How are Jira 7.1 gadgets accessing the Jira instance?

Question

This article in the knowledga base states:

When accessing the Dashboard, JIRA gadgets use themselves as proxy, with the fully resolvable host name - so the JIRA instance needs to be able to access itself.

So what does this mean? The gadget (running as Java servlet on the JIRA Tomcat application server) opens a http(s ???) connection to the baseurl? If yes, are all cookies from the original request (from the client browser) forwarded?

Nic Brough -Adaptavist- · Answer

It's quite common to go through a reverse proxy like that - I've not run into problems with authentication of gadgets, but I don't know how complex the authentication stuff might get.

The gadgets will take the base url from the application configuration - it's a single field in the general configuration. Your second domain won't work properly.

Guido Wischrop_cw1qlr · Answer

So the connection is created from the JIRA server to the baseurl and not from the client (browser) to the baseurl?

I see 2 problems here:

1) In our scenario the baseurl points to a reverse proxy which handles corporate authentication. We are not using JIRA authentication. If a gadget want's to connect to the baseurl, then all cookies must be sent - otherwise it will face a login dialog, which it can't handle.

2) We have two domains for one Jira. I know that this is not recommended but it is like it is. How does the gadget get the baseurl? Is the baseurl build on the client?

Nic Brough -Adaptavist- · Answer

Yes, you've understood it correctly.  It opens a connection to itself and the gadgets are given the same session information (i.e. your login) as the browser gives to the main connection