Project import fails with field does not exist error in Jira server

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Symptoms

Project import fails on custom field configuration. You might see the error message like this:

The following appears in the atlassian-jira.log:

2013-11-20 12:43:58,935 JiraTaskExectionThread-50 INFO admin@admin.com 763x5802x1 18uko72 127.0.0.1 /secure/admin/ProjectImportSummary!reMapAndValidate.jspa [jira.imports.project.DefaultProjectImportService] Project Import: Validation errors were found. The import cannot continue.
2013-11-20 12:43:58,935 JiraTaskExectionThread-50 ERROR admin@admin.com 763x5802x1 18uko72 127.0.0.1 /secure/admin/ProjectImportSummary!reMapAndValidate.jspa [jira.imports.project.DefaultProjectImportService] The custom field 'Epic Color' of type 'Colour of Epic' is required for the import but does not exist in the current JIRA instance.

Or seeing this error message:

  • The custom field 'Epic Name' in the backup project is of type 'Name of Epic' but the field with the same name in the current JIRA instance is of a different type.

Diagnosis

Compare the language settings across the two instance. Most probably they are using different language settings under Administration >> General Configuration >> Internationalization

  • English (United States)
  • English (UK)

Cause

The difference of letter 'u' in Epic Color and Epic Colour causes JIRA to think that there are 2 different custom fields. This is currently tracked in  JRA-35937 - Getting issue details... STATUS

Workaround


Rename the custom field(s) on the target instance so that they matches on the previous server. You can use this guide to do so.

If the custom field is locked, unlock it first using the guide here - How to unlock a Locked field

(info) If you are importing into a new instance, make sure the language settings are correctly configured. 

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Some users have also experienced similar errors when importing custom fields due to trailing white space in custom field names. If you're getting a similar error, double check that your Custom Field names align exactly between the two instances.

Last modified on Sep 25, 2019

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