Upgrading Jira 3.10.2 to Jira 4.45

[Harsha Hegde]

Iam currently using Jira version 3.10.2 which we are planning to upgrade to version 4.4.5 before upgrading to 5.1.2.

Could anyone please let me know, if i can upgrade the jira 3.10.2 to jira 4.4.5 in the same instance? If so, what is the procedure.

OR

Do i have to install jira 4.4.5 as seperate instance and migrate the issues ?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist- · Accepted solution]

In theory, your upgrade can be

1. Shut down Jira 3
2. Install Jira 4 in a separate directory
3. Tell Jira 4 to use the old database
4. Tell Jira 4 to use the existing home directory
5. Start Jira 4
6. Wait for it to upgrade

In real life, don't ever do this. Work on copies, so you can always revert back. More importantly, take copies and TEST the process first. If you have problems with direct database upgrade, then export all the xml from 3 and import it into an empty 4.

[codelab expert]

Hi Harsha,

a seperated instance is a very good idea! Export all items from old instance as XML file and import this file into your new instance. All the time have a look at the log files.

Regards,

Mathias

[codelab expert]

I think you can try it but .... what do you do if somthing went wrong? If you have a seperate instance you reset this environment and try it again.

[Harsha Hegde]

Is there no way to upgrade on the same instance ?

[Eman Taky]

Hello Mathias, is it working fine with you ?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

The other answer here covers it - thousands of installations have been upgraded that way

[Eman Taky]

Hello Nic, Which method is the best , yours or Mathias , we are planning to purchase the latest version of Jira , and we are working hard to try and test , also when check the upgrade guide , im getting confused , as your way is not documented on the upgrade guide ,https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/JIRA044/Migrating+JIRA+to+Another+Server Do I need to purchase the license of Jira before upgrade ? Or we can upgrade with the current expired key to version 4.4.5 , then when purchase the license of latest version we can use it in the final step ?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Why are you looking at "migrate JIRA" when you are trying to do an upgrade? What do you want to do here? Move or upgrade?

[Eman Taky]

Hello Nic, upgrade of course .

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Ok, then you need to start at https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/JIRA/Upgrading+JIRA which will explain the best route for any upgrade. For the licence question, sometimes it's a bit difficult to explain clearly. Your current expired key will let you upgrade to any version of Jira that was released before the date of expiry. You want to go to 4.4.5 which I think was released around February 2012. If your licence expired in March 2012, then you can do this upgrade. If your licence expired in January 2012, then you can NOT upgrade to that version. One other wrinkle is that the format of the licence keys changed between 3 and 4, so you have to convert them in your Atlassian account. However, none of that matters much if you are going to get a licence for the latest version. You will be able to import the xml into v4, and use your new key with it - it will be valid for all versions of Jira 4.0 upwards.