Solving your user’s problems using Groovy scripts is one thing, but to get there, you need a test environment. A sandbox, where you will be able to safely play with the code.
If you do not have a test environment in your organization, you can work around this by either:
- starting a trial version of Jira Cloud
- installing Jira on your laptop
ScriptRunner for Jira Cloiud works differnetly than it does for Jira Server or Data Center, so I will focus on Server and DC, unless you tell me that most of you work with Jira Cloud.
Let’s move forward with point 2 and install Jira on your laptop.
Make sure that it’s a relatively decent machine, not something from the early 2000’s, okay? The requirements are described here.
Just expand the “Server-side installation requirements for evaluators” section.
So, now what you need to do is:
- In Google, search for: “Jira download”
- Choose the link titled “Download Jira Software Server | Atlassian”
- Choose your operating system from the drop down list
(I selected Windows x64, so the following points will assume this selection) - Choose “Download”. if you see an “Enterprise release” and “Latest release”, choose “Latest release”
- Check the checkbox saying “I agree to the Atlassian Software License Agreement and Privacy Policy.” and click Submit
- Save the installation file in the location of your choice
- Run the installer (preferably as the OS administrator)
- Click “Next” on the Welcome screen of the installer
- Choose “Express install” if you don’t want to answer any questions.
By default, Jira will use the 8080 HTTP port, this is how you will be able to reach it through your browser. It will also need control port number, the default is 8005. if you have anything running on these ports already, you can choose the custom installation and change it. - You can select to run Jira as a Windows Service. This will cause it to start automatically everytime your laptop starts. If you don’t want that, you can either set the service to start manually later on, or not to install it as a service in the first place. In the latter case, you will need to start Jira by running the JIRA_DIST/bin/start-jira.bat script, where JIRA_DIST is your distribution directory (where your Jira got installed).
- In the installer screen, chceck the “Start Jira Software 8.8.0 now” checkbox and click “Next”. This will open a terminal window with Jira startup log. Let it run.
- Another popup window will show you that the installation is complete and you can now run Jira in your browser. Click “Finish”.
- Your browser will open with the URL of: http://localhost:8080/ (or with a different port than 8080 if you changed it during installation). This is how you can access your Jira later too. Now, in your browser choose “Set it up for me” (selected by default), and click “Continue to MyAtlassian”
- If you don’t have a My Atlassian account yet, create it. If you do, just log in.
- Choose “Jira Software (Server)” and in “Organization” enter the name of your organization. Then click “Generate license”
- Confirm that you want to install the license for “localhost”, just click “Yes”
- When setting up your admin account in Jira, enter an e-mail address, the username and passwword. Then wait until Jira finishes the setup process.
- Click “Let’s get started”
- For the language, choose “English” and click “Next”. This way it will be easier to communicate between you and me if you do. Also, it will be easier for you to Google for specifics later on.
- On the avatar screen just click “Next”.
- Choose “Create sample project”.
- Choose “Scrum Software Development” and click “Next”
- Type in the name of the project, I suggest to use “Development”, just so that we’re on the same page. Click “Submit” Give it a moment, since Jira wil be creating sample issues.
Hooray! You’ve got Jira installed on your laptop now.
The next step is to install ScriptRunner. To do this, just follow the instructions mentioned here.
For now, you can play around with your local instance of Jira Software Server. Feel the power, freedom to experiment and break whatever you want without consequences. This is where the fun begins.
Enjoy!