Instructions to install Jira Software on Mac are not found

[Yves Giroux]

Downloading the package for JIRA software gives the option to download for MAC but the download will give a .tar.gz file and no instructions for MAC are provided in the subsequent Confluence page.

Only Windows, Linux and Solaris seem to be supported. Do those instructions exist or is MAC just not supported?

[Nic Brough [Adaptavist]]

It's not officially supported, but you can just follow the instructions for Linux and you'll find it works.

[Yves Giroux]

Linux instructions refer to a .bin file, not a .tar.gz

I've run

#tar -zxvf atlassian-jira-software-7.1.9.tar.gz 

and it does appear successful as a process, but doesn't lead to an installation setup as described in the Linux instructions.

[Nic Brough [Adaptavist]]

My apologies, yes, I should have said you need to follow the tar.gz route.  I don't know if the installer binaries work on a Mac, I haven't tried them on one recently (I use the tar.gz or Adaptavist scripts!)

With the tar.gz installation, you should unzip it somewhere that you want to run it, I then tend to edit the jira-application.properties file under /<install>/atlassian-jira/WEB-INF/classes to set a "home" directory, then go into /bin and run start-jira.sh - that should get you to a running JIRA with the initial setups

[Matt Doar [ServiceRocket]]

Yes, I avoid installers that don't tell me what they are doing, or are not idempotent

[Paul Swann-Clark]

This does not seem to work on my iMac. 

Already regretting buying this.  Paid for two years support then you can't even raise a proper ticket.  Download is sat in downloads folder and can't find a way to install...sucking right now!

[Nic Brough [Adaptavist]]

What part of the instructions for the .tar.gz install are you doing differently to the documentation?

[Paul Swann-Clark]

Hi Nic

 I moved tar.gz file to the application directory and exploded.  I then found the WEB-INF/class and created a "home" folder (is that what you meant? Went to Bin, clicked the start-jira.sh...following error popped-up in text box.

#!/bin/bash

# resolve links - $0 may be a softlink - stolen from catalina.sh
PRG="$0"
while [ -h "$PRG" ]; do
ls=`ls -ld "$PRG"`
link=`expr "$ls" : '.*-> \(.*\)$'`
if expr "$link" : '/.*' > /dev/null; then
PRG="$link"
else
PRG=`dirname "$PRG"`/"$link"
fi
done
PRGDIR=`dirname "$PRG"`
export START_JIRA_JAVA_OPTS="-Datlassian.plugins.startup.options='${@}'"

if [ "$1" = "--help" ] || [ "$1" = "-h" ] ; then
exec $PRGDIR/display-help.sh
exit 0
fi

if [[ ${@} == *"disable-all-addons"* ]]; then
echo "Disabling all user installed addons";
fi

if [[ ${@} == *"disable-addons"* ]]; then
echo "Disabling specified plugins";
fi

PRGRUNMODE=false
if [ "$1" = "-fg" ] || [ "$1" = "run" ] ; then
shift
PRGRUNMODE=true
else
echo ""
echo "To run JIRA in the foreground, start the server with start-jira.sh -fg"
fi

. `dirname $0`/user.sh #readin the username

if [ -z "$JIRA_USER" ] || [ $(id -un) == "$JIRA_USER" ]; then

echo executing as current user
if [ "$PRGRUNMODE" == "true" ] ; then
exec $PRGDIR/catalina.sh run $@
else
exec $PRGDIR/startup.sh $@
fi

elif [ $UID -ne 0 ]; then

echo JIRA has been installed to run as $JIRA_USER so please sudo run this to enable switching to that user
exit 1

else

echo executing using dedicated user: $JIRA_USER
if [ -x "/sbin/runuser" ]; then
sucmd="/sbin/runuser"
else
sucmd="su"
fi

if [ "$PRGRUNMODE" == "true" ] ; then
$sucmd -m $JIRA_USER -c "$PRGDIR/catalina.sh run $@"
else
$sucmd -m $JIRA_USER -c "$PRGDIR/startup.sh $@"
fi

fi

 Did I do something wrong with the home file?

[Paul Swann-Clark]

In my haste...I forgot to say thanks for taking the time to pick-up this thread and reply..."thanks Nic!.."

[Nic Brough [Adaptavist]]

That's not quite right. 

First, you should create a "home" directory outside the installation directory.  As an example, I usually end up with something like

• /opt/jira/installation
• /opt/jira/data

Second, the .tar.gz install does not set anything automatically, so you have to give it the home directory manually.  Sticking with the example above, edit /opt/jira/data/installation/atlassian-jira/WEB-INF/classes/jira-application.properties so that it points to the home.  Most of the time, the file is very short and contains only:

# Do not modify this file unless instructed. It is here to store the location of the JIRA home directory only and is typically written to by the installer.
jira.home = /opt/jira/data

Finally, it looks like your mac has been told to open scripts in an editor, rather than run them.  Try running it on the command line:

cd /opt/jira/installation/bin

./start-jira.sh

[Paul Swann-Clark]

HI Nic

Thanks so much for trying to help me here.  I'm pretty sure I built all the directories as suggested but still can't get it to run.  Now getting a Java error as follows;

      Atlassian JIRA

      Version : 7.12.1

If you encounter issues starting or stopping JIRA, please see the Troubleshooting guide at http://confluence.atlassian.com/display/JIRA/Installation+Troubleshooting+Guide

Server startup logs are located in /opt/jira/installation/logs/catalina.out

Using CATALINA_BASE:   /opt/jira/installation

Using CATALINA_HOME:   /opt/jira/installation

Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: /opt/jira/installation/temp

Using JRE_HOME:        /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk-10.0.1.jdk/Contents/Home

Using CLASSPATH:       /opt/jira/installation/bin/bootstrap.jar:/opt/jira/installation/bin/tomcat-juli.jar

Using CATALINA_PID:    /opt/jira/installation/work/catalina.pid

*************************************************************************************************************************************

**********     Wrong JVM version! You are running with java version "10.0.1" 2018-04-17 but JIRA requires at least 1.8 to run.      **********

*************************************************************************************************************************************

Pauls-iMac:bin paulswann-clark$ 

I'm presuming 8 is an earlier release than 10 so not keen to role back. All this just to try get it run the configuration process...oh, man I've lost the will to live..it's only for home use so perhaps I give up at this point lol.

Cheers, Paul

[Nic Brough [Adaptavist]]

Yeah, the numbering on Java is fun.  You are right about 8 (which is actually numbered as 1.8 by Oracle) being older than 10, the error message is not quite correct.  You can usually install more than one version of Java on a mac, and then set the JAVA_HOME to the right one for Jira.

[Paul Swann-Clark]

It's getting a bit too deep for me now and I'm worried I end up screwing up my iMac!

If Atallasian are serious about supporting jira on Macs then then they need to make this a lot simpler and it work.  The frustrating thing is that their website sells an OX download so you think they support it.  When I bought it they also gave me the option for tech support which I paid extra for 3-years.  But when you try raise a ticket it says they don't support server based jira core products - you have to use the community...so actually I paid for nothing!

So anyway, many thanks for your support. You were a great help. Jira is a great tool and I will carry on advocating it for organisations but what a shame I cannot use it at home :(

[Nic Brough [Adaptavist]]

I know.  Thing is, they're not serious about supporting the server/DC versions on Macs.  People rarely use Macs as servers, so the market for Jira (and the others) is pretty much zero.  I tend to do it, but only for messing around with a development or demo system on this laptop.  It's never going to be a server (when I do need a proper server, I stick it on a Linux box)

The redirection to the community when you ask for support should only be done for the 10 user "starter" licences, so if you've got more than that, I would have expected a proper support call to have gone in.