Reasons to upgrade
Learn more about the benefits of upgrading to the latest version.
Upgrading from Jira 8.x to Jira 9.x
If you're already on Jira 9.x, feel free to skip this section.
Jira 9.0 is a platform release. As every platform release, it’s brought significant changes that aren’t usually provided in smaller feature releases. All of them affect the upgrade in some way and require that you take extra steps into consideration. Here’s everything you need to know.
Key platform changes in Jira 9.0
Automation for Jira is now part of Jira Software Data Center: focus on the work that matters, removing the need to perform manual, repetitive tasks by allowing your teams to automate their processes and workflows.
Limit excessive activity with Safeguards (Data Center): If you rely heavily on automation, Safeguards can help you moderate a bot account group’s activity by limiting the number of comments every account in that group can add to an issue. Safeguards will also alert you by email if the number of comments in an issue is approaching the limit (either default or custom), the limit has been reached, or the limit has been exceeded.
Activity tabs improvements (Data Center): We’ve optimized the way activity items for the Comments, History, Work Logs, and All tabs are displayed and organized in the Jira issue view. We’ve fixed the sorting behavior and implemented incremental loading of tab contents.
Improved indexation for issue-related entities: To improve Jira performance, we've introduced a limit on the number of issue-related entities that will be indexed after the full issue reindex is triggered. By default, Jira will now index only 1000 newest comments, changehistory items, and worklogs.
Security fixes for API endpoints: We’ve restricted anonymous access to multiple API endpoints to fix security vulnerabilities.
Java Flight Recorder is bundled with Jira: Java Flight Recorder collects events from the Java Virtual Machine runtime and records them in a binary file. Once a recording is available, you can use the new troubleshooting and support tools settings to include Java Flight Recorder data in a support zip archive that you can send over to Atlassian Support for assistance.
Connection to cloud products with secure application tunnels: Application tunnels use network tunneling to create a secure pathway between your organization in Atlassian Cloud and the products in your network. You can use this pathway to tunnel application links and integrate your products in a secure way.
Learn more in the release notes
Supported platforms
In Jira 9.0, we’ve added support for PostgreSQL 14 (Server and Data Center) and Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL 14 (Data Center only).
Deciding to upgrade
When deciding to upgrade, you should consider a significant time investment to get new features, performance improvements, bug fixes, continued support access, company requirements, and many other benefits. Here are a few tips on how to prepare for the upgrade.
Upgrade: What am I getting?
New features
For every new version of Jira Software, we publish Jira Software release notes and Jira Software upgrade notes. These resources have important information about the upgrade.
The upgrade matrix lists all the features and improvements introduced in consecutive Jira releases. The matrix lets you compare versions and select the one you want to upgrade to. It also provides an overview of bugs, fixed in each release.
If you want to dig deeper and learn about all the technical specifics of upgrading Jira Software for a particular version, see Technical upgrade notes section in the matrix.
Performance improvements
Many of our releases focus on performance improvements, so you and your team can have an effective product experience with minimal technical slowdown. Two examples of these improvements are the optimization of indexing time and faster page load time for dashboards and issues.
Learn more from the performance report
Bug fixes and new releases
We use the public Jira instance to track the development of product bug fixes and suggestions. Many customers report issues and suggestions that would benefit their team and vote for or watch them. Just like watching Jira issues in your instance, you'll be notified via email when an issue is updated.
View Jira public issue tracker
Access to support
For Long Term Support releases, we provide support and bug fixes in all server products for two years after a version is released. Ending support after two years allows us to focus our resources on supporting more up-to-date versions used by the majority of customers. This means that after a version has reached its end of life, our support team will only be able to assist with upgrade-related questions.
For versions that aren’t Long Term Support releases, we provide support for two years but the fixes are available only until the next version is out. Then, we only fix critical bugs. If you want to get all the new features and fixes, it's good to upgrade versions.
Upgrade: what should I consider?
In addition to technical considerations, there are a few other factors to consider for a smooth upgrade.
Time
The amount of time for the upgrade depends on several factors, including the size of your instance and the number of apps and customizations. As a general rule, it's best to incorporate some buffer time for planning and execution in case anything unexpected comes up.
Tools
No external tools are required to complete the Jira upgrade. There are a few handy resources that can help you along the way, like the App Compatibility Checker and the Instance Health Check.
To open these Jira tools:
- In the upper-right corner of the screen, select Administration
> System. - In the left panel, go to System support and select Troubleshooting and support tools.
Stakeholders
It's a good idea to carefully consider how to communicate information about the upgrade, especially if it’s introducing major changes. You might consider informing an approver, end users, and, if you've acquired the license through an approved Atlassian Solution Partner, your partners, as they may offer additional services to assist you during the upgrade.
All ready?
Head back to the upgrade matrix, and choose the version you want to upgrade to.