Disabled Add-Ons VS Uninstalled Add-Ons

[Ricky Lin]

Hi guys.

Just checking here to see if:

1. keeping unused add-ons disabled would generally affect JIRA's overall performance
2. keeping expired add-ons enabled would generally affect JIRA's overall performance?

My understanding of uninstallation is that the data/files will actually be removed from the server/database, where as keeping them disabled would be a safe way to go if you know you don't need them at the time being.

Any insights would be great.  Thank you!

[Daniel Wester · Accepted solution]

I'm thinking that you're after Server input - so here goes.

If you disable an add-on( as in the entire module), the plugin system doesn't interact with it. In theory there should be no impact on the performance since the modules declared won't get the various event calls and such. In addition to this, they won't consume much memory (they're still read in - just not activated) so there will be a slight memory consumption (I'm not sure how much).

Keeping an expired add-on enabled - the performance hit depends on the add-on itself. The add-on might continue to work the same exact way  (if it's maintenance expiration - that would be my expectation) - or they might disable the ui layer (most apps - when the evaluation is over shows "buy now" messages) and reduce the stress on the system that way. Some apps might shutdown their schedulers and really minimize the load It all really depends on the app.

My opinion is that when it comes to apps - disabling apps is something you do for a short time (ie. when you want to see if anyone is actually using it or they're misbehaving). If you don't have a need for an app anymore - uninstall it - it's one less dependency for you to manage.

Just my personal $0.02.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

I'd double that $0.02, it's exactly what I'd recommend too. 

The only thing I'd add is that the memory consumption of disabled add-ons, while minor and usually negligble, does become measurable when you're looking at complex add-ons, so if you are worried about memory, aim to remove them.

I'm often of the opinion "turn off an add-on, leave it a couple of weeks, and if none of your users say anything, remove it completely", although I'd still recommend asking first.  Most add-ons will leave their data in the database, so you can always re-install them if you change your mind.

[Ricky Lin]

Thank you both Nic and Daniel for your detailed inputs and thought processes!  That's a lot of assurance for me and I'll take the approach to disable and remove once i'm confident that no one is utilizing the plug ins.  The current Server JIRA I manage sometimes suffers performance issues and add-ons was one of the areas I spotted that could use some help.

Truly appreciate you guys and thank you for being helpful!