NullPointerException while editing the name of a transition
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Note that this knowledge base article was created for the Data Center version of the product. Data Center knowledge base articles 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
Summary
While editing the name of a transition, the error "common.forms.ajax.servererror" is thrown by the Jira UI:
Environment
All versions
Diagnosis
Following exception is found in the atlassian-jira.log:
Uncaught exception thrown by REST service: null
java.lang.NullPointerException
at com.atlassian.jira.workflow.edit.Workflow.isDuplicateStepTransitionName(Workflow.java:793)
at com.atlassian.jira.workflow.edit.Workflow.isDuplicateTransitionName(Workflow.java:743)
at com.atlassian.jira.workflow.edit.Workflow.isDuplicateTransitionName(Workflow.java:506)
at com.atlassian.jira.workflow.edit.WorkflowTransitionsImpl.verifyTransitionCanBeUpdated(WorkflowTransitionsImpl.java:325)
at com.atlassian.jira.workflow.edit.WorkflowTransitionsImpl.updateTransition(WorkflowTransitionsImpl.java:95)
... 3 filteredOr in alternative:
1999-00-00 00:00:00,000+0000 http-nio-0080-exec-0 url: /jira/rest/workflowDesigner/latest/workflows/transitions; user: USER ERROR USER SESSIONID IP /rest/workflowDesigner/latest/workflows/transitions [c.a.p.r.c.error.jersey.ThrowableExceptionMapper] Uncaught exception thrown by REST service: Cannot invoke "com.opensymphony.workflow.loader.StepDescriptor.getActions()" because "sourceStep" is null
java.lang.NullPointerException: Cannot invoke "com.opensymphony.workflow.loader.StepDescriptor.getActions()" because "sourceStep" is null
at com.atlassian.jira.workflow.edit.Workflow.isDuplicateStepTransitionName(Workflow.java:794)
at com.atlassian.jira.workflow.edit.Workflow.isDuplicateTransitionName(Workflow.java:744)
at com.atlassian.jira.workflow.edit.Workflow.isDuplicateTransitionName(Workflow.java:507)Cause
A transition step is not found in the Workflow and fails with NullPointerException.
Solution
Please Note
We strongly recommend testing the solution in a Staging environment and taking a backup of your database before updating the DB data.
For Production schedule a maintenance window to proceed
Solution 1
- Export the workflow as xml.
- Open it up in a text editor.
Check for tag <initial-actions> in the XML.
Notice what step ID is mentioned in the tag unconditional-result, it should be different than 1 :
<unconditional-result old-status="null" status="open" step="10">- When status is open(which is the Create issue step), API checks for step ID 1 as next step.
- Take the back up of XML. Modify this step ID to 1 and also track corresponding <step> tag to modify its ID as well to step id="1".
- Take a backup of the existing workflow and replace it with the modified one.
Example: How to locate it in workflow:
Solution 2
Alternatively, and in case the workflow cannot be deleted from the UI, you can follow these steps:
- Follow steps 1 to 6 in Solution 1
- Stop Jira
- Update the XML entity in the DB as follows:
UPDATE jiraworkflows SET descriptor = '<paste here the full edited XML>' where id = '<database workflow id>'; - Start Jira