Installing Jira Software

Often, the best way to get familiar with something is to be hands-on, so we will be installing an instance of Jira Software and using that as the basis for all our subsequent chapters and exercises.

Installing Jira Software is a straightforward process. All you need are:

• A server or virtual machine running either Windows or Linux
• A database: Oracle, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, or PostgreSQL
• Oracle JDK 1.8 or newer
• The Jira Software installation package

You can find the full list of supported platforms and systems at https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiraserver075/supported-platforms-935390828.html.

Obtaining and installing Jira Software

For this section, we will be using the TAR.GZ or ZIP Archive installation package, as it works with any operating system. You can download the latest Jira Software from https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/download. By default, the download page will autoselect an installation package based on the operating system used by your computer. You can click on the All Server versions link to see all options.

Once you have downloaded the file, go through the following steps to install Jira Software:

1. Unzip the installation package (for example, atlassian-jira-software-7.5.0.tar.gz) to the location in which you want to install Jira Software. For example, in Linux, you might want to install it under the /opt directory. We will be referring to this directory as JIRA_INSTALL for the remainder of the book.
2. Make sure the startup script file in the bin directory is executable. For Linux, it will be start-jira.sh; for Windows, it will be start-jira.bat.

Make sure you create a user to run Jira Software with. You should not run the application under default admin accounts, such as root.

3. Create a separate directory for Jira to store its local files, such as configurations, and logs. Make sure you keep this directory separate and outside the JIRA_INSTALL directory. Jira refers to this directory as jira.home, so we will be referring to this directory as JIRA_HOME for the remainder of the book.
4. Open the file jira-application.properties in a text editor. You can find the file under the JIRA_INSTALL/atlassian-jira/WEB-INF/classes directory.
5. Enter the full path of the JIRA_HOME directory. So the content of the file will look something like:
   jira.home = /opt/jira_home

 

6. Save the file and execute the appropriate startup script in the bin directory from a console. You should see an output in your console similar to the following screenshot:

Setting up Jira Software

Now that we have installed Jira, we need to set it up by configuring its locale, language, and other aspects of the system. Jira comes with a setup wizard that will help guide us through the process.

We can access the wizard by opening up a browser and going to http://localhost:8080. This is if you are accessing Jira from the same machine that it is installed on. If you are using a different computer, change localhost to the actual host name. If Jira started up successfully, you should see the first step of the Jira setup wizard, as shown in the following screenshot. The Set it up for me option is a quick way for Jira to configure itself automatically, and this is a great way to have a trial environment up and running quickly. We will be using the I'll set it up myself option in this exercise to explore all the options available:

The second step is where we tell Jira the type of database we will be using and how to connect to it. The Built In option will create an in-memory database, which is useful for quick trials, but if you want to use Jira in production, you need to select the My Own Database option.

Select the database type you want to use. Note that for some databases, such as MySQL, you will be required to download the driver and install the driver before you can proceed further. Jira will let you know if a driver is needed.

Once you have selected the database type, enter the connectivity details. Each database type is different, so you will need to consult with your DBA or database manual if you are unsure. Use the Test Connection button to check whether the settings are correct and Jira is able to connect to the database.

Sometimes network configurations or firewall rules may prevent Jira from connecting to the database:

The third step is for you to enter some basic information about your Jira installation. All these settings can be changed later, so do not worry if you are not sure. The one setting to take note of is Base URL. It needs to be the fully qualified URL to your Jira instance. If this is set incorrectly, it may lead to issues later, such as links in email notifications not working:

The fourth step is where you enter your license key for Jira Software. If you have a key, simply cut and paste it into the text box. If you do not have one, you can generate a 30-day trial license by clicking the generate a JIRA trial license link on the page.

This will require you to have an account with the My Atlassian portal. If you do not already have an account, you can register one for free and then generate a trial license:

For the fifth step, you will be asked to create the administrator account. This will be the super administrator account that you will need during emergencies, especially if you integrate Jira with an external user management system, such as LDAP, and there is a problem with the connectivity between you and your chosen management system.

Store the credential of this account in a safe place and do not lose it.

For the sixth and last step, you have the opportunity to set up how Jira will be sending out emails for notifications. Unlike the previous steps, this is optional, so if you do not have a mail server ready, you can skip this step and set it up later:

And that is it! Congratulations, your Jira is installed, configured, and ready to be used. Click on the Take me to JIRA button at the bottom-right corner to exit the wizard:

After clicking on the Take me to JIRA button, you will be automatically logged in with the administrator account you created earlier. Since this is the first time this account is being used, you will be asked to set up some personalization options, such as the preferred language and avatar. Once you have personalized the account, you will see the welcome screen, similar to the following screenshot:

Creating a sample project

Since we have just installed a fresh instance of Jira, we will be asked to create a new project. You have the option to import issues from existing data, such as a CSV file, or another issue-tracking system, such as Bugzilla, with the Import issues option. Create a new empty project and start using it right away with the Create new project option, or create a sample project with Jira's built-in sample data to explore and experiment with using the Create sample project option, which is what we will be doing in the following steps:

1. Click on the Create sample project button.
2. Select the type of project from the project template menu. We will be using the Scrum software development template:

3. Enter a Name and Key for the new project:

4. Jira will create a new project and populate it with sample issues, and you will be taken to the new project and its agile board, which is a Scrum board in our case. We will talk about boards in the next section and the Scrum board in Chapter 2, Jira Software for Scrum.