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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesUse the Jira or Confluence Cloud Migration Assistant to move data, but do not assume it will reproduce every Data Center security setting in Cloud. Inventory the controls you rely on, configure their Cloud equivalents or compensating procedures, run a trial migration, and verify access, apps, audit visibility, network rules, and residency before production cutover.
What the migration assistant does—and what it does not guarantee
Atlassian provides product-specific migration assistants to move Jira and Confluence data from Data Center to Cloud. They offer assessments and pre-migration checks, but they are not a substitute for reviewing Cloud security configuration or each Marketplace app’s behavior. The Jira Cloud Migration Assistant is designed to help with migrations from Server or Data Center; Confluence migrations use the Confluence Cloud Migration Assistant.
Plan the move as two related workstreams: migrate the data, and deliberately configure and validate the security controls around it. Which controls are available depends on the Cloud product, plan, and configuration.
Build a control inventory before moving data
Record what protects the current environment and how each control will be handled in Cloud. Mark each as transferred, reconfigured, replaced by a Cloud feature, or covered by a documented compensating procedure. This inventory gives security reviewers and migration owners a shared basis for testing and approval.
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| Control area | Record before migration | Validate for Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Identity and authentication | Identity provider, login policy, directories, provisioning process, and domain ownership | Cloud login behavior, provisioning, verified or trusted domains, and enforcement policies |
| Users, groups, and product access | Group membership, privileged roles, application access, and duplicate or conflicting group names | Who can access each product and project or space, plus who has administrative privileges |
| Marketplace apps and integrations | Installed apps, their permissions, stored data, secrets, integrations, and audit needs | Cloud app availability, migrated app data, permissions, connections, and app behavior |
| Network and monitoring | Firewall or proxy allowlists, monitoring expectations, audit requirements, and alerting workflows | Required Atlassian connectivity, available Cloud audit visibility, and any monitoring changes |
| Geography and retention | Data-location obligations and retention expectations by data type | Whether the relevant Cloud app and data type are within the residency scope and how migration data is handled |
Keep an evidence record for each row: the source setting, intended Cloud setting, test result, any exception, its approver, and the production verification. Atlassian’s migration preparation guidance covers users, apps, and pre-migration checks; the record itself is a practical way to make control ownership and unresolved differences explicit. See the user migration guidance and app assessment and migration guidance.
Prepare identity, access, and migration permissions
Check the people and groups that will arrive
Use the assistant’s user and app assessments, review the email domains involved, and decide how to resolve duplicate or conflicting group names rather than letting the conflict determine access by accident. Where appropriate, migrate users and groups before other data, then review which groups receive application access. Atlassian’s user migration documentation describes the user and group preparation process.
In Cloud, verify actual group membership and product access after migration. Pay particular attention to administrators and any groups that grant broad access: a successful data transfer does not by itself confirm that the right people can sign in or that access is appropriately limited.
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Confirm who can run the Jira migration
For Jira, Atlassian specifies that the migration runner needs system administrator access on the source and organization administrator access on the destination. The Jira pre-migration checklist also calls out access to temporary export files and project permissions for selected boards and filters. Check the migration trust and security FAQs and Jira pre-migration checklist for the relevant requirements.
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Make sure the required Atlassian domains and IP addresses can pass through your firewall or proxy. Atlassian’s Jira assistant installation and update guidance includes network allowlisting considerations. Coordinate that change with the network team and verify it from the systems that will run the migration.
Configure Cloud identity controls deliberately
Atlassian documents Guard Standard capabilities including SAML single sign-on (SSO), SCIM user provisioning, enforced two-factor authentication, and audit logs. Confirm that your organization’s plan and policies support the controls you need, then test the actual sign-in and provisioning flows; do not treat the presence of a feature as proof that it is enabled or enforced.
Assess Marketplace apps as a separate migration
An app can hold data and permissions that are not covered by the Jira or Confluence content migration. For every installed app, determine whether a Cloud equivalent exists, what app data can be moved, and whether the vendor supports the migration assistant or requires another route. Atlassian advises assessing apps and consulting their vendors; see its app assessment and migration guidance.
- List each app’s important data, permissions, secrets, integrations, and business owner.
- Ask the vendor what migrates, what must be configured again, and which migration workflow is supported.
- Include app access, integration behavior, and audit coverage in the trial-migration test plan.
- Do not assume that an app’s Cloud version has the same permissions, features, or data history as its Data Center counterpart.
Run a trial migration and test security outcomes
Atlassian strongly recommends a trial run before migrating. Use it to test migration timing and downtime planning, validate data, conduct user acceptance testing (UAT), find issues, and prepare for launch. Its test migration guidance also describes trying SSO, provisioning, and audit logging during a trial when using Guard Standard.
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- Choose representative data. Include projects, spaces, groups, permissions, and apps that exercise the controls you identified—not just an easy-to-migrate sample.
- Run the product assistant’s assessments and pre-migration checks. Resolve findings that could prevent migration or affect access before the production run.
- Test user journeys and administration. Have representative users sign in, access the intended work, and confirm that restricted content remains restricted. Confirm that administrative access is limited to the intended people.
- Test apps and integrations. Check migrated app data, permissions, connections, and any security-relevant logs with the app vendor’s supported workflow.
- Compare results with the inventory. Record discrepancies, owners, decisions, and evidence. Do not move to production with an unexplained change to an important control.
Stage the production migration and account for Jira differences
Use the assistant’s migration plans to choose and stage data rather than treating a large move as a single unreviewed event. For Confluence, Atlassian recommends preparing users, groups, and attachments in advance to reduce downtime; consult its Confluence migration instructions.
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For Jira, the assistant adds migrated data to the Cloud site; it does not delete data in either the source or destination. Jira entity IDs change in Cloud, so downstream systems or scripts that depend on those IDs may need updating. Atlassian documents an ID-mapping capability for cases that require it in its guidance on migrating Jira data with the assistant. Plan how to handle existing destination data, duplicates, conflicts, and integrations before the production run.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Verify controls in Cloud before cutover
After the migration, use the evidence record and trial results to check the actual Cloud environment. Verify each control in the product or administrative settings where it operates; do not infer success from a completed migration status.
- Confirm login, SSO, provisioning, and any required two-factor authentication policies.
- Review group membership, product access, project or space permissions, and administrator membership.
- Check Marketplace app permissions, migrated app data, integrations, and audit coverage with the relevant owners.
- Confirm audit-log access and that monitoring processes still provide the visibility your team requires.
- Verify firewall or proxy rules and any other network allowlisting needed for ongoing integrations.
- Review configuration exceptions found during testing. For example, Jira Cloud blocks HTML or JavaScript in custom field descriptions because of XSS and other security concerns; validate affected descriptions and related workflows against the Jira pre-migration checklist.
Complete the production verification with named owners and approvers. If a control behaves differently from the source, record the difference and resolve it or approve a compensating procedure before declaring the cutover complete.
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Do not assume that moving to Cloud preserves every on-premises geographic boundary. Atlassian’s data residency documentation limits residency controls to selected Cloud apps and plans, and states that user-created audit-log activity is not covered by residency. Confirm coverage for each relevant product and data type against your organization’s obligations.
Atlassian’s migration trust and security FAQs say migration traffic uses HTTPS and describe encryption during migration, limited debugging access, and purging debugging data after 14 days. The same FAQs note that migration data may be temporarily stored in US regions and that transit duration varies by product and data. Separately, the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant product page says migration data is stored for 14 days from the date a migration is created. These statements describe different contexts; the Jira assistant’s period should not be treated as a universal retention period for every product or migration data type.
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