JIRA Software Server | Need for external database for non production environment.

[prasenna.kannan]

Team,

I'm configuring a JIRA Software Server in my VM.

As part of this, I'm setting a production version \ non production version of JIRA. Based on the below link, I can see that you will require an external database.

https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiraserver/installing-jira-applications-on-windows-938846835.html

Based on the below URL, I can see that the list of databases supported.

https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiraserver/supported-platforms-938846830.html

Now, my question :

1) We will be setting up a production version of JIRA and a non-production version of the JIRA. For production version of the JIRA, we need an external database. For non-production of the JIRA which is used internally, do we need an external database as well?

[Joe Pitt]

My first question is what are you going to use the non-production version for? Moving workflows, scheme, screens, etc. to production from the non-production isn't easily done. If you just want to test plugins before installing them in production or as a training tool the internal database would be OK. 

[prasenna.kannan]

Our JIRA requirement is to achieve the below items,

1) Defect Management System. We will be using masked data to indicate the bug description, details with some screenshots. 

2) Add the plugins (Zephyr, Azure DevOps)

3) Authenticate users from Microsoft Azure AD by installing Crowd.

What would be right approach to accomplish the above req?