Problem

JIRA may throw different errors due to this - the common cause is it is not operating as expected.

The following appears in the catalina.out:

Aug 07, 2013 2:02:36 AM org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig start
SEVERE: Unable to create directory for deployment: /opt/atlassian/jira/conf/Catalina/localhost

Cause

The Tomcat process is not able to access the scratchDir or deployment directory, most likely due to file permissions. The scratchDir is used by Tomcat when compiling JSPs which is the technology used to render the dynamically created web pages in JIRA applications. If Tomcat cannot access that directory it can result in failures to properly operate.

Resolution

Option 1 (preferred):

Fix the permissions on a case by case basis

1. Stop the Jira application (not required if Jira runs in docker in Docker)

2. Create the directory referenced in the error:

   LINUX: 		mkdir -p $JIRA_INSTALL/conf/Catalina/localhost
   
   WINDOWS: 	mkdir $JIRA_INSTALL\conf\Catalina\localhost

3. Fix the permissions for the newly created directory:

   Expand for Linux instructions...

   These instructions refer to the default user, group & installation paths for JIRA applications, as if it were installed using the bundled installer. If you're unsure of what these permissions should be, please consult with your System Administrator and the user who installed JIRA applications.

   sudo chown -R jira:jira $JIRA_INSTALL/conf/Catalina/localhost

   Expand for Windows instructions...

   Please refer to the article How to fix directory permissions in Windows for Jira Server for further information.

4. Remove the following directory:

   $JIRA_INSTALL/work/*

   This will be rebuilt when your JIRA application is restarted.

5. Start the Jira application (or restart the docker container)
6. Check the Jira's logs ($JIRA_INST/logs/catalina*, $JIRA_HOME/logs/atlassian-jira.log) for 'permission denied' errors - if there are any, repeat the above steps for the folders in questions only

Option 2:

Disclaimer: The following steps suggest to fix the permissions on all Jira sub directories at once. While the below steps will be the quickest to fix the issue, modifying the permissions on all Jira directories is not recommended as it can potentially make the Jira server vulnerable to remote code execution attacks (see https://confluence.atlassian.com/jira/security-addendum-2010-04-16-preventing-security-attacks-216433277.html for details)

1. Stop your JIRA application (not required if Jira runs in Docker)

2. Fix the permissions for the below directories and all of their subdirectories:

   $JIRA_HOME/
   $JIRA_INSTALL/

   Expand for Linux instructions...

   These instructions refer to the default user, group & installation paths for JIRA applications, as if it were installed using the bundled installer. If you're unsure of what these permissions should be, please consult with your System Administrator and the user who installed JIRA applications.

   sudo chown -R jira:jira /var/atlassian/application-data/jira
   sudo chown -R jira:jira /opt/atlassian/jira/

   Expand for Windows instructions...

   Please refer to the article How to fix directory permissions in Windows for Jira Server for further information.

3. Remove the following directory:

   $JIRA_INSTALL/work

    This will be rebuilt when your JIRA application is restarted.

4. Start the application (or restart the Jira's docker container if Jira runs in Docker)

Option 3:

If you are using mapped network drives for Jira's backup directory, attachments directory, index directory, or the %CATALINA_HOME%\‌* directory, you need to ensure that Jira can write to these drives. That is, these directories all need to be writeable by the user which the Jira service is running as. This may mean that you need to change the Windows user that the Jira server uses (see Changing the Windows user that the Jira service uses for more information).

 Note that you must also specify these network drives by UNC and not letter mappings, e.g. \\backupserver\jira not z:\jira

1. To change the Windows user that the Jira service uses, navigate to the service in Windows, i.e. 'Control Panel' -> 'Administrative Tools' -> 'Services'. Locate the 'Atlassian Jira' service, right-click and view the 'Preferences'.

2. Go to the 'Log On' tab and change the user as desired.