---
title: "Configuration Manager for Jira Upgrade issues"
canonical: "https://support.appfire.com/space/SUPPORT/3047096352/Configuration%20Manager%20for%20Jira%20Upgrade%20issues"
format: markdown
---
> ℹ️ Audience: Jira Data Center administrators upgrading Appfire’s Configuration Manager for Jira (CMJ) or other apps via UPM.

## Symptoms

- Jira becomes slow or unresponsive during an app upgrade in Universal Plugin Manager (UPM).
- All or many apps appear to unload/reload; users may see “Preparing Jira” or experience failed page loads.
- Upgrade appears to stall until a Jira restart is performed; after restart, the upgraded app shows as installed and running.

## Root cause (what’s happening)

During app upgrades, Jira’s plugin framework unloads and re-initializes apps. Under load or on busy nodes, this can temporarily starve resources and trigger a wider plugin restart cycle. This is a Jira-side behavior; CMJ and most apps cannot override it. In some environments, a clean restart is required for the upgrade to settle.

> ✅ Goal: Minimize impact and avoid cluster-wide disruption while upgrading.

## Before you begin

- Plan a short maintenance window and notify users. Prefer low-traffic periods.
- Confirm Jira application health: all nodes green, indexes healthy, no elevated error rates in logs.
- Have access to the hosting platform to restart services if needed.


## Highlevel upgrade procedure (Data Center)

1. Announce a brief maintenance window and ensure low load.
2. Enable UPM Safe Mode to minimize plugin re-initialization overhead.
3. Perform the app upgrade. If the UI hangs or reports “Pending restart,” restart Jira to complete the upgrade cleanly.

## Recommended upgrade procedure (Data Center)

1. Quiesce and drain one node:
  - Remove the node from the load balancer or put it in maintenance so end-user traffic avoids it.
  - Verify no long-running background tasks (indexing, reindex, bulk operations) on this node.
2. Enter UPM Safe Mode on the drained node:
  - From Manage apps, choose “Enter safe mode” to disable non-system apps, reducing the plugin system churn during upgrade.
3. Upgrade CMJ on that node:
  - Install/upgrade the target app version in UPM.
  - If the UI becomes unresponsive or the upgrade reports “Pending restart,” perform a controlled Jira restart on this node.
4. Exit Safe Mode and validate:
  - Confirm the app is Enabled and “Running.”
  - Check application logs for plugin errors or repeated restarts.
5. Return the node to the load balancer and repeat on remaining nodes one at a time.

## Verification checklist

- Manage apps shows CMJ and its bundled modules enabled: Configuration Manager Core Bundle, Configuration Manager for Jira, Integrity Check for Jira, Power Admin, CMJ SPI Bundle.
- No recurring plugin reload loops or ERROR entries related to plugin initialization in logs.
- Node(s) rejoined cluster successfully; user traffic normal.

## Best practices to reduce downtime

- Prefer maintenance windows with minimal concurrent user activity.
- Upgrade one node at a time in Data Center; avoid cluster-wide simultaneous upgrades.
- Use UPM Safe Mode to limit non-essential plugin activity during upgrades.
- Ensure adequate JVM heap and system resources to prevent resource contention during plugin reloads.

## FAQ

<details>
<summary>Why does Jira sometimes require a restart after an app upgrade?</summary>

Because the plugin framework may not fully re-initialize all components under load. A restart gives the system a clean state to finalize the upgrade.
</details>

<details>
<summary>Is there a way to upgrade without any downtime?</summary>

Zero-downtime cannot be guaranteed. Following the Data Center rolling approach (drain one node, Safe Mode, upgrade, validate, reintroduce) minimizes user impact.
</details>

<details>
<summary>Do I need to uninstall CMJ before upgrading?</summary>

Typically no. Standard UPM upgrades are supported. If you encounter repeated initialization issues, a clean reinstall (removing CMJ and its bundled modules, then installing the desired version) may help.
</details>

## Related guidance

Atlassian UPM Safe Mode and Plugin Troubleshooting: [https://confluence.atlassian.com/upm/entering-safe-mode-781192636.html](https://confluence.atlassian.com/upm/entering-safe-mode-781192636.html)