What is the best way to link two issues?

[Vanessa Becker]

We have a Jira Service Management and Jira Software instance.

We have created a rule that when tickets are assigned to a certain status on Service Management it is now logged on the backlog of the Jira Software instance for a developer to pick up. The status assigned on the Jira Software instance is New.

I however want to link these two issues (one created in servicedesk and the one created on the software version).

What is the best way to do this?

Thank you

[Kathi Paquet · Accepted solution]

In your automation rule, when you create the issue add another action to link them together.  I use 'causes' in the automation rule.  

[Lisa Grau]

I'd go with this option, too. You should be able to use the same automation rule for both actions.

[Vanessa Becker]

Thank you can you send me an example on how you configured the rule plse?

[Lorenzo Phillips · Accepted solution]

I agree with your current setup as well as @Kathi Paquet regarding adding a new action that links the (2) tickets after the new one has been created—the automation rule section has a native rule for doing this. If the “causes” link type that @Kathi Paquet mentioned doesn’t work for your specific requirements, there are other link types available to you or you can create a custom link type.

To make your solution complete, I would add a couple more rules that keeps both tickets in sync. For example, if the JSM ticket get new comments that are usually valuable for the dev team, I’d have a rule to ensure that information gets sync’ed over. You may also want to send information back to the JSM ticket for more information or clarification, but if you do this, make sure this information is only visible internally to the JSM team and not to the customer. 

Finally, I always add a rule so when the dev ticket is set to a resolved (of closed) status by the dev team, it automatically updates the JSM ticket so the JSM knows it can proceed with resolving/closing the ticket in its queue.

Last recommendation, since you’re working with the dev team, make sure your SLA rules are setup properly. You typically don’t want the JSM team being penalized on their SLAs while the dev team is working on the resolution. So something like when the JSM ticket reaches the status to create the ticket for the dev team, your SLA rule should pause. Otherwise, you should have an greenery with the dev team that they are a part of the overall SLA to ensure they understand that the clock is ticking. This arrangement is typically implemented for critical tickets that come in but can be optional as well. 

[Kathi Paquet]

@Lorenzo Phillips Yes, I have those same additional rules

• Move JSM ticket to a particular status when Dev starts working on it and another for when marked pending
• Comments
• Automatically transition to resolve when ALL linked dev tickets are closed

I really like the Automation Rules!

The only snag we run into is if the Service Desk Agent creates the dev ticket manually, they get confused on the 'Link'.  So I am working on another automation rule if they wrong linked by option is selected to add the correct link type for the rules are based on the linked type (outward/inward)

[Vanessa Becker]

Thank you can you send me an example on how you configured the rule plse?

• Move JSM ticket to a particular status when Dev starts working on it and another for when marked pending
• Comments
• Automatically transition to resolve when ALL linked dev tickets are closed

[Lorenzo Phillips]

I love the automation rules as well! Don’t forget you can use them from the Jira side as well. I find implementing rules on both sides to be powerful for my clients. In the Dev side, I can implement rules to help keep the dev team in line with getting the work done for the JSM team. Sometimes the JSM tickets end up on the backlog like a normal Deb ticket when it needs to get visibility, triage and worked on outside of the normal sprint our queue(depending on how the client is setup with the tools). 

[Lorenzo Phillips]

@Vanessa Becker will do. 

[Lorenzo Phillips]

@Vanessa Becker here's an example of working with linked issues and setting the status and adding a comment.

NOTE: I did not have all of the requirements for your specific needs so you may have to customize what I am presenting in order to get it to work in your environment.

I did not like that I did not test my solution before presenting it to you, so I have modified my answer. In the legacy automation environment you could have multiple rules for this.

In the new environment, your rule(s) would look something like this:

NOTE: This rule lives on the dev side, not the JSM side. And again, you can customize to your specific requirements. I typically add things like a custom field so I know it came from a JSM project and other criteria to ensure the rules execute for specific scenarios and not always executing.

[JimmyVanAU · Accepted solution]

Hi Vanessa,

Are the two instances on the same site, that is are they both mycompany.atlassian.net and mycompany.atlassian.net/servicedesk ?

If the "mycompany" part is different, then can you check if the applications are linked? Head to https://<<mycompany>>.atlassian.net/plugins/servlet/applinks/listApplicationLinks

to check and link them. If they're not linked, then can enter the URL of the other site to ensure.

After completing the above steps, we can be assured that both Jira instances are aware of each other. From here, you should use native Jira issue linking to link the issues.

To link issues:

Click more (•••) > Link > Jira Issue (or click the quick-add button (chain link icon) in the new issue view) and follow your nose.

Read more at https://support.atlassian.com/jira-software-cloud/docs/link-an-issue/

Cheers, Jimmy

[John Funk · Accepted solution]

Hi Vanessa - How is the JSW issue getting created? Is it being cloned by the JSM ticket? Is it manually being created? 

[Vanessa Becker]

Hi John

There is a rule in place.

[John Funk]

Can you share the rule? I would just add an action to the end of the rule to Link issues. 

[Björn Frauen _STAGIL_]

Hi Vanessa, 

in case you want to have more comfort and logic in the creation of the linked issue please check out our app Create and Link - Issue Templates. It offers creation and linking of issues with predefined templates and preconfigured issue action buttons.

We are happy to help you with questions or the configuration. Just ping us on support@stagil.com.

Best regards
Björn