GitLab and Jira integration: the final steps

Tye Davis ·
May 24, 2021 · 5 min read

This is the third in our three-part series on GitLab and Jira integrations. Part one explained how to integrate GitLab.com with Jira Cloud. Part two walked through a detailed explanation of integrating GitLab self-managed with Jira.

After the integration is set up on GitLab and Jira, you can:

Issue View in Jira Issue View in Jira

Comment in a Commit/MR Comment in a Commit/MR

Dev Panel refreshes every 60 minutes Dev Panel refreshes every 60 minutes

See GitLab linked in the Dev Panel See GitLab linked in the Dev Panel

Click into the commits Click into the commits

See GitLab linked in the Dev Panel Click into the merge (pull) requests

For more information on using Jira Smart Commits to track time against an issue, specify an issue transition, or add a custom comment, see the Atlassian page Using Smart Commits

View Jira Issues within GitLab

You can browse and search issues from a selected Jira project directly in GitLab. This requires configuration in GitLab by an administrator.

Enable Jira issues in GitLab Enable Jira issues in GitLab

Locate your project key in Jira Locate your project key in Jira

Add your proejct key to GitLab Add your proejct key to GitLab

Select Jira Issues on left panel Select Jira Issues

From the Jira Issues menu, click Issues List. The issue list defaults to sort by Created date, with the newest issues listed at the top. You can change this to Last updated. Issues are grouped into tabs based on their Jira status.

Click an issue title to open its original Jira issue page for full details.

View Jira issues in GitLab View Jira issues in GitLab

Search and filter the issues list

To refine the list of issues, use the search bar to search for any text contained in an issue summary (title) or description. You can also filter by labels, status, reporter, and assignee using URL parameters. Enhancements to be able to use these through the user interface are planned.

Troubleshooting

If these features do not work as expected, it is likely due to a problem with the way the integration settings were configured.

GitLab is unable to comment on a Jira issue

Make sure that the Jira user you set up for the integration has the correct access permission to post comments on a Jira issue and also to transition the issue, if you’d like GitLab to also be able to do so. Jira issue references and update comments will not work if the GitLab issue tracker is disabled.

GitLab is unable to close a Jira issue

Make sure the Transition ID you set within the Jira settings matches the one your project needs to close an issue. Make sure that the Jira issue is not already marked as resolved; that is, the Jira issue resolution field is not set. (It should not be struck through in Jira lists.)

Conclusion

GitLab helps teams ship software faster with technology integration options, such as the integration with Jira, that automate tasks, provide visibility into development progress and the greater end-to-end software lifecycle. We recognize that many companies use Jira for Agile project management and our seamless integration brings Jira together with GitLab.

Watch and learn

More of a video person? For a walkthrough of the integration with GitLab for Jira, watch and learn how to configure GitLab Jira Integration using Marketplace App.

“You've integrated @gitlab and @Jira. Here's what comes next. ” – Tye Davis

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