Universal Plugin Manager: 1.x or 2.x?

[Marcel_R__Ackermann]

Hi. I have noticed that a number of plugins from the Plugin Exchange state that they use "Plugin System: Two". I also see that the Atlassian Universal Plugin Manager has been recently released as version 2.x.

First of all, I have tried to check which version of the UPM I have installed. The System Plugins list tells me it is version 1.4.1 (and I run stand-alone JIRA 4.4.4). This seems to be pretty outdated. (Oddly enough, the Plugin Exchange list only a version 1.4.0 and no version 1.4.1 of UPM, and this version isn't even compatible to 4.4.x?!) Also, I cannot find a way to upgrade to the latest version; the Upgrade tab tells me I am up-to-date. According to the Plugin Exchange, the latest version should be 2.0.3.

Second, I have not found any information on whether 2.x is fully compatible with 1.x plugins. I certainly assume this is the case, but I would appreciate confirmation.

So my question is: Which version of the UPM should I use, and how do I install it (preferably, using the UI)? In fact, I do not care that much that the UPM is up-to-date, but I do certainly want to install 1.x plugins as well as 2.x plugins.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Mark Symons · Accepted solution]

The latest version of UPM is, indeed, v2.0.3. The instructions on how to upgrade can be found here:

http://confluence.atlassian.com/display/UPM/Upgrading+the+Universal+Plugin+Manager

..and are manual (you will need to upload the plugin yourself and then restart JIRA). However, once you have completed this then you not have to go through the process again: UPM can now "upgrade itself".

I was in the same situation as you, running an out of date version of UPM. I found that the upgrade was well worth the effort. I have no problems with running Plugin System One plugins: I might have to manually upload them and restart JIRA in order to install, but once that is done then UPM allows me to disable/uninstall/configure.

[Marcel_R__Ackermann]

Thanks. It worked exactly as you described.

[abhalla]

Mark Symons' answer is good, but I want to reiterate that Universal Plugin Manager (UPM) is intended to manage both Plugin System One and Plugin System Two plugins. All versions of UPM have supported both Atlassian Plugin System versions.

UPM v2 includes many improvements to user experience, tighter integration with the Plugin Exchange, and new support for plugin license management. As Mark points out, once you have installed UPM v2, UPM will notify you of new updates to UPM and make the update process painless. We have been working hard to improve the UPM experience, so you will want to update UPM when given the option.