At Adaptavist, we're committed to helping Jira users get more from their product. That's why release tips, tricks and insights to help you understand how to perform specific tasks in Jira. Today, we're showing you how to implement a Staging to Production process in Jira.
Making configuration changes to a Jira environment is not always simple, and can even be a risky undertaking. If you make a change and something goes wrong, then you can quickly find yourself with a lot of unhappy Jira users. Promoting configuration changes from staging to production doesn’t have to be a difficult process, however. Read on for a full overview on why and how staging to production is so important.
Reduce risk by using a Staging to Production process
To avoid unsettling your Jira environment - and your users - it’s highly recommended you first test any Jira configuration changes you plan to make in a test or Staging Jira environment. As a result, you can check they will work as planned and not crash your system.
There is, however, a drawback to this approach. Your efforts are doubled as you need to make the changes twice, first in a Development environment before making the same changes again in your live Production Jira instance. This can be done manually but if you are making a significant number of changes a lot of your time can be eaten up. In addition, it’s very easy to miss something or make an error when repeating the changes for a second time.
A tool to help
When making changes in Jira, it's not uncommon to use a third-party add-on tool to assist the process.
One such tool is Project Configurator for Jira, which allows you to test your configuration changes in your Development environment before easily implementing them in Production. Crucially, you can copy these changes across to your Production environment significantly quicker and with a reduced chance of errors.
It's not uncommon for Jira Admins to be making configuration changes on a daily basis, therefore the accumulated time savings can be huge. With this repeatable, reliable and streamlined process in place, you can rest easy knowing your Jira configuration changes are not going to crash or break your live Production Jira instance. Plus it won't have taken you all day!
Did you know?
Jira Data Center users can also use tools like Project Configurator for their Staging to Production process, often with even greater benefits. This is because the chances are your Jira will have more ‘moving parts’ in need of regular updates or alterations, increasing the volume and frequency of these changes.
Simple steps to get started with your staging to production Jira process
1. Set up your second Jira instance
To implement this process you’ll need at least two instances of Jira. The first should be your main Production instance - this is the one all your users will interact with on a daily basis. The second is a Testing or Staging instance. An optional third environment can be used if you want an additional Testing environment in which to perform testing, perhaps one you would give access to regular Jira users to experiment with.
2. Use your third-party tool to streamline the Staging to Production process
Once you have this architecture in place you can begin making changes in Staging. To “promote” (also known as “copy”), these changes across to your live Production instance, you’ll need to install Project Configurator (or whatever tool you're using) on both of these Jira instances.
3. Start promoting changes into Production
You’re now ready to begin promoting changes between Staging and Production.
