1. using the REST API
curl -i -H "Content-Type: application/json" -X POST -d '{"description": "An excellent version", "name": "New Version 1", "userReleaseDate": "2014-05-23", "project": "PROD", "archived": false, "released": true}' -u username:password http://<jira.host>/rest/api/latest/version
2. using Jira CLI from bobswift.atlassian.net
./jira.sh --action addVersion --project PROD --description "Another excellent version" --version "New Version 2" --date "23.05.2014 10:00"