Upgrading Jira Software from 8.15.0 to 9.12.0 fails - " JIRA couldn't connect to you database" error

[DSp]

Hi,

I am novice to this forum. Sorry for my long question.

Background:

We are using non-production version of Jira Software for testing purposes only, to test that our Product can complete transactions with Jira.  Our instance of Jira Software uses the embedded H2 database and it is running on Ubuntu 20.4. 

Our Client is moving their Production Jira to 9.12.0, and we will need to test our Product  against this version of Jira. Jira workflow is "customised".

Issue:

I am attempting to upgrade our Jira Software instance from 8.15.0 to 9.12.0.  

I have been following the upgrade procedure:

1. I have taken copy of the important files that may be modified as suggested (BTW my instance does not disply/contain "jira-config.properties"  in "/var/atlassian/application-data/jira/" folder or any other folder)

2. Followed the upgrade procedure and did not have any issues/error during the Upgrade (the update did not indicate that any files have been modified).

4. Upgrade completed successfully.

3. Started Jira and checked to confirm Jira is running (it is running).

When Attempting to open the GUI at "<ip address>:8080" I an getting the following error in the browser:

"Jira had problems starting up"

"Database: JIRA couldn't connect to your database"

With an explanation of the error and potential causes. 

I have followed the instructions to check connectivity to my DB through command line by running: 

java -cp h2-2.1.214.jar org.h2.tools.Shell

it comes with "Command 'java' not found, but can be installed with:......"

My log files show that java is installed:

java.runtime.name                        : OpenJDK Runtime Environment

java.runtime.version                     : 11.0.13+8

java.vendor                                   : Eclipse Adoptium

java.vendor.url                              : https://adoptium.net/

java.vendor.version                       : Temurin-11.0.1.13+8

java.version                                  : 11.0.13

java.version.date                             : 2021-10-19

The error page has the following text:

"This page is for Jira administrators. If you're seeing this page, your Jira administrator is probably working to restore the service."

I attempted all the suggested solutions on the Atlassian forums with no success. 

I do not have option to move to external database.

I would appreciate any suggestion on how to resolve this problem.

Many thanks.

[Bhasker chittibabu]

JIRA has a backend database most likely connecting to SQL server or other databases. make sure the jdbc driver has been updated to the one that is supported by 9.12.1