If I need a self-hosted (not Cloud) Jira instance for a small R&D team, are there any options?

[Matthew Taylor]

If I need a self-hosted (not Cloud) Jira instance for a small R&D team, are there any options?

Due to Atlassian's recent changes to server and data center products I can't identify a path forward for a small team to experiment with various Jira integrations as part of an overall specialized tool stack.   

I can't use the free 10-person cloud-based option (I require self-hosting), legacy server options are deprecated, and the minimum data center based purchase is 500 users -- far oversized for a small R&D effort.  Is there another option I've overlooked?  Thanks.

[Nir Haimov]

Hi @Matthew Taylor 

There is no official way.
However, there is a workaround, but it's completely not recommended, it's just as last result because you really have to...

You can create a local Jira instance, (this is basically used for development purpose and not production).
The instance have a built-in license for 3 days (which is reset every time you restart Jira, so just generate an automation script to restart every 2 days off work hours and you are free to go).

To do so, all you need is to install Atlassian SDK and run the command:

atlas-run-standalone --product jira --version 8.17.0 (or any other version you like)

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Also, if you do buy a server licence, it is "perpetual" - it won't stop working after it expires.

You won't get upgrades on server, but you can run it as long as you want.  (For what it's worth, we're still getting asked to do upgrades on Jira 3.x installs, so we know it just keeps ploughing on...)

[Matthew Taylor]

Thanks, @Nic Brough -Adaptavist- 

I'd gladly purchase a small-tier server instance for these purposes, but the purchasing section of the website has the server options grayed out so they aren't selectable.  I don't think I can purchase a new one at this stage.

[Matthew Taylor]

Hi @Nir Haimov 

I really appreciate this information.  Thanks!  I will definitely give this a try - I had no idea what you explained was possible.  Like you say, it's not ideal, but it might be my only path forward.  If I create properly formatted CSVs with all the dummy data I'll need to test features and various integrations, I could quickly import those into this short-lived Jira instance as needed.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Ah, sorry, yes, you can't buy new server licences any more.  That only applied if you'd got one already.  I'm afraid you're limited to Nir's developer trick.

If you do go for that one, then I'd recommend including a download of the SDK you use to run up development environments - later versions may stop being able to generate server versions (although I doubt it will stop handling DC development for a long time)