How to Migrate Issue History for Jira from Data Center to Cloud

If your team tracks changes, monitors field edits, and uses historical issue data for audits or reporting, then Issue History for Jira is likely a critical part of your workflow. And if you’re running it on Jira Data Center, there’s one question that can’t be ignored: how do you migrate Issue History and preserve all that historical data when moving to Cloud?

Issue History Jira migration isn’t complex when done correctly, but it does require the right sequence of steps. This guide walks you through everything: from pre-migration preparation to running the migration with the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant (JCMA) and validating your data afterward. Whether you’re migrating Jira and Issue History together for the first time, or you’ve already moved Jira and need to handle app data separately, this guide covers both scenarios.

Why Migrate from Jira Data Center to Jira Cloud

The reason most teams are thinking about Jira Cloud migration right now isn’t just that Cloud has better features, it’s that Data Center’s timeline has a firm endpoint.

Atlassian has formally announced that Data Center products will reach end of life on March 28, 2029. The transition is already underway:

March 30, 2026 – Atlassian stopped selling new Data Center licenses. New customers can no longer purchase Data Center subscriptions.
March 30, 2028 – Last date for existing customers to purchase, renew, or expand Data Center licenses.
March 28, 2029 – Full end of life. All Data Center subscriptions and associated Marketplace app licenses expire and instances become read-only. You can view data, but cannot create issues, transition workflows, or take any meaningful action.

The question isn’t whether to migrate. It’s how to do it right.

Prerequisites Before Migration

Before opening JCMA, make sure the following are in place:

[ ] Jira Cloud site is set up and licensed – you need an active Cloud instance to migrate to

[ ] Administrator access on both instances – migration requires admin permissions on the Data Center source and the Cloud destination

[ ] Issue History for Jira is installed and active on your Jira Data Center instance (source)

[ ] Issue History for Jira is installed and active on your Jira Cloud instance (destination) – this is a hard requirement. If the app is not present on the Cloud site, JCMA will not migrate its data

[ ] Active subscription on Cloud – confirm Issue History has a valid Cloud subscription, not just an installation

[ ] Jira Cloud Migration Assistant is installed on your Data Center instance, available free from the Atlassian Marketplace

[ ] All pending updates completed – any changes made to Jira Data Center after migration begins will not transfer automatically and will require a second migration run

⚠️ Important: Plan your migration during off-peak hours. Depending on the size of your instance, migration can take significant time and may impact system performance for active users.

Step-by-Step Migration Process Using JCMA

All steps in Part 1 are performed on your Jira Data Center instance.

Phase 1 – Access JCMA

Step 1: Click ⚙️ Settings in the top-right corner of your Jira Data Center instance, then select System.

Step 2: Scroll down the left sidebar and click “Migrate to cloud”. This opens the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant interface, which is organized into three main phases: Assess, Prepare, and Migrate.

Phase 2 – Assess

Step 3 – Run the instance assessment

Click to run the assessment of your instance’s size, performance, and usage. This runs in the background and produces a downloadable report. Review the report for any warnings before proceeding.

Step 4 – Select apps for migration

After the assessment, you’ll see a list of all apps detected in your Data Center instance.

Find Issue History for Jira and select “Needed in cloud”
For all other apps, decide whether they are needed in Cloud or not, and mark accordingly
Click “Done” to confirm your selections

⚠️ Note: If the “Needed in cloud” option is inactive for Issue History, select “Choose alternative”, click “Next”, and search for “Issue History for Jira” to select it manually. Also note that disabled apps cannot be migrated, ensure Issue History is enabled on your Data Center instance before proceeding.

Phase 3 – Prepare

Step 5 – Connect your Cloud site

Click “Begin preparing”, then “Choose cloud site”. You’ll be prompted to specify:

“Migrate from” – your Data Center Jira URL
“Migrate to” – select your Cloud Jira URL from the dropdown (only Cloud instances where you are an admin will appear)

Confirm and click “Continue”.

Step 6 – Verify Issue History is installed on Cloud

JCMA will display the list of apps selected for migration and indicate whether each one is installed on the Cloud destination. If Issue History shows as not installed, you must install it on the Cloud site before continuing, migration will not proceed without it.

Step 7 – Accept the data migration policy

Click “View policy” for Issue History for Jira and agree to it. Click “Done” to confirm.

Step 8 – Run the user readiness assessment

Select the Cloud site where users will be migrated
Run the user check, JCMA will flag any accounts with invalid or missing email addresses
Review all email domains and mark each as Trusted or Not Trusted

⚠️ Warning: Every domain must have a decision assigned before migration can proceed. Users with invalid emails or from untrusted domains will not migrate, and any issues, filters, or history records they own may appear unassigned or inaccessible in Cloud. Resolve flagged accounts before moving on.

Phase 4 – Migrate

Step 9 – Select migration type

You’ll see two options:

Migrate users only
Migrate Jira data including users and installed apps

Select “Migrate Jira data including users and installed apps”. This is the correct option for migrating Issue History alongside core Jira data.

Step 10 – Create a migration and configure it

Click “Create a migration”. On the configuration page:

Enter a migration name
Select “Production migration stage”
Choose the destination Cloud site

Step 11 – Select “Select all data”

For your first migration, choose “Select all data”.

This is the most important decision in the entire process. Issue History depends on a wide range of Jira entities, users, user groups, projects, custom fields, statuses, priorities, and other configuration, to function correctly in Cloud. If any of these dependencies are missing because you migrated only a subset of projects or fields, Issue History records may be broken, unlinked, or missing context.

⚠️ Critical: Migrating only selected projects and leaving out related Jira data is the most common cause of broken Issue History functionality after migration. Always use “Select all data” for the initial run.

Step 12 – Confirm app selection

In the apps section, select “All” to ensure all apps marked “Needed in cloud” with an automated migration path are included. Confirm that Issue History for Jira appears in the list. Click “Apply Changes”.

Step 13 – Run pre-migration checks

JCMA will automatically run pre-migration checks. If all checks pass, click “Continue and review later”. If errors are flagged, resolve them, JCMA provides suggested fixes for each issue. Do not proceed until all errors are resolved.

Step 14 – Review and run migration

Review the final migration summary. Confirm the full list of entities to be migrated: projects, users, groups, custom fields, statuses, workflows, and apps. Verify that Issue History for Jira appears in the app list. Click “Run” to start.

Step 15 – Monitor migration progress

JCMA migrates core Jira data first, then processes app data. When the migration reaches Issue History for Jira, monitor the progress using logs. Periodically download logs in CSV format using the “View logs” button to track what has been processed and catch any skipped records early.

Issue History Jira migration is one of the more straightforward app migrations available through JCMA, but only when the prerequisites are in order. Install Issue History on Cloud first, select all data on the initial migration, validate users before starting, and check your logs after completion. Follow those four principles and the vast majority of migrations go exactly as expected.

Need Help With Your Migration?

If you’re preparing for Jira Data Center migration and want to ensure your Issue History data transfers cleanly, start with SaaSJet’s official documentation:

If you run into any issues during migration or need guidance specific to your environment, the SaaSJet Support team is ready to help, reach them directly at [email protected].

dc to cloud migration