SLA panel is empty and/or SLAs not pausing with JIRA Service Desk 4.0.1 connected to a MS-SQL database

Issue description

The SLA functionality is not working anymore on JIRA Service Desk 4.0.1 when connected to a MS SQL database.

Known issues so far are the following:

• when a new ticket is created, the SLA panel is empty
• when a pause/stop condition is met, the SLA does not pause nor stop

Steps to reproduce

1. Install a fresh JSD 4.0.1 instance
2. Connect it to a MS SQL datbase by following the instructions in Connecting JIRA to MS SQL 2014
3. Create a new Service Desk project
4. Create a new SD ticket
5. Notice that the SLA panel is empty
   
6. Go to the SLA configuraiton page, and notice that the update button is available, even though no change has been made to the SLA configuration
   
7. Click on the update button and wait until the SLA recalculation is complete
   
8. Refresh the SD ticket, and notice that now the SLA panel is populated
   
9. Resolve the SD ticket to force the SLAs to be completed
10. Notice that none of the SLAs have stopped:
    

Expected Results

• The SLA panel should be populated when the issue is created
• The SLAs should stop when the stop condition is met

Actual Results

• The SLA panel is empty when the issue is created
• The SLAs don't stop when the stop condition is met

Workaround

If you are using JIRA with JAVA 8

1. Stop JIRA
2. Move the MS SQL driver mssql-jdbc-7.2.0.jre8.jar from the folder below (please make a backup of it or move it to a temporary folder)

   <JIRA_INSTALLATION_FOLDER>/lib
   

3. Copy the driver mssql-jdbc-6.2.1.jre8.jar to the same folder
4. Start JIRA

If you are using JIRA with Java 11

Please note that we do not have a fully tested workaround for JIRA running with Java 11 and involving the replacement of the ms sql jdbc driver.

For this reason, as a workaround, what you can do is either downgrade to your previous version or 4.0.0 of Service Desk, which are both unaffected by this problem. Here are the steps you can follow to execute a downgrade. 8.0.0 might be your best bet since it's a closer down version to what you are on:

1. Download the Jira ServiceDesk 4.0.0 Server installer from the link below to install Jira Core 8.0.0 + Service Desk 4.0.0: Update Jira Service Desk Server. You will want to click on View all versions to get to the 4.0.0 installer for Windows.
2. Install Jira Service Desk Server 4.0.0 as a new separate standalone instance as a medium for the 'downgrade'. That being said, there should be a new JIRA_Home, JIRA_Installation, and new database for this Service Desk 4.0.0 instance on a new server.
3. Once this new instance (4.0.0) is ready, shut it down.
4. Allocate adequate application memory as per the Jira Sizing Guide and set the flag -Djira.downgrade.allowed=true on the JSD 4.0.0 instance as per our Setting properties and options on startup documentation for your new Windows instance. This is to allow the downgrade to run properly.
5. Start the new 4.0.0 instance of Service Desk.
6. Take a latest XML backup from your 4.0.1 Service Desk instance that you currently have that is encountering these issues.
7. Restore the backup into the new 4.0.0 instance. There will be a message that needs to be acknowledged on the UI after selecting the backup for restoration. Acknowledge it, verify the correct backup file has been chosen and then click on the Restore button again to kick start the restoration process.
8. Once this is done, your user will be logged out. Re-login to the 4.0.0 instance, ensure the JSD application is installed and licensed, and that you are able to run automation and send out notifications to customers on some test issues.

Important Note

Other Service Desk functionalities are also impacted in Service Desk 4.0.1, when running with a MS SQL Database:

• Customer notifications are no longer created and sent when using MS SQL with JSD 4.0.1
• Service Desk automation rules are no longer triggered when using MS SQL with JSD 4.0.1