Problem

When clicking on Custom Fields in Jira Administration, you get a 404 error message, stating "Oops, you've found a dead link".

• There are no relevant error messages in the Jira application logs
• Disabling "Enable HTML in custom field descriptions and list item values" from General Configuration does not resolve the problem
• The problem persists regardless of the presence of a reverse proxy or not

Diagnosis

In Jira 7.11, a new screen was introduced for custom fields - see  JRASERVER-27957 - Getting issue details... STATUS  for more details. The routing to the new screen is controlled through an action in $jira-install/atlassian-jira/WEB-INF/classes/actions.xml.

The feature is controlled via a feature flag, which is turned on by default. Turning the feature flag off is a useful diagnostic step:

1. Browse to <your-jira-url>/secure/SiteDarkFeatures!default.jspa
2. Add an entry for jira.customfields.paginated.ui.disabled
3. Visit the custom fields page

If the custom fields page now displays correctly, proceed to the "Cause" section.

Cause

The files that control the new appearance aren't in line with those provided by a default installation. The files used are:

1. $jira-install/atlassian-jira/WEB-INF/classes/com/atlassian/jira/web/action/admin/customfields/ViewCustomFields.class
2. $jira-install/atlassian-jira/WEB-INF/classes/actions.xml

Resolution

Replace the files in your current installation with those from the zip or tarball:

1. Shut down Jira, and backup the files to be changed
2. Delete the original files
3. Copy the files from the tarball to the original location, making sure to match the permissions the original files
4. Start Jira
5. Remove the feature flag from <your-jira-url>/secure/SiteDarkFeatures!default.jspa