In this blog, we take you through the process of configuring settings to manage sprints between Jira and Jira Align after you have connected the two systems.
These steps pick up after the Jira connector is configured and projects are syncing. Read my earlier blog for a summary of how to add Jira projects and boards to Jira Align.
You need to set up several areas for Jira Align and Jira to sync sprint information. Let’s begin with the settings within Jira Align including:
Configure settings within Jira Align
Configure Program Increments
Before you can manage sprints, you must have the Program Increments created in Jira Align. To do this, follow the steps below, and repeat as needed to create Program Increments for at least one year.
1. Go to Manage > Program Increments.
2. Create a new Program Increment with the appropriate settings for your organization.
Configure Anchor Sprints
In Jira Align, anchor sprints provide a way to “normalize” or coordinate the sprint views across teams.
1. Navigate to the “Sync Sprints” tab and create Anchor sprints based on your organization’s cadences.
2. Once completed, configure the Jira Connector and then verify your settings for the Jira boards to sync to Align.
Verify Connector Settings
1. Navigate to Administration > Jira Settings > Jira Setup tab.
2. Review the settings for Timer on Jira Boards and buffer days for Sprints. This relates to the time that Jira Align will check for changes on Jira Boards, sprints, and fix versions as well as the buffer day window to match sprint end dates to anchor dates.
NOTE: You may force a sync of boards by navigating to the Jira Integration tab and entering your project, JQL query and Board and selecting RUN.
3. In the section “Allow Jira Align to assign stories to sprints”, If you would like to allow Align to assign Stories to sprints, set this to Yes.
This is important if you’ll be using Jira Align to assign stories to specific sprints. This will allow that information to sync to Jira.
4. For the dropdown field “Sync sprints names from Jira”, set this to No if you would like to name your sprints in Jira Align differently than from Jira. You need to set it to Yes if you want to maintain Jira as the system of record for Sprint names.Important: If you set this field to Yes, any changes to sprint names in Jira Align will also change the Jira sprint names upon the next sync.
5. For the dropdown field “Create Sprints from Jira”, set this to Yes if you want to allow the creation of sprints in Align from the sprints in Jira. These will be created if they are able to map to an anchor sprint in Jira Align. Otherwise set it to No if you will be creating your sprints using the Jira Align system.
Configure settings within Jira
We will now look at how to configure the following settings within Jira:
Important: In order to keep issues with syncing sprints, you need to disable “parallel sprints” within your Jira system.
1. In Jira, navigate to the board you wish to integrate with Jira Align, making sure it’s configured for one team. This will be based on the filter used by the board, typically pointing to one Jira project.
2. To view the settings for your board, click on the ellipse (three dots) and select “Board settings”.
3. View the filter for your board to confirm it is set for one project/one team.
4. To ensure proper integration with Jira Align, you need to make sure the Jira Project used in the filter is shared. If you need more help, you can read these steps to configuring filters.
5. To create sprints on your Jira board, navigate to the Backlog in the left navigation and click on “Create sprint”.
You can set your naming convention and dates for sprints by clicking on the ellipse on the right side of the screen beside your sprint and choose Edit Sprint.
6. Once you’ve created your sprints and assigned stories to the sprint, you may start the sprint by clicking on the “Start Sprint” button on the right. Check your settings are correct and then click Start.
7. After the sprints have started on your board, you can add the Scrum Boards from Jira to the Jira Management section under Administration. You will note at first that the Jira Board and Jira sprint columns will be blank. These will remain blank until the connector successfully queries Jira for the information.
8. Once you’ve successfully synced Jira Align with the Jira Board, you will see that the columns for Jira Sprints and Jira Board fill in from information received from Jira.
9. Click on the Jira Sprints tab to see the sprints from Jira and the mapping to Jira Align sprints. If the mappings are incorrect, you can modify them, making sure to click Save to keep your changes.
Following these above steps will help in your sprint management between Jira and Jira Align. But you should be aware of some common warning errors.
Common warning errors
Under Jira Management, you will occasionally see warnings next to your added boards. When information cannot be obtained by the connector for a board, you will see a warning indicator –
an exclamation point inside a triangle.
Hover your mouse over the warning to determine the issue. The general warning may indicate that (1) the service account does not have permission to view the board, (2) the board shares are not configured properly in Jira, or (3) the board has not been integrated yet.
Within the boards, you will see the listing of sprints. Based on the dates, you may see the warning symbol –
an exclamation point inside a triangle – indicating there is a problem. If you hover your mouse over the warning symbol, you will get information on the issue.
In the example below, it states the sprint is past its due date for completion.
When sprints have been deleted within Jira, Jira Align will show a red exclamation mark.
For more insight on how Jira and Jira Align can help your organisation, contact us for a demo.
In this blog, we take you through the process of configuring settings to manage sprints between Jira and Jira Align after you have connected the two systems.
These steps pick up after the Jira connector is configured and projects are syncing. Read my earlier blog for a summary of how to add Jira projects and boards to Jira Align.
You need to set up several areas for Jira Align and Jira to sync sprint information. Let’s begin with the settings within Jira Align including:
Configure settings within Jira Align
Configure Program Increments
Before you can manage sprints, you must have the Program Increments created in Jira Align. To do this, follow the steps below, and repeat as needed to create Program Increments for at least one year.
1. Go to Manage > Program Increments.
2. Create a new Program Increment with the appropriate settings for your organization.
Configure Anchor Sprints
In Jira Align, anchor sprints provide a way to “normalize” or coordinate the sprint views across teams.
1. Navigate to the “Sync Sprints” tab and create Anchor sprints based on your organization’s cadences.
2. Once completed, configure the Jira Connector and then verify your settings for the Jira boards to sync to Align.
Verify Connector Settings
1. Navigate to Administration > Jira Settings > Jira Setup tab.
2. Review the settings for Timer on Jira Boards and buffer days for Sprints. This relates to the time that Jira Align will check for changes on Jira Boards, sprints, and fix versions as well as the buffer day window to match sprint end dates to anchor dates.
NOTE: You may force a sync of boards by navigating to the Jira Integration tab and entering your project, JQL query and Board and selecting RUN.
3. In the section “Allow Jira Align to assign stories to sprints”, If you would like to allow Align to assign Stories to sprints, set this to Yes.
This is important if you’ll be using Jira Align to assign stories to specific sprints. This will allow that information to sync to Jira.
4. For the dropdown field “Sync sprints names from Jira”, set this to No if you would like to name your sprints in Jira Align differently than from Jira. You need to set it to Yes if you want to maintain Jira as the system of record for Sprint names.Important: If you set this field to Yes, any changes to sprint names in Jira Align will also change the Jira sprint names upon the next sync.
5. For the dropdown field “Create Sprints from Jira”, set this to Yes if you want to allow the creation of sprints in Align from the sprints in Jira. These will be created if they are able to map to an anchor sprint in Jira Align. Otherwise set it to No if you will be creating your sprints using the Jira Align system.
Configure settings within Jira
We will now look at how to configure the following settings within Jira:
Important: In order to keep issues with syncing sprints, you need to disable “parallel sprints” within your Jira system.
1. In Jira, navigate to the board you wish to integrate with Jira Align, making sure it’s configured for one team. This will be based on the filter used by the board, typically pointing to one Jira project.
2. To view the settings for your board, click on the ellipse (three dots) and select “Board settings”.
3. View the filter for your board to confirm it is set for one project/one team.
4. To ensure proper integration with Jira Align, you need to make sure the Jira Project used in the filter is shared. If you need more help, you can read these steps to configuring filters.
5. To create sprints on your Jira board, navigate to the Backlog in the left navigation and click on “Create sprint”.
You can set your naming convention and dates for sprints by clicking on the ellipse on the right side of the screen beside your sprint and choose Edit Sprint.
6. Once you’ve created your sprints and assigned stories to the sprint, you may start the sprint by clicking on the “Start Sprint” button on the right. Check your settings are correct and then click Start.
7. After the sprints have started on your board, you can add the Scrum Boards from Jira to the Jira Management section under Administration. You will note at first that the Jira Board and Jira sprint columns will be blank. These will remain blank until the connector successfully queries Jira for the information.
8. Once you’ve successfully synced Jira Align with the Jira Board, you will see that the columns for Jira Sprints and Jira Board fill in from information received from Jira.
9. Click on the Jira Sprints tab to see the sprints from Jira and the mapping to Jira Align sprints. If the mappings are incorrect, you can modify them, making sure to click Save to keep your changes.
Following these above steps will help in your sprint management between Jira and Jira Align. But you should be aware of some common warning errors.
Common warning errors
Under Jira Management, you will occasionally see warnings next to your added boards. When information cannot be obtained by the connector for a board, you will see a warning indicator –
an exclamation point inside a triangle.
Hover your mouse over the warning to determine the issue. The general warning may indicate that (1) the service account does not have permission to view the board, (2) the board shares are not configured properly in Jira, or (3) the board has not been integrated yet.
Within the boards, you will see the listing of sprints. Based on the dates, you may see the warning symbol –
an exclamation point inside a triangle – indicating there is a problem. If you hover your mouse over the warning symbol, you will get information on the issue.
In the example below, it states the sprint is past its due date for completion.
When sprints have been deleted within Jira, Jira Align will show a red exclamation mark.
For more insight on how Jira and Jira Align can help your organisation, contact us for a demo.
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