How do I add more than 1 release per project to a Cross-Project Release?

[Luke Ma]

I have a multi-project release (call it 2.0) where I want to include heterogeneous collections of releases from various projects.

Let's say I have project A and their 2.0 release works.

I also have project B and they are 2.0 and then due to some bugs a 2.0.1.

I also have a project C and they split their work between 1.5 and 2.0.

I want to create a CPR to include A-2.0, B-2.0, B-2.0.1, C-1.5 and C-2.0. https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Jira-questions/How-do-I-add-more-than-1-release-per-project-to-a-Cross-Project/qaq-p/618119 accepted their own answer with "JIRA is not set up for this" but why can Portfolio, as a JIRA overlay, not do this? 

Essentially, this would be a "quick filter" that avoids having to individually select the correct linked release filters over and over again. The custom CPR field can be set in all those releases and Portfolio already has the capability to filter for multiple releases within disparate projects.

[Gabriele Franck]

Hey @Luke Ma

After some tests in my instance, I found a way for you to use the same Releases with different projects.

I just have some observations about this first:

•  I wasn't able to test how this will work if you try to generate reports
• You will need to create a new release from scratch! You won't be able to select an existing release.

Here are the tests I've made:

1. I created a new filter for my two projects I want to use, in my case the JQL was project in (123, 456) ORDER BY Rank ASC
2.  I've created a new Kanban board from scratch (you do this here: https://<yourinstancename>.atlassian.net/secure/ManageRapidViews.jspa, Create board button)
3. Select Kanban board option, with Board from an existing Saved Filter option
4. Then, Name/Saved Filter. In the Location you'll need to choose one of the projects. If you use your profile as location, you won't be able to work with Releases.
5.  Board created!

Now, let's go to my findings:
Scenario 1
If I have one issue from 123 project and one issue from 456 project without a release, when I got to the Release button I can create a new one and release both of them in the same release.

Both issues will appear separately in their respective project.

My 'NewRelease' version appears in two different projects.

Scenario 2
If both issues already have a Fix Version from their respective project, you won't be able to create a new release in your shared board.

If, for example, your expectation is to select Release 1.11 and both issues go to this release, if you select 1.11, only one issue will be released and the other won't

And you won't be able to assign issue from 456 project to 1.11 release (that belongs to 123 project).
So this is why I said in the beginning that you'll need to create a new release.

Being honest with you, yes, it is possible to use the same "Fix Version" for different projects. You'll need to create a shared board for that, and create a new release each time you want to accomplish this. But, since my test was very simple, just to validate the behavior, I'm not sure how this would work in a large instance with lots of issues and releases.
So, if you want to perform some tests and let me know how it goes, I will more than happy to also hear your findings later!

Let me know if this gives you some inputs ;)

Gabi

[Luke Ma]

Hi Gabi,

Thanks for the detailed response! There's some interesting detail in there for sure. I'm looking for the opposite use case though; multiple version of a project as part of a single CPR in Portfolio. We don't want to tie the releases together as a single artifact because they may not release at the same time. However, for planning/tracking purposes, we do want a multiple-release container (what a CPR does, but only for a single version per release) to aggregate.