10.4 System Backup, Restore & Data Import
Key Takeaways
- Jira admins can't import or export data; creating and restoring site backups are organization-level (org or site admin) tasks.
- Backup manager creates a cloud backup, optionally with attachments, avatars, and logos; with those files included, you must wait 48 hours between backups.
- Backups include issues, boards, sprints, users, groups, and configuration, but not automation rules, third-party app data, Assets, or app access settings.
- Importing a backup's entities.xml and activeobjects.xml overwrites the whole target site; since 22 January 2026, only backups 30 days old or less can be restored.
- A project archived before the backup was created is still archived after the restore and appears in the Archive list.
10.4 System Backup, Restore & Data Import
Blueprint objective 7.4 asks you to understand import options, the steps for creating a backup (including media), how to restore data from a backup, the permissions needed for backup and restore, and how archived projects are handled when you import from a backup. The most important fact is about permissions: the Administer Jira permission is not enough.
Who Can Back Up and Restore
Atlassian's global-permissions documentation states that users with Administer Jira cannot import or export data. Creating a site backup, restoring one, and running site imports are organization-level (org admin or site admin) tasks. On the exam, if a Jira admin can't find or use Backup manager, the answer is almost always that they need an org-level admin role, not a missing project permission.
Organizations can also block data exports for particular apps or data classification levels, which prevents exports even for admins.
Creating a Backup (Backup Manager)
Where: Settings > System > Import and Export > Backup manager.
- Under Backup for cloud, select Create backup for cloud.
- To include media, tick Include additional files. This adds issue attachments, user avatars, and project logos to the backup.
- When the backup finishes, select Download backup file.
Frequency rule: you can create a backup at any time. However, if the backup includes attachments, avatars, or logos, you must allow 48 hours between backups.
What a Cloud Backup Contains
| Included | Not Included |
|---|---|
| Issues and field content (system and custom fields) | Automation rules (export and import them separately from automation settings) |
| Board and sprint data | Third-party apps and their data |
| Users and group settings | Assets (Jira Service Management) |
| Comments | Opsgenie-powered JSM features (alerts, on-call schedules) |
| Media (attachments, avatars, logos) if selected | App access settings (you re-add users to groups afterwards) |
| Project configuration: workflows, global permissions, schemes, screens, custom field configuration, issue types, board configuration | Jira Product Discovery views, insights, and vote fields |
| Plans (Advanced Roadmaps) data |
The downloaded file is a ZIP containing entities.xml and activeobjects.xml (the database) plus a data folder with attachments and avatars, and a logos folder.
Backups for Data Center: Atlassian discontinued Backup for server on 30 June 2025. Team-managed projects don't exist in Data Center, so Atlassian's guidance is to move important work into company-managed projects (or delete team-managed projects) before producing a Data Center-compatible backup. The CSV importer is the suggested route for moving data to Data Center.
Restoring a Backup into Jira Cloud
Where: Settings > System > Import and Export > Import Jira Cloud (older documentation calls it Restore system).
Know these consequences before you restore:
- Importing
entities.xmlandactiveobjects.xmloverwrites the entire database of the target site. It replaces all existing data. It isn't a merge, and you can't restore a single project this way. - Importing media folders overwrites the corresponding attachments, avatars, or logos.
- Atlassian recommends splitting the backup into a database file and a media file (and splitting media larger than 5 GB) to avoid timeouts. You can also remove folders you don't want to import before re-zipping.
- Age limit: from 22 January 2026, Backup manager only restores backups that are 30 days old or less.
- After import: log in with the same admin account you used on the source site. Grant app access to imported users, because the import doesn't apply default app-access settings. Reconfigure custom email channels, since Cloud-to-Cloud imports don't copy custom email passwords.
- Users are merged with existing Cloud accounts, which can give some users extra access, so review group memberships.
- Imports from Data Center don't carry the Data Center-only Jira System Administrators permission or changes to Administer Jira. Reconfigure admin groups after the import.
How Archived Projects Are Handled
A project that was archived before the backup was created is still archived after you restore that backup. You'll find it in the Archive list in project (space) settings, not among active projects. It stays read-only and out of search until a Jira admin restores it from the archive.
Recovering One Deleted Issue
Atlassian's own backups can't restore individual deleted issues. The only routes are to import a pre-deletion backup into a separate site, export the issue, and CSV-import it back, or to reconstruct it from notification emails. This is why admins restrict Delete Issues and prefer a Cancelled status.
Import Options for Other Data
| Import Path | Typical Use |
|---|---|
| CSV import | Issues from spreadsheets or other tools; also used to fix data (for example, to re-attach orphaned sub-tasks by mapping parent IDs, or to reload custom field values after a team-managed to company-managed move) |
| JSON import | Structured imports from other systems when CSV can't express the data well |
| Trello import | Bring Trello boards into Jira |
| Other work trackers | Atlassian-documented migration paths from other tools, usually through the external system importers |
| Backup import (Import Jira Cloud) | Replace a whole site with a Cloud (or Data Center) backup |
| Automation rules | Exported and imported as JSON from automation settings, because backups don't include them |
Choosing the right tool: use CSV or JSON to add data to a live site. Use Import Jira Cloud only when you intend to replace the site's data.
Scenario Walkthrough
A company wants to clone its production Jira site into a new empty Cloud site for training.
- An org admin runs Create backup for cloud with Include additional files on the production site, and downloads the ZIP.
- They split the ZIP into a database file and a media file.
- On the empty training site, an org admin uses Import Jira Cloud to import the database file, then the media file.
- They log in with the same admin account, grant app access to the imported users, and re-import the automation rules exported from production.
- They confirm that projects archived in production appear under Archive on the training site.
A user who holds the Administer Jira global permission, but no organization-level admin role, needs to create a full site backup with attachments. What will happen?
An admin restores a production backup into an existing test site that already holds different test projects. What happens to the test site's existing data?
Before a backup was created, the 'LEGACY' project had been archived on a Premium site. After the backup is restored to a new site, where is LEGACY?
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