JIRA Development Cookbook

588 Pages·2017·14.823 MB·English

by  Kuruvilla, Jobin

JIRA Development
T J
h I
Cookbook i R
r
d A

E
Third Edition D
d
it e
i
o v
n e
JIRA provides issue and project tracking for software l
o
development teams to improve code quality and the speed
What you will learn from this book p
of development. With the new version of JIRA, you can
m
create your own JIRA plugins and customize the look and
feel of your JIRA UI easier than ever.  Create and deploy your own JIRA plugins e
n
JIRA Development Cookbook, Third Edition, is a one-stop t
 Manipulate workfl ows to transform JIRA
resource to master extensions and customizations in JIRA. into a user-friendly system C
This book starts with recipes about simplifying the plugin o
development process followed by recipes dedicated to the o
 Create custom reports that show statistics
plugin framework. Then, you will move on to writing custom k
for particular people, projects, versions,
fi eld plugins to create new fi eld types or custom searchers. b
or other fi elds within issues
You will also learn how to program and customize o
workfl ows to transform JIRA into a user-friendly system. o
With so much data spanning different projects, issues, and  Simplify reporting by writing your own k
Q u i c k a n s w e r s t o c o m m o n p r o b l e m s
JIRA gadgets, which can be added into
so on, we will cover how to work on reports and gadgets to
a user's dashboard
get customized data according to our needs. At the end of
the book, you will learn how to customize JIRA by adding
JIRA Development
new tabs, menus, and web items; communicate with JIRA  Master database handling by extending
via the REST APIs; and work with the JIRA database. and retrieving custom fi eld details from
the database
Who this book is written for Cookbook
If you are a JIRA developer or administrator, or a project  Deal with custom fi elds on an issue
and program custom fi eld options
manager who wants to fully exploit the exciting capabilities
J
of JIRA, then this is the perfect book for you. o Third Edition
b
i
n
$ 59.99 US K
£ 40.99 UK u
r
u Your one-stop resource for mastering extensions
v
il and customizations in JIRA 7+
l
a
professional expertise distilled Prices do not include
local sales tax or VAT
PP UU BB LL II SS HH II NN GG where applicable
Visit www.PacktPub.com for books, eBooks,
Jobin Kuruvilla
code, downloads, and PacktLib. professional expertise distilled
PP UU BB LL II SS HH II NN GG
JIRA Development Cookbook
Third Edition

Your one-stop resource for mastering extensions and
customizations in JIRA 7+

Jobin Kuruvilla

BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI
JIRA Development Cookbook
Third Edition

Copyright © 2016 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the
publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.
Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the
information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without
warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing, and its
dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused
directly or indirectly by this book.
Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the
companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals.
However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

First published: September 2016
Production reference: 1230916

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.
Livery Place
35 Livery Street
Birmingham
B3 2PB, UK.
ISBN 978-1-78588-561-7
www.packtpub.com
Credits
Author Copy Editor

Jobin Kuruvilla Safis Editing
Reviewer Project Coordinator

Satyendra Gangadhar Narwane Devanshi Doshi
Commissioning Editor Proofreader

Kunal Parikh Safis Editing
Acquisition Editor Indexer

Chaitanya Nair Rekha Nair
Content Development Editor Graphics

Samantha Gonsalves Jason Monteiro
Technical Editor Production Coordinator

Anushree Arun Tendulkar Aparna Bhagat
About the Author
Jobin Kuruvilla is an Atlassian Consultant with experience in customizing JIRA and
writing JIRA plugins for various customers. He is currently working with Go2Group as an
Atlassian platinum expert, and is involved in managing Atlassian products for big
enterprises as well as small starter license installations. From an IT nerd to a DevOps
evangelist, Jobin has performed various roles in his professional journey so far.
Jobin is the author of JIRA Development Cookbook, released in 2011, and JIRA 5.x Development
Cookbook, released in 2013, both published by Packt Publishing and well-received in the JIRA
community. He also runs a website named J-Tricks (http://www.j-tricks.com), using

which he shares numerous tutorials to help the developer community, who he believes
have contributed immensely to his personal development. It is indeed those tutorials that
sowed the first seeds of JIRA Development Cookbook.
Jobin started his career as a Java/J2EE developer in one of the biggest IT companies in India.
After spending his initial years in the SOA world, he got hooked into this amazing product
called JIRA, which he came across during the evaluation of a number of third-party tools.
Soon, Jobin realized the power of JIRA, and pledged to spread the word. He has been doing
it ever since, and he reckons there is a long way to go!
Outside the office, Jobin enjoys sports, especially soccer, and is on the verge of getting
addicted to movies and social networking sites.
Acknowledgments
No book is the product of just the author; he just happens to be the one with his name on
the cover.
A number of people contributed to the success of this book, and it would take more space
than I have to thank each one individually.
First of all, thanks to the Almighty God for helping me to sail through the difficulties in this
short life and for making my life as wonderful as it is now.
The next biggest thanks goes to the Content Development Editor, Samantha Gonsalves, and
Acquisition Editor, Prachi Bisht, both of whom went through the pain of making me write
another book. Also, a big shout-out to Anushree Tendulkar, the Technical Editor, who
worked tirelessly to make the book as readable as it is now. And to the entire Packt
Publishing team for working so diligently to help bring out another high quality product.
It is amazing to work with talented developers and technical geeks. Thank you to all the
intelligent minds, with whom I got a chance to share this amazing journey of programming.
Your encouragement and support were/are invaluable to me; you guys rock!
I must also thank the talented Atlassian community who are instrumental in helping each
other, sharing solutions, being active in the forums, running user groups, and whatnot. I am
just one of the many who have benefited.
Before I wind up, thank you Atlassian for giving us JIRA and a set of other wonderful
products. You don't realize how much you are making our lives easier. Go Team!
Last, but not the least, a big thanks to all at Go2group for the support extended in writing
this book and believing in my capabilities. We will, together, continue to simplify
complexities for our numerous customers.
About the Reviewer
Satyendra Gangadhar Narwane describes himself as someone who is honest, caring,
intelligent, hardworking, and ambitious. He has a great sense of humor. He is a post-
graduate with masters in computer science from one of the premier Indian university and
working as a Sr. Atlassian product expert in Dynamic Network Factory (U.S.A.), he has
conducted seminar on behalf of Atlassian for promoting their tools in India, He has
developed dozens of custom add-on based on customer needs. He has providing training,
administrating & add-on development on Atlassian suite for top companies such as Oracle,
Adobe, HCL,Mercedes Benz, MillenniumIT, Filpkart, ShipNet NS, KBC Bank. He is
passionate about technology, computers science, traveling, watching movies and enjoy
great chats. He has also worked on Jira 7 Development Cookbook.

I would like to express my gratitude to the many people who help me through this book. I would like
to thank Packt for giving me a chance to work on this book. Above all I want to thank my mom
Sushila, wife Poonam and the rest of my family, who supported and encouraged me in spite of all the
time it took me away from them. It was a long and difficult journey for them. I would like to thank
Suzanne Coutinho, Chaitanya Nair for helping me in the process of selection and reviewing. Last and
not least: I beg forgiveness of all those who have been with me over the course of the years and whose
names I have failed to mention."
www.PacktPub.com

For support files and downloads related to your book, please visit www.PacktPub.com.
Did you know that Packt offers eBook versions of every book published, with PDF and
ePub files available? You can upgrade to the eBook version at www.PacktPub.com and as a
print book customer, you are entitled to a discount on the eBook copy. Get in touch with us
at [email protected] for more details.
At www.PacktPub.com, you can also read a collection of free technical articles, sign up for a
range of free newsletters and receive exclusive discounts and offers on Packt books and
eBooks.
https://www2.packtpub.com/books/subscription/packtlib

Do you need instant solutions to your IT questions? PacktLib is Packt's online digital book
library. Here, you can search, access, and read Packt's entire library of books.

Why subscribe?
Fully searchable across every book published by Packt
Copy and paste, print, and bookmark content
On demand and accessible via a web browser
My parents, Alice and Kuruvilla, who found something in me that I never knew existed. Nothing beats the
pain and suffering they have undergone in the process.
"Behind every young child who believes in himself is a parent who believed first."
- Matthew Jacobson
My wife Anumol, my best friend for years. I wouldn't be in this place if not for her unconditional love and care.
"Happy is the man who finds a true friend, and far happier is he who finds that true friend in his wife."
- Franz Schubert
My little princesses, Elsa & Anna. Err, I mean ANNA & SARAH!
"Happiness is getting a hug from your daughter for no reason "
- Anonymous
My sister, Juby Sara, the best sister in the world. And to her husband, Davis, & son, Kuttoos, for keeping
her happy. You both are doing a much better job than me ;)
"What’s the good of news if you haven’t a sister to share it?"
- Jenny DeVries
My friends from TKM and JNV Kottayam who dared me to dream and then helped me to achieve them. You
guys are the best.
"A friend in need...".
Enough said!
This book would not have been possible without your love and understanding.
A big thank you from the bottom of my heart. I have nothing to give back, but my love and prayers.
Table of Contents
Preface
1
Chapter 1: Plugin Development Process
8
Introduction 8
What is a JIRA add-on? 9
The plugin development process 10
Atlassian Marketplace 11
Troubleshooting 11
Setting up the development environment 11
Getting ready 12
How to do it… 12
There's more… 13
Proxy settings for Maven 13
Using local Maven 14
Configuring IDEs to use the SDK 14
Troubleshooting 15
Creating a skeleton plugin 15
Getting ready 15
How to do it… 15
How it works… 16
There's more… 18
One step to your skeleton plugin 18
Creating an Eclipse project 18
Adding plugin modules 19
Getting ready 19
How to do it… 19
How it works… 20
Deploying a JIRA plugin 22
Getting ready 22
How to do it… 23
How it works… 24
There's more… 25
Using a specific version of JIRA 25
Reusing the data in each run 26
Troubleshooting 26
Making changes and redeploying a plugin 26
How to do it… 27