Upgrade JIRA Software Server version from 8.1 to 8.9

[Jenny Alvarez]

Since we have not started officially the issue management yet with our JIRA, I think it is the best time to upgrade to JIRA latest version (from 8.1 to 8.9).

Current Setting:

- Added custom field setting, set dashboard, permissions, notification and registered users.

- Email notification is not set up yet

- DB is still H2 database.

- Add-ons: In Product Translation for Jira and JIRA Calendar Plugin

Questions:

1. Can we upgrade the version directly from 8.1 to 8.9?

2. Do I need to download 8.9 instance and install overwriting 8.1?

3. May I know your thought on this upgrade? Have you encountered setbacks when you upgrade to latest version? Do you have recommendation for other versions?

[Benjamin · Accepted solution]

HI @Jenny Alvarez ,

I recently upgraded from an earlier version of 8.X. No issue.

Should start using a different database, if you are using it more than an evaluation. Possibly Postgres or mysql. Jira server has a feature to see if your system is prepare for the upgrade. Should take a look at the first before upgrade.

You can find the instructions here to proceed. This is exactly what I did to successfully upgrade:

https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiraserver/upgrading-jira-installer-938846937.html

Hope this helps.

If you are running your server virtually, even easier. You can save the instance and reload the instance backup if it doesn't work. 

Thanks,

Ben

[Jenny Alvarez]

Hi @Benjamin

Good to hear that there is no issue for 8.X version up.

About the DB, yes, we will connect to different database soon.

Thank you!

[Benjamin]

@Jenny Alvarez - You most welcome. Good Luck! If there is any questions that come up, feel free to post again on the community. 

[Jenny Alvarez]

@BenjaminMay I ask you how long did it take to complete the upgrade? Or is it zero downtime?

[Benjamin]

@Jenny Alvarez - There is relatively small downtime since I needed to shutdown Jira to perform the upgrade. So best to do this off hours. Also, give yourself sometime to troubleshoot if needed. Took me approximately around an hour or maybe less. If was relatively quick to upgrade once you have done the prereqs.