Upgrade Guide for Jira Data Center 7.2

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

About this guide

This guide is specific for Jira Data Center. If you are looking to upgrade your Jira Server to version 7.2, follow the Upgrade Guide for Jira 7.2 instead.

The purpose of this guide is to facilitate the upgrade of your Jira Data Center installation from 6.4.x to 7.2.latest by having all the details summarized in a single page with step by step instructions. Other upgrade methods are available on the Upgrading Jira Applications documentation.

Solution

Preparation

Our recommendation is that you use a single node to run the upgrade for simplicity and only start the other nodes once the upgrade is already complete as it simplifies the entire process.

Before you start

  • Check Jira 7.2 Supported Database Versions:

    • Oracle 12c

    • MySQL 5.5, 5.6

    • PostgreSQL 9.2, 9.3, 9.4

    • Microsoft SQL Server 2012, 2014

  • Check plugin compatibility

    • Within your current installation of Jira, go to Administration > Add-ons > Manage add-ons. At the bottom of the page, there is a link for Jira update check.

    • Third-party plugins may have upgrade requirements, please ensure to be familiar with these requirements as it may require additional intermediate upgrade steps

  • Check other Atlassian product compatibility, see Application links version matrix. Jira 7.2 uses AppLinks 5.2.3, based on that, minimal versions for Jira 7.2 for other applications:

    • Bamboo 5.10+

    • Confluence 5.6+

    • Crucible/Fisheye 3.6+

    • Stash 3.4+

    • Review the Recommended Reading (links to the right)

Optimizing the Upgrade Process

These steps will help reduce the amount of time needed for the full upgrade process to complete

  • Disable Upgrade Index and Automated Upgrade Backup

  • (For Jira <= 7.2.7) Apply the workaround for JRA-61383. In large installations the upgrade rename of "Agile" fields to "Software" increases the length of your outage. Doing this via SQL is fast and low risk so long as you test your upgrade procedure in advance.

Testing

We strongly recommend performing your upgrade in a test environment first. Do not upgrade your production Jira server until you are satisfied that your test environment upgrade has been successful. If you have any problems with your test environment upgrade which you cannot resolve, create an issue at our support site so that we can assist you.

Upgrade Steps for Jira Software

Before Proceeding

  • UsingJira Agile? - Ensure to first upgrade the Jira Agile add-on to version 6.7.12 or later

  • Using Jira Service Management? - Ensure to first upgrade to Jira to version 7.0 and Jira Service Management to version 3.0 (or later in the 7.0.X and corresponding 3.0.X range)

  • Third-party plugins may have upgrade requirements, please ensure to be familiar with these requirements as it may require additional intermediate upgrade steps

Upgrading to Jira Software 7.0.latest

ℹ️ Required if upgrading from Jira 6 with Service Management. Skip to next section if not using Service Management.

  1. Stop all running nodes

  2. Make a copy of the Jira database to a new database

  3. Make a copy of the Jira_HOME to a new location

  4. Remove the plugins/ folder located in the new Jira_HOME

    1. Performing the upgrade without plugins has been found to be more reliable and faster

    2. Also remove (and backup) <Shared>/plugins/ folder

  5. Modify the dbconfig.xml file in the newly copied Jira_HOME

    1. Configure the file to point to the newly copied database

  6. Download the latest Jira Software 7.0.x Archive version

  7. Extract the Jira Software 7.0.latest archive to a new target Jira_INSTALL folder

  8. Configure your Jira Home folder path and point to the newly copied Jira_HOME

  9. Create a jira-config.properties file in your Jira Home folder (How to edit the jira-config.properties file) and add the options below:

    1 2 upgrade.reindex.allowed=false jira.autoexport=false

    1. If the file already exists, simply add these lines to the start of the file

    2. These parameters will disable the automated upgrade backup and automated index after upgrade

  10. Copy memory allocation settings and any other custom parameters you deem necessary from the previous installation to the new one, as described in Setting properties and options on startup

  11. Start Jira and review the logs to ensure the upgrade completed successfully.

  12. Navigate to Cog Icon > Applications > Version & Licenses.

  13. Click on Install in the Jira Service Management application. This should install version 3.0.11

  14. Re-install plugins via the Cog Icon > Add-ons > Find new add-ons

    1. If prefered, upload the add-ons manually via Cog Icon > Add-ons > Manage add-ons > Upload add-on

      ⚠️ Not all plugins are compatible with Jira 7.0.latest. Ensure to verify compatibility first!

  15. Test and ensure that the instance is functioning to satisfaction

    1. Perform a Lock Jira and rebuild index is required if you want to perform full functionality testing, otherwise you can continue to 7.2.latest upgrade first.

  16. Proceed to next section for upgrading to 7.2.latest

Upgrading to Jira Software 7.2.latest

  1. Stop the current Jira instance

  2. Make a copy of the Jira database to a new database

  3. Make a copy of the Jira_HOME to a new location

  4. Remove the plugins/ folder located in the new Jira_HOME

    1. Performing the upgrade without plugins has been found to be more reliable and faster

    2. Also remove (and backup) <Shared>/plugins/ folder

  5. Modify the dbconfig.xml file in the newly copied Jira_HOME

    1. Configure the file to point to the newly copied database

  6. Download Jira Software 7.2.latest Archive version

  7. Extract your Jira Software 7.2.latest to a new target Jira_INSTALL folder

  8. Configure your Jira Home folder path and point to the newly copied Jira_HOME

  9. Create a jira-config.properties file in your Jira Home folder (How to edit the jira-config.properties file) and add the options below:

    1 2 upgrade.reindex.allowed=false jira.autoexport=false

    1. If the file already exists, simply add these lines to the start of the file

    2. These parameters will disable the automated upgrade backup and automated index after upgrade

  10. Copy memory allocation settings and any other custom parameters you deem necessary from the previous installation to the new one, as described in Setting properties and options on startup

  11. Start Jira and review the logs to ensure the upgrade completes successfully

  12. If using Service Management, navigate to Cog Icon > Applications > Version & Licenses

    1. Update/Install the Jira Service Management application to the latest version

  13. Re-install plugins via file the Cog Icon > Add-ons > Find new add-ons

    1. If prefered, upload the add-ons manually via Cog Icon > Add-ons > Manage add-ons > Upload add-on

      ⚠️ Not all plugins are compatible with Jira 7.2.latest. Ensure to verify compatibility first!

  14. Test and ensure that the instance is functioning to satisfaction

  15. Restart Jira

  16. Perform a Lock Jira and rebuild index

Adding nodes to the Jira Data Center Cluster

Once you have the Jira 7.2.latest properly installed and indexed, it's time to begin adding more nodes to the cluster.

  1. Copy the Jira_INSTALL directory from the first node

  2. Copy the Jira_HOME from the first node

  3. Make a copy of the SHARED_HOME

  4. Configure your Jira Home folder path and point to the newly copied Jira_HOME

  5. Edit the cluster.properties to reflect the configuration details for this specific node and point to the newly copied SHARED_HOME

  6. Copy memory allocation settings and any other custom parameters you deem necessary from the previous installation to the new one, as described in Setting properties and options on startup

  7. Start Jira and review the logs to ensure the indexes are replicating successfully

  8. Test and ensure that all nodes are functioning to satisfaction

ℹ️ If your cluster has more than one node, follow the steps of the "Adding nodes to the Jira Data Center Cluster" section for each additional node. Remember to start one node at a time.

Quick Links:

Recommended Reading

Updated on April 16, 2025
Platform
Data Center only
Product
Jira Software Data Center
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