The Jira integration encourages collaboration between product teams and the support team. The Jira v4 integration supports both Atlassian Jira Cloud (OnDemand), Jira Data Center, and Jira Server (OnPremise) version 7x and above.
Topics covered in this article:
- Installation requirements
- Installing and configuring the integration
- Restricting access to the Jira Cloud app
- Adding fields to the Jira app in Zendesk Support
- Using the dedicated integration user option
- Jira Server-specific instructions
Related topics:
- Using the Zendesk Support for Jira integration
- Zendesk Support for Jira related terminology
- Restricting access to projects in your Jira integration
- Updating a ticket when the status of a Jira issue changes
Installation requirements
You must have administrator permissions in both Jira and Zendesk Support to set up the integration.
Additionally, you must meet the following requirements:
- Be a member of the jira-administrators and jira-software-users groups
- Have no permission schemes that prevent you from creating or updating projects
- The reporter field is on the Create Issue screen for the respective projects
- Use the Jira Internal Directory as your user directory
-
Atlassian add-ons have permission to access your Jira projects. This is enabled by default. To verify this, check the Project Permissions page for each project in Jira. The various project actions should have a Project Role called
Project Role (atlassian-addons-project-access)
-
Third-party cookies are enabled. However, if third-party cookies need to remain disabled on your system, add
jiraplugin.zendesk.com
to the list of content exceptions
Installing and configuring the integration
The integration setup process involves installing the Zendesk Support for Jira app in Atlassian Marketplace from your Jira account, then configuring the app.
To install and configure the integration
- In Jira, click Apps in the top navigation bar, then select Find new apps.
- On the Marketplace apps page, search for Zendesk.
- Locate and click the Zendesk Support for Jira entry in the search results.
- Click Get app.
- Click Get it now.
- When the installation success notification modal appears, click Configure.
- Enter your Zendesk subdomain. By default, the Create a new dedicated Zendesk user for this integration checkbox is selected. We recommend using this feature to allow all escalations from Jira to Zendesk Support to not come from the admin who set up the integration, but from the dedicated user. This automatically creates a new admin user in your Zendesk account that is only used by the Jira integration. For more information, see Using the dedicated integration user option.
- Click Authenticate.
- A second browser page opens requesting to sign in to your Zendesk account. Enter your login credentials. The page will close.
- On the app's settings page, select the details to display in linked Jira issues.
- Click Save.
- If you are using Jira Cloud, you can check the integration works by adding the user
add_on_zendesk_for_jira
to the groupjira-users
in the Jira admin.
In Jira Cloud, the integration creates a free admin user called Zendesk for Jira. You can change the avatar of the user on the Profile page.
Restricting access to the Jira Cloud app
If you want to control who has access to the app, for example, admins or agents only, you can make the change in Zendesk.
To restrict access to the Jira Cloud app
- In Zendesk Support, click the Admin icon (
), then go to Apps > Manage and locate the Jira Cloud app.
- Hover over the Jira Cloud app. Using the drop-down menu on the right side of the app icon, select Change settings.
- Under Installation, select the Enable role restrictions? checkbox.
- Click in the Role restrictions text box, and select the roles that should have permission to use the app.
- Click Update to save and apply the changes to your settings.
That's it. Your teams can start collaborating using Zendesk and Jira. To find out how, see Using the Zendesk for Jira Cloud integration.
Adding fields to the Jira app in Zendesk Support
When creating a Jira issue from a Zendesk Support ticket, you're asked to enter details about the issue being reported, in the Create a new Jira issue form:
- Project
- Issue type
- Reporter
- Assignee
- Summary
- Description
These default fields cannot be removed. However, you can include additional fields from Jira in this form, either pre-existing fields, or custom fields.
For more information, see Specifying field behavior on the Atlassian website.
Configuring the issue creation form
You can define which Jira fields the agents sees when creating a new Jira issue from Support, a significant enhancement introduced in the Jira app v4.
These fields are specific to a particular Jira project and issue type. Issue fields defined as "required" in Jira will appear on the form regardless of configurations on this form.
Using the dedicated integration user option
If you choose to create a dedicated integration user in your Zendesk Support account, a new, verified admin user (Jira Integration
) is automatically created, along with an email address (jira_integration_XXXXXX@jira.zendesk-integrations.com
). This user account is fully managed by the integration and will be suspended if the integration is removed.
- The dedicated integration user option requires an available agent seat. While in use, that seat will not be available for other agents.
- The admin account who installed the Jira integration and the dedicated integration user must always have admin rights, and be active in order for the integration to function. If you suspend or downgrade the admin account or the dedicated integration user, the integration will not function.
After the authentication and creation processes are completed, the integration service is ready to use. All the commenting and field sync actions will be performed as if they’re done by the dedicated integration user.
If you decide to stop using the dedicated integration user, you can disconnect the integration from the Jira side. When disconnected, Jira will stop using the dedicated integration user. The dedicated integration user in Zendesk Support account will be downgraded to an end-user and suspended. Uninstalling the plugin will also downgrade and suspend the user.
To disconnect the dedicated integration user
- In Jira, click Jira settings, then go to Apps > Manage apps.
- Click to expand the Zendesk Support for Jira app, then click Configure.
- Click Disconnect to disconnect your subdomain.
- Re-enter your subdomain, and deselect the option to create a dedicated integration user.
- Click Authenticate to re-authenticate your subdomain.
Jira Server-specific instructions
- Ensure you allow Zendesk to establish a connection to your Jira server by creating an allowlist for the following:
- The IP addresses for your Zendesk account. For information on how to obtain them, see "Getting the IP addresses" in Configuring your firewall for use with Zendesk
- The Jira integration IP address range (Pod 19): 18.233.240.4/32, 35.171.179.180/32, and 54.88.153.44/32
- We strongly recommend that SSL encryption is used to secure the communication between Jira and Zendesk, especially for production environments. If SSL is enabled, you must have a full SSL certificate stack from a certificate authority. Self-signed certificates are not supported. The intermediate certificate is commonly not installed on the Jira server.
- Make sure that the right port is open (usually
80/8080/443
depending on your SSL settings) on your network for inbound/outbound traffic between Zendesk and Jira. - When configuring the add-on in Jira, the "Jira Base URL" may not be the same URL you use to access Jira on your private server. The Jira Base URL must be a publicly-accessible address, so Zendesk can use it to make network requests to your Jira instance. You can connect this publicly-accessible address to your private server address via NAT or reverse proxy.
- The Zendesk addon in Jira needs to run with administrative privileges. We suggest creating a dedicated account as follows and adding it to
jira-administrators
andjira-software-users
groups.Full name: Zendesk for Jira
Username: addon_zendesk
59 Comments
I have a field called "Sprint", which is a type JIRA Agile Sprint Field. I'd like to show my Zendesk users the value so they know when to expect a particular fix - any ideas why I don't see this in the list of available fields? I see all sorts of other standard and custom fields, but not the "Sprint" field.
Also having the "Did you follow the installation instructions for this app and install the JIRA add-on to complete the setup?"
Uninstalled everything yesterday, re-installed and it worked. Today having the same issues, but this time, uninstalling and re-installing doesn't help. But I'd rather not do all this re-installing on a daily basis.
We really need this JIRA addon/integration in our workflow.
@Stephen / @Sam / @Wouter,
I'm sorry to hear about this - would you be willing to submit a ticket to us so we can examine each of your individual cases? They may not all stem from the same issue, so it would be best if we check out each issue separately.
@Lawrence, it looks like there's already a ticket with Zendesk Support to help you address your specific question. Someone will get back to you shortly :)
My issue was resolved in ticket #1129784, the issue was a problem with apps loading on the Zendesk side for a few specific apps.
Ah! Good to hear, thanks for denoting that Stephen. Much appreciated!
I'm struggling to find a way to track data using this tool.
Before we linked Zendesk tickets to the corresponding bug or feature request in JIRA, we used a Google Sheet to +1 the issue when users reported it to us. This allowed us to see who was encountering the issue and when they were reporting it to us.
Linking the tickets from Zendesk to JIRA is helpful because we can see who reported it (by looking at the JIRA ticket), but we are struggling to find a way of tracking when people reported it.
For example, I have no way of answering the question, "Which three bugs did users report to us most frequently this week?" Similarly, I can't answer "Do users request this feature during certain seasons or year-round?" These are valuable questions to drive our planning and we're missing the ability to pull the data from these linked tickets.
Any ideas??
I'd like to provide an update to those of you who have been asking about bringing this version of the integration to JIRA Server (OnPremise).
This integration relies on a framework from Atlassian called Connect. Atlassian bundles this into their JIRA Cloud (OnDemand) offering and it has become the defacto standard for building Cloud plugins, but has yet to provide us with a timeline for bringing Connect to JIRA Server. As such, we cannot yet offer a timeline for offering this integration on JIRA Server.
Once Connect becomes available for JIRA Server, we will prioritize offering one plugin that works both across JIRA's Cloud and Server products. It will simplify our ability to support your JIRA integration needs. I am personally working on getting better insight into Atlassian's plans with Connect and will update the community here with any meaningful progress.
We only see Zendesk for Jira version 1.0.9 available under manage add-ons. Version 1.0.9 is already installed and configured. Can someone please point me to where the later versions, including V3, are available? Thanks.
Joti,
The Zendesk for JIRA integration shows up in JIRA's "Add-ons" section as v1.0.9 (as of the writing of this post). The "v3" nomenclature is a bit misleading - it is our 3rd generation of our JIRA integration. The "v3" does not refer to the build number or version number for the integration itself.
Thus, if you've followed this guide and have the Zendesk for JIRA add-on in your JIRA instance, you should be on the right track!
Does the current integration for JIRA OnDemand use the REST or SOAP API?
Bryant - Thanks for answering that question. I've got v1.0.9 installed on our JIRA.
I went over to our Zendesk to see if we have the JIRA v3 app installed, but I only see our old one, which is labeled as just "JIRA". So, I'm definitely not seeing a second JIRA app on Zendesk and even the one that is there is not v2, it just lists JIRA. I looked for apps in Zendesk and there are no other JIRA apps available. Thanks for help!
Received an email this morning about having to switch from v2 to v3 of the JIRA app. Yet, when I look at ours the widget only appears as "JIRA" not "JIRA v2". And if I look at the Manage Apps, I see that we are running Version 0.7.14. Looking in the Marketplace there is only 1 version of JIRA OnDemand available and it shows version 0.7.14 having been updated 30-Jun-15.
So, how do we go about updating to v3?
I seem to be confused. I have the cloud version I have installed in my Hub states Version 0.7.14 - the marketplace version states the same. So how do you know it is version 2 vs version 3 when an installed version shows the exact same information. Do I download from ZD Marketplace and install the updated version that has June 15th date on it which the existing version installed does not appear to have a date?
then every ticket I have open I have to unshare and reshare - how do I know the difference between the two in sharing?
Hey guys!
My colleague Bryant posted this on the previous page:
Hopefully this clears up the confusion for you, but please let me know if you have any other questions!
Have the same problems that Jennifer had, we're not getting the fields to show to complete the install of the ZD app in Jira.
@Matthew Dunn any other suggestions for getting this to work?
Thanks!
Figured out that the reason ZD app would not complete the install is due to SSO integration with our app is used only for our users and not for our Admin or Agents.
Next Question: Any have a way to grab the Jira ID and be able to populate a field with it like the old integration used to do?
Thanks.
@Michael you will need to manually input the JIRA issue number as a tag or a custom text field value on the Zendesk side
Is there a way to customize the fields shown in the "Create a new JIRA issue" dialog--when creating from Zendesk
Even we also facing the same problem for last 1 week. We raised the ticket to ZENDESK support. even though we followed as per this documentation & installed the latest JIRA plugin i.e. Version 0.7.14 in Zendesk. Some body shoud address this issue ASAP.
We got BIG impact now because of this
Hi Shivaraj!
I see that you're getting assistance with this in a Support ticket. We'll get you taken care of there!
All,
Our projects are no longer able to be selected from the initial create issue overlay. With inspect element, we are seeing a js error in the console. "Unexpected invocation of setTimeout by an app." Any ideas why this might be happening? Was there an update to the App?
Hi Michael - No known issues that I can find. I'll create a ticket for you and we can troubleshoot the problem there.
HI there,
I'm trying to setup an integration with jira On-demand (property of an external supplier)
I've followed the steps of the instructions in the article above.
steps 1 trough 7 work just fine.
After step 7, the Jira addon gets created in zendesk, and I see it being added in the app pane on the right.
However, when i click the buttons "create issue" and "link issue", the OK button is grayed out, and i cannot use it.
some more information:
- we do have an additional jira on-premise integration active.
- we also had an existing jira on-demand integration, but this was removed after going to on-premise
Initially, I thought the Jira security settings of our supplier were too strict, so I've created a trial account of jira myself, but I get the same results there.
does anyone have an idea what could cause this?
Am I missing a step, and do I need to setup additional settings in zendesk?
Could this be a remnant of the previous on-demand installation blocking the new integration? (I did remove all existing on-demand addons before trying the steps in the article)
thanks!
Bart
I installed the Zendesk for JIRA Cloud add on and it created the user "addon_zendesk_for_jira". When I have the JIRA worflow use a post function to update a linked ticket it posts the message as being from me - the system admin - and not the "addon_zendesk_for_jira" user.
It has been like this for a long time (since installing in 2014). I want to change the user that posts the update to Zendesk from JIRA.
I read through the documentation and looked to re-install using an admin user (preferably "addon_zendesk_for_jira") however I cannot log in as this user in JIRA to do the install - it is a system account.
Can you provide more detail/insight in how to do this?
Hi Richard
The user we are using to post ticket updates on Zendesk is the user you authenticate with when you set up the add-on in JIRA add-on settings.
The way you would make it to not come from you is that you would need to create a Zendesk admin called "JIRA for Zendesk" or "Zendesk/JIRA user" or something like that and authenticate with that admin.
Unfortunately that's the only workaround for now, we need a user to post updates to Zendesk with and that has to be the account you use to authenticate. Zendesk doesn't yet support "system users" with the API (which JIRA does. That's the "system-user" you're referring to in your question)
Does that make sense?
Thanks
Early in this article is this paragraph:
"The same consideration applies in the other direction, from JIRA to Zendesk. The integration creates a free admin user called "Zendesk for JIRA", or you can set yourself up as a JIRA administrator called "JIRA Dev" or "JIRA Product" for performing the setup. You can change the avatar of the user like any other user with the Profile page."
This indicates that the user account on the Jira side is free, however it appears that the administrator account that I need to use for the Zendesk side of the integration is a full price user account correct?
-Nicole
Nicole,
Unfortunately for now that is correct. Zendesk and Atlassian JIRA have different technical structures when it comes to user models, and on this one, for now, Zendesk doesn't support "system users" for integrations.
Thanks
Hello.
I've set up some custom fields for showing it to our Jira users. They would like to know what device, operating system and what version of our software users use. I check the boxes on Jira on Demand on Zendesk's side, but they don't show up in the preview of the Jira tickets.

What am I doing wrong?
Brigit,
In order to make custom Zendesk fields appear in JIRA, you need to enable them in the "configure" page of the Zendesk add-on in JIRA.
As shown here:


Hope this helps.
I have this add-on installed and it's working well for the most part. One odd behavior though is that in JIRA, it's not possible to search for an issue based on the Zendesk ticket ID.
i.e. my JIRA _issues table has two new columns: zd_ticket_ and zendesk_application_link_ticket_reference. Both remain NULL though, even when the JIRA issue has been linked to a Zendesk ticket.
I also haven't found a way to search for the JIRA issue from within Zendesk.
Should these searches be possible, or is that data not accessible via the search field (or database query)?
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