Jira Software 8.20.x upgrade notes
Here are some important notes on upgrading to Jira Software 8.20.
Upgrade notes
We normally do not introduce new features in the Long Term Support release but rather consolidate the ones we've introduced since the last Long Term Support releases (Jira 8.5 and Jira 8.13). See our change log for all the features and fixes between the last LTSs. Learn more
Login performance improvements from 8.20.8
In this release, we have provided some bug-fixes and performance improvements to the user login process.
Bug fixes
JRASERVER-70690 - Getting issue details... STATUS
We’ve added a UNIQUE constraint to idx_mem_dir_parent_child index of cwd_membership table. This will improve data consistency and eliminate rare user login issues. Jira will perform this work automatically during upgrade, but it might take some additional time to process.
JRASERVER-71483 - Getting issue details... STATUS
User login was occasionally disrupted by inconsistent state of caches across the cluster. We’ve made the process independent from the cache, which will prevent any issues with logging in to the instances.
Performance improvements
JRASERVER-70468 - Getting issue details... STATUS
This release comes with performance improvements mainly targeting bots, which frequently log in to Jira via basic authentication.
From now on, Jira delaying storing user login counters and timestamps. This change will improve the performance of instances will improve, however, the latest information might be not available immediately. The displayed information is eventually consistent with maximum delay of 30 seconds.
Authentications are now cached inside Jira for 15 minutes or until the first unsuccessful attempt. This will improve the performance and reduce the load on authenticating external directories.
If, for security reasons, you've decided to change the default session timeout to a value lower than 15 minutes, you need to update system property com.atlassian.jira.user.crowd.service.authenticate.cache.minutes accordingly. However, if session timeout has been lowered due to performance reasons (for example, on “rest nodes” where you want to recycle sessions faster), you don't need to make any updates.
For more information about the introduced changes, check out the following resources:
- User-login JIRA stats logs
- [User-login] Restoring old Jira backup to 8.22.0 and newer
[User-login] Restoring Jira 8.22 (and newer) backup to Cloud
Advanced Roadmaps and upgrades from Jira 8.5 LTS or 8.13 LTS
In release 8.15, Advanced Roadmaps for Jira became part of Jira Software Data Center, offering its powerful project planning and visualization capabilities out of the box with no additional cost to customers. The addition of Advanced Roadmaps means that if you're upgrading from Jira 8.5 LTS or 8.13 LTS, you may need to take some action before proceeding with the upgrade.
Impact on reindexing performance
You may notice that reindexing takes longer as compared to release 8.13.x without Advanced Roadmaps installed. In our tests, we observed that reindexing took 94 minutes in 8.13.x without Advanced Roadmaps and 108 minutes in 8.13.x with Advanced Roadmaps. These results amount to an approximately 14% increase in the time required to complete the operation; however, your results may vary depending on your system configuration and the amount of data stored on your instance.
We are aware of this and have decided that it’s a small trade-off in comparison to the improvements in the overall user experience with our products.
Impact on upgrades from Jira 8.5 LTS and 8.13 LTS
If you're upgrading from Jira 8.5 LTS or 8.13 LTS and have installed Advanced Roadmaps from the Atlassian Marketplace, the Jira update check will mark the app as incompatible.
This behavior is expected as newer versions of the plugin are no longer available in the Marketplace. From now on, updates to Advanced Roadmaps will be delivered together with new releases of Jira.
If you're seeing Advanced Roadmaps on the list of incompatible apps, here's what to do:
- On the Jira update check page, select Disable to turn off the currently installed version of Advanced Roadmaps.
- Complete the Jira upgrade process.
- When you complete the upgrade, go to Administration > Manage apps, and then verify that Advanced Roadmaps for Jira is enabled.
For more information, see Preparing for the upgrade.
Improved indexation for issue-related entities backported to 8.20.12
The feature has been backported from Jira 8.22.2 to Jira 8.20.12. Learn more
To improve Jira performance, we've introduced a limit on the number of issue-related entities that will be indexed after the full issue reindex is triggered. By default, Jira will now index only 1000 newest comments, changehistory items, and worklogs. This value can be changed for each entity via a system property.
For more information about the feature and default limitations, see Safeguards in Jira DC index.
End of support announcements
In Jira Software 8.20, we've removed support for the following platforms:
- Microsoft Edge Legacy
Also, in Jira Software 8.19, we've removed support for PostgreSQL 9.6. Make sure to migrate to the latest supported version of PostgreSQL before upgrading Jira. See Upgrading from PostgreSQL 9.6 to PostgreSQL 12.
For the list of supported platforms, see Supported platforms.
For previous announcements, see End of support announcements.
App developers
See Preparing for Jira 8.20 for any important changes regarding apps.
Upgrade procedure
Upgrading from a Jira version 8.x.x?
- See Upgrading Jira applications for complete upgrade procedures, including all available upgrade methods and pre-upgrade steps.
- For a more tailored upgrade, go to Jira administration > Applications > Plan your upgrade. We’ll recommend a version to upgrade to, run pre-upgrade checks, and provide you with a custom upgrade guide with step-by-step instructions.