TFS4JIRA | Jira Sprints and Backlog general behavior

Owned by Adriana Hernandez
Last updated: Apr 10, 2024
5 min read

Overview

Jira software provides a dedicated space for defining and prioritizing work, called the Backlog, available on SCRUM Projects. The Active Sprints section or board (also available on the same type of projects) shows the work of the current sprint; every sprint represents a fixed period in a continuous development cycle where teams complete work from their product backlog.

Jira Backlog view
Jira Board view

TFS4JIRA offers Sprint/Iteration Path mapping for both TFS4JIRA Cloud Native and Self-Hosted versions. However, for the synchronization process to be successful with these fields, Sprints and Iteration Paths must be created and mapped beforehand.

 

TFS4JIRA Self-Hosted offers different options to copy the Sprint/Iteration path values, thus avoiding the need to map them individually.


It’s important to note that once the work items and iteration paths are closed or completed, they won’t be visible in the Backlog or in the Active Sprint board in Jira after syncing. This information is particularly relevant for users aiming to do an one-time historical data migration, especially initial synchronization from Azure to Jira. If the user wants to know to whom a Sprint belongs after the sync, they could use a JQL search based on the Sprint field using the project’s Issue section to obtain that information. 

Below is the list of the available sprint and iteration path mapping options for each of the tools:

TFS4JIRA Self-Hosted Sprint and Iteration Path mapping options:

  1. Map Values

Map values: with this mapping option, each Jira Sprint and each Azure DevOps Iteration Path must be manually selected and mapped. A default value can be set with this mapping option.

  1. Copy full TFS tree path

Copy full TFS tree path: with this mapping option, each Jira Sprint and each Azure DevOps Iteration Path must be have the same exact name. For example, if on Azure DevOps a Iteration Path is named ‘Iteration path 2' and the project is ‘testing’ the full TFS tree path will be 'testing\Iteration path 2’ and this is how the Jira Sprint name should be to be automatically mapped.

Here is an example of the full TFS tree path in Azure DevOps and in Jira:

  1. Copy last part of TFS tree path

Copy last part of TFS tree path: with this mapping option, each Jira Sprint and each Azure DevOps Iteration Path must be have the same exact name. This mapping is similar to the 'Copy full TFS tree path', the difference is that, if on Azure DevOps a Iteration Path name is ‘Iteration path 2', the Jira Sprint name should be the same as the Azure DevOps Iteration Path, ‘Iteration path 2' for these values to be automatically mapped.

Here is an example of the last TFS tree path in Azure DevOps and in Jira:

For more information about mapping, refer to our documentation here: Synchronizing Area Path and Iteration Path fields

TFS4JIRA Cloud Native Sprint and Iteration Path mapping option:

In case of TFS4JIRA Cloud Native, the only mapping options available is to manually map the values, with the ability to set a default value, and the ‘Automated values’ mapping. When this option is chosen, TFS4JIRA will automatically replicate an adjusted value and endeavor to convert the value into a different type if required. It's important to highlight that enabling this option disables manual mapping.

For more information about mapping, refer to our documentation here: Fields Data Value Mapping | Automated values mapping

 

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