Automated migration (Recommended) | Smart Issue Templates for Jira Data Center/Server

This guide walks you through migrating Smart Issue Templates data (scopes, templates and hierarchies) from Jira Data Center to Jira Cloud using JCMA (Jira Cloud Migration Assistant). By the end of this guide, you'll be able to start a migration, monitor its progress, and understand the results.

This is the recommended path. If the automated migration cannot complete, or JCMA is not an option for your site, use the Manual migration path (alternative): export your data from Data Center and import it into Jira Cloud.

For what happens on the Cloud side (how data is matched, the Migration status page and its Error log), see Automated migration (Recommended) in the Cloud documentation.

1. Before You Begin

Prerequisites

Requirement	Details
DC Plugin Version	3.1.9 or higher (Jira 10 and below) or 4.0.5 or higher (Jira 11)
Cloud Plugin Version	28.0.0 or higher
DC Permissions	Jira Administrator
Cloud Permissions	Organization Administrator
JCMA 1.12.46 or higher installed on your DC instance

What Gets Migrated

Entity	Status	Description
Scopes	✅ Supported	Scope configurations including projects, issue types, and groups
Templates - System fields	✅ Supported	Issue templates with name, description, content, project, issue type, scope, available for, summary, assignee and reporter, labels, priority, due date, components, fix/affected versions, linked issues, epic link, time tracking, environment
Templates - Custom fields	✅ Supported	Issue templates’ custom field values (e.g., select lists, user/group pickers, dates, numbers) and their mappings between Jira DC and Jira Cloud
Hierarchies	✅ Supported	Template hierarchy structures, with the levels and the issue content of each level

Known Limitations

The projects and work types (issue types) of your scopes and templates must be part of the same Jira migration. A scope or template whose project or work type cannot be matched in Cloud is not migrated, and the Cloud Error log names what was missing.
A hierarchy level whose project or work type is not on the Cloud site is kept with that value empty and marked Incomplete, so you can fix it in Cloud.
The scope and available for settings of a hierarchy, and the reporter of a hierarchy level (unless it is a dynamic reporter), are not carried. Set them again in Cloud.
Users are matched through the JCMA user mapping. If an owner cannot be found, a site administrator becomes the owner, or it shows as Migrated User.
Scopes are always migrated first, then templates, then hierarchies.

Expected Timing

Data Volume	Estimated Time
~10,000 scopes	25-30 minutes
~10,000 templates	70-90 minutes

Note: Migration time varies based on the complexity of your data, including user information, project mappings, and group configurations.

2. Running the Migration

2.1 Start Migration from Jira DC

Navigate to Jira Administration > System > Migrate to cloud
Create a new migration and follow the wizard
In the app selection step, ensure Smart Issue Templates is selected. Scopes, templates and hierarchies are all included; there is nothing to select per entity.
Review the migration summary and click Run Migration

Re-running a Migration

If you need to re-run a migration:

Previously migrated data will be overwritten (not duplicated)
This is useful if you made changes in DC after the initial migration
Simply start a new migration following the same steps above

2.2 Monitoring Progress

2.2.1 Plugin migration dashboard - Jira Cloud

During the migration, you can monitor progress in the Smart Issue Templates Migration dashboard:

In Jira Cloud, go to Settings (⚙) > Apps, find Smart Issue Templates, open the ... menu, select App Settings and open Migration status
You will be able to see:

Section	Description
Support Tools	Allows you to delete temporary information used for the migration, migration history and export the dashboard information
Migration Overview	Displays general information about the migration, including the Jira version, source URL, and the total number of entities to be migrated
Overall Status	Shows the current state of the migration and overall progress percentage
Entity Progress	Breaks down progress by entity (Scopes, Templates, Hierarchies), showing records migrated, completion percentage, and status for each
Error log	Everything that did not come across in full, grouped by problem, with a count of errors and warnings. Shows Nothing to report when everything came across
Execution Timeline	Visual timeline showing when each chunk was processed, helping identify bottlenecks or gaps in progress
Chunk Timing Details	Detailed table of each chunk with processing time, records processed and status
Total amount of migrated records	Summary showing the total count of successfully migrated records for each entity

2.2.2 JCMA dashboard - Jira Data Center

During the migration, you can monitor progress in the JCMA dashboard:

Go to Jira Administration > System > Migrate to cloud in Jira DC
Find your active migration
Click View details to see the logs

Scroll down to find the Smart Issue Templates plugin, then click on View logs to download the migration logs as a CSV file

Open the CSV file, and it should look like this:

2.2.2.1 Understanding Progress Logs

Log Message	Meaning
`Migration started (ID: ...) \| Source: ... \| Entities: ...`	Cloud received the migration, with the number of records and chunks for each entity
`processing chunk N/T \| X of Y handled (Z%) \| ...`	Scopes and templates progress, every 10%
`hierarchies chunk N/T \| X migrated, Y failed`	Hierarchies progress, once per chunk
`Migration completed in T - migrated X scopes, Y templates, Z hierarchies`	Migration finished
`Nothing was left behind: every record came across in full.`	No problems to review
`What did not come across in full: ...`	A summary of the problems follows, one line per kind. The full list is in the Error log on the Cloud Migration status page (the log calls it Migration log)

Note: Additional logs not included in this documentation may help with technical analysis when troubleshooting migration failures.

2.2.2.2 Understanding Statuses

Status	Description	What To Do
RUNNING	Migration is actively processing data	Wait for completion. If it exceeds expected time significantly (2x or more), consider cancelling manually
COMPLETE	All data migrated successfully	Verify data in Cloud instance
TIME OUT	The migration stopped because data transfer became too slow to continue	Check the logs to identify the cause, then re-run if needed. Previously migrated data remains intact
FAILED / INCOMPLETE	Technical error or connection issue	Check error logs, verify connectivity, contact support if issue persists

2.2.3 Cloud Migrations page - Jira Data Center

Smart Issue Templates records every export it sends to JCMA, so you can confirm what was sent to Cloud and find out why a migration is stuck or failed.

In Jira DC, open the Templates menu in the top bar
Under Configurations, click Automated migration (JCMA)
The Cloud Migrations page shows the latest export and every export run, with the migration plan, environment, records and chunks per data type, and any failed chunks with their error
Use Open in JCMA to jump to the matching migration plan in the Migration Assistant

2.3 Verifying Migrated Data

Log in to your Jira Cloud instance
Navigate to Apps > Smart Issue Templates > Scopes
Verify that your scopes appear with correct configurations
1. Spot-check a few scopes to confirm:
  1. Project assignments
  2. Issue type mappings
  3. Group permissions
  4. Owner information
Verify that your templates appear with correct configurations
1. Spot-check a few templates to confirm:
  1. Project assignments
  2. Issue type mappings
  3. System fields (name, description, summary,
    owner, reporter, assignee, issue type, etc.)
Verify that your hierarchies appear with correct configurations
1. Spot-check a few hierarchies to confirm:
  1. The levels and their order, and any level marked Incomplete
  2. The project and issue type of each level
  3. The issue content of each level (summary, assignee and other fields)

3. Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Issue	Possible Cause	Solution
Migration stuck at 0%	Plugin not properly configured	Verify plugin versions and JCMA setup. Check the Cloud Migrations page in DC (section 2.2.3) to see whether the export was sent
"Transfer expired" error	Migration session timed out	Start a new migration
Missing scopes after migration	A project or work type the scope uses was not part of the Jira migration, or the scope had invalid data	Check the Error log on the Cloud Migration status page, add what is missing, and re-run the migration
Missing templates after migration	A project or work type the template uses was not part of the Jira migration, or the template had invalid data	Check the Error log on the Cloud Migration status page, add what is missing, and re-run the migration
Missing hierarchies after migration	DC app older than 3.1.9 (Jira 10 and below) or 4.0.5 (Jira 11)	Update the DC app and re-run the migration
Hierarchy levels marked Incomplete	The level's project or work type does not exist on the Cloud site	Create it in Cloud and re-run the migration, or set it on the level in Cloud
Owner shows as "Migrated User"	Original owner not found in Cloud, and no site administrator could be used instead	Manually update owner in Cloud
The automated migration cannot complete	JCMA keeps failing or timing out for the app	Use the Manual migration path: export from Data Center and import into Cloud

Getting Help

If you encounter issues not covered here:

Collect the migration logs from JCMA and migration dashboard information (Check how to do that on the 2.2.1 Plugin migration dashboard - Jira Cloud section)
Note the migration ID and timestamp
Contact support with this information

4. Appendix

Glossary

Term	Definition
JCMA	Jira Cloud Migration Assistant - Atlassian's tool for migrating apps from DC to Cloud
Chunk	A batch of records processed together (used for large datasets)
Transfer ID	Unique identifier for a migration session
Entity	A type of data being migrated (scopes, templates, hierarchies)