Jira Login is slow after updating base DN
Platform notice: Server and Data Center only. This article only applies to Atlassian products on the Server and Data Center platforms.
Support for Server* products ended on February 15th 2024. If you are running a Server product, you can visit the Atlassian Server end of support announcement to review your migration options.
*Except Fisheye and Crucible
Platform Notice: Data Center Only - This article only applies to Atlassian products on the Data Center platform.
Note that this KB was created for the Data Center version of the product. Data Center KBs for non-Data-Center-specific features may also work for Server versions of the product, however they have not been tested. Support for Server* products ended on February 15th 2024. If you are running a Server product, you can visit the Atlassian Server end of support announcement to review your migration options.
*Except Fisheye and Crucible
Problem
After updating the User Directory Base DN one level up for example from 'OU=support,DC=atlassian,DC=com' to 'DC=atlassian,DC=com' logging in becomes very slow.
The following appears in the atlassian-jira.log
Timed call for search with handler on DC=atlassian,DC=com took 21016ms
Cause
Follow Referral is enabled. AD server will respond with users and the referral that's in the root of the LDAP tree because there could be more users over there.
The application will follow the referral. This will result in:
- A DNS lookup of the base DN ( dc=example,dc=com means a lookup for example.com)
- A connection to port 389 or 636 at example.com, which is back to the same server.
Resolution
Disable 'Follow Referrals' under the menu Administration ( 
) > User management > User Directories >(Edit the active ldap directory) > Advanced Settings