Jira Core 8.8.x upgrade notes

Here are some important notes on upgrading to Jira Core 8.8.

For details on the new features and improvements in this release, see the Jira Core 8.8.x release notes. 

 Upgrade notes

Increase pool-max-size

If you're upgrading from Jira 7.x to Jira 8.x we recommend changing the pool-max-size parameter to 40 in your dbconfig.xml before the upgrade. Leaving the default of 20 can sometimes lead to “ResultSet Closed” errors during re-indexing on 8.x. For information on implementing the change, see Tuning database connections.

New API to help the Versions view load faster

Available from Jira 8.8.1

To help the Versions view in project settings load faster and avoid possible timeouts on large instances, we have changed the endpoint it called. 

Now, instead of .../release/allversions we use GET /rest/projects/1.0/project/<project_key>/release/allversions-nodetails to return the list of all project versions together with their data such as their name, status, or description (except the progress data). Archived versions are also returned. 

We also changed the way the information about the number of issues in each status category (To do, In progress, Done) related to each version is returned. This data, collectively known as Progress, is now lazy-loaded as the page is scrolled and uses a separate new endpoint. 

The old endpoint is still working however, will not be used by the releases including and following Jira 7.13.14, 8.5.5, 8.8.1 and 8.9.  

This is not a breaking change. 

G1 GC enabled by default for Java 11

If you’re running Jira with Java 11, Garbage First Garbage Collection (G1 GC) will be enabled by default. We’ve already been recommending this method when tuning garbage collection, so now you’ll get it out of the box. G1 GC is more efficient and improves performance, especially in environments with large Java heap.

*Our performance tests have shown that you might benefit from ParallelGC if you have a relatively small Java heap. The difference is not big, but you can consider switching back to ParallelGC if you’re having problems with performance.

All mail handlers supported

In Jira 8.6 we decided to deprecate two email handlers that do not use regex: ”Add a comment from the non-quoted email body” and ”Create a new issue or add a comment to an existing issue” (see the announcement). We advised users to switch to the handlers which use regular expressions to get rid of unwanted content such as email footers or signatures. 

Since then, we’ve received important feedback on our deprecation statement and, as a result, we decided to revert it.

We will not be deprecating the two mail handlers and instead will work on adding regular expression to the existing handlers to help admins manage the unwanted content added to Jira issues via email.

New API endpoints

As a result of introducing the Advanced auditing feature, we've added new REST endpoints. For more information, see here. 

Audit log migration

The improved audit log we’re introducing in Jira 8.8 requires us to migrate your existing audit log (up to 10 million records) on upgrade.

Migration will run on Jira startup

The migration will run on startup for regular upgrades (it runs in the background for the Data Center ZDU upgrades, but these aren't available for Jira Core). Depending on the database you’re using and the size of your current audit log, it might take up to several hours to migrate all the data.

Limiting the number of migrated entries

To speed up the migration, you can limit the number of migrated entries or turn off the migration altogether. If you decide to turn it off, your new audit log will only show the events that happen after the upgrade. 

To apply the limit, add the following line to your setenv.sh/.bat file. This example would limit the migration to only 10 entries.

JVM_SUPPORT_RECOMMENDED_ARGS="-Djira.advanced.audit.log.migration.limit=10"

While migration is happening, the new events are buffered and when the migration is complete, the buffer is released. Before the migration, we also run an additional health check to see if you have enough extra free disk space (on the Jira-home partition) to accommodate the new audit log.

Expected changes to incoming mail settings (Jira 8.10)

In response to Google and Microsoft deprecating Basic Authentication, we will soon be adding OAuth 2.0 authentication methods for incoming email (so far using the IMAP and POP3 protocols). We’ll also backport it to the supported Enterprise releases. If you currently use email to create issues and issue comments, you will need to reconfigure your incoming mail settings. 

We treat this work with highest priority and aim to provide the solution ahead of the deadlines set by Google and Microsoft so that you have time to upgrade. 

OAuth 2.0 support will mean changes in to the incoming mail settings and the way you configure the incoming email server. It's a good idea to plan to take the time after your upgrade to review the changes so that your instance's email handlers keep working. 

 End of support announcements

End of support

In Jira 8.8, we're making the following changes:

We're stopping the support for the following platforms:

• SQL Server 2012

• PostgreSQL 9.4

• Solaris

• Oracle 12c R1

• PostgreSQL 9.5

For more details, see End of support announcements.

Deprecating Hipchat

We are planning to stop supporting and unbundle the Hipchat plugin from Jira version 8.11 and later. 
The reason for this is that Hipchat Cloud reached the end of life in Feb 2019, HipChat Data Center in Sep 2019, and Hipchat Server is due in June 2020.

If you have not already, make sure you migrate to other chat solutions before Jira 8.11.

App developers

See Preparing for Jira 8.8 for any important changes regarding apps.

Upgrade procedure

Upgrading from a Jira version 8.x.x? 

See Upgrading Jira applications for complete upgrade procedures, including all available upgrade methods and pre-upgrade steps. For a more tailored upgrade, go to  > Applications > Plan your upgrade. We’ll recommend a version to upgrade to, run pre-upgrade checks, and provide you with a custom upgrade guide with step-by-step instructions.