jira core 7.11.1 install directions don't work

[Steve Lopez]

I'm following the install directions verbatim to upgrade jira core from 7.5 to 7.11. 

I am following the instructions found in steps 1 & 2 at 

https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiraserver/installing-jira-applications-on-linux-938846841.html

I get the following error..

steve@genesis:~$ chmod a+x atlassian-jira-core-7.11.1-x64.bin

steve@genesis:~$ sudo ./atlassian-jira-core-7.11.1-x64.bin

sh: 0: getcwd() failed: No such file or directory

./atlassian-jira-core-7.11.1-x64.bin: 235: cd: getcwd() failed: No such file or directory

./atlassian-jira-core-7.11.1-x64.bin: 250: cd: getcwd() failed: No such file or directory

./atlassian-jira-core-7.11.1-x64.bin: 253: cd: getcwd() failed: No such file or directory

tail didn't work. This could be caused by exhausted disk space. Aborting.

[Andy Heinzer]

It sounds like you're trying to upgrade, but you're following an initial installation guide.  Instead I'd recommend following the Upgrading Jira guide.

You can use that installation package to do an upgrade, it is one of the possible ways to do this.  But if you're going to do that, try following the guide: Upgrading Jira applications using the installer

On a side note, I would recommend that when you run the installation file, this file should NOT be located inside either the $JIRAHOME or the $JIRAINSTALL directories.   There have been unexpected results when doing this.

[Steve Lopez]

Thanks Andrew.  I don't think the core file included an 'upgrade' option.  I just downloaded the jira bin file since that includes core.   It *does* include an upgrade option but still won't let me just upgrade the existing installation in /opt/atlassian/jira.  It complains that I have to choose a different directory.  Should I just provide a new directory such as /opt/atlassian/jira-7.11?

This will install JIRA Software 7.11.1 on your computer.

OK [o, Enter], Cancel [c]

o

Choose the appropriate installation or upgrade option.

Please choose one of the following:

Express Install (use default settings) [1], Custom Install (recommended for advanced users) [2], Upgrade an existing JIRA installation [3, Enter]

2

Where should JIRA Software be installed?

[/opt/atlassian/jira]

It appears that JIRA is already installed in the directory you selected.  Please choose a different directory.

Where should JIRA Software be installed?

[/opt/atlassian/jira]

[Steve Lopez]

btw - I gave /opt/atlassian/jira-7.11.1 and it moved to the next step regarding HTTP ports then complained that current ports are in use.  These are the ports being used by JIRA 7.5.   Seems like the 'upgrade' script with the installer is broken or poorly written and isn't really aware of the current installation.  Am I missing something?

[Andy Heinzer]

You selected option #2,  which is 'Custom Install (recommended for advanced users) [2]'

If you want to upgrade that existing install path, you need to select option #3: 'Upgrade an existing JIRA installation [3, Enter]'

You will find the installer will behave differently for an upgrade vs an install.   Note that it is still possible to do an upgrade of Jira by selecting option #2, but the expectation is that you are creating a new installation path, and in turn you would have to stop the other running Jira instance, both to utilize the existing ports, but also so that you can be sure you connect to your database and your home directory.  You should never try to start a new Jira install that is using the same database and/or home directory as another Jira install.

[Steve Lopez]

oh jeez - thank you!!  The way the options laid out in the console I misread it and though the upgrade was option 2.  

now it is working as I expected.

Thanks again!

Steve

[Andy Heinzer]

I am pretty sure I have done the same thing before with Jira also.  And in a quick research I found other users who have also noted this just looks bad in the installer itself, check out https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRASERVER-65909

It is a feature request to change the formatting here.  I'd recommend voting on this to help our development team understand why this should be changed.

[Steve Lopez]

done!

[Steve Lopez]

i logged out of my ssh session and back in and was able to execute the bin file.   However, the installer doesn't appear smart enough to recognize the existing 7.5 version and update it.  it is complaining that an existing version already exists and wants a different directory.

why is this so hard Atlassian?  Simple automated software updates are so last decade... ;)

[Steve Lopez]

p.s.  the documentation for jira-core is misleading.  The page  at https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/core/update is titled, 'Update JIRA Core'.  But it just provides a link to download a .bin file, misleading users into thinking all they need to do is run that bin to update jira. (which is how it really should work).  instead, there are innumerable steps required but not mentioned on that page or when executing the bin file (such as creating a clone of the server at a different location, checking plugins, etc, etc

Hopefully  Atlassian is aware of the miserable upgrade process and working on improving t.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Hopefully, yes, they are.

There is a slight problem - yesterday, I did  7.4 to 7.11 Core upgrade by simply following the docs.  I admit I didn't start with the install docs, I hit the download first, and then went to the installation pages for a quick read before running anything, but if they are doing what I did, then they simply aren't seeing the problems you have had.

I don't usually ask people for stacks of new information, but in this case, it would be really good to get a write-up of where you ran into problems and where the docs did not cover what you hit.