How to create an auto assign to previous assignee in Jira?

[Alex Savin]

I don't know how create auto assignment to previous assignee using custom field and post function when I change issue status (or dragging it to other status column on the board). Here, at this community a read other comments, but there is still no clear understanding except "create custom field" and use post function.

Can somebody explain me how to do that in detail? Like "chose that menu, click certain button, then go to some settings etc"? I can use post function to assign next assignee, but don't know how to assign previous.

Here I illustrate what I mean.

Thanks in advance for help.

[Thomas Schlegel · Accepted solution]

Hi Alex, 

do you have the "Jira Misc Workflow Extension" or the "Suite Utilities for Jira" app? You need a post function to copy a value from a custom field to the assignee field. That is not working out of the box.

If you have one of these, I can give you a step-by-step solution. 

[Alex Savin]

No, I don't have, but I thought there is no need of third-party plug-in and it is possible to resolve this question using Jira tools.

So, I can use auto assign to next user but can't use auto assign to previous (last) without any plug-ins?:)

[Thomas Schlegel]

Not as far as I know. You have to put the actual user in a custom field, every time you make a transition in our workflow. That's ok with Jira out-of-the-box.

But for copying the user from the custom field to the assignee field, there is no function in Jira.

[Alex Savin]

Ok, I get it. Can you describe how to do that using JMWE?)

[Thomas Schlegel]

I'll do tomorrow. For today, I'm out of office.

[Alex Savin]

Thank you, Thomas!

[Thomas Schlegel]

So here is what you have to do:

• open http://<your-jira-url>/secure/admin/ViewCustomFields.jspa
• Click on "Add Custom Field"
• Select Field Type "User Picker" and click "Next"
• Name your field "Last Assignee" and click "Create"
• Do not associate any screens on the following page (the field is just used internally and shouldn't be set manually)

And now to the workflow:

• Edit your workflow
• Add the following postfunction to every transition:  "Copy Value from Field to Field" - Copy the Assignee to "Last Assignee"
• In the transition where you want to assign the issue to the last assignee, just use that postfunction the other way round

But, if you have the Jira Misc Workflow Extensions, there is another postfunction that is much easier to use: "Assign to last role member" - you can assign the issue automatically to the role member, who had the issue assigned before. With that postfunction, you don't even need a custom field! I haven't tested that function up to now, but I think, this is exactly what you need.

[Alex Savin]

Thank you very much, Thomas!

[James Roxburgh]

Yes, thank you @Thomas Schlegel, very useful!