KB : How to make "Map JIRA Reporter To" field visible in the UI

Owned by Avinash Bhagawati
Nov 21, 2023
2 min read

Problem

When trying to map the Jira Reporter field to a regular text custom field (string) in TFS / VSTS inside the Synchronizer, under the Other Mappings, the synchronization fails with:

Could not find TFS user matching JIRA login name of {username}

Cause

This is because there are only two mapping modes available:

  • Copy value (attempt type conversion)
  • Map values

The first mode will attempt to match the user on the other side while on the second one you must (manually) specify what Jira user should be mapped to what TFS / VSTS user. In this case none of those options apply since we're just trying to copy the Reporter (value) and inject it into a custom field in TFS / VSTS. In this case there should be a third option that would allow you to just copy & paste the username into the TFS / VSTS field.

Workaround

There's an old field inside the profile settings page, hidden from the UI, that allows you to just copy the Jira Reporter to a TFS / VSTS custom field. The field is called "Map JIRA Reporter To".

The following steps will help you make this field visible again so you can map the Jira Reporter field to your TFS / VSTS custom field while the cause is not addressed:

Instructions apply to Microsoft SQL CE database – they do not apply to Firebird database.

  1. Open Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager and stop the TFS4JIRA Sync App Pool.
  2. Backup your current TFS4JIRA Synchronizer. It should be enough to zip/compress the following directory:
    1. C:\inetpub\wwwroot\tfs-jira-synchronizer

  3. Download and install CompactView. It's a tool that allows you to view and modify Microsoft SQL Server CE database files (sdf). Download it using the following link:

    1. https://sourceforge.net/projects/compactview
  4. Copy the Synchronizer's database file (config.sdf) to your Desktop:
    1. C:\inetpub\wwwroot\tfs-jira-synchronizer\App_Data\config.sdf

  5. Open CompactView.

  6. Select File > Open database.
  7. Open the config.sdf file you copied to the Desktop.
  8. On the top-left corner of the application window change the drop-down button from Read only to Allow editing.
  9. Find and click the SyncProfiles table in the left-hand side of the application window.

  10. For the synchronization profiles you want to make the "Map JIRA Reporter To" field visible again, find the TfsJiraReporter column and copy&paste the name of the TFS / VSTS field. For example:

    TfsJiraReporter
    Custom.JiraReportedby


  11. Change the drop-down button back to Read only.

  12. Close CompactView. You don't need to save anything. Changes are made on the fly.

  13. Replace the original config.sdf file with the one from your Desktop:

    1. C:\inetpub\wwwroot\tfs-jira-synchronizer\App_Data\config.sdf

  14. Open Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager and start the TFS4JIRA Sync App Pool.
  15. Open one of the synchronization profiles you have edited and scroll all the way to the bottom of the page.
  16. The "Map JIRA Reporter To" field should be available from the UI now and you can edit/change the field now without having to edit the database file.