How to do it...

To import data from other systems, perform the following steps:

1. Log in to Jira as an administrator.
2. Select the Projects menu from the top and select the Import External Project option.
3. Select the CSV option. If, however, you see your system in the list, you can choose that instead. The process of using a system-specific importer will be mostly the same as the CSV importer, with some minor differences.

1. Select the CSV file for the CSV Source File field. If you are performing an import for the first time, do not select the Use an existing configuration option. We will generate the configuration at the end of the import, and you will be able to use this to fast-track future imports.

1. Expand the Advanced option if your file uses a different file encoding or uses a character other than a comma (,) as its separators. Click on the Next button to proceed to step 2 of the wizard:

1. Select the project to import your data into. If you do not have a project, you can select the Select New option and create a project on-the-fly.

1. Verify the E-mail Suffix for New Users and Date format values used in your CSV file. This will ensure that data such as dates will be correctly parsed while being imported and saved in Jira's date fields, such as Due dates:

1. Select and map the CSV columns to Jira fields. Certain fields, such as the Summary field, must have a corresponding column in the file; otherwise, Jira will not allow you to proceed. If you do not want to map a column, you can select the Don't map this field option.

1. Select the Map field value option for any columns mapping to a selected list style field. This will allow you to map individual values from the CSV file column to options available in Jira. Unless you are sure that your file contents can be mapped to the Jira field options exactly, it is best to manually verify this; otherwise, you will end up with duplicated values due to, for example, case sensitivity:

1. If you opt to map field values, review all of the listed values and map them to their corresponding field options in Jira. If a value does not have an option, you can type in the desired option and Jira will create it.
2. Click on the Begin Import button to start importing your data into Jira: 

1. After the import process is completed, review the result. You can click on the Download a detailed log link to get a full log of the process if the import fails. You can also click on the Save the configuration link to get a copy of the mapping files so that, next time, you do not have to remap everything from scratch.