This section will cover the functionalities and the use of Cross Connector.
Introduction
Cross Connector is a Synchronization Add On for Jira that enables you to connect your Jira Tickets (Issue Types) with your SAP Solution Manager CRM documents (Focused Build Business Requirements). After installing the Add On and configuring it, two new components will be available on the Issue Page:
Cross Connector - Details: This block will describe the status of the synchronization between the systems, the jump in URL to access the ticket on SAP Solution Manager and additional functionalities to Resync the ticket in case of communication failures.
Cross Connector Log: All Cross Connector related activities will be registered on this block.
First Synchronization
To be able to synchronize tickets from Jira to SAP Solution Manager, the status that describe the correct moment of the synchronization must be enabled. The creating moment is defined based in 2 definitions:
The Jira Workflow you have implemented
The first Status synchronization you have mapped in the Cross Connector
Case 1 - Synchronization when the Jira Ticket is in a specific status
In our Jira Workflow, the status To be Approved will trigger the first synchronization.
In Cross Connector configuration, the status Draft (Initial status on the Jira Workflow) is not mapped. Therefore, considering our Cross Connector configuration, To be Approved is the initial Status: for the synchronization process:
Then, after creating the ticket in Jira, the status of the synchronization will be described as NOT SYNCHRONIZED
Changing the status to the document to To be approved must start the synchronization process. You can confirm that the ticket was created by checking the Log on the bottom of your Jira Ticket or checking the new CRM document that is assigned to your ticket.
Case 2 - Synchronization when the Jira Ticket is created
To be able to synchronize the Jira Ticket on its creation, the only thing that must be done is to map the synchronization settings to the Initial status of your Jira Workflow:
In the Cross Connector configuration, map this status to trigger the interface:
Then, when we create a new ticket in Jira, the synchronization should happen immediately after the creation:
The ticket is successfully synchronized to SAP Solution Manager:
Jump in URL
For the tickets that you enable the Cross Connector, you will see a new component with the status of the synchronization and the ticket that was created in SAP Solution Manager. By clicking on the link, you should be redirected to SAP Solution Manager landing on the page of your Change Document:
From SAP Solution Manager, the same should happen.
Status Synchronization from Jira to SAP Solution Manager
As long as the status are mapped on Cross Connector configuration, they will be send to SAP Solution Manager. The Status Change process is simple and transparent for the end user.
We start our process by executing the Jira Workflow Transition Start Approval to change the status of the ticket to To be Approved:
After the transition is executed, the status must be successfully changed in Jira:
The synchronization process will send this information to SAP Solution Manager and the ticket must have also the Status Changed:
Status Synchronization from Jira to SAP Solution Manager by using Jira Board
With Jira Boards, such as Kanban Board or Scrum Board, you are able to manage, view and report the work keeping your time united to achieve the Project goals. Therefore, it is also interesting to have the synchronization functionality working form such Board. After customizing your Jira Board, be sure that the Status you want to synchronize to SAP Solution Manager are correctly mapped on the Cross Connector configuration.
After creating a new ticket, it should be available in your board:
After changing the ticket of column, the status change will be triggered and the synchronization to SAP Solution Manager will be executed:
Status Synchronization from SAP Solution Manager to Jira
The status that triggers the interface to communicate with Jira must be mapped in SAP Solution Manager. This synchronization is executed via SOCM actions as informed on the page SAP - Focused Build Requirements (Standard & PLUS) - Status Synchronization from SAP Solution Manager to Jira.
In SAP Solution Manager, there should be no problem when we change the status of the document:
After executing the Status Change, the document is defined as Approved:
The status change is successfully synchronized to Jira and additional information can be tracked on the Log.
What to do when the Synchronization Fails
In case of fails on the communication from Jira to SAP Solution Manager, you will be able to track the problems on the log and the synchronization status will show FAIL .
Please check how to solve synchronization issues depending on each case described below.
Resync on Jira Ticket
In case of synchronization issues, the user is immediately informed about the synchronization status. Whith no support from the Jira Administrator, the end-user can retriger the sync process by clicking on the button Re-sync on the Jira Ticket page:
A new window will popup and the resynchronization process needs to be confirme:
Case there are still issues on the synchronization, an error message will be shown on this pop-up:
Case the synchronization problem is solved, the page will be reloaded and the synchronization status will be updated. The Re-sync process can be tracked on the Log.
Mass execution of Resync
Case there are a big number of tickets to be resynced, for instance, when SAP Solution Manager is down for short period of time, there is the possibility of executing the Resync process for all tickets that faced synchronization problems. To execute this feature, you will need the support of your Jira Administrator.
In the Admin Panel of Cross Connector, open the page Queue Processing:
Filter the project you want to Resync. Check that all pending synchronization activities will be registered here. For Mass Synchronization, click on the button Resync All:
A popup will be shown. Please confirm to run the resync process:
After execution, the status of each Ticket will be updated:
Synchronization Issues that cannot be fixed automatically
Some synchronization cases will be extremely complicated to be solved and the automatic procedure will not be able to fix the issues. In cases of this issue happens, even though you have the correct status in both sides, the synchronization status will always be showing FAIL. For those cases, the synchronization must be done manually.
Before you execute the procedure, be sure that both documents, in Jira and in SAP Solution Manager, have the same status and all information was manually adjusted. Make sure also that both documents are consistent considering how the synchronization was setup.
Then, in the Admin Panel of Cross Connector, open the page Queue Processing and list all unsynchronized issues for the mapped project. Click on the button Marked as Synchronized to manually inform the system that the synchronization was executed:
A popup will appear with the confirmation message. Read the message carefully and if the tickets are consistent in both systems, click on Confirm.
The Resync process will be defined as executed and you can track in the Log that the Resync Process was executed manually:
From here one, the synchronization between the tickets should work as planned:
