JIRA is a ‘web application’, meaning it runs centrally on a server, and users interact with it through web browsers from any computer on the same network. As such, JIRA must be able to communicate and authenticate with itself. If you’re upgrading to

Please read the Supported platforms page for JIRA applications, which lists the required server and client software supported by JIRA applications for:

  • Browsers (client-side)
  • Java platforms (JDK/JRE) (server-side)
  • Operating systems (server-side)
  • Application servers (server-side)
  • Databases (server-side)

Please also read the information below regarding server and client software and hardware requirements for JIRA.

Client-side requirements

Browser: Enable your browser to execute JavaScript from your JIRA applications to access their full functionality. You can consult the supported versions here.

Server-side requirements for evaluation purposes

  • Java: If you intend to use the Windows Installer or Linux Installer to install JIRA, there is no need to install and configure a separate JDK/JRE since these executable files will install and configure their own JRE to run JIRA, otherwise you will have to install a supported version of the ORACLE Java runtime. Consult the supported versions here.
  • Memory: 500MB – 1GB of Java heap size is enough for most evaluation purposes.
  • Database: JIRA applications come pre-configured with the H2 database, which is suitable for evaluation purposes only, it shouldn’t be used in production environments.
  • Security: Symantec must be uninstalled from the server that you want to install JIRA applications on, as it is known to dramatically reduce application performance. For more information, see this knowledge base article: Crashes and Performance Issues Troubleshooting.

Server-side requirements for production

  • Java:  If you intend to use the Windows Installer or Linux Installer to install JIRA, there is no need to install and configure a separate JDK/JRE since these executable files will install and configure their own JRE to run JIRA, otherwise you will have to install a supported version of the ORACLE Java runtime. Consult the supported versions here.
  • Hardware
    • For a small number of projects (less or equal to 100) with 1,000 to 5,000 issues in total and about 100-200 users, a recent server (multicore CPU) with 2GB of available RAM and a reasonably fast hard drive (7200 rpm or faster) should cater for your needs.
    • For more than 100 projects you should monitor JIRA memory usage and allocate more memory if required.
    • If your system will experience a large number of concurrent requests, running JIRA applications on a multicore CPU machine will increase the concurrency of processing the requests, and therefore, speed up the response time for your users.
    • For reference, we have a server that has a 2 Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5520 @ 2.27GHz (16 logical cores) with 32GB of RAM. This server runs Apache, various monitoring systems, and two JIRA application instances:
      • Our public site has approximately: 145,000 issues, 255,000 comments, 120 custom fields, and 115 projects.
      • Our support site has approximately: 285,000 issues, 2,500,000 comments, 75 custom fields, and 22 projects.
  • Database:  Using the embedded H2 database is not supported in production. You must install and connect your JIRA instance to an enterprise database supported by Atlassian.
  • Security:  Symantec must be uninstalled from the server that you want to install JIRA applications on, as it is known to dramatically reduce application performance. For more information, see this knowledge base article: Crashes and Performance Issues Troubleshooting.