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

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

This integration provides the following capabilities:

The following image is an example of the Azure DevOps work item record details displayed in the corresponding BMC Helix ITSM incident:

Azure DevOps to BMC Helix ITSM data flows

The following image gives an overview of the data flow for creating or updating a BMC Helix ITSM incident from an Azure DevOps work item:

The following image gives an overview of the data flow for adding a comment or an attachment to the BMC Helix ITSM incident from an Azure DevOps work item:

BMC Helix ITSM to Azure DevOps data flows

The following image gives an overview of the data flow for creating or updating an Azure DevOps work item from a BMC Helix ITSM incident:

The following image gives an overview of the data flow for adding a comment or an attachment to an Azure DevOps work item from a BMC Helix ITSM incident:

Before you begin

You require the following items to successfully set up and use this integration: 

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 Toolchain, 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	If you have clicked Add Mapping, this field is auto-populated with a default URL.  Update the instanceUrl value in the default URL. The default value of this variable is https://dev.azure.com/{organization}/{project}/_workitems/edit/{System.Id}. 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. To select the filter criteria, click Advanced filter.
         
      2. Select the filters from the available fields, and click Next.
         The query filter expression is displayed. By default, the AND qualifier is applied when you select multiple filter criteria.

      3. To change the qualifier for your filters, update the query, and then click Save. 
         

         Important

         Make sure that you enter a valid query with available fields and values.

         
         

      4. Click Close.
         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 download and import the integration template project file

1. Download the Sync BMC Helix ITSM incident and Microsoft Azure DevOps work item Update 2022-10-01 file.
   This file contains the BMC Helix iPaaS Integration Studio project Sync BMC Helix ITSM incident and Microsoft Azure DevOps work item.

   Important

   Your ability to access product pages on the EPD website is determined by the license your company purchased.

2. Log in to BMC Helix iPaaS and navigate to Integration Studio.
3. Select your organization.
4. On the projects page, click Import.
5. Click Browse and then select the Sync BMC Helix ITSM incident and Microsoft Azure DevOps work item.json file that you downloaded.
   The Project Name and Organization fields are automatically populated. The default project name is displayed. You can change the project name.
6. 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. 
7. 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. Next to the Environment name, click the ellipsis ... 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	Enter the user name that should be used while creating the BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker API profile. The integration template creates an API in BMC Helix iPaaS to handle requests from BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker.
     BHIP_MCB_API_Profile_User_Password	Enter the password that should be used while creating the BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker API profile. The integration template creates an API in BMC Helix iPaaS to handle requests from BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker.
     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 Azure DevOps API: BASIC ANONYMOUS APIKEY The default value of this variable is BASIC.
     BHIP_Vendor_API_Profile_User_Name	Enter the user name for the security profile that you want to use with the Azure DevOps 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 Azure DevOps 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 Azure DevOps 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	Enable the creation of Azure DevOps work items from BMC Helix ITSM incidents and synchronization of updates and comment. By default, this variable is set to true. If you want to disable the creation of Azure DevOps work items from BMC Helix ITSM incidents and synchronization of updates and comment, set the default value to false.
     Enable_Vendor_To_BMC_Helix_Integration	Enable the creation of BMC Helix ITSM incidents from Azure DevOps work items and synchronization of updates and comment. By default, this variable is set to true. If you want to disable the creation of BMC Helix ITSM incidents from Azure DevOps work items and synchronization of updates and comment, set the default value to false.

   • 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	Enter the value in the following format for multiple instances of Azure DevOps: Azure DevOps.<Instance name> The instance name in the format is the name you entered in the Instance Name field while configuring vendor metadata.
     MCB_Assigned_Group	Enter the name of the support group to which you want to assign the incident.
     MCB_Assigned_Support_Organization	Enter the name of the support organization to which you want to assign the incident.
     MCB_Assigned_Support_Company	Enter the name of the support company to which you want to assign the incident.
     MCB_Assigned_Company	Enter the name of the company for which you want to create the incident.
     MCB_Assigned_Company_Id	Enter the ID of the company for which you want to create the incident.
     MCB_Assigned_Business_Unit	Enter the name of the business unit to which you want to assign the incident.

     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, Apex Global.
     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.

To deploy the project and then enable the integration:

1. To deploy the project, next to the project name, click the ellipsis ..., and select Deploy Project.
2. To enable the integration, next to the Enable Integrations operation, under 2.0 Integrations workflow, click the ellipsis ..., and select Run.

The following image shows the steps to deploy the project and enable it by deploying the workflow:

After you enable the integration, when an incident is created in BMC Helix ITSM, a corresponding work item is created in Azure DevOps, and the converse is true. Any updates made or comments added to the incident are synced with the work item, and the converse is true.

(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, 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 Synchronizing-custom-field-values-for-integrations.

(Optional) Task 7: To synchronize worklogs before a ticket is brokered

1. Log in to Developer Studio.
2. Expand the server that you are using.
3. Select All Objects > Filters.
4. Open the HPD:INC:MCSM_Set_Share_WorkLog_With_Vendor filter.
5. In Execution Options, from the State list, select Enabled.
6. Save the changes.

To display worklogs in ascending order

1. Log in to Developer Studio.
2. Expand the server that you are using.
3. Select All Objects > Forms.
4. Open the HPD:WorkLog form.
5. Select Definitions > Sort.
6. In Sorted Fields, for Work Log Submit Date, in Sort Order, select Ascending.