Jira Interview Questions and Answers Agile Management

Workflow is defined as a movement of the bug/issue through various stages during its life cycle:

• Created/Open

• WIP (Work in Progress)

• Completed/Closed

In JIRA, an issue can be anything like a Software bug, project task, A help-desk ticket or a leave request form.

It integrates with source control programs such as CVS, Git, Subversion, Clearcase, Visual SourceSafe, Mercurial, and Perforce.

• Upfront and fair licensing policy
• Features that is not available elsewhere
• Get latest update on the progress of projects
• It run anywhere and recognized with many famous companies
• Easily extensible and customizable

By configuring the URL of the JIRA Cloud on the mobile web browser, we can access JIRA through mobile devices.

Yes, it is possible. JIRA Mobile is a plug-in that can be disabled at any time by the administrator. If this is disabled, then the users will not be able to get the desktop view of JIRA on their mobile devices.

Labelling allows us to categorize an issue such that we are able to identify which issue belongs to which category. Also, it helps in simplifying the search using labels.

This feature enables you to link an association between two or more issues on the JIRA Server. Linking helps to have related items being connected in the system so that users can easily understand how they are related and who Is dependent on what

In JIRA we can have multiple types of reports related to projects, versions, people or other fields within issues.

Various reports included with JIRA are:

• Average Age Report
• Pie Chart Report
• Resolution Time Report
• Recently Created Issues Report
• Resolved vs. Created Issues Report
• Single Level Group by Report
• Time Tracking Report
• User Workload Report
• Workload Pie Chart Report, etc. 

Cloning as issue means you can create a duplicate copy of the original in the system so that many employees can work on that single issue within the project if it is required. The cloned issue can be linked to the original issue. A cloned issue holds following the information: 

• Summary
• Description
• Assignee
• Environment
• Priority
• Issue Type
• Security
• Reporter
• Components, etc.

• Time tracking

• Issue history

• Comments

If your source has custom types or values such as Issue type, issue status or any other custom field that does not occur in target then either you must choose a new issue type/status to be mapped or provide new values.

Security settings help control who should have read or write access to issues. This can be done while creating issues or through admin.

Using the share option, we can email an issue to other users in JIRA. Another way to share an issue with other users is by mentioning their name in description or comments section of JIRA UI.

There is a Bulk Change option in the tools menu on the navigator. Following kind of bulk operations can be performed on JIRA:

• Workflow Transition
• Delete
• Move
• Edit

To disable mail notification for a particular Bulk Operations, you have to de-select the “SendNotification” checkbox in the bulk operation wizard.

Issue change history includes:

• Deletion of a comment
• Deletion of a worklog
• Creation or deletion of an issue link
• Attachment of a file
• Changes to an issue field

Colors are used to signify the effort put in the issue:

• Original Estimate is shown by Blue color 

• Remaining time is shown by Orange color

• Actual time spent is shown as Green color

Some popular add-ons for JIRA include,

• Suites utilities for JIRA
• ScriptRunner for JIRA
• Zephyr for JIRA – Test Management
• JIRA Toolkit Plugin
• Atlassian REST API Browser
• Portfolio for JIRA
• JIRA Misc. Workflow Extensions
• Tempo Timesheets for JIRA
• JIRA Charting Plugin

Schemes allow configuration in JIRA Project. There are 7 types of schemes available but major ones are:

• Notification Schemes
• Permission Scheme
• Issue Type Scheme

If you have configured JIRA Cloud then you can take backup. 1 backup file is allowed at a time. Else it is overwritten.

The backup data includes,

• Attachments if selected

• Users and their group settings

• Avatars

• Issues

• JIRA Considers a status as a global object. So, if you change status on one workflow then it will impact all workflows using that status.
• If you hover over a status or transition, then you can see all details
• Transitions cannot be cloned in workflow designer
• You cannot directly set annotations
• You cannot modify issue.editable field directly.

• The name of the active workflow cannot be edited. Only the description can be edited
• We cannot delete a workflow step
• The status of the step cannot be edited if the workflow is active
• We cannot add new outgoing transitions if it did not had any outgoing transitions originally
• Step ID cannot be changed

If you make it inactive then you can do all this.

No. But you can use “On Hold” feature to move back to previous state.

The steps are as follows:

• In workflow, Create a global transition to the ‘On Hold’ status
• Now from ‘On Hold’ status create another transition to every other status you want to come back to.
• Since the transition names cannot be the same, just add a blank space at the end of it.
• Now you don’t want the status transition from the ‘On Hold’ and ‘Done’ to ‘On Hold’ So you will hide the other status “On Hold” by adding the value field condition on the global transition.

The Validators in JIRA checks that any input made to the transition is valid before the transition is performed. If a validator fails, the issue will not progress to the destination status of the transition.

An event describes the status, the default template and the notification scheme and workflow transition post function associations for the event.

Under Audit Log, you can see all the details about the issue created, and the changes made in the issues.

Following steps are done to create user stories in JIRA for Agile:

• Issue type -Epic and Issue type – Story linked to it.
• ‘Create Issue’
• Go to “Configure Fields” 
• Select “Epic link” field to be included in the issue creation screen.

Or you can have a product backlog by creating a main User story and having various sub-tasks under it.

Different statuses are:

• To do, InProgress, Open, Closed, ReOpened, and Resolved. 

Different resolutions are:

• Fixed, won’t fix, Duplicate, Incomplete, Cannot reproduce, Done 

Different priorities are:

• Critical, major, minor, blocker and Trivial.

• Audit Log;

• Issue Linking;

• Mail;

• Events;

• Watch List;

• Issue Collectors;

• Development Tools

System event and custom event

System events are generated by JIRA and custom events are generated by user customizations.

JIRA allows you to watch a particular issue, so whenever any update comes in that issues, you will be notified. To enable this, you should:

• Click on the word "watch" in the issue window

• If you want to see who is watching your issues, you have to click on the number in brackets.

Yes, XML, Word and Printable

Subtask issues are useful for splitting up a parent issue into smaller and manageable tasks that can be assigned and tracked separately. This allows for better management and tracking

Two ways are there:

• Create sub task under parent issue
• Create issue into sub task

To create sub-task in JIRA:

• Select an issue in which you want to assign the sub-task.
• Under the issue window, click on Assign more option
• Then click on create sub-task. You can also select convert to sub-task under same tab to convert the parent issue into a sub-task.
• Once you click on Create Sub-Task, a window will pop up to add sub-task issue.
• Fill up the details about the sub-task and click on Create
• It will create a sub-task under parent issues
• If you would like to add more sub-task, you can click on the plus (+) sign on the corner of the sub-task panel.
• Likewise, if you want to note down the time spent on the present task, click on (+) plus sign in the corner of the time tracking and put down the details in the log sheet.

Yes

Agile believes in delivering value to the customer on iterative basis with continuous feedback loop. JIRA helps in achieving that goal by streamlining the workflow into ToDo -> InProgress -> Done.

To create issues in Agile, go to main menu under Agile tab, click on "Getting Started", when you click on it, it will ask to create new board for the issues for Scrum or Kanban

SCRUM and Kanban

In JIRA Agile, an epic is simply an issue type. The epic captures a large body of work. It is a large user story which can be broken down into a number of small stories. To complete an epic, it may take several sprints. You can either create a new epic in agile or either use the issue you have created in normal JIRA board. Likewise, you can also create a story for agile scrum.

To track the progress in Agile, a Burndown Chart shows the actual and estimated amount of work to be done in the sprint. A typical burndown chart will look somewhat like this, where the red line indicates the actual task remaining while the blue line indicates ideal task remaining during the scrum cycle

No

No

Label for an issue is shown under details section. Using labels we can generate reports for categorization, prioritization, resource allocation. We can also use labels to keep track of things or for analysis purposes.

For this function to work, one must have ‘Schedule issue permission’ by JIRA Administrator.

JQL stands for Jira Query language is an advanced explicit way to search issues within JIRA. It consists of field, operator, value and keyword.

The quick search is the fastest way to define search criteria. It is not so accurate. If you want to do basic search then you should use it else do not use it. For example: if you know which project, which keyword then use it. Do not use for complex criteria.

To use the quick search: Enter your search criteria in the search box in the header and press Enter. 

The basic search is better than quick search. But lesser than advanced search. It provides a user-friendly interface that allows you to define complex queries, without needing JQL.

The move issue wizard enables you to specify another project in your JIRA instance. Move wizard permit you to change certain attributes of an issue like

• Issue Type: If your issue is a custom issue type and does not occur in your target project, you must choose a new issue type for your issue
• Issue Status: If you have assigned your issue as a custom issue status and it does not exist in your project, you must select a new issue status for your issue
• Custom Fields: If you have determined required custom fields for your issue, which do not occur in the target project, you must set values for them

The person who is reporting the issue.

If it is configured and allowed by management then Yes. Basically, it is nothing but a task. And tasks are allowed in JIRA.

“!”

Yes

Yes

Yes; daily, weekly, monthly, yearly all are possible.

Yes; we can give them unique names also.

Yes

GenericEntityException: Error importing data: java.lang.Exception:

com.atlassian.jira.exception.DataAccessException: org.ofbiz.core.entity.GenericEntityException: while

inserting: [GenericEntity:Action][id,31274][body......SQL Exception while executing the following:INSERT INTO

public.jiraaction (ID, , issueid, AUTHOR, actiontype, actionlevel, rolelevel, actionbody, CREATED,

UPDATEAUTHOR, UPDATED, actionnum) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?) (ERROR: invalid byte sequence

for encoding "UTF8": 0x00)

The import process to PostgreSQL is trying to interpret plain-text comments as UTF-8 characters

and will end up with the above errors because of the NULL values in the data.

Solution is to unzip the file and remove null characters or use utility like XMLCleaner to remove

such NULL Characters.

Yes, but we will need plug in called as “search attachments”

You can use parentheses to enforce the precedence of the Boolean operators in your query, i.e.

(status=resolved AND project=SysAdmin) OR assignee=bobsmith

• (status=resolved AND project=SysAdmin) OR assignee=bobsmith?

Note that if you do not use parentheses, the statement will be evaluated left-to-right

Yes

• Project = Pipeline And status CHANGED FROM “Inprogress” to “Completed” BY “J.Smith”
• If the ID is jsmith and not J.Smith then we don’t need “” [double quotes]

It includes a set of functions that query around many of Jira’s core constructs: users, versions, issues, comments, etc. It is a plug in.

During import operation, the configuration file is used for mapping of columns of CSV with columns of JIRA DB. We have an option to use the existing config file or new one.

This will show you all the tickets assigned to members of a team, so you can see how much work they have on their plates.

Use double quotes.
For example, JIRA will treat the following CSV as a single record: Summary, Description, Status, "Login issue", "This is on a new line", Open

Project name and Project Key

By adding ~ in beginning of word. For example: ~name will search for data that ends in “name”

lastLogin()

Yes; it will return test projects where assignee is same as current user

Voting on an issue is a feature in JIRA that allows people to go to view issue page and vote their opinion on if the issue is resolved or not.

This feature is NOT available by default and needs to be enabled by Admin.

Yes

• Go to general configuration
• Click manage add ons
• Go to system
• Locate the confluence mobile plugin
• Expand and disable it

Focusing your query so it pulls the right amount of data, so the user sees only the information relevant to the current item at hand

Project shortcuts can be added to your project navigation page to any online resources your team may want to access. These shortcut links are available to everyone who has access to the project

You can add gadgets to your own personal dashboard(s). To add a gadget to the default dashboard for your JIRA application, you must be a JIRA admin.

• Some applications allow dashboards that are shared by groups of people. If you have permission to update a shared dashboard, the other people sharing the dashboard will see your changes, too.
• Go to the dashboard by selecting the Dashboard link in the header.
• On the dashboard, Click Add Gadget.
• Use the gadget wizard to choose the gadgets you want to add. You can see a list of these gadgets in Gadgets for JIRA applications.

JIRA Core is a workflow management system allowing you to create unique processes that suits you.

Workflows are the root of the system, moving packets of work from A to B.

JIRA Core allows you to make your workflow as easy or as complex as you need, giving you the freedom to concentrate on the work, not the process. JIRA Core can be used in a variety of ways.

For example, you could use it to run a t-shirt business, setting up workflows that can manage your internal processes such as your design process, your sales process, your manufacturing process, and even controlling your stock.

The beauty of JIRA Core is that the only constraints on your workflow are your processes!

Zephyr for JIRA (Server and Center versions) is a native application that exists in JIRA and brings test management capabilities to any JIRA project

Jira software comes in three different deployment options including cloud, server and data center option.

A feedback form provided to collect issues or bugs in the website that are to be addressed by the customers of the website is one of the features provided by Jira. And to address bugs, users no need to have Jira registration.

Issue tracking is made easy with three different colors representing three different status of an issue.

• Blue color - Estimated time to resolve issue
• Orange color - Remaining time to resolve issue
• Green color - Total time spent (Logged In) to resolve the issue

Set of instructions given as configuration to Jira to define a field’s behavior like necessity of fields, field visibility, etc.

Validators take care of the inputs to be provided for any transaction. Without valid approval for the inputs from validators, one cannot complete transaction.

Yes, Jira provides backup functionality of data. But it can save backup file only once and next time when you backup, the existing data will be overwritten

• Your client presents a demand to your service agents through an entryway or by means of email. 
• An service desk sees the demand in their Jira Service Desk line and investigates the issue. 
• Your client and different members utilize the entry or email to talk about the demand with your service desk agent, who works in Jira Service Desk. 
• Your specialist finishes the demand and your client is fulfilled!

• On the 'Components' screen, float over the significant Component to show the Delete option. 
• You will be provoked to connect these issues with another Component on the off chance that you wish

To disable mail notification for a particular Bulk Operations, you have to de-select the “Send Notification” checkbox in the bulk operation wizard.

It integrates with source control programs such as CVS, Git, Subversion, Clearcase, Visual SourceSafe, Mercurial, and Perforce.

Plan mode displays all the user stories created for the project. You can use the left-hand side menu to decide the basis on which the issues need to be displayed. While on the right-hand side menu clicking on the issue, you can create subtasks, log work etc.

 It will display the active sprint information. All the issues or users’ stories will be displayed into three categories as shown in the screenshot below To do, In Progress and Done to show the progress of the project or issues.

• You can have as many sub-task as needed under an Issue 
• You cannot have a sub-task for a sub-task 
• Once a sub-task is created under a parent, parent cannot be converted into a sub-task 
• A sub-task can however be converted into a parent issue 
• You can work on your sub-task without having navigating away from the parent issue 

In the form of JIRA issues, an issue collector allows you to gather feedback on any website. In administration if you click on Issue collectors an option will open asking Add Issue Collector. Once you have configured the look and feel of an Issue Collector, embed the generated JavaScript in any website for feedback

POP and IMAP or messages to some external service

Components are sub-sections of a project; they are used to group issues within a project into smaller parts. Components add some structures to the projects, breaking it up into features, teams, modules, subprojects and more. Using components, you can generate reports, collect statistics, and display it on dashboards and so on. 

To add new components, as shown in the above screen you can add name, description, component lead and default assignee. 

Types of Post functions carried out after transition is executed includes

• Adding a comment to an issue
• Generating change history for an issue
• Updating an issue’s fields
• Generating an event to trigger email notifications

You can configure following things for each pair of an issue type and JIRA project.

• The order of custom fields appears on an issue screen
• Workflow of an issue including the statuses
• Which custom fields and system an issue can use
• Project accessibility
• Permissions for what a user can do with an issue
• Versions and components available for an issue

 The most common errors are related:

1. Email address where they are not in correct format
2. Custom fields using disabled plugins
3. Mandatory or required fields were blank
4. Invalid references to objects in workflows that can occur due to deletion of those customizations
5. Name mismatch due to extra space, comma or underscore

JIRA automatically creates entries for it in all existing field configurations. Also, when a new field configuration is created it is created with entries for all fields existing in the instance, either system or custom. 

This means that it is never necessary to create an entry for a field in a field configuration, as they exist from the moment either a custom field or a field configuration are created. 

Project Configurator takes this fact into account, and if it detects a situation where it would have to create an entry for a field in a field configuration considers it an anomaly and stops the import with that message.

The solution is:

1. Maybe the referred custom field is a locked field which must be created by a plugin/application such as JIRA Agile/Software. In this case, ensure the right version of the plugin/application is installed at the target instance.
2. Verify also that it is installed with the same locale it had been installed at the source instance. The ultimate goal is that the set of JIRA Agile/Software custom fields is exactly the same in both instances.
3. If the field had to be created when the configuration is imported, verify that the import of custom fields was not disabled
4. If it is a time tracking field, check that time tracking is enabled in the target instance. Otherwise, the time tracking fields are not available.

The best way to handle these without changing the schema is to fill some dummy values in those orphan fields then import it. Then export immediately so that new layout is received then import again.

This way it works.

• Duplicate names of same type is not supported; with different type it is supported
• Image files such as icons are not supported
• Avatars of projects or users is not supported
• If any plugin is referred but not installed or enabled, then it will not be supported
• Notification templates are not exported or imported
• It does not support any other languages apart from English

“Time tracking” and “allow unassigned issued” are two important settings in Global settings that must be exactly similar between both importer and exporter instances of JIRA for this to work properly.

Health check is an important way to find the proper functioning of our instance. This can be done by:

1. Going to “General Configuration”
2. Clicking on “Troubleshooting and support tools”
3. Clicking on “Instance Health”

The best solution is to reference objects using names instead of ID. If this cannot be done then, we have to make the IDs same across environments. This can be achieved by following these steps:

1. Change the DEV environment as per your need and IDs
2. Finalize the script
3. Use project configurator and transfer these changes to PROD
4. Copy PROD DB to DEV

This happens when the custom field “XXXX” is not configured properly i.e. enabled in the system or not configured. You can solve this problem by ensuring that the custom field is present in the destination project also and the supported values are present in them.

4 actions are supported by the JIRA Advanced fields:

1. Clone issue
2. Create issue
3. Edit Issue
4. Transition Issue

These actions are found in More Options. And they are useful if we want to update system or custom fields for which we don’t have a nice form control. It is important to specify a JSON object in valid REST API

This can be confirmed through the entries in the audit logs. And this happens because that field is missing on appropriate edit or create screen of your project. Go to screens page and enable that field. Additionally, you should check the permissions of the account under which you are running your automations.