Symptoms

• JIRA is unable to start up.
• JIRA throws the below error during use, and may cause unexpected problems.

The following appears in the catalina.out:

2014-09-25 14:56:32,907 localhost-startStop-1 ERROR      [atlassian.jira.startup.LauncherContextListener] Unable to start JIRA due to Java Error.
java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Metaspace
	at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass1(Native Method)
	at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass(Unknown Source)
	at java.security.SecureClassLoader.defineClass(Unknown Source)
	at org.apache.catalina.loader.WebappClassLoader.findClassInternal(WebappClassLoader.java:2957)
	at org.apache.catalina.loader.WebappClassLoader.findClass(WebappClassLoader.java:1210)

Environment

• JIRA was configured with the -XX:MaxMetaspaceSize JVM parameter (as per Setting properties and options on startup).

Diagnosis

If the above error messages are present in the logs this KB applies.

Cause

JAVA 8 is no longer using PermGen to store class metadata, as it was replaced by MetaSpace, which uses the native heap.

Setting a limit to this value (with -XX:MaxMetaspaceSize) may cause this error to happen.

Resolution

1. Remove the -XX:MaxMetaspaceSize parameter entirely, since Java 8 automatically increases the MetaSpace area as needed.
2. Alternatively, increase the XX:MaxMetaspaceSize value.

Sources:

• Java Platform, Standard Edition HotSpot Virtual Machine Garbage Collection Tuning Guide
• Java - Advanced Garbage Collection Options