Introduction
The Azure DevOps Connectivity app is only available to administrators. This app stores all the data needed to connect an Initiative / Epic / Feature to an item in Azure DevOps (called a Work Item).
The Azure DevOps Connectivity app includes logic to connect to the Azure DevOps platform. This connection is valid for one Azure user, and is stored on an Application link object (Internal name: GenericConnector), which also contains an access token. All calls that our app will make to the Azure DevOps platform will be executed as if we were that Azure user. The access token is valid for 1 hour after receipt, and our code will ensure that a new access token is automatically retrieved as soon as it detects that the old one has expired. See the Application Link section for more details.
Before creating Azure Team objects, we need to create a Configuration object (Internal name: GenericConfiguration). This object will contain some generic information that can be reused for multiple team objects, such as the Organization, field assignment, and more. See the Configuration section for more details.
An Azure Team is a direct link to a Project in the Azure DevOps platform. This stores an Area Path, which indicates exactly where new Work Items should be created. See the Azure Team chapter for more details.
Creating an Azure Team object causes the corresponding Project to get a webhook. This webhook listens for changes to a work item in the given Project, and sends a REST call to our app when a change occurs. Our app will then process this change and update the object linked in FCC accordingly. See the Webhook section for more details.
Tips on performing the instructions below:
- Use a separate generic account (not a person account) in Azure Devops to perform the application link. In fact, the account used to establish the application link is used to populate the Reporters field on the items in Azure Devops. Ensure that this user has sufficient permissions to create and update items in on the projects in Azure Devops with which data is to be exchanged.
- To easily perform verification between the two applications, it is recommended to execute the instructions below on one device. Ensure that the user in the Fortes Change Cloud has an administrator account or manager privileges in the Azure Devops Connectivity app. In the Azure Devops application, it will be necessary to log in with the user on which the link is to be based (preferably not a person account).
Create new Azure Devops link in Fortes Change Cloud
To interface with an Azure Devops application, the steps below can be followed.
Navigate to the app Azure Devops connectivity in the app selector.
The Azure Devops connectivity app contains all the necessary aspects that need to be configured in order to take advantage of the integral link to Jira.
To do so, click on the app selector (top left of the screen) and there click on tile Azure Devops connectivity.
Add new Azure Devops application link
In the Azure Devops connectivity above the list Azure Devops applications on the left at + New link.
Name the link, copy the data in the yellow circled area, and then click [Open Azure in nieuw tabblad]
You will now be sent to an Azure Devops page. Log in and enter the company and application information and click [Create application]
Note: you only need the scope ‘Work items (full)’! So check only this scope and leave the rest of the scopes blank.
You will now see details that you must then enter into Fortes Change Cloud
This screen simply displays the name of the Azure user who created the application link. If this is not correct, the user can login to Azure with the desired credentials and on the[her-autoriseer FCC met Azure te koppelen]button on this page press to change the connected Azure user. Re-authorization reuses the App ID and Client Secret entered in the previous step.
It is currently not possible to change these values.
Set up configurations for team setup
After configuring the application link, a team configuration will then need to be set up in Fortes.
All fields are required for the Configuration to work correctly, with the exception of the field assignment.
A configuration uses the selected Application Link to connect to Azure allowing it to retrieve the necessary values for the rest of the dropdowns. The Organization is the top-level unit in the structure within Azure DevOps, and the Process specifies which Item types are available within a given Project, and which fields must be available on those Projects.
Field mapping allows the user to determine which fields of the FCC Item should be set to an Azure Work Item, and vice versa. The top section of the field mapping is used in a webhook, and each time a work item field changes within Azure DevOps, the corresponding FCC Field will be updated in the related FCC item. However, the lower section is not updated live (yet). The mapping in this section is applied only when an FCC item is first linked to a work item. If FCC fields change after the work item is created, the fields on the work item are NOT updated.
Adding Azure DevOps teams into the Fortes Change Cloud application
To add a team, click + Add Team above the list where a team configuration was created in the previous configuration step.
In the follow-up screen, enter the Name of the team in the Name field. Optionally, a short name (3 letters) can also be added in the Short Name field.
If it is desired to also be able to register time in the Fortes Change Cloud application, the appropriate users can be added in the Members for Time Registration field.
Then, in the Configuration field, select the configuration for teams that was previously created.
The last step is to choose the project, area path and possibly the iteration path (optional).
Then click Create to add the team in the Fortes Change Cloud application. After this, the team is also visible in the team overview list.
After performing all the above steps, the configuration is complete and the created teams are ready for use in the functional apps of the Fortes Change Cloud.
