Jira Data Center Preparation Checklist Before Cloud Migration

Migrating from Jira Data Center to Jira Cloud is a significant undertaking, and one that’s now squarely on the horizon for most teams. With Atlassian phasing out Data Center licenses and setting a firm deadline for existing instances to go read-only by 2029, the window for a planned, low-risk migration is narrowing.

But here’s the reality most migration guides gloss over: the quality of your migration depends almost entirely on the quality of your data before you start. Even Atlassian’s powerful Jira Cloud Migration Assistant (JCMA) can only work with what you give it. Cluttered projects, orphaned users, conflicting custom fields, and unchecked app dependencies are all problems that migrate right along with your data? only they become harder to fix once they’re in Cloud.

A proper Jira migration checklist doesn’t begin on migration day. It begins weeks before, during the audit and cleanup phase. This article walks you through exactly what to review, clean, and verify before you run a single migration job.

Jira Data Preparation Checklist

Work through these steps in order before initiating any Jira data migration. Mark each item complete before moving to the next phase.

Step 1: Audit Projects and Decide What to Migrate

Not every project needs to make the journey to Cloud. Start by taking a full inventory.

• List all active projects in your Data Center instance
• Identify archived or inactive projects, decide whether to migrate, archive permanently, or delete
• Flag projects with incomplete configurations (missing workflows, empty schemes)
• Document which projects are business-critical and prioritize them for validation
• Confirm project keys are unique and won’t conflict with anything already on your Cloud site

Practical tip: If you’re migrating to an existing Cloud site, check for project key conflicts in advance. JCMA will flag these, but resolving them is faster before migration begins.

Step 2: Review Users and Groups

User management is where most Jira Cloud migrations encounter their first serious friction.

• Export the full list of active users from Data Center
• Identify inactive, deactivated, or test accounts, remove or deactivate them before migration
• Confirm all active users have valid, accessible email addresses (Cloud authentication depends on this)
• Review all user groups and verify memberships are current and intentional
• Remove empty groups or groups with no active members
• In JCMA’s Prepare phase, run the user assessment and resolve any flagged invalid accounts
• Decide how to handle trusted vs. untrusted email domains

Warning: Users without valid email addresses cannot be migrated to Cloud. If they are owners of issues, boards, or filters, their data may appear unassigned or inaccessible post-migration.

Step 3: Clean Up Unused Data

Years of use accumulate a lot of noise. Now is the right time to clean house before you migrate Jira Data Center to Cloud.

• Delete or archive projects that have had zero activity for 12+ months (with stakeholder sign-off)
• Remove unused issue types, priorities, and resolutions from your configuration
• Delete obsolete workflows that are no longer attached to any active project
• Review and remove stale versions, components, and sprints from projects
• Clean up saved filters and dashboards owned by deactivated users

Practical tip: A smaller, cleaner instance migrates faster and with fewer errors. Every unnecessary entity you remove is one less thing that can cause a conflict in Cloud.

Step 4: Check Custom Fields, Statuses, and Issue Types

Custom field sprawl is one of the leading causes of post-migration issues in any Jira Data Center migration.

• Export all custom fields and review them for duplicates or near-duplicates (e.g., “Due Date” and “Due date”)
• Identify custom fields that are no longer used in any project, remove them from schemes or delete
• Check that all custom field types used in Data Center have Cloud equivalents (most do, but some third-party field types may not)
• Review all issue statuses and confirm they map cleanly to your planned Cloud workflow configurations
• Confirm that issue type names are consistent and don’t contain special characters that could cause import failures

Step 5: Verify Dependencies Between Projects and Data

This step matters especially if you use Marketplace apps, cross-project automation, or issue linking.

• Map cross-project issue links and confirm both projects are included in the migration scope
• Review Jira automation rules that reference other projects, fields, or external services
• Ensure all dependent Jira data – issue types, custom fields, user groups, is included in the migration

Warning: If you migrate only a subset of projects and leave out Jira data that your apps depend on, app functionality will break in Cloud. For your first migration, always prefer migrating all data over selective migrations.

Step 6: Review Permissions and Roles

Permission schemes often accumulate complexity over time and deserve a dedicated review before any Jira Cloud migration.

• Audit all permission schemes – identify any that reference deleted groups or users
• Review project roles and confirm members are still active and correctly assigned
• Check global permissions to ensure only appropriate admins have elevated access
• Document your permission structure so it can be validated post-migration

Step 7: Check Apps and App Data

Apps are not automatically included in migration – each one requires an explicit decision.

• List all installed Marketplace apps on your Data Center instance
• Check whether each app has a Cloud-compatible version available on the Atlassian Marketplace
• Install required apps on your Cloud instance before starting migration
• In JCMA’s Assess phase, mark each app as “Needed in cloud” or “Not needed in cloud”
• Confirm active subscriptions on Cloud for any paid apps you’re migrating data from
• Review app-specific migration documentation (e.g., SaaSJet’s Smart Forms migration guide) for app-specific preparation steps

Practical tip: App data migration is only as reliable as the underlying Jira data it references. Clean up Jira first, then verify apps.

Step 8: Prepare Attachments and Large Datasets

Large instances with many attachments, comments, or archived issues require extra attention.

• Check your total instance size using JCMA’s assessment report
• Identify projects with unusually large attachments and confirm they are still needed
• Review Atlassian’s cloud storage and attachment guidelines for any size limits
• Plan your migration window accordingly – large datasets take longer and affect performance
• Schedule migration during off-peak hours to minimize disruption to active users

Step 9: Run a Test Migration

Never go straight to a production migration. A test run is one of the most valuable steps in the entire process.

• Run a test migration with a representative subset of projects using JCMA
• Validate the results: check projects, users, issues, custom fields, and app data
• Identify and document any failures or warnings from the JCMA logs
• Resolve all issues found in the test migration before proceeding to production
• Confirm that all stakeholders have reviewed and signed off on the test results

Common Mistakes During Data Preparation

Even experienced Jira admins run into the same pitfalls. Here are the most common ones, and how to avoid them:

1. Migrating everything without reviewing first. Bulk migration without an audit brings every problem your Data Center has accumulated into your Cloud instance. Take the time to clean up.
2. Forgetting app dependencies. Teams often focus exclusively on core Jira data and discover post-migration that their apps are broken because the Jira data they depend on wasn’t included.
3. Skipping the user validation step. Invalid or unverified users won’t migrate. If those users own issues, boards, or forms, their data appears broken or unassigned in Cloud.
4. Not documenting the pre-migration state. Without a baseline, post-migration validation has no reference point. Screenshot or export your key configurations before you start.
5. Modifying Data Center after the migration snapshot. Any changes made after the migration job begins won’t be captured. Communicate a clear data freeze to your team before starting.

A smooth Jira Cloud migration doesn’t happen by accident – it’s the result of systematic preparation. By auditing your projects, cleaning up unused data, validating users, checking app dependencies, and running a test migration before going live, you dramatically reduce the risk of data loss, broken workflows, and post-migration remediation work.

Use this checklist as your preparation playbook. Work through each step methodically, involve your Jira admins and project leads early, and give yourself enough runway before your production migration window.

For additional guidance, Atlassian’s official migration resources and the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant are the authoritative references throughout the process. If your migration includes Marketplace apps, consult each vendor’s migration documentation to ensure app data travels safely alongside your Jira data.

Prepare well, migrate with confidence.

If you need help or want to ask questions, please contact SaaSJet Support or email us at [email protected]