Upgrading Jira Data Center on AWS

Getting started with Jira Data Center on AWS

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The AWS Quick Start template as a method of deployment is no longer supported by Atlassian. You can still use the template, but we won't maintain or update it.

We recommend deploying your Data Center products on a Kubernetes cluster using our Helm charts for a more efficient and robust infrastructure and operational setup. Learn more about deploying on Kubernetes.

AWS now recommends switching launch configurations, which our AWS Quick Start template uses, to launch templates. We won’t do this switch, however, as we’ve ended our support for the AWS Quick Start template. This means you're no longer able to create launch configurations using this template.

Before you begin, consider upgrading to an Atlassian Long Term Support releases (if you're not on one already). Long Term Support releases get fixes for critical bugs and security issues throughout its two-year support window. This gives you the option to keep a slower upgrade cadence without sacrificing security or stability. Long Term Support releases are suitable for companies who can't keep up with the frequency at which we ship feature releases.

Here's some useful advice for upgrading your deployment:

  1. Before upgrading to a later version of Jira Data Center, check if your apps are compatible with that version. Update your apps if needed. For more information about managing apps, see Using the Universal Plugin Manager.
  2. If you need to keep Jira Data Center available to users during your upgrade, we recommend upgrading Jira Data Center with zero downtime. This method allows your nodes to work on different Jira versions while you upgrade them one by one. During the upgrade, Jira remains available to users.
  3. We strongly recommend that you perform the upgrade first in a staging environment before upgrading your production instance. Creating a test environment for Jira provides helpful tips on doing so.

Choosing an upgrade method

If you deployed using our AWS Quick Start, you can upgrade your Jira version using either method:

Option 1: Normal upgrade

Performing a normal Jira Data Center upgrade on AWS involves three steps:

Step 1: Terminate all running Jira Data Center application nodes

Set the number of application nodes used by the Jira Data Center stack to 0. Then, update the stack. Doing this will make Jira Data Center unavailable (until you finish the next step). 

Click here for detailed instructions


  1. In the AWS console, go to Services > CloudFormation. Select your deployment’s stack to view its Stack Details.

  2. In the Stack Details screen, click Update Stack.

  3. From the Select Template screen, select Use current template and click Next.

  4. You’ll need to terminate all running nodes. To do that, set the following parameters to 0:

    1. Maximum number of cluster nodes

    2. Minimum number of cluster nodes

  5. Click Next. Click through the next pages, and then to apply the change using the Update button.

  6. Once the update is complete, check that all application nodes have been terminated.



Step 2: Update the version used by your Jira Data Center stack

Set the number of application nodes used by Jira Data Center to 1. Configure it to use the version you want. Then, update the stack again.

Click here for detailed instructions

  1. From your deployment’s Stack Details screen, click Update Stack again.

  2. From the Select Template screen, select Use current template and click Next.

  3. Set the Version parameter to the version you’re updating to.

  4. Configure your stack to use one node. To do that, set the following parameters to 1:

    1. Maximum number of cluster nodes

    2. Minimum number of cluster nodes

  5. Click Next. Click through the next pages, and then to apply the change using the Update button.

Step 3: Scale up the number of application nodes

You can now scale up your deployment to your original number of application nodes. For detailed instructions on how to do this, see Scaling up and down.

While it's possible to start all the new nodes at the same time, as a best practice we recommend starting only one node at a time when scaling back to the original number of nodes. This will ensure that all the nodes in the cluster are healthy and provide a healthy snapshot when requested by new nodes.

Since Jira 9.1, the synchronous node start-up is enforced by your application. The start-up will ensure that the local index is healthy before proceeding. Jira won’t start without a healthy index.

The start-up will be performed under a cluster lock, guaranteeing that only one node at a time executes it.

The index start-up includes the following stages:

  1. Re-indexing missing data if a local issue index is less than 10% behind the database

  2. Loading a recent index snapshot from the shared-home directory if it’s available.

  3. Otherwise, triggering a full re-index.

For more information, see Index management on Jira start-up.

Option 2: Zero downtime upgrade

Performing a zero downtime upgrade of Jira Data Center on AWS involves four steps:

Step 1: Put Jira into upgrade mode

Put Jira into upgrade mode to allow your nodes to work on different versions while you upgrade them one by one.

  1. In Jira, go to  > Applications > Jira upgrades.
  2. Click Put Jira into upgrade mode. This will only be available if your nodes are all on the same version.

Step 2: Find all the current application nodes in your stack

In AWS, note the Instance IDs of all running application nodes in your stack. These are all the application nodes running the older version of Jira. You'll need these IDs for a later step.

Click here for detailed instructions

  1. In the AWS console, go to Services > CloudFormation. Select your deployment’s stack to view its Stack Details.

  2. Expand the Resources drop-down. Look for the ClusterNodeGroup and click its Physical ID. This will take you to a page showing the Auto Scaling Group details of your application nodes.
  3. In the Auto Scaling Group details, click on the Instances tab. Note all of the Instance IDs listed there; you'll be terminating them at a later step.

Step 3: Update the version used by your Jira Data Center stack

Increase the number of application nodes used by Jira Data Center by 1. Configure it to use the version you want. Then, update the stack.

Click here for detailed instructions

  1. From your deployment’s Stack Details screen, click Update Stack.

  2. From the Select Template screen, select Use current template and click Next.

  3. Set the Version parameter to the version you’re updating to.

  4. Increase the number of Jira application nodes used by your stack by 1. To do that, increase the following parameters:

    1. Maximum number of cluster nodes

    2. Minimum number of cluster nodes

  5. Click Next. Click through the next pages, and then to apply the change using the Update button.

Step 4: Terminate all nodes running the older version

In Step 2, you noted all nodes running the older version of Jira. You'll need to terminate them one by one. 

Click here for detailed instructions

To terminate a node or instance:

  1. In the AWS console, go to Services > EC2. From there, click Running Instances.

  2. Check one of the instances matching the Instance IDs you noted in Step 2.
  3. From the Actions drop-down, select Instance State > Terminate.
  4. Click through to terminate the instance.

Each time you terminate a node, AWS will automatically replace it. The new replacement node will be running the new, upgraded Jira version. Upon terminating a node, wait for its replacement to boot fully and join the cluster before terminating another node. This will help ensure that your cluster has enough nodes to handle user load.

Step 5: Finalize the upgrade

This step will allow any required upgrade tasks to run on your instance, and take Jira out of upgrade mode. Once the required tasks have completed, Jira will be fully upgraded.

  1. In Jira, go to  > Applications > Jira upgrades. 

  2. Click Finalize upgrade. This will only be available if all your nodes are all on the same, new version.

Well done! You upgraded your Jira instance to a new version. You can see the current version by going to  > Applications > Versions and licenses.

Last modified on Oct 19, 2021

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