Plugins not working properly due to an incompatible JAVA version

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

Some plugins are not starting or working properly after an upgrade in Jira.

The following appears in the atlassian-jira.log:

1 2 3 4 5 6 2015-07-06 10:00:00,684 http-8080-7 ERROR username 2313x123x1 abcde 127.0.0.1 /rest/plugins/1.0/com.xxxx.xxxx.plugin-key [atlassian.plugin.manager.DefaultPluginManager] There was an error loading the descriptor 'null' of plugin 'com.atlassian.xxxx.xxxxx'. Disabling. java.lang.UnsupportedClassVersionError: com/atlassian/xxxx/contextproviders/nameoftheclass : Unsupported major.minor version 51.0 at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass1(Native Method) at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClassCond(ClassLoader.java:632) at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass(ClassLoader.java:616) at org.apache.felix.framework.ModuleImpl$ModuleClassLoader.findClass(ModuleImpl.java:1829)

Environment

Jira Data Center

Cause

Jira is running with an incompatible JAVA version, usually after an upgrade. Here you can see the compatible JAVA versions accordingly to your Jira version.

Resolution

Change the JAVA version to a compatible version by following this instructions.

Updated on April 8, 2025

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