Configuring Issue Linking

About issue linking

Issue linking allows you to create an association between issues on either the same or different JIRA servers. For instance, an issue may duplicate another, or its resolution may depend on another's. New installations of JIRA come with four default types of links:

  • relates to / relates to
  • duplicates / is duplicated by
  • blocks / is blocked by
  • clones / is cloned by (this is used when issues are cloned)

Issue linking also allows you to:

  • Create an association between a JIRA issue and a Confluence page.
  • Link a JIRA issue to any other web page.

You can add, edit or delete link types to suit your organisation, as described below.

(info) Note:

  • Your users must have the Link Issues permission before they can link issues.
  • Issue linking must be enabled in order for your users to be able to link issues. Issue linking is enabled by default. If your organisation does not require the ability to link issues, you can disable it globally for all users as described below.
  • If you want to link JIRA issues to those on a different JIRA server or to Confluence pages, see Configuring issue linking for external applications (below) for details on how to set this up.

Adding a link type

To create a new link type, e.g. 'Causes':

  1. Log in as a user with the JIRA Administrators global permission.
  2. Choose > System. Select Issue Features > Issue Linking to open the Issue Linking page.
    (tick) Keyboard shortcut: g + g + start typing issue linking
  3. In the 'Add New Link Type' form at the end of the page:
    • Enter 'Causes' in the Name text field.
    • Enter 'causes' in the Outward Link Description text field.
    • Enter 'is caused by' in the Inward Link Description text field.
  4. Click the Add button.
  5. This returns to the Issue Linking page, with a new section listing the Causes link type.

Screenshot: the 'Issue Linking' administration page


Editing or deleting a link type

(info) It is recommended that you do not edit or delete the Clones link type, as this is used to automatically link issues when they are cloned.

To edit or delete a link type:

  1. Log in as a user with the JIRA Administrators global permission.
  2. Choose > System. Select Issue Features > Issue Linking to open the Issue Linking page.
    (tick)Keyboard shortcut: g + g + start typing issue linking
  3. Locate the link type you wish to edit or delete, and click the link type's associated Edit/Delete link in the Operations column.

 

Disabling issue linking

To disable issue linking for your entire JIRA site, for all users:

  1. Log in as a user with the JIRA Administrators global permission.
  2. Choose > System. Select Issue Features > Issue Linking to open the Issue Linking page.
    (tick)Keyboard shortcut: g + g + start typing issue linking
  3. A status message indicates whether issue linking is enabled. If issue linking is enabled, click the Deactivate button. The Issue Linking page reloads, stating that linking is disabled.

 

Last modified on May 3, 2013

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