JIRA Miscellaneous Workflow Extensions (JMWE) removal from JIRA Cloud
Platform Notice: Cloud Only - This article only applies to Atlassian products on the cloud platform.
On 15 September 2016, the JIRA Misc Workflow Extensions plugin was removed from all JIRA Cloud instances. It has now been replaced with the new JIRA Misc Workflow Extensions for Cloud add-on for all customers who were previously using any of the plugin's workflow post-functions. This add-on will require a subscription. Workflow validators and conditions that were previously part of the plugin are now natively available in JIRA.
We've prepared the following knowledge base as a reference for administrators to ensure that your workflows continue to function properly with the new add-on.
I've received a notification that the JIRA Misc Workflow Extensions plugin has been removed and my instance has been migrated to the new add-on. What do I do?
We are removing the existing JMWE plugin from all JIRA Cloud instances. This may cause unexpected changes to the behavior of workflows if you do not take certain steps.
A new version of the JIRA Misc Workflows Extensions add-on has been installed on your instance and your workflows have automatically been updated to use the new add-on. The new JIRA Misc Workflows Extension add-on is being provided free for a 30 day introductory period without requiring a subscription. In order to continue using the add-on after the introductory period, you must start a trial from the Manage Add-ons page. (Pricing information is available on the Manage Add-ons page, or in the Atlassian Marketplace).
When your start your subscription, you will start a 30-day free trial that is standard for all add-ons on the Atlassian Marketplace. You can start your 30-day trial at any time during the introductory period, or after the introductory period has ended.
What if I don't want to use the new version?
If you choose not to start a subscription, you will not be charged. The replacement add-on will simply no longer execute post functions after the introductory period. You should ensure you have updated your workflows so that they no longer rely on post functions provided by JIRA Misc Workflow Extensions.
Verifying your workflows
We recommend you read the 'What to look for after the migration' section for a guide on how to ensure your workflows continue to function correctly.
What to look for after migration
Problems with permissions
The new version of the JIRA Misc Workflow Extensions add-on requires permission to edit issues in projects. In most cases, these permissions should be added automatically when the add-on is installed. If you run into problems, this issue can be fixed by manually adding the atlassian-addons-project-access project role to your project's permission scheme. If this doesn't solve your issue, please contact Atlassian Cloud support.
Post function execution order
Due to the way non-native post functions (those provided by add-ons) are implemented in JIRA Cloud, it is not possible to guarantee the order in which post functions would be executed. Therefore, if your workflow incorporates post functions that will be provided by the JMWE add-on, you should ensure that your workflows do not depend on post functions being executed in a specific order.
Updates may not always appear right away
JMWE's new post functions are processed remotely and then sent back to JIRA to update the issue. This helps ensure the stability and performance of your JIRA instance; however, this also means that some updates may occur in the background after the issue page has reloaded. Atlassian and our partners will continue to work towards mitigating this usability issue in the future.
Check the add-on logs
The new add-on provides a log of all actions it takes for troubleshooting by administrators. Refer to the documentation from the developer.
The user making updates may change for some post functions
Security and information integrity are two of Atlassian's highest priorities when handling your JIRA Cloud instances. In order to meet our high standards of these qualities, we need to ensure that users get a great experience while not compromising the security of your JIRA Cloud instance. This means that some updates may appear to be done by the JMWE add-on user rather than the user who transitioned the issue. (For more information, refer to the "run-time authorization" section here).
The 'Add Field Value To Parent' post function has been merged into 'Copy Field Value To Parent'
The functionality for 'Add Field Value To Parent' has been integrated into 'Copy Field Value To Parent' post function, with the parameter 'appendValues' set to true. This change will be included in the automated migration and will not require any action from instances using either post function.
The 'Copy Value From Field' and 'Set Field Value' post functions will be offered in the new JMWE add-on
We previously mentioned in this article that the 'Copy Value From Field' and 'Set Field Value' post functions would both be available in JIRA natively as 'Copy Value From Other Field' and 'Update Issue Custom Field', respectively. These JMWE post functions provide additional functionality and will not be migrated to the JIRA native post functions as previously planned. Both 'Copy Value From Field' and 'Set Field Value' will be migrated to their respective add-on post functions with the rest of the JMWE suite.
Custom permission and issue security schemes can affect the behavior of the new JMWE add-on
If you are using issue security schemes or have created custom permission schemes, you should verify that the atlassian-addons-project-access project role has permission to edit the issue in the project's permission scheme and access to the issue on all security levels. This is required for JMWE (and other add-ons) to access and interact with these issues.
How can I prepare for the new 'Set Field to User Property Value' post function?
FAQ
I've received a notification that the JIRA Misc Workflow Extensions plugin has been removed and my instance has been migrated to the new add-on. What do I do?
We are removing the existing JMWE plugin from all JIRA Cloud instances. This may cause unexpected changes to the behavior of workflows if you do not take certain steps.
A new version of the JIRA Misc Workflows Extensions add-on has been installed on your instance and your workflows have automatically been updated to use the new add-on. The new JIRA Misc Workflows Extension add-on is being provided free for a 30 day introductory period without requiring a subscription. In order to continue using the add-on after the introductory period, you must start a trial from the Manage Add-ons page. (Pricing information is available on the Manage Add-ons page, or in the Atlassian Marketplace).
When your start your subscription, you will start a 30-day free trial that is standard for all add-ons on the Atlassian Marketplace. You can start your 30-day trial at any time during the introductory period, or after the introductory period has ended.
What if I don't want to use the new version?
If you choose not to start a subscription, you will not be charged. The replacement add-on will simply no longer execute post functions after the introductory period. You should ensure you have updated your workflows so that they no longer rely on post functions provided by JIRA Misc Workflow Extensions.
Does this affect JIRA Misc Workflow Extensions for JIRA Server?
No, existing JIRA Server customers using JIRA Misc Workflow Extensions will not be affected.
If you are a JIRA Cloud customer using JIRA Misc Workflow Extensions and you want to ensure that your JIRA instance's functionality remains exactly the same with no migration steps on your part, you can migrate to JIRA Server with the Server version of JIRA Misc Workflow Extensions.
Which of my existing workflows are affected by this?
In order to identify which workflows in your instance may be affected by the removal of JMWE from JIRA Cloud, we've provided instructions to help facilitate this discovery for each instance you own.
In order to identify affected workflow:
- Access your instance's WebDAV directory, by following the instructions here.
- Find the file 'jmwe-workflows.txt' in your WebDAV directory. This will contain a list of all JIRA workflows currently affected by the JMWE Add-On
- As a JIRA administrator, you can then export these workflows to XML by following instructions here.
When represented in XML, all references to '"
com.atlassian.jira.workflow.function.DelegatingPostFunction" will highlight the conditions, validators and post-functions that are affected by this Add-On
- Alternatively if you export a workflow As Workflow, JIRA will populate the 'Special instructions to include' screen with conditions, validators and post-functions that are affected by JMWE
How can I get more information?
If you have any questions, please contact Atlassian Cloud support.
Feature Matrix
Available in JIRA
Conditions
Previous Status, Separation of Duties, Hide Transition
Validators
Field has been modified, Comment required, Field is required, Field has single value, Parent status, Previous status
Post-Functions
Set Issue security from user role
Available in new version of JIRA Misc Workflow Extensions
Post Functions
Assign to role member, Assign to last role member, Increase value of field, Copy field value to parent, Add field value to parent, Set field value from parent, Copy Field Value to Linked Issues, Set Field Value From Linked Issue Function, Set Field Value Of Linked Issues, Transition Issue, Transition Parent Issue, Transition Linked Issues, Comment Issue, Comment Linked Issue, Copy Value from Field to Field, Set Field Value to constant, Set field to user property value