Synchronizing incidents with Azure DevOps work items via BMC Helix iPaaS, powered by Jitterbit

As an administrator, you can integrate BMC Helix ITSM with Microsoft Azure DevOps to synchronize BMC Helix ITSM incidents with Azure DevOps work items. When an incident is created in BMC Helix ITSM, a corresponding work item is created in Azure DevOps and the converse is also true. This integration enables your service desk agents to collaborate with developers who use Azure DevOps.

BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker, along with BMC Helix iPaaS, powered by Jitterbit provides an out-of-the-box integration template that you can use to integrate BMC Helix ITSM and Azure DevOps. You configure the integration in BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker and deploy the integration template to your BMC Helix iPaaS environment.

This integration provides the following capabilities:

The following image gives an overview of the capabilities that this integration supports:

Before you begin

Make sure you have the following items:

• A valid  BMC Helix iPaaS, powered by Jitterbit  subscription.

• Administrator access to the Azure DevOps account.
• An Azure DevOps personal access token created for this integration.
• Administrator access for BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker and BMC Helix ITSM users to run this integration.

• The Sync BMC Helix ITSM incident and Microsoft Azure DevOps work item Update 2022-03-01  project file downloaded to your system from the BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker page on the Electronic Product Distribution site.

• Duplicate webhooks with the same condition do not exist in Azure DevOps.

View the Azure DevOps work item details in the BMC Helix ITSM incident

After you implement the integration by using BMC Helix iPaaS, powered by Jitterbit, you can view the Azure DevOps work item details in the corresponding BMC Helix ITSM incident.

Azure DevOps to BMC Helix ITSM data flow

BMC Helix ITSM to Azure DevOps data flow

Task 1: To configure the integration

1. Log in to BMC Helix Innovation Studio.
2. On Workspace, click Multi-Cloud Broker.

3. To launch BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker, click Visit Deployed Application.
   

   Tip

   You can access BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker directly by entering the URL https://hostName:portNumber/helix/index.html#/com.bmc.dsm.mcsm/login and logging in as a tenant administrator.

4. Click Settings .

5. Select Start Here > Quick Configuration Guide.

   The Quick Configuration Guide page is displayed.

6. In the Step 1: Choose configuration tab, under DevOps Integration, select Between ITSM Incident and Azure DevOps.

   Important

   In Choose Configuration, Helix iPaaS (powered by Jitterbit) is selected by default. Do not change this value.

   

7. In the Step 2: Perform configurations tab, perform the following steps:

   1. Add an operating organization, if you have not already done so.

   2. Add Microsoft as the vendor organization, if you have not already done so.

   3. To add the vendor metadata, click Map vendors and perform the following steps:

   1. On the Map Vendors page, click Map Vendor. 

   2. Complete the fields as described in the following table:

      Field	Action
      Description	Enter a description for the vendor metadata configuration.
      Ticketing Technology Provider	From the list, select Azure DevOps.
      (Optional) Instance Name	If you are using multiple instances of Azure DevOps, enter the name of the instance that you are using for this integration.
      Add Mapping	After you select the ticketing technology provider, click Add Mapping. BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker displays the default values in the Instance URL field, and the Display Field Mapping and Vendor Field Mapping sections.
      Instance URL	The default value of this variable is https://dev.azure.com/{organization}/{project}/_workitems/edit/{System.Id}. Update the organization and project name in the default URL. For example, update the default value to https://dev.azure.com/bmcmcsm/MCSM/_workitems/edit/{System.Id}.
      Display Field Mapping	By default, the basic Azure DevOps fields are mapped in this section. If you want to map additional fields to display in the BMC Helix ITSM UI, add the relevant mappings by clicking .
      Vendor Field Mapping	To perform a direct data synchronization between BMC Helix ITSM and Azure DevOps, only update the mappings in the Remedy to Vendor Sync Fields and Vendor to Remedy Sync Fields sections. You must not update any other sections.
      Enable Local ITSM Communication	By default, this toggle key is enabled.  If you want to use BMC Helix Integration Service as the underlying integration platform, disable this toggle key.
      Integration Platform	Select Jitterbit.

   3. Click Save.

   4. To fetch incidents from BMC Helix ITSM, click Define filter criteria to fetch records from ITSM to Helix Multi-Cloud Broker for incident, and perform the following steps:

      1. From the Select trigger event for incident list, select the operation for which you want to fetch the incidents.

      2. In Advanced filter, define the filer criteria by using the available fields.

      3. Click Save.

         
         When an incident matches the operation and filter that you have selected, the system fetches that incident to BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker.

   5. In the Configure Azure DevOps integration section, refer the configuration steps listed and select the check boxes as you complete each step. 

   6. Click Save.

Task 2: To import the integration template project file

1. Log in to BMC Helix iPaaS and navigate to Cloud Studio.
2. Select your organization.
3. On the projects page, click Import.

4. Click Browse to navigate to and select the JSON file that you downloaded from the Electronic Product Distribution site.
   The Project Name and Organization fields are automatically populated. The default project name is displayed. You can change the project name.

5. From the Environment list, select the environment to which you want to import this integration template, and click Import.
   The project opens after the integration template is imported. 
6. To open the project file at a later time, select the environment where the integration templates are available, select the project name, and click View/Edit.

Task 3: To update the project variables for the integration template

1. Click the ellipsis ... next to the project name and select Project Variables.
   
2. Update the project variables as described in the following tables:

   • BMC Helix iPaaS project variables

     Project variable	Action
     BHIP_API_Name	Enter the name for API that is created in BMC Helix iPaaS to receive BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker webhook requests. The default value of this variable is set to BMCHelixITSMIncidentAndAzureWorkItem. If required, you can change the name.
     BHIP_API_User_Roles	Specify the organization roles that should have access to the new API. You can add multiple, comma separated values. Important: If you do not specify any value, all the organization roles get access to the new API.
     BHIP_MCB_API_Profile_User_Name	The integration template creates an API in BMC Helix iPaaS to handle requests from BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker. Enter the user name that should be used while creating the BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker API profile.
     BHIP_MCB_API_Profile_User_Password	The integration template creates an API in BMC Helix iPaaS to handle requests from BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker. Enter the password that should be used while creating the BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker API profile.
     BHIP_Vendor_API_Profile_Type	The integration templates create APIs to accept requests from a vendor. Enter one of the following API authentication mechanisms that you want to use with this API: BASIC ANONYMOUS The default value of this variable is set to BASIC.
     BHIP_Vendor_API_Profile_User_Name	Enter the user name for the security profile that you want to use with the vendor API.  Important: Provide a value for this variable, only if you select the BASIC option in BHIP_Vendor_API_Profile_Type.
     BHIP_Vendor_API_Profile_User_Password	Enter the password for the security profile that you want to use with the vendor API.  Important: Provide a value for this variable, only if you select the BASIC option in BHIP_Vendor_API_Profile_Type.
     BHIP_Vendor_API_Profile_ApiKey_Name	Enter the APIKEY name for the security profile that you want to use with the vendor API.  Important: Provide a value for this variable, only if you select the APIKEY option in BHIP_Vendor_API_Profile_Type.
     BHIP_Host	Enter the BMC Helix iPaaS instance URL where you want to run this project. Important: Make sure that you do not enter any leading and trailing spaces.
     BHIP_User_Name	Enter the user name for the BMC Helix iPaaS instance.
     BHIP_User_Password	Enter the password for the BMC Helix iPaaS instance.
     Enable_BMC_Helix_To_Vendor_Integration	By default, this variable is enabled. Important: This variable enables the creation of Azure DevOps work items from BMC Helix ITSM incidents and synchronization of updates and comment.
     Enable_Vendor_To_BMC_Helix_Integration	By default, this variable is enabled. Important: This variable enables the creation of BMC Helix ITSM incidents from Azure DevOps work items and synchronization of updates and comment.

   • Azure DevOps variables:

     Project variable	Action
     AzureDevOps_Host	Enter https:\dev.azure.com. Important: Make sure that you do not enter any leading and trailing spaces.
     AzureDevOps_Organization	Enter your organization name in Azure DevOps.
     AzureDevOps_Personal_Access_Token	Enter the Azure DevOps personal access token that you created earlier.
     AzureDevOps_Project	Enter the project name that you want to use in Azure DevOps.
     (Optional) AzureDevOps_Webhook_Area_Path	Enter the area path name based on which the Azure DevOps webhook can filter the work items.
     (Optional) AzureDevOps_Webhook_Tag	Enter the tag name based on which the Azure DevOps webhook can filter the work items.
     AzureDevOps_Webhook_Work_Item_Type	Enter the type of work item based on which the Azure DevOps webhook events should be filtered. The integration template supports the following work item types: Bug Epic Feature User Story

   • BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker project variables:

     Project variable	Action
     MCB_Host	Enter the BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker host URL to which the Azure DevOps work items should be synchronized. Important: Make sure that you do not enter any leading and trailing spaces.
     MCB_User_Name	Enter the user name that enables users to interact with BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker.
     MCB_User_Password	Enter the password for the provided user name.
     MCB_Vendor_Name	This variable is autopopulated. Do not change the default value.

     The following variables are inputs from BMC Helix ITSM. Either enter values for these variables or map appropriate Azure DevOps fields if the data is available:

     Project variable	Value
     ITSM_Company_Name	Enter the company name for which the integration template needs to be run; for example, Calbro Services.
     ITSM_Customer_First_Name	Enter the first name of the BMC Helix ITSM customer.
     ITSM_Customer_Last_Name	Enter the last name of the BMC Helix ITSM customer.
     ITSM_Incident_Type	Enter any of the following incident types for which a corresponding Azure DevOps work item should be created: User Service Restoration User Service Request Infrastructure Restoration Infrastructure Event Security Incident The default value of this variable is set to User Service Restoration.

Task 4: To deploy and enable the project

Deployment is a one-time activity that initializes the integration configurations. The UI displays a message for the deployment status.

Refer to the following image that shows the steps to deploy the project then enable it by deploying the workflow:

(Optional) Task 5: To set the time for API debug mode

By default, the debug mode is set to 2 hours after you run the integration. Debug logs are updated for the time set for the debug mode. To increase the debug mode for a longer period of time, perform the following steps:

1. In BMC Helix iPaaS, powered by Jitterbit, select API Manager > My APIs.

2. Open any of the following APIs:

   • BMC_Helix_ITSM_Incident_And_Azure_Work_Item_MCB_To_Vendor—This API creates an Azure DevOps work item from a BMC Helix ITSM incident.
   • BMC_Helix_ITSM_Incident_And_Azure_Work_Item_Vendor_To_MCB—This API creates a BMC Helix ITSM incident from an Azure DevOps work item.

3. Select Enable Debug Mode Until: and set it for the required date and time.

4. Save and publish the API.

(Optional) Task 6: To map a custom field between BMC Helix ITSM and Azure DevOps

You can map custom fields between BMC Helix ITSM and Azure DevOps. To learn about the steps to map custom fields, see Mapping custom fields for integrations by using BMC Helix iPaaS, powered by Jitterbit.

Related topics

BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker overview

Reference of integration between Azure DevOps and BMC Helix ITSM incidents by using BMC Helix iPaaS