Symptoms

When clicking on the Link button in a issue, it throws a NullPointerException.

The following appears in the atlassian-jira.log:

2012-11-22 11:42:42,789 http-8090-3 ERROR admin 702x78x1 gwdb49 127.0.0.1 /secure/LinkJiraIssue!default.jspa [velocity] Exception in macro #issueLinkHeader at templates/dialog/linkjiraissue.vm[line 13, column 5]
2012-11-22 11:42:42,789 http-8090-3 ERROR admin 702x78x1 gwdb49 127.0.0.1 /secure/LinkJiraIssue!default.jspa [com.atlassian.velocity.DefaultVelocityManager] MethodInvocationException occurred getting message body from Velocity: java.lang.NullPointerException

Cause

There is one or more Link Types with Null value for either Outward Description or Inward Description.

Diagnose

1. Execute this query to identify any Null value:

   select * from issuelinktype where inward is null or outward is null;

2. If it returns any result, then follow the steps listed at the Resolution section.

 If the query does not return any result, then the root cause might be different and the resolution section from this KB article does not apply. In such case, please reach out to Atlassian Support via this link for assistance.

Resolution

1. Navigate to Administration > System > Issue Features > Issue Linking
2. Ensure that all descriptions to all Link Type are filled.