Summary

You can import a backup from another Jira Cloud site or Jira Server instance by creating an export file and uploading it to your current Jira Cloud site.

By default, all contents from the export file are imported into your Jira Cloud site, overwriting all existing data.

Split your exported backup file

Before import, we recommend splitting your cloud backup file into:

1. A database file containing your activeobjects.xml and entities.xml
2. A separate file for your attachments and other media

This can help avoid timeout errors and reduce the risk of issues when importing.

Remove files from a cloud backup for selective import

If you're looking to import only some data from the backup, you'll need to manually adjust the exported filesystem before importing.

1. Unzip the backup file generated from Jira Cloud

   1. Your cloud backup will have a structure similar to the one below:

      JIRA-backup-20161021
      ├── activeobjects.xml
      ├── entities.xml
      ├── data
      │   ├── attachments
      │   └── avatars
      └── logos

      When unzipping the file, please make sure that all attachments have only an ID as the name. If the filename differs, (such as ID_name.extension) please edit it and keep the existing format or the attachments won't be properly imported.

      Examples:

       Correct Format:

      ├── data
      │   ├── attachments
      │       └── PKEY
      |           └── PKEY-1
      |               └── 10000

       Incorrect Format:

      ├── data
      │   ├── attachments
      │       └── PKEY
      |           └── PKEY-1
      |               └── 10000_SQLExport.sql

2. Remove the entity type you don't want to import
   • If you don't want to import:
     • attachments: remove the attachments directory
     • avatars: remove the avatars directory
     • logos: remove the logos directory
     • database data: remove both the activeobjects.xml and entities.xml files
3. Zip (compress) the modified directory
4. In your target Jira Cloud site, go to Settings > System > Restore system to upload the modified file

Import only attachments and other media

We recommend importing your media (attachments, project avatars, and logos) separately after importing your database backup (entities.xml and activeobjects.xml files).

Follow these steps to import only your media files:

1. Unzip your exported .zip backup file
2. Create a directory outside the backup directory called media-only
3. Drag or copy the data directory from the backup directory into the media-only directory

4. If your media file is over 5 GB, we recommend splitting your file into multiple 2 - 5 GB media files and importing them separately

   1. 
      

      See below for instructions

5. In your target Jira Cloud site, go to Settings > System > Restore system to upload the file

   1. If you've split your media into separate smaller files in the previous step, you'll need to repeat this step for each file

Optional: Split media into smaller directories

If your media file exceeds 5 GB as mentioned above, follow these steps to split it into multiple files:

1. Unzip your exported .zip backup file
2. Create directories outside the backup directory called media-only-1, media-only-2, etc.
3. Drag or copy the data directory from the backup directory into the media-only-1 directory
4. Create a data directory in media-only-2, then create a media directory under it.
5. Move some of the project folders from media-only-1 to media-only-2

6. Zip (compress) both media-only directories

Your compressed files should have the following structure:

media-only-1.zip
└─── data
      ├── attachments
      │         ├── ProjectKey
      │         │         └── 10000
      │         │		 ├── IssueKey-1
      │         │		 ├── IssueKey-2
      │         │       	 └── IssueKey-3
      │         └─── ProjectKey2
      └── avatars


media-only-2.zip
└─── data
      └─── attachments
                ├── ProjectKey3
                │         └── 30000
                │		 ├── IssueKey-1
                │		 ├── IssueKey-2
                │       	 └── IssueKey-3
                └─── ProjectKey4

Recheck the size of your compressed ZIP files. If the media directories you're trying to import are still larger than 5 GB per file, you should consider splitting them further to avoid timeout errors.

Once split, you can visit your target Jira Cloud site, go to Settings > System > Restore system to upload the files.