Purpose

Sometimes the creation date of an issue may need to be modified after the issue has been created. This article covers how to do this using the CSV import functionality as described in Importing data from CSV.

Solution

Using the CSV import functionality, if you import issues that already exist, an update will be performed on those issues instead of replacing them. We're going to edit the CSV to edit the created date.

1. First Identify the list of issues affected. This could be done with JQL to return issue-keys and summaries as per Advanced searching.

2. To update an issue, you will need 3 field values at least, so generate a CSV such as the below based on the affected issues. In this example we're going to update TST-30002 to have a created date of 30/11/13 00:00. The summary can be taken from the search results (you can also export the results to Excel and convert that to CSV).

   key, created, summary
   TST-30002,"30/11/13 00:00",TEST

   Replace the information that suitable to your case

3. Navigate to the CSV import page (g + g + External System Import > Pick CSV Import). Note that the Import Issue from CSV from the drop down menu of the Issues at the top panel does not carries this functionality to update issue.
   
4. Select the CSV file and change the delimiter on the expanded Advance tab if you are not using comma as a delimiter.
5. Select the affected project and set the date time to dd/MM/yy HH:mm (this is following the format used on step 2).
6. Map the fields as the picture below:
   

7. Click next and import will begin, there will be a message stated that no issue is created on the top panel. More accurately, check the import log, it should be something like the one below:

   2014-12-05 11:47:31,706 INFO - Import started by admin using com.atlassian.jira.plugins.importer.imports.csv.CsvDataBean
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,721 INFO - ------------------------------
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,721 INFO - Importing: Users
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,721 INFO - ------------------------------
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,721 INFO - Only new items will be imported
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,723 INFO - 0 users associated with import. 0 new users were created and imported as active.
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,724 INFO - ------------------------------
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,724 INFO - Finished Importing : Users
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,724 INFO - ------------------------------
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,724 INFO - 0 users successfully created.
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,724 INFO - Retrieving projects...
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,725 INFO - Project ExternalProject{id=null, externalName=null, name=null, key=TST, url=null, lead=null, description=null, projectCategoryName=null, avatarUrl=null, assigneeType=null, versionCount=0, componentCount=0, issueCount=0} already exists. Not imported
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,725 INFO - ------------------------------
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,725 INFO - Importing: Versions
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,725 INFO - ------------------------------
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,725 INFO - Only new items will be imported
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,725 INFO - ------------------------------
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,725 INFO - Finished Importing : Versions
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,725 INFO - ------------------------------
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,725 INFO - ------------------------------
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,725 INFO - Importing: Components
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,725 INFO - ------------------------------
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,726 INFO - Only new items will be imported
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,726 INFO - ------------------------------
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,726 INFO - Finished Importing : Components
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,726 INFO - ------------------------------
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,726 INFO - Retrieving custom fields...
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,726 INFO - ------------------------------
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,726 INFO - Importing: Issues
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,726 INFO - ------------------------------
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,726 INFO - Only new items will be imported
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,730 INFO - Importing issue: ExternalIssue{externalId=autoid-4193393516778628371, summary=TEST, issueType=null}
   2014-12-05 11:47:31,943 INFO - Reindexing last 1 issues imported ...
   2014-12-05 11:47:32,214 INFO - Reindexing took 269 ms.
   2014-12-05 11:47:32,214 INFO - 1 issues successfully created
   2014-12-05 11:47:32,214 INFO - ------------------------------
   2014-12-05 11:47:32,214 INFO - Finished Importing : Issues
   2014-12-05 11:47:32,214 INFO - ------------------------------
   2014-12-05 11:47:32,215 INFO - ------------------------------
   2014-12-05 11:47:32,215 INFO - Importing: Issue Links & Subtasks
   2014-12-05 11:47:32,215 INFO - ------------------------------
   2014-12-05 11:47:32,215 INFO - Only new items will be imported
   2014-12-05 11:47:32,219 INFO - ------------------------------
   2014-12-05 11:47:32,220 INFO - Finished Importing : Issue Links & Subtasks
   2014-12-05 11:47:32,220 INFO - ------------------------------
   2014-12-05 11:47:32,220 INFO - No issues need to be reindexed.

8. Validate on the issue, noticed that the Created time changed: