Jira server upgrade from 7.2.6 to 7.11.2

[Tuan Tong]

Hello,

We have a self-hosted Jira server with external SQL 2014 database.  The Jira software version is currently at 7.2.6 and we're looking to  upgrade to 7.11.2.  Do you know if there is any known issue associated with skipping versions?  I've read the installation/upgrade document but since this is our first upgrade and we don't have a test server, I thought I would reach out to the community to see if there is anything else that I need to be aware of before upgrading the software.

Is Tomcat upgrade required for 7.11.2 to work?

Also, if I want to build a test server, do I need a separate license? 

Thanks,

Tony

[miikhy]

Hi Tony!

Welcome on Community.

I can confirm you can upgrade to any new version from 7.0+ directly. You can definitely skip versions!
If you're using the installer to upgrade, it will also automatically backup your home directory (and prompt for install directory backup).

No known issue as far as I know! That being said the test server is a great thing to think about if you have the infrastructure for it!

As per the licenses, you can use MyAtlassian (https://my.atlassian.com) to generate a Developper license from your commercial license (you need to connect with the account holding your commercial license obviously).

Hope this helps!

Please let us know if you have any other question!

Best luck for your upgrade.

Micky

[Tuan Tong]

Thanks for a quick response, Micky!  The person whose account, I think, holds the commercial license already left the company.  We have the SEN #.  Is there any other way we can get a developer license?  or can we transfer the license to a different account?

Thanks,

Tony

[miikhy]

In that case you might need to get a proof of purchase and contact Atlassian sales to request a transfer from one account to another. The easiest way would clearly be to gain access back to the email account associated with the MyAtlassian account just a few hours to get access again and add contacts but if you can't, sales should help!

Let us know if you have difficulties!

Cheers

[Tuan Tong]

Thank you!  We were able to get a developer license.  About setting up a test server, we were thinking about cloning the existing production server which is a virtual machine and use the clone as  a test server.  Do you know if there is anything else we need to do (to make sure the test server work as it should) besides renaming the cloned server and pointing it to a test database?  Reason for using a cloned server is to reduce the chance of running into surprises when we upgrade the production server.

Thanks!

Tony

[miikhy]

This is great news!

As per the dev environment, it's a very good idea. I would definitely recommend not to clone machines though due to unique IDs like Server ID. That being said it could work but debugging might be harder than just restoring Jira from your production backup.

Full documentation for migration is here: https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiraserver072/migrating-jira-applications-to-another-server-828787651.html

Once done, you could simply update the license :)

Cheers

[Tuan Tong]

Thank you!  I'll go over the documentation.

Best regards,

Tony

[Tuan Tong]

Hello,

I'm setting up a new server instead of cloning the existing server and was thinking about doing a migration upgrade instead of installing the new version (7.12) on top of the existing version (7.2).  By choosing this method I would have to do at least three things (among few other) according to your online documentation:

          1. have to give the new server a different name

          2. create a new empty database (external DB)

          3. import old Jira data into new Jira application

Here are problems that I think I have with item# 1 & 3:

          The 'entities.XML', which is one of the two files that I would need to import from old Jira into new Jira, contains the following info:

                   A) the old database name

                   B) the old Base URL (we use the server name as part of the Base URL)

                   C) old server ID

So if I import the file, 1) it would redirect the application to the old database instead of the new one.  2) it would use the old Base URL instead of the new one.  This would be an issue once we shutdown the old Jira server.  And 3) I would have the same issue with duplicated server ID as if I cloned the existing server (or is it not an issue?).  My question is: can I go in and manually modify the file 'entities.XML' before importing it?  Would modifying the XML file cause any issues?

Thank you,

Tony

[Keri]

Hi Tony, 

The database settings are actually stored under the Jira Home Directory in a file called dbconfig.xml - you'd update this before starting the new version up and it would point to the correct database. 

Once you set up Jira, it would prompt you to change the Base URL through the UI as you'd be accessing it from another address. 

The Server ID, is the only thing that would require updating - but only if you were using this for application links - you can find out more about this here: https://confluence.atlassian.com/jirakb/changing-server-id-for-test-installations-285839562.html

We generally don't recommend that you manually update the entities.xml in case anything else is accidentally changed in the process. 

Cheers, 

Keri

[Tuan Tong]

Thank you!