Jira server crashes with OutofMemory Java heap space error
Platform notice: Server and Data Center only. This article only applies to Atlassian products on the Server and Data Center platforms.
Support for Server* products ended on February 15th 2024. If you are running a Server product, you can visit the Atlassian Server end of support announcement to review your migration options.
*Except Fisheye and Crucible
Symptoms
Symptoms include:
- JIRA application crashes
- The Mail Queue is not flushed, and JIRA applications are no longer sending out email notifications.
- The Activity stream or search is not updated with recent content
- Webhooks no longer update on issue events
The following appears in the atlassian-jira.log:
java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space
Cause
The JVM running JIRA applications has hit an OutOfMemory Error (OOME). This is thrown when the Java Virtual Machine cannot allocate an object because it is out of memory, and no more memory can be made available by the garbage collector.
After an OutOfMemory error, the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) will likely be in an unstable state and hence it is essential to restart your JIRA applications immediately.
Resolution
If you receive an OutOfMemory Error, follow these instructions to increase the memory available to JIRA applications and also to enable logging for garbage collection:
Are you in the right place? This page refers to Heap Space Memory issues, as indicated by the snippet in the Symptoms description. There are a set of other memory related problems such as the following.
- GC overhead limit exceeded error crashes Jira server
- (Archived) JIRA applications crash due to OutOfMemoryError PermGen space error
Please use the appropriate KB based on the error in the logs.- Stop your JIRA applications.
- Increase the maximum memory available to the JVM as per our Increasing JIRA application memory docs. We recommend small increases of 256m at a time or 512m for larger instances.
- Enable Garbage Collection (GC) logging as per Troubleshoot Jira Server performance with GC logs.
- Start your JIRA applications so that the changes to memory and GC logging are in effect.
Our Troubleshoot performance issues in Jira server KB contains further information on troubleshooting these problems. As a follow-up, proceed with the steps below for a root cause analysis:
- Upgrade your JIRA applications: If you are on an older version, schedule an upgrade. Releases of JIRA applications commonly contain fixes for memory issues. Check the list of Out Of Memory bugs.
Check the list of Knowledge Base Articles. The majority of Out Of Memory problems are due to one of the factors below. Be thorough when assessing each one.