Search icon CANCEL
Subscription
0
Cart icon
Your Cart (0 item)
Close icon
You have no products in your basket yet
Save more on your purchases! discount-offer-chevron-icon
Savings automatically calculated. No voucher code required.
Arrow left icon
Explore Products
Best Sellers
New Releases
Books
Videos
Audiobooks
Learning Hub
Newsletter Hub
Free Learning
Arrow right icon
timer SALE ENDS IN
0 Days
:
00 Hours
:
00 Minutes
:
00 Seconds
Automate Everyday Tasks in Jira
Automate Everyday Tasks in Jira

Automate Everyday Tasks in Jira: A practical, no-code approach for Jira admins and power users to automate everyday processes

eBook
€8.99 €25.99
Paperback
€31.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at €18.99p/m

What do you get with Print?

Product feature icon Instant access to your digital eBook copy whilst your Print order is Shipped
Product feature icon Paperback book shipped to your preferred address
Product feature icon Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
Product feature icon AI Assistant (beta) to help accelerate your learning
OR
Modal Close icon
Payment Processing...
tick Completed

Shipping Address

Billing Address

Shipping Methods
Table of content icon View table of contents Preview book icon Preview Book

Automate Everyday Tasks in Jira

Chapter 1: Key Concepts of Automation

Atlassian Jira is a popular workflow management system that allows teams to track their work in various scenarios, the most common of these being software projects, followed closely by service desks. Over time, most teams come to realize that there are many repetitive and time-consuming tasks that need to be performed to ensure project tasks and requests are tracked accurately and in a timely manner.

Since Atlassian recently acquired Automation for Jira and incorporated it as a native feature in Jira Cloud, it is now even easier to create complex and powerful automation rules using an intuitive if-this-then-that approach without having to write any code. Automation for Jira is still available as an add-on app for Jira Server and Jira Data Center and we'll cover both use cases where they diverge in this book.

If, like me, you find yourself saying I'm sure there is a way we can automate this somehow when confronted with yet another monotonous and time-consuming task in Jira, then you've picked up the right book.

In this chapter, we are going to cover the following main topics:

  • Getting started with rules
  • Working with triggers
  • Working with conditions
  • Working with actions
  • Creating your first rule

By the end of this chapter, you will have a good understanding of the key concepts of automation rules in Jira and how the various components of rules work together to enable you to write rules that will help you to automate any repetitive and other time-consuming tasks in Jira so that you can focus on what really matters: getting things done!

Technical requirements

The requirements for this chapter are as follows:

  • Jira Cloud environment: If you don't already have access to Jira, you can create a free Jira Cloud account at https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/free and ensure that you have both Jira Software and Jira Service Management selected; or
  • Jira Server environment: If you are using Jira Server (available from https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/download), ensure that you have licenses for both Jira Software and Jira Service Management. In addition, you will also need to ensure that you install the Automation for Jira app available from the Atlassian Marketplace.

In both instances, you will need to have at least Project Administrator access to a Jira project.

You can download the latest code samples for this chapter from this book's official GitHub repository at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Automate-Everyday-Tasks-in-Jira.

The Code in Action videos for this chapter are available at https://bit.ly/38POLVA

Getting started with rules

To understand automations, we need to first take a look at some of the basic concepts associated with them, the foremost of which is the rule.

In this section, we will examine the following concepts:

  • The definition of a rule
  • Rule scopes
  • Owners and actors
  • Audit log

These will give us a foundation on which to build in the following chapters, so without further ado, let's get started.

What is a rule?

A rule, in its basic form, is a list of steps required to be executed in a specific order to achieve a desired outcome that is both repeatable and auditable.

By this, we mean that a rule should have the exact same outcome each and every time it is executed, and we should be able to examine the actions applied by the rule chronologically.

Specifically, a rule in Jira allows you to perform actions against issues based on criteria that you set.

Every rule is comprised of three basic components:

  • Triggers: The entry point for a rule.
  • Conditions: These refine the criteria of the rule.
  • Actions: These perform the actual tasks.

In addition to these, a rule also contains some other basic information:

  • The rule name
  • The rule description
  • The rule scope
  • The rule owner and actor
  • Options to notify the rule owner in the case of rule failures
  • Options to allow other rules to trigger this rule
  • The rule audit log

Together, these form the building blocks of automation rules. By combining these basic components, you are able to create rules that can be used to automate many time-consuming and repetitive tasks.

The following screenshot shows an outline of the basic components of a rule in Jira:

Figure 1.1 – Visualizing the basic components of a rule

Figure 1.1 – Visualizing the basic components of a rule

We will cover each of these components in more detail in this and the following chapter.

Understanding scopes

Rules in Jira have can be applied in one of four scopes:

  • Global rules
  • Multi-project rules
  • Project type-specific rules
  • Project-specific rules

The following table shows how these rule scopes are defined and which Jira permission is required in order to create and manage a rule that is applied in that scope:

Figure 1.2 – Rule scope permissions


Figure 1.2 – Rule scope permissions

As we can see, most of the rule scopes require you to have Jira Global admin permissions in order to manage them, and this is expected, as these rules span multiple projects and cannot therefore rely on project-specific permissions.

Project rules, on the other hand, can be created and managed by project administrators in addition to Jira global administrators.

Having this distinction allows Jira administrators to delegate the project-specific automations and gives project administrators more flexibility in managing their own project rules, whilst Jira Global admins can focus on automation rules that can be applied across a much wider audience.

Rules can also be moved between the global and project scopes by Jira administrators. If, for example, it is determined that a project-specific rule could be reused across multiple projects, a Jira administrator can adjust the scope of the rule. The reverse is also true. If a particular global rule is only ever utilized by a single project, a Jira administrator can adjust the scope to that specific project and by doing so, transfer administration of the rule to the project administrators.

Owners and actors

Every rule requires both an owner and an actor.

The owner of the rule is generally the user who created the rule and is responsible for maintaining the rule. The rule owner will also receive email notifications from Jira if the rule fails while executing.

The rule actor is the user the rule will execute as. This user must have the correct permissions in the project for both the trigger and any actions the rule will perform. For example, if you create a rule that needs to add a comment to an issue, the rule actor will need to have the Add Comments permission in the project.

Important note

In Jira Cloud, the default rule actor is always the Automation app user and will belong to the atlassian-addons-project-access project role. This project role is assigned every permission in a project and can be changed in the Project settings | Permissions section. Removing permissions from this role could potentially cause add-ons not to work correctly, so it is generally advised not to change these permissions.

Audit log

Every rule has its own audit log, which tracks the execution of a rule chronologically and allows you to examine the outcome as well as the actions applied to the affected items for each execution.

This functionality is not only necessary to be able to track the outcomes of a rule execution; it also gives us the ability to be able to debug rules when things don't go as planned.

We will examine the role of the audit log in debugging rules in more detail in Chapter 10, Troubleshooting Tips and Techniques, when we will explore techniques for debugging rules and solving common issues.

Left arrow icon Right arrow icon
Download code icon Download Code

Key benefits

  • Automate daily repetitive and tedious tasks without coding experience
  • Discover how to automate processes in the Jira family including Jira software, Jira Service Desk, and Jira Core
  • Explore different use cases to understand automation features in Jira

Description

Atlassian Jira makes it easier to track the progress of your projects, but it can lead to repetitive and time-consuming tasks for teams. No-code automation will enable you to increase productivity by automating these tasks. Automate Everyday Tasks in Jira provides a hands-on approach to implementation and associated methodologies that will have you up and running and productive in no time. You will start by learning how automation in Jira works, along with discovering best practices for writing automation rules. Then you’ll be introduced to the building blocks of automation, including triggers, conditions, and actions, before moving on to advanced rule-related techniques. After you’ve become familiar with the techniques, you’ll find out how to integrate with external tools, such as GitHub, Slack, and Microsoft Teams, all without writing a single line of code. Toward the end, you’ll also be able to employ advanced rules to create custom notifications and integrate with external systems. By the end of this Jira book, you’ll have gained a thorough understanding of automation rules and learned how to use them to automate everyday tasks in Jira without using any code.

Who is this book for?

This book is for Jira administrators and project managers who want to learn about automation capabilities provided in Jira. Familiarity with Jira and working knowledge of workflows and project configurations is required.

What you will learn

  • Understand the basic concepts of automation such as triggers, conditions, and actions
  • Find out how to use if–then scenarios and conditions to automate your processes with practical examples
  • Use smart values to achieve complex and more powerful automation
  • Implement use cases in a practical way, including automation with Slack, Microsoft Teams, GitHub, and Bitbucket
  • Discover best practices for writing and maintaining automation rules
  • Explore techniques for debugging rules and solving common issues
Estimated delivery fee Deliver to Czechia

Premium delivery 7 - 10 business days

€25.95
(Includes tracking information)

Product Details

Country selected
Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Jan 22, 2021
Length: 314 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781800562868
Vendor :
Atlassian
Concepts :
Tools :

What do you get with Print?

Product feature icon Instant access to your digital eBook copy whilst your Print order is Shipped
Product feature icon Paperback book shipped to your preferred address
Product feature icon Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
Product feature icon AI Assistant (beta) to help accelerate your learning
OR
Modal Close icon
Payment Processing...
tick Completed

Shipping Address

Billing Address

Shipping Methods
Estimated delivery fee Deliver to Czechia

Premium delivery 7 - 10 business days

€25.95
(Includes tracking information)

Product Details

Publication date : Jan 22, 2021
Length: 314 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781800562868
Vendor :
Atlassian
Concepts :
Tools :

Packt Subscriptions

See our plans and pricing
Modal Close icon
€18.99 billed monthly
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Simple pricing, no contract
€189.99 billed annually
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just €5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts
€264.99 billed in 18 months
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just €5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts

Frequently bought together


Stars icon
Total 98.97
Jira 8 Administration Cookbook
€24.99
Automate Everyday Tasks in Jira
€31.99
Becoming an Agile Software Architect
€41.99
Total 98.97 Stars icon
Banner background image

Table of Contents

15 Chapters
Section 1: Getting Started – the Basics Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 1: Key Concepts of Automation Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 2: Automating Jira Issues Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Section 2: Beyond the Basics Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 3: Enhancing Rules with Smart Values Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 4: Sending Automated Notifications Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 5: Working with External Systems Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Section 3: Advanced Use Cases with Automation Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 6: Automating Jira Service Management Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 7: Automating Jira Software Projects Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 8: Integrating with DevOps Tools Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 9: Best Practices Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 10: Troubleshooting Tips and Techniques Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 11: Beyond Automation; an Introduction to Scripting Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Other Books You May Enjoy Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
(5 Ratings)
5 star 100%
4 star 0%
3 star 0%
2 star 0%
1 star 0%
Dashboard May 11, 2021
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This book has helped me so much with my job as a technical Scrum Master, it is extremely detailed and has easy to follow steps for each automation. I’ll highly recommend this book to anyone in IT who needs to improve their JIRA technical skills.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
C Waddell Apr 28, 2021
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Great resource for beginners and automation experts alike. The descriptions of triggers, actions, smart values, conditions make it easy to understand how to customize processes. The provided examples can easily be applied to any organization and highlights how powerful the tool is. This will be my go-to reference!
Amazon Verified review Amazon
B. D. Apr 20, 2021
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Likes:Gareth Cantrell has done an outstanding job in writing this book in simple and easy to use terms. This book will benefit any role within any organization regarding the automation of Jira work. The book starts out with an explanation of Jira Automation terminology and definitions and applies this to Jira Issue automation. Real world examples are given with code snippet downloads available. Later chapters do a great job covering Automated Notifications, External Systems, Software Projects and DEV OPS Tools. Our organization recently began using Jira Tools as part of our IT Digital Transformation. I currently work as our Portfolio Management Lead and Tool Owner/Admin. The timing of this book was perfect for us!Dislikes:There weren't too many dislikes which is why I gave the review an overall 5. I do wish there were more screenshots and illustrations showing some of the great explanations around how to Automate the work.Thanks, TomIT Portfolio Management Lead and Jira Admin
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Andrey Dekhtyar Jun 09, 2021
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
A step-by-step, well-structured guide for new and aspiring Jira admins. From the relative if-then basics to complex DevOps integrations, the book guides through key Jira concepts and best practices backing all up with a variety of practical cases.Thorough, informative, and easy to grasp, happy to give it the highest rating and recommend it as an all-in-one reference book for everyone involved in Project Management.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Ram Kollengode Apr 05, 2021
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
As it claims in the preface this book indeed is a hands-on guide for power users and Jira administrators to automate daily, repetitive, and tedious tasks using a no-code approach with the Jira family, including JiraSoftware, Jira Service Management, and Jira Core.The range of topics covered go from basics to advanced technics and the book has over 300 pages of very relevant steps to learn how one can leverage the automation capabilities within Jira in simple and easy to understand style.Kudos to the team making this happen !!
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Get free access to Packt library with over 7500+ books and video courses for 7 days!
Start Free Trial

FAQs

What is the delivery time and cost of print book? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Shipping Details

USA:

'

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the US within 10-15 business days

Premium: Trackable Delivery to most addresses in the US within 3-8 business days

UK:

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 7-9 business days.
Shipments are not trackable

Premium: Trackable delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 3-4 business days!
Add one extra business day for deliveries to Northern Ireland and Scottish Highlands and islands

EU:

Premium: Trackable delivery to most EU destinations within 4-9 business days.

Australia:

Economy: Can deliver to P. O. Boxes and private residences.
Trackable service with delivery to addresses in Australia only.
Delivery time ranges from 7-9 business days for VIC and 8-10 business days for Interstate metro
Delivery time is up to 15 business days for remote areas of WA, NT & QLD.

Premium: Delivery to addresses in Australia only
Trackable delivery to most P. O. Boxes and private residences in Australia within 4-5 days based on the distance to a destination following dispatch.

India:

Premium: Delivery to most Indian addresses within 5-6 business days

Rest of the World:

Premium: Countries in the American continent: Trackable delivery to most countries within 4-7 business days

Asia:

Premium: Delivery to most Asian addresses within 5-9 business days

Disclaimer:
All orders received before 5 PM U.K time would start printing from the next business day. So the estimated delivery times start from the next day as well. Orders received after 5 PM U.K time (in our internal systems) on a business day or anytime on the weekend will begin printing the second to next business day. For example, an order placed at 11 AM today will begin printing tomorrow, whereas an order placed at 9 PM tonight will begin printing the day after tomorrow.


Unfortunately, due to several restrictions, we are unable to ship to the following countries:

  1. Afghanistan
  2. American Samoa
  3. Belarus
  4. Brunei Darussalam
  5. Central African Republic
  6. The Democratic Republic of Congo
  7. Eritrea
  8. Guinea-bissau
  9. Iran
  10. Lebanon
  11. Libiya Arab Jamahriya
  12. Somalia
  13. Sudan
  14. Russian Federation
  15. Syrian Arab Republic
  16. Ukraine
  17. Venezuela
What is custom duty/charge? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customs duty are charges levied on goods when they cross international borders. It is a tax that is imposed on imported goods. These duties are charged by special authorities and bodies created by local governments and are meant to protect local industries, economies, and businesses.

Do I have to pay customs charges for the print book order? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The orders shipped to the countries that are listed under EU27 will not bear custom charges. They are paid by Packt as part of the order.

List of EU27 countries: www.gov.uk/eu-eea:

A custom duty or localized taxes may be applicable on the shipment and would be charged by the recipient country outside of the EU27 which should be paid by the customer and these duties are not included in the shipping charges been charged on the order.

How do I know my custom duty charges? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The amount of duty payable varies greatly depending on the imported goods, the country of origin and several other factors like the total invoice amount or dimensions like weight, and other such criteria applicable in your country.

For example:

  • If you live in Mexico, and the declared value of your ordered items is over $ 50, for you to receive a package, you will have to pay additional import tax of 19% which will be $ 9.50 to the courier service.
  • Whereas if you live in Turkey, and the declared value of your ordered items is over € 22, for you to receive a package, you will have to pay additional import tax of 18% which will be € 3.96 to the courier service.
How can I cancel my order? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Cancellation Policy for Published Printed Books:

You can cancel any order within 1 hour of placing the order. Simply contact customercare@packt.com with your order details or payment transaction id. If your order has already started the shipment process, we will do our best to stop it. However, if it is already on the way to you then when you receive it, you can contact us at customercare@packt.com using the returns and refund process.

Please understand that Packt Publishing cannot provide refunds or cancel any order except for the cases described in our Return Policy (i.e. Packt Publishing agrees to replace your printed book because it arrives damaged or material defect in book), Packt Publishing will not accept returns.

What is your returns and refunds policy? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Return Policy:

We want you to be happy with your purchase from Packtpub.com. We will not hassle you with returning print books to us. If the print book you receive from us is incorrect, damaged, doesn't work or is unacceptably late, please contact Customer Relations Team on customercare@packt.com with the order number and issue details as explained below:

  1. If you ordered (eBook, Video or Print Book) incorrectly or accidentally, please contact Customer Relations Team on customercare@packt.com within one hour of placing the order and we will replace/refund you the item cost.
  2. Sadly, if your eBook or Video file is faulty or a fault occurs during the eBook or Video being made available to you, i.e. during download then you should contact Customer Relations Team within 14 days of purchase on customercare@packt.com who will be able to resolve this issue for you.
  3. You will have a choice of replacement or refund of the problem items.(damaged, defective or incorrect)
  4. Once Customer Care Team confirms that you will be refunded, you should receive the refund within 10 to 12 working days.
  5. If you are only requesting a refund of one book from a multiple order, then we will refund you the appropriate single item.
  6. Where the items were shipped under a free shipping offer, there will be no shipping costs to refund.

On the off chance your printed book arrives damaged, with book material defect, contact our Customer Relation Team on customercare@packt.com within 14 days of receipt of the book with appropriate evidence of damage and we will work with you to secure a replacement copy, if necessary. Please note that each printed book you order from us is individually made by Packt's professional book-printing partner which is on a print-on-demand basis.

What tax is charged? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Currently, no tax is charged on the purchase of any print book (subject to change based on the laws and regulations). A localized VAT fee is charged only to our European and UK customers on eBooks, Video and subscriptions that they buy. GST is charged to Indian customers for eBooks and video purchases.

What payment methods can I use? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

You can pay with the following card types:

  1. Visa Debit
  2. Visa Credit
  3. MasterCard
  4. PayPal
What is the delivery time and cost of print books? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Shipping Details

USA:

'

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the US within 10-15 business days

Premium: Trackable Delivery to most addresses in the US within 3-8 business days

UK:

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 7-9 business days.
Shipments are not trackable

Premium: Trackable delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 3-4 business days!
Add one extra business day for deliveries to Northern Ireland and Scottish Highlands and islands

EU:

Premium: Trackable delivery to most EU destinations within 4-9 business days.

Australia:

Economy: Can deliver to P. O. Boxes and private residences.
Trackable service with delivery to addresses in Australia only.
Delivery time ranges from 7-9 business days for VIC and 8-10 business days for Interstate metro
Delivery time is up to 15 business days for remote areas of WA, NT & QLD.

Premium: Delivery to addresses in Australia only
Trackable delivery to most P. O. Boxes and private residences in Australia within 4-5 days based on the distance to a destination following dispatch.

India:

Premium: Delivery to most Indian addresses within 5-6 business days

Rest of the World:

Premium: Countries in the American continent: Trackable delivery to most countries within 4-7 business days

Asia:

Premium: Delivery to most Asian addresses within 5-9 business days

Disclaimer:
All orders received before 5 PM U.K time would start printing from the next business day. So the estimated delivery times start from the next day as well. Orders received after 5 PM U.K time (in our internal systems) on a business day or anytime on the weekend will begin printing the second to next business day. For example, an order placed at 11 AM today will begin printing tomorrow, whereas an order placed at 9 PM tonight will begin printing the day after tomorrow.


Unfortunately, due to several restrictions, we are unable to ship to the following countries:

  1. Afghanistan
  2. American Samoa
  3. Belarus
  4. Brunei Darussalam
  5. Central African Republic
  6. The Democratic Republic of Congo
  7. Eritrea
  8. Guinea-bissau
  9. Iran
  10. Lebanon
  11. Libiya Arab Jamahriya
  12. Somalia
  13. Sudan
  14. Russian Federation
  15. Syrian Arab Republic
  16. Ukraine
  17. Venezuela