What JIRA problems can indicate a need for re-indexing?

Question

Sometimes we have users who cannot create new issues, despite clearly having permissions to do so. The problem seems to go away if we re-index.

We know that re-indexing is recommended after configuration changes, etc.
But are there other symptoms such as the above that can indicate the need for a re-index?  Other problems which can be fixed by a re-index?

Finally, are there any messages in the log files which can advise us of the need to re-index?

Thanks in advance.

Mark

Nic Brough -Adaptavist- · Answer

Ahh, well spotted.  Given your list of add-ons, the first line of my response was going to be "a broken script", although I was thinking more of a post-function than a validator (that's the usual way I get scripts wrong!)

Scripts can be done in Jira with in-line boxes or by existing on the disk under a "scripts" directory in the jira home directory.  The files on disk are a simple 1:1 - you create a plain text file, copy and paste the in-line script into it, remove the in-line script and point the caller to the file instead.

My usual setup is a set of sub-directories in the script home, one for validators, one for post-functions etc.  The other way I do it sometimes is "directory per business unit or project needing the scripts", but it really is about doing what works best for you.  You can imagine that this makes it easy to source control them, with simple "get labelled files" or "get latest" commands run on servers pulling a set of files.  It won't stop your admins writing new scripts in-line and telling Jira to use them instead, but at least you'll have source control and a good excuse to kick any admin who doesn't use it!

I don't know if there's a way to en-masse convert inline scripts to files, I'll ask tomorrow.  Worst case, there is the "script repository" which will list them all, at least making the copy and paste a matter of one screen.

Mark Johnson_6hv922 · Answer

Aha - In this case there was a broken validation script which depended upon a certain value in a drop-down. The end-user chose the "bad" value and the create would not happen. Then after I re-indexed, the same end user chose a different value and the create worked.

I need to find a way to convert these "in-line" scripts into file storage scripts that can be put into source control, because someone broke the script in a way that caused inconsistent behavior.

Sorry for the bother.

Mark Johnson_6hv922 · Answer

The symptoms the user described seem to match this:
https://confluence.atlassian.com/jirakb/cannot-create-issues-300814318.html