Unsupported collation error thrown in Jira server using PostgreSQL can be resolved with Bobcares by your side. 

At Bobcares, we offer solutions for every query, big and small, as a part of our Server Management Service.

Let’s take a look at how our Support Team recently helped a customer manage an unsupported collation error thrown in the JIRA server using PostgreSQL.

Dealing with unsupported collation error thrown in Jira server using PostgreSQL

Did you know that you can move a Postgres Database between servers while making sure the collation is correct? Our Support Team has come up with an innovative way to get this done.

In fact, you will come across the following in the atlassian-jira.log if you are facing this issue:

**************************************************************************************************** 
You are using an unsupported postgres72 collation: ja_JP.UTF-8. This may cause some functionality to
not work. Please use POSIX.UTF-8 or C.UTF-8 or C or POSIX as the collation instead. 
****************************************************************************************************

We can run the query below against the old database:

SELECT datcollate FROM pg_database WHERE datname='<Jira database name>';

If it returns anything other than “POSIX”, “POSIX.UTF-8”, or “C.UTF-8” we have to adjust the collation.

How to change the collation

Before we proceed it is always a good idea to back up our data before modifying the database and also make sure that we have enough disk space on the server.

1. First, we have to create an XML backup.
2. Next, we will stop JIRA.
3. After that, we have to create a new database.
4. Then, we will adjust the  $JIRAHOME/dbconfig.xml file in order to change the Jira database connection and have it pointing towards the new database.
5. Next, we have to either move or copy the backup .zip file from step 1 to the $JIRAHOME/import/ path location.
6. Then, we will start JIRA aagian.
7. After that, we will go ahead and choose Import existing data in the setup wizard.
   
8. Next, we have to select the filename.zip. We can find it in $JIRAHOME/import/.
9. Then, we will complete the import and make sure everything is working correctly.
10. Finally, we will run the database integrity checker to verify the data.

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Conclusion

To sum up, the skilled Support Engineers at Bobcares demonstrated how to deal with unsupported collation errors thrown in the JIRA server using PostgreSQL.