NullPointerException when trying to open edit workflow page in Jira

[Bruce Liu]

We got NullPointerException while trying to open "Edit Workflow" page in Jira Data Center version.

Exception log on webpage as follows:

org.apache.velocity.exception.MethodInvocationException: Invocation of method 'getHeaderHtml' in class com.atlassian.jira.plugins.workflowdesigner.action.WorkflowDesignerAction threw exception java.lang.NullPointerException at com.atlassian.jira.plugins.jira-workflow-designer:workflowDesignerApp//templates/workflowDesigner.vm[line 9, column 13] at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.node.ASTIdentifier.execute(ASTIdentifier.java:223) at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.node.ASTReference.execute(ASTReference.java:262) at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.node.ASTReference.render(ASTReference.java:342) at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.node.SimpleNode.render(SimpleNode.java:336) at org.apache.velocity.Template.merge(Template.java:328) at org.apache.velocity.Template.merge(Template.java:235) at org.apache.velocity.app.VelocityEngine.mergeTemplate(VelocityEngine.java:381) at com.atlassian.velocity.DefaultVelocityManager.writeEncodedBodyImpl(DefaultVelocityManager.java:117) at com.atlassian.velocity.DefaultVelocityManager.writeEncodedBody(DefaultVelocityManager.java:97) at

......

In log file:

/secure/admin/workflows/WorkflowDesigner.jspa [c.a.p.webresource.data.DataTagWriter] Exception encountered rendering data resource '[com.atlassian.jira.plugins.jira-workflow-designer:analytics-data]'
java.lang.NullPointerException
at com.atlassian.jira.issue.fields.config.manager.IssueTypeSchemeManagerImpl.getIssueTypesForConfigScheme(IssueTypeSchemeManagerImpl.java:316)
at com.atlassian.jira.issue.fields.config.manager.IssueTypeSchemeManagerImpl.getIssueTypesForProject(IssueTypeSchemeManagerImpl.java:263)

......

I tried to copy or delete a workflow (inactive), the operation was done, but the result page was showing similar error messages. In log file, following log were recorded:

/secure/admin/workflows/ViewWorkflowSteps.jspa [webwork.util.ValueStack] query="/headerHtml" {[id="null" type="5" values=""]} {[id="headerHtml" type="8" values=""]}

Any one know what's wrong here? Thanks.

[Andrej Freeze _ greenique]

Hey @Bruce Liu , it looks like one of your Schemes connected to the workflow does not have an id, or an object within those, or the workflow itself.

To narrow it down further, try to swap other schemes connected to your project until you find the corrupted one. My guess is the workflow scheme, as the logfile states the nullpointer exception to occur at:

getIssueTypesForConfigScheme(IssueTypeSchemeManagerImpl.java:316)

If you have found it, you will likely have to either delete it for good using your db, or give it an id that is not yet in use.

Hope this helps somehow.

[Bruce Liu]

Thanks for replying, Andrej.

This exception happens to all workflows no matter used by any project or inactive.

In "view" mode, it will only show an empty page, in "Edit", it will show the exception message.

Cheers!

[Andrej Freeze _ greenique]

If you create a new Workflow, does the same behaviour occur?

Do they share a specific status?

Did anything change within your environment, that could cause this behavior to suddenly occur? (e.g. an update, license renewels being due or installing an app?)

[Bruce Liu]

Same error happens when creating new workflow:

ERROR [c.a.j.web.servlet.InternalServerErrorServlet] {errorId=091efc1f-adc8-49ce-86e5-a700ae8b5f9c, interpretedMsg=, cause=java.lang.NullPointerException, stacktrace=java.lang.NullPointerException
at com.atlassian.jira.issue.fields.config.manager.IssueTypeSchemeManagerImpl.getIssueTypesForConfigScheme(IssueTypeSchemeManagerImpl.java:316) [classes/:?]
at com.atlassian.jira.issue.fields.config.manager.IssueTypeSchemeManagerImpl.getIssueTypesForProject(IssueTypeSchemeManagerImpl.java:263) [classes/:?]
at com.atlassian.jira.issue.fields.config.manager.IssueTypeSchemeManagerImpl.getIssueTypesForProject(IssueTypeSchemeManagerImpl.java:269) [classes/:?]
at com.atlassian.jira.project.ProjectImpl.getIssueTypes(ProjectImpl.java:122) [classes/:?]

This is a new cluster that has done some migration work. Some plugins were disabled due to not in use any more. I have tried to enable all plugins, but the issue remains.

[HII NEXT]

Bruce, have you been able to solve this issue?  I have a newer installation of Jira, 8.5.4 and we have performed a bunch of project imports from a different installation that had many workflow customization and now we can no longer create new projects or create any workflows due to the same NullPointerException you have.

Thanks

[G42]

Hi Dan, it appears to be some plugin data corruption in our case, maybe you can look into the same direction.

[Pascal Robert]

I get the same problem with Jira 7.13.11 Datacenter. I ran a script that change the workflow scheme on specific projects so that we can retire custom workflows. Didn't any problems on the first test runs, the problem came out later.

[Deleted user]

Any updates? We are struggling with the same problem with Jira DC 7.12
Thanks
Arnold