Bitbucket Data Center Java runtime support pairing for upgrade planning

Bitbucket Data Center ties supported Java major version to specific product releases. The supported range changes across major and minor versions, so a supported deployment requires a documented pairing of Data Center release and Java runtime.

Upgrading across Java major versions is constrained by release-specific support boundaries and by plugin and third-party app compatibility that may lag behind core platform support. Bitbucket Cloud is SaaS managed and does not involve self-managed Java selection; the compatibility concern applies to self-hosted Server/Data Center.

The unresolved decision is whether to adopt the newest supported Java major version immediately on upgrade or remain on the previous LTS Java to preserve plugin compatibility, with the additional consideration of required intermediate releases when crossing Java major versions.

Which Bitbucket Data Center release first documents support for Java 21 and which release ends support for Java 17? Is an intermediate Data Center release documented as required when moving from a Java 17-supported release to a Java 21-supported release? Where is plugin and third-party app compatibility documented relative to the core Java support boundary?