How Do You Install Jira on a Linux Server?

Problem scenario
How do you install Jira on any distribution of Linux (e.g., CentOS/RHEL/Fedora, Debian/Ubuntu, or SUSE)?

Prerequisite
Do you have 3 GB of RAM?  1 GB of RAM will work, but you only if you have 2 GB of virtual memory.  (With 1 GB of RAM or less and no virtual memory on the server, the installation will fail.  The catalina.out log will report an error about insufficient memory.)  If you only have 1 GB of RAM, configure 2 GB of virtual memory; see this posting for details. 

Procedures
(These directions were tested on Ubuntu 16.x, RHEL 7.x, and SUSE 12 with 1 GB of RAM and 2 GB of virtual memory.)

1.  Run these three commands:

cd /tmp
wget https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/downloads/binary/atlassian-jira-software-7.8.1-x64.bin
sudo chmod a+x atlassian-jira-software-7.8.1-x64.bin

2.  Run this command and respond to the prompts as follows:

sudo ./atlassian-jira-software-7.8.1-x64.bin

Follow the prompts as shown below:

You wll see this prompt:
"This will install JIRA Software 7.8.1 on your computer.
OK [o, Enter], Cancel [c]"

Type "o" with no quotes and press enter.

You will see this prompt:
"Choose the appropriate installation or upgrade option.
Please choose one of the following:
Express Install (use default settings) [1], Custom Install (recommended for advanced users) [2, Enter], Upgrade an existing JIRA installation [3]"

Type "1" with no quotes and press enter.

You will see this prompt:  "Details on where JIRA Software will be installed and the settings that will be used.
Installation Directory: /opt/atlassian/jira
Home Directory: /var/atlassian/application-data/jira
HTTP Port: 8080
RMI Port: 8005
Install as service: Yes
Install [i, Enter], Exit [e]"

Type "i" with no quotes and press enter.

You will see this prompt:  "Extracting files ...
Please wait a few moments while JIRA Software is configured.
Installation of JIRA Software 7.8.1 is complete
Start JIRA Software 7.8.1 now?
Yes [y, Enter], No [n]"

Enter "y" with no quotes and press enter.

3.  When you get to a regular command prompt run this command (unless you already know the external IP address of the server):  curl icanhazip.com

4.  If you are running RHEL in AWS, turn off firewalld.  If you are running Ubuntu or SUSE in AWS, there should be no OS firewall blocking you by default.  (An AWS Security Group could always be misconfigured and cause a problem in AWS.)

5.  Open a web browser from a workstation.  Go to http://x.x.x.x:8080 (where x.x.x.x is the result of the curl icanhazip.com command above).

6.  In the web browser click "Set It Up For Me" then click "Continue to MyAtlassian"

7.  Select the License type.  We suggest "Jira Software (Server)"

8.  Enter an organization name (e.g., MySpecialEffort or Acme Inc.).

9.  For "Your instance is" check the option for "not installed yet."

10.  Click "Generate License"

11.  To the confirmation prompt, click "Yes"

12.  Enter the "Administrator account setup" information.  Enter an Email, Username and Password.

13.  After 10 or 15 minutes you will see a screen that says "JIRA is ready to go!"

14.  Click the "Let's get started" button.

15.  Choose the language for Jira.  Then click "Continue".

16.  Click "Next".

17.  Click one of these three options:  "See a project in action", "Create a new project", or "Import from another tool".   You are now done setting up Jira.

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