Jira UI hangs when opening view issue screen

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

Problem

Jira UI just hangs when try to open the view issue screen and accessing the view issue screen through search issue navigator

Only happens on client side as in the browser will hangs and CPU utilization increased to 100%
Server side does not shows any utilization issue or spikes
Same for all browser
Seems to be rendering issue

The following appears in the atlassian-jira.log

2015-07-27 10:51:45,134 ajp-apr-8009-exec-9 ERROR slongo 651x9x7 1bvqlbd 172.16.10.128 /secure/Dashboard.jspa [jira.template.velocity.VelocityEngineFactory$Default] Exception initialising Velocity: org.apache.velocity.exception.VelocityException: Velocimacro : Error using VM library : templates/email/macros.vm
org.apache.velocity.exception.VelocityException: Velocimacro : Error using VM library : templates/email/macros.vm
	at org.apache.velocity.runtime.VelocimacroFactory.initVelocimacro(VelocimacroFactory.java:219)
	at org.apache.velocity.runtime.RuntimeInstance.init(RuntimeInstance.java:261)
	at org.apache.velocity.runtime.RuntimeInstance.init(RuntimeInstance.java:589)
	at org.apache.velocity.app.VelocityEngine.init(VelocityEngine.java:135)
	at com.atlassian.jira.template.velocity.VelocityEngineFactory$Default.initialise(VelocityEngineFactory.java:69)
	at com.atlassian.jira.template.velocity.VelocityEngineFactory$Default.access$000(VelocityEngineFactory.java:23)
	at com.atlassian.jira.template.velocity.VelocityEngineFactory$Default$1.create(VelocityEngineFactory.java:34)
	at com.atlassian.jira.template.velocity.VelocityEngineFactory$Default$1.create(VelocityEngineFactory.java:29)
	at com.atlassian.util.concurrent.LazyReference$Sync.run(LazyReference.java:325)
	at com.atlassian.util.concurrent.LazyReference.getInterruptibly(LazyReference.java:143)

Environment

Jira Data Center

Diagnosis

The issue occurs on any browser
Check the Jira log files (atlassian-jira.log), and look for the Modified Files section after a recent restart. If you see that VM files have been modified previously, then this KB article might be relevant:
1 Modified Files : templates/email/text/issueassigned.vm, templates/email/html/includes/fields/worklog.vm, templates/email/html/includes/fields/labels.vm, templates/email/text/issuedeleted.vm, templates/email/html/includes/emailconstants.vm, templates/email/html/issuementioned.vm, templates/email/text/issueworklogdeleted.vm, templates/email/html/issueresolved.vm, templates/email/text/issuecommentedited.vm, templates/email/html/includes/fields/comment.vm, templates/email/text/filtersubscription.vm, templates/email/html/includes/fields/worklogchanges.vm, templates/email/html/includes/header.vm, templates/email/html/includes/fields/issuekeysummary.vm, log4j.properties, templates/email/html/issuecommentedited.vm, templates/email/html/usercreated-nopassword.vm, templates/email/html/issueclosed.vm, templates/email/html/filtersubscription.vm, templates/email/html/issuecommented.vm, templates/email/html/includes/fields/attachments.vm, templates/email/html/issuereopened.vm, templates/email/text/contactadministrator.vm, templates/email/html/issuemoved.vm, templates/email/html/issuegenericevent.vm, templates/email/macros.vm, templates/email/text/issueupdated.vm, templates/email/html/contactadministrator.vm, templates/email/html/issuedeleted.vm, templates/email/text/includes/footer.vm, templates/email/html/issueworkstarted.vm, templates/email/text/issueworklogupdated.vm, templates/email/html/includes/fields/timetracking.vm, templates/email/text/forgotpassword.vm, templates/email/text/includes/issuesummary.vm, templates/email/html/includes/fields/affectsversions.vm, templates/email/html/includes/fields/status.vm, templates/email/html/includes/footer.vm, jira-application.properties, templates/email/html/issuenotify.vm, templates/email/html/includes/fields/description.vm, templates/email/html/includes/fields/assignee.vm, templates/email/text/issueresolved.vm, templates/email/text/issueworkstopped.vm, templates/email/html/issueassigned.vm, templates/email/html/issueworklogdeleted.vm, templates/email/html/includes/fields/reporter.vm, templates/email/text/issuecreated.vm, templates/email/html/includes/fields/components.vm, templates/email/text/issuegenericevent.vm, templates/email/html/includes/userdetails.vm, templates/email/html/includes/fields/createddate.vm, templates/email/html/issueupdated.vm, templates/email/html/includes/fields/issuekey.vm, velocity.properties, templates/email/text/issuereopened.vm, templates/email/text/issueclosed.vm, templates/email/text/issuementioned.vm, templates/email/html/includes/fields/fixversions.vm, templates/email/html/includes/fields/resolveddate.vm, templates/email/html/includes/summary-topleft.vm, templates/email/html/includes/fields/securitylevel.vm, templates/email/html/includes/fields/project.vm, templates/email/html/includes/fields/duedate.vm, templates/email/html/includes/fields/environment.vm, templates/email/text/issueworklogged.vm, templates/email/html/issueworklogupdated.vm, templates/email/html/includes/fields/issuetype.vm, templates/email/html/includes/fields/changelog.vm, templates/email/text/issuemoved.vm, templates/email/html/includes/fields/priority.vm, templates/email/html/issuecreated.vm, templates/email/html/usercreated.vm, templates/email/text/issuecommented.vm, templates/email/html/issueworkstopped.vm, seraph-config.xml, templates/email/html/issueworklogged.vm, templates/email/text/issueworkstarted.vm

Cause

From the logs, this is caused by macros.vm
These files have been modified and will not able to work properly
1: Error using VM library : templates/email/macros.vm

Solution

Resolution

Replacing the file with a default file from a vanilla instance will fix it
Replace any further file that is impacted shown in logs if needed

Updated on April 2, 2025

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