Upgrading Jira 4.4.1 to Jira 7.10: Plugins

[Fr0zt]

Hello.

I want to perform an upgrade from Jira 4.4.1 to Jira 7.10.

I read the Atlassian Documentation and I found out the upgrade path:

Jira 4.4.1 -> 4.4.5 -> 6.4 -> 7.0 -> 7.10.

Documentation:

https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiraserver0710/upgrading-jira-applications-using-the-installer-953144306.html

In my Jira 4.4.1 I have some plugins installed.

Some of them might not be present in Atlassian Market for some versions of Jira which I will make the upgrade (4.4.5, 6.4, 7.0).

So what should I do when I am performing the upgrade? Should I upgrade the plugins as well for each version of Jira that is in my upgrade path or should I only install the plugins at the end of the upgrade (in Jira 7.10) ?

What do you think about this?

I was trying to make the upgrade trying not to loose any data, if that's possible.

[Gregor Kasmann_Actonic · Accepted solution]

We've tried some migrations like this a few times before and the process should look like:

1. Investigate all the add-ons and customizations.
2. Define which are redundant and remove it.
3. Prepare test cases for each add-on, integration, and customization (to check that it works properly).
4. Prepare a copy of production server and update Jira 4.4.1 -> 4.4.5 -> 6.4 -> 7.0 -> 7.10. Update add-ons to a proper version on each Jira update. Some add-ons may have upgrade tasks, which should be executed after each installation.
5. Check all Jira functions and custom functions (using your checklist and test cases).
6. Fix all the issues
7. Prepare to final migration.
8. Have fun :)