Jira crashes with java.io.IOException: Map fail

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

Problem

Jira Crashes and results in an OutOfMemoryError.

The following appears in the atlassian-jira.log:

1 2 3 Caused by: java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Map failed at sun.nio.ch.FileChannelImpl.map0(Native Method) at sun.nio.ch.FileChannelImpl.map(FileChannelImpl.java:846)

Environment

Jira Data Center

Cause

The OS (unix based) was preventing Jira from using the amount of memory allocated for JAVA.

Resolution

Allow unlimited memory usage for the user running Jira with the following command. This will remove any limits to virtual memory for the Jira process.

1 ulimit -v unlimited

One of the ways to do this is to add the line above to the Jira start-up script $JIRA-installation-directory/bin/start-jira.sh.

Updated on April 8, 2025

Still need help?

The Atlassian Community is here for you.