Jira workflows - Dealing with validator

Recently I got a request to make certain fields mandatory while marking a issue as 'Fix' (A step in our workflow'). Initially I made the requested custom fields as 'Required' in Field configuration, but it screwed !!!. After this change it started asking to provide values for fields which are not visible in 'create' page.
Finally I learnt it needs to be configured in Workflows validator.
I'm sharing my learning's here.

Introduction
Workflow is the place where we define business process. A JIRA workflow is the set of steps (or statuses) and transitions that an issue goes through during its lifecycle.
The below picture represents the default Jira workflow.

JIRA workflows consist of steps and transitions:
  A step represents a workflow's current status for an issue.An issue can exist in one step only at any point in time. In the diagram above the rectangular boxes represent steps/statuses.
 A transition is a link between two steps. A transition allows an issue to move from one step to another step. A transition is a one-way link, so if an issue needs to move back and forth between two steps, two transitions need to be created. In the diagram above the arrows represent transitions.



Workflow Administration
Creating Workflow:  Login -> Administration -> Workflows -> Add new Workflow  (Give name & desc)
Editing a workflow: 
   Inactive workflow:  You can simply edit steps & transition
   Active workflow:  Not possible to edit active workflow directly. 
         Create draft -> Edit  & validate ->  Publish -> Backup old workflow

• Login ->  Administration -> Workflows  -> Choose your workflow -> Edit
• There are two types of edit mode, Diagram and Text

How to make a field mandatory during a workflow transition change ?
Request: In the “Fix” page, (when the bug is marked as fixed), Make the following fields as mandatory
1) Fixed in build 2) Fixed in Iteration 3) Code reviewed by 4) Fix description

Solution:
Using Diagram edit mode.

• Login ->  Administration -> Workflows  -> Choose your workflow -> Edit 
• Using workflow diagram I tracked my workflow steps involved in the transition. The source step is 'New' and destination is 'Assigned to QE' through the transition label 'Fix - Release to QE'. 
• Click on round wheel as shown above and select 'View Validators'
• Click Add a new validator -> Select 'Fields Required' -> Add -> Select the custom fields names (in my case its 'Fixed in build', 'Fixed in Iteration', etc -> Add.
• Publish and Take backup
• That's it
• Alternatively to do the same from Text mode
• Select workflows ->  Edit in Text mode -> Create Draft 
• Find the Step name (in my case its 'New') and the transition ( In my case 'Assign to QE') -> Click on the transition -> Validators -> Add -> Fields Required
• Publish & Backup

    




  

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Jira Administration - Custom Fields & Screens

Jira has a complex administration concepts. Performing Jira admin tasks without understanding the complete flow leads to mistakes. In this post, I'm explaining how the Custom Fields are created and how to link it to project screens.

Creating custom fields
Let's assume you get a request to create a custom field "Severity". Check whether this custom field is already existing by

• Login to Jira -> Administration -> Issue Fields -> Custom Fields

If it is not available, create it straight away

• Login to Jira -> Administration -> Issue Fields -> Custom Fields -> Add custom Field -> Choose the field type -> Provide field name, search template, etc , applicable issue types, Applicable context.

   Custom Field Context

        The custom field which we created can be associated to all issues by selecting "Global context" or to specific projects. Depending on the usability of the custom field make it either global or project specific.

If the custom field is already exist, then try to reuse it.

Screens

Screens group multiple issue fields. Using Screens, you can control which fields are displayed. You can also split fields on a Screen into multiple tabs.

Configuring/Adding screens

• Login to Jira -> Administration -> Issue Fields -> Screens

You can define/edit screens with the above steps. 

How the screens relates to a project ?  [Screen -> Screen Schemes -> Issue Type screen schemes]

  A Screen Scheme allows you to choose which Screen will be shown to a JIRA user when they perform a particular issue operation (like Create Issue, Edit Issue, View Issue). You can specify the same screen for each of these issue operations, or choose different screens for each operation.

Creating/Configuring Screen schemes

• Login to Jira -> Administration -> Issue Fields -> Screen Schemes -> 

Here associate an Issue operation to a screen.

Linking screen scheme to projects

To activate a Screen Scheme, you need to associate it with one or more projects and issue types, using Issue Type Screen Schemes

An Issue Type Screen Scheme associates a Screen Scheme with issue types, allowing you to specify different Screens for the same operation (e.g. 'Create Issue') in the same project for issues of different types.

Create/Edit Issue Type Screen Schemes

• Login to Jira -> Administration -> Issue Fields ->  Issue Type Screen Schemes

The configuration of an Issue Type Screen Scheme involves associating an issue type(s) with a particular Screen Scheme. For example, associating the 'Bug' issue type with the 'Default Screen Scheme' and then associating the 'Improvement' issue type with the 'Improvement Screen Scheme'.

Associating an Issue Type Screen Scheme with a Project: Login to Jira -> Administration -> Select the project of interest -> Issue Type Screen Scheme -> Associate


How to add a Custom field to a screen ?
Find out the "Issue type screen scheme" your project is using Jira -> Administration -> Select the project of interest -> Issue Type Screen Scheme  -> Edit ( Here you will get to know about your screen scheme) -> Click your screen scheme [It will list the screens ]-> Select the screen -> Add Field  -> Add

Is your new custom field still not showing up on the desired screen ?

• Check  whether the field is hidden in Field configuration

           Login to Jira -> Administration -> Issue Fields -> Field configurations  -> Click configure of the desired field configuration scheme -> It will list all the fields for your project -> If the needed field is hidden, then click 'show' 

• Check whether your custom field context is restricted to specific projects 

     Login to Jira -> Administration -> Issue Fields -> Custom Fields -> Choose the custom field of interest -> Configure -> Edit Configuration -> Choose applicable context. 

      If it is restricted to specific project, then you can 

1. Add your project also
2. Or change it to 'Global context'

        Be careful and don’t configure a existing custom field to a project. This will then limit the custom field only to that project, removing it's visibility on other available screens.

How to know which projects/screens use a given custom field ?

  Login to Jira -> Administration -> Issue Fields -> Custom Fields -> Choose the custom field of interest  

 If the custom field 'Available context' shows any project, then it is restricted to that project. If no projects is listed in 'Available context', then look at the screens it is associated. A screen will be associated to a project through Screens -> Screen Schemes -> issue type screen schemes

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Jira Administration quick reference

1) Configuring the Layout and Design
Customising the Look and Feel
    Administration -> Global Settings -> Look and Feel -> To edit the logo, colours or time format, click the 'Edit Configuration' link at the bottom of the page
Changing the default language
  Administration -> General Configuration -> Edit Configuration > select the appropriate language in the drop-down box next to 'Default language'.
Configuring default issue navigator
  The Issue Navigator is used within JIRA to find and filter issues, and to display the search results in various formats ('views'). It is possible to

select which issue fields will be displayed as columns in the Issue Navigator.

   Administration -> Issue Fields -> Navigator Columns -> Add new column
Configuring the Default Dashboard
  Administration -> Global Settings -> System Dashboard -> Add Gadget
Configuring an Announcement Banner
  Administration -> Options & Settings -> Announcement Banner
Enabling Logout Confirmation
  Global Settings -> General Configuration -> Edit Configuration -> Logout confirmation



2) User and Group Management
Enabling Public Signup and CAPTCHA
  Administration -> Global settings -> General Configuration -> Edit Configuration -> In the 'Mode' drop-down, select 'Public'.
  To enable captcha Administration -> Global Settings -> General Configuration -> Edit Configuration -> Locate 'CAPTCHA on signup' and select 'On'.
Adding a User
  Administration -> User Browser -> Enter the Username (note that a user's Username cannot be changed once the user is created), Password, Full Name and Email Address.Optionally, tick the Send Password Email box to send the user an email containing a link via which to set their password
Assigning a User to a Group
 Administration -> User Browser -> Filter the user -> click the Groups link in the Operations column
Project role: I'm user 'xxx' and make me admin for project 'ppp'
   Administration -> User Browser -> Filter the user-ID and click on it -> Project Roles ( under Operations) -> Edit -> Tick the project
Changing a User's Name or Email Address
  Administration -> User Browser -> Filter the user-ID -> click their Edit link in the Operations column
Changing a User's Password
  Administration -> User Browser -> Filter the user-ID -> click their Username -> Click the Set Password link -> Enter and confirm the new password
Adding a Property to a User
  A 'Property' is an extra piece of information that you can store regarding a user. A Property consists of a Key of your choice (eg. 'Phonenumber', 'Location') plus a corresponding Value (eg. '987 654 3210', 'Level Three').
  Administration -> User Browser -> Filter the user-ID -> click their Username -> Edit Properties -> Enter the new Key and its Value, then click the Add button
Deactivating a User
  Before you deactivate a user, you should
     Reassign any open issues assigned to that user.(Open the issue -> Assign)
     Make sure the user is not the 'Default Assignee' for any project (Administration -> Projects -> Select project -> Edit project
  To deactivate a user account:
     Remove the user from all groups (User Browser -> Filter the user -> click the Groups link in the Operations column)
     Remove the user from all project roles (User Browser -> Filter the user-ID and click on it -> Project Roles)
  Deactivating the user account will result in the following
    the user will not count towards your license limit.
    work log entries associated with the user will remain
    filter subscriptions will continue to be sent to the user
Deleting a User
   Before you delete a user, you should bulk-edit the issues involved and change the reporter to someone else.
   Administration -> User Browser -> Filter the user-ID -> Delete -> The confirmation screen that follows will summarize any involvement of that user in the system by showing current issues assigned to and reported by that user, etc. These connections between the user and other parts of the system may prevent the deletion of that user.-> If there are no issues assigned to, or reported by the user, the confirmation screen will display a Delete button

JIRA's default groups
  jira-administrators:
  jira-developers: has the 'Browse Users', 'Create Shared Filter' and 'Manage Group Filter Subscriptions' global permissions.
  jira-users: typically contains every JIRA user in your system. It has the 'JIRA Users' and 'Bulk Change' global permissions.
Viewing/adding/deleting/editing groups
  Viewing: Administration -> Users, Groups & Roles -> Group Browser
   Adding: To create a group, enter the new group 'Name' in the 'Add Group' form
   Deleting: click the 'Delete' link for that group in the 'Group Browser'
   Editing: click the 'Edit Members' link in the row for that group in the 'Group Browser'
Automatic group membership
   To automatically add newly-created users to a particular group, grant the group the 'JIRA Users' global permission
   Administration -> Global Settings -> Global Permissions -> Add the 'JIRA Users' permission to the relevant group
Managing Project Roles
  Project roles are a flexible way to associate users and/or groups with particular projects. Project roles also allow for delegated administration
     - Global administrators define JIRA's project roles
     - Project administrators assign members to project roles specifically for their project(s).
  Project roles are somewhat similar to groups, the main difference being that group membership is global whereas project role membership is project-specific. Additionally, group membership can only be altered by JIRA administrators, whereas project role membership can be altered by project administrators.
JIRA's default project roles
 1) Administrators — typically contains people who administer a given project.
 2) Developers — typically contains people who work on issues in a given project.
 3) Users — typically contains people who log issues in a given project.
Viewing project roles
  Administration -> Users Groups & Roles -> Project Role Browser
  To see where a project role is used, click the 'View Usage' link: This will display a list of the project role's associated permission schemes, email notification schemes, issue security levels and workflow conditions.
  To see which users/groups are associated with a project role for a particular project, click the 'View' link.
Adding a project role
  Administration -> Users Groups & Roles -> Project Role Browser -> enter its Name and a Description in the 'Add Project Role' form -> click the 'Add Project Role' button
  Once a new project role is created, it is available to all projects. Project administrators can then assign members to the project role for their project
Deleting a project role
  Administration -> Users Groups & Roles -> Project Role Browser -> Delete
Editing a project role
  Administration -> Users Groups & Roles -> Project Role Browser -> Edit -> To edit the Name and Description of a project role
Specifying 'default members' for a project role
  Administration -> Users Groups & Roles -> Project Role Browser -> Manage Default Members

Viewing User Sessions
JIRA provides a list of users who are currently accessing JIRA. This is useful if you need to know who to contact before planned downtime.
Viewing Current User Sessions
  Administration -> System -> User Sessions
     It is possible to have "sessions" for computers that are not logged in. For example, when someone accesses JIRA without logging in, a unique session is created without a username.

Integrating JIRA with LDAP
  The main point to realise is that user profiles are still managed in JIRA. Only the password lookup is done against LDAP, and only if the JIRA username coincides with a LDAP username. If the username is not found in LDAP, then the local JIRA credentials will be used.
  LDAP users do not automatically have access to JIRA. A JIRA account must be created for each user wishing to use JIRA. You can bulk-create users from LDAP with this LDAP user importer.
 This is because each JIRA user has a set of groups (for example, 'jira-users') stored in their profile. Without an associated group, that user can do nothing; not even browse JIRA. Thus, for an LDAP user to be able to use JIRA, a JIRA administrator must create an account for them, and assign them to a group (typically
'jira-user'). The password in this JIRA account will be ignored, as the LDAP password will override it.
 Refer Admin guide for details.

Clearing 'Remember my login' Tokens
  When a user logs in to a JIRA site, they have the option of making JIRA remember their login on a specific computer and browser, by selecting the 'Remember my login...' check box before they click the 'Log In' button. Upon doing so, a 'Remember my login' token is stored by the JIRA server and a cookie containing this token is set in the user's browser.
  A user who revisits a JIRA site from the same computer and browser, will automatically be logged in if JIRA detects that one of the user's 'Remember my login' tokens has a matching token contained in one of that browser's cookies. If the user logs out of JIRA, the 'Remember my login' token is cleared from the JIRA server.
Clearing 'Remember my login' Tokens from a User Profile
  A JIRA user can clear all of their own 'Remember my login' tokens from JIRA through their user profile.
  Visit your User Profile -> Details -> 'Clear All Tokens'
Clearing a User's 'Remember my login' Tokens from the Administration Console
  Administration -> Users, Groups & Roles -> User Browser -> Click the Username -> Remember My Login -> Clear All
Clearing all 'Remember my login' Tokens from the JIRA site
  Administration -> System -> Remember My Login -> Clear All
Disabling Remember My Login on the login page
  The checkbox can be disabled by setting the 'jira.option.allowcookies' property to 'false' in WEB-INF/classes/jira-application.properties file. After that, a restart of JIRA is required 


Project Management
 Defining a Project
  Administration -> Add Project
  A project's configuration settings are as follows:
    Key: a 'key' unique to this project (eg. 'WEB'), which specifies the first few letters of this project's issue keys (e.g. 'WEB-100')
    Project Lead: Used as the 'Default Assignee'
    Default Assignee: the user to whom issues in this project are initially assigned when created. Can be either the 'Project Lead', or, 'Unassigned' (if Allow unassigned issues is set to 'On' in JIRA's general configuration)
    Project Roles: members are users/groups who fulfill particular functions for this project. Project roles are used in permission schemes, notification schemes, issue security schemes and workflows.
    Issue Type Scheme: the project's issue type scheme determines which issue types apply to this project.
    Notification Scheme: the project's notification scheme determines who receives email notifications of changes to issues in this project.
    Permission Scheme: the project's permission scheme determines who has permission to view or change issues in this project.
    Issue Security Scheme: the project's issue security scheme determines what visibility levels issues in this project can have.
    Field Configuration Scheme: the project's field configuration scheme determines which field configuration applies to issue types in this project.
    Issue Type Screen Scheme: the project's issue type screen scheme determines which screens are displayed for different issue operations (view, edit, create), for different issue types.
    Workflow Scheme: the project's workflow scheme determines which workflows (issue state transitions) apply to issue types in this project.
   Project Category: a logical category to group this project into. Useful for managing multiple related projects. New categories can be created via the 'Project Categories' link in the 'Administration' menu.
   Components: logical groups that this project's issues can belong to.
   Versions: versions defined in the project.

 A project administrator can:
    Edit the project name ('Test Project' in the screenshot above)
    Edit the project description ('A project for demonstration purposes' in the screenshot above)
    Edit the project avatar image
    Edit the URL
    Edit the Project Lead
    Edit project role membership *
    Define project components
    Define project versions
Managing Project Role Membership
 Viewing project role members
    To see which users and groups belong to each project role for a particular project
     Administration -> Click the project of interest.-> This will display the Project Administration page -> Click the 'View members' link
  Assigning/removing a user to a project role
     Administration -> Click the project of interest -> Click the 'View members' link -> Click the 'Edit' link in the 'Users' column for the project role you wish to edit -> This will display the 'Assign Users to Project Role' page
     To remove: Tick the user(s) you wish to remove from the project role, then click the 'Remove' button.
  Assigning/removing a group to a project role
     Administration -> Click the project of interest.-> This will display the Project Administration page -> Click the 'View members' link -> Click the 'Edit' link in the 'Groups' column for the project role you wish to edit -> Type the group name(s) in the 'Add Group' box on the right-hand side of the page, then click the 'Add' button
     To remove: Tick the group(s) you wish to remove from the project role, then click the 'Remove' button
Defining a Component
   Components are sub-sections of a project. They are used to group issues within a project into smaller parts.
  Adding a new component
    Administration -> Click the project of interest -> In the 'Components' section, click the 'Add' link.-> Type the name, description of your new component and assign a user to be the component lead -> Click the "Add" button.
  Selecting a Default Assignee
    Administration -> Click the project of interest -> In the 'Components' section, click the 'Select' link. -> For each component, select the assignee to whom you want to have new issues in the component assigned by default -> Click on the 'Update' button
  Editing a component
    Administration -> Click the project of interest -> In the 'Components' section -> click the 'Edit' link -> you can edit the name, description and lead
  Deleting a component
    Administration -> Click the project of interest -> In the 'Components' section -> click the 'Delete' link -> You can specify the action to be taken regarding the issues in this component. You can either associate these issues with another active component, or have the references removed. -> Press the 'Delete' button.
Managing Versions
  Versions are points-in-time for a project. They help you schedule and organize your releases.

    


  

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JIRA FAQ's

How to know the issues assigned to me?
Click your user name at the top-right of the page. Your 'User Profile' will be displayed.
From here click 'View Your Profile' in the left column.
Click the links under 'User Filters' in the right column to view your 'Assigned' issues, 'In Progress' issues and 'Reported' issues
Click the links under 'Assigned Open Issues per project' in the right column to view the unresolved issues (if any) that are assigned to you for each project.

How to see the list of all issues that you have created, which have not yet been resolved?
Go to the Dashboard and click the 'My Unresolved Reported Issues' link

How to change my Jira password?
Click your user name at the top-right of the page. Your 'User Profile' will be displayed.
Click 'Change Password' in the left column to change your JIRA password.
Unless you are not using Active Directory or LDAP username to login to JIRA


To view your watch-list
Click your user name at the top-right of the page. Your 'User Profile' will be displayed.
Click 'Your Watches' in the left column to view the list of issues that you are watching.


To change 'Number of Issues displayed per Issue Navigator page', 'Outgoing email format'
Click your user name at the top-right of the page. Your 'User Profile' will be displayed.
Click 'View Preferences'/'Edit Preferences' in the left column


How to attach a screenshot to an issue?
Open the JIRA issue. Click the 'Attach screenshot to this issue' link in the 'Operations' menu.
The 'Attach Screenshot' page will open in a new browser window.
Ensure that you have captured an image to your operating system's clipboard and click the 'Paste' button to paste the image.
Enter a file name and comment for the screenshot.
Click the 'Attach' button.

How to attach an image inline into a Description field? (editing rich text fields)

To include an image in the field, you would first attach the image to the issue, then type the following into the field: 
inline attachments !screenshot-1.jpg|thumbnail!


How to log work on an issue?
If time-tracking has been enabled, three coloured bars will be displayed for each issue, representing the following amounts of time: Original Estimate (blue), Remaining Estimate (orange), Time Spent (green).
Specifying an original time estimate
Navigate to the issue and edit it. Provide value to 'Original Estimation either in weeks/days/hours/minutes like 3d, 2h, 4w, etc
Logging work on an issue 
Navigate to the issue and select 'Log work done' from the 'Operations' menu on the left-hand side of the screen. 
In the 'Time Spent' field, enter the amount of time to be logged. 
In the 'Start Date' field, select the date/time when you started work. 
The 'Adjust Estimate' field affects the value of the issue's 'Remaining Estimate'.

In the 'Work Description' field, type a description about the work you have done.
Click the 'Log' button.
Editing a work log entry
Navigate to the issue and select the 'Work Log' tab (below the 'Description' field).
Click the 'Edit' link, located at the right of the work log entry. Edit the fields and Click the 'Log' button.
Deleting a work log entry
Navigate to the issue and select the 'Work Log' tab (below the 'Description' field).
Click the 'Delete' link, located at the right of the work log entry.


How to do a search for issues that are due seven days from now?
Choose "Find Issues" in the title bar to bring up the Issues Navigator.
Enter 7d into the "Due Date To" text field of the Issue Navigator.
To find all issues that are due after 1st June 2011, enter 1-6-2011 into the "Due After" field.

How to create a subtask?
Navigate to the issue and select 'Create sub-task' from the 'Operations' menu.
Choose the project and issue type. Enter the details of the issue
Click the 'Create' button

The parent issue's summary and issue key are displayed above the sub-task's summary.
Working with sub-tasks
If an issue has sub-tasks, then the issue screen will show a list of all the issue's sub-tasks.
You can reorder sub-tasks by using the up and down arrows.

You can perform actions on the sub-tasks by clicking the links in the right-most column, e.g. 'Resolve Issue', 'Close Issue', 'Reopen Issue'.
If time-tracking is enabled, colored bars will be displayed showing the aggregate 'Original Estimate', 'Remaining Estimate' and 'Time Spent' for all of the issue's sub-tasks.
Searching for sub-tasks
When sub-tasks are enabled, two extra entries will appear in the 'Issue Type' drop-down list in the
Issue Navigator's search form. These entries are: 'Standard Issue Types' and 'Sub-Task Issue Types'.
Converting a standard issue to a sub-task
Navigate to the issue and select 'Convert to sub-task' from the 'Operations' menu
Select Parent Issue and Sub-Task Type
Update Fields and click the 'Finish' button
The issue will be displayed. You will see that it is now a sub-task, that is, its parent's issue number is now displayed at the top of the screen

Converting a sub-task to a standard issue
Navigate to the sub-task issue and select 'Convert to issue' from the 'Operations' menu.
Select New Status and Update Fields. 
Click the 'Finish' button. The issue will be displayed. You will see that it is no longer a sub-task, that is, there is no longer a parent issue number displayed at the top of the screen.


How to create Voter and Watcher Lists?
JIRA allows a user to cast a vote for a particular issue - "voicing" their preference for that issue to be resolved or completed. JIRA also allows a user to watch a particular issue, signing up for notifications of any updates relating to that issue.
Watcher list
Navigate to issue -> More Actions -> Watchers -> Add users to Watch list -> Add.
Stop watching.
Navigate to issue -> More Actions -> Stop Watching.


How to create a link between issues?
Issue linking allows you to create an association between issues. For example: an issue may duplicate another or an issue may depend on another
Navigate to issue and click the word 'Link' under the Operations menu or "More Actions" (in newer version).

The 'Link Issue' form will be displayed. Select the type of link to be created, and the issue(s) to be linked to.
To delete a link
Inside a linked issue, click on the 'Manage Links' link (*  button in newer version).

In the following screen, click on the small trashcan icon in the bottom-right corner.

How to clone an issue?

Clone Issue allows a user to create a duplicate of an issue within the same project.
The clone issue is a replica of the original issue - containing the same information stored in the original issue - e.g.summary, affects versions, components, etc.

A clone issue is a separate entity from the original issue. Operations on the original issue have no affect on the clone issue and vice versa.

Navigate to issue and click the word 'clone' under the Operations menu or "More Actions" menu (in newer version).
Clone Issue Linking
The clone issue can be linked to the original issue when creating the clone issue.
Cloning and Sub-Tasks
Sub-Tasks can be cloned in the same manner. If the original issue has associated sub-tasks, clone sub-tasks will also be created for the clone issue.

How to move an issue from one project to another?

As there may be significant differences in the configuration of your original project and target project, the 'Move Issue' wizard allows you to change certain attributes of the issue. These include: Issue Type (if any custom type defined), Issue Status, Custom Fields.


Navigate to issue and click the word 'move' under the Operations menu or "More Actions" menu (in newer version).

The first page 'Move Issue' wizard will display. Select the project that you wish to move your issue to, and if required, change the issue type. Click 'Next'.
If you are required to change the status of your issue the 'Select Status' page will display. Select the new status for your issue and click 'Next'.
If you are required to specify the values for any required custom fields the 'Update Fields' page will display. Specify the desired values for each field, and click 'Next'.
The 'Confirmation' page will display with all of your changes.
click 'Move'


How to perform bulk operations?

From the Issue Navigator, perform a search with the required filters to produce an issue result set.
The Bulk Change option in the Issue Navigator menu provides access to the bulk operations. The Bulk Change link is only available to users who have been granted the global Bulk Change permission.
The next screen allows the selection of the issues that the bulk operation is to be performed on.

The next screen allows the bulk operation to be selected - Workflow Transition, Delete, Move or Edit. Select the operations and follow corresponding actions to complete the bulk operation.
It is possible to disable mail notification for a particular bulk operation by de-selecting the "Send Notification" checkbox in the bulk operation wizard.

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A look around Jira concepts

Jira is a issue management tool.

What issue means to Jira?
    Bug, Project task, help-desk ticket, a leave request form.

Issue types
  Default
    - Bug
    - Improvement
    - New Feature
    - Task
    - or custom issue defined by admin

Issue statuses
  General: Open  -> Resolved  -> Closed
  Open
  In progress
  Resolved
  Reopened
  Closed

Issue Resolution types
  Fixed
  Won't fix
  Duplicate
  Incomplete
  Cannot Reproduce

Issue Priority types
  Blocker   (Highest)             P0
  Critical                               P1
  Major                                P2
  Minor                                P3
  Trivial

Project
  - S/w development project, marketing campaign, help-desk system, leave request management system
  - It will have a name and a KEY
  - Issue Key = Project Key-###  
     where ### is issue number
               
                 Projects
                      |
         ------------------------                              --------- Released
        |                                    |                 States   |
  Components                 Versions ----- --------- |----------- unreleased
                                            |                              | 
                                                                           ----------- Archived  
                                            |                            
                   -----------------------------------     
                  |                                            |
         Affects version                         Fix version
                                                               | No fix version
                                                        unscheduled

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Posting a JIRA bug using Perl Mechanize

Perl provides modules which can be used as command line browser to automate tasks dependent on web pages. Among them LWP and mechanize are important ones. Mechanize is latest module with more features compared to LWP.
Recently I wrote a perl script to integrate a perl tool with JIRA bug tracking tool using mechanize, I just want to document here about mechanize usage with JIRA.
Basically this perl script post a bug in Jira after authentication

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use WWW::Mechanize;
use HTTP::Cookies;
$mech = WWW::Mechanize->new();

# Authenticate to Jira and get a cookie back for the subsequent post.
$root_uri = "http://your-jira-site.com";

$mech->cookie_jar(HTTP::Cookies->new()); # Don't write cookies to file!
$mech->get($root_uri);
#login to Jira
$mech->form_name('loginform');
$mech->field(os_username => $jira_id);
$mech->field(os_password => $jira_pass);
$mech->click();
my $response = $mech->content();
if ($response !~ m/Dashboard for (\w+) (\w+)/) {
print_error("Failed to add new bug: authentication failed. Below you might find a clue as to what happened.");
print_error("

---

");
print_error($response);
return;
} else {
$username="$1 $2";
}



print "

creating new Jira bug ...

\n";
my $show_uri = "$root_uri/browse";
# Go to Product page in Jira
$mech->follow_link(text => "$product", n => 1);
#Browse to create new issue form
$mech->follow_link(text => "Create a new issue in project $product", n => 1);
$mech->form_name('jiraform');
$mech->click();

#Create a new bug
$mech->form_name('jiraform');
$mech->field(summary => "$formdata{hotfix}: $formdata{bugtitle}");
$mech->field(components => "$components_map{\"$formdata{component}\"}");
$mech->field(customfield_10044 => "$formdata{platform}"); #OS/Platform
$mech->field(customfield_10054 => "moderate"); #Bug severity
$mech->field(assignee => "$jira_id");
$mech->field(description => "$comment");
$mech->field(customfield_10067 => "$_[0]"); #Found in Version
$mech->field(customfield_10007 => "All"); #Appserver
$mech->field(customfield_10060 => "Support request (CE_Assistance)"); #Type of defect
$mech->field(customfield_10020 => "CS - other"); #Discovered by function
$mech->field(customfield_10019 => "Use in production "); #Discovered by activity
$mech->click();
print "

  posting bug ...\n";
$response = $mech->content();
my $bz_msg;
my $bug_number;
if ($response =~ m/Key:.*?browse\/(\w+)-(\w+)/s) {
$bug_number = "$1-$2";
print "done

\n";
$bz_msg = "

Bug #$bug_number for version $_[0] has been posted to " . "Jira.

\n";
print "$bz_msg";
$bz_donemsg .= $bz_msg;
} else {
$bz_donemsg .= "

No Jira bug was filed for version $_[0]. This will need to be done manually.

\n";
print_error("Failed to add new bug (Jira output follows):\n$response");
}



Reference: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/wa-perlsecure.html

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