Is there a way to clone ONE Epic so it brings over links and aligned issues (stories and sub-tasks)

[Heather Fohlin]

Is there a way to clone ONE Epic so that it brings over its links and aligned issues (stories and sub-tasks)?

I tried to clone and epic and only had the option to clone links. It did not give me an option to clone the aligned issues (stories and sub-tasks). Is that normal? Do I need to contact my administrator to have them turn a function on? Or, does JIRA not allow the cloning of aligned stories and subtasks (when cloning an Epic)?

[Julien Peyrade _ Elements]

Hello, 

Natively within Jira, their is no way to clone an Epic while keeping the hierarchy with its stories and subtasks, thus cloning the whole "Epic tree".

To do this, I would recommend our app, Elements Copy & Sync which can help you do exactly this.

Epics can be cloned in one click, including all the issues within it (and their own subtasks). Even better, you can keep you Epics synchronized if you need to, it's completely optional.

This cloning can be done in many ways, manually or with a post-function or Automation.

The app is free for 30 days, (and stays free if your instance is under 10 users), so feel free to give it a try, and don't hesitate to tell reach our Support if you have any question.

Kind regards,

Julien

[Daniel Triftshaeuser]

Hey @Casey Meijer

I got the same requirement internally and was linked to your thread.

I came up with a solution that only uses Jira native feature "Automation".

This clones everything that is linked directly to the epic. You could define the same rule-logic for the story-subtask relation ship.

Details of "Clone" Block:

If you are using Jira Premium you can also use "portfolioChildIssuesOf" to gather the tickets inside the epic which would also fetch sub-tasks.

However now you need to pay attention that your Automation does not try to link cloned subtasks to the new epic.

LMK if this works for you

Best Regards

Daniel

[Stefan Slawidis]

Thanks for this solution, smart way of solving the problem with Jira native Tools. This worked quite well, but with some limitations.

• sub-tasks will not be cloned as well, maybe you have to have another "For JQL" Statement regarding subtasks, maybe someone can help?
• pictures inside the description doesn't get copied

Great job. This saved me some time.

Best regards Stefan

[Daniel Triftshaeuser]

Hey @Stefan Slawidis

for sub-tasks i wrote another automation.

Be mindful, that the parent of the sub-tasks needs to be the trigger issue, and not the destination issue.

Also make sure that the automation can be triggered by another automation rule, or they will not work in combination.

Regarding the inline screenshots I cannot offer much assistance ,when selecting the following option while cloning this work for me.

I think the automation does not use these advanced cloning options and idk whether they can be enabled.

Maybe the solution lies within the "advanced options" to influence the JSON that is being used? You might need to check out the documentation for this or get in touch with atlassian support.

Best Regards

Daniel

[Stefan Slawidis]

Thanks again @Daniel Triftshaeuser 

I almost got the cloning sub-tasks working, the rule is getting called by the first rule, (when a epic is cloned) but it's not working.

I'm having trouble at this part:

Be mindful, that the parent of the sub-tasks needs to be the trigger issue, and not the destination issue.

My rule looks like this, but I'm not sure what to select for 1 or 2. I tried a few non working combinations, maybe you can give me a last hint, and then I'm done :-) 

Regarding the inline pictures, it's successfully cloned into the new epic (if you check the attachments button), but not into the new issues. But I can live with that, and yes JSON could be the solution, but it's to much overhead for this minor feature.

Best Regards Stefan

[Daniel Triftshaeuser]

Hey @Stefan Slawidis

BR
Daniel

[Stefan Slawidis]

Hey @Daniel Triftshaeuser

Thanks for sharing your solution. Im still having a trouble with the Sub-Tasks, but it's ok for now, maybe I will get back later to the topic.

Have a nice day

Stefan

[zach_stafford]

@Daniel Triftshaeuser I tried your initial solution, but it didn't work for me. here was my error from the audit log: 

I don't know what went wrong. There are child issues inside the source Epic.

can you help?

[Daniel Triftshaeuser]

Hey @zach_stafford 

sure, I guess I did include too little context on the first round of screenshots that I posted which makes it hard to understand.

First:

Your automation seems to not find any tickets in the epic you cloned. Are you sure you are looking for {{destinationissue}} and not {{currentissue}}?

Second:

These are the steps taken in the clone step.

The epic link is added to the tickets as they are created.

Third:

Additional Step of changing the newly created epic. Otherwise you end up with your Epic Ticket Name and Epic Name being different.

Hope this helps. If it doesn't post a screenshot of your automation rule please.

Best Regards

Daniel

[zach_stafford]

still doesn't work. Here's my automation:

and here's the Epic I'm cloning:



here's the destination Epic:


??

[Daniel Triftshaeuser]

Hey @zach_stafford

the ticket you are considering to be inside of the epic are not "Issues in Epic" but rather "Child Issues".

Are you using a custom link type? Maybe it is an app?

Maybe you can use relationship "Parent" = ...? This originally only works for Sub-Tasks and their parents though.

In any case you have to adjust your branch rule to properly select the issues that are in the scope of your epic.

I'd recommend you to try around with JQL filters until you have found the one that works for you and then replace the condition in the branch rule.

LMK how it works out for you

BR
Daniel

[Casey Meijer]

So.... is there actually a solution for this?

[Jonas Moehringer - ij-solutions]

Hi @Casey Meijer 

there is no out of the box solution for this in Jira. There are several apps on the marketplace providing this feature (one of the other comments is mentioning our app).

If you have Scriptrunner and don't want to get another app for this, you could probably also do that by combining some of the ScriptRunner features and developing your own solution. 

[Marlene Kegel - codefortynine]

Hi @Casey Meijer,

I am Marlene from codefortynine.

As Jonas mentioned there are several apps in the Marketplace that are able to clone Epics along with its child issues: https://marketplace.atlassian.com/search?query=clone%20epic

I can  confirm that our app Deep Clone for Jira is able to clone issue hierarchies like Epic - Issues - Subtasks. 

You simply have to 

• Select the Epic you want to clone
• Click Deep Clone in the issues action menu
• Select "Epic Clone" and configure your clone

You can also see how it works in this Epic Clone demo video.

If you have questions or feedback about Deep Clone for Jira, don't hesitate to contact us directly.

[Ridin Udayabhanu]

This worked for me to clone an Epic and all the Stories under it

[Danish Hassan]

Hi,

This is EPIC CLONE free app and it worked perfectly. 

Epic Clone

by IJ-Solutionsfor Jira Server 7.6.0 - 8.2.3

https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1220519/epic-clone?hosting=server&tab=overview

[Jonas Moehringer - ij-solutions]

Hey Heather,

we just released an app which could be an alternative if you need a free app:

https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1220519/epic-clone

Best,

Jonas

[Andy Heinzer]

Hi @Jonas Moehringer - ij-solutions 

Welcome to Atlassian Community.  Thanks for offering potential solution here.  However I would ask that you please review our Atlassian Community guidelines for Marketplace vendors and Solution Partners.  It is generally frowned upon simply post upon for the sake of promoting your product in Community.

Also, Atlassian would prefer if you would add your vendor name in brackets after your name. Such as Jonas Moehringer [IJ-Solutions].  This serves to help end users better understand who is making recommendations to them, and be more transparent about your affiliation with the vendor that creates these products. 

We would prefer not to have community become solely a place of self promotion.   It's great that you have a potential solution to this problem, and you are welcome to share it on our site.  But necro-posting, or posting to long dormant threads (older than 6 months) like these is expressly forbidden by our guidelines. 

Thanks

Andy

[Jonas Moehringer - ij-solutions]

Hi Andy,

ok, I am sorry. I should have reviewed the guidelines before. I won‘t do such posts again. 

It is ok for me if you delete these posts (I don’t have permission to do so).

best,

Jonas

[Heather Fohlin]

I found the solution within this community

https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Marketplace-Apps-questions/Bulk-Clone-Pro-How-to-clone-entire-Epic-with-Issues-and-their/qaq-p/626470