Before moving Jira or Confluence to Atlassian Cloud, decide what is moving and how, prepare identities and permissions, confirm source and destination readiness, plan each Marketplace app separately, and rehearse the migration. This checklist focuses on migrations from Server or Data Center; it does not provide a Bitbucket-specific checklist. Atlassian’s migration resource hub links to separate product guidance, and its migration assistants’ checks do not cover every preparation issue.
1. Set the scope, migration route, and owners
Define what is in scope
- Record whether each source is Server or Data Center, which products and sites are included, and whether the destination Cloud site is empty or already contains data.
- Decide whether you are moving all data or a selected set of projects or spaces, and whether Jira and Confluence will move together or at different times.
- Identify a test or staging Cloud site as well as the intended production destination.
Atlassian maintains separate preparation checklists for Jira and Confluence. The available guidance here is strongest for those two products; use Atlassian’s migration resource hub to find product-specific material for other products, including Bitbucket.
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Choose the Confluence route before applying its checks
For Confluence, Atlassian documents the Cloud Migration Assistant, XML space-by-space import, and XML site import. The checks relevant to you depend on the route. Atlassian highly recommends the assistant for Data Center migrations where it can be used; confirm its eligibility and requirements against the live Confluence checklist.
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Assign accountable owners
- Identity and access: account mapping, groups, permissions, and identity-provider synchronization.
- Infrastructure and network: source health, proxies, firewall rules, capacity, and backups.
- Apps: Marketplace app inventory and coordination with each vendor.
- Business validation: test scenarios, migrated-data review, and user acceptance testing (UAT).
- Production lead: the migration schedule, decision points, communications, and runbook.
2. Prepare users, groups, permissions, and Cloud capacity
Make identity mapping deliberate
- Check for invalid or duplicate email addresses and, where applicable, duplicate usernames, conflicting group names, or restricted group names. Resolve ambiguities before migration so a person or permission is not mapped unexpectedly.
- If Jira and Confluence share users, align each person’s source email address across both products. Atlassian says the assistants use email addresses to map content, so inconsistent addresses can interfere with mapping. If the products will migrate at different times, plan the sequence and shared-user handling in advance. Atlassian says users can be migrated first with support, after which the products can be migrated in either order.
- For Jira connected to an external directory, sync the active external user base and investigate people configured with two email addresses that could map to separate Cloud accounts.
- Review source directory synchronization and identity-provider synchronization plans. Confirm how groups and users will be represented in Cloud and who will validate the result.
These identity and account-mapping checks are described in the Atlassian Jira and Confluence checklists.
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Verify operator access and permissions
Confirm the migration operator has source system-administrator permissions and the required destination organization- or app-administrator access. For Jira, the operator may also need access to the source export directory and Browse project permission for selected projects, boards, or filters. Check the product checklist for the requirements that apply to your route and selection.
Check the target plan and existing data
Verify that the destination subscription tier can accommodate the users being migrated, in addition to users already on the site. Atlassian’s live Confluence checklist states that a Free-plan migration fails if the migrated users plus existing destination users exceed 10; confirm the applicable plan limits with Atlassian before scheduling because plan rules can change. Review Jira Cloud storage and entity limits as well. If the destination site already contains data, back it up before importing.
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3. Confirm source, destination, and network readiness
Check product versions and product-specific conditions
Confirm that the source product version is supported by the relevant migration assistant. Version eligibility is product-specific and may change, so check the current Jira or Confluence checklist rather than relying on an old compatibility note.
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- Confluence: review restricted groups, public-access settings, heap allocation, and proxy configuration. Atlassian advises against changing the source server’s timezone during preparation because doing so could cause migration failures.
- Destination configuration: confirm relevant products and apps are available in Cloud. Jira’s checklist calls for corresponding Cloud apps where needed; language differences can also affect field migration.
Use the current Jira and Confluence checklists to validate the specific requirements for your product and route.
Test connectivity and plan for load
- Allow the Atlassian Cloud domains and IP addresses required by the migration assistant through firewalls and reverse proxies. For Confluence, configure an HTTP or HTTPS proxy where applicable. Obtain the current allowlist from Atlassian: network addresses and requirements can change.
- Check bandwidth and security tools that could slow uploads. Confirm the source can sustain the expected workload during checks and migration.
- Review scheduled background jobs. Atlassian warns that jobs can cumulatively increase CPU, memory, and database load during migration or pre-checks. Stop unnecessary jobs and plan the work outside peak hours.
4. Treat Marketplace apps as a separate workstream
Inventory each app and confirm its data path
Record installed apps, identify which are still needed in Cloud, and assess them individually. An app with a Cloud equivalent does not necessarily have an automated way to move its data. Use the migration assistant’s assessment as a starting point, then confirm the current plan with the vendor.
| Assessment outcome | What to plan for |
|---|---|
| Automated migration | Confirm which app data is included, any prerequisites, and how the result will be checked. |
| Install-only | Install the Cloud app as needed; do not assume its data will be transferred automatically. |
| Vendor-directed or separate path | Coordinate the app-data migration with the Marketplace partner and follow its current process. |
| Upgrade needed or vendor contact required | Resolve the stated prerequisite or obtain the vendor’s migration guidance before the test run. |
| No Cloud equivalent | Decide how the team will handle the functionality or data that will not move with a Cloud app. |
Some app data is embedded in Jira core data; other app data must be handled through a vendor path. Atlassian says the Marketplace partner that built the app, not Atlassian, performs app-data migrations through its path, and the customer must review and agree to the partner’s data-access agreement. See Atlassian’s app assessment and migration guidance. Do not count an app as ready until its current route is confirmed.
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Use assistant checks as one layer of validation
Run the applicable app assessment and product pre-migration checks, review every finding, and assign remediation. Jira checks cover system, users and groups, customers, projects, boards and filters, Advanced Roadmaps, Marketplace apps, and Assets. Atlassian says the assistant checks do not cover everything, so work through the full product checklist too.
For Jira, Atlassian recommends running pre-migration checks at least a few days before the migration. Successful results are cached for 30 days and then removed. If the source data or schedule changes enough to make results stale, run the checks again. Details are in Atlassian’s Jira pre-check instructions.
Back up and test the complete route
- Back up the relevant source data and any populated Cloud destination before importing.
- Run a trial migration to a test or staging Cloud site using the planned route and representative scope.
- Review migrated records, user mapping, groups, permissions, and app data against agreed acceptance criteria.
- Have business users carry out UAT and document defects, workarounds, and fixes. Retest changes that could affect migration results.
- Update the production runbook with owners, timing, dependencies, validation steps, communication plans, and decision points.
Atlassian Support’s Confluence pre-migration checklist states: “We strongly recommend doing a trial run of your migration to a test or staging Cloud site before running your final migration.” Atlassian’s test migration guidance also covers the trial-run approach.
6. Set the production schedule and support plan
Choose a migration window that gives the team time to monitor source load, uploads, and validation. Tell users what will happen and when, and coordinate any app-vendor work that must occur in the same window. For a large migration, a weekend or holiday schedule, or a move requiring support coordination, follow the advance-notice guidance on the applicable product checklist. Jira and Confluence give different notice examples, so there is no single user-count threshold to apply across both products.
Before confirming the date, check that the trial has passed acceptance, backups are available, the current version and Cloud limits have been verified, network access is in place, app paths are agreed, and the people responsible for the production runbook are available. Recheck volatile requirements against Atlassian’s live Jira and Confluence documentation when the migration is scheduled.
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