Jira to Linear Migration Checklist

Overview

Risk Level: Medium (Operational disruption risk; data integrity concerns).
Timeline: 4–6 weeks.
Team Size: 3–5 core stakeholders (IT Admin, Engineering Lead, Project Manager).

Conduct a full audit of existing Jira projects, workflows, and issue types.
Identify stale projects or issues that do not require migration (archival candidate).
Establish a mapping document between Jira issue statuses and Linear workflow states.
Assess custom field usage in Jira and determine if they map to Linear properties or labels.
Define the scope of historical data to be migrated (e.g., last 2 years vs. all-time).
Identify all active Jira integrations (Slack, GitHub, Sentry) that need re-authorization.
Document all Jira users and cross-reference with active employees to ensure accurate seat provisioning.

Execute a full export of Jira Cloud data (JSON/CSV) to create a 'Golden Copy'.
Store the Golden Copy in an encrypted, UK-based S3 bucket or secure server.
Validate that all attachments are accounted for in the export files.
Test a small-scale import (1 project) into a Linear sandbox environment.
Verify that user mapping (Jira email to Linear email) is consistent.
Clean up Jira board configurations to remove unused custom fields that clutter imports.
Review Linear’s API rate limits to ensure the migration script won't be throttled.

Map GitHub/GitLab repository links to Linear teams.
Review existing automation rules in Jira and replicate them as Linear Automations.
Audit third-party reporting tools that pull from Jira; identify Linear equivalents.
Notify stakeholders of the planned downtime window (48 hours prior).
Create a "Read-Only" Jira instance plan for legacy reference.

Set Jira projects to "Read-Only" mode to prevent data drift.
Perform a final incremental export of Jira tickets created since the last test run.
Communicate the "Freeze Period" start time to the entire organisation.
Disable Jira outgoing email notifications to prevent confusion.
Verify that the migration service account has administrative privileges in Linear.

Ensure the Jira data export is encrypted at rest using AES-256.
Conduct a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) for the migration.
Confirm that Linear’s data processing agreement (DPA) includes Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) for international transfers.
Verify that no PII (Personally Identifiable Information) is stored in publicly accessible migration logs.
Ensure that user data mapping does not include unnecessary sensitive information.
Set an automated deletion policy for the "Golden Copy" once the retention period expires.
Confirm that all staff access to the migrated data follows the principle of least privilege.
Update the company’s internal Privacy Notice to reflect the use of Linear as a data processor.

Issue: User mapping fails due to differing email aliases. Action: Standardise email formats in a CSV mapping file before import.
Issue: Attachments fail to download. Action: Check Jira API token permissions or firewall restrictions.
Issue: Large imports hitting rate limits. Action: Implement a sleep interval in the migration script.
Issue: Broken links in documentation. Action: Use a redirect script or update links systematically.
Issue: Workflow states don't match. Action: Manually update the workflow status mapping in the Linear import configuration.