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Configure Adobe Workfront for Jira

Last update: Fri Jan 05 2024 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

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You can use Adobe Workfront for Jira to integrate your Jira and Workfront systems.

After installing the add-on, you can define workflows that create Jira issues automatically when Workfront work items are created. The items in both applications become linked, and some of their information automatically updates in both systems.

All users in Workfront and Jira can benefit from this integration. They only need a license for the system in which they work the most, and not for both systems.

This add-on is available for both the Server and OnDemand (or Cloud) versions of Jira Software.

For a list of Jira versions that Workfront for Jira currently supports, see Workfront for Jira at the Atlassian Marketplace.

Access requirements

You must have the following:

Adobe Workfront plan

New: Any

or

Current: Pro or higher

Adobe Workfront license

New: Standard

or

Current: Plan

Jira access

System administrator access

Important: We recommend that you create separate system administrator accounts in Jira and Workfront to dedicate to this integration, rather than using existing ones that might be attached to users.

Access level configurations
You must be a Workfront administrator.

For more detail about the information in this table, see Access requirements in Workfront documentation.

Prerequisites

Before you can configure Workfront for Jira, you must:

Configure Workfront for Jira

By configuring Workfront for Jira, you can:

  • Define triggers that will create Jira items when Workfront items are created.
  • Specify which fields should synchronize between items linked between Jira and Workfront.
NOTE
  • After you configure Workfront for Jira on your Jira environment, all Jira users see a Workfront right panel on all Jira items. The panel contains information about the items that might be linked from Workfront or specifies that no Workfront items are linked to Jira items.
  • When using the Jira Server installation, only the issues that are associated with projects identified as triggers for the Workfront integration display the Workfront panel. For more information about setting up triggers for the Workfront to Jira workflow, see Configure triggers for automatically linking items between Jira and Workfront.

To configure Workfront for Jira:

  1. Log in to Jira as a Jira administrator.

  2. Click Settings in the main Jira menu.

  3. Click Add-ons, then click Manage add-ons.

  4. Expand the Workfront add-on.

  5. Click Configure.

  6. Follow the prompts to log in to Workfront.

    note note
    NOTE
    The user must have a valid apiKey in Workfront to create a successful connection.

    You must log in to Workfront as a Workfront administrator to continue the configuration.

    note note
    NOTE
    • Workfront connects to Jira using OAuth 2.0, a standard used by most web-based integrations for the authentication and authorization of users.
    • When you are prompted to enter the domain of your Workfront account, type it using this format: yourCompany’sDomain.my.workfront.com. Your company’s domain is usually the name of your company.
    • Enhanced Authentication is not available until a Workfront administrator enables it for this integration.

  7. In Jira, select the Triggers tab to configure the automatic creation of Jira items as new Workfront items are created.

    For more information about setting up triggers for the Workfront to Jira workflow, see Configure triggers for automatically linking items between Jira and Workfront.

  8. Select the Setup tab to configure the synchronization of fields between linked Jira and Workfront items.

    For more information about setting up the synchronization of fields between Jira and Workfront, see Configure field synchronization between Jira and Workfront Items.

    note note
    NOTE
    After you define the triggers and the synchronization of fields between the two applications, any Workfront user who can create tasks or issues could potentially trigger the creation of an item in Jira. The user can create an item if the criteria on the item they create match the triggers in Jira, even if the user does not have a Jira license. Also, any Jira user can immediately start working on the Jira item, and their updates are visible in Workfront, without them having a Workfront license. Any updates in Workfront are also visible on the Jira items.

  9. (Optional) Select the Activity Log tab to review any errors that might have occurred during the integration.

    For more information about the Activity Log, see View the Jira Activity Log.

Configure triggers for automatically linking items between Jira and Workfront

As the Jira system administrator, you can define triggers that would automatically create issues in Jira when an item in Workfront meets certain criteria.

NOTE
It could take up to 10 minutes for the integration to create new issues in Jira.

Consider the following when configuring triggering the creation of Jira items as Workfront items are created:

  • The integration is unidirectional: You can only trigger items that you create in Workfront to be automatically created in Jira. You cannot trigger items that you create in Jira to automatically be created in Workfront.
  • There is no limit to how many triggers you can have.
  • If an item that you create in Workfront matches more than one of the triggers, only one item is created in Jira. The item is created in Jira according to the first trigger (in the order that they have been defined in Jira). All other triggers are ignored.
  • Only one item in Workfront can be linked to one item in Jira. You can never link one Workfront item to multiple Jira issues, or one Jira issue to multiple Workfront items.

To configure triggers for automatically creating items in Jira:

  1. Log in to Jira as a system administrator.

  2. Click Settings in the main Jira menu.

  3. Click Add-ons, then Manage add-ons.

  4. Expand the Workfront add-on.

  5. Click Configure.

  6. Log in to Workfront as a system administrator.

    The Triggers tab is selected by default in Jira.

  7. Click Add trigger to add a new trigger.

  8. In the Workfront team/user/role field, specify the name of a Workfront team, user, or job role, then click to select it when it displays in the list.

    note note
    NOTE
    You cannot have multiple triggers for the same team, user, or role.

    When someone creates a task or an issue and assigns it to one of these entities, an issue is automatically created in Jira.

  9. In the Jira project field, start typing the name of a Jira project, then click to select it when it displays in the list.

    When the Jira issue is created, it is placed on the project you chose here.

  10. Select an Issue type from the drop-down menu.

    This indicates the issue type that is created in Jira when the conditions of this trigger are met, based on your settings for that specific project in Jira.

  11. Click Save.

    With this configuration, every time a Workfront user creates an item that matches the specified triggers, a new issue is created in Jira.

Configure field synchronization between Jira and Workfront Items

As the Jira administrator, you can define which fields should automatically synchronize on items that are linked between Workfront and Jira. Certain fields can synchronize from the Workfront to the Jira item, and others synchronize from Jira to Workfront.

To define what fields should automatically synchronize on items linked between the two applications:

  1. Log in to Jira as a Jira administrator.

  2. Click Settings in the main Jira menu.

  3. Click Add-ons, then Manage add-ons.

  4. Expand the Workfront add-on.

  5. Click Configure.

  6. Log in to Workfront as a Workfront administrator.

  7. In Jira, click the Setup tab.

  8. In the Synchronize from Workfront to Jira section, select the fields that you want to update in Jira when they are updated in Workfront.

    1. Select any of the following frequencies with which the fields are synchronized:

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      On Creation The fields you specify are synchronized between the linked Workfront and Jira items when the item is created in Workfront.
      Always The fields you specify are synchronized between the linked Workfront and Jira items when the fields are updated in Workfront.
      Never The fields you specify are never synchronized between the linked Workfront and Jira items. There is no indication in Jira that the field was updated in Workfront.

    2. Select any of the following to synchronize the fields from Workfront to Jira:

      table 0-row-2 1-row-2 2-row-2 3-row-2 layout-auto html-authored no-header
      Name

      The name of a task or an issue in Workfront becomes the name of the issue to which it is linked in Jira.

      Note: When new items are created in Jira automatically, the Workfront Name always updates on the Jira item, regardless of whether this field is enabled here or not. When a Jira item is manually linked to a Workfront item, the Name of the Workfront item only updates in Jira when you select to  Always  synchronize this field. For more information about linking items manually or automatically, see Link items between Adobe Workfront and Jira.
      Description The description of a task or an issue in Workfront becomes the description of the issue to which it is linked in Jira.
      Documents

      Documents attached to a task or an issue in Workfront are also attached to the issue to which it is linked in Jira. New document versions from Workfront are added as separate documents to Jira and are appended with _v<version number> to indicate the numbered version in Workfront.

      For example, if the name of a document in Workfront is Main Ad, and you add a new version to it in Workfront, the new version is transferred to Jira as a new document with the name Main Ad_v2.

      Important:

      Consider the following when syncing documents:

      • Documents larger than 5MB do not sync. If a document sync fails because the document is too large, an error is logged in the activity log.

        For more information on the activity log, see View the Jira Activity Log.

      • Documents that are linked to tasks and issues from external servers are not transferred to the Jira items. Only documents uploaded directly on the task or the issue in Workfront are transferred to the linked issue in Jira.

      • To create a proof from a document, you must generate the proof in Workfront.

        For more information on generating a proof, see Create a proof for an existing documentin Create a proof for a document.
      Planned Completion Date

      The Planned Completion Date of a task or an issue in Workfront becomes the Due Date of the issue to which it is linked in Jira.

      Note: Ensure that you display Due Date  on Jira issues, for this value to synchronize.

  9. In the Synchronize from Jira to Workfront section, select the fields that you want to update in Workfront when they are updated in Jira.

    1. Select any of the following frequencies with which the fields are synchronized:

      table 0-row-2 1-row-2 layout-auto html-authored no-header
      Always The fields you specify are always synchronized between the linked Workfront and Jira items when the fields are updated in Jira.
      Never

      The fields you specify are never synchronized between the linked Workfront and Jira items. There is no indication in Workfront that the field was updated in Jira.

      Note: When you select Never, Workfront fields can still be manually updated from Jira in the left Workfront panel of the Jira issue. Those updates appear only on Workfront items in Jira and Workfront and not on Jira items.

    2. Select to synchronize any of the following fields from Jira to Workfront:

      table 0-row-2 1-row-2 2-row-2 3-row-2 layout-auto html-authored no-header
      Status The Status of an issue in Jira becomes the Status of the task or issue to which it is linked in Workfront.
      For more information about Workfront statuses, see Create or edit a status.
      Assignee

      The Assignee of an issue in Jira becomes the Assignee of the task or issue to which it is linked in Workfront.

      Important: When you assign an item in Jira to a user who does not have a Workfront account, the integration creates a new active user in Workfront only when Automatically create a user in Workfront if the Jira user does not have a Workfront account is set to Always. This user does not occupy a Workfront license. Active users can be assigned to work items in Workfront, but cannot be included in updates.
      Attachments Attachments of an issue in Jira are also attached to the task or issue to which it is linked in Workfront.
      Comments

      A comment on a Jira issue is also posted on the linked Workfront item in the Updates area. Conversely, a comment posted in the Updates area for a Workfront task or issue syncs to Jira's native comment stream for the linked issue.

      This is set to Always by default. If you select Never here, you can still post comments manually on a linked item either in Workfront or in Jira.

  10. In the OTHER section, select which additional fields should be updated between linked items.

    1. Select an option to determine whether the fields you specify Always or Never update in Jira or Workfront when they are modified.

    2. Select from the following fields and updates:

      table 0-row-2 1-row-2 2-row-2 3-row-2 layout-auto html-authored no-header
      Copy Workfront Custom Data in the right panel in Jira

      Displays the Workfront Custom Data of an item in the Workfront right panel.

      Note: Custom Form sections are displayed in the Workfront right panel with the access level of the Workfront System Administrator.
      Copy Workfront Priority in the right panel in Jira Displays the Workfront Priority of an item in the Workfront right panel.
      Add an update in the Workfront Updates tab about Due Date changes in Jira Adds a comment in the Update tab of the Workfront item when the Due Date changes in linked Jira item.
      Automatically create a user in Workfront if the Jira user does not have a Workfront account

      The following scenarios exist:

      • When you select Always, you enable the integration to create a new Workfront user every time a Jira user without a Workfront account performs the following actions on a linked Jira issue:

        • Is assigned to a Jira issue

        • Logs time to a Jira issue

          This new user does not occupy a Workfront license. The default setting is Always. The user created this way in Workfront has "Jira" added to their name.

      • When you select Never, the following things happen:

        • You are not able to see any Jira assignments on the Workfront items. In this case, only assignments made in Workfront display on the Workfront items.
        • The time logged to a linked Jira issue by a user without a Workfront account does not automatically transfer to the linked Workfront item. You can still log time on the Workfront item in the right panel of the Jira issue.

  11. Click Save.

    Now, every time a user updates any of the fields specified in this configuration on an item in either Jira or Workfront, the linked item in the other application is updated as well.

Troubleshooting

Items cannot be created in Jira because of trigger fields marked “Couldn’t be found”

Problem

When an error occurs with the Workfront for Jira application, Workfront disables the triggers to prevent further complications. When those triggers are disabled, they display as “Couldn’t be found.”

Solution

Locate the error that disabled the triggers. You can find the error in the Workfront for Jira Activity Log.

The most common cause of this behavior is the error “Field ‘duedate’ cannot be set. It is not on the appropriate screen, or unknown.”

This error means that you are attempting to sync the “Planned Completion Date” from Workfront to Jira. In order to do this, you must ensure that your Jira objects have a field called “Due Date.” If they do not have this field, Workfront is unable to sync the planned completion date from Workfront and disables your triggers.

To resolve this error, try one of the following:

  • Ask your Jira administrator to update the affected Jira objects to ensure that they have a due date field.
  • Disable the synchronization of Workfront’s planned completion date in the Workfront Setup page.
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