Requirements and Upgrade Considerations

Java and Installation Environment

OpenDJ 5.2.0 requires Java 11 or later. This is the minimum in the release README; the server ZIP does not supply a Java runtime. The Docker image supplies its own Java environment.

Install with an operating-system account that can write the server’s configuration, database and logs. Ensure the selected listener ports are available and the server host name resolves as intended. Choose memory, disk space and file-descriptor limits for the size of your directory and workload; the small Getting Started exercise is not production sizing guidance. See Preparing For Installation and Tuning Servers.

The standalone server does not require a servlet container. The separate REST to LDAP and DSML WAR files do; follow their installation procedures in the Installation Guide.

Plan an Upgrade

Read the release records for every version between your installed release and the target version. Test the upgrade with a copy of your configuration and data, including application binds, searches, access controls, custom schema, plugins and replication.

Back up the installation before replacing its files, and retain the original binaries and configuration for recovery. Follow the upgrade preparation and the procedure for your installation type:

The upgrade tool updates configuration and data for the new binaries. With --no-prompt, --acceptLicense accepts the license; --force also performs tasks that otherwise require confirmation. These options have different purposes. Inspect the upgrade result and logs before returning the instance to service.

Compatibility Checks

  • Move installations using Java older than 11 to a suitable runtime before running OpenDJ 5.2.0. Check OPENDJ_JAVA_HOME, OPENDJ_JAVA_BIN and configured Java properties if different tools select different runtimes.

  • For upgrades from releases before 5.2.0, check stored DNs and access control instructions as described in To Check Stored DNs When Upgrading From a Release Before 5.2.0. An ACI whose DN has other content after an RDN puts the server into lockdown mode after the upgrade; a global ACI of that form stops the server from starting. DN-syntax values written with ; need their equality indexes verified and rebuilt where necessary. The upgrade runs this index verification by default; review its warnings for skipped backends or indexes that still need attention.

  • The JMX names of monitor MBeans whose RDN value holds characters other than letters, digits and spaces change in 5.2.0: these characters are now percent-encoded. Update exporter rules and monitoring checks that match the old names; see the DN parsing and monitor name changes.

  • For ZIP upgrades from releases before 5.1.2, review the stale lib/org.openidentityplatform.opendj.opendj-server-legacy.jar warning in the ZIP upgrade procedure. Unpacking an archive does not remove obsolete files.

  • When migrating from OpenDJ 3 or earlier to the 5.x line, review the REST to LDAP configuration change described in the upgrade procedure. Do not assume an old HTTP mapping can be reused unchanged; see the REST to LDAP configuration reference.

  • For a container upgrade, retain the data volume and check the documented image upgrade procedure and health status. Replacing a container without its persistent volume creates a different instance.

Known Issues and Help

The issue tracker records reported problems and ongoing work. An open issue is not, by itself, proof that a particular released version is affected: read its description, reproduction and linked fixes. Consult the security advisories separately for published security information.

For usage questions, use the community discussions. A useful bug report includes the OpenDJ and Java versions, installation type, relevant configuration, reproduction steps and sanitized logs. Follow the project’s security policy when reporting a suspected vulnerability.