How to create Jira Support Zip via command line

Platform Notice: Data Center Only - This article only applies to Atlassian products on the Data Center platform.

Note that this KB was created for the Data Center version of the product. Data Center KBs for non-Data-Center-specific features may also work for Server versions of the product, however they have not been tested. Support for Server* products ended on February 15th 2024. If you are running a Server product, you can visit the Atlassian Server end of support announcement to review your migration options.

*Except Fisheye and Crucible

Summary

When Jira web interface, the UI, is not working properly, running and getting the Support Zip is a challenge, requiring Jira or the System administrator to collect logs and data from the Operating System.

To facilitate it, this solution comes to automatize the log/data search and packaging using the same structure the Support Zip tool provides beyond other benefits.

Solution

Environment and requirements

The solution runs in Linux based Operating System with:

/bin/bash
zip and/or gzip applications

To run in Windows the OS might have:

Powershell

It's also required by the system administrator:

Being familiar with the Operating System command line interface.
Recognize the Jira Home and Jira Application folders.
Have read permission on Jira Home and Jira Application folders (recommended root/Administrator or the Jira user if using Linux).

⚠️ Attention: when using Jira Data Center with multiple nodes, the script shall be run in each node separately and the home folder refers to the Jira home from the node (not the shared home folder). Also, before running the scripts, ensure there is enough disk space on node-home/export for the data transfer and zip creation!

Script and its usage

Below you may find the scripts, usage, and real examples for Linux and Windows.

Linux

Script

#!/bin/bash
######################
# supportzip.sh
# Author: Douglas Alves - dalves@atlassian.com in behalf of Atlassian Customer Success team
# Atlassian doc:
#   https://confluence.atlassian.com/x/BZgBQw 
# Versioning:
#   0.1 20220324 - Initial version
#   0.2 20220328 - Password sanitization
#   1.0 20220419 - Added thread dump
#   1.1 20240912 - Changed the path for the jfr
# To-do:
#   Consult perf data (DB latency, OS, etc)
######################
USER=`whoami`
WHEREAMI=`pwd`
DATE=`date +%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S`
TD=0

########THE OPTIONS#####
usage() { echo "Usage: $0 [-h <jira home path>] [-a <jira app path>] -t
          -h: obligatory, absolute path of jira home directory
          -a: obligatory, absolute path of jira application directory
          -t: optional, to run and collect thread dumps" 1>&2; exit 1; }
while getopts ":a:h:t" o; do
    case $o in
        h|H)
            h=${OPTARG}
            ;;
        a|A)
            a=${OPTARG}
            ;;
        t|T)
            TD=1
            ;;
        *)
            usage
            ;;
    esac
done

if [ -z $h ] || [ -z $a ]; then
    usage
fi

###############THE PATHS
JIRAAPP=$a
JIRAHOME=$h
BEXPORT=$JIRAHOME/export
LOG=$BEXPORT/Jira_support_$DATE.log
EXPORT=$BEXPORT/Jira_support_$DATE

echo '
        __          ------------------------------------------
 _(\    |@@|        | Beep - Generating Atlassian Support Zip  |
(__/\__ \--/ __    /_------------------------------------------
   \___|----|  |   __
       \ }{ /\ )_ / _\
       /\__/\ \__O (__
      (--/\--)    \__/
      _)(  )(_
     `---''---`
'
echo "
##############################
# Atlassian support zip tool #
##############################
User = $USER
Jira Home = $JIRAHOME
Jira App = $JIRAAPP

Hit CTRL+C (10s wait) if any path or user is incorrect.
"
sleep 10

echo "`date +%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S` - Start creating the Support Zip file" >> $LOG
#Create the basic structure
mkdir -p $EXPORT/{application-properties,healthchecks,tomcat-config,application-config,auth-cfg,thread-dump,tomcat-logs,application-logs,cache-cfg,tomcat-access-logs,cluster-nodes}

#application-logs
echo ' - Packing application logs'
echo "`date +%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S` - application-logs" >> $LOG
cp -rf $JIRAHOME/log/* $EXPORT/application-logs/  

# application-config
#Jira configuration files
echo ' - Packing application config files'
echo "`date +%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S` - application-config" >> $LOG
cat $JIRAHOME/dbconfig.xml | sed 's/\<password\>.*/\<password\>Sanitized by Support Utility\<\/password\>/g' | sed 's/\<username\>.*/\<username\>Sanitized by Support Utility\<\/username\>/g' > $EXPORT/application-config/dbconfig.xml

cp -f $JIRAAPP/atlassian-jira/WEB-INF/classes/{entityengine.xml,log4j.properties} $EXPORT/application-config/
cp -f $JIRAAPP/bin/{setclasspath.sh,setenv.sh,shutdown.sh,start-jira.sh,startup.sh,stop-jira.sh} $EXPORT/application-config/ 
for i in setclasspath.sh setenv.sh shutdown.sh start-jira.sh startup.sh stop-jira.sh ; do  tmp=`echo $i | sed 's/\./-/g'`; mv $EXPORT/application-config/$i $EXPORT/application-config/$tmp.txt; done

#auth-cfg
#If exists <jira-home>/logs/support (possibly will gather old data) will grab the file however changing name to avoid confusion
echo ' - Packing configuration summary, if any available'
echo "`date +%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S` - auth-cfg" >> $LOG
if [ -f $JIRAHOME/logs/support/directoryConfigurationSummary.txt ]; then
    echo ' - Packing the last directoryConfigurationSummary available.'
    cat $JIRAHOME/logs/support/directoryConfigurationSummary.txt | sed 's/password:.*/password: Sanitized by Support Utility/g' > $EXPORT/auth-cfg/`ls -l $JIRAHOME/logs/support/directoryConfigurationSummary.txt | awk -F' ' '{print $6"-"$7}'`.directoryConfigurationSummary.txt;
fi

#tomcat-access-logs
#Get last 5 days logs
echo ' - Packing Tomcat access logs'
echo "`date +%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S` - tomcat-access-logs" >> $LOG
find $JIRAAPP/logs/access_log* -type f -mtime -10  -exec cp -a "{}" $EXPORT/tomcat-access-logs \; >/dev/null

#cache-cfg
echo ' - Packing cache configuration files'
echo "`date +%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S` - cache-cfg" >> $LOG
cp -f $JIRAAPP/atlassian-jira/WEB-INF/classes/*cache.prop* $EXPORT/cache-cfg 

#tomcat-config
echo ' - Packing tomcat configuration files'
echo "`date +%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S` - tomcat-config" >> $LOG
cp -f $JIRAAPP/conf/* $EXPORT/tomcat-config 
#sanitization
cd $EXPORT/tomcat-config; cat server.xml  | sed 's/keystorePass=\".*\"/keystorePass=\"Sanitized by Support Utility\"/g' | sed "s/keystorePass=\'.*\'/keystorePass=\'Sanitized by Support Utility\'/g" > server.xml.tmp; mv -f server.xml.tmp server.xml
cd $EXPORT/tomcat-config; cat tomcat-users.xml | sed 's/password=\".*\"/password=\"Sanitized by Support Utility\"/g' > tomcat-users.xml.tmp; mv -f tomcat-users.xml.tmp tomcat-users.xml

#healthchecks				
#If exists <jira-home>/logs/support (possibly will gather old data) will grab the file however changing name to avoid confusion
echo ' - Packing healthcheckResults, if any available'
echo "`date +%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S` - healthchecks" >> $LOG
if [ -f $JIRAHOME/logs/support/healthcheckResults.txt ]; then  
    cp -f $JIRAHOME/logs/support/healthcheckResults.txt $EXPORT/healthchecks/`ls -l $JIRAHOME/logs/support/healthcheckResults.txt | awk -F' ' '{print $6"-"$7}'`.healthcheckResults.txt; 
fi

#tomcat-logs
echo ' - Packing Tomcat logs'
echo "`date +%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S` - tomcat-logs" >> $LOG
find $JIRAAPP/logs -type f \( ! -iname "access_log*" \) -mtime -10  -exec cp -a "{}" $EXPORT/tomcat-logs \;

#application-properties
#If exists <jira-home>/logs/support (possibly will gather old data) will grab the file however changing name to avoid confusion
echo ' - Packing the application.xml, if any available'
echo "`date +%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S` - application-properties" >> $LOG
if [ -f $JIRAHOME/logs/support/application.xml ]; then  
    cp -f $JIRAHOME/logs/support/application.xml $EXPORT/application-properties/`ls -l $JIRAHOME/logs/support/application.xml | awk -F' ' '{print $6"-"$7}'`.application.xml; 
fi


#thread-dump
if [ $TD == 1 ]
then 
    echo ' - Generating thread dumps -  this will take ~1 minute'
    echo "`date +%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S` - thread dump" >> $LOG
    APP_PID=`ps aux | grep -i jira | grep -i java | awk  -F '[ ]*' '{print $2}'`;
    for i in $(seq 6); do top -b -H -p $APP_PID -n 1 > $EXPORT/thread-dump/threaddump_`date +%s`_cpu_usage.txt; jstack $APP_PID > $EXPORT/thread-dump/threaddump_`date +%s`.tdump; sleep 10; done
else
    echo ' - Thread dump will not be collected'
    echo "`date +%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S` - no thread dump" >> $LOG
fi

#move jfr data to root folder
if [ -d $EXPORT/application-logs/jfr ]; then
    echo ' - Moving stuff around'
    mv $EXPORT/application-logs/jfr $EXPORT/jfr-bundle
fi

#Pack and go
if [ -x "$(command -v zip)" ] ; then 
    echo; echo 'Creating zip file...'
    echo "`date +%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S` - Packing as zip" >> $LOG
    cd $EXPORT
    zip -r ../Jira_support_$DATE.zip ./* 2>&1 >> $LOG; 
    echo; echo "The support zip file can be found in $BEXPORT/Jira_support_$DATE.zip, please upload this file to Atlassian."
    echo "."
    echo "Have a g'day =)"
    echo
else 
    echo; echo 'Zip not found, packing as tar.gz...'
    echo "`date +%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S` - Zip not found, packing as tar.gz" >> $LOG
    cd $BEXPORT; tar -cvf Jira_support_$DATE.tar $EXPORT/*; gzip Jira_support_$DATE.tar 2>&1 >> $LOG;  
    echo; echo "The support zip file can be found in $BEXPORT/Jira_support_$DATE.tar.gz, please upload this file to Atlassian."
    echo "."
    echo "Have a g'day =)"
    echo
fi


#EOF

Usage

The basic script shall be run as follows:

./supportzip.sh [-h <jira home path>] [-a <jira app path>]

With details:

# ./supportzip.sh -h
Usage: ./supportzip.sh [-h <jira home path>] [-a <jira app path>] -t
          -h: obligatory, absolute path of jira home directory
          -a: obligatory, absolute path of jira application directory
          -t: optional, to collect thread dumps

Example

Below you may find an example of running the script using Linux and paths:

Node home folder (-h) "/opt/atlassian/jira/jira-home", and
Application folder (-a) "/opt/atlassian/jira/atlassian-jira-software-8.20.6-standalone"

The script call shall be set as (the "-t" is optional to generate thread dumps):

./supportzip.sh -h /opt/atlassian/jira/jira-home -a /opt/atlassian/jira/atlassian-jira-software-8.20.6-standalone -t

With details:

# ./supportzip.sh -h /opt/atlassian/jira/jira-home -a /opt/atlassian/jira/atlassian-jira-software-8.20.6-standalone -t

        __          ------------------------------------------
 _(\    |@@|        | Beep - Generating Atlassian Support Zip  |
(__/\__ \--/ __    /_------------------------------------------
   \___|----|  |   __
       \ }{ /\ )_ / _\
       /\__/\ \__O (__
      (--/\--)    \__/
      _)(  )(_
     `------`


##############################
# Atlassian support zip tool #
##############################
User = jirauser
Jira Home = /opt/atlassian/jira/jira-home/
Jira App = /opt/atlassian/jira/atlassian-jira-software-8.20.6-standalone/

Hit CTRL+C (10s wait) if any path or user is incorrect.

 - Packing application logs
 - Packing application config files
 - Packing configuration summary, if any available
 - Packing Tomcat access logs
 - Packing cache configuration files
 - Packing tomcat configuration files
 - Packing healthcheckResults, if any available
 - Packing Tomcat logs
 - Packing the application.xml, if any available
 - Generating thread dumps -  this will take ~1 minute

Creating zip file...

The support zip file can be found in /opt/atlassian/jira/jira-home/export/Jira_support_2022-04-19-10-20-48.zip, please upload this file to Atlassian.
.
Have a g'day =)

Windows

Script

######################
# supportzip.sh
# Author: Douglas Alves - dalves@atlassian.com in behalf of Atlassian Customer Success team
# Atlassian doc:
#   https://confluence.atlassian.com/x/BZgBQw 
# Versioning:
#   0.1 20220324 - Initial version for Linux
#   0.2 20220328 - Password sanitization
#   1.0 20220419 - Linux Added thread dump
#   W1.0 202306 - Ported for Windows Power Shell
######################

param(
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$True, Position=0, ValueFromPipeline=$false)]
    [System.String]
    $a,

    [Parameter(Mandatory=$True, Position=1, ValueFromPipeline=$false)]
    [System.String]
    $h
)

$JIRAHOME=$h
$JIRAAPP=$a

$DATE=(get-date -f yyyy-MM-dd_hh-mm)

if ( !(Test-Path -Path $h) -or !(Test-Path -Path $a))
{
    echo "Usage: .\supportzip.ps1 [-h <jira home path>] [-a <jira app path>] 
          -h: obligatory, absolute path of jira home directory
          -a: obligatory, absolute path of jira application directory"
          exit 1
}

$IAM = whoami
$BEXPORT="$JIRAHOME/export"
$LOG="$BEXPORT/Jira_support.log"
$EXPORT="$BEXPORT/Jira_support_zip_$DATE"

echo ""
echo "        __          ------------------------------------------"
echo " _(\    |@@|        | Beep - Generating Atlassian Support Zip  |"
echo "(__/\__ \--/ __    /_------------------------------------------"
echo "   \___|----|  |   __"
echo "       \ }{ /\ )_ / _\"
echo "       /\__/\ \__O (__"
echo "      (--/\--)    \__/"
echo "      _)(  )(_"
echo "     `---''---`"
echo "."
echo "."
echo "##############################"
echo "# Atlassian support zip tool #"
echo "##############################"
echo "$DATE"
echo "Jira Home = $JIRAHOME"
echo "Jira App = $JIRAAPP"
echo "Current user = $IAM"
echo "."
echo "Hit CTRL+C (10s wait) if any path or user is incorrect."
sleep 10

#Create the basic structure
echo " - Creating basic structure"
echo " .... "
mkdir $EXPORT > $null
cd $EXPORT
mkdir application-properties,healthchecks,tomcat-config,application-config,auth-cfg,thread-dump,tomcat-logs,application-logs,cache-cfg,tomcat-access-logs,cluster-nodes > $null
echo " .... "

#application-logs
echo " - Packing application logs"
cp $JIRAHOME/log/* $EXPORT/application-logs/


# application-config
#Jira configuration files
echo ' - Packing application config files'
(Get-Content $JIRAHOME/dbconfig.xml) -replace '<username>.+','<username>Sanitized by Support Utility</username>' -replace '<password>.+','<password>Sanitized by Support Utility</password>' > $EXPORT/application-config/dbconfig.xml
cp $JIRAAPP/atlassian-jira/WEB-INF/classes/entityengine.xml $EXPORT/application-config/
cp $JIRAAPP/atlassian-jira/WEB-INF/classes/log4j.properties $EXPORT/application-config/
cp $JIRAAPP/bin/* $EXPORT/application-config/ 

#auth-cfg
#If exists <jira-home>/logs/support (possibly will gather old data) will grab the file however changing name to avoid confusion
echo ' - Packing configuration summary, if any available'
if(Test-Path -Path $JIRAHOME/logs/support/directoryConfigurationSummary.txt -PathType Leaf) {
    echo ' - Packing the last directoryConfigurationSummary available.'
    cp $JIRAHOME/logs/support/directoryConfigurationSummary.txt $EXPORT/auth-cfg/
}
else {
    echo ' -- Last directoryConfigurationSummary does not exist. Leaving.'
}

#tomcat-access-logs
#Get tomcat logs
echo ' - Packing all Tomcat logs'
#cp $JIRAAPP/logs/access_log* $EXPORT/tomcat-access-logs/
cp $JIRAAPP/logs/* $EXPORT/tomcat-access-logs/

#cache-cfg
echo ' - Packing cache configuration files'
cp $JIRAAPP/atlassian-jira/WEB-INF/classes/*cache.prop* $EXPORT/cache-cfg 

#tomcat-config
echo ' - Packing tomcat configuration files'
cp $JIRAAPP/conf/* $EXPORT/tomcat-config/
#sanitization
(Get-Content $EXPORT/tomcat-config/server.xml) -replace 'keystorePass=".+"','keystorePass=<sanitized_by_support>' | Set-Content $EXPORT/tomcat-config/server.xml
(Get-Content $EXPORT/tomcat-config/tomcat-users.xml) -replace 'password=".+"','password="sanitized_by_Support'  | Set-Content $EXPORT/tomcat-config/tomcat-users.xml

#healthchecks				
#If exists <jira-home>/logs/support (possibly will gather old data) will grab the file however changing name to avoid confusion
echo ' - Packing healthcheck results, if any available'
if(Test-Path -Path $JIRAHOME/logs/support/healthcheckResults.txt -PathType Leaf) {
    cp $JIRAHOME/logs/support/healthcheckResults.txt $EXPORT/healthchecks/last_healthcheckResults.txt
}
else{
    echo ' -- Last healthcheck file does not exist. Leaving without it.'
}

#application-properties
#If exists <jira-home>/logs/support (possibly will gather old data) will grab the file however changing name to avoid confusion
echo ' - Packing the application.xml, if any available'
if(Test-Path -Path $JIRAHOME/logs/support/application.xml -PathType Leaf) {
    echo " - Coppying last available application.xml"
    cp $JIRAHOME/logs/support/application.xml $EXPORT/application-properties/last-application.xml
}
else{
    echo " - No application.xml found. Leaving without it."
}


#Pack and go
echo "."; echo 'Creating zip file...'
Compress-Archive -LiteralPath $EXPORT -DestinationPath $BEXPORT/Jira_support_$DATE.zip -Force
cd $BEXPORT
echo "."
echo "."
echo "."
echo "."; echo "The support zip file can be found in $BEXPORT/Jira_support_$DATE.zip, please upload this file to Atlassian."
echo "."
echo "Have a g'day =)"
echo "."


#EOF

Usage

The basic script shall be run using powershell prompt as:

./supportzip.ps1 [-h <jira home path>] [-a <jira app path>]

With details:

1
2
3

Usage: .\supportzip.ps1 [-h <jira home path>] [-a <jira app path>] 
          -h: obligatory, absolute path of jira home directory
          -a: obligatory, absolute path of jira application directory

Example

Below you may find an example of running the script with Windows and paths:

Node home folder (-h) "C:\Program Files\Atlassian\Application Data\Jira", and
Application folder (-a) "C:\Program Files\Atlassian\Jira"

The final command shall be (using Powershell):

.\supportzip.ps1 -a "C:\Program Files\Atlassian\Jira" -h "C:\Program Files\Atlassian\Application Data\Jira"

With details:

PS C:\> .\supportzip.ps1 -a "C:\Program Files\Atlassian\Jira" -h "C:\Program Files\Atlassian\Application Data\Jira"

        __          ------------------------------------------
 _(\    |@@|        | Beep - Generating Atlassian Support Zip  |
(__/\__ \--/ __    /_------------------------------------------
   \___|----|  |   __
       \ }{ /\ )_ / _\
       /\__/\ \__O (__
      (--/\--)    \__/
      _)(  )(_
# Atlassian support zip tool #
##############################
2023-08-14_01-24
Jira Home = C:\Program Files\Atlassian\Application Data\Jira
Jira App = C:\Program Files\Atlassian\Jira
Current user = ec2amaz-81f6lqb\administrator
.
Hit CTRL+C (10s wait) if any path or user is incorrect.
 - Creating basic structure
 ....
 ....
 - Packing application logs
 - Packing application config files
 - Packing configuration summary, if any available
 - Packing the last directoryConfigurationSummary available.
 - Packing all Tomcat logs
 - Packing cache configuration files
 - Packing tomcat configuration files
 - Packing healthcheck results, if any available
 - Packing the application.xml, if any available
 - Copying last available application.xml
.
Creating zip file...
.
.
.
.
The support zip file can be found in C:\Program Files\Atlassian\Application Data\Jira/export/Jira_support_2023-08-14_01-24.zip, please upload this file to Atlassian.
.
Have a g'day =)
.

For both Linux and Windows the support.zip generated file will be placed at <jira-home>/export.

Important notes

This solution is not a substitute of UI Support Zip. If you have the chance to generate the support zip though the UI, please prefer to use it.
This solution is not supported by Atlassian, and the performance of the UI may differ from the command line tool.
Username and passwords are sanitized in dbconfig.xml (database), directoryConfigurationSummary (directories) and server.xml/tomcat-users.xml (tomcat configuration).

Updated on April 14, 2025

Was this helpful?

It wasn't accurateIt wasn't clearIt wasn't relevant

How to create Jira Support Zip via command line

Summary

Solution

Environment and requirements

Script and its usage

Linux

Windows

Important notes

Still need help?