Configuring Applications for the Jira Service Management SyncPack

Download this manual as a PDF file 

This section describes how to set up the PowerFlow applications for the "Jira Service Management" SyncPack.

Workflow for Configuring the SyncPack

The following workflows describe how to configure SL1, Jira, and PowerFlow to work with the "Jira Service Management" SyncPack.

Configuring SL1

  1. Create a SOAP/XML credential to access PowerFlow
  2. Edit the Jira Service Management run book actions
  3. Enable the Jira Service Management run book automations

Configuring Jira

  1. Create an API token
  2. Locate the account ID
  3. Locate the request type ID
  4. Locating the severity custom ID
  5. Configuring an SL1 event URL custom field

Configuring PowerFlow

  1. Create a PowerFlow configuration object
  2. Align the configuration object and configure the PowerFlow applications
  3. Schedule the PowerFlow applications

Configuring SL1

The following topics cover how to set up your SL1 instance to work with the "Jira Service Management" SyncPack.

Creating a SOAP/XML Credential to Access SL1 PowerFlow

You will need to create a SOAP/XML credential so that the action policies included in the "Jira Service Management Automation Policies" PowerPack can access your PowerFlow system. The PowerPack includes the "PowerFlow Jira" sample credential, which you can use as a template for the SOAP/XML credential.

To create a SOAP/XML credential:

  1. In SL1, go to the Credentials page (Manage > Credentials).
  2. Locate the "PowerFlow Jira" sample credential, then click its Actions icon () and select Duplicate. A copy of the credential, called "PowerFlow Jira copy" appears.
  3. Supply values in the following fields:
  • Name. Type a new name for the credential.
  • All Organizations. Toggle on (blue) to align the credential to all organizations, or toggle off (gray) and then select one or more specific organizations from the What organization manages this service? drop-down field to align the credential with those specific organizations.
  • URL. Type the URL for your PowerFlow system.
  • HTTP Auth User. Type the username for your PowerFlow system.
  • HTTP Auth Password. Type the password for your PowerFlow system.
  1. Click Save & Close.
  2. Take note of the SL1-assigned ID number for the new credential on the Credentials page, in the ID column. You will need the ID number when editing the input parameters of the run book actions included in the PowerPack, below.

Editing the Jira Service Management Run Book Actions

The "Jira Service Management Automation Policies" PowerPack includes two action policies that use the "Run Integration Service Application" action type to trigger the PowerFlow application that sends and receives data to Jira. You can specify the credential ID in a JSON structure that you enter in the Input Parameters field in the Action Policy Editor modal.

To edit the action policies included in the PowerPack:

  1. In SL1, go to the Actions page (Registry > Run Book > Actions).
  2. Locate the action policy that you want to use, and then click its wrench icon (). The Editing Action page appears.
  1. In the Input Parameters field, change the values of the following parameters:
  • credential_id. Change the value to the credential ID that you noted earlier when creating a credential for your PowerFlow system in the previous procedure. This parameter is required.
  • include_event. Leave the value as "true".
  • application_name. Leave the default application value.
  • params. Leave the default parameter value.
  1. Make sure the Action State is set to Enabled, and then click Save.

Enabling the Jira Service Management Run Book Automations

The "Jira Service Management Automation Policies" PowerPack includes the following run book automation policies that you will need to enable:

  • "Jira: Create Issue"
  • "Jira: Timeline Event"

These policies update the Jira issue with the state of the associated SL1 event. When an event is first detected in SL1, an issue is created in Jira. When an event is acknowledged in SL1, a comment is added to the associated Jira incident.

The following table shows the automation policy, its aligned events, and the automation action that runs in response to the events.

Automation Policy Name Aligned Events Run Book Action
Jira: Create Issue All events Jira: Alert
Jira: Timeline Event All events Jira: Create Timeline Event

To enable the run book automations:

  1. In SL1, go to the Automation page (Registry > Run Book > Automation).
  2. Locate a Jira automation policy and click its wrench icon (). The Automation Policy Editor page appears.
  3. Update the following fields:
  • Policy State. Select Enabled.
  • Policy Priority. Select High to ensure that this PowerFlow automation policy is added to the top of the queue.
  • Available Actions. If it is not already selected, select the "Run Integration Service Application: <name>" action that corresponds with the Ansible automation policy you selected in step 2, and click the arrows to move it to Aligned Actions.

ScienceLogic highly recommends that you do not make changes to the Policy Type, Repeat Time, or Align With fields or the And event is NOT acknowledged setting.

  1. Click Save.
  2. Repeat steps 2-4 for other "Jira" run book automation policy.

Configuring Jira

The following topics cover how to set up your Jira instance to work with the "Jira Service Management" SyncPack.

Creating an API Token

To let PowerFlow communicate with Jira, you must create a Jira API token and enter it in your PowerFlow configuration object.

To create an API token in Jira:

  • In Jira, click on your profile icon and select Account Settings.
  • Navigate to the API Tokens page (Security > Create and manage API tokens).
  • Click Create API token to generate a new API token.
  • Make a note of the API token so that you can use it in your PowerFlow configuration object.

Locating the Account ID

To let PowerFlow to make changes to Jira, you must enter a Jira account ID in your PowerFlow configuration object.

To locate your Jira account type ID:

  • Click on your profile icon and select Account.
  • The page reloads, and you can find the account ID at the end of the URL.
  • Make a note of the ID so that you can use it in your PowerFlow configuration object.

Locating the Request Type ID

To let PowerFlow make changes to Jira, you must enter a Jira request type ID for the type of request you want in your PowerFlow configuration object.

To locate a Jira incident request type ID:

  • Select the Jira project you want to use.
  • Navigate to the Incidents page (Project Settings > Request Types > Incidents).
  • Select the request type (for example, "Report a system problem"). The page reloads and you can find the request type ID at the end of the URL.
  • Make a note of the ID so that you can use it in your PowerFlow configuration object.

Locating the Severity Custom ID

To let PowerFlow identify the severity of a Jira issue, you must enter a severity custom ID in your PowerFlow configuration object.

To locate your severity custom ID in Jira:

  • Select the Jira project you want to use.
  • Navigate to the Screens page (Project Settings > Screens).
  • If you have not already added the Severity field to your issues list, select any of the screens to expand its details and select the Edit issue link. You can then add the Severity issue by selecting Severity in the Select Field drop down at the bottom of the Issuespage.
  • On the Screens page, select any of the screens to expand its details and select the Create Issue link.
  • Navigate to the Field Configurations page (Fields > Field configurations).
  • Select Default Field Configuration.
  • Locate the Severity field and click Edit.
  • The page reloads and you can find the severity custom ID at the end of the URL.
  • Make a note of the ID so that you can use it in your PowerFlow configuration object.

Configuring an SL1 Event URL Custom Field

To let PowerFlow make changes to Jira, you must enter an SL1 event URL field ID in your configuration object.

To configure an SL1 event URL custom field in Jira:

  • Select the Jira project you want to use.
  • Navigate to the Screens page (Project Settings > Screens).
  • Select the Jira Service Management: Change Management Screen Scheme window to expand its details and select the Create Issue link.
  • Navigate to the Custom Fields page (Fields > Custom fields).
  • Click Create custom field and select URL Field.
  • Supply a value in the required field and click Create.
  • The page reloads and you can find the custom field ID in the URL.
  • Make a note of the ID so that you can use it in your PowerFlow configuration object.
  • Repeat these steps for the Jira Service Manage: Incident Management Screen Scheme window.

Configuring PowerFlow

The following topics cover how to set up your PowerFlow instance to work with the "Jira Service ManagementSyncPack.

Creating a Configuration Object

A configuration object supplies the login credentials and other required information needed to execute the steps for a PowerFlow application. The Configurations page () of the PowerFlow user interface lists all available configuration objects for that system.

You can create as many configuration objects as you need. A PowerFlow application can only use one configuration object at a time, but you can use (or "align") the same configuration object with multiple applications.

For this SyncPack, you should make a copy of the "Jira ITSM Configuration" configuration object, which is the sample configuration file that was installed with the Jira Service Management SyncPack.

The "Jira ITSM Configuration" configuration object contains all of the required variables. Simply update the variables from that object to match your SL1 and Jira settings.

To create a configuration object based on the "Jira ITSM Configuration" configuration object:

  1. In the PowerFlow user interface, go to the Configurations page ().
  2. Click the Actions button () for the "Jira ITSM" configuration object and select Edit. The Configuration pane appears.
  3. Complete the following fields:
  • Friendly Name. Type a name for the configuration object that will display on the Configurations page.
  • Description. Type a brief description of the configuration object.
  • Author. Type the user or organization that created the configuration object.
  • Version. Type a version of the configuration object.
  1. Click Copy as. The Create Configuration pane appears.
  2. In the Configuration Data field, update the default variable definitions to match your PowerFlow configuration:
    • sl1_host. Type the hostname or IP address of the SL1 system the alerts will synchronize with.
    • sl1_password. Type the password for your SL1 system.
    • sl1_user. Type the username for your SL1 system.
    • jira_username. Type the username for your Jira system.
    • jira_password. Type the password for your Jira system.
    • jira_token. Enter a Jira API token.
    • For more information on creating a Jira API token, see Creating an API token in Jira.

    • jira_url. Type the URL for your Jira system.
    • project_key. Type the project key for the Jira project you want to be used when making the API request.
    • populate_external_url. Type whether to add an Jira ticket URL to the corresponding SL1 event. The default value is 'enabled'.
    • account_id. Enter the Jira account ID.
    • For more information on your Jira account ID, see Locating the Account ID in Jira.

    • issue_type. Type the type of ticket you want to be created in Jira when an event is triggered in SL1.
    • jira_request_type_id. Type the Jira request type ID.
    • For more information on your Jira request type ID, see Locating the Request Type ID in Jira.

    • severity_field_id. Enter the Jira severity field ID.
    • For more information on your severity field ID, see Locating the Severity Custom ID in Jira.

    • event_url_field_id. Enter the SL1 event URL field ID from Jira.
    • For more information on your Jira Event URL Field, see Configuring an SL1 Event URL Custom Field in Jira.

    • prirority. Type the Jira incident priority value for incidents created from SL1 events.
    • impact. Type the impact value for incidents created from SL1 events.
    • severity_def. Toggle the JSON editor to define severity mapping between SL1 and Jira.
    • add_template. Toggle the JSON editor to define a message for the description field in Jira.
  1. Click Save. You can now align this configuration object with one or more applications.

For more information about the Jira terms and concepts in this section, see the Jira documentation.

Aligning a Configuration Object and Configuring PowerFlow Applications

With this SyncPack, you can synchronize your SL1 events and Jira issues including creating Jira incidents, updating acknowledgment data, resolving SL1 events and updating SL1 event notes. You will need to align the "Jira Service Management" SyncPack applications with the relevant configuration object in PowerFlow, and, if needed, update any other fields on the Configuration pane for the applications.

To align the configuration object with the relevant PowerFlow applications:

  1. On the Applications page of the PowerFlow user interface, open one of the PowerFlow applications listed above and click Configure. The Configurations pane for that application appears:

  1. From the Configurations drop-down, select the configuration object you want to use.

    The values for sl1_hostname and the other parameters that appear in the Configuration pane with a padlock icon () are populated by the configuration object you aligned with the application. Do not modify these values. If you encounter an error, make sure your configuration object is configured properly.

  1. Update any of the remaining fields on the Configurations pane as needed.
  2. Click Save to align that configuration with the application.
  3. Repeat this process for the other PowerFlow applications.

Scheduling PowerFlow Applications

To trigger the applications in the SyncPack, you must schedule the following PowerFlow applications, which are included in the SyncPack:

  • "Resolve SL1 Event from Jira"
  • "Show Jira Change Log in SL1 Event Notes"

You can create one or more schedules for a single application in the PowerFlow user interface. When creating each schedule, you can specify the queue and the configuration file for that application.

To create a schedule:

  1. On the Applications page (), click the Schedule button for the application you want to schedule. The Scheduler window appears.
  2. In the Schedule List pane, click the down arrow icon () next to an existing schedule to view the details for that schedule.
  3. In the Schedule Creator pane, complete the following fields for the default Frequency setting:
  • Schedule Name. Type a name for the schedule.
  • Frequency in seconds. Type the number of seconds per interval that you want to run the application.
  • Custom Parameters. Type any JSON parameters you want to use for this schedule, such as information about a configuration file or mappings.
  1. To use a cron expression, click the Switch to Cron Expression toggle to turn it blue. If you select this option, you can create complicated schedules based on minutes, hours, the day of the month, the month, and the day of the week:

As you update the cron expression, the Schedule window displays the results of the expression in more readable language, such as Runs app: "Every 0 and 30th minute past every hour on Sat", based on 0,30 in the Minutes field and 6 in the Day of Week field.

  1. Click Save Schedule. The schedule is added to the Schedule List pane. Also, on the Applications page, the Schedule button now displays with a dark blue background:

After you create a schedule, it continues to run until you delete it. Also, you cannot edit an existing schedule, but you can delete it and create a similar schedule if needed.

To view or delete an existing schedule:

  1. On the Applications page, click the Schedule button for the application that contains a schedule you want to delete. The Scheduler window appears.
  2. Click the down arrow icon () to view the details of an existing schedule.
  3. To delete the selected schedule, click the Actions icon () and selectDelete.

On the Scheduler window for a PowerFlow application, you can click the Copy as button from the Schedule List pane to make a copy of an existing schedule.

When either multiple SL1 instances or multiple Jira instances are involved with PowerFlow, you should create an individual configuration object for each SL1 or Jira instance. Next, create an individual schedule for each configuration object. Each schedule should use a configuration object that is specific to that single SL1 or Jira instance. Creating copies of a PowerFlow application from a SyncPack for the purpose of distinguishing between domains is not supported, and will result in issues on upgrades.