Summary

Which files in Jira are safe to delete to free up space for the server.

Diagnosis

The admin of the Jira Instance notices that the Jira instance is taking up a lot of space.  The Jira admin wants to know which files are safe to delete from the Jira instance.

Environment

Cause

The Jira instance accumulates non-volatile files over time during its operation and can takes up a lot of disk space

Solution

Here is a list of common Jira files and their relative safety for removal from the Jira instance:*

Non-volatile (safe to delete)
$jira-home/tmp
$jira-home/log
$jira-home/export
$jira-home/analytics-logs
$jira-home/import

There are typically two different types of files stored in the export folder:
Automated Jira backups format: YYYY-MM-DD--XXXX.zip 
Support Zips format: Jira_support_YYYY-MM-DD-XX-XX-XX.zip 

We recommend keeping the latest backup, but feel free to delete the rest of the files or make an external backup of older backups.

Semi Volatile (might cause pain but not break JIRA):

$jira-home/caches (specifically you'll need to re-index)
$jira-home/logos (you'll need to re-attach logos)
$jira-home/monitor (these likely get regenerated anyways)
Please shut down Jira before removing any files from these directories.

Volatile - do not delete as this will cause data loss and/or loss of functionality

$jira-home/data (contains attachments)
$jira-home/plugins (contains plugins, they'd need reinstalling if this was deleted)
$jira-home/dbconfig.xml (database connection information)