Steps to import from older Gitlab version to newer version

Good day all,

We need to go over to a new server with the ‘latest’ Enterprise Edition version (10.5.0-ee) of Gitlab. Our old Gitlab instance (version 9.1.0 ce) is on a Ubuntu 12.04, and I cannot upgrade the Gitlab instance anymore.

My guess is that the Ubuntu version must be upgraded first, before I can upgrade the Gitlab instance also. The strategy I come with is now:

1. On a virtual machine with Gitlab version 9.1.0 (ce) a backup of the production Gitlab server is restored
2. The Gitlab instance is upgraded to version 10.5.x
3. A backup is made of that data or…
4. The projects are exported
5. The backup is restored in the Gitlab 10.5.x-ee production server, or…
6. The exported projects are imported at the 10.5.x-ee production server

But in this strategy I assume a few things I need the be confirmed first.

I assume:

1. Backups can be restored from Community Edition to Enterprise Edition (with the same version numbers)
2. Exported projects from Community Edition can be imported in Enterprise Edition (with same version numbers)

Could someone give me some feedback?

It can be done!

1. update the 9.1 CE version to 10.5 CE version
2. upgrade the 10.5 CE edition to 10.5 EE edition