Importing data from Mantis

The JIRA Importers plugin, which is bundled with JIRA, allows you to import data from Mantis by connecting to a live Mantis database.

(info) Our main website highlights some top reasons why people migrate from Mantis to JIRAVersion 4.2 or later of the JIRA Importers plugin is compatible with Mantis versions 1.1.8 to 1.2.16. The JIRA Importers plugin requires that your Mantis database is MySQL, PostgreSQL or Microsoft SQL Server. We have also received reports that the JIRA Importers plugin works with Oracle and DB2 databases. However, we have not tested this plugin against these databases.

Note that the JIRA importer plugin that imports Mantis to JIRA does not yet support newer versions of MySQL connector (7.0 and later). That might cause importing Mantis to JIRA with the importer plugin to fail. We recommend using the mysql-connector-java-5.1.46 driver version instead. 

On this page:

The Mantis import process consists of simply running the Mantis Import Wizard (below).

  • You can choose to map individual fields and field values during the import process, some of which are mandatory.
  • At the end of the Mantis Import Wizard, you will be given the option of creating a Mantis configuration file, which contains the settings you configured while running through the Mantis Import Wizard. This is useful if you need to test your Mantis import on a test JIRA server first before performing the import on a production system.

Running the Mantis Import Wizard

Before you begin, please back up your JIRA data.

  1. Log in to JIRA as as a user with the JIRA Administrators global permission.
  2. Choose > System. Select Import & Export > External System Import to open the Import external projects page.
  3. Select Mantis to open the Mantis Import Wizard: Setup page.
  4. On the Mantis Import Wizard: Setup page, complete the following fields/options:

    Mantis URLSpecify the URL of your Mantis site. This is the URL you would normally use to access Mantis through a web browser.
    Specify credentials

    Select this checkbox if you want to import Mantis issues into JIRA, which require user credentials on your Mantis site to access them.
    Selecting this checkbox reveals/hides the Mantis Login and Mantis Password fields, into which you should specify these user credentials.

    Database Type

    Select the type of database that your Mantis installation uses:

    • PostgreSQL
    • Microsoft SQL Server
    • MySQL
    HostnameSpecify the hostname or IP address of the server running your Mantis site's database server.
    PortSpecify the TCP/IP port that the Mantis site's database server is listening on.
    (tick) This field is automatically populated with the default port value based on the Database Type you choose above.
    DatabaseSpecify the name of your Mantis database (into which Mantis saves its data).
    (info) The database name, username and user password can usually be found in the Mantis file config_inc.php. (Typically, the default username is "root" and the default password is empty). See also http://www.mantisbt.org/manual/manual.configuration.database.php
    UsernameSpecify the database user that Mantis uses to connect to its database.
    PasswordSpecify the password of the database user (above) that Mantis uses to connect to its database.
    Use an existing configuration fileLeave this checkbox cleared if you do not have a configuration file or if you want to create a new configuration file. Configuration files specify a mapping between fields in Mantis and those in JIRA.
    (info)  Note:
      • If you select this option, you will be asked to specify an Existing Configuration File.
      • If you do not select this option, then at the end of the Mantis Import Wizard, JIRA will create a configuration file which you can use for subsequent Mantis imports (for re-use at this step of the Mantis Import Wizard).
    JDBC connection parameters
    (in expanded Advanced tab)
    The Mantis Import Wizard will construct a JDBC-based database URL from the Mantis database server details you specify above. JIRA uses this URL to connect to and import issues from Mantis. If you need to specify any additional connection parameters to your Mantis database, specify them here.
    (info) If you chose MySQL (above), the Mantis Import Wizard will add several additional connection parameters by default.
  5. Click the Next button to proceed to the Set up project mappings step of the Mantis Import Wizard.

  6. On the Set up project mappings page, select which Mantis projects you wish to import into JIRA.
    (info) All Mantis projects are selected by default, so clear the checkboxes under Import of the Mantis projects you do not wish to import into JIRA.
    For Mantis projects you wish to import into JIRA, click in Select a project and then do either of the following:
    • Start typing the name (or key) of a project that already exists in JIRA or use the drop-down menu to select an existing JIRA project.
    • Select Create New from the drop-down menu and in the resulting Add A New Project dialog box, type the following:
      1. A new project Name
      2. A new project Key 
        (info) This will be used as the prefix for all issue IDs in your JIRA project.
      3. The Project Lead.
  7. Click the Next button to proceed to the Set up custom fields step of the Mantis Import Wizard.
    (info) This step will almost always appear because at least one Mantis field is not likely match an existing JIRA field.

  8. On the Set up custom fields page, for each External field  in Mantis which the Mantis Import Wizard cannot match to an existing JIRA field, you can choose to either:
    • have the Mantis Import Wizard automatically create new custom fields in JIRA based on the names of Mantis's fields. This is the default option - whereby the names of the JIRA custom fields to be automatically created appear in the JIRA field drop-down lists.
  9. Click the Next button to proceed to the Set up field mappings step of the Mantis Import Wizard.
  10. On the Set up field mappings page, if there External fields in Mantis whose values you wish to modify before they are imported into JIRA, select the Map field value checkboxes next to the appropriate fields.
    (info) Please note that it is mandatory to map Mantis's status (i.e. Status) field to specific JIRA Status field values as the JIRA Status field is an integral part of JIRA workflows.
    • Other External fields in Mantis which are likely to appear on the Set up field mappings page are:

      External field in Mantis
      Not choosing the 'Map field value' checkbox
      usernameThe Mantis Import Wizard will automatically map Mantis usernames to JIRA usernames (lowercase).
      priorityThe Mantis Import Wizard will automatically create missing values in JIRA and will ensure that the issues are migrated with the correct priority (e.g. "Normal" in Mantis to newly-created "Normal" in JIRA).
      severityThe Mantis Import Wizard will not map values for this field.
      resolutionThe importer will create corresponding Resolutions in JIRA instead of using the existing ones.
    • Select the appropriate JIRA Workflow Scheme in that will be used by the Mantis issues you will import into your JIRA project.
      (info) If you are importing your Mantis issues into an existing JIRA project, ensure that you choose the JIRA workflow scheme used by that existing JIRA project.

  11. Click the Next button to proceed to the Set up value mappings step of the Mantis Import Wizard.
  12. On the Set up value mappings page, specify JIRA field values for each Mantis field value (as detected by the Mantis Import Wizard).
    (info) Any fields whose Map field value checkboxes were selected in the previous step of the Mantis Import Wizard will be presented on this page, including the mandatory status Mantis field.
  13. Click the Next button to proceed to the Set up links step of the Mantis Import Wizard.
  14. On the Set up links page, specify the JIRA link type for each Mantis link type (as detected by the Mantis Import Wizard). To learn more about JIRA link types, please see Configuring issue linking.
  15. Click the Begin Import button when you are ready to begin importing your Mantis data into JIRA. The importer will display updates as the import progresses, then a success message when the import is complete.
    (info) Note:
    • If you experience problems with the import (or you are curious), click the download a detailed log link to reveal detailed information about the Mantis Import Wizard process.
    • If you need to import data from another Mantis product/project or site with the same (or similar) settings to what you used through this procedure, click the save the configuration link to download a Mantis configuration file, which you can use at the first step of the Mantis Import Wizard.

Congratulations, you have successfully imported your Mantis projects into JIRA! If you have any questions or encounter any problems, please contact Atlassian support.

Tips for importing Mantis data into JIRA fields

During the import process, the following data is copied from the Mantis database into JIRA:

In Mantis

In JIRA

Import Notes

Project
Sub Project

Project

Mantis data is imported on a per-project basis. You can either specify an existing JIRA project as the target, or the importer will automatically create a project(s) for you at time of import. See Defining a project for more information about JIRA projects.

Category

Component

You can choose to have the importer automatically create your Mantis components in JIRA, or choose to have bugs imported into no component in JIRA.

Version

Fix Version

Versions are imported from Mantis (if you choose). After importing, you can manually set appropriate versions to the Released state in JIRA if you wish.

Bug

Issue

Every Mantis bug becomes a JIRA issue of type 'Bug'.

ID

Bug Import ID

Each imported issue will be given a new JIRA ID, and the old Mantis ID will be saved into a JIRA custom field called 'Bug Import ID'. This custom field is searchable, so you can search for JIRA issues by their old Mantis ID. If you don't need this custom field, delete it or 'hide' it (as described in Specifying field behavior).

Summary

Summary


Description

Description

Within text, Mantis links (e.g. #1234) are converted to JIRA links (e.g. TST-123).

Comments

Comments

Within text, Mantis links (e.g. #1234) are converted to JIRA links (e.g. TST-123).

Attachments

Attachments

Attachments are extracted from the Mantis database and saved to disk. To specify the location on disk, see Configuring file attachments.

Priority

Priority
(or a custom field)

You can choose to map one of either the Mantis Priority field or the Mantis Severity field (see below) to the built-in JIRA Priority field, and the other to a custom field. (Alternatively, you can choose to map both the Mantis Priority field and the Mantis Severity field to JIRA custom fields.) When importing into the JIRA Priority field, you can configure mapping of specific Mantis values to specific JIRA values.

Severity

Priority
(or a custom field)

You can choose to map one of either the Mantis Priority field (see above) or the Mantis Severity field to the built-in JIRA Priority field, and the other to a custom field. (Alternatively, you can choose to map both the Mantis Priority field and the Mantis Severity field to JIRA custom fields.) When importing into the JIRA Priority field, you can configure mapping of specific Mantis values to specific JIRA values.

Status

Status

You can configure mapping of specific Mantis values to specific JIRA values, provided you create your workflows in JIRA before running the importer.

  • The JIRA 'Status' field is integral to JIRA workflow.
  • To create a JIRA workflow, please see Working with workflows.
  • To create a JIRA workflow scheme (which you can then associate with appropriate projects and Issue Types), please see Managing your workflows.

Resolution

Resolution

You can configure mapping of specific Mantis values to specific JIRA values.

Relationships

Links

You can configure mapping of specific Mantis relationship types to JIRA link types.

CC List

Watchers


User

User

You can choose to have the importer automatically create JIRA users for any Mantis users who do not already exist in JIRA.

  • Users who interacted with the Mantis system will be created as active accounts in JIRA. Other users will be imported into a special group called "mantis-import-unused-users" and will be deactivated.
  • Passwords from Mantis are not imported (as they are hashed in the database). Users from Mantis will need to get their passwords emailed to them the first time they log into JIRA.
  • Users with no real name stored in Mantis will get the portion of their email address (login name) before the "@" character as their Full Name in JIRA.
  • If you are using External User Management, the import process will not be able to create JIRA users; instead, the importer will give you a list of any new users that need to be created. You will need to create the users in your external user repository before commencing the import.
  • If you have a user-limited license (e.g. personal license), and the number of required users is larger than the limit, then the import will be stopped. A page will be displayed showing a list of users that can't be created.

Other fields

Custom fields

If your Mantis system contains any custom fields, you can choose to map them to specific JIRA custom field(s). If your custom fields don't yet exist in JIRA, the importer can automatically create them for you.


Last modified on Sep 5, 2018

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