Migrate from HipChat to Mattermost

You can migrate HipChat users and message histories to Mattermost using the following guidelines.

Step 1: Set up your Mattermost instance

  • Go to Mattermost download page to install Mattermost in your environment using one of the installation guides for Linux binary install, Docker install or various orchestrated installations.

Questions? Please visit our troubleshooting forum for help.

Step 2: Export your data from HipChat Server or HipChat Data Center

HipChat Server/HipChat Data Center

If you’re able to upgrade HipChat Server or HipChat Data Center to the latest version, we recommend using Group Export Dashboard to export your data. If you’re unable to upgrade, see Command Line Interface procedure below.

Using the Group Export Dashboard

  1. Log in to your Hipchat Server (e.g. hipchat.yourcompany.com).

  2. Click on Server Admin > Export.

  3. Select the data to export.

  4. In the Password and Confirm Password fields, create a password to protect your archive files (Store this password as it is not saved anywhere else).

  5. Click Export. Once the export is done, you will receive an email with a link to download the file.

If you’re unable to use the Group Export Dashboard, use the command line interface to export

  1. Go to CLI.

  2. Enter hipchat export --export  -p your_password.

  3. Once the export is done, you will receive an email with a link to download the file.

More detailed instructions can be found on Hipchat’s documentation and knowledge base.

Step 3: Import your data into Mattermost

  1. Follow the Mattermost Bulk Load Tool guide to import your data into Mattermost. Files exported from HipChat will need to be converted to the format required by Mattermost. Please contact us if you require assistance in the conversion.

  2. You are also encouraged to use the HipChat import tool created by Herzum: https://github.com/herzum/HC2MM.

If you’re interested in contributing or testing any community contributed solution, please let us know at info@mattermost.com, Twitter or Mattermost forums at https://forum.mattermost.com.

  1. Alternatively, contact Mattermost for partner recommendations for your region to assist in your import.

Step 4: Onboard your users into Mattermost

After importing users, you can send out an announcement via email or via your old system (or both) to let users know how to log into Mattermost with their old accounts or how to create new accounts.

Announcing Mattermost onboarding in your previous messaging system:

Use the following message template to alert users of the migration:

@all, we’re moving communications to a new Mattermost server. You can start your new account by going to the [your new location, e.g. ``https://yourcompany.com/mattermost``], selecting **I forgot my password**, and entering the email you used on this system in the Reset Password page to set up new credentials. Your message history and channels should carry over from this system into Mattermost. Any questions? Please let us know.

Announcing Mattermost onboarding using email using username/password:

  1. Get a list of email addresses of people in the new system by running a database query on Mattermost. Run SELECT Email FROM Users from either PostgreSQL or MySQL databases.

  2. Adapt the migration announcement email template to let users know how to reclaim their old accounts or start new ones.

Onboard users using SSO in Mattermost

Alternatively, you can choose to set up SSO (Single Sign-on) with Mattermost if you are using an Enterprise version.

  1. Configure Active Directory/LDAP or SAML Single Sign-on from the System Console.

  2. Adjust the messaging templates above to remove “password reset” references and indicate which SSO system credentials Mattermost has configured.