Worst Jira Admin Contest: Can’t Create Issues

[#1]

Mistake 14

Here’s a recent one that I’m not proud of. I was helping a client delete unneeded custom fields from their Jira Cloud application. We followed my usual custom field clean-up procedure which is:

Step 1: Audit

• Make a list of all fields

• Note whether they are:

  • Created by Jira

  • Created by an app

  • Created by an admin

• For fields created by an admin, determine field usage. Check the following locations:

  • Screens

  • Workflow conditions, validators, and post functions

  • Filters and user objects

  • Automation rules

  • Etc.

Step 2: Backup

• Take a snapshot, export, or database backup (for restoration purposes)

• Take a screenshot backup (for informational purposes)

Step 3: Move Data

• Move or map any data to retain to other fields

Step 4: Final Steps

• Remove unneeded fields

• Re-index (Server or Data Center)

• Update documentation

• Repeat this clean-up procedure periodically

I thought I had checked all workflow transitions, but evidently I missed one. Specifically, I missed a post function in the initial “create” action.

A sub-task workflow had a post function that automatically copied a field value in parent issues down to child issues.

When we removed the custom field, we broke the workflow and the ability to create sub-tasks!

Tip: When checking workflows for embedded behaviors, don’t just look at the settings in Jira. Always download workflows in XML format. Had I reviewed the XML, I wouldn’t have missed the post function hiding in the “create” action.

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Back to intro and mistakes list

[Laurie Sciutti]

Don't beat yourself up, @Rachel Wright !  We've all been there ~ I know I have!

[Bill Sheboy]

Thanks for the write-up and tips, @Rachel Wright 

Another one to check for this scenario is automation rules, by exporting the full rule set as JSON and searching for references to those fields (both as smart values and custom field ids).  Unfortunately, rules do not always fail when a field is missing; instead the unknown field usually just becomes null, leading to silent failures / unexpected results.

Kind regards,
Bill