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Importing Backup Procedure

Importing Backup Procedure

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✅ Importing Scheduled Issues – Overview

Once you've exported your Scheduled Issues using the Export functionality, you can then import the file.

📄 Export instructions are available here

🔄 Import as Part of Backup Procedure

The import feature is part of the overall backup process.
It is strongly recommended to back up Scheduled Issues before performing a major update (e.g., upgrading from The Scheduler 5.x to 6.x).

This feature is designed to import Scheduled Issues from the same Jira instance after the upgrade process is completed.

Scheduled Issues are imported into the project with the project ID specified in the file.
Therefore, if you attempt to import Scheduled Issues into a different Jira instance, or if your project IDs have changed, you must adjust the XML file accordingly to ensure correct mapping.

📥 Import Methods

There are two ways to import Scheduled Issues:

Each method has its own use case and structure, and both are accessible via the Import Scheduled Issues section in the Jira administration panel.

 

✅ Import from CSV

Similarly to the export feature, you can perform the import either from the global dedicated page or directly in the table view.

🌐 Global Page (available only to Jira administrators)

As a Jira Administrator:

  1. Go to Jira Administration(1)

  2. Select Manage Apps(2)

  3. Navigate to Import Scheduled Issues(3)

  4. Select the "Import from CSV"

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📋 Import Process – Three Steps

Step 1 – Select the CSV file to import
Click the "Choose file" button (5) to open the file explorer and select the appropriate CSV file.

Step 2 – Choose the scope of import
Decide whether to import Scheduled Issues from all projects or only from selected projects.

Step 3 – Review and select issues
A table will display Scheduled Issues from the selected projects.
You can filter, sort, and choose which issues to import.

✅ Step-by-Step Import Flow

After selecting the file, the interface automatically proceeds to Step 2 (1).
Here, you can choose whether to import Scheduled Issues from all projects or only from selected projects (2).

Clicking the Next button takes you to Step 3 (3), where you can review and select the issues to be imported.

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✅ Final Step – Review and Import

Clicking the Next button takes you to the final step (1).
This step focuses on selecting the Scheduled Issues you want to import.

A warning message is displayed, indicating that any duplicated Scheduled Issues will be ignored (2).

You can also:

  • Filter by name

  • Change the number of rows visible per page in the table (3)

The most important part is the table, where you can:

  • Select the appropriate Scheduled Issues

  • Sort by columns

  • Review the data to be imported (4)

Clicking the Import button imports the selected Scheduled Issues from the CSV file (5).

 

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The entire table contains both Scheduled Issue field columns and custom field parameters (6).

 

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⚠️ Handling Import Errors

Sometimes, after clicking the Import button, errors may occur.

  • If an error is related to a specific row, a red icon appears next to it (1).

  • Clicking this icon opens a popup with detailed error information (2).

  • You can also click on the Scheduled Issue name to navigate directly to that issue (3).

For example, in this case, many of the selected Scheduled Issues were already present in the target projects.
As a result, multiple error icons are shown in the rows, and an error flag is also visible (4).

 

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After a successful import, a confirmation flag is displayed (1), and you are redirected to the first step (2).

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Import from Table View

The main logic is exactly the same as in the global dedicated page.
The only difference is that, in the project table, you cannot change the target project during the second step.
Similarly to the export operation, you can perform the import in two ways:

Manage Scheduled Issues (global Scheduled Issues table)

To do this, go to Jira Administration (1), then Manage Apps (2), navigate to Manage Scheduled Issues (3), and click the Import from CSV button (4).

 

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Import from Table View

This will open the import dialog, which also consists of three main steps.
The logic is exactly the same as on the dedicated global page.

Project Scheduled Issues Table

To proceed, go to the Project Scheduled Issues table and click the Import from CSV button (1).

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As mentioned earlier, in this view you cannot change the project. Even if you select a CSV file containing Scheduled Issues from different projects, they will be skipped (1).
To avoid confusion, selection is disabled (2).

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It's worth mentioning that you can also import Scheduled Issues from a CSV file even when there are none in your Jira instance or in the project.
You just need to click the Import from CSV button (1).

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Remember that you need at least Project Admin or Jira Admin permissions to import Scheduled Issues in a single project, or Jira Admin permissions to import them on global pages.
If you lack the required permissions, the button will be disabled and a tooltip will appear (1).

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Attempting to import an empty or incorrectly saved CSV file results in both an error message (1) and an error flag (2).

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Let’s suppose you exported Scheduled Issues from projects A and B to a CSV file.
Attempting to select this file in project C will result in an appropriate error message displayed during the first step (1).

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Technical Information About the CSV File

 

The imported file must use specific delimiters and separators

This is only relevant if the CSV file was saved using an application like Microsoft Excel.

 

  • Comma separator between each column: ,

  • Each value must be wrapped in quotation marks — for example: "Scheduled Issue name"

 

📌 CSV Format Limitations

Due to the limitations of the CSV format, some values may have special meanings:

  • "" — no value

  • "__EMPTY__" — an empty string

  • "__NULL__" — null value (rarely appears in exported files; relevant only for parameter columns)

📋 Required Columns

Scheduled Issue with non-subtask Issue Type:

  • name

  • owner (Username)

  • issueType

  • projectKey

Scheduled Issue with subtask Issue Type:

  • name

  • owner (Username)

  • issueType

  • projectKey

  • parentIssueKey

Subtask of a Scheduled Issue:

  • issueType

  • projectKey

  • parentSiName

🔁 Multiple Values in Columns

Some columns, such as triggers and parameters, can contain multiple values under the same name.
To simplify editing, each value is stored in a separate column with an index added at the end.
For example:

"cronExpression", "cronExpression1", "cronExpression2"

The first column has no index; additional columns are numbered starting from 1.

🚫 Skipped Columns in Export

Trigger and parameter columns that have no value are excluded from the exported file.

⚙️ Trigger-Specific Columns

Depending on the trigger type, the following columns may be included:

Cron Trigger:

  • cronExpression

  • cronSkipAfterManualExecution

  • cronTimeZone

  • cronStartDate

  • cronEndDate

Interval Trigger:

  • intervalType

  • intervalDivider

  • intervalSkipAfterManualExecution

  • intervalTimeZone

  • intervalStartDate

  • intervalEndDate

Run Once Trigger:

  • runOnceExecutionDate

  • runOnceSkipAfterManualExecution

  • runOnceTimeZone

Workflow Trigger:

  • workflowIssueType

  • workflowSourceStatus

  • workflowTargetStatus

  • workflowSkipAfterManualExecution

  • workflowTimeZone

  • workflowStartDate

  • workflowEndDate

🧩 Parameter Columns

Columns that contain parameters used by the system or custom fields have a param_ prefix:

  • System field parameter: param_summary

  • Custom field parameter: param_customfield_10010

Only the following columns are relevant for Subtasks of a Scheduled Issue:

  • issueType

  • projectKey

  • parentSiName

  • Parameter columns (param_...)

 

✅ Import from XML

As a Jira Administrator, go to Jira Administration (1), then Manage Apps (2), navigate to Import Scheduled Issues (3), and select the "Import from XML" tab.

Click the Browse button (4) to open the file explorer and select the XML file containing the exported Scheduled Issues.

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Import Scheduled Issues page

 

✅ Import Options After Selecting XML File

Once the file has been selected, the user will see two import options:

  1. Import Scheduled Issues from all projects

  2. Import Scheduled Issues from selected projects only (5)

If your XML file contains Scheduled Issues from only one project, you can still choose the "Import from all projects" option.
In this case, all available data to import will come from that single project.

The second option requires selecting the specific projects into which the issues will be imported (6).

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✅ Selecting Projects and Starting Import

 

To select specific projects, use the Ctrl key during selection.
This allows you to import only the Scheduled Issues that are relevant or important, and helps avoid unnecessary clutter.

 

Once you click the Import button, the operation will begin.
After completion, a confirmation message will appear.
In this example, some Scheduled Issues were not imported because they already exist in the target projects.

 

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