Highway Three awarded Atlassian Rising Star 2020

Highway Three Solutions is now an Atlassian Gold Solution Partner

How much will it cost you to migrate to cloud? Find out with our cloud migration calculator


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<p>With Atlassian&#8217;s recently announced plan to end support for server products, most companies plan to make the move to Atlassian cloud. Migrating to any cloud environment can be daunting, and many users are wondering where to start.</p>



<p>The first step in your cloud migration journey is to figure out which cloud version is right for your organization. In this webinar, we will guide you through your options. From cloud free to cloud enterprise, we will discuss what is included, who it is suitable for, and the pros and cons of each version so that you know which version is best for you.</p>



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Jira Cloud Migration: Cloud Versions


<p>Like other Atlassian Server products, it is no longer possible to buy a Bitbucket Server licence. Buying or continuing the license for a Data Center is still an option; however, there are some advantages in moving to Bitbucket Cloud. If any of the advantages look appealing, then it may be time to consider migrating to the Cloud:</p>



<ul><li>Cheaper yearly cost than Bitbucket Data Center</li><li>Built-in security</li><li>DevOps Suite</li><li>Native CI/CD</li></ul>



<p>Atlassian is working on tools that can assist with migrating from Server to Cloud, specifically the JCMA (Jira Cloud Migration Assistant). Some of these tools are more mature than others, and so coding or manual migrations may also be required to migrate data. In the case of a Bitbucket Server to Cloud migration, a bit of everything may be the best choice.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-table h3-table"><table class="has-fixed-layout"><thead><tr><th class="has-text-align-left" data-align="left">Feature</th><th class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">Repository Importer</th><th class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">API</th><th class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">Manual</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td class="has-text-align-left" data-align="left">Source Code</td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"><img class="wp-image-65" style="width: 32px;" src="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/checkmark-bullet.svg" alt=""></td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"><img class="wp-image-65" style="width: 32px;" src="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/checkmark-bullet.svg" alt=""></td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"><img class="wp-image-65" style="width: 32px;" src="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/checkmark-bullet.svg" alt=""></td></tr><tr><td class="has-text-align-left" data-align="left">User Accounts</td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"></td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"></td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"><img class="wp-image-65" style="width: 32px;" src="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/checkmark-bullet.svg" alt=""></td></tr><tr><td class="has-text-align-left" data-align="left">Groups</td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"></td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"></td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"><img class="wp-image-65" style="width: 32px;" src="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/checkmark-bullet.svg" alt=""></td></tr><tr><td class="has-text-align-left" data-align="left">Permissions</td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"></td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"></td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"><img class="wp-image-65" style="width: 32px;" src="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/checkmark-bullet.svg" alt=""></td></tr><tr><td class="has-text-align-left" data-align="left">Pull Request History</td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"></td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"></td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"></td></tr><tr><td class="has-text-align-left" data-align="left">Commits</td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"><img class="wp-image-65" style="width: 32px;" src="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/checkmark-bullet.svg" alt=""></td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"></td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"></td></tr><tr><td class="has-text-align-left" data-align="left">Branches</td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"><img class="wp-image-65" style="width: 32px;" src="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/checkmark-bullet.svg" alt=""></td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"></td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"></td></tr><tr><td class="has-text-align-left" data-align="left">Builds</td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"></td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"></td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"></td></tr><tr><td class="has-text-align-left" data-align="left">Environment Variables</td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"></td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"><img class="wp-image-65" style="width: 32px;" src="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/checkmark-bullet.svg" alt=""></td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"><img class="wp-image-65" style="width: 32px;" src="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/checkmark-bullet.svg" alt=""></td></tr><tr><td class="has-text-align-left" data-align="left">Comments</td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"></td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"></td><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center"></td></tr></tbody></table></figure>



<p><strong><em>Tip: Check any integrations. DevOps tools like CircleCI may need to be reconfigured or recreated in the Cloud.</em></strong></p>



<p>The Repository Importer is a tool in Bitbucket Cloud which can import from several Git-based hosting sites. While it cannot migrate repository metadata, it migrates commits and branches along with the source code. As seen in the table, there is a gap where areas of data cannot be migrated at this time. Atlassian is working on expanding their resources with a Bitbucket Cloud Migration Assistant add-on, which will address these gaps as seen in their <a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.atlassian.com/roadmap/cloud?category=migrating&amp;selectedProduct=bitbucket">roadmap</a>.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-table h3-table"><table class="has-fixed-layout"><thead><tr><th>Feature</th><th>Status</th><th>Quarter</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Projects and Repositories</td><td>In the works</td><td>Q2 2021</td></tr><tr><td>User Accounts</td><td>In the works</td><td>Q3-Q4 2021</td></tr><tr><td>Groups</td><td>In the works</td><td>Q3-Q4 2021</td></tr><tr><td>Permissions</td><td>In the works</td><td>Q3-Q4 2021</td></tr><tr><td>Pull Requests</td><td>In the works</td><td>Q3-Q4 2021</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>



<p>As the roadmap indicates the app will be available by the end of 2021, the next year will have more migration support. The Bitbucket Cloud Migration Assistant will eliminate plenty of the manually required migrations and add the ability to migrate some metadata.</p>



<p>As Atlassian continues to create and hone their migration tools, it will ease the shift from Server to Cloud products. For now, you can always ask an Atlassian partner for assistance with migrating products. If you need any support, contact us!</p>



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Bitbucket Server to Cloud Migration


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<p>Using <a href="https://www.adaptavist.com/products/atlassian-apps/scriptrunner-for-jira" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Adaptavist ScriptRunner for Jira Server</a> is much like souping-up a car. Sometimes, it can even seem as magical as Dr. Brown&#8217;s DeLorean from Back to the Future. With the announcement from Atlassian to move away from server and focus solely on cloud, we have to wonder if ScriptRunner for Jira Cloud is going to match up to its predecessor.</p>
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<p>There are significant differences between how add-ons can integrate with Atlassian Cloud versus Server. The server versions of Atlassian&#8217;s products allow apps (i.e. add-ons) to run on the same machines, create databases specific to the app instance, and interact with the lowest level API. With Atlassian Cloud, add-on developers are limited to running code within the users&#8217; browser (via Javascript) or on their own servers; the only integration points are through the Atlassian Cloud REST APIs.</p>



<p>While some ScriptRunner for Jira Server functionality can be re-written to interact with the Cloud REST API rather than the low-level Java API, porting to Cloud is more than simply translating from one API to another. The shift from Server to Cloud is also a change in the fundamental architecture, where the key characteristics of state and synchronicity shift. In the server environment, API requests were synchronous (i.e. requests wait for a response) and state was maintained. In the cloud environment, REST APIs, are asynchronous and stateless. Put another way: the results of script execution may not be visible or evident within the UI immediately.</p>



<p>As a result of the shift to cloud, an app is no longer able to fully integrate with all aspects of the Atlassian product. This change in architecture has forced ScriptRunner to drastically alter what they provide for Atlassian Cloud products.</p>



<p>The remainder of this article summarizes the limitations of ScriptRunner for Jira Cloud.</p>



<h2>ScriptRunner for Atlassian Cloud Limitations</h2>



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<p>We have grouped the differences between Server and Cloud into the following categories:</p>



<ul><li>System Level</li><li>User Related Actions</li><li>JQL Function Limitations</li><li>ScriptRunner Features</li></ul>



<p>For each category we will outline the features that are not currently supported in ScriptRunner for Atlassian Cloud.</p>
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<h3>System Level</h3>



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<p>System Level features are related to database connections, mail handlers, server logs, and system configurations. At this time the Jira Cloud API does not offer the same low-level access as Jira Server and this limitation affects the following ScriptRunner system level features:</p>
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<ul><li>Resources: Database Connection</li><li>Resources: Local Database Connection</li><li>Code Insights</li><li>Script Fields: Database picker</li><li>Script Fields: Remote issue(s) picker</li></ul>
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<ul><li>Re-index Issues</li><li>Built-In: View Server Log Files</li><li>Built-In: Configuration Exporter</li><li>Built-In: Copy Project</li><li>Built-In: Config Exporter</li></ul>
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<ul><li>Built-In: Copy Project</li><li>Built-In: Config Exporter</li><li>Built-In: Clear Groovy Classloader or Jira Internal Caches</li><li>Built-In: Configuration Exporter</li><li>Built-In: View Server Log Files</li></ul>
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<h3>User Related Actions</h3>



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<p>Systems with managed accounts can connect to a User Directory (LDAP, etc.); however, functionality available for scripting user management in Cloud is very different than on Server. ScriptRunner for Server can interact with these types of integrations (LDAP integration points). Specifically, ScriptRunner for Server can:</p>



<ul><li>Interact with LDAP connection resources</li><li>Connect picker fields to LDAP details (e.g. to select from a list of users)</li><li>Switch to a different user</li></ul>
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<p>None of the above is possible with ScriptRunner for Cloud. It is possible for a user to masquerade as another user if you have the right system permissions, but this is not something you can programatically do with ScriptRunner for Cloud.</p>



<h3>JQL Functions</h3>



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<p>ScriptRunner for Server can interact directly with JQL queries. This is NOT possible for Cloud. As a result, many of the custom JQL functions previously possible for Server cannot be replicated for Cloud. However, ScriptRunner (in the background) can augment Jira issues with extra attributes that you can query within JQL. For example, when sprint information is updated for a project, a ScriptRunner script can update issues asynchronously with a keyword nextSprint.</p>
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<p>The following are the JQL functions that are not currently available via the Jira Cloud REST API:</p>



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<ul><li>aggregateExpression</li><li>completeInSprint</li><li>earliestUnreleasedVersionByReleaseDate</li><li>hasRemoteLinks</li><li>inactiveUsers</li><li>incompleteInSprint</li></ul>
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<ul><li>jiraUserPropertyEquals</li><li>lastUpdated</li><li>linkedIssuesOfAll</li><li>linkedIssuesOfAllRecursive</li><li>linkedIssuesOfAllRecursiveLimited</li><li>linkedIssuesOfRemote</li></ul>
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<ul><li>myProjects</li><li>overdue</li><li>recentProjects</li><li>releaseDate</li><li>removedAfterSprintStart</li><li>startDate</li></ul>
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<h3>ScriptRunner Behaviours and Fragments</h3>



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<p>The Behaviours feature included in ScriptRunner for Jira Server Behaviours provides more control over fields and their behaviours. This feature is not available for Cloud given the change in architecture and developer framework. It is not possible to interact and modify the UI in the same manner as with Jira Server, and this directly impacts manipulation of the Jira fields.</p>
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<p>The ScriptRunner for Server Fragments feature allowed scripts to inject UI components within specific places. In Jira Cloud, the Atlassian developer framework provides specific areas of the page (i.e. screen) where add-ons can present data (UI components). Script Fragments in ScriptRunner for Cloud can only inject html in the web panels.</p>



<h2>Conclusion</h2>



<p>This may sound like it’s all bad news. It isn’t. The changes that come with the shift to Atlassian Cloud provide many advantages and new opportunities for add-on app developers. Adaptavist, the developers of ScriptRunner, have summarized this best:</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p><em>As with most programming situations there are trade offs when writing scripts for both Cloud and Server and the limitations of Cloud are at the expense of stability and performance of the Atlassian application.</em></p></blockquote>



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<p>The good news is that Adaptavist is continuing to develop ScriptRunner for Atlassian Cloud products. At present, just over half of the features in ScriptRunner for Jira Server are supported in some capacity in ScriptRunner for Jira Cloud. Their status page suggests they aren’t finished with this work yet and more changes are expected.</p>
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<p>Furthermore, the lack of supported features from the server version does not mean you will lose half of your functionality by moving to the cloud. The missing features may not be ones you currently use. We recommend you take stock of your existing ScriptRunner scripts in use and review them with the functionality supported in ScriptRunner for Cloud to identify the impact on your team. As an Atlassian solutions partner, we are here to support you with this analysis – if you need support then contact us.</p>



<p>If you would like to learn more about ScriptRunner, visit Adaptavist’s&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.adaptavist.com/?_ga=2.101774657.1335031310.1620160332-430693690.1618503562">new documentation site</a>&nbsp;or take a look at their&nbsp;<a href="https://scriptrunner.adaptavist.com/latest/jira/quickstart.html">previous location for documentation</a>&nbsp;for ScriptRunner up to version 6.20.0.</p>


The ScriptRunner Rundown


<p><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://tractionguest.com/" target="_blank">Traction Guest</a> Enjoys High-Speed, Friction-Free Conversion to JIRA and Confluence.</p>



<p>Traction Guest is an industry leader in enterprise visitor management, making on-site experiences for employees and guests safe, secure, and effortless. With offices in Vancouver, Seattle, and Dublin, they needed a cohesive cloud platform with the ability to keep up with their agile development process.</p>



<p>Al Henry joined Traction Guest in 2019 and was tasked with enhancing the agile approach for their development team, featuring scrums, ceremonies, and sprints. He&#8217;d had experience with Jira in a previous organization, but Traction Guest was using a modified version of another work management platform. After realizing that the promised benefits of the current platform didn&#8217;t balance out the workarounds necessary to make it effective in an agile environment, and aggravated by a lack of visibility and reporting capacity, Al recommended an upgrade to Atlassian Cloud to take advantage of the power of Jira and Confluence.</p>



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<h2>Imminent Deadline</h2>



<p>During the decision phase, the team discovered that the incumbent platform&#8217;s licensing was due for renewal in three weeks. As Al had a proposal in place with <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.highwaythreesolutions.com/" target="_blank">Highway Three Solutions</a>, he reached out to them to see if they could implement the conversion on a highly compressed timeline: he&#8217;d need a week to prepare for the migration, leaving only two weeks to install, update, and test the Atlassian cloud installation.</p>



<p>Highway Three Solutions responded by having two of their key professionals construct a project plan to convert before the end of the month. Traction Guest approved the plan, opting for a cloud solution to eliminate any on-prem performance concerns, and began the migration preparation process.</p>



<p>During the migration, the Traction Guest team discovered that despite having admin access through the previous PM resource, they couldn&#8217;t actually see all of their projects, resulting in a few being skipped in the data mapping process. With Highway Three&#8217;s help, Al and his team were able to recalibrate and resynchronize, getting access to the previously unseen data without losing essential components.</p>



<p><em>&#8220;We did have one glitch during the migration, and the Highway Three team took care of it for us,” </em>explained Al. <em>“They contacted Atlassian, submitted and managed the ticket, and helped us recover from the issue. They were very effective in resolving our issues!”</em></p>



<p>The Highway Three team implemented the plan, converted the database, integrated with Aha!, and the Traction Guest team was up and running with Jira on the first of the month.</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Highway Three Solutions professionalism and attention to detail was evident as the teams worked together to deliver the project on time. Our experience with Highway Three Solutions is a beneficial one as we work together to maintain the new Jira system and look to continuously improve our processes with their assistance.</p></blockquote>



<h2>Moving Forward</h2>



<p>Traction Guest&#8217;s primary focus was getting Jira up and working, integrating it into the development process. <em>&#8220;We haven&#8217;t made full use of Confluence yet,&#8221;</em> shared Al, <em>&#8220;but our support structure is now using it to house our runbooks and support documentation for triaging incidents, and our strike teams are using Confluence to house documentation about new-feature implementations.&#8221;</em> Confluence provides a central repository, which is much easier to use and manage than Traction Guest&#8217;s previous model that relied on Google Docs, Quip worksheets, and local storage. <em>&#8220;The searching capability of Confluence makes it a powerful tool for our teams,&#8221;</em> said Al, <em>&#8220;and we&#8217;re working on some training sessions to help everyone get up to speed with it.&#8221;</em></p>



<p>With six months of experience on the new platform, Al and his team are very pleased with the support, training, and advice from the Highway Three team, sharing <em>&#8220;they&#8217;re a great consulting team, and I appreciate that it feels like we work together on things, as opposed to us reaching out and merely contracting them to do the work.”</em></p>



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<h3>Challenges</h3>



<ul><li>Multiple workarounds to make incumbent project management tool fit desired agile process</li><li>Poor visibility into projects and reports</li><li>Various versions and locations of essential documentation</li><li>Highly compressed window to implement transition to Jira</li></ul>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" width="1024" height="832" src="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Board-game-1024x832.png" alt="" class="wp-image-109" srcset="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Board-game-1024x832.png 1024w, https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Board-game-300x244.png 300w, https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Board-game-768x624.png 768w, https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Board-game.png 1255w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" width="1024" height="904" src="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Computer-1024x904.png" alt="" class="wp-image-110" srcset="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Computer-1024x904.png 1024w, https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Computer-300x265.png 300w, https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Computer-768x678.png 768w, https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Computer.png 1246w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>
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<h3>Solutions</h3>



<ul><li>Implemented a complete migration to Atlassian Cloud, including Jira, Confluence, and JSM</li><li>Migration completed in less than two weeks with maximum communications</li><li>Implemented standardized scrum processes to provide planning and tracking across teams</li><li>Capitalized on Jira’s reporting capabilities to communicate planning and status to management team</li></ul>
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<h2>Results</h2>



<ul class="h3-checkbox-list"><li>Jira dashboards, filters, and formats to provide a customized view of current projects</li><li>Effective isolation between different strike teams</li><li>Consolidated, searchable repository for all documentation via Confluence</li><li>Seamless integration with Aha! Roadmaps and collaboration tools</li><li>Strong relationship with Highway Three Solutions for training and support for Atlassian products</li></ul>



<p></p>


Case Study: Traction Guest’s Friction Free Conversion to Jira


<p>In some organizations, product issues are tracked in multiple locations. This often occurs when internal and external teams collaborating on a single code base or a single project. Internal teams will often use a licensed product such as Jira Cloud; whereas, external and distributed teams tend to use free issue management solutions such as GitHub&#8217;s issues. These tightly coupled solutions are often extended by products like ZenHub which add additional project management capabilities to the basic system.</p>



<p>Using multiple issue trackers causes confusion for developers and project managers. Issues become duplicated across systems and cause confusion around what issues are the source of truth for the project. As a result, sprint planning and roadmap creation becomes difficult as the issues within them contain inaccurate data.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image h3-screenshot"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" width="808" height="251" src="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/github_jira_sync.png" alt="" class="wp-image-125" srcset="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/github_jira_sync.png 808w, https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/github_jira_sync-300x93.png 300w, https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/github_jira_sync-768x239.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 808px) 100vw, 808px" /></figure></div>



<p>We have worked with a few organizations within the public sector, one federal and one provincial, that encountered this very problem. Both scenarios were a result of the open source community engaging with product development.</p>



<p>Both organizations support open source projects hosted in GitHub. The internal project teams use Jira Cloud to manage their feature development and bug fixes, while also obtaining support from external users who use GitHub issues to raise tickets. The project team requested that issues raised in GitHub were also shown in Jira so that internal developers could plan their work. Additionally, external developers needed visibility into the product schedule and sprints.</p>



<h2>Enter, Exalate…</h2>



<p><em>Exalate is the most flexible synchronization tool and the leading Cross-Company Integration solution. Synchronize your Jira instances, ServiceNow, Zendesk, GitHub, Azure DevOps &amp; any other work management systems.</em></p>



<p>These projects used Exalate to sync issues between the GitHub and Jira projects enabling a close collaboration between teams. Below is a diagram explaining where Exalate sync fits into the two systems.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image h3-screenshot"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-20210114-162046.png" alt="" class="wp-image-126" width="766" height="519" srcset="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-20210114-162046.png 1021w, https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-20210114-162046-300x203.png 300w, https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-20210114-162046-768x521.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 766px) 100vw, 766px" /></figure></div>



<h2>Implementation Details</h2>



<p>It was important to easily identify what issues came from which source (Github or Jira). We were able to meet this requirement by using card layout and colors to clearly indicate which issues are synced with GitHub.</p>



<p>The internal Jira project integrated with around 30 different GitHub repositories. This means that not only did the internal team need to know what issues were from GitHub vs Jira, they also needed to know what repository the GitHub issues were raised against.</p>



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<p>We chose to use Jira components to distinguish between internal Jira issues and external GitHub issues. The component was applied using Jira Automation.</p>



<p>A custom field indicating the GitHub repository was added to the issue types in Jira and was automatically synced during the Exalate updates.</p>



<p>These two fields were displayed on the board cards so that Jira Developers can quickly and easily see where the Github Issues originated from.</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large h3-screenshot"><img loading="lazy" width="914" height="623" src="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-20210114-161837.png" alt="" class="wp-image-128" srcset="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-20210114-161837.png 914w, https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-20210114-161837-300x204.png 300w, https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-20210114-161837-768x523.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 914px) 100vw, 914px" /></figure>
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<p>Another small gotcha, is that GitHub issues don’t currently support custom fields. This means that Jira fields like issue type and sprint values had to be synced to GitHub labels.</p>



<p>Because Jira and Github have significant differences in the fields they support, and because we don’t necessarily want to expose all of the Jira activity in Github, we chose to expose certain updates using Automation for Jira. As an example, we were able to add a comment when the issue status changed. That comment was then sync’d between the two issues so that in GitHub you would see the update. It would look something like this:</p>



<div class="wp-block-image h3-screenshot"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-20210114-161613.png" alt="" class="wp-image-129" width="524" height="73" srcset="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-20210114-161613.png 699w, https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-20210114-161613-300x42.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 524px) 100vw, 524px" /></figure></div>



<p>The clients have been using this system for about 3 months and have been very happy with Exalate and the ability it gives them.</p>



<p>Our tips for a successful Exalate implementation: keep the synchronization as simple as possible and use Jira Automation to bridge any gaps. This is because updating the exalate configuration is harder than updating an automation rule. It also tends to lead to a more robust setup and the integration point is stronger.</p>



<h2>Summary</h2>



<p>Other than choosing a project name, communication about features and bugs is possibly one of the most difficult issues in software development. Exalate gave these public sector organizations the ability to automate the communication of development and status between the internal and the open source communities. This is just one of the many use cases for Exalate and their extremely supportive team; through out these implementations the people at <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://exalate.com/" target="_blank">Idalko/Exalate</a> have been very helpful in diagnosing and providing a workaround for a bug within the Github system.</p>



<p>If you or your organization are experiencing difficulties communicating Jira issues between different systems or teams reach out to see what we, and Exalate, can do for you.</p>



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Jira and Github, an Exalate Case Study


<p>In 2015 Atlassian introduced the Developer tools Integration between bitbucket and Jira Software. This included Smart Commit. Atlassian has continued to integrate DevOps platforms like Jenkins, TravisCI and CircleCI into Jira Software.</p>



<p>Smart commits provide developers the option to perform their Jira tasks right from the command line. Adding comments, logging time and transitioning issue without having to change tools.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image h3-screenshot"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" width="928" height="440" src="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/jira_cloud_smart_commits-e1605897145101.png" alt="Jira smart commit  issue fields exaple." class="wp-image-216" srcset="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/jira_cloud_smart_commits-e1605897145101.png 928w, https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/jira_cloud_smart_commits-e1605897145101-300x142.png 300w, https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/jira_cloud_smart_commits-e1605897145101-768x364.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 928px) 100vw, 928px" /></figure></div>



<p>There are many online tutorials that guiding people through smart commit integrations, how to use them and how to set them up. Depending on your version of Jira and what version control system you want to integrate with (e.g., Github, Gitlab, Bitbucket) you will likely need a plugin (add-on) from the Atlassian Marketplace. Atlassian has some really nice documentation if you would like more details,&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://support.atlassian.com/bitbucket-cloud/docs/use-smart-commits/">https://support.atlassian.com/bitbucket-cloud/docs/use-smart-commits/</a>.</p>



<p>Beyond smart commits the Developer Tools also has the ability to display deployment and build information. Jira extended the developer tools section in the issue view to accomodate the additional artifacts.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image h3-screenshot"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" width="863" height="355" src="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/deployment_info_developer_tools.png" alt="Deployment info tab example." class="wp-image-217" srcset="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/deployment_info_developer_tools.png 863w, https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/deployment_info_developer_tools-300x123.png 300w, https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/deployment_info_developer_tools-768x316.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 863px) 100vw, 863px" /></figure></div>



<p>The developer tool interface is used to view and perform repository actions. You can create branches, view commits and merges, even see build / deployment statuses. The connection of code to an issues gives insight into the development lifecycle for a specific ticket, helping to break down the barriers to communication.</p>



<p>When you have to move fast, knowing that a feature or bug fix (issue) has passed a build step, or a deployment has been done, is key. Jira integrates with Bitbucket really well; which is to be expected, being produced by the same company. But what about Github, one of the most popular version control systems.</p>



<p>In our research, focusing on Jira Cloud, we found that none of these applications will cover all the functionality native to the Jira – Bitbucket integration. Github has published a free app (<em>Github for Jira</em>) that will cover the smart commit, but lacks features for surfacing Github workflow build and deployment information. There are many other Jira Applications to integrate Github data with Jira,&nbsp;<em>Git Integration for Jira</em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>Dev Info for Jira</em>. These cover all the native features between Jira and Bitbucket; but, at a cost.</p>



<p>Github actions are well suited to surface the Github build and deployment information in Jira. When Github registers an event (pull, push, merge, deploy, build) we can use a Github action to push data into the corresponding Jira issue.</p>



<p>We have created a pair of actions that push build and deployment information from Github (<em>Github workflows</em>) into Jira, filling the feature gab and at no cost to you.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" width="1024" height="934" src="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2020-11-20-at-12.09.38-PM-1024x934.png" alt="Github workflows screenshot." class="wp-image-218" srcset="https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2020-11-20-at-12.09.38-PM-1024x934.png 1024w, https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2020-11-20-at-12.09.38-PM-300x274.png 300w, https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2020-11-20-at-12.09.38-PM-768x700.png 768w, https://wordpress.highwaythreesolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2020-11-20-at-12.09.38-PM.png 1146w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure></div>



<p>If you or your organization are looking to fill this feature gap our actions are published as pre-release in the Github Marketplace under <a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://github.com/marketplace/actions/jira-upload-build-info">Jira Upload Build Info</a> and <a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://github.com/marketplace/actions/jira-upload-deployment-info">Jira Upload Deployment Info</a>.</p>



<p>To leverage the full power of Jira’s Developer Tools while hosting your repository in Github, you have to put in some work. Whether you prefer the Github community, its look and feel, or you are an entrenched entity in its ecosystem; you can still get all there is out of Jira.</p>



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<h3>References</h3>



<ul><li><a class="h3-inline-link" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://github.com/marketplace/actions/jira-upload-deployment-info">Jira Upload Deployment Info</a></li><li><a class="h3-inline-link" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://github.com/marketplace/actions/jira-upload-build-info">Jira Upload Build Info</a></li><li><a class="h3-inline-link" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://support.atlassian.com/bitbucket-cloud/docs/use-smart-commits/">Atlassian Smart Commit Docs</a></li></ul>


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