JIRA Won't Start Due to java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError org.apache.log4j.Appender
Platform Notice: Data Center Only - This article only applies to Atlassian apps 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
Symptoms
JIRA fails to start due to a NoClassDefFoundError for org/apache/log4j/Appender.
The following appears in the atlassian-jira.log:
java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/apache/log4j/Appender
at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass1(Native Method)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClassCond(ClassLoader.java:632)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass(ClassLoader.java:616)
at java.security.SecureClassLoader.defineClass(SecureClassLoader.java:141)
at java.net.URLClassLoader.defineClass(URLClassLoader.java:283)
at java.net.URLClassLoader.access$000(URLClassLoader.java:58)
Cause
This typically happens because some classes are missing from the $JIRA_INSTALL/lib/ directory, in this case the log4j class. These classes are jar files which can be checked through file system.
Resolution
Verify if the JAR exists within the
$JIRA_INSTALL/libdirectory.If not, download the JIRA version from our downloads archive (this will either be a tarball or a ZIP, depending on the OS. Do not download the installer version).
Extract it into a temporary directory and add in the missing JAR file from the downloaded archive into the
$JIRA_INSTALL/libdirectory.Start Jira.
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