Preparing for Jira 8.4
This documentation is intended for Jira developers who want to ensure that their existing apps are compatible with Jira 8.4.
Quick info
Latest version
Here you can find information about the latest EAPs.
| Application / Date | EAP number | Version (Maven) | Downloads |
|---|---|---|---|
Jira Core/Software | 8.4.0-EAP03 | 8.4.0-m0003 | Source files (Core) Source files (Software) |
Jira Service Desk
| 4.4.0-EAP03 | 4.4.0-m0003 |
Upcoming releases
- Jira 8.4 release is due mid September.
Summary of changes
In this section we'll provide an overview of the changes we intend to make in Jira 8.4, so you can start thinking how it might impact your apps. Once they're ready, we'll indicate when a change has been implemented, and in which milestone.
Open links in your mobile app
Status: IMPLEMENTED (EAP 03)
To help you navigate between pages, you can go directly from a link, for example in an email notification, to the app. If you do not have the app yet, clicking the link will take you to the app download page in Play store (only for Android). Simply click the Open in app button that displays in mobile web.
Security updates
Status: IMPLEMENTED (EAP 02)
To maximize the security of your data, we’ve made the Public Sharing feature OFF by default. We've also changed the naming of some user permissions in sharing filters and dashboards from Anyone to Anyone on the web to make the impact clear and in order for sensitive data to remain secure.
Tomcat upgrade
Status: IMPLEMENTED (EAP 02)
We're upgrading Tomcat to version 8.5.42.
Time tracking in bulk edit
Status: IMPLEMENTED (EAP 01)
Now, you can add time tracking to issues when you edit them in bulk. This is a great time saver as you do not need to correct or add time estimates by going through issues one by one.
Deprecation of Jira native importers
Status: IMPLEMENTED (EAP 01)
We have dropped support for several native importers that used to be available as part of Jira Importers Plugin (JIM). As of JIRA 8.4 we're only supporting import from CSV and JSON.
Filters to browse archived issues
Status: IMPLEMENTED (EAP 01)
Now, if you open your list of archived issues in Issues > Archived issues, you can browse archived issues using a selection of filters. In this way, you can quickly find the issues you need. You can filter your issues by, for example, Reporter, Archive date, or Archiver.
To be able to browse archived issues, you need the Browse Archive or the Browse Project Archive permission.
Additionally, system admins can easily export archived issues to a CSV file.
Jira becomes more accessible and clear
Status: IMPLEMENTED (EAP 01)
To improve the accessibility in Jira and respond to the needs of the motor and visually-impaired users, we've fixed color contrast in buttons and messages, added labels for UI elements to be picked up by screen readers and made sure you can add comments with a keyboard shortcut.
AUI upgraded to version 8.4
Status: IMPLEMENTED (EAP 01)
We've upgraded AUI version 8.4 and as a result improved the readability of form fields, changed the form and focus styles, and lozenge colors. Also we've changed layering that affects dropdowns.
You can see some of the changes below:
Before 8.4 | Jira 8.4 |
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We do not expect the changes to cause issues however, if you need to disable them, do the following:
- on the form level, add the aui-legacy-forms CSS class to the <form> element (in case of any issues with form and focus styles)
- on the page level, add the aui-legacy-focus CSS class to the <body> element (in case of any issues with focus styles).
The public-facing HTML and JS APIs of AUI components have remained unchanged.
createmeta REST endpoint will soon be removed
Status: IMPLEMENTED (EAP 01)
This endpoint is commonly used when Atlassian products are integrated to create issues in Jira from a Confluence, Fisheye, or Bitbucket instance. However, /jira/rest/api/2/issue/createmeta?params has been reported to cause issues especially on larger instances. That is why we decided to remove this endpoint in Jira 9.0. In Jira 8.4 we'll make other calls available to mitigate the issue. Read more...
External links open in a new tab
Status: IMPLEMENTED (EAP 01)
Now, you do not need to right-click every time you want an external link that's added to a Jira issue to open in a new tab in your browser. We've made this option default for external links. However, if you like all links to open in the same tab, you can easily change this in YourUserProfile > Profile > Preferences > External links.
Batching emails will be a default setting
Status: IMPLEMENTED (EAP 01)
As of Jira 8.4, email notifications will be batched by default. This will save you a lot of space in your email box. However, if you want your notifications to arrive separately, you can still disable the feature. Also, the feature will remain disabled if you disabled it in a previous version of Jira. For more information on how batching works, see Configuring email notifications.
Generating user keys becomes default
Status: IMPLEMENTED (EAP 01)
We have introduced a new way of generating user keys for new users. The reason behind it is that we want to reduce the number of places where we store users’ personal data.
Up to now, the user key has been the same as username, lowercased. For example, user Admin got a user key admin. If there’s been a naming conflict, the user key has been set to a value like ID10100.
We’re now changing this approach so that all user keys for new users (no changes for existing users) have the following format: JIRAUSER10100. So the userkeys parameter will now contain a collection of user keys rather than usernames. This approach becomes the default in Jira 8.4 and is no longer a dark feature.
You can find more details about the changes related to userkeys in the following resources:
- https://confluence.atlassian.com/jiracore/gdpr-changes-in-jira-975041009.html#GDPRchangesinJira-userkeys 1
- https://blog.developer.atlassian.com/important-gdpr-changes-in-jira-server/ 1
Filters in Multi User picker Custom field
Status: IMPLEMENTED (EAP 01)
We've added the option to select multiple users in the limited user picker. Now, you can limit the multi user picker custom fields to hold only specific set of users.
A large number of versions no longer breaks boards
Status: IMPLEMENTED (EAP 01)
Now, even if you have a large number of open version, your Jira is safe and no boards get broken.
Aurora support for Data Center
Status: IMPLMENTED (EAP 02)
As of 8.4, we'll start supporting the Aurora database in Jira DC. To test this database with the EAP, you need to deploy an Aurora DB and switch to it manually. For information on how to do it, refer to the AWS Quick Start for deploying a stand-alone Aurora DB:
https://aws-quickstart.s3.amazonaws.com/quickstart-amazon-aurora/doc/modular-architecture-for-aurora-postgresql-on-the-aws-cloud.pdf
Support for more Oracle DBs
Status: IMPLMENTED (EAP 03)
We’re welcoming new databases to our family — Oracle 18c and 19c.
New monitors for Data Center
Status: IMPLMENTED (EAP 03)
To help you monitor the performance of your Jira Data Center instance, we've introduced a number of monitors you can use to analyze bottlenecks and get alerts if something attention-worthy is happening.
The alerts are available in the App Diagnostics framework by going to <JIRA_URL>/plugins/servlet/diagnostics/overview and configurable through the jira-config.properties file.