Overview

The recommended paths for upgrading Bamboo to a new version differ depending on whether you want to move to a new server or not:

In both scenarios, the new Bamboo instance uses the home directory and the database of the original Bamboo instance.

We recommend that you test the Bamboo upgrade on a QA server before deploying to production.

If you are a Bamboo plugin developer, see our Bamboo API Changes by Version guide, which outlines changes in Bamboo that may affect Bamboo plugins compiled for earlier versions of Bamboo.

Before you begin

• Read upgrades notes specific to your version of Bamboo. See Bamboo upgrade notes.

• Read End of support announcements for Bamboo.

• Check whether the system where you are going to install the new Bamboo instance meets Bamboo platform requirements. See Supported platforms. 

• Only import data to an instance running the same version. 

The installation path is referred to as <bamboo-install> and points to the directory into which you extracted the Bamboo package. It is different from <bamboo-home>, which points to the directory where Bamboo data is stored.

1. Export and back up the existing Bamboo data

a. Export the Bamboo database

There are two database backup scenarios, depending on whether you are using an embedded or external database.

b. Upgrade License in Bamboo (only when upgrading to DATA CENTER)

1. Go to Administration > License Details.

2. Enter your Bamboo Data Center license key. 

c. Stop Bamboo

Stop the original Bamboo instance.

If you have Bamboo running as a Windows service, uninstall the service by using the UninstallService.bat executable that came with your Bamboo instance.

d. Back up the Bamboo configuration

When the original Bamboo instance is shut down, back up your <bamboo-home> directory, which contains the builds and configuration directories. You can compress it into a ZIP file.

2. Download and install a new Bamboo instance

To upgrade Bamboo, you must install a new Bamboo instance in a <bamboo-install> directory that is different from the <bamboo-install> directory of the original Bamboo instance .

This upgrade scenario uses the home directory and the external database of the original Bamboo instance.

• Make sure that the original Bamboo instance is not running before you start the new installation.

• To prevent data loss during updates or reinstallation, the  <bamboo-home> directory must be different from the <bamboo-install> directory.

Follow these guidelines to install a new Bamboo instance: 

 MacOS

1. The Mac installer deletes the previous version of Bamboo.

2. Follow the Mac OS X install instructions.

 Linux

1. Delete your old <bamboo-install> directory to remove any legacy files.

2. Follow the Linux install instructions.

 Windows

1. The Windows installer deletes the previous version of Bamboo.

2. Follow the Windows install instructions.

3. Configure Bamboo to run as a service on Windows, using the service.bat executable.

3. Configure the new Bamboo instance

a. Set the home directory for the new Bamboo instance

 Set the <home-directory> to use the <home-directory> of the original Bamboo instance:

1. Go to the new Bamboo instance <bamboo-install> directory. It is the directory where you installed Bamboo.

2. Open atlassian-bamboo/WEB-INF/classes/bamboo-init.properties

   NOTE: For Bamboo 5.1 and earlier, the file path is:
   <bamboo-install>/webapp/WEB-INF/classes/bamboo-init.properties

3. Set the bamboo.home variable to use the <bamboo-home> path of the original Bamboo instance.

b. Update any installed apps

If you installed any apps in addition to the pre-installed system apps:

• Check if all apps are compatible with the new version of Bamboo.

• Update any apps that are out-of-date.

• Disable any apps that are incompatible with the new version of Bamboo.

c. Automatic update of remote agents

For Bamboo 3.2 and later, remote agents are updated automatically. Remote agents automatically detect when a new version is available and downloads new classes from the server. For more information, see Bamboo remote agent installation guide.

d. Migrate your existing Bamboo configurations over to your new Bamboo installation

If you have modified properties in configuration files of your existing Bamboo installation, make the same modifications in your new Bamboo installation. However, because the properties in the configuration files may have changed between versions, you cannot simply copy the configuration files from your existing installation and replace the equivalent files in the new installation.

For each file you have modified in your existing Bamboo installation, you need to manually edit each equivalent file in your new Bamboo installation and re-apply your modifications.

The table below lists the most commonly modified files and their locations within your Bamboo Installation Directory:

e. Check database access permission

Before you start the new Bamboo instance, make sure that it has the write access to the database, which is required to complete the upgrade tasks.

After that process the instance is now in 8.X.X version, if you don’t want Bamboo in cluster then proceed to “5. Start Bamboo”.

Bamboo configured in that way will have all Data Center features when you use Data Center licence in Administration → License Details

4. Install Bamboo Data Center in a cluster

See Install Bamboo Data Center

5. Start Bamboo

Start Bamboo

Once you have installed Bamboo and set the  bamboo.home property, start the new Bamboo instance. The upgrade runs automatically.

You can check whether the upgrade was successful in the atlassian-bamboo.log file.

Upgrading Bamboo may require reindexing.

Depending on the number of existing builds and tests, the reindexing process may take a significant amount of time, during which Bamboo will not be available.

Version-specific upgrade notes

The version-specific notes provide additional information to the main upgrade documentation. We recommend reading the version-specific notes for the original and new Bamboo instance versions. See Version-specific upgrade notes

Troubleshooting

If you followed the documentation and you still have problems with the upgrade process:

• Check the How to Upgrade/Migrate Bamboo article in the Bamboo Knowledge Base.

• Check other Knowledge Base articles.

• Ask questions at https://answers.atlassian.com.

• You can also create a support ticket. To help us address the issue, attach the atlassian-bamboo.log file to the ticket.