Copy an R4J Project to a different Jira instance

It is possible to completely copy an R4J project, including the tree structure, from one Jira instance (the source) to another (the destination) using the R4J Excel Add-in. The steps are as follows:

• Make sure the project in the destination instance is enabled for R4J and is configured consistently with the project in the source instance. For example, the custom fields you want to copy from the source must exist in the destination.

• In the R4J Excel add-in settings, configure connections for the source and destination Jira instances.

• Following the instructions in Microsoft Excel Add-In, connect to the source Jira instance and import the issues of the project into Excel. You should include all the fields you want to copy to the destination instance. If you want to copy the tree structure, make sure you include the field Requirement Path.

• Edit the Excel worksheet as follows:

  • Delete all values in the Key column, forcing the issues to be created as new issues in the destination instance.

  • If the project name in the destination instance is different from the name in the source instance, modify the values in the Project Key and Requirement Path  columns In the Excel worksheet to reflect that name.

• Finally, connect to the destination Jira instance and select Upload Data to create the issues in the project in the destination. A result log showing any errors will be displayed after the upload is finished.

Limitations:

• Issue comments are imported as Excel notes, and these are then not uploaded to the destination instance.

• To copy links to the destination instance, you would have to edit the Issue Links column of the worksheet, replacing every occurrence of an issue key with the corresponding row number of that issue in the worksheet, as explained in Create and Update Requirements In Excel. This is unlikely to be feasible for anything other than a small number of issues.