Data from Jira

eazyBI for Jira

On this page:

Additional import options:

• Jira Core measures and dimensions
• Jira Software custom fields
• Jira Service Management custom fields
• Time tracking measures
• Assets
• Assets custom fields for issues
• Plans custom fields
• Import issue change history
• Issues closed measure
• Issue cycles
• Jira custom fields
• JavaScript calculated custom fields
• Advanced data import options
• Additional data import into Jira Issues cube

Initial Import

After creating an eazyBI account, you need to import into the eazyBI database the selected Jira project issues (or space work items in Jira Cloud) that you would like to analyze.

From the Source Data tab, select Add new source application and then select the Jira application as a source application type.

The data import from Jira is authorized by the user who performs the initial data import: their Jira credentials are used to detect which projects (or spaces in Jira Cloud) and fields could be imported into this eazyBI account and are applied to all consecutive data imports–scheduled or manual. Inactive or non-existent users can't authorize data import: if the user's access rights in Jira change (the user is deactivated or loses access to some of the selected projects), user authorization must be reset.

After that, the next screen, Select application import options, would be opened to continue the initial import setup.

Select application import options

Select which Jira projects (or spaces in Jira Cloud) you would like to import into eazyBI. You can select all or individual projects, hide unselected ones, and clear the selection [1]. You can use the search filter to find your project [2] or choose between projects and categories when selecting data for import [3]. When a project category is changed in Jira, the project will be automatically deselected from the eazyBI import if the new category isn't selected. 

During data import, eazyBI automatically pulls data from Jira standard fields such as Issue Type, Priority, Label, Fix version, Assignee, and a few others. Here is the list of all dimensions and measures. You don't need to select and import them separately. eazyBI provides additional import options for Software and Service Management project types.

You can preserve the data of archived projects in the eazyBI account if the project data was imported into this account before the project was archived [4]. For archived projects, eazyBI keeps previously imported data but does not update or recalculate it during data imports. The archived project list varies for each account based on previously selected projects:

• If the project is archived and hasn't been imported into the specific account before archiving, it won't appear in the archived project list. 
• If you deselect the archived project in the data import, eazyBI will remove this project's data during the import, and it won't appear in the archived project list anymore. 
• If you empty the cube, then the archived project data are deleted, and it won't appear in the archived project list anymore. 

Statuses and history

In the Statuses and history section, select if you would like to import issue change history [1] as well as indicate Issues closed measure [2].

Option "Import issue change history" should also be selected if you want to import custom field changes (use it together with the option "Import value changes" for custom fields and Sprints).

Regular import frequency

Specify how frequently you would like to schedule the regular Jira issues import. Scheduled imports are incremental; only the changes since the last import are imported.

• Default (every day): next import is 24 hours after the previous successful import.
• No regular import: eazyBI won't automatically refresh data, but you can manually run a data import.
• Daily at a specific time: perform data import at a specific time of day in the selected time zone.
• Custom cron schedule: specify a customized schedule using a cron expression. On Cloud, you can describe the frequency in your own words (for example, "every Monday at 9 am"), and our AI assistant will transform it into a correct cron expression. In Data Center (starting with version 9.0), you must enter a precise definition of a cron expression.
• Only in the Data Center are additional options to schedule imports more often, for example, every 10 minutes, every 6 hours, etc.

In Cloud, the allowed import frequency for scheduling is once per day. Enable Data from Jira#Process events to import the most important events every hour.

Between scheduled imports, you can also import data manually at any time by clicking the Import button in the eazyBI Source Data tab. 

If you have multiple eazyBI accounts, the sequence for pulling data in for them would be the same as the sequence in which these accounts last successfully completed an import.

If the scheduled data import fails with an error, eazyBI automatically tries to reimport data 10 minutes after the failed import and repeats these attempts 9 more times. Note that import itself might take some time until it fails and eazyBI starts reimporting data 10 minutes later. After the 10th unsuccessful import attempt, a notification email would be sent to the eazyBI account's owner and the user who authorized data import from Jira. If eazyBI can not detect the owner or authorized import user, the notification will be sent to the technical contact registered for the eazyBI app license. 

Process events

When Process events are selected, eazyBI listens to the most essential Jira Cloud webhooks and updates data every hour, even if the Regular import runs once a day.

Process events import data on:

• Issue changes - creation, deletion, or update (when the issue’s updated date is changed);
• Worklog changes - creation, deleted, or updated;
• Comment changes - created, deleted, or updated;
• Issue link changes - added, deleted;
• Sprint changes - deleted, updated, started, and completed;
• Sprint board configuration changes.

However, process events might not capture changes from Jira calculated fields and Jira apps (Tempo Planner, Xray, Zephyr Squad, etc.) because these changes are not received via webhooks.

JQL query filter

If you would like to analyze a subset of issues from selected projects (or spaces in Jira Cloud), you can specify a JQL query that would limit which issues (or work items in Jira Cloud) are imported.

• To not import issues that have been closed for more than one year, you can use JQL status not in (Closed) OR updatedDate > -52w
• To import issues that do not have any security level, use JQL level is empty
• To limit by a saved Jira filter filter = "Name of saved Jira filter" (the filter must be available to the user who authorized the data import from Jira)

We recommend limiting imported versions and components when using JQL filters to import only relevant components, fix versions, and affects version in the data cube. 

Time dimension 

You can specify the time zone [1], the first day of the week [2], and non-working days [3] [4] of the Time dimension.

You can use only one time zone in each eazyBI account. The Time dimension’s time zone will be used to determine the date member in the Time dimension when importing issue measures (e.g., Issues created, Issues resolved, and others) and issue properties. If a time zone is not specified then the default Jira server time zone will be used. If a different time zone is selected, all date and time stamps will be converted to this time zone.

The first day of the week  [2] is used for the Time dimension Weekly hierarchy and also the Week Day dimension.

Non-working days (standard non-working days of the week and additional non-working days/holidays) will be used to calculate the new workdays measures – Average resolution workdays, Average age workdays, Workdays in transition status, Average workdays in transition status. Non-working days of the Time dimension will also be used by the DateDiffWorkdays and DateAddWorkdays MDX functions as the default non-working days argument.

If you have a long list of additional non-working days [4], then you can copy the list and paste it into the time dimension options for the different eazyBI accounts.

It is possible to add members for date range [5] in the Time dimension (all hierarchies) to analyze reports not just by time periods where eazyBI finds activity in the project issues, but also by future periods, which can be useful for forecast and trend analysis. See more on benefits of adding members for a date range.

Additional dimensions for user groups, intervals, and issue link fields

You can import user project roles for Assignee and Reporter and user groups for Assignee, Reporter, Logged by, or Transition author and specify set of groups you would like to use in your reports [1].

Select the option to import  Age and Resolution Intervals dimensions [2] if you want to create reports by unresolved issue age intervals or Issue resolution intervals.

If you use issue hierarchy in the reports and would like to see issue data at one hierarchy level while filtering by another, you might want to import the issue link field dimensions [3]. For example, get all data by Fix version of the related Epic.

Additional measures for time tracking

If you would like a broader set of time-tracking measures, select the option to import additional measures for hours spent and original estimated hours.

Sample reports

Select the option "Import sample reports" to get a set of reports created by eazyBI and have a first look at your data in eazyBI. Learn more about Sample reports and how they are built.  

Template account

Select Template account [1] to import reports, dashboards, and calculated measures defined in a common template account. You can override [2] existing reports, dashboards, and calculated measures with reports, dashboards, and calculated measures from the template account. 

Jira Custom Fields

Select the custom fields you need in the Custom fields tab, including custom fields from company-managed and team-managed projects. To import custom fields specific to Jira apps, go to the Add-ons tab. Depending on the custom field type, you can import a custom field as a dimension, measure, or property, and import its value changes. For details on each custom field type and its import options, see the Jira custom fields page.

Global calculated fields in eazyBI appear in the custom field list among Jira custom fields. Account-specific calculated fields in eazyBI appear in a separate section, Calculated Custom fields, at the bottom of the page.

Import only the custom fields you need for analysis. Each additional custom field increases the import time.

Issue links

eazyBI does not import issue links by default. In the Custom fields tab, use the Issue links section to specify which issue links to import: as a dimension of linked issues, or as an issue property with a comma-separated list of linked issue keys.

For details and examples, see the Import issue links page.

Data import and import status

After specifying import options, click Import to start the Jira issues import background job.

In the Source Data tab, you will see the current status of the Jira import background job, as well as additional information: when the data cube was created, projects (or spaces in Jira Cloud) imported into this cube, imported projects, and a user whose credentials are used to authorize Jira for data import. You can also download the log file for the last import for each source application (this option is available from More actions → Last import log).

If you have many Jira issues and have selected many custom fields for import, the initial import might take longer to complete. In the Status column, you will see how many issues have been imported so far, which helps estimate completion time.

Some data problems might not stop the import, but they are displayed in the import status warning message and in the import log file. The warnings remain visible to the user until they are manually dismissed. If you see such a warning, check whether you can fix the data, dismiss the warning, and rerun the import to complete the import. 

Incremental import

After each successful Jira issues import, eazyBI will store a timestamp for processed Jira issues.

During a regular Jira data import (manual or automatic), eazyBI will import only Jira issues that have been created, updated, or deleted since the last import. All issues from archived projects, as well as archived issues, will automatically be removed from the "Issues" data cube. Incremental Jira data imports are much faster than the initial import.

If you change import options (for example, add an additional project or select additional custom fields), eazyBI will force a full re-import of all Jira issues.

The user can initiate the incremental import by manually pressing the Import button from the Source Data screen. By default, the Source Data page is available only to eazyBI account users with the data roles of Owner, User admin, and Data admin. But you can enable the option to start incremental import for the Report admin and User roles, too. This option cannot be combined with any data access roles. If the users can initiate incremental imports, they have unrestricted access to the data imported into the account.

Edit import options

Whenever needed, you can change the import options – select other projects (or spaces in Jira Cloud) or custom fields, change import frequency, or enable/disable options. For that, go to Source Data tab and click Edit to open import options screen.

When import options are modified, click Import to start a manual data import with the applied changes, or click Save to save them for later (the new options will be applied during the next regular import).

Delete members without data

You can delete members with no data from the Issues cube for the following dimensions:

• Jira dimensions: Assignee, Reporter, Logged by, Priority, Issue Type, Status, Resolution, Security Level, Label, Worklog, Sprint, Transition Status, Transition, Transition Author;
• Jira custom field: single-choice custom fields imported with separate_table settings enabled.

It requires a data admin user role or higher to delete members without data.

Re-import all data

In some cases, you may want to reimport just the data (measures). During this import, Issues are not being deleted and reports will not appear empty until the import is completed.

This import would not delete dimension members but would add newly created dimension members. This can be useful when a numeric field is changed in Jira.

Go to the Source Data tab and click Re-import all data to re-import all data from Jira and its add-ons. Or you can Re-import add-on data if only add-on-specific data requires refreshing, like Align, /wiki/spaces/DEV/pages/1816298158, QMetry, Xray, Zephyr Scale (on Data Center only), and Zephyr Squad (on Data Center only).

Empty cube and re-import all issues

Sometimes you would need to recreate all dimension members based on the latest data. For example, a major renaming of select list values.  During this process, Empty and re-import reports may appear empty, as they re-import all issues and other dimension members from the beginning by deleting imported members first and then importing them.

To re-import all issues, go to the Analyze tab and click the Empty button for the Issues cube (it will delete just the imported data, but all created reports and calculated members will remain).

And then return to the Source Data tab and click Import to start a new re-import of all data.

See also the training video on other options for reimporting data: “Different Options to Reimport Data."”

Reset authorization

When the user who initially authorized Jira for data import is no longer available (inactive) or does not have permissions on the required project, data source authorization should be reset to another user; otherwise, the next data import will fail (with an error).

The new user must be added to the account with the Owner, User Admin, or Data Admin user role. New users should log in to eazyBI, open the Source tab, and click Reset authorization. Users who have already allowed eazyBI to import data in this account won’t see the reset authorization option, since they’ve already authorized the import.

After approving this action, the Status will be changed to "Authorized," and the new user's username will be visible under Source selection. 

Open Edit import settings to select the projects and custom fields available to the new user, then perform the data import.

After reset authorization, the user should run the first import manually. After the first manual import, subsequent imports will run automatically with the new user credentials.

If you import data from Jira apps that require an API key, you might want to generate a new key for the authorized user.

Export source application definition

With the source application definition export, you can share the Jira and Assets import options from one account across one or several others. We recommend using this option within the same eazyBI instance to ensure the same set of available projects (or Spaces in Jira Cloud), integrations, and custom field names. Typical use cases include copying the settings of one account to use on a different set of projects or creating a sandbox account to try out new solutions.  However, if you would like to use one account as a template for multiple other accounts, consider using another option and create a Template account.

To export the definition of Jira and Assets source application, open the Source data tab, and click Export definition. Copy the definition.

To import the definition, create a new eazyBI account or open an existing one that does not have a Jira or Assets source application. In this account, add a new source application, then click Import definition. Paste the definition and click Create.

After that, you will be forwarded to the Import options of the Jira source application. Please verify them, then click Import.

Rename data cube

When you add Jira as a data source and import data, eazyBI creates a data cube named "Issues" by default. However, you may rename the cube from Analyze tab.