TFS4JIRA FAQ

Owned by Mikołaj Żyromski
Last updated: Feb 01, 2023 by Roman Lutsiv [Appfire]
8 min read


Licensing

My license key is being rejected. Am I doing something wrong?

If your license key is being rejected, most probably it's because you are trying to enter your key in the wrong place. See this page for more detailed information on providing a license key. Please remember that from version 2.1.0 TFS4JIRA accepts only Atlassian Marketplace licenses. If you have old license type, obtained directly from Appfire, please write to support@appfire.com in order to have your license migrated.

We have a Jira license for 500 users, but only one team will actually use TFS4JIRA. Can we order a license for 25 people?

The plugin license must match Jira license so currently it's not possible to buy a license for a lower tier. TFS4JIRA is licensed using Atlassian Marketplace licensing so we can't make any exceptions to rules made by Atlassian. For details regarding license model please refer to the Atlassian Marketplace documentation.

Where can I find rules governing licenses?

Please refer to Atlassian documentation: https://www.atlassian.com/licensing/purchase-licensing

TFS / Azure DevOps (formerly VSTS) check-ins synchronization (TFS4JIRA Jira Plugin)

I don't have "TFS Check-ins" tab at all on issue view

Jira user must have particular permission set in order to see this tab. The exact permission depends on the Jira version you use:

  • View Development Tools for Jira since version 6.1
  • View Issue Source Tab for older Jira versions.

Plugin ignores "Start at Changeset #" value

Please check if permissions for project in TFS are correct for account that you provided. As a test you can check if this option works correctly for admin account.

I've defined a TFS / Azure DevOps (formerly VSTS) repository in TFS4JIRA Synchronizer but I can't see any check-ins.

First thing to check is whether TF4Jira managed to successfully scan your TFS / Azure DevOps (formerly VSTS) repository. Navigate to tab Check-ins Scanning and click on Edit link – you should see information about last repository scan. Please verify if Last Scan Time is OK and if Last Scanned Revision number matches the most recent revision number in your repository. In case of last synchronization attempt failure, you should see also error details presented. You can also click on Edit link and then press Test button to check if repository data you've provided are OK. Below you will find a list of the most common errors you may encounter.

I get "The SOAP endpoint https://example.com/SomeCollection/Services/v1.0/Registration.asmx could not be contacted. HTTP status: 404" error

Most common cause of such an error is either invalid TFS / Azure DevOps (formerly VSTS) server URL or invalid project collection name. Regarding URL please verify that you've provided full URL with proper scheme (http:// vs. https://), port number and path component (by default, local TFS / Azure DevOps (formerly VSTS) installation URL ends with /tfs, e.g. http://example.com/tfs).

TFS4JIRA seems to successfully run synchronizations but still I cannot see any check-ins.

Most common case is that user, which credentials are provided in repository configuration, is not privileged enough permissions to fetch the changesets. Please vertify that the user has both permissions:

  • View collection-level information for the selected collection. Lack of this permission usually manifests as error message when running TFS / Azure DevOps (formerly VSTS) connection test, although sometimes it's not the case (the test passes, but TFS quietly returns no results). How to set the permission:

    • Visual Studio 2010/2012: Team -> Team Project Collection Settings -> Security

  • Read permission for the selected folder. How to set the permission:
    • Visual Studio 2010: View -> Other Windows -> Source Control Explorer -> Right click on the folder -> Properties ->  Security
    • Visual Studio 2012: View -> Other Windows -> Source Control Explorer -> Right click on the folder -> Advanced -> Security

Also, please verify that your TFS4JIRA plugin version is 1.7.5 or newer as previous versions contained a critical bug.

TFS4JIRA Synchronizer installation

I've installed TFS4JIRA Synchronizer – what now? Where can I access the application?

TFS4JIRA Synchronizer application can be reached under the following URL: http://<your-iis-host>/tfs-jira-synchronizer. You may need to setup appropriate access permissions in order to be able to log in to the application.

TFS4JIRA Synchronizer refuses to establish connection because of proxy.

The Synchronizer by default assumes a direct (or at least transparent) connection. Proxy is handled by editing Synchronizer configuration file:
Try adding a following section to the C:\inetpub\wwwroot\tfs-jira-synchronizer\Web.config (dafault location of web.config file) file, just before <system.web>:

<system.net>
    <defaultProxy useDefaultCredentials="true">
        <proxy
            proxyaddress="http://IP_ADDRESS_OF_YOUR_PROXY"
            bypassonlocal="true"
        />
    </defaultProxy>
</system.net>

Remember to restart Default Web Site in your IIS Manager.

TFS4JIRA Synchronizer installer finished without any complaints but I get "HTTP 500.19" error when I navigate to the application site.

This problem occurs when you have IIS8 server without ASP.NET 4.5 feature enabled. Please enable it and refresh the site (you don't have to run the installer again).

TFS4JIRA Synchronizer installer finished without any complaints but I get "HTTP 500.19" with 0x8007007e code error when I navigate to the application site.

You need to run following command in console (more info): %windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe set config -section:system.webServer/httpCompression /-[name='xpress']

TFS4JIRA Synchronizer installer finished without any complaints but I get "HTTP 500.19" with 0x80070021 code error when I navigate to the application site.

You need to run following command in console:  %windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd unlock config -section:system.webServer/modules


TFS4JIRA Synchronizer installer finished without any complaints but I get "HTTP 500.19" with 0x80070005 code error when I navigate to the application site.

This problem might be related to the permission of installation location. It might occur when you have a different physical path for your IIS site, and the user does not have full permission at the directory of that physical path. To solve this, please uninstall TFS4JIRA Synchronizer, then grant permission to the user for the directory. Afterwards, it should work after installation again.

TFS4JIRA Synchronizer installer finished without any complaints but I get "HTTP 500" error on static files (*.js, *.css) when I navigate to the application site.

This problem occurs when there is AboMapperCustom-[number] in Handler Mappings, which should be deleted in order to application site work correctly. Handler Mappings can be found in IIS Manager: Connections tree, Sites > Default Web Site > tfs-jira-synchronizer, then look in the IIS section in the center of the screen.

TFS4JIRA Synchronizer installer finished without any complaints but I get "HTTP 503" error when I navigate to the application site.

(This answer is not valid for Synchronizer 9.0+ versions - Synchronzier changed to 64-bit.) This problem can occur when 32-bit web applications are not enabled in IIS configuration - please refer to this solution:  http://manasbhardwaj.net/running-32-bit-web-application-iis-8

When I test connection with Jira I get "The remote server returned an error: (403) Forbidden." error.

Jira after first unsuccesfull attempt to log in shows captcha which user has to fill in, so probably you just have to go to Jira login page and log manually - after that connection between Jira and Synchronizer should work OK. Please remember that it is best to turn off synchronization profile during that change because if this profile has old password it will be locking Jira with every synchronization attempt.

Synchronizer pages look messy, like there are is some styling information missing.

A possible reason for that might be that IIS is not serving static content (such as CSS files). To check if that's not the case, please go to Windows Control Panel -> Programs and Features -> Turn Windows features on or off and make sure that Static Content option is selected in Internet Information Services -> World Wide Web Services -> Common HTTP Features section.

Synchronization process stops running after some time and you have to revisit web access page to get it running again.

This can happen if process has idle time-out set in IIS. To disable it go to Application Pool settings and select with right click "Advanced Settings"

There check if StartMode is set to "AlwaysRunning" and Idle Time-out is set to 0

TFS4JIRA Synchronizer upgrade

I want to upgrade the synchronizer < 5.2 to the latest release

Due to the Entity Framework bug, the pre 5.2 to 6.0.2 (or newer) upgrade requires two steps. First, you have to install Synchronizer version 6.0.0 (Web installer, Offline installer), make sure it works and then upgrade to newest version.

Upgrade finished without any complaints but the only working page is Log, and I see "(0x80004005): The foreign key constraint does not exist. [ PK___MigrationHistory ]" error in the log

Direct upgrade from version 5.1.x or older to version 6.0.2 or newer is not possible. You have to upgrade Synchronizer in two steps. First, uninstall your current version and install Synchronizer version 6.0.0 (Web installer, Offline installer), make sure it works and then upgrade to newest version.

TFS-Jira issues synchronization (TFS4JIRA Synchronizer)

Is comments and attachments synchronization supported?

Yes it's supported but in both of this cases deleting is not supported due to technical reasons. Comments synchronization is supported from Jira 6.2.

I have Jira 6.0.1 and issues and work items doesn't synchronize correctly.

There is a bug in Jira 6.0.1 that prevents Synchronizer to check the date set in Jira instance. When you have Jira 6.0.1 you need to have same timezone set in Jira and in the computer on which Synchronizer is installed.

Not all of the values from TFS / Azure DevOps (formerly VSTS) are visible on the mappings screen (for example only subset of State fields can be chosen).

Remove folder  <synchronizer_path>\App_Data\TFSClientCache  and check again if all of the TFS / Azure DevOps (formerly VSTS) values are on the list now.

I want to synchronize only Jira Issues and TFS / Azure DevOps (formerly VSTS) Work Items of some types and ignore other items.

You should go to page "Jira Issue Type/TFS Work Item Type" and select "Do nothing" option instead of "Raise error" in value mappings section.

To which field in TFS should I map Jira Resolution field?

The problem with mapping Jira Resolution field to TFS Reason field is that Jira only allows modifying the Resolution field during state transitions that mark issues as Resolved. Meanwhile, in TFS, the Reason field is updated during every transition, and the value it contains heavily depend on the state that the work item is being transitioned to. And that breaks syncing with Jira, because changes in the Resolution field are not always allowed in Jira. The Resolved Reason field was introduced in TFS in order to serve the same purpose as Resolution in Jira - it is only set (automatically by TFS) when work item is being resolved. The complication here is that the Resolved Reason field is not necessarily available in all TFS project schemes. However, it can be added to any scheme. The process of adding Resolved Reason field to your TFS and setting it up so that it updates when expected is described here:  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/reference/xml/change-workflow-wit?view=azure-devops

Miscellaneous

Connecting the synchronizer with Jira or TFS / Azure DevOps (formerly VSTS) that uses self-signed SSL certificate

In order to succesfully connect to a machine that uses self-signed certificate, you will need to add the following entry to the synchronizer's <synchronizer_path>\Web.config file (required changes are in bold):

<appSettings>
    ...
    <add key="allowAnyCertificate" value="true" />
</appSettings>

After you do that, you need to restart the application pool that TFS4JIRA synchronizer uses (the pool name is "TFS4JIRA Sync App Pool") - you can do that in the IIS Manager