Moving to Jira Data Center license

[Matis Aas]

Hello,

We have an Jira Software Server instance with expired partner license(Internal use) and we need to migrate to Jira Software Data Center. Our plan is to run our Data Center as a single node instance. Can we just change the license to Data Center and everything will be fine? 
We have to delete our existing Server licenses in order to fit new licenses to our partner budget and if i understand correctly, this causes some problems. Atlassian agent is implying that Server license data will be deleted, what does he mean by this? How can I achieve this migration? He says I need to do a backup, then they delete the license and then I can recover the data and database to a new DC instance. 
I am completely dumbfounded by this, license is somehow binded to some data? Does it wipe the database or local /data directory? I can't get my head around this. Say we back up everything and then try to restore, when we run our new DC instance the deleted license key is still in the database and wipes it? 
I thought about using DC trial licenses for Jira Software and Jira Service Management, but does that work? Trial those products, then have them delete Server licenses&generate new Data Center licenses and then apply them to my instance? Or this is out of question also?
Would really appreciate any thoughts anyone has on this as I don't know where to go from here.


Best regards,
Matis

[Rilwan Ahmed · Accepted solution]

Hi @Matis Aas ,

Please try in your test server first and then if all ok, do it in production.

Here are the answers for your question:

1. Can we just change the license to Data Center and everything will be fine? 
-- Yes

2.  How can I achieve this migration?
-- Go to Admin settings --> Applications  -->  Versions & licenses --> edit the license key section, save the existing license in a notepad and just paste the new/trial DC license. 

3. I am completely dumbfounded by this, license is somehow binded to some data? Does it wipe the database or local /data directory? 
-- It doesnot delete any data or directory. As soon as you add new DC license, data center features gets enabled. 

4. I thought about using DC trial licenses for Jira Software and Jira Service Management, but does that work?

--Yes, it works. You can use trial license for a month and when you install trial license, plugin licenses will also work with existing server license till the trial period. 

 This article has the related information: https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiraserver/upgrade-from-jira-server-to-jira-data-center-993929572.html

[Matis Aas]

Hi Rilwan!

The main problem is regarding the existing Server license key. It will be deleted by Atlassian in order to generate new Data Center licenses. Will I be able to access my instance and change the license to DC, when it has invalid Server license?
We can't replicate this issue in test environment as everything is dependent on how the deletion of server license affects our environment, i.e if all the data is still there and we are able to change the license. 

[Rilwan Ahmed]

Hi @Matis Aas 

No data gets deleted. You need to just 

• Go to Jira Admin settings --> Applications  -->  Versions & licenses
• Click Edit the License Key section (Direct url: https://<baseURL>/plugins/servlet/applications/versions-licenses )
• Save the existing license in a notepad or word files
• Paste the new/trial DC license. 

There wont be any downtime required to update the license from server to DC. 

If you are still not convinced, you can directly contact Atlassian support in https://support.atlassian.com/contact/ 

https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiraserver/upgrade-from-jira-server-to-jira-data-center-993929572.html 

[Matis Aas]

Existing license will be deleted, there's no need to save it.
We tested in test environment, our plan is to use DC trial licenses and then let Atlassian delete our server licenses and generate new internal DC licenses. Will let you know how it works out.

[Matis Aas · Accepted solution]

Thank you both for your input @Dave Mathijs & @Rilwan Ahmed

We went ahead and did the following:

Applied trial DC licenses to both our Jira Software and Service Management. 
Atlassian deleted our existing internal partner licenses for Jira Software Server and Service Management Server. 
Atlassian generated new DC licenses for Jira Software and Service Management.
We applied new licenses to our instance.

Everything went smooth, no issues whatsoever, what threw me off was the supposed deletion of data, which never happened! No clue what support was talking about, but everything went well and our instance is running smoothly on a single node DC environment. 

Thanks again guys!

[Dave Mathijs]

Hi @Matis Aas 

I suggest to read this article an go through the checklist of supported platforms, app compatibility and requirements: Upgrade from Jira Server to Jira Data Center

[Matis Aas]

@Dave Mathijs 

This article doesn't answer my questions.

[Dave Mathijs]

A Data Center (trial) license won't erase your current database. The only thing you need to be aware of is if your apps are data center compatible. If you'll only be running on 1 node, that should be no problem.

It's just a question of replacing your current product/app server licenses by data center licenses.

[Matis Aas]

Yes, apps are of somewhat concern, but not that critical and can easily be renewed/updated. 
So DC trials in theory should work, but what about the deletion of existing Server license? They imply it deletes some data and this has me worried. I have pinged them about what they mean by this, but haven't gotten an answer. 
The main issue is that when we delete those server licenses, are we gonna be able to get it running on DC as we wont be able to revert to Server instance anymore. I am under the impression that Server licenses are somehow binded to data? It sounds really weird. 
One thing i had in my mind is that maybe it works when you upgrade your license to DC license, but what we are doing is generating entirely new DC licenses, which have no relation to previous Server license? 
I am really clueless about how this licensing works on Atlassians end.

[Dave Mathijs]

You don't "delete" a Server license, you just update the existing license key. You can always re-use the existing license keys as long as they are valid.

You won't be able to go back from DC to Server once you migrate, that's true.

Do you have a test environment available or can you spin one up to test first?

[Matis Aas]

I mean, we don't delete the license key, but Atlassian does, they delete it from their system, so it becomes invalid. 

[Dave Mathijs]

That's not true. A Server license key is perpetual, only support and maintenance can expire.

[Matis Aas]

We have an internal partner license, which apparently can be deleted :)

[Dave Mathijs]

A free partner license can be revoked if you no longer meet the requirements of the Atlassian partnership, that's another thing.

[Matis Aas]

Well i'm in contact with support and in order to generate new DC licenses, they will delete the Server licenses. Our budget can't fit both, server & DC licenses.

[Dave Mathijs]

Okay, sorry I couldn't help you any further with this. Let's hope it gets resolved.

[Md Kausar hossain]

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We have an internal partner license,