How to start Jira 8.0 with OpenJDK 11 and SQL Server

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

Jira 8.0/8.1 supports Oracle JDK 8 however it also contains the majority of changes required for the OpenJDK 11 support. It means you can already run Jira 8.0/8.1 on OpenJDK 11 however Java 11 features are not supported in the source code. The official support will be announced in one of the upcoming Jira 8.x versions.

To run Jira 8.0/8.1 on Java 11, you need to manually update the JDBC driver so that it's compatible with OpenJDK 11. This means replacing the bundled SQL Server driver with the one compliant with either both Java 8 and Java 11 or only Java 11.

If the driver is not replaced, you will not be able to use SQL Server with Jira 8.0/8.1 running on OpenJDK 11.

Versions

This knowledge base article applies only to Jira 8.0 and 8.1. Jira 8.2 is bundled with the correction version of the JDBC driver, 7.2.1.

Solution

  1. Shut down your Jira or, if you're upgrading Jira at the same time, upgrade the driver, before you re-apply modifications. See: Upgrading Jira.

  2. Download Java 11 compatible JDBC driver for SQL Server from the Microsoft site. See Microsoft JDBC Driver for SQL Server.

  3. Extract the driver jar files.

  4. Go to the <Jira-install>/lib folder.

  5. Replace the current mssql-jdbc-6.2.1.jre8.jar driver with the downloaded jar driver. You can use mssql-jdbc-7.x.x.jre8.jar if you need it to be compatible with both Java 8 and Java 11 or mssql-jdbc-7.x.x.jre11.jar if you need Java 11 compatibility only.

  6. Go to <installation-directory>/bin, and run start-Jira.bat or start-jira.sh to start Jira.

  7. Open Jira in your browser.

Updated on April 2, 2025
Platform
Data Center only
Product
Jira Software Data Center
On this pageSummarySolution

Still need help?

The Atlassian Community is here for you.
Ask the Community