although this documentation is about moving a JIRA instance, it covers everything you need to do when just making a copy.  https://confluence.atlassian.com/jira/migrating-jira-to-another-server-151126305.html  Have a read through that, and you'll find that the process is "follow documentation, then reconfigure Crowd and other application links after new server has been created"

[Haani_Niyaz]

Thanks. I noticed that the DB backup is via the JIRA app into XML format. Do you know if this actually does a backup of custom fields that are created as well?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

The XML is *everything* in the database. Custom fields, active objects, users, workflow config, connections to other systems, etc.