Initial synchronization

Sync initial items overview

Sync initial items allows you to synchronize the Jira project items and Azure DevOps project work items that existed before the TFS4JIRA Synchronizer was installed. This can be used to migrate items from one platform to the other or as the first step for creating an ongoing synchronization between the two platforms.

Before you start

Ensure the profile configuration is completed, and a success message confirms you are ready to synchronize.

Start initial synchronization

1. Go to the TFS4JIRA Synchronizer page.

2. Select Sync profiles.

3. From a Sync Profiles, click Options (…).

4. Select Start initial sync from the menu.
   If the profile configuration is incomplete, you can’t select this option.

   

5. In the Synchronize issues and work items window, complete the following:

   

   • Define synchronization time range to manage the scope of work items included in an initial synchronization. It helps streamline the process and reduce the operational load, especially for large datasets or initial migrations. Synchronization includes all items created or updated within the selected range, starting from midnight of the start date to midnight of the end date in your time zone.

     • Synchronize from: Enter the start date.

     • Synchronize to: Enter the end date.

   • Synchronization direction - Select the direction issues are migrated from: Jira to Azure or from Azure to Jira.
     The total number of work items to be synchronized is displayed.

   • Synchronization mode - Select the mode that applies.

     • Baseline - This is the default mode when you run the initial synchronization for the first time.

     • Overwrite and rebase - If you’ve made any changes to the profile and need to run the initial synchronization again, select this option. This option overwrites previous synchronizations from the date selected. See Overwrite to learn more.

6. Once completed, click Start initial synchronization. The Initial items sync is scheduled to start message appears.

   

7. Click See overview to return to the profile Overview page, or click Back to profiles list to return to that page.

Track Sync initial items progress

1. Return to the profile Overview page to track the progress of the initial sync.
   The In Progress panel displays the synchronization status and the synchronization id.

2. Click See details for information regarding the synch session and the number of items synched or failing.

3. Click Abort initial sync to stop the synchronization.

   

   When successful, the Initial items sync: Succeeded message appears with information regarding the number of items successfully synced.

   

4. Click See Details to open the Sync Session.

The Sync Session page contains the following:

• The synchronization id

• The start, end, and duration times of the initial sync

• The number of successful and failed synced items

• The Jira item number and the Azure ID

  

Overwrite

After running Initial Synchronization for the first time, it can be necessary to run it again. For example:

• If you encountered errors or failures during the first initial synchronization.

• if you made changes to the profile (for example, changes to your Fields or Item Types mapping) and want to ensure these changes are included in a new initial synchronization.

Use the Overwrite and rebase option to overwrite previous synchronizations from the date selected in the Synchronization from field.

To use Overwrite and rebase

1. Complete any changes to the profile.

2. Access the Initial Synchronization feature using one of the methods described in the Sync initial items overview.

3. Synchronization includes all items (created or last updated) from the selected date (starting from midnight of the start date)

   • Synchronize from: Enter the start date.

   • Synchronize to: Enter the end date.

4. Synchronization direction - Select the direction issues are migrated from: Jira to Azure or from Azure to Jira.
   The total number of work items to be synchronized is displayed.

5. From the Synchronization mode options, select Overwrite and rebase.

6. Click Start initial synchronization.

7. The Initial items sync is scheduled to start message appears.

   

8. Click See overview to return to the profile Overview page, or click Back to profiles list to return to the Sync Profiles page.

Overwrite and rebase overwrites previous synchronizations from the date selected in the Sync date field.

The rest of the synchronization is as described in the Track Sync initial items progress section.