Link to Atlassian products using OAuth 2.0
OAuth 2.0 is available as an authentication type for application links in Atlassian Data Center products. This industry-standard protocol is designed to provide secure, delegated access between applications without exposing user credentials. Other OAuth 2.0 benefits are:
OAuth 2.0 uses HTTPS and short-lived access tokens, reducing security risk and simplifying credential management.
As a widely adopted protocol, OAuth 2.0 helps meet evolving security and regulatory requirements.
With OAuth 2.0 supported in both Data Center and cloud, you can connect products during migration or hybrid operation.
On this page:
- Supported Data Center versions
- Connect Data Center product to Atlassian cloud app
- Connect Data Center product to other Data Center product
- Further resources
Supported Data Center versions
Jira Data Center 11.2 and later
Confluence Data Center 10.1 and later
Bitbucket Data Center 10.1 and later
Bamboo Data Center 12.0 and later
Crowd 7.1 and later
Connect Data Center product to Atlassian cloud app
To connect to other Atlassian cloud products, such as Jira Cloud, you’ll need to configure both your Data Center instance and your Atlassian cloud application. Explore how link to Atlassian cloud apps using OAuth 2.0
In the instructions below, we'll connect Bitbucket Data Center with Jira In Bitbucket:
Go to Settings, then Application links.
Select Create link, and then:
For Application type, select Atlassian product via OAuth 2.0.
In Application URL, enter the URL of your Atlassian application. For example, this might be
http://jira.atlassian.com. If the application URL is different from the display URL, a dialog will appear to confirm the URL.
In the Create incoming link dialog, select scopes the application can have on your instance. Scopes depend on the Data Center product: Bitbucket scopes, Jira Software and Jira Service Management scopes, Bamboo scopes, Confluence scopes, Crowd scopes.
You can see the following OAuth 2.0 credentials: Client ID and Client secret. Save them. You’ll need to copy them to your Atlassian cloud application during the creation of your outgoing link.
(Optional) You also need to configure the connection in your Atlassian cloud application if you haven’t done so already. The following guide is for Jira Cloud, but the process is similar for all Atlassian cloud applications: Explore how link to Atlassian apps using OAuth 2.0.
In you Data Center instance, select Configure outgoing and then enter the Client ID and Client secret credentials generated by your Atlassian cloud application.
When you finish the application link configuration, you can select Test connection in both Data Center instance and your cloud application to verify that the application link is working. If the test fails, double-check the URLs and credentials in both applications.
Connect Data Center product to other Data Center product
When connecting two Atlassian Data Center products, for example Bitbucket Data Center and Jira Data Center, you must create a placeholder incoming link in one application first. This is required because each application's incoming link setup requires information from the other application's outgoing link. After creating the initial incoming link and obtaining the OAuth 2.0 credentials, return to the other application to complete the outgoing link configuration. You might need to switch between both applications to finish the setup.
In this example, we'll connect Bitbucket Data Center and Jira Data Center, but the process is the same for all the Data Center Products. In your first Data Center product (for example, Bitbucket):
Go to Settings, then Application links.
Select Create link, then:
For Application type, select Atlassian product via OAuth 2.0.
In Application URL, enter the URL of your Data Center product.
When prompted for the Redirect URI, enter a placeholder value, such as your current Bitbucket URL. You'll update this value later.
Complete the creation of the incoming link. You'll receive the Client ID and Client secret credentials.
Switch to the Data Center product you want to connect to (for example, Jira Data Center) and repeat steps 1–4 above. This will generate the Client ID and Client secret credentials for the other Data Center product.
Once you generate credentials for both Data Center products, you need to exchange credentials and update redirect URIs. As an example, we’ll connect to a Jira Data Center instance:
In Bitbucket, edit the outgoing link to Jira:
Enter the Client ID and Client secret from Jira.
Update the Redirect URI to match the value provided by Jira for its outgoing link.
In Jira, edit the outgoing link to Bitbucket:
Enter the Client ID and Client secret from Bitbucket.
Update the Redirect URI to match the value provided by Bitbucket for its outgoing link.
When you finish the application link configuration, you can select Test connection in your Data Center products to verify that the application link is working. If the test fails, double-check the URLs and credentials in both products.
Further resources
If you're looking for more details about linking to other applications, refer to the documentation of your Data Center product: