Jira Data Center end of life: dates and self-hosted options

Atlassian winds Data Center down in phases over three years. Each date is at 23:59 PST.

• 15 February 2024Support for Jira Server ends. Server gets no more fixes and no support.
• 30 March 2026New customers can no longer buy Data Center subscriptions or Data Center apps from the Marketplace.
• 30 March 2028Existing customers can no longer buy new subscriptions, expansions, upgrades or Marketplace apps. Renewals for the users and apps you already have continue.
• 28 March 2029End of life. Data Center subscriptions and their Marketplace apps expire, and the products become read-only.

The end of life covers Jira Software Data Center, Jira Service Management Data Center, Confluence Data Center and Crowd Data Center, with their apps. Bitbucket and Bamboo Data Center continue after 2029 under a Bitbucket Hybrid License. Jira Align Data Center is not included.

Source: Atlassian, Data Center End of Life.

Until 28 March 2029, Atlassian keeps three things for Data Center: technical support, security fixes for critical vulnerabilities, and connectors from Data Center to Atlassian Cloud.

You can renew your subscription for the users and apps you have today. A renewal cannot run past 28 March 2029: a 12-month renewal that crosses that date is prorated to it.

When the subscription expires, Jira becomes read-only. You can open the data, but you cannot add issues or change them. There are no more updates and no support. Atlassian advises against keeping a read-only instance connected to the internet, because it gets no security fixes, and recommends a backup of the data.

Atlassian offers extended maintenance after 28 March 2029 to some customers, by exception only. It is a multi-year Data Center extension that you agree with Atlassian sales.

• Jira CloudThe path Atlassian recommends. The Atlassian Migration Program moves projects, users and apps. A migration trial lasts as long as your Data Center subscription, and step-up credits cover the unused part of your Data Center maintenance. Atlassian states that the per-user cost of Cloud is higher than Data Center. Cloud gives no direct access to the database: reports come from Atlassian’s analytics products, the REST API or exports.
• Government CloudFor US government agencies and their partners, with FedRAMP Moderate authorization. Atlassian plans FedRAMP High and Impact Level 5 environments, ready for authorization before Data Center end of life.
• Extended maintenanceA multi-year Data Center extension after 2029, by exception only. It moves the deadline, but the move to Cloud stays.
• Another trackerIf a policy or a contract keeps the tracker on your own servers, move to a product you can self-host after 2029. Open-source options include It's a Plan, OpenProject and Redmine. GitLab self-managed covers issues if you already run it.

It's a Plan is an open-source issue tracker under AGPL-3.0. It runs on your servers, the source is public, and the licence lets you run and change it with no end date.

• Your databaseIssues, comments and files stay in your PostgreSQL and your S3-compatible store. Reports can query the database directly.
• Sign-inSingle sign-on with any OIDC provider and SCIM 2.0 provisioning, in the free edition. SAML in Pro.
• RolesCustom roles with their own permissions, shared by the projects of a team.
• Audit logIn Pro: what people, agents and SCIM do, with the values before and after each change.
• DeployA Helm chart for Kubernetes 1.24 or newer, or Docker Compose on one server.
• CostThe open edition has no licence fee and no per-user price. Pro is $240 a year for one domain, with any number of people.
• ImportA Jira importer is coming soon. Until then, an agent imports the CSV export of your issues. Import from Linear and Plane is built in.

The full comparison, with Jira prices for 10, 50 and 200 people, is on the open-source Jira alternative page.

The same steps apply whether you move to Cloud or to a self-hosted tracker.

1. 01Set the date

   Pick a target date. If the team will grow, plan the move before 30 March 2028: after that date the Data Center licence cannot be expanded.

2. 02List the projects

   Mark which projects are active, which are archived, and which can stay read-only.

3. 03Map the workflows

   Write down the statuses, transitions, issue types, custom fields and screens of each project. Simplify them before you move.

4. 04List users and groups

   Note where the accounts come from: Crowd, LDAP or an identity provider. Note who has admin rights.

5. 05List integrations and apps

   Every Marketplace app, webhook, script and REST API client. Check what the target product gives in their place.

6. 06List automation and reports

   Automation rules, scheduled jobs, and reports that read the database directly.

7. 07Measure the data

   The number of issues, the size of the attachments, and the history you must keep.

8. 08Back up

   Make a full backup of the database and the attachments before end of life.

9. 09Run a test migration

   Move one project first, check it with the team, then move the rest.