Problem

Jira is running out of open files descriptors in Linux environment eventually failing completely to function leading to a crash.

You can see similar exceptions in the logs:

2017-05-14 14:43:25,674 http-nio-8080-exec-10 ERROR anonymous 883x135283x1 1lds68b 192.168.0.121,192.168.0.242 /rest/usermanagement/1/search [c.a.p.r.c.error.jersey.ThrowableExceptionMapper] Uncaught exception thrown by REST service: java.io.FileNotFoundException: /opt/atlassian/jira/atlassian-jira/WEB-INF/lib/spring-security-crypto-3.1.0.RELEASE.jar (Too many open files)
java.lang.IllegalStateException: java.io.FileNotFoundException: /opt/atlassian/jira/atlassian-jira/WEB-INF/lib/spring-security-crypto-3.1.0.RELEASE.jar (Too many open files)
at org.apache.catalina.webresources.AbstractSingleArchiveResourceSet.getArchiveEntry(AbstractSingleArchiveResourceSet.java:97)
at org.apache.catalina.webresources.AbstractArchiveResourceSet.getResource(AbstractArchiveResourceSet.java:260)
at org.apache.catalina.webresources.StandardRoot.getResourceInternal(StandardRoot.java:280)
at org.apache.catalina.webresources.CachedResource.validateResource(CachedResource.java:95)
at org.apache.catalina.webresources.Cache.getResource(Cache.java:69)
... 4 filtered

2022-08-03 12:59:03,285+0300 http-nio-8080-exec-907 url: /rest/idalko-grid/1.0/servicedesk/names/ITHD-22412; user: charlie ERROR charlie 779x16193639x2 14tlt8c 10.155.240.180,10.155.16.159 /rest/idalko-grid/1.0/servicedesk/names/ITHD-22412 [c.a.p.r.c.error.jersey.ThrowableExceptionMapper] Uncaught exception thrown by REST service: failed to create a child event loop
  java.lang.IllegalStateException: failed to create a child event loop
    at play.shaded.ahc.io.netty.util.concurrent.MultithreadEventExecutorGroup.<init>(MultithreadEventExecutorGroup.java:88)
    at play.shaded.ahc.io.netty.util.concurrent.MultithreadEventExecutorGroup.<init>(MultithreadEventExecutorGroup.java:58)
    at play.shaded.ahc.io.netty.util.concurrent.MultithreadEventExecutorGroup.<init>(MultithreadEventExecutorGroup.java:47)

Diagnosis

Environment

• OS: Linux / Unix like OS environment. 
• Jira installed with either of the plugin:
  • Exporter / Exporter - Jira Issues to Excel & CSV  versions before v2.1.5
    
  • Table Grid Next Generation versions 1.13.3-jira8 or 1.13.4-jira89 (others may be affected, 1.13.2-jira8 is known to be OK)
  • Table Grid Editor v1.29.18

Diagnostic Steps

• Confirm the Open files limits on the OS and for Jira using below commands:

  cat /proc/<Jira_PID>/limits  
  cat /proc/sys/fs/file-max

  Open files should show as more than 1024 for default and something like 8192 or more for Jira.
  OS one coming from file-max should be much bigger, it is set on kernel level typically can be bigger than 500k and can reach more than 1 million files.

• Look for what kind of files are opened by Jira using the command:

  lsof -p <Jira_PID> >Jira_open_files.txt

  Usually you might see some files like the below in the list:

  java    14317 xpkjir1p   78r   DIR             253,30      4096   7212034 /usr/local/pr/Jira_Software/atlassian/application-data/jira/com.deiser.jira.exporter
  java    14317 xpkjir1p   79r   DIR             253,30      4096   7212034 /usr/local/pr/Jira_Software/atlassian/application-data/jira/com.deiser.jira.exporter
  java    14317 xpkjir1p   80r   DIR             253,30      4096   7212034 /usr/local/pr/Jira_Software/atlassian/application-data/jira/com.deiser.jira.exporter
  java    14317 xpkjir1p   81r   DIR             253,30      4096   7212034 /usr/local/pr/Jira_Software/atlassian/application-data/jira/com.deiser.jira.exporter

Cause

Jira installed with one these plugins on the respective versions:

• • Exporter / Exporter - Jira Issues to Excel & CSV  versions before v2.1.5
    
  • Table Grid Next Generation versions 1.13.3-jira8 or 1.13.4-jira89 (others may be affected, 1.13.2-jira8 is known to be OK)
  • Table Grid Editor v1.29.18

They cause Jira to create a lot of open temp files and thus will consume the whole open files allowed for the Jira process eventually. 

Workaround

Exporter

• Increase the Open Files limit for Jira so that It can last longer without crashing.

• You may need to check this Redhat article for checking and setting global ulimit values on Redhat systems and on CentOS: https://access.redhat.com/solutions/61334

• Restart Jira after applying the open files change.

Table Grid Next Generation and Table Grid Editor

Not available.

Increasing the file limit will not stop the open files from increasing. Open file count will increase until the limit is reached.

Resolution

Exporter

For Exporter plugin upgrade to version 2.1.5:

• Below are the steps provided by the plugin Vendor:

Version 2.1.5 • Released 2017-07-01 • Supported By DEISER • Paid via Atlassian • Commercial

Resolved the problem that was affecting only Jira instances installed on a CentOS/RedHat and was causing that with the time a lot of processes keep opened and was causing an impact on the instance.

IMPORTANT! If you have a CentOS/RedHat distribution, we strongly recommend following these instructions to prevent malfunctions:

1) Uninstall Exporter

2) Reboot Jira (this will close the previous open connections)

3) Install Exporter again, the latest version (2.1.5)

Thank you so much for your patience and reporting.If you have further problems don't hesitate to contact us at our Service Management.

Table Grid Next Generation and Table Grid Editor

Please downgrade to a lower version than the affected versions. Known versions that do no have the problem are:

Table Grid Editor: 1.29.17

Table Grid Next Generation: 1.13.2-jira8